An ethnographic investigation into the everyday work and communication cultures of public transport transit guards: reducing risk and injury. This research improves the safety of public transport for workers and passengers with flow-on benefits at local and national levels. The main health and safety risk transit guards face is attacks upon them, or injury incurred while intervening in assaults they witness. Conventional initiatives have not impacted greatly on injury rates but culture and commu ....An ethnographic investigation into the everyday work and communication cultures of public transport transit guards: reducing risk and injury. This research improves the safety of public transport for workers and passengers with flow-on benefits at local and national levels. The main health and safety risk transit guards face is attacks upon them, or injury incurred while intervening in assaults they witness. Conventional initiatives have not impacted greatly on injury rates but culture and communication change strategies offer potential ways forward. Strategies that reduce incidents confer clear community benefits and competitive advantage. Effective management of such challenges assists with the recruitment and retention of appropriate staff, improving profitability. Benefits include reduced costs of public transport, increased passenger load, and positive environmental impacts.Read moreRead less
Improved communication with heart patients in the context of the gift economy. Coronary Heart Disease is Australia's biggest killer and a patient's diagnosis is a traumatic event. A majority of patients resists the implications of their disease and fails to follow medical recommendations fully. Humanities research enables increased understanding of, and better communication with, heart patients yet has not been extensively used to understand how patients make sense of their new status. HeartNET, ....Improved communication with heart patients in the context of the gift economy. Coronary Heart Disease is Australia's biggest killer and a patient's diagnosis is a traumatic event. A majority of patients resists the implications of their disease and fails to follow medical recommendations fully. Humanities research enables increased understanding of, and better communication with, heart patients yet has not been extensively used to understand how patients make sense of their new status. HeartNET, a therapeutic website, is used to investigate construction of the self as a heart patient and the research also applies gift economy theory to online interactions which help both self and others. Benefits include patient support and improved health outcomes, reducing human and financial costs to the community and Australia.Read moreRead less
Developing guidelines for integrating social networking technologies and professional advice-giving in constructing an online community for supporting breast cancer survivors. National benefits include new knowledge about online communities that deliver specialist health advice. Specific research benefits comprise improved education and support for earlier detection of, and enhanced recovery rates for, breast cancer. The project investigates whether we can harness the cluster-power of social net ....Developing guidelines for integrating social networking technologies and professional advice-giving in constructing an online community for supporting breast cancer survivors. National benefits include new knowledge about online communities that deliver specialist health advice. Specific research benefits comprise improved education and support for earlier detection of, and enhanced recovery rates for, breast cancer. The project investigates whether we can harness the cluster-power of social networks to build integrated and supportive online communities. Relevant to Australian organisations using digital communications for education and support, the study seeks to reduce disadvantage due to distance. Organisations concerned about minimising risk arising from uninformed opinion and discussion will learn whether they can integrate specialist expertise and comment without destroying online dynamics.Read moreRead less
Evaluating the effectiveness of online support in building community, promoting healthy behaviours and supporting philanthropy. The Heart Foundation (WA) provides quality support services and communications for patients in rural, remote and regional WA but they find that distance creates problems. They also seek to cultivate active donor engagement.
Audience research and cultural studies tools are used to investigate two different communications environments in terms of whether these have an ....Evaluating the effectiveness of online support in building community, promoting healthy behaviours and supporting philanthropy. The Heart Foundation (WA) provides quality support services and communications for patients in rural, remote and regional WA but they find that distance creates problems. They also seek to cultivate active donor engagement.
Audience research and cultural studies tools are used to investigate two different communications environments in terms of whether these have an effect on patient/donor participation rates (and attitudes and behaviours linked to participation). A web site will be developed to support online Heart Foundation communities and these audiences will be compared with current communication practice. Findings will inform future charitable and health promotion initiatives.
Read moreRead less
Smart Communities - Applied research into integrated government services and regional networked neighbourhoods to support children and young people at risk. This applied research project investigates and provides directions for improvement in the life choices available to children and young people at risk in remote, rural and urban areas of Western Australia. It does this by (i) conducting a detailed study of children and young people at risk, as identified by government and non-government agen ....Smart Communities - Applied research into integrated government services and regional networked neighbourhoods to support children and young people at risk. This applied research project investigates and provides directions for improvement in the life choices available to children and young people at risk in remote, rural and urban areas of Western Australia. It does this by (i) conducting a detailed study of children and young people at risk, as identified by government and non-government agencies (ii) conducting quantitative and qualitative fieldwork into the communication patterns and information-seeking behaviour of children and young people at risk; (iii) exploring strategies and interventions through inter-agency co-operation in the provision of content and technology (as geographical or virtual communities).Read moreRead less
A multi-media history of the Westrail Workshops at Midland. The project will produce histories in two formats, a book and a CD-ROM featuring a virtual walk-through of the Workshops. These outcomes will reflect a variety of views and concepts of the Workshops and the community, gathered from the interviews, photographs, documentary and ephemeral material of past employees of the Workshops (collected from 1998-2001). This material will have a wide range of applications including scholarly resear ....A multi-media history of the Westrail Workshops at Midland. The project will produce histories in two formats, a book and a CD-ROM featuring a virtual walk-through of the Workshops. These outcomes will reflect a variety of views and concepts of the Workshops and the community, gathered from the interviews, photographs, documentary and ephemeral material of past employees of the Workshops (collected from 1998-2001). This material will have a wide range of applications including scholarly research, educational material, and public information and will assist in the interpretation and re-development of the Workshops site. The project will be a significant and innovative approach to history writing.Read moreRead less