Suzanne C Thompson
Biographic Data
| ID | 650217 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Suzanne C Thompson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Suzanne C |
| FAMILY NAME | Thompson |
| SIGNATURE | THOMPSON S C |
| AFFILIATIONS | The University of Western Australia |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0327-7155 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 75 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 222 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 75 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1981 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Applying adaptive research methods to explore health literacy in young people with intellectual disability
Young people with intellectual disability experience higher risks for chronic health conditions than their peers. Improving their health literacy could be a strengths-based approach for reducing these risks. However, there is limited research that explores the perspectives of young people with intellectual disability on their health literacy. Given the limited research centring on the voice of young people with intellectual disability, this study…
A comparison of cognitive and health assessment tools used in a dementia prevention and risk management program for urban-dwelling older aboriginal Australians (Dampaa)
In partnership with Aboriginal Elders and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, we developed a dementia risk management and prevention program for Aboriginal Australians aged ≥45 years. In this study, we report neuropsychological assessment data for people who underwent eligibility screening and baseline assessment and explore associations between the cognitive assessment tools used. Fifty Aboriginal people living in metropolitan Perth, …
It just made sense to me!” A Qualitative Exploration of Individual Motivation for Time-Restricted Eating
Time-Restricted Eating (TRE), a form of intermittent fasting, has gained popularity for weight control and metabolic health. It is not incorporated into dietary and clinical guidelines, and hence is generally not being recommended to the public. This qualitative study explores how individuals have discovered TRE as a form of dietary practice and their motivations for practising it. Using purposive and snowball sampling, we recruited 21 participan…
Policy driven community development in rural and remote Australia
Process Evaluation of a Dementia Prevention Program for Aboriginal Australians (Dampaa) Using a Theory of Change Framework
A co-designed, Aboriginal health practitioner-led dementia risk management program (DAMPAA) was implemented from 2021 to 2024 to address the growing concern of dementia among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Western Australia. Key features of DAMPAA included group walking and yarning sessions incorporating health and well-being education twice a week, alongside a six-month home program. A theory of change framework guided a parall…
A Huge Gap”
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the Northern Territory (NT). Accessible and culturally appropriate cancer screening programs are a vital component in reducing the burden of cancer. Primary health care plays a pivotal role in facilitating the uptake of cancer screening in the NT, due to the significant challenges caused by large distances, limited resources, and cultural differences.…
Social Participation and Loneliness in Older Adults in a Rural Australian Context
A rise in aging populations globally calls attention to factors that influence the well-being and health of older adults, including social participation. In Australia, rural older adults face cultural, social, and physical challenges that place them at risk for isolation. Thus, research surrounding social participation and healthy aging is increasingly relevant, especially in rural areas. This qualitative study in a remote town in Western Austral…
Perspectives on the essential skills of healthcare decision making in children and adolescents with intellectual disability
Existing rights frameworks and healthcare standards confirm the importance of providing all people with the opportunities to learn and practise health literacy skills including decision making. There is little literature examining interventions for healthcare decision making for children with intellectual disability. Childhood is a critical time for the development of skills and autonomy. Evidence for how children and adolescents with intellectua…
Dealing with Intimate Partner Violence and Family Violence in a Regional Centre of Western Australia
In the Midwest region of Western Australia, rates of intimate partner and family violence (IPV/FV) are high. We undertook research into social workers' knowledge, attitudes, and skills as part of addressing this significant public health issue. Social workers come into contact with people experiencing IPV/FV in multiple settings, so their understandings and responses are critical to the prevention and interventions related to violence against wom…
Attracting, Recruiting, and Retaining Medical Workforce
Indonesia, one of the Asia Pacific low-and middle-income countries (LMICs), has suffered from a chronic medical workforce shortage. However, there are limited published studies describing the approaches implemented by the Indonesian government regarding the recruitment and retention of the medical workforce. This case study aimed to understand the current practices for recruitment and retention of the medical workforce in Indonesian rural and rem…
Addressing Complex Social Problems Using the Lens of Family Violence
It is imperative that universities continue to explore innovations that support staff and student learning and pursue their mission to promote social responsibility and community service. Communities of Practice have been used to facilitate innovation and regenerate teaching and learning in tertiary contexts, including interdisciplinary collaborations around complex problems. This study describes the challenges and achievements of the first year …
Tracks to Postgraduate Rural Practice
The nursing workforce is the backbone of healthcare provision in rural and remote Australia. Introducing student nurses to rural clinical placements is one strategy used to address the shortfall of healthcare workers outside of major cities, with the goal of improving the training, recruitment and retention of nurses in rural areas. The aim of this qualitative, longitudinal study was to better understand personal and professional decision-making …
Exploring the Implementation of Workplace-Focused Primary Prevention Efforts to Reduce Family Violence in a Regional City
In response to the high burden of family and domestic violence (FDV), The Australian National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children has established that primary prevention measures are necessary to reduce FDV's harmful impacts on health. The Community, Respect, and Equality (CRE) project is a primary prevention initiative aimed towards changing harmful social norms and practices that enable FDV in Geraldton, Western Australia. Organizat…
Commitments, Conditions and Corruption
Complex factors influence physicians' decisions to remain in rural and remote (RR) practice. Indonesia, particularly, has various degrees of poor governance contributing to physicians' decisions to stay or leave RR practice. However, there is a paucity of literature exploring the phenomenon from the perspective of Indonesian RR physicians. This study explores physicians' lived experiences working and living in Indonesian RR areas and the motivati…
Putting Policy into Practice
Improving cancer outcomes for Indigenous people by providing culturally safe, patient-centred care is a critical challenge for health services worldwide. This article explores how three Australian cancer services perform when compared to two national best practice guidelines: the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Framework (Cancer Framework) and the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) User Guide for Aboriginal a…
A qualitative study of how Covid-19 impacts on Australians’ hopes and dreams
The responses provide a window into how people view their future goals and aspirations during a time of global and local instability and highlights the potential future impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic
Marra Wonga
A large sandstone rock art site, Marra Wonga, near Barcaldine, central Queensland, is the focus of this paper. This 160-metre-long rock shelter is estimated to have over 15,000 petroglyphs, which are mostly animal tracks, lines, grooves and drilled holes, as well as 111 hand-related and object stencils. There is also a cluster of human-shaped foot petroglyphs on the floor of the shelter, some with six or more toes. Unique compositions on the shel…
Respect Is Central
Background: Primary health care (PHC) services are complex systems, shaped by an interplay of factors at individual, organisational and broader system levels. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander PHC services, closer relationships with the people they serve, local knowledge of community, and cultural awareness are critical. Continuous quality improvement (CQI) has proven to be an effective process for identification of priority issues in hea…
Longitudinal Follow Up of Early Career Midwives
Racism in health care undermines equitable service delivery, contributes to poorer health outcomes and has a detrimental effect on the Aboriginal workforce. In maternity care settings, Aboriginal women's perceptions of discrimination are widespread, with the importance of cultural practices surrounding childbirth often not recognised. Efforts to build midwives' cultural capabilities and address health disparities have seen Aboriginal content incl…
Experience of Healthcare Access in Australia during the First Year of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Changes in health-seeking behaviours and challenges in accessing care have been reported during the COVID-19 pandemic. This qualitative study examines Australian experiences related to healthcare access during the early months of the pandemic. The study aimed to identify key areas of concern as well as opportunities for services to prevent, manage and treat health concerns when normal access was disrupted. Fifty-nine semi-structured interviews we…
Necessity as the Catalyst of Change
Community services have played a significant role in supporting the psychosocial health and well-being of vulnerable populations during the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic. To meet increased community needs, organisations were required to rapidly modify service provision, often using remote delivery systems. This in-depth study, undertaken early in the pandemic, explored staff and clients' experiences of adapting to using telehealth to provide and…
Respect, Relationships, and “Just Spending Time with Them”
While disparities in educational outcomes for Aboriginal children have narrowed in early childhood education and for Year 12 completions, these positive trends are not replicated in the intervening years where attendance, reading, writing, and numeracy targets have been missed. Erratic attendance in the primary years has the greatest impact on achievement; literacy and numeracy scores decline as absences increase. Family functioning and health, c…
Australians' Experience of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Australia responded to the emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic in 2020 by initiating a border and bio-security zone lockdown and policies emphasising social distancing and hand hygiene. To understand the public response to this, Southern Queensland Rural Health commenced a two-phase research project exploring attitudes and practices towards the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. An initial online survey foreshadowed 90 qualitative interviews w…
Symptom-Related Distress among Indigenous Australians in Specialist End-of-Life Care
Symptom relief is fundamental to palliative care. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Indigenous) Australians are known to experience inequities in health care delivery and outcomes, but large-scale studies of end-of-life symptoms in this population are lacking. We compared symptom-related distress among Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australian patients in specialist palliative care using the multi-jurisdictional Palliative Care Outcomes Colla…
Fostering Health Literacy Responsiveness in a Remote Primary Health Care Setting
Primary healthcare organisations have an important role in addressing health literacy as this is a barrier to accessing and utilising health care. Until recently, no organisational development tool operationalising health literacy in an Australian context existed. This research evaluated the efficacy of the Organisational Health Literacy Responsiveness (Org-HLR) tool and associated assessment process in a primary healthcare organisation in the Pi…
Will it hurt less if I can control it? A complex answer to a simple question
Illusions of control, underestimations, and accuracy
The illusions of control area is reviewed, and 5 conditions that influence control judgments are identified: skill-related factors, success or failure emphasis, need for the outcome, mood, and the intrusion of reality. It is proposed that individuals use a control heuristic that includes perceptions of intentionality and connection. Judgments of intentionality are based on foreseeability, ability to produce the effect, and valence of the outcome.…
Gender Role Beliefs and Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men in Chile and the U.S
Maintaining perceptions of control
Changing Images of Refugees
To assess the political climate, public attitudes and overall focus of opinion around refugee issues, a comparative analysis of print media reporting was carried out on two Australian and three New Zealand newspapers between 1998 and 2008. The research questions explored were: (a) What are the characteristics of Australian and New Zealand newspaper coverage of refugee issues?; (b) How did coverage change over time in response to global events?; a…
The vividness effect
Monogamy, the Protective Fallacy
The authors examined the hypothesis that many individuals define monogamy based on emotional rather than sexual fidelity. Participants, 373 heterosexual college students and 282 gay men, read three vignettes of decreasing mitigation in which they imagined committing an act of infidelity against a hypothetical partner and where half the participants were cued to their emotional attachment toward the partner. Despite the infidelity, relationships i…
Technology Use among Emerging Adult Homeless in Two U.S. Cities
Researchers have shown increasing interest in technology use among youths and emerging adults (Bleakley, Merzel, VanDevanter, & Messeri, 2004; Redpath et al., 2006; Valentine & Bernhisel, 2008). However, no research to date examines this issue among emerging adult homeless. As these young people are more difficult to engage in services (Ensign & Bell, 2004; Hudson, Nyamathi, & Sweat, 2008) and have higher rates of mental illness (Merscham, Van Le…
Perceptions of Control in Vulnerable Populations
A lack of control is a critical social issue when it is experienced by individuals who already have little opportunity to exercise control; thus, this journal issue brings together research on a number of vulnerable populations: children, medical patients, lower level employees, and the elderly. Because of the diverse populations to which this concept has been applied, the perceived control literature is diffuse and fragmented. This article cover…
Psychosocial adjustment following a stroke
Primary versus secondary and central versus consequence-related control in HIV-positive men
On fighting versus accepting stressful circumstances
The primacy of primary control over secondary control and ethnic differences in control processes were tested in HIV-positive male state prison inmates. They rated their perceptions of control and psychological distress at an initial interview (N = 95) and 3 months later (N = 78). Regression analyses revealed that primary control had primacy as it had greater adaptive value. However, secondary control did not function as a backup to primary contr…
Australians' Experience of the Covid-19 Pandemic
Australia responded to the emergence of the COVID-19 global pandemic in 2020 by initiating a border and bio-security zone lockdown and policies emphasising social distancing and hand hygiene. To understand the public response to this, Southern Queensland Rural Health commenced a two-phase research project exploring attitudes and practices towards the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. An initial online survey foreshadowed 90 qualitative interviews w…
It just made sense to me!” A Qualitative Exploration of Individual Motivation for Time-Restricted Eating
Time-Restricted Eating (TRE), a form of intermittent fasting, has gained popularity for weight control and metabolic health. It is not incorporated into dietary and clinical guidelines, and hence is generally not being recommended to the public. This qualitative study explores how individuals have discovered TRE as a form of dietary practice and their motivations for practising it. Using purposive and snowball sampling, we recruited 21 participan…
Marra Wonga
A large sandstone rock art site, Marra Wonga, near Barcaldine, central Queensland, is the focus of this paper. This 160-metre-long rock shelter is estimated to have over 15,000 petroglyphs, which are mostly animal tracks, lines, grooves and drilled holes, as well as 111 hand-related and object stencils. There is also a cluster of human-shaped foot petroglyphs on the floor of the shelter, some with six or more toes. Unique compositions on the shel…
Connecting tracks’
Aboriginal Australians are at higher risk of developing certain types of cancer and, once diagnosed, they have poorer outcomes than their non-Aboriginal counterparts. Lower access to cancer screening programmes, deficiencies in treatment and cultural barriers contribute to poor outcomes. Additional logistical factors affecting those living in rural areas compound these barriers. Cancer support groups have positive effects on people affected by ca…
If you don't believe it, it won't help you
Background Little is known about the use of bush medicine and traditional healing among Aboriginal Australians for their treatment of cancer and the meanings attached to it. A qualitative study that explored Aboriginal Australians' perspectives and experiences of cancer and cancer services in Western Australia provided an opportunity to analyse the contemporary meanings attached and use of bush medicine by Aboriginal people with cancer in Western…
Judgments of responsibility for activities in close relationships
Will it hurt less if I can control it? A complex answer to a simple question
Stalking the elusive "vividness" effect.
Finding Positive Meaning in a Stressful Event and Coping
People whose homes were damaged or destroyed by a fire were surveyed immediately after the fire and 1 year later. It was predicted that finding positive meaning in that traumatic event would be associated with better coping and with less blame to others for the event. Five ways of focusing on the positive were measured in this study: finding side benefits, making social comparisons, imagining worse situations, forgetting the negative, and redefin…
Life Schemes
A conceptual framework is presented for understanding what is meant by “finding meaning.” It is proposed that individuals have life schemes that provide a sense of order and purpose in one's life. A life scheme is a cognitive representation of one's life, much like a story, which organizes one's perspectives on the world and oneself, goals one wishes to attain, and events that are relevant to those goals. Severely negative events can challenge pa…
The vividness effect
Psychosocial adjustment following a stroke
Perceptions of Control in Vulnerable Populations
A lack of control is a critical social issue when it is experienced by individuals who already have little opportunity to exercise control; thus, this journal issue brings together research on a number of vulnerable populations: children, medical patients, lower level employees, and the elderly. Because of the diverse populations to which this concept has been applied, the perceived control literature is diffuse and fragmented. This article cover…
The Commons Dilemma as Metaphor
Research on the commons dilemma has enjoyed much vigorous interest in the social psychological literature since Hardin's (1968) discussion of the dilemma as it relates to environmental concerns. However, to date, we have found only one study that used the metaphor of the commons dilemma to effect behavioral change. In Experiment 1, we examined the memory aspects of the metaphor of the commons. Indeed, this metaphor seems to be quite memorable, as…
Maintaining perceptions of control
Ecocentric and anthropocentric attitudes toward the environment
Primary versus secondary and central versus consequence-related control in HIV-positive men
Caregiving in the close relationships of cardiac patients
Individuals with a cardiac condition and their spousal caregivers were recruited from cardiac rehabilitation centers and interviewed separately. Based on exchange theory, it was expected that greater caregiver resentment would be associated with feeling underbenefited in the relationship and with an orientation to relationships that did not focus on the needs of the partner (communal), but did focus on “tit‐for‐tat” reciprocity (exchange). It was…
On fighting versus accepting stressful circumstances
The primacy of primary control over secondary control and ethnic differences in control processes were tested in HIV-positive male state prison inmates. They rated their perceptions of control and psychological distress at an initial interview (N = 95) and 3 months later (N = 78). Regression analyses revealed that primary control had primacy as it had greater adaptive value. However, secondary control did not function as a backup to primary contr…
Behavioural dynamics of a clinical trial of sunscreens for reducing solar keratoses in Victoria, Australia
OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the behaviour of participants based on perception of treatment group in a randomised trial contributed to clinical outcome. DESIGN: A double blind randomised controlled trial of the effect of daily application of SPF 17 broad spectrum sunscreen cream (or placebo) on solar keratoses. SETTING: A rural city in Victoria, Australia. Residents aged 40 years or over were invited by letter to attend for a skin cancer scree…
Perceptions of attitudinal similarity in ethnic groups in the U.S
The outgroup homogeneity phenomenon was examined by having majority group members (White Americans) judge the variability in attitudes about intergroup relations in their own group and one outgroup (African Americans). A preliminary study found the threat of the attitude statements to the group doing the judging seemed to affect whether or not participants showed outgroup or ingroup homogeneity. For the present study, statements about ethnic grou…
Essays in Semantics and Pragmatics in Honor of Charles J. Fillmore
Primary and Secondary Control Over Age‐Related Changes in Physical Appearance
Beliefs about appearance‐related changes due to aging were used to test the effects of perceived control and secondary control (acceptance) in a sample of 412 young, early‐middle‐age, and late‐middle‐age college‐educated adults. Mean difference in aging‐related appearance control and hypotheses regarding the adaptiveness of primary and secondary control were examined. Primary control over aging‐related appearance was lower in older adults and sec…
Illusions of control, underestimations, and accuracy
The illusions of control area is reviewed, and 5 conditions that influence control judgments are identified: skill-related factors, success or failure emphasis, need for the outcome, mood, and the intrusion of reality. It is proposed that individuals use a control heuristic that includes perceptions of intentionality and connection. Judgments of intentionality are based on foreseeability, ability to produce the effect, and valence of the outcome.…
The Measurement of Threat Orientations
Everything is okay’
While Australian Aboriginal conceptions of health have been described as holistic and collective, contemporary approaches to health services and health research are often premised on the rational, reflexive subject of neoliberal discourse. This paper considers how neoliberal conceptions of health and subjectivity arose and were negotiated in the context of a qualitative research project on Aboriginal experiences of HIV in Western Australia. Quest…
Gender Role Beliefs and Attitudes toward Lesbians and Gay Men in Chile and the U.S
The Potential for Multi-Modal Approaches to Reading for Students With Disabilities as Found in State Reading Standards
This article examines topics found in reading standards for K–12 education and then examines the standards from a perspective of accessibility for students with a variety of sensory and learning disabilities. The article begins by first determining how broad or limiting states' reading standards are in coverage and whether focus on particular standards limits options for students to use multiple methods of interaction with print (e.g., accessing …
Slowed right down”
If you don't believe it, it won't help you
Background Little is known about the use of bush medicine and traditional healing among Aboriginal Australians for their treatment of cancer and the meanings attached to it. A qualitative study that explored Aboriginal Australians' perspectives and experiences of cancer and cancer services in Western Australia provided an opportunity to analyse the contemporary meanings attached and use of bush medicine by Aboriginal people with cancer in Western…
Medicine (51 works) · Psychology (40 works) · Sociology (33 works) · Nursing (32 works) · Political science (32 works) · Social Psychology (23 works) · Environmental health (17 works) · Qualitative research (17 works) · Public relations (16 works) · Family medicine (13 works)