James Shearer, Alex D. Wodak and Kate A. Dolan
The study evaluated the introduction of naltrexone in an Australian prison system for imprisoned male heroin users. Treatment outcomes were analysed for two sub‐samples taken from…
Abstract
The study evaluated the introduction of naltrexone in an Australian prison system for imprisoned male heroin users. Treatment outcomes were analysed for two sub‐samples taken from an unsuccessful randomised controlled trial. The first sample comprised 68 participants who were randomly allocated to naltrexone treatment. The second sample comprised 47 participants who commenced opioid pharmacotherapy during the study period. Thirteen per cent of subjects started naltrexone, with only 7% retained in treatment at six months. Six‐month retention was significantly lower in naltrexone compared to methadone (p = 0.0007). Poor patient acceptability and retention did not support oral naltrexone maintenance in this treatment group.
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Anthony Shakeshaft, Julia Fawcett, Richard P. Mattick, Robyn Richmond, Alex Wodak, Mark F. Harris and Christopher M. Doran
The purpose of this research is to explore the feasibility of using patient‐driven, hand‐held computers in primary care settings, in order to address the apparent failure to…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this research is to explore the feasibility of using patient‐driven, hand‐held computers in primary care settings, in order to address the apparent failure to implement prevention initiatives into the routine delivery of health care services.
Design/methodology/approach
During an eight‐day period, patients of an English primary care practice who were at least 16 years of age were asked to complete a health‐related survey using a hand‐held computer. They received tailored, on‐screen feedback.
Findings
A total of 143 patients (approximately 55 per cent of all patients) began using a hand‐held computer, of whom 115 (80 per cent) answered all questions. Of these, 24 per cent reported being smokers, 7 per cent and 19 per cent were at‐risk of alcohol harm in the long and short term respectively and 14 per cent rated their overall health as poor or very poor. Most patients rated their level of satisfaction with the hand‐helds as excellent (36 per cent), very good (29 per cent) or good (24 per cent), while 89 per cent agreed to their primary care physician seeing a summary of their feedback.
Originality/value
This is the first study to evaluate the feasibility of using hand‐held computers to conduct patient screening and feedback in primary care settings.
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The purpose of this paper is to inform readers of developments in drug policy debate in Australia following the publication of the Global Commission Report. To explain the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to inform readers of developments in drug policy debate in Australia following the publication of the Global Commission Report. To explain the activities, discussions and findings of events organised by the Australian NGO Australia21. To provide some key contextual information and references.
Design/methodology/approach
Overview of international situation following publication of Global Commission Report. Summary of current Australian national policy and its origins. Summary of recent national reports and their impact on policy. Account of NGO reports and recommendations.
Findings
Civil society agencies have entered national debate on drug policy and recommended an abandonment of prohibition-based approaches, using the Global Commission Report as a catalyst. First steps have been taken to introduce this debate into the Australian parliament.
Research limitations/implications
Incomplete knowledge of relevant national documentation.
Practical implications
Probable delay in government developing debate and acting on recommendations in an election year.
Originality/value
Case study of developments and debate in one jurisdiction resulting from Global Commission Report. Aligns with similar debate and moves in other nations. Adds to knowledge of developments which challenge existing international policy debate and practical approaches which reject prohibition.
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Prison officers face multiple occupational hazards including needlestick injuries, which may result in the transmission of blood‐borne viral infections. This study aimed to assess…
Abstract
Prison officers face multiple occupational hazards including needlestick injuries, which may result in the transmission of blood‐borne viral infections. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of needlestick injuries, the circumstances under which needlestick injuries occur and the responses of injured prison officers. Cross‐sectional data were collected from prison officers in two Australian jurisdictions between January and May 2006, using a self‐report questionnaire. Descriptive analyses were conducted. Of 246 prison officers who completed the survey, two‐thirds had found needles and syringes in the workplace. Seventeen officers (7%) reported having experienced a needlestick injury. Most injuries occurred during searches. Serological testing for blood‐borne viral infections following injury was common, but less than half the injured officers accessed support services. Needlestick injuries appear to be a relatively rare occurrence, but may be further reduced by improving search techniques and equipment and regulating needles and syringes in prisons.
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This chapter asks: How do COVID-19 conspiracy theories about Bill Gates work? In order to provide an answer, it analyses social media artefacts that make conspiratorial claims…
Abstract
This chapter asks: How do COVID-19 conspiracy theories about Bill Gates work? In order to provide an answer, it analyses social media artefacts that make conspiratorial claims about Bill Gates such as the ones that he manufactured the virus, makes money from COVID-19 vaccines, plans to dominate the world and erect a dictatorship, and implants surveillance microchips into humans via COVID-19 vaccinations. The focus is on artefacts that have massively spread and have reached high visibility on social media and the Internet. A critical discourse analysis was conducted of this material.
The findings show that and how COVID-19 conspiracy theories construct the existence of a secret elite that dominates the world, use ideological strategies such as the personalisation of domination, the friend/enemy scheme, rational irrationality and logical determinism. COVID-19 conspiracy theories are a necrophilic ideology, an ideology of death that advances death and increases the number of deaths. This pandemic ideology tries to convince humans that vaccines are harmful and that COVID-19 is a hoax, whereby human misery is advanced. COVID-19 conspiracy theories are to a large degree a right-wing ideology.
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This paper aims to investigate three promotional publications produced by the Postum Cereal Company – A Trip Through Postumville (1920), How I Make Postum (1924) and The Wonderful…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate three promotional publications produced by the Postum Cereal Company – A Trip Through Postumville (1920), How I Make Postum (1924) and The Wonderful Lunch Boxes (1925) – with the aim of understanding how language and other semiotic resources are used to promote its products as good and healthy choices.
Design/methodology/approach
The three publications were collected from the HathiTrust Digital Library and University of South Florida Tampa Special Collections. They were subjected to multimodal critical discourse analysis to tease out their subtle characteristics and how a combination of language, image, colour, typography and composition are used to represent certain ideas and values related to health and well-being.
Findings
The publications subscribe to three distinct genres – “inside the factory”, “friendly spokesperson” and “fictional world” – each of which are aimed at different target audiences. The first seeks to promote Postum as an open and transparent company; the second to promote Postum as a company that cares about its consumers; and the third to promote the health benefits of Postum in a fun and accessible manner. Nonetheless, they are united in their overall objective to link the regular consumption of Postum as essential for good health.
Originality/value
To date, few studies have been conducted on the Postum Cereal Company, while the limited research conducted on promotional publications has tended to overlook discourses of health and well-being. The three genres outlined in this study, thus, have the potential to foster a reappraisal of promotional publications and showcase their ability to offer new understandings on historical approaches to marketing, particularly the link with health and science.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the diverse rendering of the idea of nation and the role of universities in nation-building in the 1950s Murray and Hughes Parry…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the diverse rendering of the idea of nation and the role of universities in nation-building in the 1950s Murray and Hughes Parry Reports in Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand. This paper provides trans-Tasman comparisons that reflect the different national and international interests, positioning of science and the humanities and desired academic and student subject positions and power relations.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper adopts a Foucauldian genealogical approach that is informed by Wodak’s (2011) historical discourse analysis in order to analyse the reports’ discursive constructions of the national role of universities, the positioning of science and humanities and the development of desired academics and student subjectivities and power relations.
Findings
The analysis reveals the different positioning of Australia and Aotearoa/New Zealand in relation to the Empire and the Cold War. It also demonstrates how Australian national interests were represented in these reports as largely economic and defence related, while Aotearoa/New Zealand national interests were about economic, social and cultural nation-building. These differences were also matched by diverse weightings attached to university science and the humanities education. There is also a hailing of traditional, enlightenment-inspired discourses about desired academic and student subjectivities and power relations in Australia that contrasts with the emergence of early traces of more contemporary discourses about equity and diversity in universities in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Originality/value
The paper demonstrates the value of transnational analysis in contributing to historiography about university education. The Foucauldian discourse analysis approach extends existing Australian historiography about universities during this period and represents a key contribution to Aotearoa/New Zealand historiography that has explored academic and student subjectivities to a lesser extent.
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Samuel R. Friedman and Gary Reid
Argues that strong social analysis can make a large contribution to understanding and fighting HIV/AIDS plus other infective diseases. Contends a global perspective is necessary…
Abstract
Argues that strong social analysis can make a large contribution to understanding and fighting HIV/AIDS plus other infective diseases. Contends a global perspective is necessary to rethink our approach to infections as, globally, the virus seems to be strengthening, generally. Describes, through case studies, the transition of HIV outbreaks in South Africa, Eastern Europe, Russia, and Indonesia. Makes the case that HIV/AIDS is deeply tied up in fundamental structure and processes.