Background and Aims: Working conditions are an important health determinant. Employment factors can negatively affect mental health (MH), but there is little research on MH risk factors in male-dominated industries (MDI). Method: A systematic review of risk factors for anxiety and depression disorders in MDI was undertaken. MDI comprised ≥ 70% male workers and included agriculture, construction, mining, manufacturing, transport and utilities. Major electronic databases (CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Informit, PsycINFO, PubMed and Scopus) were searched. Each study was categorised according to National Health and Medical Research Council's hierarchy of evidence and study quality was assessed according to six methodological criteria. Results: Nineteen studies met the inclusion criteria. Four categories of risk were identified: individual factors, team environment, work conditions and work–home interference. The main risk factors associated with anxiety and depression in MDI were poor health and lifestyles, unsupportive workplace relationships, job overload and job demands. Some studies indicated a higher risk of anxiety and depression for blue-collar workers. Conclusion: Substantial gaps exist in the evidence. Studies with stronger methodologies are required. Available evidence suggests that comprehensive primary, secondary and tertiary prevention approaches to address MH risk factors in MDI are necessary. There is a need for organisationally focused workplace MH policies and interventions.

Background. Indigenous alcohol and other drug (AOD) workers

No abstract

Background: Considerable attention has been focused on the impact of young people’s alcohol use. To address this, schools often implement alcohol and drug education and there are many potential programmes to choose from. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify evidence-based alcohol education programmes for schools. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken of school-based programmes that targeted alcohol within a school setting and included at least one alcohol behaviour or knowledge change outcome. Six-hundred seventy-five abstracts were screened resulting in 454 studies assessed for eligibility, with 70 studies, evaluating 40 individual programmes, included in the final review. Results: Of the 40 programmes, 3 had good evidence of a positive effect. They included CLIMATE Schools (Australia), Project ALERT (USA) and All Stars (USA). Of the others, 4 showed some evidence of positive effect, 1 had no evidence of effect, 29 were inconclusive and 2 showed negative outcomes, such as increases in alcohol use. Although many programmes were evaluated, very few had sufficient evidence to be able to endorse their widespread implementation in schools. Conclusion: Three programmes included in the review had sufficient positive outcomes to be recommended for implementation, and four showed good outcomes in some areas. Schools should consider these results when deciding on introducing alcohol education. Overall, the evidence base is broad but relatively weak and further research is required, focusing on programmes identified as having good or potentially good outcomes.

No abstract

This paper explores issues relating to access to physical and mental health care for people with mental health problems in light of Australia's endorsement in 2008 of the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which established the right to health and to health care. Interviews were conducted with 10 key stakeholders with legal, policy, clinical and advocacy roles within South Australia and at a national and international level. Participants identified several barriers to the achievement of the right to health for people with mental illness, with discussion highlighting the legal definition of rights, governance of health and mental health, and structural barriers to receipt of care as the primary barriers. The data are explored in relation to social models of disability.

No abstract

The paper analyses the policy process which enabled the successful adoption of Australia's National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Plan 2013–2023 (NATSIHP), which is grounded in an understanding of the Social Determinants of Indigenous Health (SDIH). Ten interviews were conducted with key policy actors directly involved in its development. The theories we used to analyse qualitative data were the Advocacy Coalition Framework, the Multiple Streams Approach, policy framing and critical constructionism. We used a complementary approach to policy analysis. The NATSIHP acknowledges the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter, Aboriginal) culture and the health effects of racism, and explicitly adopts a human-rights-based approach. This was enabled by a coalition campaigning to ‘Close the Gap’ (CTG) in health status between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. The CTG campaign, and key Aboriginal health networks associated with it, operated as an effective advocacy coalition, and policy entrepreneurs emerged to lead the policy agenda. Thus, Aboriginal health networks were able to successfully contest conventional problem conceptions and policy framings offered by government policy actors and drive a paradigm shift for Aboriginal health to place SDIH at the centre of the NATSIHP policy. Implications of this research for policy theory and for other policy environments are considered along with suggestions for future research.