Australian social gerontology entered a new stage of development in the 1980s with the establishment of a number of research projects and educational programmes. The aim of this paper is to make a systematic review of the recent research literature and identify research achievements and knowledge gaps. A total of 158 research articles published in overseas and Australian academic journals are reviewed in terms of source of publication, author institutional affiliation, content and theoretical orientation, and research approaches. The findings show a steady increase In the volume of published material but a number of theoretical and methodological issues need further analysis. Notable gaps are in the psychological aspects of ageing, research by allied health professionals, studying ageing from a political economy perspective, and multi‐disciplinary and multi‐method approaches.
The purpose of this study was to analyse, by electromyographic technique, abdominal muscle activity in exercises commonly advocated as being effective in improving abdominal muscle performance. In general exercises from the lying position were found to involve the rectus abdominis and oblique muscles more than those exercises from standing, sitting or kneeling positions. Further, among exercises from lying, 'trunk on legs' and 'trunk plus legs' involved these muscles more than 'legs on trunk' exercises. With pregnancy and in the puerperium there was a change in the pattern of abdominal muscle involvement in exercises from the lying position, suggesting that the traditional division of exercise lists into 'antenatal' and 'postnatal' is not optimal: the demarcation "circumnatal" (around the time of birth) and "abnatal" (remote from the time of birth) would appear to be more appropriate. Details are given of the method of assessment of exercises, data analysis and interpretation of results. The findings have implications for the selection of exercises for clinical Use in obstetric physiotherapy.
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