Lynne Hancock

“A little encouragement”: health services and domestic violence

The aim of this study was to identify those elements of health care which women who have experienced domestic violence consider to represent quality care and explore opportunities for an area health service to improve its service delivery to these women. To do this nine focus groups were conducted with six urban and three rural groups, recruited from Womens Support Services and Refuges, and 65 women participated. A trained facilitator conducted the focus groups with a representative from each participating organisation. Audiotapes were transcribed then coded using a thematic analysis approach. Analysis of the tapes revealed six opportunities for improvement of health services. Improve services to Aboriginal women; increase access to services; promote available services; improve the health service environment; educate service providers; and provide specialist health services. A major theme to emerge was the importance of a supportive environment where women were supported to make choices for their future.

Agreement between two measures of drug use in a low-prevalence population.

The present study examined the agreement between two measures of prevalence of drug use in the community: self-report and specific pharmacological analyses of urine samples. The data were collected in the context of a random community survey of health practices and attitudes. A random 20% of the households participating in the health study were targeted for biochemical assay. Compliance with urine delivery was relatively high at 79%. Urine samples were screened qualitatively for cannabinoids and benzodiazepines using the enzyme multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT) (Syva Diagnostics, Palo Alto, CA). Screening for pharmaceuticals used a standard thin-layer chromatography (TLC) technique. Agreement between the self-report and biochemical assay estimates of prevalence was statistically significant (p less than .05). While self-report of substance use is not a perfect measure of consumption, it remains a relatively economical and reasonably accurate method of obtaining estimates of substance use in community samples.

Contrasting views of staff and patients regarding psychosocial care for Australian women who miscarry: a hospital based study

The objectives of this study were to assess the psychosocial needs of women following miscarriage and to describe what changes should be made to improve their hospital care.

Knowledge of cancer risk reduction practices in rural towns of New South Wales

Abstract: The Australian Cancer Society has published guidelines for recommended risk reduction strategies for breast, cervical, smoking‐related and skin cancer. While knowledge may not be sufficient for change, it is argued to be necessary for change to occur. A measure of the level of health knowledge in the community can be useful for health promotion practitioners, identifying where health messages are not reaching their proposed targets. Our aims were to examine the level of knowledge about risk reduction practices for breast, cervical, smoking‐related and skin cancers, for a rural New South Wales sample, and to examine sex and age effects on knowledge levels. A survey of 2846 women and 1732 men from rural New South Wales, which used an unprompted recall strategy, revealed some notable deficits in recall of cancer risk reduction practices: only 26 per cent of women identified mammograms as a risk reduction strategy for breast cancer; only 5 per cent of women knew at which ages mammograms should start and stop; only 6 per cent of women could identify when Pap tests should be discontinued; less than half of the sample could identify common solar protection strategies; and less than one‐third of people identified passive smoking as a lung cancer risk.

Cervical cancer screening in rural NSW: Health Insurance Commission data compared to self‐report

There are several sources of data for estimates of community Pap test rates, including self‐report, pathology laboratory records and Health Insurance Commission (HIC) data. Estimates of screening rates can vary considerably according to the sampling frame and data source. This study aimed to compare the self‐reported estimates of cervical cancer screening with HIC estimates for women in rural NSW towns. Self‐report of a Pap test in the past two years from 2,498 women in 19 rural towns of NSW was compared to HIC‐provided Pap test rates. Self‐report levels were adjusted for non‐HIC providers and HIC levels included data from the Victorian Cytology Register. Self‐report estimates were significantly higher than HIC estimates in 18 of the 19 towns, with discrepancies ranging from 13% to 29%. HIC‐recorded providers accounted for between 65% and 100% of Pap tests per town, according to self‐report. The highest Pap test rate by self‐report was 70.1%, the highest by HIC was 49.2%. The lowest Pap test rate by self‐report was 45.2%, the lowest by HIC was 26.1%. There was significant variation in Pap test rates between towns for adjusted self‐report estimates, but not for the crude self‐report estimates. Researchers should always be aware of both the possible variations according to data source and the inherent biases for whichever data source is used. An extra caution is given to consider the public/private provider profile when exploring possible geographical differences in Pap test rates.