Background: Safety communications relating to water safety are often delivered using a deficit model or deductive method, where the educator or communicator explicitly introduces a topic and offers explanations, examples, or activities to consolidate the message. These approaches, however, do not cater to those not already engaged or unaware of the risks, and do nothing to promote or encourage participation in water safety workshops or messaging. This communication challenge is especially relevant to multicultural communities, who may be less familiar with the importance of water safety in Australia. Another issue is that water safety education programs often require ongoing funding to continuously operate, so an alternative method of communication that is cost-effective needs to be considered.
Aim: Considering these challenges, this study developed a new pedagogical tool, a reading exercise for standardised English exams such as IELTS, incorporating beach safety information; it examined to what extent this material would improve international students’ knowledge of rip currents and safety strategies.
Research Method: This study utilised a quasi-experimental design to measure the improvement of beach safety knowledge using a pre-test, post-test, and follow-up test. Statistical data were analysed in SPSS and R Studio, utilising descriptive analysis, and Generalised Estimate Equations. Additionally, a thematic analysis of textual responses was conducted in NVivo.
Results: The results show that there was a significant improvement (p<0.01) in the participants’ knowledge of rips, beach flags, and safety signage warnings after using the material. Additionally, participants started pointing out a wide range of characteristics when describing rip currents. Although some deterioration of knowledge (except regarding beach flags) was detected four weeks later, the improvement was still significant across all topics.
So what? Considering the high demand for English language learning material among migrants, this educational method should be adopted not only for water safety but other safety messages.

Prenatal alcohol exposure can lead to a range of adverse outcomes for maternal and infant health, including Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD). New research estimates that FASD affects approximately 3.64% of the Australian population - equivalent to almost 1 million people. Health professionals play a vital role in preventing FASD by supporting women to have alcohol-free pregnancies.

The Every Moment Matters campaign aims to raise awareness of the risks of alcohol use while pregnant, planning a pregnancy or breastfeeding. An important component of the broader program is upskilling health professionals to have routine conversations with women about alcohol, pregnancy and breastfeeding. To inform this work, formative research was undertaken to understand ways in which health professionals can be motivated to address the topic of alcohol use with pregnant and breastfeeding women. In addition, research was undertaken to guide the redevelopment of online training. Insights have informed the design, implementation and evaluation of resources, training and other activities targeting health professionals.

Since launching in September 2022, 1696 health professionals have enrolled in the eLearning course, with 575 health professionals (34% of those enrolled) completing all five modules. Evaluation results show significant increases in health professionals’ intention to routinely ask about alcohol during pregnancy (19.7% pre- to 79.5% post-) and provide advice on the topic (40.7% pre- to 82.6% post-). In addition, over 90,000 health professionals have been reached through engagement activities, including conferences, online presentations, podcasts and publications in 2024-2025 alone.

Building confidence, skills, and motivation among health professionals to have routine discussions about alcohol is essential to support healthy pregnancies. The Every Moment Matters campaign demonstrates that evidence-informed training can significantly improve health professionals’ readiness to engage in these conversations. Continued investment to engage health professionals, alongside sustained public health messaging is critical to reduce alcohol-exposed pregnancies in Australia.

Problem
Fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) is a neurodevelopmental disability that results from prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE). Clinical guidelines provide a consistent, evidence-based approach for clinicians to screen for and address PAE in antenatal settings. This research explored and appraised the quality of global and Australian guidelines on the prevention of alcohol harms in pregnancy and FASD.

Methods
A Google search was conducted for guidelines relating to PAE and/or FASD published between 2014 and 2024. The guidelines were published by international bodies and professional associations, as well as Australian state or national governments and Australian professional associations. A thematic analysis was performed to identify the inclusion of predetermined themes, and the quality of guidelines was appraised using the AGREE II tool.

Results
Fourteen guidelines on the prevention of alcohol harms in pregnancy, including PAE and FASD, were identified, including five global, seven Australian, and two from Australian jurisdictions (Queensland and NSW). Twelve guidelines focused on pregnant women as the priority group, while three guidelines focused solely on people with FASD (one focused on both). The most prevalent themes surrounding alcohol use in pregnancy or FASD were health literacy (92.9%), PAE screening (92.9%), and PAE services (71.4%).

Lessons
Most guidelines on preventing harms from PAE and FASD focus on pregnant women, with limited attention to individuals with FASD or paternal alcohol use. There is a growing recognition of cross-sectoral collaboration and ethical, non-stigmatising care. Notably, no guidelines recommend screening for both alcohol and contraception use among at-risk individuals of childbearing age, despite high rates of unintended pregnancies. Evidence-based recommendations to guide health care professionals in the management of women during pregnancy should be updated to reflect emerging evidence, broaden screening practices and consider priority populations.

Problem:
The World Health Organization recognises that food marketing strongly influences food preferences, consumption patterns and food-related disease risk. Restricting unhealthy food advertising on public assets represents a modifiable aspect of the food environment within local government (LG) influence. Internationally, several UK councils demonstrate that restrictions are both feasible and effective. However, Australian progress is limited. This highlighted the urgent need for practical guidance to support Australian LGs in navigating the policy process and implementing effective restrictions.
What we Did:
To address this gap, the Healthy Food Advertising Policy Toolkit builds LG capability to develop, adopt, implement, monitor and evaluate policies restricting unhealthy food advertising. The aim was to develop a practical, ready-to-use resource that Western Australia’s 137 LGs could readily adapt for their local context.
Toolkit development followed a staged, evidence-informed and participatory process. Stage 1 identified LG needs through research exploring attitudes, barriers and enablers to policy action. Findings highlighted the need for clear food classification frameworks, practical tools/templates and case studies to support consistent and confident implementation. Stage 2 reviewed national and international policy guides to identify transferable lessons/content. Stage 3 defined the toolkit structure, policy steps, supporting materials and examples required to guide LGs. Stage 4 involved drafting, testing and refining content aligned with best practice and tailored for the WA context.
Results:
Toolkit materials were tested through iterative co-design with a Stakeholder Reference Panel comprising 22 representatives from LGs and public health organisations. Feedback on clarity, feasibility and usability informed successive revisions, ensuring content remained practical, grounded in evidence and responsive to LG needs.
Lessons:
The collaborative, iterative approach strengthens alignment with LG needs and enhances the toolkit’s relevance for policy support. Key lessons include early stakeholder engagement, tailoring to LG processes and provision of practical templates/examples to build confidence and consistency in policy adoption.

Introduction: Evidence linking serum uric acid (SUA) to dementia risk remains inconsistent, with mixed sex-specific findings across broad age ranges. In older adults, who are most at risk of dementia, the evidence is limited, and clinical significance of the association is still unclear.
Objective: To examine the association between SUA levels and risk of cognitive decline and dementia in older adults.
Methods: Data were used from the Aspirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) trial, its observational follow-up (ASPREE-XT), and the ASPREE Healthy Ageing Biobank. ASPREE was a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial of aspirin in older adults (Australia 87.4%, United States 12.6%), with recruitment from 2010-2014 and followed up through 2024.This study comprised 16,703 community-dwelling Australians aged ≥ 70 years without evident cardiovascular disease, dementia, or physical disability at enrolment. The Biobank substudy (n=11,921) collected baseline SUA data. After excluding participants using gout medications, 11,411 were included in the analysis. SUA was categorised into quintiles, with the middle quintiles (Q2–Q4) as the reference. Cognitive decline was defined as a >1.5 standard deviation drops from baseline on any of four tests: Modified Mini-Mental State (3MS), Hopkins Verbal Learning Test-Revised (HVLT-R), Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT), or Symbol Digit Modalities Test (SDMT). Dementia diagnoses followed DSM-IV criteria adjudicated by an expert panel. Multivariable Cox proportional hazards regression estimated associations between SUA and incident cognitive decline or dementia.
Results: Over a median 9-year follow-up, 3,825 (33.5%) participants experienced cognitive decline and 1000 (8.8%) developed dementia. Among females, those in the lowest SUA quintile (Q1) had a higher dementia risk (HR:1.24, 95%CI: 1.01-1.54, p=0.045) and a trend towards worse cognitive decline (HR:1.11, 95%CI: 1.00-1.24, p=0.056) compared with the reference group. No significant associations were observed for males. Restricted cubic spline curves indicate a non-linear association between SUA and dementia risk.
Conclusions: Older females with low SUA levels had a higher risk of developing dementia. Monitoring and controlling of SUA level in older females with a view to maintain a normal range.

Introduction:
Dementia disproportionately affects socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Most contributing factors (e.g., obesity, hypertension, physical inactivity) are socially patterned and emerge during midlife. Understanding the drivers of these risks is essential for designing equitable prevention strategies. Using an implementation science approach, this study investigates root causes of behaviour and identifies change mechanisms and strategies to address the social determinants of dementia.

Methods:
Guided by the COM-B framework, structured interviews were conducted with 44 adults (22–63 years) from three socioeconomically disadvantaged neighbourhoods to examine capabilities, opportunities and motivations for three protective behaviours: healthy diet, physical activity and regular GP check-ups. Using the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW), findings were systematically mapped to generate a theoretically grounded “menu of options” for dementia prevention through complementary behavioural and policy strategies.

Results:
Over half of participants met criteria for obesity and were insufficiently active, while none met NHMRC dietary guidelines. Despite high rates of GP visits, 38% had unmanaged or unscreened chronic conditions. Barriers to change spanned all COM-B domains: diet was constrained by low food literacy, financial stress and access to unhealthy foods; physical activity by physical limitations, lack of companions and safety concerns; and GP attendance by low service availability and trust. Enablers included social and financial stability, while motivation was driven by perceived benefits and positive past experiences. Strategies for change identified were in three domains: 1) education and motivation: improving food literacy and self-efficacy through tailored education and peer support; 2) enablement and service provision: enhancing financial stability, integrated primary care, and subsidised prevention programs; 3) environmental restructuring: creating supportive local contexts that facilitate healthy choices: e.g. affordable healthy food and safe neighbourhoods.

Conclusion:
This work demonstrates the translation of behavioural evidence into equity-focused dementia prevention strategies. By identifying individual, organisational and policy-level opportunities, it informs a scalable and sustainable way forward.

Introduction: Walking offers significant health benefits for all people, yet environmental barriers can limit participation. This may be greater for older people or those living with disability, particularly in rural areas where walkability is under-investigated, populations are less active and have poorer health outcomes. This study explores community-identified walkability barriers and facilitators in rural Tasmania, focusing on older people and people living with disability.

Method: This mixed-method study used a citizen science approach to engage rural residents in assessing walkability and identifying priorities for action. Eighty-seven citizen scientists across 10 rural towns in Tasmania completed walkability audits and provided 473 photographs of walking facilitators and barriers. Fifty-six participants participated workshops in each town to identify key issues and solutions. Thematic analysis of workshop transcripts and photographs was conducted.

Results: Barriers to rural walkability for older people and those with a disability related to pedestrian infrastructure and safety (“I’m finding walking around getting harder… the accessibility and lack of infrastructure here… we’re the ones who need to keep being active”). This included absent and poorly maintained footpaths and ramps (presented in photographs), inconsistent surfaces, lack of crossings, connectivity, traffic speeds, and physical obstacles (“…smaller scooters with wheels that size you would get stuck”). Facilitators of walkability for older people were maintained footpaths, gentle gradients, and supportive infrastructure such as benches and lighting. For people living with disability facilitators included sealed, wide footpaths suitable for mobility aids, maintained ramps, and signage.

Conclusion: Barriers and facilitators to walkability in Tasmania were similar for older people and those living with disability. However, certain features such as the poor condition of ramps had more pronounced impact on people living with disability due to mobility aid requirements and navigation challenges. Findings underscore the need for inclusive walking infrastructure for all community members to support mobility, participation, and healthy rural communities.