Confidence, practices and training needs of people working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ clients.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ peoples face an elevated risk for poor health and social-emotional wellbeing, suggesting that this patient group are likely to attend health and community services. However, the current practices of those who deliver care to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ peoples are unknown. Utilising mixed methods (survey; n = 197; focus groups and interviews; n = 56), we explored the current practices, confidence, knowledge, and training needs for working with Aboriginal LGBTIQ+ clients among Western Australian health and community service workers. Participants were predominately from the mental health and social-emotional wellbeing care sector. One-third of survey participants indicated that it was likely Aboriginal LGBTIQ+ peoples accessed their service. On average, participants reported high confidence and knowledge in working with Aboriginal LGBTIQ+ clients. Qualitative data indicated that staff struggled to accommodate what they understood to be the needs of clients who were both Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and LGBTIQ+, despite a willingness to 'get it right'. Findings provide the first-ever snapshot of inclusive practices among health and social support workers in Western Australia.

Retention in the allied health workforce: boomers, generation X, and generation Y.

The recruitment and retention of allied health workers present challenges for organizations in Australia and internationally. Australia, in common with other developed countries, faces the prospect of a rapidly aging population and the high turnover of younger allied health workers (the majority of whom are female) from employing organizations. Emphases on the individual characteristics of Boomer, Generation X, and Generation Y workers may provide a useful starting base for recruitment and retention strategies, but our study shows that these need to be contextualized within broader political, social, and structural factors that take account of gender and the changing needs of workers over their life span.

General practice registrar teaching roles - is there a need for shared understanding?

BACKGROUND: There is currently a shortage of general practitioners and an increase in the number of medical students and general practice trainees. The expanded involvement of general practice registrars in teaching roles has been suggested as part of the solution to increasing the number of teaching roles in general practice. METHODS: Survey and interviews of 273 GPs and 84 registrars mapping barriers to, and potential for, general practice registrar teaching capacity in Western Australia. RESULTS: Results showed that 52.1% of GPs and 77.1% of registrars agreed that general practice registrars could increase teaching roles in general practice settings, but the two groups differed in their views about the scope of such teaching. DISCUSSION: This study reports on the congruence and difference in views between GPs and registrars concerning the capacity for and scope of general practice registrar teaching in the general practice setting. There is a need to negotiate and identify the most appropriate general practice registrar teaching roles with both groups.

Qualitative research and the question of rigor.

In this article, the authors discuss the issue of rigor in relation to qualitative social research. It takes a critical focus on the inadequacy of applying a quantitative concept of rigor to evaluate qualitative research. Informed through the researchers' own experience, suggestions are made for a concept of rigor that meets the needs of qualitative research more adequately. Incorporating a notion of ethics, the authors develop a cluster of terms around which they argue that qualitative research can meaningfully speak about rigor: attentiveness, empathy, carefulness, sensitivity, respect, reflection, conscientiousness, engagement, awareness, and openness.