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Achieving tangible impacts on policy and practice is not easy. But it’s made even harder by starting with a pessimistic outlook. Much of the academic discourse around the interface of science, policy, and practice has become dominated by negative language such as the science-policy “gap”, or “challenges” and “barriers” that must be overcome. Chris Cvitanovic makes the case for a shift in the academic study of science-policy-practice interfaces towards the documentation and discussion of “bright spots” – those instances where science has successfully influenced policy and/or practice. Doing so will help to establish a new mantra of optimism, one that inspires hope and empowers scientists and decision-makers to continue to strive for new ways of working together and having an impact.

This post was originally published here at the LSE Impact blog.

This Wednesday, 14 December from 5:30-7:30pm, Deakin University will be holding a free public lecture from Associate Professor Sandrina de Finney (University of Victoria, Canada), as part of the program for the Alfred Deakin Institute's 2018 flagship conference, 'Youth Futures: Connection and Mobility in the Asia-Pacific'.

The potential savings on medical costs could make a big difference for relieving pressure on Australia’s health systems and residential facilities, says Ben O’Mara.

The new Aged Care Standards recently released by the Australian Government could have helped reduce the costs of end-of-life support and help more elderly people deal with a terminal illness, but did not mention the role of palliative care in aged care facilities. The omission is a lost opportunity.

Diversity training is one of the most popular diversity strategies undertaken in workplaces today. Approaches can range from cultural awareness training and unconscious bias reduction to initiatives that deal more directly with issues of racism. Although reviews have generally found diversity training to have a positive impact on participants, there is growing evidence that diversity training is only effective when accompanied by systemic level intervention, including increased accountability for diversity work. In this article, originally posted in the Conversation in April 2018, Dr. Victor Sojo Monzon and Dr Melissa Wheeler from the Centre for Workplace Leadership at the University of Melbourne reflect on the potential impact of diversity training for Starbucks’ employees after two black men were arrested at a Starbucks store while waiting for another colleague to arrive . Starbucks has since released part of its diversity curriculum, which includes a strong focus on racial bias, and is committed to employing a diverse workforce, including in senior roles.

The Victorian Council of Social Service (VCOSS) has released the Empowered Lives report in the leadup to this month's state election, outlining the key systemic issues facing Victorians with disability and ways government can provide more opportunities for people with disability, more inclusive environments and communities, and stronger support when needed.

Refugee and migrant settlement agency AMES Australia recently published research that looks into the economic and social and impact of the settlement of relatively large numbers of refugees at Bendigo, in Central Victoria.

Its CEO Cath Scarth outlines the findings below. They include a significant net benefit to the region and confirm the necessary conditions for successful settlement.

An ANZSOG-funded research project is exploring the increasing use of robots in care services to replace or complement the roles of humans. In this article, researchers Catherine Smith, Helen Dickinson, Gemma Carey & Nicole Carey explore how the growth of robots in care services is changing how we think about care, and what we need to do to ensure that the ethics of care are maintained. The full report is expected to be published in the near future.

A few weeks ago, the co-occurrence of a ‘twitter discussion’ (initiated by @LukeCraven) and some reading I was doing on policy analysis tools prompted me to start thinking about what Hill (2013) refers to as process advocacy.  Process advocacy is concerned with improving the nature of policy making.  It is different to policy advocacy in that it concerns advocating generally for ‘better’ policy process rather than the substance or content of a particular policy.

Everybody wants to improve healthcare in Australia; however, the ways we can do that are as numerous as the drugs that are available to treat disease.  Which approach is the most optimal?  Is it individuals making lifestyle choices that improve their health? Is it doctors that engage patients in their own healthcare? Or is it hospitals that actively engage stakeholders in a systemic approach to healthcare improvement?  In fact the answer is, of course, all of these things and so much more.  Underlying all of these is knowledge: its generation; mobilisation; presentation; and discussion.  The potential for misunderstanding or misusing evidence, or not using any evidence at all, has significant implications for decision-making, policy development and healthcare improvement. 

An increasing number of women in Australia are retiring into poverty and, consequently, experiencing housing stress, housing crisis or homelessness. It is time to demand a national agenda for action to address these appalling realities for far too many older women.