Background: While there is considerable evidence that brief motivational and skills-based interventions for substance use are effective, little is known regarding the transfer of knowledge from research to practice. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of two half-day didactic clinical training workshops for allied health workers, which did not incorporate feedback or supervision, via independent follow-up three months post training.

Methods: In total, 1322 participants attended either or both of the evidence-based treatment workshops run by the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre. Of those participants, 495 (37%) completed an online follow-up evaluation three months later regarding their use of the newly learnt intervention(s).

Results: At follow-up, 270 (54.5%) participants had an opportunity to use the skills and 144 (53.3%) of those participants reported having used the clinical skills taught in the workshop. Of those who used one of the interventions, 90 (62.5%) participants reported their clients had reduced or quit their cannabis use. Furthermore, 43 (30%) of these participants had attempted to train others in the workplace in the techniques learnt in the workshop.

Conclusion: Even a half-day didactic clinical training workshop on evidence-based brief cognitive–behavioural techniques delivered to clinicians working in the field can improve knowledge and confidence among clinicians and outcomes among their clients with cannabis use related problems.

The purpose of this study was to examine demographic effects on the satisfaction levels of lecturers from a Singapore public tertiary institution regarding job-related variables. The research findings indicated that demographic variables had an effect on the levels of satisfaction over specific job-related differentials. Satisfaction related to job stress levels increased significantly with being female, age, job position and length of employment; while satisfaction over salary levels rose significantly with being female and job position. Satisfaction with nature of the job was significantly affected positively with job position, academic qualification and length of employment; whereas satisfaction over supervision level decreased significantly with age, marital status, job position and length of employment. Satisfaction with organisational justice rose significantly with age, job position and length of employment, while satisfaction over communication was decreased significantly with age and years of service. These findings have practical implications for the management of the tertiary institution to reexamine their current institutional policies and make the necessary changes to enhance job satisfaction of the academics.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between sleep hygiene, excessive daytime sleepiness and work hours among resident physicians in Chandigarh, India. Data were collected from 350 volunteering junior resident doctors and included sociodemographic variables, excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) as measured by the Epworth Sleepiness Scale (ESS), sleep hygiene as measured by the Sleep Hygiene Index and hours worked. Almost half of the resident physicians studied reported a problem of EDS and maladaptive sleep hygiene practices. Physicians working more than 80 hours per week and physicians with more maladaptive sleep behaviours were much more likely to report EDS. The authors propose that sleep hygiene and number of hours slept should be considered as EDS prevention and treatment strategies, especially for physicians working less than 80 hours per week. The authors also propose that the most salient intervention for physicians working more than 80 hours per week is one of workplace advocacy, where the government is encouraged to adopt legally binding guidelines as seen in other countries.

There is overwhelming evidence that environmental concerns currently facing the modern world are, at least partly, due to the unsustainable use of resources in developed countries. In this study, feelings of collective guilt in members of a developed nation, Australia, were investigated as a factor motivating individuals to recycle. Eighty-five participants from North Queensland (24 male, 61 female; aged 17 to 64, M = 24.16, SD = 8.42) completed self-report measures of collective guilt, social desirability, social norms, attitudes toward recycling and percentage of household rubbish recycled. As predicted, those accepting more collective guilt for the actions of their ingroup reported more favourable attitudes toward recycling. However, collective guilt failed to predict actual recycling behaviour. The same was found for social norms in that they predicted attitudes to recycling, but not the amount of rubbish recycled. Attitudes toward recycling were the only successful predictor of the amount of rubbish recycled. This study has demonstrated the role of the emotion of collective guilt and social norms in one environmentally relevant domain. Avenues for future research regarding the implications of collective guilt on ecological behaviour have been discussed.

Many Aboriginal Australians report a diminished sense of wellbeing in their everyday activities due to racism and separation from their traditional lands and culture. Our research sought to discover whether access and use of culturally appropriate Information and Communication Technology's (ICTs), could have an ameliorative benefit, enhancing participants’ sense of support and engagement with their culture. While multiple studies have shown that access and use of ICTs can provide real benefits in regards to empowerment, few studies have focused specifically on the well-being aspects. The research in this project was a Participatory Action Research (PAR) study with women and girls of the Gugu Badhun (an Aboriginal Australian language group) to explore ways to better support their familial and cultural activities associated with identity and group sustainability. The research was divided into three action-research cycles: group interviews and focus groups, use of a technology probe, and feedback from the participants. The technology probe was a web-based application with access limited to the women in the study. Use of the probe enabled the participants to mentally revisit scenes that had been highly significant to them and to reframe these incidents in ways that enhanced their feelings of wellbeing. The probe site allowed the women a platform to discuss concepts intrinsic to their lives, and how these ideas interlink and enmesh with each other, such as the importance of connection to country, and offline activities surrounding identity and sustainability as a group thereby enhancing their wellbeing.