Kids walking in their neighbourhood: Where are they allowed to roam?

Kids walking in their neighbourhood: Where are they allowed to roam?

e196 Abstracts / Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 12 (2010) e1–e232 ticipate in this forum on “Curriculum Renewal in Exercise Science”. Inv...

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e196

Abstracts / Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 12 (2010) e1–e232

ticipate in this forum on “Curriculum Renewal in Exercise Science”.

Invited

doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2009.10.408

409

408

Kids walking in their neighbourhood: Where are they allowed to roam?

Invited

K. Villanueva 1,∗ , B. Giles-Corti 1 , M. Beesley 1 , N. Middleton 1

Postgraduate training in sport psychology: Challenges and future directions COSP session T. Hannan 1 , S. Hanrahan 2 , M. Andersen 3 , S. Gordon 4 1 University

of Western Sydney 2 University of Queensland 3 Victoria University 4 University of Western Australia The current Australian system of psychology education has developed over several decades to include a four-year undergraduate sequence with either subsequent workplace training under supervision or specialised postgraduate study. Postgraduate psychology programs have emerged in various specialisations, including sport psychology, clinical psychology, organisational psychology, and others. In recent years, this system has come under increasing challenge from a number of directions. Government demands for increased flexibility and mobility within the workforce and concerns over workforce shortages have prompted reconsideration of the duration and structure of training, and international trade agreements requiring equivalence with overseas training models have called for the adoption of a five-year system. At the same time, the introduction of Medicare rebates for psychological services has presented a major challenge to the diversification of psychological specialisations, and the impending national registration and accreditation scheme for health professionals will both influence the delineation of these specialisations and oversee the accreditation of psychology programs. These developments have already had significant implications for postgraduate training in the specialist fields of psychology, with the closure of over 30 postgraduate programs around the country in the past two years. In response to these challenges, the Australian Psychological Society’s (APS) Education and Training Reference Group has proposed a new model of psychological training with implications for the future of specialised postgraduate programs. In this forum, speakers will discuss the influence of a range of governmental, workplace, and financial pressures on postgraduate sport psychology programs, the placement of accredited programs within the proposed model of training, and future directions for specialist education and training in the discipline of sport psychology. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2009.10.409

Bulsara 2 , B.

1 Centre for the Built Environment and Health, The University

of Western Australia 2 The University of Western Australia Introduction: Evidence suggests that children’s independent mobility has declined. Little is known about where children go alone, or how neighbourhood characteristics affect their mobility. This paper examines where Years 5–7 government primary school children go alone, and the association between independent mobility and the presence of neighbourhood destinations. Methods: In 2007, the TRavel Environment and Kids (TREK) study recruited 1480 students from 25 schools across Perth, WA. Each school was classified as either high or low walkable. Children and parents were asked about the child’s independent mobility (i.e., active travel to at least one activity or destination (excluding school) without an adult). Children also mapped local destinations that they walked or cycled to, which were digitised using Geographic Information Systems software. Results: Overall, 71% of children had some level of independent mobility. The main places they travelled to without an adult were parks, friends’ houses and local shops. Independently mobile children were more likely to be male (OR 1.44,95% CI 1.12–1.85, p = .004), older (OR 1.75, 95% CI 1.27–2.40, p < .000), and to live in high SES (OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.22–2.28, p = .001) and high walkable (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.24–2.05, p < .000) areas. Conclusions: Limited research exists on where children can roam alone. This paper suggests that most children have limited independent mobility and are permitted to travel without an adult to only one local destination i.e., either a park, friend’s house or shop. Nevertheless, living in more walkable areas appears to increase independent mobility. doi:10.1016/j.jsams.2009.10.410