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Overwhelming evidence reveals the close link between unwarranted weight gain among childbearing women and childhood adiposity. Yet current barriers limit the capacity of perinatal health care providers (PHCPs) to offer healthy lifestyle counselling. In response, today's Internet savvy women are turning to online resources to access health information, with the potential of revolutionising health services by enabling PHCPs to guide women to appropriate online resources. This paper presents the findings of a project designed to develop an online resource to promote healthy lifestyles during the perinatal period. The methodology involved focus groups and interviews with perinatal women and PHCPs to determine what online information was needed, in what form, and how best it should be presented. The outcome was the development of the Healthy You, Healthy Baby website and smartphone app. This clinically-endorsed, interactive online resource provides perinatal women with a personalised tool to track their weight, diet, physical activity, emotional wellbeing, and sleep patterns based on the developmental stage of their child with links to quality-assured information. One year since the launch of the online resource, data indicates it provides a low-cost intervention delivered across most geographic and socioeconomic strata without additional demands on health service staff.

Considerable investigation of barriers had not elucidated options to improve care or outcomes.

Unhealthy weight gain and retention during pregnancy and postpartum is detrimental to mother and child. Although various barriers limit the capacity for perinatal health care providers (PHCPs) to offer healthy lifestyle counselling, they could guide women to appropriate online resources. This paper presents a project designed to provide online information to promote healthy lifestyles in the perinatal period. Focus groups or interviews were held with 116 perinatal women and 76 PHCPs to determine what online information perinatal women and PHCPs want, in what form, and how best it should be presented. The results indicated that women wanted smartphone applications (apps) linked to trustworthy websites containing short answers to everyday concerns; information on local support services; and personalised tools to assess their nutrition, fitness and weight. Suggestions for improvement in these lifestyle areas should be practical and tailored to the developmental stage of their child. PHCPs wanted evidence-based, practical information, presented in a simple, engaging, interactive form. The outcome was a clinically endorsed website and app that health professionals could recommend. Preliminary evaluation showed that 10.5% of pregnant women in Western Australia signed up to the app. Use of the app appeared to be equitable across urban and rural areas of low to middle socioeconomic status.

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Objective: Increasingly, researchers are required to obtain active parental consent prior to surveying children and adolescents in schools. This study assessed the potential bias present in a sample of actively consented students, and in the estimates of associations between variables obtained from this sample.Methods: 3,496 students from 36 non-government metropolitan schools completed an online baseline survey in 2010 as part of the Cyber Friendly Schools Project in Perth, WA. Students with active (35%) and passive (65%) parental consent were compared on a range of variables including demographic, bullying and social-emotional outcomes. The moderating effects of consent status on associations between the bullying and other outcomes were tested. Results:The students with active parental consent were underrepresented among those students involved in problem behaviours such as bullying others, they were also more likely to have lower prosocial scores and academic scores and live with one parent who was older than other parents.. Consent status was found to be a significant moderator of the associations between bullying victimisation and certain social-emotional variables. Conclusions and Implications:Active only parental consent leads to biased samples and estimates of associations between outcomes of interest. Strategies to boost response rates to levels sufficient to warrant the conduct of the research are labour-intensive and costly, and the obtained samples are still likely to be biased. For low risk research, such as the completion of health surveys, rigorous active-?passive consent procedures which result in higher participation rates, lower costs and reduced burden on teachers and schools, are preferred.

Indigenous populations around the world have significantly poorer oral health and inequalities in access to dental care largely attribute to the social determinants of health. Reviewing international literature offers an opportunity to better understand appropriate approaches for policy and practice in Australia. This article is a descriptive narrative review based on primary research literature discussing informative international approaches to Indigenous dental care. Approaches identified in the literature included integration of dentistry with primary health care and traditional practice, training and use of oral health professionals and approaches used at different stages of life, particularly in the management of early childhood caries. The international literature provides a range of approaches to Indigenous oral health. Tailored, culturally appropriate family and community based initiatives that address the multidisciplinary issues confronting Indigenous communities were most highly regarded.Keywords: Indigenous, approaches to care, dental care, international, review, volunteers.Abbreviations and acronyms: ART = atraumatic restorative technique; DHAT = dental health aide therapist; ECC = early childhood caries; OHP = oral health professional; PCC = patient-centred care; WHO = World Health Organization.

Background: Many nations are facing a demographic shift in the age profile of their population, leading the World Health Organization to a 'Call for Public Health Action' on the oral health of older people. Methods: A search of the literature relevant to geriatric dentistry teaching was undertaken using MEDLINE, Web of Science, Eric and Psychlit. A search of dental professional school websites in Australia and policy and international practice documents was undertaken. Results: The international literature describes requirements for geriatric dentistry courses and various approaches to teaching, including didactic teaching, practical experiences and external placements. Challenges are identified in the area of geriatric dental education. Educational institutions (with others) have an obligation to lead change, yet there appears to be little formal recognition in Australian dental curricula of the need to develop quality education and research programmes in geriatric dentistry. Conclusions: Internationally, the inclusion of geriatrics within dental curricula has been the subject of consideration since the 1970s. The current evidence indicates that geriatrics/gerodontology is not a significant component of dental curricula. Given the projected age distribution in many countries, the need for implementation of dental curriculum content in the area of geriatrics/gerodontology is evident.