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Background Across the care economy there are major shortages in the health and care workforce, as well as high rates of attrition and ill-defined career pathways. The aim of this study was to evaluate current evidence regarding methods to improve care worker recruitment, retention, safety, and education, for the professional care workforce. Methods A rapid review of comparative interventions designed to recruit, retain, educate and care for the professional workforce in the following sectors: disability, aged care, health, mental health, family and youth services, and early childhood education and care was conducted. Embase and MEDLINE databases were searched, and studies published between January 2015 and November 2022 were included. We used the Quality Assessment tool for Quantitative Studies and the PEDro tools to evaluate study quality. Results 5594 articles were initially screened and after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 30 studies were included in the rapid review. Studies most frequently reported on the professional nursing, medical and allied health workforces. Some studies focused on the single domain of care worker education ( n  = 11) while most focused on multiple domains that combined education with recruitment strategies, retention strategies or a focus on worker safety. Study quality was comparatively low with a median PEDro score of 5/10, and 77% received a weak rating on the Quality Assessment tool for Quantitative Studies. Four new workforce strategies emerged; early career rural recruitment supports rural retention; workload management is essential for workforce well-being; learning must be contextually relevant; and there is a need to differentiate recruitment, retention, and education strategies for different professional health and care workforce categories as needs vary. Conclusions Given the critical importance of recruiting and retaining a strong health and care workforce, there is an immediate need to develop a cohesive strategy to address workforce shortfalls. This paper presents initial evidence on different interventions to address this need, and to inform care workforce recruitment and retention. Rapid Review registration PROSPERO 2022 CRD42022371721 Available from: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022371721

Recent reforms in New South Wales (NSW), Australia, prioritise adoption over long-term foster care. While previous research has examined motivation to foster, less is known about the interest by the general public in adoption from out-of-home care. A general sample of the NSW public (N = 1030) completed an online survey about adoption practices and their willingness to consider adopting from out-of-home care, with background questions on perceived social support and life satisfaction. Barriers to pursuing adoption were identified, including concerns about the characteristics of the child related to their experiences of care and personal impacts including financial costs. Availability of post-adoption supports was viewed positively as increasing interest in adoption. General Linear Model univariate analyses identified that likelihood of considering adoption was primarily predicted by younger age, knowing someone who had been adopted as a child, actively practicing religion, living in the city rather than a regional area and higher life satisfaction. Customised marketing campaigns can target people more likely to consider adoption, with messages that resonate with their social and psychological characteristics. There is also a need for policy changes to ensure adequate provision of post-adoption support.

Policy capacity focuses on the managerial and organizational abilities to inform policy decisions with sound research and analysis, and facilitate policy implementation with operational efficiency. It stems from a view of the policy process that is rational and positivistic, in which optimal policy choices can be identified, selected, and implemented with objectivity. By itself, however, policy capacity neglects the political aspects of policy-making that can dominate the process, even in health policies. These technical capabilities are certainly needed to advance reforms in health policies, but they are not sufficient. Instead, they must be complemented with public engagement and policy advocacy to ensure support from the public that policies are meant to serve.

Maintaining the parent–child relationship while a parent is incarcerated is critical to the well-being of both parent and child. There is some evidence that video visits can be beneficial when they are used to supplement rather than replace in-person visits. This study explores how video visits support the father–child relationship during parental incarceration. Research was conducted with two public prisons in New South Wales, Australia, during the period of COVID-19 restrictions. Interviews with children’s carers ( n  = 17) and fathers ( n  = 27) were analysed to identify the ways fathers engaged with their children and the benefits of the relationship. Three themes were identified: show and tell , which explored how the visual element of video visits contributed to parent–child interactions; part of their world , which identified how video visits became integrated into children’s everyday lives; and along for the ride , which focused on child-initiated interactions. Challenges of using video visits were also explored in two themes: difficulty engaging , which showed how fathers and children can struggle to communicate and interact, and timing and transitions , which highlighted how video visits could be difficult or disruptive to children’s mood and routines. Overall, video visits were perceived as enabling interactions that strengthened the engagement and relationship between the father and child. Highlights When fathers are incarcerated, the benefits of video visitation with children include having a visual element that allows the father to be part of the child’s world. Video visitation can be incorporated into the child’s daily life for regular contact and enables child-led interactions. Challenges of video visits consist of disruption of mood and routines and difficulties initiating and maintaining the conversation.

Family visits for people in Australian correctional centres stopped during the COVID-19 pandemic. Video visitation was introduced in most jurisdictions as an alternative option. This paper presents the findings from the first multi-jurisdictional study to explore the experiences and impacts of video visits between fathers in prison and their children. Findings show that there are significant benefits to video visitation for fathers, children and children's carers, and corrective services. However, video visits are most beneficial as a complement, not alternative, to contact visits. There are opportunities to develop support for fathers and carers by focusing on visit quality.

Severe traumatic brain injury (TBI) activates a robust systemic response that involves inflammatory and other factors, including estradiol (E2), associated with increased deaths. Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFα) is a significant mediator of systemic shock, and it is an extra-gonadal transcription factor for E2 production. The study objectives were to test the hypotheses: (1) a positive feedback relationship exists between acute serum TNFα and E2; and (2) acute concentrations of E2 and TNFα are prognostic indicators of death after severe TBI. This prospective cohort study included N = 157 adults with severe TBI. Serum samples were collected for the first five days post-injury. The TNFα and E2 levels were averaged into two time epochs: first 72 h (T1) and second 72 h post-injury (T2). A cross-lag panel analysis conducted between T1 and T2 TNFα and E2 levels showed significant cross-lag effects: T1 TNFα and T1 E2 were related to T2 E2 and T2 TNFα, respectively. Cox proportional hazards multi variable regression models determined that increases in T1 E2 (hazard ratio [HR] = 1.79, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.15, 2.81), but not T2 E2 (HR = 0.91, 95% CI: 0.56, 1.47), were associated with increased risk of death. Increased T2 TNFα (HR = 2.47, 95% CI: 1.35, 4.53), and T1 TNFα (HR = 1.47, 95% CI: 0.99, 2.19), to a lesser degree, were associated with increased risk of death. Relationships of death with T2 TNFα and T1 E2 were mediated partially by cardiovascular, hepatic, and renal dysfunction. Both E2 and TNFα are systemic, reciprocally related biomarkers that may be indicative of systemic compromise and increased risk of death after severe TBI.