Assessing the quality of mobile applications targeting postpartum depression in China
- Li, Ying, Zhao, Qian, Cross, Wendy, Chen, Jiarui, Qin, Chunxiang, Sun, Mei
- Authors: Li, Ying , Zhao, Qian , Cross, Wendy , Chen, Jiarui , Qin, Chunxiang , Sun, Mei
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: International Journal of Mental Health Nursing Vol. 29, no. 5 (2020), p. 772-785
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Postpartum depression is a serious mental illnessdisorder that occurs after delivery and is one of the most common post-partum complications. With the increasing popularity and extensive use of smartphones worldwide and the fact that China has become the country with the largest number of smartphone users, it is necessary to have a deep understanding of the use and influence of smartphones and discuss the role of smartphone applications in postpartum depression. This study evaluated and analysed the contents of all postpartum depression applications available in China, applying the US Preventive Services Task Force Recommendation Statement (Interventions to Prevent Perinatal Depression) and expert consensus on the guidelines for the prevention and treatment of postpartum depression. We used the keywords ‘postpartum depression; and ‘PPD’ to search Android, iOS, and WeChat in the Chinese application market. Two reviewers agreed on the coding guidelines and coded the content and functionality of the application through content analysis to determine its intervention and adherence to the guidelines. In addition, we used the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) to evaluate the application for engagement, functionality, aesthetics, and information domains and recorded the features of the postpartum depression application. The current findings suggest that despite the recent expansion of smartphone platforms and increased availability of applications, existing Chinese apps for postpartum depression have low levels of adherence to clinical practice-based guidelines. New apps need to be developed, and existing apps need to be revised following evidence-based principles. © 2020 Australian College of Mental Health Nurses Inc.
An exploration into suicide prevention initiatives for mental health nurses : a systematic literature review
- Dabkowski, Elissa, Porter, Joanne
- Authors: Dabkowski, Elissa , Porter, Joanne
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: International Journal of Mental Health Nursing Vol. 30, no. 3 (2021), p. 610-623
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Mental health and suicide prevention are national health priorities in Australia, with research currently focussed towards the ZERO Suicide (ZS) initiative. The aim of this review was to evaluate the impact of suicide prevention programmes, in particular the ZS prevention initiative. A systematic review using the PRISMA guidelines was conducted using six EBSCO Host databases; Academic Search Complete, Australian/New Zealand Reference Centre, CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, APA PsycINFO, and APA Psyc Articles. The data extracted from the eligible papers were analysed using a thematic approach. The final data set consisted of fourteen (n = 14) peer-reviewed articles meeting the eligibility criteria, which included quantitative (n = 10), mixed methods (n = 2), and qualitative studies (n = 2). Results indicated variances between suicide prevention programmes with some papers examining single workshops and others assessing multimodal, organizational interventions. Five major themes were produced from this review including measuring the success of suicide prevention programmes, improvements to the delivery of suicide prevention programmes, barriers to implementing changes, cultural considerations, and further research required for suicide prevention programmes. This review concludes that further long-term research is required to evaluate the implementation and efficacy of suicide prevention programmes in health care. Cultural awareness in suicide prevention training is another area that may benefit from further research. A growing body of evidence establishes the need for multimodal and organizational approaches for suicide prevention initiatives. © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
- Authors: Dabkowski, Elissa , Porter, Joanne
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article , Review
- Relation: International Journal of Mental Health Nursing Vol. 30, no. 3 (2021), p. 610-623
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Mental health and suicide prevention are national health priorities in Australia, with research currently focussed towards the ZERO Suicide (ZS) initiative. The aim of this review was to evaluate the impact of suicide prevention programmes, in particular the ZS prevention initiative. A systematic review using the PRISMA guidelines was conducted using six EBSCO Host databases; Academic Search Complete, Australian/New Zealand Reference Centre, CINAHL Complete, MEDLINE, APA PsycINFO, and APA Psyc Articles. The data extracted from the eligible papers were analysed using a thematic approach. The final data set consisted of fourteen (n = 14) peer-reviewed articles meeting the eligibility criteria, which included quantitative (n = 10), mixed methods (n = 2), and qualitative studies (n = 2). Results indicated variances between suicide prevention programmes with some papers examining single workshops and others assessing multimodal, organizational interventions. Five major themes were produced from this review including measuring the success of suicide prevention programmes, improvements to the delivery of suicide prevention programmes, barriers to implementing changes, cultural considerations, and further research required for suicide prevention programmes. This review concludes that further long-term research is required to evaluate the implementation and efficacy of suicide prevention programmes in health care. Cultural awareness in suicide prevention training is another area that may benefit from further research. A growing body of evidence establishes the need for multimodal and organizational approaches for suicide prevention initiatives. © 2021 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd
Mental health literacy and stigma of Australian social work students : depression and suicidal ideation
- Authors: Jennifer, Martin
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Advances in social work and welfare education Vol. 19, no. 2 (2017), p. 125-138
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This article presents the findings of a study of mental health literacy and stigma of Australian social work students. The aim of the study was to identify levels of knowledge and attitudes and beliefs prior to, and following, course content on mental health literacy. The outcome of this study indicates an increase in knowledge development and reduced rates of stigma following mental health literacy studies. Even though relatively low rates of stigma were recorded amongst these social work students, the study findings do raise the question of what level of stigma, if any, is acceptable within social work education. This has broader implications for service delivery as stigmatising attitudes and beliefs of students and workers might cause harm and deter people from accessing mental health services.
- Authors: Jennifer, Martin
- Date: 2017
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Advances in social work and welfare education Vol. 19, no. 2 (2017), p. 125-138
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This article presents the findings of a study of mental health literacy and stigma of Australian social work students. The aim of the study was to identify levels of knowledge and attitudes and beliefs prior to, and following, course content on mental health literacy. The outcome of this study indicates an increase in knowledge development and reduced rates of stigma following mental health literacy studies. Even though relatively low rates of stigma were recorded amongst these social work students, the study findings do raise the question of what level of stigma, if any, is acceptable within social work education. This has broader implications for service delivery as stigmatising attitudes and beliefs of students and workers might cause harm and deter people from accessing mental health services.
Lesbians living in Australia : Sense of belonging and mental health
- Authors: McLaren, Suzanne
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Psychology Vol. 55, no. (2003), p. 197
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Carroll, Matthew, Gao, Caroline, Campbell, Timothy, Smith, Catherine, Dimitriadis, Christina, Berger, Emily, Maybery, Darryl, Ikin, Jillian, Abramson, Michael, Sim, Malcolm, McFarlane, Alexander, Smith, Karen, Guo, Yuming
- Authors: Carroll, Matthew , Gao, Caroline , Campbell, Timothy , Smith, Catherine , Dimitriadis, Christina , Berger, Emily , Maybery, Darryl , Ikin, Jillian , Abramson, Michael , Sim, Malcolm , McFarlane, Alexander , Smith, Karen , Guo, Yuming
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Atmospheric Pollution Research Vol. 13, no. 5 (2022), p.
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Climate change and an increase in the number of major fire events occurring around the world have drawn attention to the importance of understanding the association between air pollution events and mental health. In 2014, the Morwell open-cut brown coal mine adjacent to the Hazelwood power station in the Latrobe Valley region of Victoria, Australia, caught fire as a result of nearby wildfires, and exposed the local community to a prolonged period of deteriorated air quality. The aim of this study was to examine how exposure to coal mine fire-related fine particulate matter (PM2.5) during the event affected the utilisation of local health services (ambulance attendances; emergency department (ED) presentations; hospital admissions) for mental health conditions. A time-series analysis indicated that mine fire-related PM2.5 exposure was associated with short-term increases in ambulance attendances and ED presentations but not hospital admissions. To allow for delays between exposure and changes in service utilisation, different lag periods were assessed. The most prominent effects were observed over a 5-day lag period where, for each 10 μg/m3 increase in daily mean mine fire-related PM2.5, the risk of an ambulance attendance for anxiety increased by 38% (95%CI: 13%–69%) and the risk of an ED presentation for depression increased by 36% (95%CI: 3%–79%). Accordingly, ambulance and hospital services should expect to encounter an increase in the number of people seeking assistance for mental health conditions during extreme air pollution events and mechanisms need to be in place to ensure that surges in demand for mental health care during these circumstances can be accommodated. © 2022 Turkish National Committee for Air Pollution Research and Control
Physical and mental health perspectives of first year undergraduate rural university students
- Hussain, Rafat, Guppy, Michelle, Robertson, Suzanne, Temple, Elizabeth
- Authors: Hussain, Rafat , Guppy, Michelle , Robertson, Suzanne , Temple, Elizabeth
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: BMC Public Health Vol. 13, no. 1 (2013), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: University students are often perceived to have a privileged position in society and considered immune to ill-health and disability. There is growing evidence that a sizeable proportion experience poor physical health, and that the prevalence of psychological disorders is higher in university students than their community peers. This study examined the physical and mental health issues for first year Australian rural university students and their perception of access to available health and support services. Methods. Cross-sectional study design using an online survey form based on the Adolescent Screening Questionnaire modeled on the internationally recognised HEADSS survey tool. The target audience was all first-year undergraduate students enrolled in an on-campus degree program. The response rate was 41% comprising 355 students (244 females, 111 males). Data was analysed using standard statistical techniques including descriptive and inferential statistics; and thematic analysis of the open-ended responses. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 20.2 years (SD 4.8). The majority of the students lived in on-campus residential college style accommodation, and a third combined part-time paid work with full-time study. Most students reported being in good physical health. However, on average two health conditions were reported over the past six months, with the most common being fatigue (56%), frequent headaches (26%) and allergies (24%). Mental health problems included anxiety (25%), coping difficulties (19.7%) and diagnosed depression (8%). Most respondents reported adequate access to medical doctors and support services for themselves (82%) and friends (78%). However the qualitative comments highlighted concerns about stigma, privacy and anonymity in seeking counselling. Conclusions: The present study adds to the limited literature of physical and mental health issues as well as barriers to service utilization by rural university students. It provides useful baseline data for the development of customised support programs at rural campuses. Future research using a longitudinal research design and multi-site studies are recommended to facilitate a deeper understanding of health issues affecting rural university students. © 2013 Hussain et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
- Description: C1
- Authors: Hussain, Rafat , Guppy, Michelle , Robertson, Suzanne , Temple, Elizabeth
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: BMC Public Health Vol. 13, no. 1 (2013), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: University students are often perceived to have a privileged position in society and considered immune to ill-health and disability. There is growing evidence that a sizeable proportion experience poor physical health, and that the prevalence of psychological disorders is higher in university students than their community peers. This study examined the physical and mental health issues for first year Australian rural university students and their perception of access to available health and support services. Methods. Cross-sectional study design using an online survey form based on the Adolescent Screening Questionnaire modeled on the internationally recognised HEADSS survey tool. The target audience was all first-year undergraduate students enrolled in an on-campus degree program. The response rate was 41% comprising 355 students (244 females, 111 males). Data was analysed using standard statistical techniques including descriptive and inferential statistics; and thematic analysis of the open-ended responses. Results: The mean age of the respondents was 20.2 years (SD 4.8). The majority of the students lived in on-campus residential college style accommodation, and a third combined part-time paid work with full-time study. Most students reported being in good physical health. However, on average two health conditions were reported over the past six months, with the most common being fatigue (56%), frequent headaches (26%) and allergies (24%). Mental health problems included anxiety (25%), coping difficulties (19.7%) and diagnosed depression (8%). Most respondents reported adequate access to medical doctors and support services for themselves (82%) and friends (78%). However the qualitative comments highlighted concerns about stigma, privacy and anonymity in seeking counselling. Conclusions: The present study adds to the limited literature of physical and mental health issues as well as barriers to service utilization by rural university students. It provides useful baseline data for the development of customised support programs at rural campuses. Future research using a longitudinal research design and multi-site studies are recommended to facilitate a deeper understanding of health issues affecting rural university students. © 2013 Hussain et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.
- Description: C1
Unprepared for the depth of my feelings' - capturing grief in older people through research poetry
- Gerber, Katrin, Brijnath, Bianca, Lock, Kayla, Bryant, Christina, Hills, Danny, Hjorth, Larissa
- Authors: Gerber, Katrin , Brijnath, Bianca , Lock, Kayla , Bryant, Christina , Hills, Danny , Hjorth, Larissa
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Age and Ageing Vol. 51, no. 3 (2022), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: Older people are more likely to experience bereavements than any other age group. However, in healthcare and society, their grief experiences and support needs receive limited attention. Through innovative, arts-based research poetry, this study aimed to capture older people's bereavement stories and the effects of grief on their physical and mental health. Method: Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 18 bereaved older adults were analysed using thematic and poetic narrative analysis, following a five-step approach of immersion, creation, critical reflection, ethics and engagement. Results: Research poems were used to illustrate three themes of bereavement experiences among older adults: feeling unprepared, accumulation of losses and ripple effects of grief. While half of participants reported that the death of their family member was expected, many felt unprepared despite having experienced multiple bereavements throughout their life. Instead, the accumulation of losses had a compounding effect on their health and well-being. While these ripple effects of grief focussed on emotional and mental health consequences, many also reported physical health effects like the onset of a new condition or the worsening of an existing one. In its most extreme form, grief was connected with a perceived increased mortality risk. Conclusions: By using poetry to draw attention to the intense and often long-lasting effects of grief on older people's health and well-being, this article offers emotional, engaging and immersive insights into their unique bereavement experiences and thereby challenges the notion that grief has an expiry date. © 2022 The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
- Authors: Gerber, Katrin , Brijnath, Bianca , Lock, Kayla , Bryant, Christina , Hills, Danny , Hjorth, Larissa
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Age and Ageing Vol. 51, no. 3 (2022), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: Older people are more likely to experience bereavements than any other age group. However, in healthcare and society, their grief experiences and support needs receive limited attention. Through innovative, arts-based research poetry, this study aimed to capture older people's bereavement stories and the effects of grief on their physical and mental health. Method: Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 18 bereaved older adults were analysed using thematic and poetic narrative analysis, following a five-step approach of immersion, creation, critical reflection, ethics and engagement. Results: Research poems were used to illustrate three themes of bereavement experiences among older adults: feeling unprepared, accumulation of losses and ripple effects of grief. While half of participants reported that the death of their family member was expected, many felt unprepared despite having experienced multiple bereavements throughout their life. Instead, the accumulation of losses had a compounding effect on their health and well-being. While these ripple effects of grief focussed on emotional and mental health consequences, many also reported physical health effects like the onset of a new condition or the worsening of an existing one. In its most extreme form, grief was connected with a perceived increased mortality risk. Conclusions: By using poetry to draw attention to the intense and often long-lasting effects of grief on older people's health and well-being, this article offers emotional, engaging and immersive insights into their unique bereavement experiences and thereby challenges the notion that grief has an expiry date. © 2022 The Author(s) 2022. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Geriatrics Society. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.
Innovation and capacity growth in mental health promotion : Working with the past
- Authors: Crouch, Alan
- Date: 2006
- Type: Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The field of practice addressed by this Portfolio of works is mental health promotion in the context of survival of extreme, organized, armed violence and associated repression. Studies were undertaken in two historical and geo-political settings – Cambodian refugees in Australia post 1979 and Bulgarian post World War II concentration camp survivors after the fall of communism in 1989. The portfolio reports on original image-based research in mental health promotion, using discussions by focus groups composed of genocide and repression survivors. The discourse developed by each group following reflection on a set of photographs from respective conflict periods was used to explore meaning-making within that survivor group.
- Description: Doctor of Health Promotion
- Authors: Crouch, Alan
- Date: 2006
- Type: Thesis , PhD
- Full Text:
- Description: The field of practice addressed by this Portfolio of works is mental health promotion in the context of survival of extreme, organized, armed violence and associated repression. Studies were undertaken in two historical and geo-political settings – Cambodian refugees in Australia post 1979 and Bulgarian post World War II concentration camp survivors after the fall of communism in 1989. The portfolio reports on original image-based research in mental health promotion, using discussions by focus groups composed of genocide and repression survivors. The discourse developed by each group following reflection on a set of photographs from respective conflict periods was used to explore meaning-making within that survivor group.
- Description: Doctor of Health Promotion
Suicide in rural Australia : are farming-related suicides different?
- Kennedy, Alison, Adams, Jessie, Dwyer, Jeremy, Rahman, Muhammad Aziz, Brumby, Susan
- Authors: Kennedy, Alison , Adams, Jessie , Dwyer, Jeremy , Rahman, Muhammad Aziz , Brumby, Susan
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Vol. 17, no. 6 (2020), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Rural Australians experience a range of health inequities—including higher rates of suicide—when compared to the general population. This retrospective cohort study compares demographic characteristics and suicide death circumstances of farming-and non-farming-related suicides in rural Victoria with the aim of: (a) exploring the contributing factors to farming-related suicide in Australia’s largest agricultural producing state; and (b) examining whether farming-related suicides differ from suicide in rural communities. Farming-related suicide deaths were more likely to: (a) be employed at the time of death (52.6% vs. 37.7%, OR = 1.84, 95% CIs 1.28–2.64); and, (b) have died through use of a firearm (30.1% vs. 8.7%, OR = 4.51, 95% CIs 2.97–6.92). However, farming-related suicides were less likely to (a) have a diagnosed mental illness (36.1% vs. 46.1%, OR=0.66, 95% CIs 0.46–0.96) and, (b) have received mental health support more than six weeks prior to death (39.8% vs. 50.0%, OR = 0.66, 95% CIs 0.46–0.95). A range of suicide prevention strategies need adopting across all segments of the rural population irrespective of farming status. However, data from farming-related suicides highlight the need for targeted firearm-related suicide prevention measures and appropriate, tailored and accessible support services to support health, well-being and safety for members of farming communities. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
- Authors: Kennedy, Alison , Adams, Jessie , Dwyer, Jeremy , Rahman, Muhammad Aziz , Brumby, Susan
- Date: 2020
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health Vol. 17, no. 6 (2020), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Rural Australians experience a range of health inequities—including higher rates of suicide—when compared to the general population. This retrospective cohort study compares demographic characteristics and suicide death circumstances of farming-and non-farming-related suicides in rural Victoria with the aim of: (a) exploring the contributing factors to farming-related suicide in Australia’s largest agricultural producing state; and (b) examining whether farming-related suicides differ from suicide in rural communities. Farming-related suicide deaths were more likely to: (a) be employed at the time of death (52.6% vs. 37.7%, OR = 1.84, 95% CIs 1.28–2.64); and, (b) have died through use of a firearm (30.1% vs. 8.7%, OR = 4.51, 95% CIs 2.97–6.92). However, farming-related suicides were less likely to (a) have a diagnosed mental illness (36.1% vs. 46.1%, OR=0.66, 95% CIs 0.46–0.96) and, (b) have received mental health support more than six weeks prior to death (39.8% vs. 50.0%, OR = 0.66, 95% CIs 0.46–0.95). A range of suicide prevention strategies need adopting across all segments of the rural population irrespective of farming status. However, data from farming-related suicides highlight the need for targeted firearm-related suicide prevention measures and appropriate, tailored and accessible support services to support health, well-being and safety for members of farming communities. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
EDBase : generating a lexicon base for eating disorders via social media
- Anwar, Tarique, Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Matthew, Jarman, Hannah, Abuhassan, Mohammad, Shatte, Adrian, WIRED Team, Sukunesan, Suku
- Authors: Anwar, Tarique , Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, Matthew , Jarman, Hannah , Abuhassan, Mohammad , Shatte, Adrian , WIRED Team , Sukunesan, Suku
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics Vol. 26, no. 12 (2022), p. 6116-6125
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Eating disorders (EDs) are characterised by abnormal eating habits and obsessive thought about food, weight, shape, and body image. EDs are experienced by a significant portion of our population. Social media is identified as a possible source of influence for EDs, and there is growing evidence of a large amount of ED-related discussions on the Web via social media platforms, such as Twitter. With this growing trend, automatic content analysis for EDs is becoming increasingly important. To date, there does not exist any comprehensive benchmark ED lexicon to identify ED-related conversations that would, in turn, facilitate these content analysis tasks. In this paper, we propose a novel method for generating a lexicon base for ED language, called EDBase. The method starts with collecting over 3.7 million ED-focused tweets. In order to semantically represent potential ED terminology in a vector space, an ED word embedding model (EDModel) is trained. Then we develop a novel multi-seeded hierarchical density-based algorithm with contrasting corpora for ED lexicon expansion. The EDModel is queried by the proposed lexicon expansion algorithm to expand the seed terms to a comprehensive lexicon base. Our EDBase consists of a (further expandable) list of 3794 high-quality ED terms, quantified by an ED score, and linked to their parent terms. The proposed method significantly outperforms all existing alternative baseline methods and models by over 25% in terms of precision and 1500 in terms of true positives. This research is expected to be impactful in the health data science and healthcare community. © 2021 IEEE.
Sustaining work participation across the life course
- Pransky, Glenn, Fassier, Jean-Baptise, Besen, Elyssa, Blanck, Peter, Ekberg, Kerstin, Feuerstein, Michael, Munir, Fehmidah, Boot, C.R.L.
- Authors: Pransky, Glenn , Fassier, Jean-Baptise , Besen, Elyssa , Blanck, Peter , Ekberg, Kerstin , Feuerstein, Michael , Munir, Fehmidah , Boot, C.R.L.
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Occupational Rehabilitation Vol. 26, no. 4 (2016), p. 465-479
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Introduction Many disability prevention strategies are focused on acute injuries and brief illness episodes, but there will be growing challenges for employers to manage circumstances of recurrent, chronic, or fluctuating symptoms in an aging workforce. The goal of this article is to summarize existing peer-review research in this area, compare this with employer discourse in the grey literature, and recommend future research priorities. Methods The authors participated in a year-long sponsored collaboration that ultimately led to an invited 3-day conference, “Improving Research of Employer Practices to Prevent Disability”, held October 14–16, 2015, in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, USA. The collaboration included a topical review of the scientific and industry literature, group discussion to identify key areas and challenges, drafting of initial documents, and feedback from peer researchers and a special panel of experts with employer experience. Results Cancer and mental illness were chosen as examples of chronic or recurring conditions that might challenge conventional workplace return-to-work practices. Workplace problems identified in the literature included fatigue, emotional exhaustion, poor supervisor and co-worker support, stigma, discrimination, and difficulties finding appropriate accommodations. Workplace intervention research is generally lacking, but there is preliminary support for improving workplace self-management strategies, collaborative problem-solving, and providing checklists and other tools for job accommodation, ideas echoed in the literature directed toward employers. Research might be improved by following workers from an earlier stage of developing workplace concerns. Conclusions Future research of work disability should focus on earlier identification of at-risk workers with chronic conditions, the use of more innovative and flexible accommodation strategies matched to specific functional losses, stronger integration of the workplace into on-going rehabilitation efforts, and a better understanding of stigma and other social factors at work.
The cardiac distress inventory : a new measure of psychosocial distress associated with an acute cardiac event
- Jackson, Alun, Grande, Michael, Rogerson, Michelle, Ski, Chantal, Amerena, John, Smith, Julian, Hoover, Valerie, Alvarenga, Marlies, Higgins, Rosemary, Thompson, David, Murphy, Barbara
- Authors: Jackson, Alun , Grande, Michael , Rogerson, Michelle , Ski, Chantal , Amerena, John , Smith, Julian , Hoover, Valerie , Alvarenga, Marlies , Higgins, Rosemary , Thompson, David , Murphy, Barbara
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: BMC Cardiovascular Disorders Vol. 22, no. 1 (2022), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: Many challenges are posed by the experience of a heart attack or heart surgery which can be characterised as ‘cardiac distress’. It spans multiple psychosocial domains incorporating patients’ responses to physical, affective, cognitive, behavioural and social symptoms and experiences related to their cardiac event and their recovery. Although some measures of the psychological and emotional impacts of a cardiac event exist, none provides a comprehensive assessment of cardiac distress. To address this gap, the study aimed to develop a Cardiac Distress Inventory (CDI) using best practice in instrument design. Method: An item pool was generated through analysis of cognate measures, mostly in relation to other health conditions and through focus group and individual review by a multidisciplinary development team, cardiac patients, and end-users including cardiac rehabilitation co-ordinators. The resulting 144 items were reduced through further reviews to 74 for testing. The testing was carried out with 405 people recruited from three hospitals, through social media and by direct enrolment on the study website. A two-stage psychometric evaluation of the 74 items used exploratory factor analysis to extract the factors followed by Rasch analysis to confirm dimensionality within factors. Results: Psychometric analysis resulted in the identification of 55 items comprising eight subscales, to form the CDI. The subscales assess fear and uncertainty, disconnection and hopelessness, changes to roles and relationships, overwhelm and depletion, cognitive challenges, physical challenges, health system challenges, and death concerns. Validation against the Kessler 6 supports the criterion validity of the CDI. Conclusion: The CDI reflects a nuanced understanding of cardiac distress and should prove to be a useful clinical assessment tool, as well as a research instrument. Individual subscales or the complete CDI could be used to assess or monitor specific areas of distress in clinical practice. Development of a short form screening version for use in primary care, cardiac rehabilitation and counselling services is warranted. © 2022, The Author(s).
- Authors: Jackson, Alun , Grande, Michael , Rogerson, Michelle , Ski, Chantal , Amerena, John , Smith, Julian , Hoover, Valerie , Alvarenga, Marlies , Higgins, Rosemary , Thompson, David , Murphy, Barbara
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: BMC Cardiovascular Disorders Vol. 22, no. 1 (2022), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Background: Many challenges are posed by the experience of a heart attack or heart surgery which can be characterised as ‘cardiac distress’. It spans multiple psychosocial domains incorporating patients’ responses to physical, affective, cognitive, behavioural and social symptoms and experiences related to their cardiac event and their recovery. Although some measures of the psychological and emotional impacts of a cardiac event exist, none provides a comprehensive assessment of cardiac distress. To address this gap, the study aimed to develop a Cardiac Distress Inventory (CDI) using best practice in instrument design. Method: An item pool was generated through analysis of cognate measures, mostly in relation to other health conditions and through focus group and individual review by a multidisciplinary development team, cardiac patients, and end-users including cardiac rehabilitation co-ordinators. The resulting 144 items were reduced through further reviews to 74 for testing. The testing was carried out with 405 people recruited from three hospitals, through social media and by direct enrolment on the study website. A two-stage psychometric evaluation of the 74 items used exploratory factor analysis to extract the factors followed by Rasch analysis to confirm dimensionality within factors. Results: Psychometric analysis resulted in the identification of 55 items comprising eight subscales, to form the CDI. The subscales assess fear and uncertainty, disconnection and hopelessness, changes to roles and relationships, overwhelm and depletion, cognitive challenges, physical challenges, health system challenges, and death concerns. Validation against the Kessler 6 supports the criterion validity of the CDI. Conclusion: The CDI reflects a nuanced understanding of cardiac distress and should prove to be a useful clinical assessment tool, as well as a research instrument. Individual subscales or the complete CDI could be used to assess or monitor specific areas of distress in clinical practice. Development of a short form screening version for use in primary care, cardiac rehabilitation and counselling services is warranted. © 2022, The Author(s).
Multimodal educational data fusion for students' mental health detection
- Guo, Teng, Zhao, Wenhong, Alrashoud, Mubarak, Tolba, Amr, Firmin, Sally, Xia, Feng
- Authors: Guo, Teng , Zhao, Wenhong , Alrashoud, Mubarak , Tolba, Amr , Firmin, Sally , Xia, Feng
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: IEEE Access Vol. 10, no. (2022), p. 70370-70382
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Mental health issues can lead to serious consequences like depression, self-mutilation, and worse, especially for university students who are not physically and mentally mature. Not all students with poor mental health are aware of their situation and actively seek help. Proactive detection of mental problems is a critical step in addressing this issue. However, accurate detections are hard to achieve due to the inherent complexity and heterogeneity of unstructured multi-modal data generated by campus life. Against this background, we propose a detection framework for detecting students' mental health, named CASTLE (educational data fusion for mental health detection). Three parts are involved in this framework. First, we utilize representation learning to fuse data on social life, academic performance, and physical appearance. An algorithm, named MOON (multi-view social network embedding), is proposed to represent students' social life in a comprehensive way by fusing students' heterogeneous social relations effectively. Second, a synthetic minority oversampling technique algorithm (SMOTE) is applied to the label imbalance issue. Finally, a DNN (deep neural network) model is utilized for the final detection. The extensive results demonstrate the promising performance of the proposed methods in comparison to an extensive range of state-of-the-art baselines. © 2013 IEEE.
- Authors: Guo, Teng , Zhao, Wenhong , Alrashoud, Mubarak , Tolba, Amr , Firmin, Sally , Xia, Feng
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: IEEE Access Vol. 10, no. (2022), p. 70370-70382
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Mental health issues can lead to serious consequences like depression, self-mutilation, and worse, especially for university students who are not physically and mentally mature. Not all students with poor mental health are aware of their situation and actively seek help. Proactive detection of mental problems is a critical step in addressing this issue. However, accurate detections are hard to achieve due to the inherent complexity and heterogeneity of unstructured multi-modal data generated by campus life. Against this background, we propose a detection framework for detecting students' mental health, named CASTLE (educational data fusion for mental health detection). Three parts are involved in this framework. First, we utilize representation learning to fuse data on social life, academic performance, and physical appearance. An algorithm, named MOON (multi-view social network embedding), is proposed to represent students' social life in a comprehensive way by fusing students' heterogeneous social relations effectively. Second, a synthetic minority oversampling technique algorithm (SMOTE) is applied to the label imbalance issue. Finally, a DNN (deep neural network) model is utilized for the final detection. The extensive results demonstrate the promising performance of the proposed methods in comparison to an extensive range of state-of-the-art baselines. © 2013 IEEE.
Interpretive phenomenological approaches to rural mental health research
- Authors: Aisbett, Damon
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Rural Social Work and Community Practice Vol. 11, no. (2006), p. 52-58
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: While researchers in the fields of social work and nursing have recognised the usefulness of qualitative research methods for many years, researchers in psychology have tended to lag behind in their understanding of the value and applicability of qualitative approaches. The aims of this article are to consider the role of qualitative research in psychology, to outline the various steps involved in conducting qualitative data collection and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) for those not versed in these techniques, and to provide a case example of the applicability of these methods to rural adolescent mental health research. The final section of this article includes a detailed discussion of the advantages and limitations of IPA.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001977
Study protocol for a randomised controlled trial of internet-based cognitive-behavioural therapy for obsessive-compulsive disorder
- Kyrios, Michael, Nedeljkovic, Maja, Moulding, Richard, Klein, Britt, Austin, David, Meyer, Denny, Ahern, Claire
- Authors: Kyrios, Michael , Nedeljkovic, Maja , Moulding, Richard , Klein, Britt , Austin, David , Meyer, Denny , Ahern, Claire
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: BMC Psychiatry Vol. 14, no. 209 (2014), p. 1-9
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: BACKGROUND: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common chronic psychiatric disorder that constitutes a leading cause of disability. Although Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy (CBT) has been shown to be an effective treatment for OCD, this specialised treatment is unavailable to many due to access issues and the social stigma associated with seeing a mental health specialist. Internet-based psychological treatments have shown to provide effective, accessible and affordable treatment for a range of anxiety disorders, and two Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) have demonstrated the efficacy and acceptability of internet-based CBT (iCBT) for OCD, as compared to waitlist or supportive therapy. Although these initial findings are promising, they do not isolate the specific effect of iCBT. This paper details the study protocol for the first randomised control trial evaluating the efficacy of therapist-assisted iCBT for OCD, as compared to a matched control intervention; internet-based therapist-assisted progressive relaxation training (iPRT). It will aim to examine whether therapist-assisted iCBT is an acceptable and efficacious treatment, and to examine how effectiveness is influenced by patient characteristics. METHOD/DESIGN: A randomised controlled trial using repeated measures with two arms (intervention and matched control) will be used to evaluate the efficacy and acceptability of iCBT for OCD. The RCT will randomise 212 Australian adults with a primary diagnosis of OCD into either the active intervention or control condition, for 12 weeks duration. Outcomes for participants in both study arms will be assessed at baseline and post-intervention. Participants in iCBT will be further assessed at six month follow-up, while participants in the control condition will be crossed over to receive the iCBT intervention and reassessed at post-intervention and six month follow-up. The primary outcome will be clinically significant change in obsessive-compulsive symptom scores. DISCUSSION: This will be the first known therapist assisted internet-based trial of a comprehensive CBT treatment for OCD as compared to a matched control intervention. Demonstrating the efficacy of an internet-based treatment for OCD will allow the development of models of care for broad-based access to an evidence-based but complex treatment.
- Authors: Kyrios, Michael , Nedeljkovic, Maja , Moulding, Richard , Klein, Britt , Austin, David , Meyer, Denny , Ahern, Claire
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: BMC Psychiatry Vol. 14, no. 209 (2014), p. 1-9
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: BACKGROUND: Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common chronic psychiatric disorder that constitutes a leading cause of disability. Although Cognitive-Behaviour Therapy (CBT) has been shown to be an effective treatment for OCD, this specialised treatment is unavailable to many due to access issues and the social stigma associated with seeing a mental health specialist. Internet-based psychological treatments have shown to provide effective, accessible and affordable treatment for a range of anxiety disorders, and two Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) have demonstrated the efficacy and acceptability of internet-based CBT (iCBT) for OCD, as compared to waitlist or supportive therapy. Although these initial findings are promising, they do not isolate the specific effect of iCBT. This paper details the study protocol for the first randomised control trial evaluating the efficacy of therapist-assisted iCBT for OCD, as compared to a matched control intervention; internet-based therapist-assisted progressive relaxation training (iPRT). It will aim to examine whether therapist-assisted iCBT is an acceptable and efficacious treatment, and to examine how effectiveness is influenced by patient characteristics. METHOD/DESIGN: A randomised controlled trial using repeated measures with two arms (intervention and matched control) will be used to evaluate the efficacy and acceptability of iCBT for OCD. The RCT will randomise 212 Australian adults with a primary diagnosis of OCD into either the active intervention or control condition, for 12 weeks duration. Outcomes for participants in both study arms will be assessed at baseline and post-intervention. Participants in iCBT will be further assessed at six month follow-up, while participants in the control condition will be crossed over to receive the iCBT intervention and reassessed at post-intervention and six month follow-up. The primary outcome will be clinically significant change in obsessive-compulsive symptom scores. DISCUSSION: This will be the first known therapist assisted internet-based trial of a comprehensive CBT treatment for OCD as compared to a matched control intervention. Demonstrating the efficacy of an internet-based treatment for OCD will allow the development of models of care for broad-based access to an evidence-based but complex treatment.
A prospective cohort study of the changing mental health needs of adolescents in custody
- Lennox, Charlotte, Bell, Vicky, O'Malley, Kate, Shaw, Jenny, Dolan, Mairead
- Authors: Lennox, Charlotte , Bell, Vicky , O'Malley, Kate , Shaw, Jenny , Dolan, Mairead
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: BMJ Open Vol. 3, no. 3 (2013), p.002358
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objective: To investigate changes in mental health and other needs, as well as clinical and diagnostic 'caseness', in a sample of adolescents over a 6-month period following entry into a Young Offenders Institution in the UK. Design: Prospective cohort study. Setting: One Young Offenders Institution between November 2006 and August 2009. Participants: 219 male adolescents aged 15-18 years (M=16.56; SD=0.6) were assessed at baseline (median=4; range 0-26 days following reception into custody) on the Salford Needs Assessment Schedule for Adolescents (SNASA) and Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS). Participants were then reassessed at 3-month and 6-month postbaseline to document any change in mental health. Results: Of the initial baseline sample, 132 were still in the study at 3-month postbaseline and 63 were still available for assessment at 6 months. There were no differences between those who were not available for assessment at the three key stages in terms of demographic and criminological data. Over time there was a general improvement in mental health. While the proportion of participants with a mental health need (SNASA) did not change over time, symptom severity as measured by the SNASA did reduce significantly. When we assessed diagnostic 'caseness' using the K-SADS, three young people showed significant mental health deterioration. Conclusions: In line with previous studies, we found that symptoms in prison generally improved over time. Prison may provide an opportunity for young people previously leading chaotic lifestyles to settle into a stable routine and engage with services; however, it is unclear if these would be maintained either within the prison or on release into the community.
- Description: 2003011032
Classifying excessive exercise : examining the relationship between compulsive exercise with obsessive-compulsive disorder symptoms and disordered eating symptoms
- Cosh, Suzanne, Eshkevari, Ertimiss, McNeil, Dominic, Tully, Phillip
- Authors: Cosh, Suzanne , Eshkevari, Ertimiss , McNeil, Dominic , Tully, Phillip
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: European Eating Disorders Review Vol. 31, no. 6 (2023), p. 769-780
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objective: There remains a lack of consensus around nosology for compulsive exercise (CE). Although widely observed in eating disorders (ED), CE shares theoretical overlap with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), where exercise compulsions occur in response to obsessions. Yet, there is limited and mixed evidence of a relationship between CE with OCD. This study aims to explore the appropriate diagnostic classification of CE through examination of CE in relation to OCD, obsessional thinking, and ED symptoms. Method: Two hundred and eighty one adults with mental health symptoms, dieting, and exercise behaviour completed measures of OCD, CE, and disordered eating symptoms. Regression and Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses examined relationships between dimensions of CE with OCD and ED symptoms, and the predictive ability of CE assessment for detecting threshold OCD and ED symptoms. Results: CE assessment was poor at predicting threshold OCD symptoms, probable Anorexia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder and moderate at detecting probable disordered eating and Bulimia Nervosa. Associations between CE and OCD symptoms were not significant after adjustment for ED symptoms. Obsessional thinking was associated only with lack of exercise enjoyment. Conclusions: Results indicate that excessive exercise might represent a distinct disorder, with some shared traits across CE, OCD and ED symptoms. Findings question the utility of adaptation of OCD diagnostic criteria for CE. Assessment and treatment implications are considered. © 2023 The Authors. European Eating Disorders Review published by Eating Disorders Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Authors: Cosh, Suzanne , Eshkevari, Ertimiss , McNeil, Dominic , Tully, Phillip
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: European Eating Disorders Review Vol. 31, no. 6 (2023), p. 769-780
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Objective: There remains a lack of consensus around nosology for compulsive exercise (CE). Although widely observed in eating disorders (ED), CE shares theoretical overlap with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), where exercise compulsions occur in response to obsessions. Yet, there is limited and mixed evidence of a relationship between CE with OCD. This study aims to explore the appropriate diagnostic classification of CE through examination of CE in relation to OCD, obsessional thinking, and ED symptoms. Method: Two hundred and eighty one adults with mental health symptoms, dieting, and exercise behaviour completed measures of OCD, CE, and disordered eating symptoms. Regression and Receiver Operating Characteristic analyses examined relationships between dimensions of CE with OCD and ED symptoms, and the predictive ability of CE assessment for detecting threshold OCD and ED symptoms. Results: CE assessment was poor at predicting threshold OCD symptoms, probable Anorexia Nervosa, and Binge Eating Disorder and moderate at detecting probable disordered eating and Bulimia Nervosa. Associations between CE and OCD symptoms were not significant after adjustment for ED symptoms. Obsessional thinking was associated only with lack of exercise enjoyment. Conclusions: Results indicate that excessive exercise might represent a distinct disorder, with some shared traits across CE, OCD and ED symptoms. Findings question the utility of adaptation of OCD diagnostic criteria for CE. Assessment and treatment implications are considered. © 2023 The Authors. European Eating Disorders Review published by Eating Disorders Association and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
- Burn, Michele, Lewis, Andrew, McDonald, Louise, Toumbourou, John
- Authors: Burn, Michele , Lewis, Andrew , McDonald, Louise , Toumbourou, John
- Date: 2019
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian psychologist Vol. 54, no. 4 (2019), p. 261-271
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: This is the first pilot study to examine the Australian adaptation of the Strengthening Families Program (SFP), a manualised family intervention recommended internationally in evidence reviews to improve family functioning and child mental health. The study compared two versions (8 vs. 14-session) and longitudinally evaluated outcomes for child emotional and behavioural difficulties, and parental psychological distress. Fifty-eight families from disadvantaged primary schools in regional Victoria with children 8-12-years (80.6% of initially enrolled families, 62 parents and 74 children) completed the program and evaluation measures. Measures were repeated at pre-, post-, and 3-month follow-up and included the Kessler 6, the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, and subscales adapted from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children and Communities that Care Youth Survey. The program showed significant reductions in child difficulties and parental psychological distress from pre- to post-measurements that were sustained at follow-up. Reductions in parental psychological distress were significantly associated with reductions in child difficulties at follow-up. The 8- and 14-session formats were not found to be significantly different in reducing child difficulties or parental psychological distress. Effect sizes for the Australian version were similar to those reported in previous U.S. trials. Findings support the feasibility and effectiveness of an Australian adaptation of the SFP. The current study is unique in identifying similar outcomes for shorter and longer versions of the intervention. It is recommended that the 8-session Australian version is examined in a larger randomised controlled trial where children present with behavioural and emotional problems.
Mental health at the COVID-19 frontline : an assessment of distress, fear, and coping among staff and attendees at screening clinics of rural/regional settings of Victoria, Australia
- Rahman, Muhammad Aziz, Ford, Dale, Sousa, Grace, Hedley, Lorraine, Greenstock, Louise, Cross, Wendy, Brumby, Susan
- Authors: Rahman, Muhammad Aziz , Ford, Dale , Sousa, Grace , Hedley, Lorraine , Greenstock, Louise , Cross, Wendy , Brumby, Susan
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Rural Health Vol. 38, no. 4 (2022), p. 773-787
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Purpose: Research examining psychological well-being associated with COVID-19 in rural/regional Australia is limited. This study aimed to assess the extent of psychological distress, fear of COVID-19, and coping strategies among the attendees in COVID-19 screening clinics at 2 rural Victorian settings. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during July 2020 to February 2021 inclusive. Participants were invited to fill in an online questionnaire. Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10), Fear of COVID-19 Scale, and Brief Resilient Coping Scale were used to assess psychological distress, fear of COVID-19, and coping, respectively. Findings: Among 702 total participants, 69% were females and mean age (±SD) was 49 (±15.8) years. One in 5 participants (156, 22%) experienced high to very high psychological distress, 1 in 10 (72, 10%) experienced high fear, and more than half (397, 57%) had medium to high resilient coping. Participants with mental health issues had higher distress (AOR 10.4, 95% CI: 6.25-17.2) and fear (2.56, 1.41-4.66). Higher distress was also associated with having comorbidities, increased smoking (5.71, 1.04-31.4), and alcohol drinking (2.03, 1.21-3.40). Higher fear was associated with negative financial impact, drinking alcohol (2.15, 1.06-4.37), and increased alcohol drinking. Medium to high resilient coping was associated with being ≥60 years old (1.84, 1.04-3.24) and completing Bachelor and above levels of education. Conclusion: People who had pre-existing mental health issues, comorbidities, smoked, and consumed alcohol were identified as high-risk groups for poorer psychological well-being in rural/regional Victoria. Specific interventions to support the mental well-being of these vulnerable populations, along with engaging health care providers, should be considered. © 2021 The Authors. The Journal of Rural Health published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Rural Health Association.
- Authors: Rahman, Muhammad Aziz , Ford, Dale , Sousa, Grace , Hedley, Lorraine , Greenstock, Louise , Cross, Wendy , Brumby, Susan
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Rural Health Vol. 38, no. 4 (2022), p. 773-787
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Purpose: Research examining psychological well-being associated with COVID-19 in rural/regional Australia is limited. This study aimed to assess the extent of psychological distress, fear of COVID-19, and coping strategies among the attendees in COVID-19 screening clinics at 2 rural Victorian settings. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted during July 2020 to February 2021 inclusive. Participants were invited to fill in an online questionnaire. Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K-10), Fear of COVID-19 Scale, and Brief Resilient Coping Scale were used to assess psychological distress, fear of COVID-19, and coping, respectively. Findings: Among 702 total participants, 69% were females and mean age (±SD) was 49 (±15.8) years. One in 5 participants (156, 22%) experienced high to very high psychological distress, 1 in 10 (72, 10%) experienced high fear, and more than half (397, 57%) had medium to high resilient coping. Participants with mental health issues had higher distress (AOR 10.4, 95% CI: 6.25-17.2) and fear (2.56, 1.41-4.66). Higher distress was also associated with having comorbidities, increased smoking (5.71, 1.04-31.4), and alcohol drinking (2.03, 1.21-3.40). Higher fear was associated with negative financial impact, drinking alcohol (2.15, 1.06-4.37), and increased alcohol drinking. Medium to high resilient coping was associated with being ≥60 years old (1.84, 1.04-3.24) and completing Bachelor and above levels of education. Conclusion: People who had pre-existing mental health issues, comorbidities, smoked, and consumed alcohol were identified as high-risk groups for poorer psychological well-being in rural/regional Victoria. Specific interventions to support the mental well-being of these vulnerable populations, along with engaging health care providers, should be considered. © 2021 The Authors. The Journal of Rural Health published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of National Rural Health Association.
Psychoneuroimmunology concerns of the Olympic boycotts
- Su, Zhaohui, McDonnell, Dean, Bennett, Bindi, Bentley, Barry, Ahmad, Junaid, Šegalo, Sabina, Cheshmehzangi, Ali, da Veiga, Claudimar, Xiang, Yu-Tao
- Authors: Su, Zhaohui , McDonnell, Dean , Bennett, Bindi , Bentley, Barry , Ahmad, Junaid , Šegalo, Sabina , Cheshmehzangi, Ali , da Veiga, Claudimar , Xiang, Yu-Tao
- Date: 2022
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Brain, Behaviour and Immunity Vol. 102, no. (2022), p. 206-208
- Full Text: false
- Reviewed:
- Description: Just weeks away from the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, the United States, followed by Australia, the United Kingdom, and Canada, has declared a diplomatic boycott of the Games. A diplomatic boycott stipulates that while government officials of these countries will not attend the event, the athletes’ scheduled attendance will largely remain intact. An unintended consequence of the boycotts is that they force the attending athletes to cope with the stress and distress associated with the 2022 Winter Olympics in an unfamiliar environment on their own. It is important to underscore that many of the challenges the athletes could face amid the Games are either deep-rooted or unprecedented, ranging from stressors fuelled by the nonstop media reports, the competitions, to the Omicron scares. These insights combined, in turn, underscore the imperative for effective and preemptive mental health support for Olympic athletes. To shed light on the issue, this paper highlights the reasons why timely solutions are needed to adequately safeguard Olympic athletes’ mental health and overall wellbeing, and underlines promising technology-based solutions that can be cost-effectively designed and developed for the athletes.