Which behaviours matter? Prioritising food waste reduction behaviours for targeted policy and program approaches.

More than half of the waste in the global food system's consumption stage comes from households, which therefore represent a critical entry point to tackle this challenge with its combined social, economic, and environmental impacts. Yet there is a tension for policy makers between promoting food waste reduction behaviours to householders and overloading them with too many options that make them less likely to engage. This study utilises an Impact-Likelihood methodology to identify the range of behaviours associated with household food waste reduction and to group them according to their impact and likelihood of adoption, as well as their current adoption rates. Scores for these measures were generated using data from an expert elicitation survey of food waste policy makers and practitioners, as well as a large-scale householder survey. The Impact-Likelihood matrix for household food waste reduction behaviours generated in this study identifies potential priority behaviours that are both impactful in tackling the substantive challenge of food waste and have a high likelihood of uptake by householders. As such, the matrix provides strategic research and decision support for policy makers in prioritising specific behaviours for more targeted engagement with householders in different geographical or jurisdictional contexts.

Influencing across multiple levels: The positive effect of a school-based intervention on food waste and household behaviours.

Changing consumer food waste-related behaviours is critical to meeting global targets of halving food loss and waste. This paper presents a food waste reduction intervention trialled in five Australian schools and explores its influence on food provisioning practices, changed behaviours and food waste. Consisting of a mix of educational, skills-based, and whole-of-school-events, the intervention sought to reduce food waste by encouraging students to be more involved at home in choosing and/or preparing food to take to school. Students reported greater involvement in the target behaviours and there was a reduction in avoidable food waste in participating schools. Utilising a multi-level perspective, this study demonstrates how food-related practices and behaviours emerge from the interactions of macro and meso-level factors and highlights the value of this perspective when designing food waste reduction interventions.

Towards a multi-level framework of household food waste and consumer behaviour: Untangling spaghetti soup.

Changing the everyday food-related behaviours of consumers is a critical part of tackling the global food waste challenge. Comprehensive frameworks of household food waste and consumer behavior are needed to guide the development of targeted interventions and future research agendas. This study systematically reviews food waste and behaviour studies from developed nations to provide an overview of the current research field. It uses a multi-level perspective to organise the various factors influencing food-related behaviour and proposes a new, multi-level, framework of consumer behaviour and household food waste. A novel addition to the field, the framework gathers factors at micro (individual), meso (household), and macro (external to the household) levels and argues that behaviour and food waste emerge from their interactions. Our review also reveals a research domain with disciplinary and methodological 'bald spots' and an over-emphasis on individual level factors. A multi-level research agenda focusing on under-explored factors and interactions between factors across levels is presented, and consideration given to multi-level interventions that support consumer behaviour change to reduce household food waste.

A level-of-analysis issue in resource consumption and environmental behavior research: A theoretical and empirical contradiction.

Behavioral theories have much to offer researchers and policy makers who seek sustainable resource management within households. However, much research on household resource consumption applies theories of the individual to understand the behavioral patterns of what are very often groups of people cohabiting in a particular dwelling. This misalignment of levels of analysis leads to erroneous empirical results and conclusions, and thereby less effective policy and management actions. We address this issue by first detailing the nature of the problem; illustrating its pervasiveness in research on resource consumption behaviors; offering some ways forward by drawing on research on group dynamics; and exploring new ways of thinking about some existing concepts in resource consumption and conservation with the goal of developing insights from a household-level perspective. We suggest that researchers seek a multi-level understanding of consumption and conservation in future research, as this could lead to theories and evidence to support group-level interventions that target behaviors in a household setting, which is likely to be more effective than existing individualistic approaches.

A systematic review of the content and quality of clinical practice guidelines for management of the neurogenic bladder following spinal cord injury.

INTRODUCTION: Neurogenic bladder following acute spinal cord injury (SCI) increases urinary tract infection (UTI) risk and affects quality of life and health system costs. OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to identify, describe and evaluate quality of clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for managing neurogenic bladder following SCI. METHODS: A comprehensive search covered six electronic databases (PubMed, Web of Science, Health Systems Evidence, Cochrane, CINAHL, Epistomonikos) and 12 CPG portals. Inclusion criteria were English language CPG; includes recommendations for managing neurogenic bladder in adults; all phases of care; published 2011 onwards in peer-reviewed journal/CPG portal. For eligible CPGs, key characteristics including years covered by CPG searching and number of neurogenic bladder recommendations were extracted. Quality appraisal used the AGREE II instrument. Appraiser agreement was assessed using the intraclass correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Searching yielded 4028 citations and eight relevant CPGs. Collectively the CPGs contained 304 recommendations. Over half (160) pertained to assessment, surgery or education. Most surgery recommendations were from older CPGs; more recent CPGs emphasised conservative therapy. Methodological quality across CPGs was good in the domains of 'clarity of presentation' (84% mean domain score), 'scope and purpose' (72%) and 'editorial independence' (68%). There were shortcomings in the domains of 'rigor of development' (52%) 'stakeholder involvement' (42%) and 'applicability' (33%). CONCLUSION: CPGs for the management of neurogenic bladder following SCI are generally robust in stating their scope and clearly presenting recommendations. Only three CPGs attained domain scores over 70% pertaining to methodological rigor. Future CPGs should also focus on providing implementation / audit resources and incorporating patient perspectives.

Digital Inclusion & Health Communication: A Rapid Review of Literature.

Information and communication technologies can be a valuable tool for enhancing health communication. However, not everyone is utilising the wide suite of digital opportunities. This disparity has the potential to exacerbate existing social and health inequalities, particularly among vulnerable groups such as those who are in poor health and the elderly. This review aimed to systematically identify the common barriers to, and facilitators of, digital inclusion. A comprehensive database search yielded 969 citations. Following screening, seven systematic reviews and three non-systematic reviews were identified. Collectively, the reviews found that physical access continues to be a barrier to digital inclusion. However, provision of access alone is insufficient, as digital ability and attitude were also potential barriers. Social support, direct user experience and collaborative learning/design were identified as key strategies to improve inclusion. These review findings provide guidance for health communication practitioners in designing and implementing effective programmes in the digital environment.

Facilitating adaptive management in a government program: A household energy efficiency case study.

Interim evaluations of government programs can sometimes reveal lower than expected outcomes, leading to the question of how adjustments can be made while the program is still underway. Although adaptive management frameworks can provide a practical roadmap to address this question, a lack of successful learnings and poor implementation have hampered the progress and wider application of adaptive management. Using a case study involving an energy efficiency government program targeting low-income households, this article provides supporting evidence on how adaptive management can be facilitated and applied. Factors such as proactive and responsive leadership, establishing a research-practice interface, and recognizing the skills, expertise, and contributions of multiple stakeholders guided adjustments to the program, and later paved the way for longer-term organizational learning that impacted how other programs are delivered. Implications for knowledge and practice, and a discussion of the challenges faced in the program, advance current thinking in adaptive management.