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Progress Report

May 2005:

• It is with great excitement that we approach the end of the ‘Work, Family and Health study’. 2005 so far has been dedicated to recruiting workers from within the public sector. By the end of 2004, around 120 families from the retail sector agreed to participate in the study, so this year we are trying to find a comparable number of public servants to balance the sample. We have been moving through various Territory Government Departments, and so far have recruited over 70 workers and their families to the study.
  
• All families who participate in the study are asked to complete questionnaires about their own work and family situation. Many families then volunteer to be interviewed a few months later, which is their opportunity to talk about what they see as being most important to their family. So far 29 retail families have been interviewed and 16 public service families. These interviews have proved to be a very rich source of data and we are particularly grateful for everyone who has participated. Their personal stories and insights will be very valuable in helping us to analyse the questionnaire date.
  
• In other news this year, the whole of NCEPH was invited to attend a massive muffin morning tea at the end of April to help celebrate the ongoing success of the study, and was probably the best attended morning tea ever seen. A big thankyou to Muffin Break Tuggeranong for providing such delicious muffins. A number of muffins were also donated to the staff and children at Quamby Youth Detention Centre.
  
• The team were invited to present at the local Health Promotion Network forum held in mid May. The topic was ‘Health Promoting Workplaces – Fact or Fiction’, and our presentation focussed on the impact of working conditions on adult mental health and child behavioural outcomes.