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The purpose of this paper is to describe the patterns of self-disclosure of long-term conditions at work by health professionals in a large regional health service. Recent research by the authors has reported on the self-reported long-term conditions of nursing, medical and allied health staff within a large regional hospital and health service in North Queensland, Australia. Data regarding self-disclosure of health information were gathered during those two previous studies, but has yet to be reported. This current study thus offers the opportunity to explore and describe patterns of self-disclosure by a multi-disciplinary cohort of health professionals within that regional health service.

This current study was a component of two larger studies, reported elsewhere, which explored long-term conditions among health professional staff at a large regional health service in North Queensland, Australia. A cross-sectional survey design was used.

Decision-making associated with self-disclosure of long-term conditions by health professional staff in the workplace is multifactorial, and affected by considerations of age, gender, workplace circumstances and nature of the health condition. It also differs according to professional grouping. The medical profession were less likely than nurses and allied health workers to disclose to their work colleagues. Respondents with a mental health condition were more cautious and selective in their disclosures, and alone in being more likely to disclose to their supervisor than to colleagues; they were also most likely to value the sympathy and understanding of their colleagues and managers.

This study was conducted across only one large regional health service; a fuller picture of patterns of self-disclosure of long-term conditions by health professional staff would be gained by expanding the number of sites to include metropolitan hospitals, smaller rural or remote health services and non-hospital settings.

Healthcare organizations need to develop support strategies and communication processes so that staff with one or more long-term condition, particularly those that have associated stigma, are empowered to disclose information to line managers and colleagues without fear of discrimination, ostracism, incivility or bullying.

There is a paucity of evidence about self-disclosure of long-term conditions by health professionals and this study therefore makes an important contribution to the extant literature. The findings raise important questions about the culture and dynamics of health care organizations in respect to the patterns of self-disclosure of health professional staff.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the long-term conditions affecting the administration workforce of a regional Australian health service, and their self-management of these conditions.

A cross-sectional survey design was used. The sample consisted of all administration staff members employed in 2018 across a large regional health service in Northern Australia.

Of the 328 respondents, 167 (51 per cent) reported having at least one long-term condition. Of these, 136 (81.4 per cent) indicated a single main condition for which management strategies were used. Musculoskeletal conditions were the most commonly nominated category (59.6 per cent), followed by mental health (10.3 per cent). Respondents with musculoskeletal conditions were statistically more likely to have a co-existing mental health long-term condition, χ²(1) = 95.64, p<0.001. There was also a statistically significant association between respondents reporting a mental health condition and being overweight, χ²(1) = 54.27, p< 0.05.

The response rate of 35 per cent, whilst relatively low, is a slight increase on similar surveys within this organisation. The reliability of the self-report data, presence of study bias and a weakening of the study’s external validity is acknowledged.

Targeted workplace intervention strategies, such as holistic wellness programs, should complement personal approaches, promote an ergonomic environment and create opportunities for increased dialogue between employees and their line managers, particularly regarding the complex interplay between long-term physical and mental health.

This is the first study of self-reported long-term conditions among administration staff within a health service, and augments findings from previous studies involving health professional groups in the same organisation.

The purpose of this paper is to describe the self-reported long-term conditions of medical officers and allied health staff working in a regional public health service in northern Australia and how these conditions are managed.

A cross-sectional survey design was used. The sample was all medical officers and allied health staff employed in mid-2015.

Of the 365 respondents, 217 (59.5 per cent) reported having at least one long-term condition. There was a statistically significant association between professional group and the number of long-term conditions reported, χ²=10.24, p<0.05. A greater proportion of medical officers (n=29, 43.9 per cent) reported having only one long-term condition compared with allied health staff (n=36, 24.5 per cent). The top four categories of conditions were respiratory, musculoskeletal, mental health and episodic and paroxysmal, although the patterns varied amongst the professional groups, and across age groups. Respondents usually managed their main long-term conditions with personal strategies, rarely using workplace strategies.

Although somewhat low, the response rate of 32 per cent was similar to previous surveys in this health service. Since this survey, the health service has implemented a broad Health and Wellness Programme to support their qualified workforce. Future evaluations of this programme will be undertaken, including whether the programme has assisted health professionals to manage their long-term conditions.

There is an urgent need for targeted, workplace-based health promotion strategies to support staff with long-term conditions. Such strategies would complement self-management approaches, and also provide an important recruitment and retention initiative.

This study adds empirical evidence regarding the long-term conditions among health professionals and their self-management strategies. Little is known about the long-term conditions among the various health professional groups and the findings thus make an important contribution to the existing literature.

There is increasing interest in long-term conditions experienced singly and in combination. This paper aims to address this by considering the impact of long-term conditions on female labour market participation in later life.

This literature review considers a variety of evidence and policy related to long-term conditions as experienced by women.

The review suggests the importance of gender when considering long-term conditions and when considering employment because this is often gendered. There are several long-term conditions affecting women in particular that need to be considered by employers and policy makers.

This review scopes the literature offering some illustrative examples of long-term conditions.

The review encourages practitioners and policy makers to include long-term conditions, as people age in thinking about ways to prevent, alleviate and respond to long-term conditions and to consider them in age-related initiatives in employment.

The review addresses long-term conditions among women in later life, suggesting that multiple policy and practice responses may need to be considered together in the development of any strategies and guidance.

Supermaxes across the United States detain thousands in long-term solitary confinement, under conditions of extreme sensory deprivation. Almost every state built a supermax between the late 1980s and the late 1990s. This chapter examines the role of federal prisoners’ rights litigation in the 1960s and 1970s in shaping the prisons, especially supermaxes, built in the 1980s and 1990s in the United States. This chapter uses a systematic analysis of federal court case law, as well as archival research and oral history interviews with key informants, including lawyers, experts, and correctional administrators, to explore the relationship between federal court litigation and prison building and designing. This chapter argues that federal conditions of confinement litigation in the 1960s and 1970s (1) had a direct role in shaping the supermax institutions built in the subsequent decades and (2) contributed to the resistance of these institutions to constitutional challenges. The history of litigation around supermaxes is an important and as-yet-unexplored aspect of the development of Eighth Amendment jurisprudence in the United States over the last half century.

Technology in various forms is being developed and applied to provide new solutions to the increasing prevalence of long‐term health conditions. This article describes the potential of telehealth and telecare applications in response to increased demands for health and social care. The impact of technology on provision of person‐centred treatment and self‐management is described using the emergent results from the SMART2 project. SMART2 is a multi‐disciplinary collaboration which spans academia, health providers and people with long‐term conditions.

Dynamic changes in the world bring challenges for making long-term future-oriented policy and strategy. A number of recent developments like drops in oil prices, increasing global conflicts, mass immigration and economic stagnation have had disruptive effects on long-term policies and strategies. The purpose of this paper is to provide a dynamic and adaptive Foresight approach as required by the fast-changing global landscape.

The scenario approach presented in the paper aims to develop multiple time horizons by bringing together short-term forecasts and long-term exploratory and visionary scenarios. Each time horizon allows for re-considering and dynamically changing drivers and assumptions of scenarios and thus builds not a single linear, but multiple and dynamic pathways into the future. Following the presentation on the background and description of the methodology, the paper illustrates the proposed approach with a case study on science and technology (S&T) development in Russia.

The flexible scenario approach allows developing and strategies with similar adaptability and flexibility.

The scenario approach presented in the paper may be applicable for Foresight exercises at all levels of governance, including national, international, regional and corporate.

A novel scenario approach is presented for the formulation of S&T policy with an illustrative case study.

Supporting the mental health of university students is a key priority for higher education. Students living with long-term health conditions are at increased risk of poor mental health; yet little work has focused on their particular mental health needs or indeed, the implications for health education in the university setting. This study sought to identify the mental health support needs of students with long-term conditions, including best ways for universities to support these students.

A UK national online survey of 200 university students living with long-term physical health conditions (e.g. asthma, endometriosis, epilepsy) was conducted in 2019.

95% of respondents reported that their long-term condition/s had at least a moderate impact on their mental wellbeing, with 81% reporting that they felt depressed and anxious at least once a month because of their health. The most common suggestion for how universities can better support their mental wellbeing was to raise awareness about long-term conditions on campuses, with many reporting a lack of understanding about long-term conditions from academic and support services staff members – with negative impacts on their mental health. Because of this, some respondents reported a reluctance to come forward and seek help from university services, with 25% not formally disclosing their conditions.

These reported concerns underscore the need to develop health education amongst university staff about long-term conditions and to ensure these students are supported with their health at university.

The purpose of this study is to determine whether the economic environment affects the merger and acquisition (M&A) activities in the restaurant industry.

The M&A transactions in the restaurant industry between 1981 and 2013 (n = 1,415) were examined. Data were collected from the Securities Data Corporation (SDC) database. Using an autoregressive distributed lag approach, this study developed three error correction models to explore the short- and long-term relationships between restaurant M&A activities and four macro-economic factors.

This study found that there was a long-term equilibrium relationship between the M&A activities and the four economic factors and that economic outlook had a significantly positive impact in the long term, while the effect of cost of debt was significantly negative in both the short and long terms. The findings suggest that restaurant firms are more likely to adopt M&A strategy when they are optimistic about the future economy and can take on debt at a low cost.

The findings of this study are expected to help practitioners make informative M&A decisions in the restaurant industry taking into consideration the economic environment. They will also help investors effectively manage their portfolios by predicting and ascertaining the proper time to invest in the restaurant industry based on the changes of economic environment.

No known study has been identified that examined the relationship between macro-economic factors and M&A activities in the restaurant industry. The findings of the study are expected to fill the gap in the literature by demonstrating the economic environment and the M&A activities in the restaurant industry are in a long-term equilibrium achieved by self-correction of their short-term disequilibrium.