Search results

BACKGROUND: There are significant challenges associated with studies of people released from custodial settings, including loss to follow-up in the community. Interpretation of findings with consideration of differences between those followed up and those not followed up is critical in the development of evidence-informed policies and practices. We describe attrition bias in the Prison and Transition Health (PATH) prospective cohort study, and strategies employed to minimise attrition. METHODS: PATH involves 400 men with a history of injecting drug use recruited from three prisons in Victoria, Australia. Four interviews were conducted: one pre-release ('baseline') and three interviews at approximately 3, 12, and 24 months post-release ('follow-up'). We assessed differences in baseline characteristics between those retained and not retained in the study, reporting mean differences and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs). RESULTS: Most participants (85%) completed at least one follow-up interview and 162 (42%) completed all three follow-up interviews. Retained participants were younger than those lost to follow-up (mean diff − 3.1 years, 95% CI -5.3, − 0.9). There were no other statistically significant differences observed in baseline characteristics. CONCLUSION: The high proportion of participants retained in the PATH cohort study via comprehensive follow-up procedures, coupled with extensive record linkage to a range of administrative datasets, is a considerable strength of the study. Our findings highlight how strategic and comprehensive follow-up procedures, frequent contact with participants and secondary contacts, and established working relationships with the relevant government departments can improve study retention and potentially minimise attrition bias.

ObjectiveOver the past five decades, numerous researchers in common‐law jurisdictions have reported that jurors often fail to understand and apply the law presented to them by the trial judge. Several researchers have attempted to improve understanding of the law through revising language and utilizing instructional aides. The present study examines a novel method of instructing the jury, known as the "fact‐based" approach, which embeds legal concepts in a series of logically ordered written factual questions that the jury must answer to reach a verdict.MethodsThe study compared 287 jurors in 45 trials who received "fact‐based" instructions in New Zealand against 176 jurors in 41 trials who received standard form instructions in Australia. Participants in the study were compared on their ability to perform three tasks—selecting legal concepts in a recognition task, paraphrasing concepts in a recall task, and applying legal concepts to legally unambiguous factual scenarios.ResultsAfter controlling for trial‐related factors such as length of trial, word count, and readability of instructions, as well as the self‐reported level of education of participants, the study found that jurors receiving fact‐based directions performed significantly better on application‐based tasks but not significantly different on recall or recognition tasks.ConclusionThe findings suggest that fact‐based instructions may have utility for enhancing the jury's ability to resolve questions of fact in accordance with the law.

People who inject drugs (PWID) are disproportionately represented among individuals who experience imprisonment and often have more complex physical and mental health needs than people in prison without injecting histories. The trajectories of PWID after prison release are poorly understood, hampering the development of effective strategies to address their distinct health needs. The Prison and Transition Health (PATH) Cohort Study is characterising the post-release trajectories of incarcerated male PWID in Victoria, Australia. We outline study methodology and baseline characteristics of participants prior to their release. Four hundred participants were recruited from three prisons and completed researcher-administered baseline interviews covering socio-demographics, social supports, physical health, mental health, alcohol and other drug use, and pre-release and transitional service utilisation. The median age among participants was 36 years (IQR 30–42), and they reported a median of five (IQR 3–9) previous adult incarcerations. Almost half (49%) were reliant on government payments prior to incarceration. One quarter (25%) of participants reported removal from their parents' care as children and 64% reported being a parent or primary caregiver to children. Most participants (81%) reported a previous mental health diagnosis and 44% reported three or more diagnoses. The most common drugs injected prior to incarceration were crystal methamphetamine (80%) and heroin (62%), and most (85%) reported being under the influence of drugs at the time of committing offences for which they were currently incarcerated. Injecting drug use during their current sentence was reported by 40% of participants, and 48% reported engaging with some form of drug treatment during their current sentence. Study participants are characterised by significant mental health and substance use morbidities, social disadvantage and criminogenic histories that present challenges for the provision of post-release support services. Data from the PATH ...

People who inject drugs (PWID) are disproportionately represented among individuals who experience imprisonment and often have more complex physical and mental health needs than people in prison without injecting histories. The trajectories of PWID after prison release are poorly understood, hampering the development of effective strategies to address their distinct health needs. The Prison and Transition Health (PATH) Cohort Study is characterising the post-release trajectories of incarcerated male PWID in Victoria, Australia. We outline study methodology and baseline characteristics of participants prior to their release. Four hundred participants were recruited from three prisons and completed researcher-administered baseline interviews covering socio-demographics, social supports, physical health, mental health, alcohol and other drug use, and pre-release and transitional service utilisation. The median age among participants was 36 years (IQR 30–42), and they reported a median of five (IQR 3–9) previous adult incarcerations. Almost half (49%) were reliant on government payments prior to incarceration. One quarter (25%) of participants reported removal from their parents' care as children and 64% reported being a parent or primary caregiver to children. Most participants (81%) reported a previous mental health diagnosis and 44% reported three or more diagnoses. The most common drugs injected prior to incarceration were crystal methamphetamine (80%) and heroin (62%), and most (85%) reported being under the influence of drugs at the time of committing offences for which they were currently incarcerated. Injecting drug use during their current sentence was reported by 40% of participants, and 48% reported engaging with some form of drug treatment during their current sentence. Study participants are characterised by significant mental health and substance use morbidities, social disadvantage and criminogenic histories that present challenges for the provision of post-release support services. Data from the PATH Cohort Study will help inform strategies to improve the health and social outcomes of this population. ; Full Text

Those who work in the mental health sector will sometimes need to consider whether they are ethically or legally obliged to disclose certain personal information revealed by their clients and patients to third parties. This book focuses on the actual decision-making process of disclosing confidential information to allow mental health professionals to find a solution that is ethically and legally sound and able to be recognised as such by external authorities

Research indicates that teachers, among other professionals, continue to underreport cases of suspected child maltreatment. To better understand factors associated with noncompli- ant behaviour, we investigated teachers' knowledge of, compliance with, and attitudes toward mandatory child abuse reporting in British Columbia. Results showed that virtually all the participating teachers were aware of the existence of the mandatory reporting law; they were, however, only moderately knowledgeable about the specific components of the legislation. Teachers' tendency to respond varied as a function of type of maltreatment, with sexual abuse being most likely to be reported and emotional abuse being least likely to be reported. Les recherches indiquent que les enseignants, entre autres, continuent à ne pas signaler tous les cas présumés d'enfants maltraités qu'il y aurait lieu de signaler. Afin de mieux comprendre les facteurs associés à ce comportement, les auteurs ont cherché à savoir si les enseignants connaissent la loi qui les oblige, en Colombie-Britannique, à signaler les cas d'enfants maltraités, s'ils la respectent et quelles sont leurs attitudes vis-à-vis de cette loi. Les résultats démontrent que pratiquement tous les enseignants participants savent que cette loi existe, mais en connaissent plus ou moins les dispositions précises.