JCUCHS Outstanding Alumni Awards 2018

Congratulations to our JCU College of Healthcare Sciences 2018 Outstanding Alumni Award Recipients - Joanna Murray (College Award) and Judy Higgins-Olsen (Early Career Award).

Joanna Murray

Judy Higgins-Olsen

Reproduced from https://alumni.jcu.edu.au/OAAwards2018

#JCUCHS

Finders keepers: the costs and benefits of (dis)honesty

Whether it is a stash of diamonds or a sum of cash, the law says you are required to surrender valuable finds to the police. So why are you more likely to hand in something worth thousands than the $50 note you find at the bus stop?

Earlier this year a Cairns woman cleaning her apartment at the end of her lease came across a stash of diamonds worth thousands of dollars. She handed them in to police and the rightful owner was found.

Last year a Nanango man found tens of thousands of dollars inside a timber cabinet he purchased from a recycling market and handed the find to police.

What drives these people to hand in their finds — what is the science behind their honesty?

"Honesty can be understood as the practice of telling the truth, or in other words, to avoid lying, cheating etcetera," said Dr Wendy Li, a senior lecturer in psychology at James Cook University.

"But one of the reasons people lie is to benefit in some way.

"So when we look at cases [where people find valuables] and don't hand them in, the benefits seem obvious — if you can quietly keep them."

The sticking point of the seemingly obvious benefit, Dr Li said, is being able to keep quiet about your find and do so with a clean conscience.

For the full story see http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-12/science-week-the-psychology-of-honesty/10109332

#JCUPsychology

JCU Sport & Exercise Science partners with NRL

L to R: NRL General Manager, Officiating, Tony Archer. JCU Provost Chris Cocklin. JCU Head of Sport and Exercise Science Fiona Barnett.

James Cook University is teaming up with the National Rugby League (NRL) to train its referees in North Queensland.

JCU’s Head of Sport and Exercise Science, Associate Professor Fiona Barnett, said the University would work with the NRL’s Officiating Unit through the High-Performance University Based Structure (HUBS) Program.

“It will function as a three-dimensional education program for NRL officials, delivering educational, technical and personal development opportunities,” she said.

Dr Barnett said the NRL HUBS program was designed so that the training of officials would not be hampered by their location.

“The officials will visit JCU, where staff and students will assess them to determine where they need to improve their strength and conditioning. There will be opportunities for Sport and Exercise Science staff and students to complete research projects with the trainee officials,” she said.

The NRL General Manager, Officiating, Tony Archer said the NRL wants to provide a national identity for rugby league officiating.

“We’re very excited to formalise this agreement with JCU, allowing the development of a clear and supported national structure and pathway for match officials and delivering much needed support from the grassroots to the elite level of officiating.

“We are focused on ensuring that all Rugby League Officials in North Queensland are not disadvantaged by their postcode, and that we provide the same opportunity for all officials. The agreement with JCU is critical to the success of that,” he said.

Reproduced from https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/releases/2018/august/jcu-partners-with-nrl

#JCUSportExerciseScience

Estimating the age of sex offenders

A James Cook University researcher has been examining how accurately victims of sexual assault are able to estimate an offender’s age when that offender is a stranger, and what factors affect those age estimations.

Dr Craig Thorley, who is a Psychology Lecturer at JCU, led the study comparing 546 sexual assault victims’ age estimations during their initial police interviews to the convicted offender’s actual age when the assault occurred.

“Age estimations are helpful to the police when trying to identify an unknown offender as they can focus their investigation on potential suspects close to this age. It is therefore important to know how accurate these age estimations are,” he said.

Dr Thorley said few studies had examined the accuracy of these estimates.

For the full story see
https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/releases/2018/august/estimating-the-age-of-sex-offenders

#JCUPsychology

SES students help prepare Australian Paralympic Swim Team

JCU Sport and Exercise Science students have been helping Head Coach Yuriy Vdovychenko prepare the Australian Paralympic Swim Team athletes for the upcoming 2018 PAN PACIFIC PARA SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS.

Reproduced from https://www.facebook.com/jamescookuniversity/photos/a.10151944672986178/10156871259081178/?type=3&theater

#JCUSportExerciseScience

Mount Isa Show featuring JCU Nursing students and lecturers

Mt Isa Mayor Joyce McCulloch getting her blood pressure tested by our wonderful JCU nursing students Brooke and Kirra at the Mount Isa Show.

Mount Isa Show featuring JCU MICRRH Nursing students and lecturers - step right up folks!

Reproduced from https://twitter.com/MICRRH_JCU/status/1010011654094925826

#JCUNursingMidwifery

JCU Sport and Exercise Science students making news in Port Moresby

Thanks to assistance from New Colombo Plan and a warm welcome from PNG's High Performance Sports Foundation, our Sport and Exercise Science students are gaining valuable experience and making the news in Port Moresby.

Reproduced from https://www.facebook.com/JCUdiscover/posts/1682943471759516

#JCUSportExerciseScience

Mount Isa is the land of opportunity for young grads

Verona Thomsen, Barbara Parker and Tamara Stacey say career opportunities are abundant in the north west.

Like many regional towns, Mount Isa has its fair share of problems.

But when it comes to economic prosperity – Mount Isa is the land of opportunity.

Isa’s relaxed outback lifestyle, abundance of outdoor activities and community spirit, makes it an enticing place to live.

It is really the career opportunities that are drawing in crowds of young professionals from big cities like Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.

Verona Thomsen moved to Mount Isa from Brisbane and is studying nursing through James Cook University at the Centre for Rural and Remote Health.

“It is so much better here, it is smaller so you get more one on one time,” she said.

Tamara Stacey is also a JCU student and said nursing here had a distinct rural and regional focus that you do not find in the city.

Some of the students studying nursing through James Cook University at the Centre for Rural and Remote Health in Mount Isa

“I have just started a job as an assistant in nursing at the hospital. It is certainly easier to get that experience here than in a big city,” Ms Stacey said.

JCU nursing student Barbara Parker said you would have to “jump though ten hoops of fire to get that job in Brisbane”.

“It is easier to get a job out here. I made the choice to go to uni late in life but out here it is achievable. There are so many opportunities,” Ms Parker said.

Mount Isa is a regional base for health, education and a loads of other government ­services. Hoards of young professionals flock to town each year to launch their careers.

Many see short stints in the north west as a way to fast-track their ambitions – a stepping stone to new career heights.

Government services as well as the steady mining industry are the driving force behind the local economy, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data.

Seventy per cent of the town has full time employment.

A pretty impressive statistic when compared to the national average of 57 per cent.

More people have full time jobs in Mount Isa and they are earning more than $300 extra per week compared with the average Australian.

The average Australian takes home $662 per week.

The average Mount Isa resident pockets $997 each week.

Cheaper rent is another incentive that is luring workers to the north west.

The average rent in Mount Isa is $260.

Almost $100 less than the Queensland average of $330 and national average of $335.

Reproduced from https://www.northweststar.com.au/story/5334633/isa-is-the-land-of-opportunity-for-young-grads/

#JCUNursing

A JCU Psychology researcher has found that a person’s mental state affects how they look at art

JCU psychology lecturer Nicole Thomas said the same piece of artwork can attract admiration or rejection from different people.

“One intuitive explanation is that personality and the way in which we visually examine artwork contributes to our preferences for particular art,” she said.

The work was begun with Dr Thomas’ co-author Ali Simpson at Flinders University. Volunteers were psychologically assessed in relation to their personality and then shown abstract art pictures. They were asked to rate the pictures and say how much they would pay for them. The participants’ eye movements were tracked as they looked at the images.

Dr Thomas said the relationship between personality traits and artwork preferences was already well established. Scientists knew, for instance, that neurotic people found abstract and pop art more appealing.

She said as cognitive psychologists, the researchers were particularly interested in the mechanisms of attention and perception.

“We found that people who tended towards neuroticism paid more attention to the left side of a picture, and those with traits related to schizophrenia looked less often at the top of a picture,” said Dr Thomas.

She said this was significant becauseit fits well with known attentional differences in individuals with neuroticism.

“For example, we tend to look to the left side of images first and the fact that these individuals spent more time looking at the left overall suggests they find it harder to disengage their attention. In contrast, those participants with mild schizophrenic tendencies appear to have relied on an entirely different scanning strategy. The tendency to focus on the lower portion of an image has previously been linked with deficits in attentional focus and control.”


In contrast to people with these particular personality traits, she said, in general, participants’ eye movements were concentrated in the upper right quadrant of their visual field.

“The right hemisphere of the brain plays a significant role in emotional processing. Artwork is inherently emotional and the emotional reactions elicited by abstract artwork might lead people to focus their attention within the upper right quadrant to better engage that emotional processing.”

Dr Thomas said that activating the right hemisphere of the brain is also consistent with superior visuospatial processing, which would encourage more thorough exploration of abstract artwork.

Link to paper here.

Reproduced from https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/releases/2018/april/art-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder

#JCUPsychology

JCU Physio in Cambodia 2018

Words simply cannot describe the experience our 1st JCU Physio Cambodia team has had here in Siem Reap! Most recently our 4th year students organised and ran their own physiotherapy service in the MHDC community, visiting over 100 homes, and providing daily education and exercise sessions to adults and school children!

During our time in Cambodia we've been privileged to have touched the lives of so many in such a positive way! And by doing so our lives (and the way we practice) has changed for the better! We've met some of the most incredible people whom we'll never forget, and experienced a health care system so different from our own!

Well done JCU Physio Cambodia! You met (and exceeded) all expectations! I can't wait to do this all over again in 2019!

Home visits were a highlight at MHDC! The kindness and generosity of the people we saw was so heart warming (we're also setting a physiotherapy service record for the most mangos ever received).

Teaching CPR and basic first aid at the local high school!

Daily exercise sessions at MHDC!

Starting traditions! Australia vs. Cambodia footy match! 

A very memorable farewell from MHDC! 

Reproduced from JCU Physiotherapy Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=360010681161525&id=100014577884193

#JCUPhysiotherapy

Workers motivated to take a stand

JCU SES researchers have been putting theory into practice with the successful trial of a method that reduces sedentary behaviour at work.

PhD candidate Teneale McGuckin is a lecturer in Sport and Exercise Science at JCU. She said the group wanted to test the effectiveness of a theory focused on using personalised interventions to reduce the sedentary behaviour of office workers.

“We found we could produce significant change, even without providing physical structures like a standing desk,” she said.

Ms McGuckin said it was well-established that sitting for long periods of time can have negative health outcomes.

“Increased sitting time has been associated with an elevated risk of cardiovascular disease and reduced life expectancy.  Links to weight gain, some cancers, type 2 diabetes, and breathing difficulties have also been identified,” she said.

The team found that with one-on-one consultations that included goal-setting they could make positive changes in behaviour.

“Goal setting was a large focus of the intervention. The majority of goals were prompt-based and supported purposeful standing or walking.

“Things such as going for a walk at morning tea, standing or walking when interacting with colleagues instead of sending an email, walking further to amenities or standing for the duration of a phone call.”

The volunteers filled in a journal and were fitted with movement monitors.

“We saw a reduction in sedentary behaviour, even without providing standing desks. 27 office-based workers reduced occupational sitting time by an average of 45 minutes per workday,” said Ms McGuckin.

She said individual workers responded differently to the set goals, and while some welcomed one-on-one contact with the researchers, others did not.

“That emphasised to us that if you want the best results in changing behaviour you have to have an approach tailored to the individual,” she said.

What can you do to stay active at work?

1. Go for a walk at morning tea time.
2. Stand and walk to talk to colleagues in person rather than sending an email.
3. Take the long way when you are walking somewhere.
4. Stand-up when you are on the phone.
5. Have standing lunch-breaks, instead of sitting down.

Link to video here

Link to paper here

Contacts
Ms Teneale McGuckin
P: (07) 4781 5295
E: teneale.mcguckin@jcu.edu.au

Reproduced from https://www.jcu.edu.au/news/releases/2018/march/workers-motivated-to-take-a-stand

#JCUSportExerciseScience

Dr Lynore Geia TEDx talk - Walking with community as they lead

JCU College of Healthcare Sciences Academic Lead, Indigenous Health, Dr Lynore Geia's TEDx Canberra talk - Walking with community as they lead.

Reproduced from TedX Canberra YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YWoE5mEIVPs

#JCUCollegeHealthcareSciences

Physiotherapy placement at Grace House, Siem Reap

We've finished 3 weeks at Grace House and the Physical Rehabilitation Centre in Siem Reap! Now our Cambodia JCU Physio team are learning how to run a physiotherapy service at MHDC including home visits, outpatient visits, school & adult education sessions!

Exchanging our fundraised goods to PRC! We've learnt so much from the physiotherapy team and the incredible patients who've come from near and far for this service!

Reproduced from JCU Physio Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=355266844969242&id=100014577884193

#JCUPhysio #Cambodia #SiemReap #GraceHouse #PRC #MHDC #Mobility

Dr Lynore Geia, keynote speaker at 'Are You Remotely Interested' Conference 2018 - call for abstracts now open

'Are You Remotely Interested' Conference 2018, Mount Isa Centre for Rural and Remote Health [MICRRH] is delighted to announce keynote speaker - Dr. Lynore Geia, Academic Lead Indigenous Health, College of Healthcare Sciences at James Cook University.

Dr Lynore Geia is a Bwgcolman woman born and raised on Palm Island in NQ, with a passion for Indigenous health. Dr Geia has served as a nurse and health advocate in Queensland for more than 40 years.

A call for abstracts for the 9th Biennial 'Are You Remotely Interested?' Conference: Realising Remote Possibilities – 20 Years On is now open.

https://www.jcu.edu.au/mount-isa-centre-for-rural-and-remote-health/ayri-conference-2018

#RealisingRemotePossibilities  #AYRI2018

Sponsor a nurse or midwife today - conference fund raiser WHOCC2018

Donate now to support nurses and midwives from Developing Countries to attend The WHO Global Network Meeting in Australia. Every $ counts.

Sustainable Development Goals are everyone’s business, make them yours today!

Sponsor a nurse or midwife today!

Donate here http://bit.ly/2DbFPXw

#WHOCC

JCU Psychology researchers' interview on workplace bullying

JCU College of Healthcare Sciences Psychology researchers Raquel Peel and Beryl Buckby talk to WIN News about their research on workplace bullying.

https://www.facebook.com/WINNewsTownsville/videos/2269316426417414/

#JCUPsychology

4th year international JCU Physiotherapy placement has begun in Siem Reap

4th year international JCU physiotherapy placement has begun in Siem Reap!

Arrived safely in Cambodia to an amazing buffet dinner and traditional performance, followed by a day of cultural and language training, and a walk around the city!

#JCUPhysiotherapy #physiotherapy #SiemReap #Cambodia #Khmer #NineteenDegrees

JCU Psychology research on how we can maintain successful long-term relationships

Raquel Peel, PhD lead researcher at James Cook University, said little study had been done in the field of psychology on people who could successfully start relationships, but not maintain them.

"Self-sabotage is a strategy people use to protect or enhance themselves and it's not uncommon," she said.

"Short-term, self-sabotage can provide the illusion of control over the environment and bolster a person's sense of self but long-term it undermines those same things."

Ms Peel said while the study was ongoing, so far it looked as though our past plays a key role in how we handle adult romantic relationships.

For the full story see http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-02-17/why-do-we-sabotage-romantic-relationships/9425844?pfmredir=sm

#JCUPsychology

JCU Psychology partnership with Wellness Centre for PTSD program

Psychology Lecturer, Dr Beryl Buckby, promoting JCU Psychology partnership with Wellness Centre for PTSD program.

Townsville’s defence community and psychology students will benefit through a unique partnership between the Mater Hospital and James Cook University.

The Mater Hospital’s new Wellness Centre is establishing a partnership with the university. With the demand for wellness services in the community the new centre and expanded premises gives the Mater Hospital potential to expand wellness programs in the future.

The PTSD program previously run from the Trauma Recovery Centre will now be held at the new centre and will provide placements for psychology students.

For the full story see http://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/national/ptsd-program-to-be-held-at-new-mater-hospital-wellness-centre/news-story/c09d9aed808dd76d2c72ce5128476d43

#JCUPsychology

Equipment purchased from funds raised through our JCU Everyday Hero account for CNR in Timor Leste

Thank you to everyone who donated. Your generosity is truly appreciated!

We were also very touched to recieve a beautiful handmade gift from CNR (pictured front of photo) that we will cherish! In the words of our students 'it was truly a life changing experience' and 'I have learnt more than I can give and would very much like to return one day'.

From all of us here at JCU THANK YOU CNR!!

#TimorLeste #Dili #CNR #Interprofessional #JCUPhysio #JCUSpeechPathology #JCUOT #NewColomboPlan #Mobility