An investigation of the longitudinal trajectory patterns of health-related quality of life among Australians with disabilities: explaining disability types and properties.

BACKGROUND: Research on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) trajectory patterns for people with disabilities (PwD) is scant. Understanding the HRQoL trajectory patterns for PwDs and investigating their relationship with disability types and socioeconomic factors can have important implications for Australia's welfare policy. METHODS: We analysed data from waves 11 to 21 of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey of respondents aged 15 + years of the PwDs. The analytic sample consists of 3724 self-reported disabled individuals and 34,539 observations in total. The SF-6D utility score is our HRQoL measure. Group-based trajectory modelling was utilised to identify trajectory groups, and multinomial logistic regression was employed to determine the baseline factors associated with trajectory group membership. RESULTS: The study identified four distinct types of HRQoL trajectories (high, moderate improving, moderate deteriorating and low HRQoL trajectories). Psychosocial disability types followed by physical disability types had a high Relative Risk Ratio (RRR) in the low group compared with high trajectory group membership of PwDs (psychosocial: 6.090, physical: 3.524). Similar, results followed for the moderate improving group albeit with lower RRR (psychosocial: 2.868, Physical: 1.820). In the moderate deteriorating group, the disability types were not significant as this group has a similar profile to high group at the baseline. Compared with males, females had a higher RRR in low and moderate versus high improving HRQoL trajectories (low: 1.532, moderate improving: 1.237). Comparing the richest class to the poorest class, socioeconomic factors (income and education) predicted significantly lower exposure for the richer class to the low and medium HRQoL trajectories groups (RRR < 1). CONCLUSION: Different forms of disability, demographic and socioeconomic factors have distinct effects on the HRQoL trajectories of disabled individuals. Healthcare and economic resource efficiency might be improved with targeted government policy interventions based on disability trajectories.

Improving employment outcomes for people with disability in small and medium enterprises: protocol for a scoping review.

INTRODUCTION: Improving the employment of people with disability (PWD) has emerged as a key priority for governments worldwide as a strategy for improving health outcomes through greater economic participation. However, a significant barrier remains the lack of understanding among businesses regarding the requirements for a disability-inclusive workplace. This challenge is particularly salient for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that lack dedicated human resources to develop supportive organisational cultures. This scoping review will assist smaller businesses in enhancing their capacity to employ PWD by undertaking a synthesis of the factors that will enhance SME capacity to hire and retain PWDs. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This protocol uses the six-staged process for scoping reviews proposed by Arksey and O'Malley. This process begins with identifying the scoping review research question (Stage 1) and discussing how studies will be selected (Stage 2). The search will include all English-language articles within Web of Science, Scopus, PsycINFO, PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase, Medline, EBSCO Global Health and CINAHL since inception. We will also include relevant secondary sources from the grey literature. Following the search process, we will present information on selecting studies for inclusion in the scoping review (Stage 3) and chart the data relating to the included studies (Stage 4). In conclusion, the scoping review protocol will synthesise and report the results (Stage 5) and provide information on consultation with relevant stakeholders during the initial protocol specifications (Stage 6). ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Since the scoping review methodology aims at synthesising information from available publications, this study does not require ethical approval. We will submit an article reporting the results of the scoping review for publication in a scientific journal, present the findings at relevant conferences and disseminate them as part of future workshops with professionals in disability employment.

Reducing the incidence and impact of peer-to-peer online trolling: a protocol for a scoping review.

INTRODUCTION: Governments worldwide are committed to reducing the prevalence of peer-to-peer online trolling. The practice of peer-to-peer online trolling, which is broadly defined as where a user intends to cause disruption or conflict online for their own amusement or advantage, is a widespread pervasive and damaging behavior, affecting over one-third of all social media users. There remains, however, a substantial barrier to addressing this behaviour due to a lack of understanding of peer-to-peer online trolling and its unique psychopathology that distinguishes it from other forms of peer-to-peer online abuse such as cyberbullying and flaming, as well as the primary information technology approach used to investigate trolling. Providing a synthesis of peer-to-peer online trolling research will assist organisations, governments and educators in addressing this deviant behaviour online. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This protocol follows the six-stage scoping review process proposed by Arksey and O'Malley. Identifying the scoping review research question (stage 1) is followed by discussion on how studies will be selected (stage 2). We then discuss how we will determine which studies will be included in the scoping review (stage 3), as well as chart the data involved for each study included (stage 4). In stage 5, the scoping review protocol gathers, synthesises and reports the results, and consults with stakeholders about the initial protocol specifications (stage 6). ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: As the scoping review methodology focuses on incorporating information from available publications, ethical approval is not required. An article summarising the scoping review results will be submitted for publication to a journal, presented at appropriate conferences and disseminated as part of future workshops with professionals and educators involved in reducing online trolling.

The impact of gender and age on bullying role, self-harm and suicide: Evidence from a cohort study of Australian children.

There has been limited longitudinal investigation to date into the association between bullying, self-harm, and suicidality in Australia and the impact of specific demographic differences on this relationship. This is despite the continued rise in the incidence of bullying, self-harm, and suicide. As such, the current study draws on data from the Longitudinal Survey of Australian children (LSAC) to examine the association between bullying, self-harm, and suicidality and explore the impact of demographic differences across three bullying related behaviors (being bullied, bullying others and being both bullied and bullying others). The evidence indicates that bully-victims exhibit the highest risk of self-harm and suicidality in Australia. When considering demographic differences, it was identified that females and adolescents aged 16-17-years-of-age had the highest risk of self-harm and suicidality. Further, a direct curvilinear relationship between age and the categories of self-harm was identified with an inflection point around 16-17 years. The study supports the need for further investigation into the association between bullying, self-harm, and suicidality longitudinally with a particular focus on other moderators.

Job satisfaction dynamics: how do they impact employment mode choice for people with a disability?

Background: To enhance economic participation for people with a disability in the labor market, a better understanding of how job satisfaction influences employment mode decisions is needed. Methods: This study uses data collected from 8,345 People with Disability(PWD) workers from waves 3 to 19 of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey to investigate the relationship between six domains of job satisfaction and employment mode (employee, solo self-employed, and employer) and covariates related to personal, health, socio-economic and employment-related attributes. Results: Analysis of 25,169 individual-level observations show important differences in the level of job satisfaction across the different employment modes and for different covariates. PWD entrepreneurs reported higher levels of satisfaction with their work, flexibility, and overall satisfaction, whereas employees report higher levels of contentment with salary, job security, and work hours. The findings also highlight interesting differences due to personal, health, socio-economic and employment related attributes. Conclusions: Collectively, these insights can guide policymakers to enhance entrepreneurial pathways for people with a disability.

Morbid obesity, multiple long-term conditions, and health-related quality of life among Australian adults: Estimates from three waves of a longitudinal household survey.

This study aims to investigate the impact of morbid obesity and multiple long-term conditions (MLTCs) on health-related quality of life (HRQoL). Data for this study were sourced from three waves (waves 9, 13 and 17) of the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. The paper analyses 37,887 person-year observations from 19,387 individuals during the period 2009-2017. The longitudinal random-effects Tobit model was fitted to examine the association between morbid obesity, MLTCs and HRQoL. This study found that morbid obesity and MLTCs were both negatively associated with HRQoL as measured through physical component summary (PCS), mental component summary (MCS), and the short-form six-dimension utility index (SF-6D) of the 36-item Short-Form Health Survey (SF-36). Morbidly obese scored lower points on the PCS (ß = -5.05, 95% CI: -5.73, -4.37), MCS (ß = -1.03, 95% CI: -1.84, -0.23), and in the SF-6D utility index (ß = -0.045, 95% CI: -0.054, -0.036) compared to their healthy weight counterparts. Similar findings were observed for individuals with MLTCs, with lower scores for the PCS (ß = -4.79, 95% CI: -5.20, -4.38), MCS (ß = -4.95, 95% CI: -5.43, -4.48), and SF-6D utility (ß = -0.071, 95% CI: -0.076, -0.066). Additionally, multiplicative interaction between morbid obesity and MLTCs was observed to modestly exacerbated the negative effect of morbid obesity on PCS scores (ß = -1.69, 95% CI: -2.74, -0.64). The interaction effect, on the other hand, significantly lessen the unfavourable effect of morbid obesity on the MCS score (ß = 1.34, 95% CI: 0.10, 2.58). The findings of this study will be useful for future cost-effectiveness analyses and measuring the burden of diseases since it provides information on the disutility associated with morbid obesity and MLTCs.

Community and bystander interventions for the prevention of suicide: Protocol for a systematic review.

Suicide has a wide reaching and devastating impact on society. This article presents a study protocol for a systematic review of the literature on community and bystander interventions to reduce the incidence of suicide. These interventions are focused on people other than the person at-risk and are designed to increase awareness of warning signs and knowledge of how to most effectively respond. While there have been many studies undertaken on community and bystander intervention programs, we lack a synthesis of evidence regarding how an effective program is created and implemented. The proposed systematic review will address this gap by presenting the first comprehensive review on this topic. The specific aims of the review are to: (1) determine whether community and bystander interventions effectively increase bystander action to prevent suicide and, if so; (2) to understand what creates an effective community suicide intervention. The insights gathered will inform policy and guide investment in better evidence-based suicide interventions for the future.

The influence of pandemic-related workplace safety practices on frontline service employee wellbeing outcomes.

The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the vulnerability of frontline employee (FLEs) to infections and other hazards and highlighted the importance of workplace safety practices (WSP) for service organizations. In response to the critical issue of service safety, we developed and empirically tested a model proposing that WSPs negatively influence FLE perceptions of pandemic related threats and positively influence their perceptions of organizational supportiveness (POS). In turn, these perceptions have time-lagged effects on two aspects of FLE wellbeing-reduced emotional exhaustion and increased work engagement. Utilizing data from a two-wave (separated by a month) survey panel consisting of 310 FLEs across the United States, we found evidence for all hypothesized relationships. We discuss the practical and theoretical implications of our findings and provide suggestions for future research on service safety on the organizational frontlines.

Age and gender differences in the relationship between obesity and disability with self-perceived employment discrimination: Results from a retrospective study of an Australian national sample.

BACKGROUND: Health status is a crucial determinant of an individuals' labour market outcomes. The present study investigates the association between obesity and disability with perceived employment discrimination within Australia. METHODS: A total of 17,174 person-year observations from the 11,079 respondents were analysed using four waves of data from the Household, Income, and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey. The primary outcome examined was employment discrimination, using obesity and disability as the main exposure variables. The longitudinal random-effects regression technique was applied to investigate the between-person differences in employment discrimination associated with obesity and disability. RESULTS: The findings suggest that more than one in ten (12.68 %) Australians experienced employment discrimination. The odds of being discriminated against while applying for a job were 1.56 times (aOR: 1.56, 95 % CI: 1.15-2.11) higher for obese than their healthy weight counterparts in youngest women. Adults with a disability had 1.89 times (aOR: 1.89, 95 % CI: 1.65-2.17) higher odds of being discriminated against than peers without disability. CONCLUSION: The results provide evidence that obesity and disability contribute to employment discrimination in Australia. The findings can assist government and related agencies to consider the adequacy of existing discrimination legislation and help organisations to develop appropriate policies to address discrimination against obese and disabled people in their workplaces.

Patterns of pre-crash behaviour in railway suicides and the effect of corridor fencing: a natural experiment in New South Wales.

Suicides on railway systems remain a significant concern world-wide. Understanding patterns of pre-crash behaviour, whether jumping, lying or wandering on tracks, is important for the design of preventative measures, yet prior studies have reported divergent patterns of behaviour. This study tested the hypothesis that higher standards of corridor fencing reduce the proportion of train suicides in the non-jumping category. Data was analyzed as a natural experiment for 171 cases of apparent railway suicides in New South Wales (NSW) for the period 2011-2018. Results were congruent with the hypothesis. A higher level of corridor fencing in metropolitan Sydney was associated with a lower proportion in the non-jumping category (33%) compared with regional areas (74%). The article contributes by showing that: (i) fencing appears to lead to a reduction in some types of rail suicides and thus; (ii) contributes to a lower overall rate of suicide by train; and (iii) even with fencing, the non-jumping incidents warrant attention for appropriate countermeasures.