This paper presents the recent findings from a study on the postdiagnosis support needs of women with breast cancer living in rural and remote Queensland. The findings presented in this discussion focus on support needs from the perspective of the women experiencing breast cancer as well as health service providers. The tyranny of distance imposes unique hardships, such as separation from family and friends, during a time of great vulnerability for treatment, the need to travel long distances for support and follow-up services, and extra financial burdens, which can combine to cause strains on the marital relationship and family cohesion. Positive indications are, however, that the rural communities operate on strong, informal networks of support. This network of family, friends and community can, and does, play an active role in the provision of emotional and practical support.
The findings presented in this paper are part of a research project designed to provide a preliminary indication of the support needs of postdiagnosis women with breast cancer in remote and isolated areas in Queensland. This discussion will present data that focuses on the women's expressed personal concerns. For participants in this research a diagnosis of breast cancer involves a confrontation with their own mortality and the possibility of a reduced life span. This is a definite life crisis, creating shock and needing considerable adjustment. Along with these generic issues the participants also articulated significant issues in relation to their experience as women in a rural setting. These concerns centred around worries about how their partner and families cope during their absences for treatment, the additional burden on the family of having to cope with running the property or farm during the participant's absence or illness, added financial strain brought about by the cost of travel for treatment, maintenance of properties during absences, and problems created by time off from properties or self-employment. These findings accord with other reports of health and welfare services for rural Australian and the generic literature on psycho-oncology studies of breast cancer.
MatCH (Mothers and their Children's Health) is a nationwide Australian study to investigate the links between the history of health, wellbeing and living conditions of mothers and the health and development of their children. MatCH builds on the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (ALSWH), which began in 1996 and has surveyed more than 58,000 women in four nationally representative age cohorts. MatCH focuses on the three youngest offspring of the cohort of ALSWH participants randomly sampled from all women in Australia born in 1973-78 (N=5780 children of N=3039 mothers). These women, who had completed up to seven postal or online surveys since 1996, were invited in 2016-17 to complete surveys about the health and development of their three youngest children aged under 13. The mothers reported on their children's health conditions and symptoms, diet, anthropometric measures, childcare, screen time, physical activity, temperament, behaviour, language development, motor development and health service utilisation, as well as household and environmental factors. These data are being linked with each child's records from official sources including the Australian Early Development Census (collected at age five to six), the National Assessment Program -Literacy and Numeracy (collected at age eight, 10, 12 and 14) and other external datasets. MatCH will combine 20 years of maternal data with all the information on her children, taking into account the family setting. MatCH offers an unprecedented opportunity to advance our understanding of the relationship between maternal health and wellbeing and child health and development.
The Queensland branch of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP) commissioned this study to update their workforce profile and examine rural practice. The present investigation aimed to describe characteristics of Queensland physicians and determine the influence of childhood and training locations on current rural practice. A cross-sectional online survey, conducted 4 July-4 November 2013, was administered to Fellows of The RACP, Queensland. Descriptive statistics report characteristics and logistic regression analyses identify associations and interactions. The outcome measure was current practice location using the Australian Standard Geographic Classification - Remoteness Area. Data were obtained for 633 physicians. Their average age was 49.5 years, a third was female and a quarter was in rural practice. Rural practice was associated with a rural childhood (odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval, CI) 1.89 (1.10, 3.27) P = 0.02) and any time spent as an intern (OR 4.07 (2.12, 7.82) P < 0.001) or registrar (OR 4.00 (2.21, 7.26) P < 0.001) in a rural location. Physicians with a rural childhood and rural training were most likely to be in rural practice. However, those who had a metropolitan childhood and a rural internship were approximately five times more likely to be working in rural practice than physicians with no rural exposure (OR 5.33 (1.61, 17.60) P < 0.01). The findings demonstrate the positive effect of rural vocational training on rural practice. A prospective study would determine if recent changes to the Basic Physician Training Pathway and the Basic Paediatric Training Network (more rural training than previous pathways) increases the rate of rural practice.
<p>Studies examining the health of military personnel deployed overseas have been published by research teams in the United States and the United Kingdom. This research has examined the effects of combat on the mental and physical health of those who have been deployed.1-8 Recently, a research program on the health of deployed personnel began in Australia.9,10 Here we present data from the 2007 Solomon Islands Health Study, which focuses on a peace-keeping deployment between 2003 and 2005. We draw comparisons with data from major contemporaneous post-deployment epidemiological cohort studies from the United States and the United Kingdom, where deployments were in the same global political environment, but with greatly differing local hazards and exposures. These studies have particularly focused on the rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and alcohol abuse, which are recognized as major adverse health effects of deployment.</p> <h4>ABOUT THE AUTHORS</h4> <p>Annabel McGuire, PhD; Michael Waller, MSc; Colleen Loos, MedSci; Christine McClintock, PhD; Lisa Nielsen, Grad. Dip. Public Health; Susan A. Treloar, PhD; Annette Dobson PhD, are at the University of Queensland, Centre for Military and Veterans’ Health. Alexander C. McFarlane, MD, FRANZCP, is at the University of Adelaide, Centre for Military and Veterans’ Health. Catherine D’Este, PhD, is at University of Newcastle, Australia.</p> <p>Address correspondence to: Annabel McGuire, PhD, University of Queensland, Centre for Military and Veterans’ Health, Mayne Medical School QLD 4072 Australia; fax 61 7 3346 5239; or e-mail <a href="mailto:a.mcguire@uq.edu.au">a.mcguire@uq.edu.au</A>.</p> <p>Dr. McGuire, Mr. Waller, Ms. Loos, Dr. McClintock, Prof. McFarlane, Ms. Nielsen, Assoc. Prof. Treloar, Prof. Dobson, and Prof. D’Este have disclosed no relevant financial relationships.</p> <p>Acknowledgments: The research on which this paper is based was undertaken as part of the Deployment Health Surveillance Program, conducted by the Centre for Military and Veterans’ Health, the University of Queensland, and the University of Adelaide. The authors are grateful to the Australian Government Department of Defence for funding and to those men and women who are currently serving, those who served, and who provided the survey data. We are indebted to the current and past members of the Scientific Research Team.</p> <h4>EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES</h4> <ol><li>Identify factors that minimize the development of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in deployed service members. </li> <li>Review the differences between Australian, United States, and United Kingdom service members’ rates of PTSD and alcohol abuse. </li> <li>Identify the measures used to assess the health and well-being of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). </li></ol>
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
hi@scite.ai
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.