Papers by Beatriz Cardona
Health Sociology Review, Dec 1, 2009
Home Health Care Services Quarterly, May 12, 2020
Measuring the impact of care delivered at home for frail older people is a complex task given man... more Measuring the impact of care delivered at home for frail older people is a complex task given many confounding variables that may impact on the ability of service providers to identify the direct impact of their programs on their clients' well-being and quality of life. The recent publication of the 2018 Wellness and Reablement Report Outcomes indicated that organizations lack formal processes to measure the impact of their programs on service users. There are therefore limited data exits on measuring outcomes and the performance of the ACCOM tool in the real world. Knowledge of a strong causal relationship between services provided and outcomes enables confidence in assuming the care provided was largely responsible for the outcome achieved. This paper will reflect on the experiences of one service provider in Brisbane, in implementing the Australian Community Care Outcomes Measurement (ACCOM) tool to measure and demonstrate the impact of their programs.
Health and Quality of Life Outcomes, May 29, 2018
Measuring health and wellbeing outcomes of community aged care programs is a complex task given t... more Measuring health and wellbeing outcomes of community aged care programs is a complex task given the diverse settings in which care takes place and the intersection of numerous factors affecting an individual's quality of life outcomes. Knowledge of a strong causal relationship between services provided and the final outcome enables confidence in assuming the care provided was largely responsible for the outcome achieved (Courtney et al., Aust J Adv Nurs 26:49-57, 2009). The Department of Health has recently reported on the findings of The National Aged Care Quality Indicator Program-Home Care Pilot (KPMG, National Aged Care Quality Indicator Program-Home Care Pilot, 2017). The Program sought to test various tools to measure quality of life outcomes of their community aged care programs. Some of the key issues raised in the study reiterate the findings from The Australian Community Care Outcome Measurement (ACCOM) pilot study (Cardona et al., Australas J Ageing 36: 69-71, 2017), including the value of the ASCOT SCT4 tool (Adult Social care Outcomes Toolkit, http://www.pssru.ac.uk/ascot/downloads/questionnaires/sct4. pdf) to measure social care related quality of life (SCRQoL) in community aged care programs in the Australian context, the collection of additional data to map the relationship of various variables such as functional ability, demographic characteristics and quality of life scores and the governance and administration of measurement tools for the purpose of quality reporting and consumer choice.
Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Oct 1, 2007
This paper explores the management of the aging body within the anti-aging discourse and its impl... more This paper explores the management of the aging body within the anti-aging discourse and its implications on notions of "successful" and "healthy" aging policies. By looking at some of the preliminary findings of our current study of 'anti-aging medicine' in Australia, including interviews conducted with stakeholders in the anti-aging debate, this study explores some recurrent values and perceptions regarding 'anti-aging medicine,' the re-negotiation of boundaries between illness and health, and the social, cultural, and economic forces shaping understandings and practices around aging and decisions to use anti-aging technologies.
Health Sociology Review, Dec 1, 2009
Abstract Through interviews with users and providers of anti-ageing medicine in Australia as well... more Abstract Through interviews with users and providers of anti-ageing medicine in Australia as well as the analysis of various internet sites, anti-ageing clinics, journals and magazines dealing with anti-ageing medicine, this paper will argue that the antiageing industry in Australia is an example of how ‘mediascapes’ operate, seeking in this case to replicate the American model while developing a more localized practice meeting local needs, cultural orientations and regulatory frameworks. The products being studied here include some which have been on the market for many years in the Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM) industry, but have only recently been rebranded as ‘anti-ageing’. These include vitamins, anti-oxidants, supplements such as beta-carotene, selenium and coenzyme Q10, homeopathic products, exercise and diet programs. Other products that have been recently labelled as ‘anti-ageing’ and are included in this study are hormone therapies, testosterone, melatonin, Human Growth Hormone (HGH), and Dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA). These products have been previously trialled and used in the treatment of medical problems such as heart disease, sexual dysfunction, cognitive and memory loss problems, and hormonal deficiency. Current medical research on stem cells, particularly embryonic stem cells, has also fallen within the realm of anti-ageing treatments developed from this research area and available primarily in countries with limited regulation and control over the use and availability of embryonic stem cells in the context of the private anti-ageing clinic. The differences and similarities between the practice of anti-ageing medicine in Australia and in America highlight current tensions and correspondences in the manner in which ageing is being constructed, managed and experienced. They are indicative of the impact that social policy directions, regulatory frameworks and economic policies have on the way in which ageing individuals and society at large approach the experience of old age.
Health Promotion International, Oct 7, 2020
The rise of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the incongruity of individualization ideologies tha... more The rise of the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the incongruity of individualization ideologies that position individuals at the centre of health care, by contributing, making informed decisions and exercising choice regarding their health options and lifestyle considerations. When confronted with a global health threat, government across the world, have understood that the rhetoric of individualization, personal responsibility and personal choice would only led to disastrous national health consequences. In other words, individual choice offers a poor criterion to guide the health and wellbeing of a population. This reality has forced many advanced economies around the world to suspend their pledges to 'small government', individual responsibility and individual freedom, opting instead for a more rebalanced approach to economic and health outcomes with an increasing role for institutions and mutualization. For many marginalized communities, individualization ideologies and personalization approaches have never worked. On the contrary, they have exacerbated social and health inequalities by benefiting affluent individuals who possess the educational, cultural and economic resources required to exercise 'responsibility', avert risks and adopt health protecting behaviours. The individualization of the management of risk has also further stigmatized the poor by shifting the blame for poor health outcomes from government to individuals. This paper will explore how the COVID-19 pandemic exposes the cracks of neoliberal rhetoric on personalization and opens new opportunities to approach the health of a nation as socially, economically and politically determined requiring 'upstream' interventions on key areas of health including housing, employment, education and access to health care.
Journal of Iberian and Latin American Research, May 3, 2016
Medicine Health Care and Philosophy, Apr 1, 2008
This paper explores how the exercise of the ethics of 'responsibi... more This paper explores how the exercise of the ethics of 'responsibility' for health care advanced through 'healthy ageing' and 'successful ageing' narratives in Western countries animates an array of 'authorities', including the 'anti-ageing medicine' movement as a strategy to address the anxieties of growing old in Western societies and as a tool to exercise the ethos of 'responsibility'. The choice of this type of authority as a source of guidance for self-constitution and the exercise of the 'responsible self', this paper will argue, enables the enactment of a type of late modernity notion of citizenship for ageing individuals based on principles of agelessness, health, independence and consumption power. Through interviews with anti-ageing consumers, however, it is also possible to argue the existence of tensions and contradictions that such a rigid model of self-constitution in later life produces, and the potential forms of resistance and contestations that may emerge as a result. In this way the current 'war on anti-ageing medicine' (Vincent 2003) becomes also symptomatic of bigger 'wars' taking place not only between institutions competing for control over knowledge and management of ageing, but between those in favour and against the homogenisation of life under the language of universal science, reason and market rationality.
Health Promotion International, Apr 1, 2023
Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood
Australia lags behind other linguistic and culturally diverse countries in policy direction and a... more Australia lags behind other linguistic and culturally diverse countries in policy direction and approaches to early multilingual education, despite well-established research documenting the intellectual, linguistic, sociocultural, familial and economic benefits of multilingualism in the early years. This is evidenced by the absence of a national policy framework that addresses early multilingual education in Australia, and the relatively limited attention given to research on the role of early childhood education in supporting and extending children's home languages. Within this context, using data from a larger study on early multilingual education, this article builds on empirical data from interviews with four educators representing two early childhood education settings. This article aims to examine the educators’ perspectives of their settings’ policy and practice, in the absence of broader curriculum frameworks, regarding their role in extending children's home languag...
This work is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, c... more This work is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced or transmitted, in any form, or by any means of process, without the written permission of the University of Western Sydney and
Degeneration of axons eliminates unwanted or damaged nerves from an organism as part of normal ne... more Degeneration of axons eliminates unwanted or damaged nerves from an organism as part of normal neuronal development and injury, but is also a common feature in neurodegenerative disease and neuropathies. Recently, a Toll-like receptor (TLR) adaptor protein, sterile-alpha and armadillo motif-containing protein (SARM), has shown to promote axon degeneration after injury (Wallerian degeneration) and promote cell death. The protein comprises three domains: two central tandem sterile-alpha motifs (SAM) flanked by an N-terminal armadillo repeat motif (ARM) and a C-terminal Toll/interleukin-1 receptor (TIR) domain. We have solved the crystal structure of the tandem SAM domains of human SARM at 2.8Å resolution which form an octameric ring. Using small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) and multi-angle light scattering (MALS) we can determine this ring structure is conserved across species. We have also solved the crystal structure of the C-terminal TIR domain at 1.8Å resolution. The TIR domains are responsible for transmitting signal in TLR signalling and requires a clustering event to bring TIR domains in close proximity. In relation to SARM promoting axon degeneration and cell-death, we hypothesise that the tandem SAM domains act as the "clustering mechanism" to bring the TIR domains together, which then recruits downstream proteins to cause axon degeneration and cell death. We are currently testing mutants that knock out the oligomeric ring of the tandem SAM domains and residues in the TIR domain to analyse the role these have in axon degeneration and cell-death, which could provide new targets for therapeutic drugs in neurodegenerative disease and neuropathies. This concept of forming complex assemblies in immunity and inflammation are seen in other immune pathways, such as the inflammasome pathway, effector-triggered immunity in plants and apoptosis.
Australasian journal on ageing, 2017
In the increasingly competitive environment of aged care in Australasia, how can providers and co... more In the increasingly competitive environment of aged care in Australasia, how can providers and consumers be sure that the care support delivered is efficient and makes a positive difference? Monitoring outcomes has long been emphasised for ensuring quality service delivery, yet there is currently no consistently applied approach available. This paper considers the importance of measuring outcomes in community care and reports on the development and field trial of the Australian Community Care Outcomes Measure (ACCOM). The ACCOM combines data already collected by services on the capabilities and care needs of individual consumers and their demographic characteristics with a short questionnaire on quality of life based on the Adult Social Care Outcomes Toolkit (ASCOT). It is completed by consumers and staff. In the first round of a field test of the ACCOM (2016), baseline data were successfully collected for over 200 individual aged care clients, each receiving consumer-directed care ...
from the Department of Ageing Disability and Home Care, Vivian from NSW Community Options, Kathy ... more from the Department of Ageing Disability and Home Care, Vivian from NSW Community Options, Kathy Wood and Grace Chan from Carers NSW, and the community representative and carer Despina Papilos. We would also like to thank Branca Vulojevic from the HACC interpreter service at South Western Sydney Area Health Service for facilitating the use of interpreters and all the community organizations that assisted us in gaining access to the carer participants involved in the research. The act of academic research writing creates limitations particularly when attempting to communicate and capture the interconnected emotions of despair, love and moments of joy the participants share with their loved ones. Out of respect for the privilege of having been allowed to share these moments, we endeavour in presenting this research to remind ourselves and the reader that beyond the analysis of culture, ethnicity and institutions are the lives of individuals who hoped that their contribution would assist in the creation of new and innovative strategies to address their needs. We thank all the carer participants for their time and contribution. Due to issues of confidentiality all the names and references to specific services or organisations have been changed.
Continuum, 2011
Trepidation towards old age has been singled out as the main driving force behind the consumption... more Trepidation towards old age has been singled out as the main driving force behind the consumption of anti-ageing products such as human growth hormone (HGH). The rationality imposed by statements suggesting a linear relationship between the uptake of HGH and ‘middle men trying to look younger’ diverts attention from multiple convergences and divergences taking place across areas such as medicine,
Anthropological Quarterly, 2016
Medicine, Health Care and Philosophy, 2008
This paper explores how the exercise of the ethics of 'responsibi... more This paper explores how the exercise of the ethics of 'responsibility' for health care advanced through 'healthy ageing' and 'successful ageing' narratives in Western countries animates an array of 'authorities', including the 'anti-ageing medicine' movement as a strategy to address the anxieties of growing old in Western societies and as a tool to exercise the ethos of 'responsibility'. The choice of this type of authority as a source of guidance for self-constitution and the exercise of the 'responsible self', this paper will argue, enables the enactment of a type of late modernity notion of citizenship for ageing individuals based on principles of agelessness, health, independence and consumption power. Through interviews with anti-ageing consumers, however, it is also possible to argue the existence of tensions and contradictions that such a rigid model of self-constitution in later life produces, and the potential forms of resistance and contestations that may emerge as a result. In this way the current 'war on anti-ageing medicine' (Vincent 2003) becomes also symptomatic of bigger 'wars' taking place not only between institutions competing for control over knowledge and management of ageing, but between those in favour and against the homogenisation of life under the language of universal science, reason and market rationality.
Home Health Care Services Quarterly
ABSTRACT Measuring the impact of care delivered at home for frail older people is a complex task ... more ABSTRACT Measuring the impact of care delivered at home for frail older people is a complex task given many confounding variables that may impact on the ability of service providers to identify the direct impact of their programs on their clients’ well-being and quality of life. The recent publication of the 2018 Wellness and Reablement Report Outcomes indicated that organizations lack formal processes to measure the impact of their programs on service users. There are therefore limited data exits on measuring outcomes and the performance of the ACCOM tool in the real world. Knowledge of a strong causal relationship between services provided and outcomes enables confidence in assuming the care provided was largely responsible for the outcome achieved. This paper will reflect on the experiences of one service provider in Brisbane, in implementing the Australian Community Care Outcomes Measurement (ACCOM) tool to measure and demonstrate the impact of their programs.
Health and quality of life outcomes, Jan 29, 2018
Measuring health and wellbeing outcomes of community aged care programs is a complex task given t... more Measuring health and wellbeing outcomes of community aged care programs is a complex task given the diverse settings in which care takes place and the intersection of numerous factors affecting an individual's quality of life outcomes. Knowledge of a strong causal relationship between services provided and the final outcome enables confidence in assuming the care provided was largely responsible for the outcome achieved (Courtney et al., Aust J Adv Nurs 26:49-57, 2009). The Department of Health has recently reported on the findings of The National Aged Care Quality Indicator Program - Home Care Pilot (KPMG, National Aged Care Quality Indicator Program - Home Care Pilot, 2017). The Program sought to test various tools to measure quality of life outcomes of their community aged care programs. Some of the key issues raised in the study reiterate the findings from The Australian Community Care Outcome Measurement (ACCOM) pilot study (Cardona et al., Australas J Ageing 36: 69-71, 201...
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Papers by Beatriz Cardona