Introduction: Healthy work environments are essential in determining improved well-being of Austr... more Introduction: Healthy work environments are essential in determining improved well-being of Australians. Job stress has been identified as a significant factor in psychological distress. This study evaluated the effect of introducing a systems-based workplace wellness programme using mindfulness in the workplace. Methods: The programme ‘Be Well’ was introduced as part of a systems-based approach to workplace health promotion, and evaluated using sick leave as a proxy for workplace stress, and the stress satisfaction offset score to determine the degree of change in stress and satisfaction. Results: There was significant reduction in sick leave (2014 vs. 2012) (p<.001), and significant improvement in stress satisfaction offset score (p<.05). Logistic regression analysis identified the programme components most predictive of reduced stress and higher job satisfaction. Conclusion: The impacts of a systems-based mindfulness workplace wellness intervention, show significant improve...
IntroductionRates of medical interventions in normal labour and birth are increasing. This prospe... more IntroductionRates of medical interventions in normal labour and birth are increasing. This prospective meta-analysis (PMA) proposes to assess whether the addition of a comprehensive multicomponent birth preparation programme reduces caesarean section (CS) in nulliparous women compared with standard hospital care. Additionally, do participant characteristics, intervention components or hospital characteristics modify the effectiveness of the programme?Methods and analysisPopulation: women with singleton vertex pregnancies, no planned caesarean section (CS) or epidural.Intervention: in addition to hospital-based standard care, a comprehensive antenatal education programme that includes multiple components for birth preparation, addressing the three objectives: preparing women and their birth partner/support person for childbirth through education on physiological/hormonal birth (knowledge and understanding); building women’s confidence through psychological preparation (positive minds...
Antenatal education in Australia has shifted its focus from preparation for birth, to a broader f... more Antenatal education in Australia has shifted its focus from preparation for birth, to a broader focus on pregnancy, birth and parenting, without expanding the time allocated to the classes. There have been appropriate reasons behind this move because focussing only on birth often came at the expense of discussing early parenting. Our main concern is that insufficient time is allocated for birth preparation and rehearsal of natural pain management techniques, with reliance on medical management remaining at the forefront of childbirth pain management discourse. This results in women being unprepared, fearful and having inadequate resources or information to cope with normal labour and birth. In a political environment where the reduction in rates of caesarean section (CS) is emerging as an important maternal outcome, we are doing little to prepare women for normal birth. In this editorial we ask, what is the point of antenatal education, if not to prepare women for labour and birth; how much evidence is there behind what we currently do, and is it time to regulate this space
To assess whether the multitherapy antenatal education 'CTLB' (Complementary Therapies fo... more To assess whether the multitherapy antenatal education 'CTLB' (Complementary Therapies for Labour and Birth) Study programme leads to net cost savings. Cost analysis of the CTLB Study, using analysis of outcomes and hospital funding data. We take a payer perspective and use Australian Refined Diagnosis-Related Group (AR-DRG) cost data to estimate the potential savings per woman to the payer (government or private insurer). We consider scenarios in which the intervention cost is either borne by the woman or by the payer. Savings are computed as the difference in total cost between the control group and the study group. If the cost of the intervention is not borne by the payer, the average saving to the payer was calculated to be $A808 per woman. If the payer covers the cost of the programme, this figure reduces to $A659 since the average cost of delivering the programme was $A149 per woman. All these findings are significant at the 95% confidence level. Significantly more wom...
Introduction: Healthy work environments are essential in determining improved well-being of Austr... more Introduction: Healthy work environments are essential in determining improved well-being of Australians. Job stress has been identified as a significant factor in psychological distress. This study evaluated the effect of introducing a systems-based workplace wellness programme using mindfulness in the workplace. Methods: The programme ‘Be Well’ was introduced as part of a systems-based approach to workplace health promotion, and evaluated using sick leave as a proxy for workplace stress, and the stress satisfaction offset score to determine the degree of change in stress and satisfaction. Results: There was significant reduction in sick leave (2014 vs. 2012) (p<.001), and significant improvement in stress satisfaction offset score (p<.05). Logistic regression analysis identified the programme components most predictive of reduced stress and higher job satisfaction. Conclusion: The impacts of a systems-based mindfulness workplace wellness intervention, show significant improve...
IntroductionRates of medical interventions in normal labour and birth are increasing. This prospe... more IntroductionRates of medical interventions in normal labour and birth are increasing. This prospective meta-analysis (PMA) proposes to assess whether the addition of a comprehensive multicomponent birth preparation programme reduces caesarean section (CS) in nulliparous women compared with standard hospital care. Additionally, do participant characteristics, intervention components or hospital characteristics modify the effectiveness of the programme?Methods and analysisPopulation: women with singleton vertex pregnancies, no planned caesarean section (CS) or epidural.Intervention: in addition to hospital-based standard care, a comprehensive antenatal education programme that includes multiple components for birth preparation, addressing the three objectives: preparing women and their birth partner/support person for childbirth through education on physiological/hormonal birth (knowledge and understanding); building women’s confidence through psychological preparation (positive minds...
Antenatal education in Australia has shifted its focus from preparation for birth, to a broader f... more Antenatal education in Australia has shifted its focus from preparation for birth, to a broader focus on pregnancy, birth and parenting, without expanding the time allocated to the classes. There have been appropriate reasons behind this move because focussing only on birth often came at the expense of discussing early parenting. Our main concern is that insufficient time is allocated for birth preparation and rehearsal of natural pain management techniques, with reliance on medical management remaining at the forefront of childbirth pain management discourse. This results in women being unprepared, fearful and having inadequate resources or information to cope with normal labour and birth. In a political environment where the reduction in rates of caesarean section (CS) is emerging as an important maternal outcome, we are doing little to prepare women for normal birth. In this editorial we ask, what is the point of antenatal education, if not to prepare women for labour and birth; how much evidence is there behind what we currently do, and is it time to regulate this space
To assess whether the multitherapy antenatal education 'CTLB' (Complementary Therapies fo... more To assess whether the multitherapy antenatal education 'CTLB' (Complementary Therapies for Labour and Birth) Study programme leads to net cost savings. Cost analysis of the CTLB Study, using analysis of outcomes and hospital funding data. We take a payer perspective and use Australian Refined Diagnosis-Related Group (AR-DRG) cost data to estimate the potential savings per woman to the payer (government or private insurer). We consider scenarios in which the intervention cost is either borne by the woman or by the payer. Savings are computed as the difference in total cost between the control group and the study group. If the cost of the intervention is not borne by the payer, the average saving to the payer was calculated to be $A808 per woman. If the payer covers the cost of the programme, this figure reduces to $A659 since the average cost of delivering the programme was $A149 per woman. All these findings are significant at the 95% confidence level. Significantly more wom...
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Papers by Kate Levett