Archive for February, 2009

Leading researchers and practitioners from around the world are coming together for the very first time to assess the evidence supporting the use of complementary medicine.

The first International Evidence-based Complementary Medicine Conference is to be held at the University of New England, NSW, from the 13^th to the 15^th of March.

The participants will include international authorities on complementary therapies such as Professor Alexander Panossian, Director of Scientific Projects at the Swedish Herbal Institute in Gothenburg, and Simon Mills from the UK, who established the world’s first university centre in complementary medicine.

They will also include eminent researchers and practitioners of orthodox medicine, such as Professor Frank Rosenfeldt, Head of the Cardiac Surgical Research Unit at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, and Professor Kerryn Phelps, the first woman president of the Australian Medical Association. Professor Rosenfeldt will present the results of his research into improving the success of procedures such as cardiac bypass operations by using nutrients including fish oils and antioxidants.

The conference will thus provide ground-breaking insights into the interactions between orthodox and complementary therapies. One of its organisers, Associate Professor Graham Lloyd Jones from UNE’s School of Science and Technology, said one aim of the conference was to identify and explain both positive and negative interactions, so that positive interactions can be encouraged and any negative interactions avoided.

“Over 40 per cent of the Australian population now admits to using some sort of complementary medicine or therapy,” Dr Lloyd Jones said, “and this number is increasing. It’s vitally important, therefore, to assess the evidence supporting the use of these therapies - especially their use in conjunction with orthodox medicine.”

For example, Kerry Bone, an Associate Professor in UNE’s School of Health and Director of Research at MediHerb, will review the clinical evidence relating to the use of complementary medicines in cancer care - especially in the context of concurrent orthodox medical treatment.

“This conference will be highly relevant to the professional development and clinical practice of medical doctors, nurses, pharmacists and natural therapists, providing them with new insights about the efficacy and safety of natural treatments,” Mr Bone said.

A session on “complementary medicine and the brain” will include talks titled “Natural products as cognitive enhancers” and “Herbal and nutritional treatments for depression and anxiety”. Other topics for discussion at the conference will include clinical evidence supporting the use of herbal medicines such as gingko, black cohosh and pine bark, the function of compounds such as omega-3 oils, and the role of complementary medicine in facilitating healthy longevity, improving aged care, and managing conditions such as Alzheimer’s disease. Dr Lloyd Jones and his postgraduate students at UNE will present the results of their ground-breaking research on the bioactive components of plants used in traditional Aboriginal medicine.

For more information - and registration details - go to: http://www.conferencecompany.com.au/compmed/

THE PHOTOGRAPH of Associate Professor Graham Lloyd Jones displayed here expands to show him working with research student Nicholas Sadgrove.
Article reproduced with permission from UNE’s news list.

The experiences and needs of rural teachers in a number of countries are remarkably similar and point to specific types of support important to their teaching practice, according to a keynote speaker at the first International Symposium for Innovation in Rural Education (ISFIRE).

The symposium is taking place at the University of New England this week.

Associate Professor Patricia Hardré from the University of Oklahoma told delegates that experience in nine different countries showed the importance of support such as access to specialised mentoring taking into account the local culture of the areas to which teachers are appointed.

‘This helps teachers realise the role of local culture, and specific issues that may have an impact,’ Dr Hardré said. ‘It helps them to be not only better prepared and more aware of local requirements, but more confident in the teaching approaches they adopt.’

Ongoing professional development was also critical, Dr Hardré said – for good curriculum development and the educational development of students, as well as the personal development of the teacher. And rural teachers typically had much less access to professional development than their non-rurally-based counterparts.

She added that, in working with rural and remote communities, a ’symbiosis between teachers and community’ was also important. ‘Community leaders need to be identified and brought on board to work effectively with teachers in schools,’ Dr Hardré said. ‘This is an education that has to go both ways.’

The symposium also heard that, with a limit being reached on the extent to which small schools can be closed or amalgamated, the challenge for educational authorities and governments was in ‘developing policies that would provide these schools with the support they need to be successful’.

Professor Dennis Mulcahy from Memorial University in Canada spoke on this subject, highlighting a number of policy changes that he said would be needed in the areas of programming, resource provision, teacher education, professional development and distance learning to enable these schools to succeed.

‘Governments and educational authorities must go beyond the mere acceptance of the remaining small schools as a necessary if regrettable reality,’ Professor Mulcahy said. ‘They must embrace and celebrate these small schools as not only viable but as valuable resources for the sustainability and development of the communities they serve.’

Speakers from around the world are attending the four-day event, which offers an international forum for sharing research findings, innovative ideas and evaluated approaches to boost education in the bush. International data confirm that for many countries the learning achievements of students in rural areas are often significantly lower than those achieved by peers in metropolitan areas.

The symposium, which runs until Saturday 14 February, is a joint initiative between the National Centre of Science, ICT and Mathematics Education for Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERR Australia) based at the University of New England, and NURI-Teacher Education Innovation Centre at the Kongju National University in South Korea (which will host the next symposium in 2011). More information is available at: http://www.une.edu.au/simerr/ISFIRE

THE PHOTOGRAPH displayed here shows Professor Youn-Kee Im, Head of the NURI Teacher Education Innovation Centre at Kongju National University in South Korea (left) and UNE’s Professor John Pegg, Director of SiMERR Australia. It expands to include Associate Professor Patricia Hardré (University of Oklahoma, USA) and Professor Dennis Mulcahy (Memorial University, Canada).

Friday, February 13th, 2009
Article reproduced with permission from UNE’s news list.

Leading researchers and policy makers in oral health have confirmed that living in a rural area is one of the two greatest risk factors – along with economic disadvantage – for poor oral health in Australia.

Attending a national Rural Oral Health Symposium at Shepparton in Victoria late last year, they drafted a declaration (the “Shepparton Declaration on Improving Oral Health for Rural Australians”) that calls on governments to increase the number of oral health professionals in rural and regional areas.

The Declaration also urges governments to increase support for universities to provide dental students with rural experience and training.

One of the speakers at the Shepparton symposium, Professor Victor Minichiello, Pro Vice-Chancellor and Dean of Faculty of The Professions at the University of New England, said that a recent proposal by UNE to recruit and retain dentists in rural communities was “something that deserves attention by both State and Federal governments”.

Professor Minichiello, an advocate for rural health, presented statistics revealing that there were 55 dentists per 100,000 people in metropolitan NSW while only 17 dentists per 100,000 people in rural and regional NSW. These average figures mean that there is one dentist per 1,818 people in the cities while only one dentist per 5,588 people in country areas.

“New and collaborative modes of networked practice among professionals are required,” Professor Minichiello said. “These include better use of communication technologies, new methods of education, and the development of a critical mass of academic teaching staff closely engaged with rural professionals.”

The convener of the symposium, Associate Professor Rodrigo Mariño from the University of Melbourne, said that many delegates had been deeply concerned about growing disadvantages in oral health in rural and regional areas and the unmet needs of these communities, and had called for new approaches to address the grave oral health disparities between rural and metropolitan Australia.

He said government support was urgently needed for initiatives such as allowing dental therapists to practise some dental procedures, expanding fluoridation into more rural areas, and encouraging dental graduates to practise in rural and regional areas.

The 120 delegates to the symposium, held on the Shepparton campus of the University of Melbourne, heard that hospital admissions of children for preventable dental conditions were, in some rural communities, nearly seven times more than in some metropolitan areas. The Declaration calls on governments to address the urgent need to improve access to dental services for Indigenous communities, and implement long-term funding for programs in those communities. It also urges governments to include oral health as an intrinsic part of overall health reform strategies.

A copy of the Shepparton Declaration can be obtained at: http://www.crcoralhealthscience.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=337&Itemid=383

For more information, contact Professor Victor Minichiello on 02 67 73 3862 or 0400 421 352, or Associate Professor Rodrigo Mariño on 03 9341 1558.

Wednesday, February 11th, 2009
Article reproduced with permission from UNE’s news list.

The world’s first international symposium on improving and developing equity in rural education will be hosted by Armidale’s University of New England next month.

Keynote speakers from around the world will attend the four day event, which offers an international forum for sharing research findings, innovative ideas and evaluated approaches to boost education in the bush.

“International data confirm that for many countries the learning achievements of students in rural areas are often significantly lower than those achieved by peers in metropolitan areas. The aim of the International Symposium for Innovation in Rural Education (ISFIRE) is to bring together people from around the world who want to help teachers and students in rural, regional and remote locations,” explained ISFIRE convenor, Dr Chris Reading.

ISFIRE is organised around six themes, including: promoting rural policy initiatives; nurturing the rural teacher experience; and addressing special issues in rural education. ISFIRE is a joint initiative between the National Centre for Science, ICT and Mathematics Education in Rural and Regional Australia (SiMERR Australia) at the University of New England and NURI-Teacher Education Innovation Center at the Kongju National University (South Korea).

“It is not too late to register to attend. ISFIRE is not just important for teachers, educators and researchers but also for those who work in educational roles in government and private sectors. The symposium provides an exciting opportunity for professional conversation” said Dr Reading. “Keynote speakers from South Korea, Norway, Canada, the United States of America and Australia are taking part. We are hoping to build on successful innovations which have already been trialled and discuss ways to tailor these ideas so they can be implemented around the world” said Dr Reading.

Over the four days (February 11- 14) fifteen different sessions will take place. Each session will consist of three presentations. After each session participants will discuss how the initiatives could be implemented in their own countries.

As part of the conference, participants will also have the chance to experience a taste of Armidale. Tours of Saumarez Homestead and McCrossin’s Mill Museum have been organised, along with visits to New England Regional Art Museum and Petersons Wines.

In 2011 the second ISFIRE symposium will be held in South Korea. It’s hoped the symposium will become a biennial event hosted in different countries.To register or obtain more information, visit http://www.une.edu.au/simerr/ISFIRE
Article reproduced with permission from UNE’s news list.

FOR many over-50s, the word “grammar” conjures memories of stultifying lessons in parsing and analysis, red marks over a composition, the faint odour of unhappiness in classrooms. For younger ones, it suggests the lost knowledge teachers reach for in moments of difficulty with a sentence. Either way, she seems a dated dame. …

Link to the article in the Australian (28 January 2009) by School of Education academic, Assoc Prof Mary Macken-Horarik.
Article reproduced with permission from UNE’s news list.