Jane Edwards

Improving transfer of mental health care for rural and remote consumers in South Australia

In Australia, it is commonplace for tertiary mental health care to be provided in large regional centres or metropolitan cities. Rural and remote consumers must be transferred long distances, and this inevitably results in difficulties with the integration of their care between primary and tertiary settings. Because of the need to address these issues, and improve the transfer process, a research project was commissioned by a national government department to be conducted in South Australia. The aim of the project was to document the experiences of mental health consumers travelling from the country to the city for acute care and to make policy recommendations to improve transitions of care. Six purposively sampled case studies were conducted collecting data through semistructured interviews with consumers, country professional and occupational groups and tertiary providers. Data were analysed to produce themes for consumers, and country and tertiary mental healthcare providers. The study found that consumers saw transfer to the city for mental health care as beneficial in spite of the challenges of being transferred over long distances, while being very unwell, and of being separated from family and friends. Country care providers noted that the disjointed nature of the mental health system caused problems with key aspects of transfer of care including transport and information flow, and achieving integration between the primary and tertiary settings. Improving transfer of care involves overcoming the systemic barriers to integration and moving to a primary care-led model of care. The distance consultation and liaison model provided by the Rural and Remote Mental Health Services, the major tertiary provider of services for country consumers, uses a primary care-led approach and was highly regarded by research participants. Extending the use of this model to other primary mental healthcare providers and tertiary facilities will improve transfer of care.

‘Marriage is sacred’: The religious right's arguments against ‘gay marriage’ in Australia

In 2004, the Australian government legislated to prohibit ‘gay marriage’; the religious right had lobbied vigorously for passage of this legislation. Drawing on Durkheims theory of sacred and profane, this paper examines the argument proffered by right‐wing Christians that allowing legalised unions between lesbians and between gay men would seriously undermine the institution of marriage and the family. Claims about the spectre of gays and lesbians marrying reveal a deeper unease about the status of heterosexual marriage and the nuclear family. These concerns, in turn, house a deeper unease about the nature and place of masculinity in contemporary Australian society. This disquiet about masculinity and masculine authority is isomorphic with concerns about challenges to the notion of an objective epistemological order. Marriage and nature are both sacred in Durkheimian terms because they must be radically separated from matters profane. By locating heterosexual marriage within the domain of nature, it is protected from contact with things that threaten its sacred status. However, Durkheims theory of the sacred is simultaneously an account of the exercise of ideological power. Attempts to cast heterosexual marriage as sacred and, therefore, as inviolate are inextricably linked with attempts to protect an epistemological order linked to masculine authority.

Social change and social capital in Australia: a solution for contemporary problems?

Profound social changes associated with globalization, economic rationalism and pluralism have sparked concern with social cohesiveness, integration and national identity in contemporary Australia. ‘Social capital’ is frequently invoked as the phenomenon that can restore cohesiveness and integration. However, this reading of social capital is heavily dependent on Putnam’s formulation of the concept and overlooks the earlier work of Bourdieu and Coleman. Bourdieu in particular suggests that social capital is an analytical tool to explain social stratification, not, as Putnam argues, a normative tool to enhance working together on collective goals.We review recent Australian writing on social capital and argue that it is frequently used in the way Putnam advocates and that it is theoretically and empirically inadequate to redress many of the issues facing contemporary Australia.

Understanding and encouraging greater nature engagement in Australia: results from a national survey

Interaction with nature has a range of significant health, ecological and economic benefits and a number of governments are implementing policies to increase humans’ engagement with nature. Using a large nationally representative survey sample in Australia, this study provides a detailed comment on the feasibility of such a policy, as well as contributing to an understanding of the characteristics of individuals who engaged in one or more of five dimensions of nature interaction, namely: nature engagement; conservation participation; nature advocacy; environmentally friendly purchasing and future engagement with nature conservation. The results indicate that age, income, education, marital status and household structure are all important influences on various types of nature engagement. It is suggested that increasing opportunities for young people to interact with nature is important, as well as supporting older peoples involvement in conservation, plus focusing on the need to target and direct various policies.

Is social capital good for everyone? The case of same-sex attracted women in rural South Australian communities

Abstract Social capital is attracting increasing attention, particularly as a means of improving health status. However, much of the work on social capital employs Putnam’s (1995) formulation of the concept. This view suggests social capital produces generalised benefits, thus presenting an anomaly between the higher stocks of social capital in Australian rural communities relative to urban areas, and their poorer health status. This paper presents data on the experience of same-sex attracted (SSA) women living in rural communities in South Australia. It suggests Bourdieu’s account of social capital is more theoretically and empirically compelling than that of Putnam’s, because of its capacity to explain the harmful psycho-social consequences of exclusion for those who are same-sex attracted. Moreover, the different experiences of younger and older same-sex attracted people in rural Australia indicates the need to take seriously the claim that social capital is unequally distributed and experienced in different ways. A conclusion of this paper is that blanket claims to increase and enhance social capital should be treated cautiously because of the adverse consequences for some groups.

Exploring Generational Differences Towards Water Resources and Policy Preferences of Water Re-Allocation in Alberta, Canada

It is a challenging task for policy makers to design optimal water resource management policies that accommodate increasing demand while minimizing social and environmental impacts of water extraction. We used four surveys of the general community and irrigators in Alberta’s South-Saskatchewan River Basin to explore the values people assign to water and their preferences for water re-allocation policies, focusing particularly on generational differences. The findings suggest that significant generational differences exist: with the younger generation more environmentally concerned, although it favoured less government intervention in water re-allocation. Generational differences also exist regarding residential and irrigation water use values, and in policy preferences for how to protect the environment and the rights of existing water right holders (irrigators). It was also found that urban–rural context and economic dependence (farmers versus non-farmers) on water mediate generational differences in values and preferences.

Quantifying an Integral Ecology Framework: A Case Study of the Riverina, Australia

Communities in Australia’s Murray-Darling Basin face the challenge of trying to achieve social, economic, and environmental sustainability; but experience entrenched conflict about the best way to achieve a sustainable future, especially for small rural communities. Integral ecology is a philosophical concept that seeks to address community, economic, social, and environmental sustainability simultaneously. Its inclusive processes are designed to reduce stakeholder conflict. However, to date the application of the integral ecology concept has been largely qualitative in nature. This study developed a quantitative integral ecology framework, and applied this framework to a case study of the Riverina, in the Murray-Darling Basin. Seventy-seven community-focused initiatives were assessed, ranked, and quantified. The majority of the community-focused ranked initiatives did not exhibit all aspects of integral ecology. Initiatives typically prioritized either (1) economic and community development or (2) environmental health; rarely both together. The integral ecology framework developed here enables recommendations on future community initiatives and may provide a pathway for community leaders and other policy-makers to more readily apply integral ecology objectives. Further research refining the framework’s operationalization, application and implementation to a wider-scale may enhance communities’ capacity to develop and grow sustainably.

Community and socio-economic impact of corporate purchase of water: lessons from Australia.

The introduction of water markets has caused widespread concern within irrigation communities both among irrigators and among other community members. There are two main areas of community concern. The first is associated with the export of water out of a certain location and the second is associated with the consolidation of water into larger corporate entities. This paper investigates the second area of concern. The analyses are based on extensive interviews with key informants within a community in South Australia dominated by the wine and other horticultural industries. Following the introduction of water markets this area has seen the emergence of a large number of new corporate entities or substantial expansion of existing family operations evolving into large family corporations.