Reports, Working and Technical Papers - Collected Works

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Report on the development of two search filters for retrieving the sarcoma literature: a white paper
(Flinders Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying, 2015) Lawrence, Mikaela; Tieman, Jennifer
The literature related to sarcoma is published in a diffuse range of specialist journals and is growing steadily. To expedite access to high-quality information and evidence on sarcoma, Flinders Filters partnered with Cancer Council Australia (CCA) to create a high-quality search filter that provides clinicians and others with quick and easy access to the existing sarcoma research evidence base. Both of the Sarcoma Search Filters that were developed achieved a high recall of the gold standard set, with 94.6% for the Specific Filter, and 99.8% for the Sensitive Filter. The Filters permit clinicians, researchers and others to perform a standardised, systematic search of the sarcoma literature with a known level of performance, enabling them to locate and use the best available evidence quickly and easily. Ultimately, it is hoped that the search filter described in this White Paper will help clinicians and others treat those with sarcoma more effectively by enabling access to high level, focused evidence simply by clicking a link.
Report on the development of a glaucoma search filter: a white paper
(Flinders Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying, 2014) Tieman, Jennifer; Craig, Jamie; Shaheem, Yasmine
Glaucoma is second only to cataracts as the leading cause of blindness worldwide. Despite its prevalence, clinicians and researchers may not have the skills or time required to locate the timely, high-quality evidence needed to provide the best care for patients with this condition. To facilitate access to high-quality information and evidence on glaucoma, Flinders Filters partnered with the Flinders Centre for Ophthalmology, Eye and Vision Research to create a functional, evidence-based search filter that provides clinicians and others with ‘one click’ access to a high performing literature search. This White Paper outlines the general methodology used to develop and validate a glaucoma search filter in OvidSP Medline, and translate it for PubMed. It also details the creation of a sample set of expert topic searches for glaucoma. Ultimately, it is hoped that the search filter will help clinicians and others treat those with - or at risk of – glaucoma more effectively by enabling access to high level, focused evidence simply by clicking a link.
The South Australian Mental Health Registry: Timely Actionable Insights though Big Data for Better Mental Health Outcomes
(Flinders University, 2017) Musiat, Peter; Winsall, Megan; Bidargaddi, Niranjan
In order to deliver good and cost-effective health services to the community, there is a need for tools at clinical level that assist in selecting the optimal personalised care pathways according to the individual patient’s characteristics (e.g., clinical co-morbidities, past treatments, biomarkers outcomes), as opposed to guidelines derived from population- based studies and clinical trials. Similarly at a planning level, tools that can make better sense of linked longitudinal data sets with pattern recognition capabilities can provide novel insights and dynamically result in responsive services and policies. Finally, there is a need for decision support solutions that can not only exploit the potential of information within health data sets, but can also be easily implemented to address the clinical and strategy needs of Mental Health services in South Australia. This is a proposal to develop an SA Mental Health Registry for improving outcomes of SA Mental Health Care sector through better use of data.
Don’t Let Meth Take Hold: Evaluation of a Methamphetamine Prevention Campaign
(2023-05) Northcott, Celine; Simmonds, Lucy; Bogomolova, Svetlana
This research report is developed by the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) at Flinders University, for Drug and Alcohol Services South Australia (DASSA), SA Health and other stakeholders. This research seeks to evaluate a campaign for preventing and reducing methamphetamine use, which aims to communicate recent research evidence about the long-term effects of methamphetamine on human movement. The campaign, “Don’t let meth take hold”, comprises video and out-of-home advertisement materials. The overarching aim of this research project is to assess the reach, frequency and effectiveness of the campaign. The secondary objectives of this evaluation are to collect the levels of usage and intentions to try/continue using methamphetamine, and the knowledge of negative effects of methamphetamine use at a population level, to compare with baseline data collected prelaunch in 2019. This data is provided for context only – it is not possible to determine causality between a campaign of such modest size and duration and population-level methamphetamine usage trends, which are influenced by a range of other factors, including drug supply (which has remained steady in South Australia over the past several years (Karlsson, Peacock, & Sutherland, 2022), decreasing trends in social wellbeing of South Australians (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2021) and other factors.
Evaluation of the After Hours ‘Recovery Together’ Program
(Flinders University, 2023-06) Tari-Keresztes, Noemi; Gupta, Himanshu; Armstrong, Noelene; Smith, James A.; Endemann, Sal-Amanda
This report describes the evaluation findings of the After Hours ‘Recovery Together’ Program, delivered in Darwin and Palmerston, for people who experience mental health and related challenges. It highlights the local community's need for ongoing peer support available after-hours and reflects on participants’ recovery journey, factors impacting recovery, and conceptualisations of recovery. It also describes participants’ experience of the program, its facilitation, and the areas of program impact.
Metrics, Measures and Meanings: Evaluating the CareSearch Website. RePaDD White Paper.
(2011) Tieman, Jennifer; Martin, Peter
Evaluation plays a critical role in the design, development, management and improvement of online resources. In addition to enabling developers to assess the success of a given project, the collection and review of data can help to inform decision-making about online products, activities and services. The CareSearch palliative care knowledge network is an online resource consolidating evidence and quality information for palliative care health professionals, patients and their families. This White Paper reports on the development and implementation of an evaluation framework to assess the use and usefulness of the CareSearch website. The evaluation framework comprised four focus areas - Access, Use, Usefulness and Process – and a series of activities and projects were undertaken to assess the effectiveness of the project and resource in each of these areas. Usability testing led to iterative improvements in the graphic design and site architecture, and feedback surveys helped to identify potential users who were unaware of the site and determine levels of satisfaction of existing users. Site metrics established patterns of use and areas of interest, and correspondence analysis and resource requests provided measures of quality and use. Further evaluation studies will be undertaken against this framework to show whether online delivery of information can result in changes to clinical practice. Ultimately, it is hoped that the simple conceptual framework for the evaluation of online resources described in this White Paper will contribute to a much-needed reorientation of focus - from the assessment of the content and structure of online resources to an evaluation of their purpose and utility.
The LEGO® ROBOTICS Guide: A guide to facilitating LEGO® Robotics sessions for autistic teens
(Flinders University, 2023-04) Raghavendra, Pammi; Lange, Belinda; Hobbs, David; Petticrew, Rowena; Heinze, Emma; Trembath, David; Welz, Niki; Holmes, Clare
This guide is an output of a collaborative research project between Flinders University, Autism SA, and Griffith University. The project: “Can LEGO® Robotics therapy improve the mental health and social skills of adolescents on the autism spectrum?: A Phase 1 trial,” was funded by the Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation (https://crf.org.au/). Twenty-four autistic teens between the ages of 13-16 years from four mainstream schools participated in the project. Each LEGO® Robotics group of three teens was supported by two facilitators from Autism SA, and run at schools during school hours. This guide consists of information on the LEGO® Robotics therapy program, how to form and facilitate the groups, supporting resources, learnings from the program, and a summary of the research findings.
South Australian Allied Health Rural Generalist Pathway Evaluation: Phase 4 Report
(Caring Futures Institute, Flinders University, 2023-05) Dymmott, Alison; Brebner, Chris; George, Stacey; Campbell, Narelle; Milte, Rachel; May, Jodie; Gill, Robyn
In 2019 Rural Health Workforce Strategy funding enabled the allied health rural generalist pathway (AHRGP) to be introduced in South Australian regional local health networks (LHNs) for the first time. The introduction of the pathway aimed to improve allied health workforce retention and the health and wellbeing of rural and remote South Australians through high quality allied health service provision.
Time for change: Northern CMHS workflow observation report
(2022) Patrickson, Bronwin; Bidargaddi, Niranjan; Gully, Grant; McKenzie, Isobelle
This report outlines key workflow observations at the Northern Community Mental Health Service (Northern CMHS). The study was undertaken by researchers from the Flinders University Digital Health Research Lab between July - September, 2022. The workflow observation study was designed to capture and document current work processes, with a view to identifying potential digital enhancements to Northern CMHS workflow, including potential use cases for the AI2 software programme (soon to be relaunched as the CareMappr programme). As such, the study formed a dual baseline protocol for the AI2 beta software platform which at that stage had been deployed in the Northern CMHS for testing purposes but was still under-utilised. AI2 is an Artificial Intelligence (AI) platform that identifies and flags non-adherent patients for review. The existing platform designed and developed by the team at the Digital Health Research Lab led by Associate Professor Niranjan Bidargaddi uses automated algorithms to track My Health Record (myHR) data, including medicines dispensed, to identify patient care gaps and provide alerts on a clinician dashboard.
Supporting the Grief, Loss and Bereavement Needs of Families of Older People Living in Residential Aged Care
(2021) Tieman, Jennifer; Vandersman, Priyanka; Brooksbank, Mary; Swetenham, Kate
In Australia, a significant number of families are affected by the decision to enter – and subsequent death of someone in – residential aged care. While a sense of grief and loss is common among the caregiving families of aged care residents, there is evidence that families’ experience of loss and grief can be complicated or relieved by the process of transition to aged care, and that there is scope to augment supports for people experiencing loss and grief in this setting. This White Paper reports on a project that was undertaken to understand the bereavement, grief and loss needs of the families of those living in, or entering, residential aged care in South Australia. The Project involved a systematic review of key literature pertaining to grief, loss and bereavement, interviews and focus group discussions with families, caregivers and aged care staff, and the development of electronic and print resources to help families and caregivers of people living in, or entering, residential aged care deal with their sense of grief, loss and bereavement.
"… it gave me the oomph to go and do it … or I'd still be sitting in the house 24/7.” Community Connections Program. Evaluation Report.
(Centre for Social Impact, Flinders University, 2022-08) Bogomolova, Svetlana; Eyers-White, Diana; Tan, PJ; Jardine, Bryony; Mackenzie, Catherine; Goodwin-Smith, Ian
This report presents an independent evaluation of The Community Connections Program (CCP) administered by the Department of Human Services (DHS) South Australia. CCP funds 34 government and non-government partner organisations in 12 State Government Regions to deliver short-term programs and services to support people to increase independence by building connections with communities, social networks, and services. The objective of this evaluation is to assess the effectiveness and outcomes of the early stages of implementation of CCP (nine months into the program) to inform improvements and recommissioning of CCP post June 2023. The evaluation covers data from partners’ quarterly reports (covering the period from the 1st of July 2021 to the 31st of March 2022), qualitative data from focus groups with partners and participants (separately), and R2D2 quantitative data as of the 3rd of June 2022 from 1013 program participants (195 finished the program) and 1740 referral experiences. Overall, participants were highly satisfied with CCP and how the program (and staff) assisted them to connect to services, systems, and other people. Participants noted that CCP staff were empathetic and offered immediate emotional support, guided them on their journeys, and listened to their needs.
CareSearch quality processes: Ensuring reliability and applicability across diverse stakeholder groups
(2022-09) Erny-Albrecht, Katrina; Tieman, Jennifer
CareSearch provides access to trustworthy information and resources in palliative care. At the core of this activity is the synthesis and translation of published evidence relevant to palliative care practice. Through rigorous and universally accepted processes for research evidence identification, appraisal, and synthesis CareSearch provides insights into what the evidence tells us. What works and for whom. Dissemination of this content for health professionals providing care and the broader community with or without palliative care needs is achieved through two websites; www.caresearch.com.au and www.palliaged.com.au. Although CareSearch has a broad whole of life-course focus and palliAGED is for aged care both are based on application of the CareSearch model for knowledge synthesis and translation including in-built quality processes.©
Navigating the Early Years System in South Australia: Desk-based mapping of transition points and touchpoints
(2023-02) Johnson, Brittany J; Middleton, Georgia; Hunter, Sarah C; Dutch, Dimity; Manson, Alexandra; Golley, Rebecca K
The health and wellbeing of caregivers is vital to ensure they can care for their children. It is important that caregivers themselves are supported by the Early Years System. The Early Years System encompasses the universal and targeted government and non-government policies, programs, services and supports available to children from birth to 5 years, and their families. In this report these policies, programs, services and supports are referred to as ‘touchpoints’.
Evaluation of the Social Supermarket model across three new sites: Report to Wellbeing SA.
(Flinders University, 2022-04) Pettman, Tahna; Dent, Carolyn; Goodwin-Smith, Ian; Bogomolova, Svetlana
Despite abundant food supply, individual and household food insecurity affects nearly 9% of South Australian adults [1]. Through a Public Health Partner Authority Agreement between Wellbeing SA and The Department of Human Services, the Government of South Australia is progressing policy action to improve food security. This partnership seeks to implement the recommendations of the Improving Individual and Household Food Security Outcomes in SA report [2], to create a coordinated food relief sector, and support people to move out of food insecurity. The Social Supermarket (SSM) expansion project continue to explore the potential of a local-based blended food relief service model, featuring co-located social services, social enterprise components, and employment pathways – an embodiment of the key principles of the South Australian Food Relief Charter. Following a pilot at The Food Centre (TFC, Gepps Cross) in 2020, Wellbeing SA commenced a new project in 2021, to further pilot-test the SSM model and accompanying rubric. Three new sites (two existing emergency food relief services and one community food social enterprise) participated from Southern metropolitan Adelaide, and regional South Australia. Sites were guided to do a self-assessment of their organisation’s food relief practice against the SSM rubric elements and to explore the feasibility of implementing elements of the SSM model in their practice. This report presents evaluation of the three new sites expansion
National Death Doula Roundtable
(Research Centre for Palliative Care, Death and Dying, Flinders University, 2022) Rawlings, Deb; Mills, Shyla; Miller-Lewis, Lauren; Swetenham, Kate; Tieman, Jennifer
The death doula (DD) role has emerged over the past few years and has established itself in the end-of-life care arena. While consensus has not been reached on an agreed definition of a DD, it is understood to be a non-medical role whereby support, comfort, advocacy and guidance is provided to someone who is dying and / or their family / friends. With the role growing in popularity and in numbers, the Palliative Care Australia Peaks CEO Network identified a need for increased understanding of the Death Doula role and its intersection with palliative care service delivery and patient support. This was discussed at the Australian Palliative Care Peaks CEO Network meeting, where it was agreed that Flinders University researchers who have been studying the role should be involved and that a roundtable should be held. The aim of the round table from the Australian Palliative Care Peaks CEO Network perspective was to find common ground between stakeholders, and to ultimately consider the development of a position statement around the role of DD, and guidance documents for consumers wanting to engage a DD. From the analysis of the roundtable proceedings, seven major themes were extracted from the analysis: awareness and understanding, descriptions of the death doula role, interaction and collaboration between sectors, blurring of boundaries, variation in role/practice, safeguarding and quality of care, and registration and regulation. Five minor themes were also detailed: the role of palliative care volunteers, equity of access, Voluntary Assisted Dying, training and certification; acceptance of the role.
Do we need school meals in Australia? A discussion paper
(Flinders University, 2022) Manson, Alexandra C; Johnson, Brittany J; Smith, Kylie; Dunbabin, Julie; Leahy, Deana; Graham, Amy; Gallegos, Danielle; Golley, Rebecca
Education is critical in enabling children to reach their full potential. Schools foster learning and quality educational experiences, influencing children’s long-term physical, social, mental, and emotional health and wellbeing, forming and transforming the futures of children. Healthy and confident children can fully engage in learning and maximise their potential. Over 4 million Australian children and young people attend school for 6-7 hours, 5 days a week, around 40 weeks per year from the age 4 or 5 to about 17 years. The universal reach of the school setting means that schools are well placed to support Australian children of all backgrounds and circumstances. This paper examines the role and potential for school meals as part of the broader Australian school food system. The intent is to provoke discussion with a range of school food system stakeholders about the current system, but also to stimulate a national conversation about what a novel future school meal system could be. There are many players or stakeholders responsible for components of the current school food system or could be part of an innovative approach. School meals in Australia would require a paradigm shift and will take time. The first step is to explore this proposition from all perspectives – both in favour and against - through stakeholder dialogue. This dialogue could then inform a national forum and the potential of a national cross-sector coalition to inform an innovation but workable school food model(s) for Australia.
The Australian Corneal Graft Registry 2021/22 Report
(Flinders University, 2022-05) Keane, Miriam; Coffey, Nora; Jones, Victoria; Lawson, Cecily; Mills, Richard; Williams, Keryn
The Australian Corneal Graft Registry (ACGR) opened in May 1985 and has now been operating for 37 years. Over the years, we have collected information on more than 40,000 corneal grafts. At registration, we seek information on the donor, eye bank practices, the recipient, the surgeon, the graft type and the operative procedure. Follow-up then occurs at approximately yearly intervals for an indefinite period, and ceases upon graft failure, or the death or loss-to-follow-up of the patient. At each round of follow-up, we request information on the survival of the graft, the visual outcomes, and relevant post-operative events and treatments. We have analysed all grafts performed up to 31-12-2020 and registered with the Australian Corneal Graft Registry up to a census date of 31-03-2021. Penetrating keratoplasties (PKs), traditional lamellar keratoplasties (TLKs), deep anterior lamellar keratoplasties (DALKs), and the various forms of endothelial cell keratoplasty (DSEKs/DSAEKs and DMEKs) have been examined separately.
Navigating the Early Years System in South Australia: Exploring the Caregiver Journey from Multiple Perspectives
(Flinders University, 2022-07) Middleton, Georgia; Hunter, Sarah C.; Johnson, Brittany J.; Golley, Rebecca
To optimise the health, development and social outcomes of children, their caregivers and families, there needs to be an Early Years System that is accessible and equitable. To support this, this report aligns with Wellbeing SA’s priority action areas of working in partnership, scoping current evidence and initiatives, and supporting actions that focus on promoting health and wellbeing of caregivers (Wellbeing SA, 2020). This was achieved through examining how, from a range of stakeholder perspectives, Australian caregivers access and engage with the South Australian Early Years System.
Middle aged and older adults’ perspectives of their own home environment: A qualitative systematic review protocol
(College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, 2021) Dalistan, Roslyn; Laver, Kate
The number of middle and older aged Australians is projected to grow steadily over the coming decades (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2018). The ageing of the population places immense pressure on public spending associated with the rising health costs and the ability of the health system to serve more numbers needing care Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, 2014). Due to health, economic and social circumstances faced by all Australians, the diversity of the older Australian population results in a complex range of circumstances access the ageing spectrum. The importance of open discussions with older people about how to remain in their own home is an increasingly important area of practice (Atwal, Spiliotopoulou, Plastow, McIntyre, & McKay, 2012; Kramer & Pfaffenbach, 2015). By understanding what home means to older people and the impact that changes towards their home environment can make, it is important in formulating strategies associated with ageing to ensure older people can remain at home as long as possible.
A community food education model for South Australia: a research briefing paper
(Centre for Social Impact, Flinders University, 2022-11) Pettman, Tahna; Dent, Carolyn; McKinley, Kelly; Goodwin-Smith, Ian; Bogomolova, Svetlana
This briefing paper by the Centre for Social Impact (CSI) Flinders responds to an initiative of Wellbeing SA to scope a community food education model for South Australia (SA). This paper directly addresses the recommendations in the Improving Individual and Household Food Security Outcomes in South Australia Final Report (Government of South Australia, 2018). Information on a diverse range of initiatives was synthesised from 102 published articles and 13 SA initiatives from the food relief sector, community centres, local governments, social enterprises, and other for-purpose/non-government organisations. There were several common ways to deliver community food education, which are presented in a 'typology' of three types: Curriculum initiatives, Capacity building initiatives and Community development initiatives, along with recommendations and opportunities.

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