Rebekkah Middleton

Why patients attend emergency departments for conditions potentially appropriate for primary care: Reasons given by patients and clinicians differ

Objectives:  To compare reasons identified by clinical staff for potential primary care attendances to the ED with those previously identified by patients.

Active learning and leadership in an undergraduate curriculum: How effective is it for student learning and transition to practice?

Nurses are being increasingly asked to develop leadership skills in their practice and to be actively involved in continuous change processes in the workplace. Nursing students need to be developing leadership skills prior to entering the workplace to ensure they are able to meet the challenges associated with organisations and the cultures present in nursing, along with having highly tuned communication skills and leadership attributes that contribute to best patient care and outcomes. This paper looks at how the use of Active Learning in an undergraduate setting enabled the development and implementation of a leadership subject for nursing students preparing for professional practice. Through the use of a specific model of Active Learning, incorporating multiple intelligences into education allows students to bring deeper learning to their conscience so that whole person learning is an engaged experience. It seems apparent that Active Learning is an effective means of learning about leadership in undergraduate students who are developing towards a career as a health professional.

Motivation to engage in therapeutic recreation programmes for older people with diabetes

ABSTRACT Therapeutic Recreation programmes have been shown to have positive benefits for control of diabetes and its complications). As with most health promotion programmes, a major consideration for success of such programmes is the initiation into, and continuing participation of, individuals into programmes. Given the poor outcomes of diabetes on morbidity and mortality, understanding how to engage older people with diabetes in ways that are meaningful to them, is essential to ensure active and sustainable participation in the activities that can reduce these poor health outcomes. This study considers older people with diabetes, completing a Therapeutic Recreation (TR) programme and uses a phenomenological approach to examine the factors described as influential in encouraging their initial engagement in the programme.

An effective leisure program for older people with diabetes

ABSTRACT This paper will present findings from a research study, undertaken in Australia, to explore the meaning that older people with diabetes attribute to being involved in an exercise and health promotion leisure programme. A phenomenological approach was adopted to identify what participants perceived was meaningful to them about the experience of being involved in a leisure programme. Semi-structured interviews and a focus group were conducted with participants following the facilitation of a leisure intervention, which incorporated individualized physical activity and lifestyle education over a 12-week period. The primary goal of the intervention was to enhance the health and wellness of people with diabetes. A number of themes emerged from the analysis of participant interview and focus group transcripts. The overarching theme, and critical point of difference, identified in this research study, of effective leisure programmes for health and wellness purposes, is person-centeredness. This essence of meaning, person-centered programme efficacy is explored as a key to ensuring the effective design, promotion and delivery of leisure programmes for older people with diabetes. Since determination of an effective leisure programme can only be established by those involved, the expertise of the participants on their own journey is recognized throughout this presentation by privileging their voices and presenting their words, thereby allowing the findings to be contextualized through the lens of the participants. It is anticipated that exploration of these findings can lead to better understanding how participant engagement particularly of older people, in other health promotion leisure programmes can be enhanced.