Brett Scholz

Participant identifiers, such as pseudonyms or numerical labels, are often attached to quoted data extracts in qualitative research. These identifiers may be considered markers of methodological rigour, analytic breadth, and transparency. Yet, qualitative inquiry encompasses diverse epistemological and analytic traditions, raising questions about whether participant identifiers necessarily serve the same methodological purpose across approaches. In this Pearls, Piths, and Provocations perspective, I draw on examples from my own research practice, experiences with peer review, and feedback from research ethics committees, and critique unquestioned use of participant identifiers. I suggest researchers consider adopting a more mindful and methodologically aligned approach to participant identification practices. Rather than treating identifiers as default indicators of rigour, greater emphasis should be placed on clearly explaining how data were generated, selected, and analysed, and on ensuring that reporting practices align with the aims and epistemological assumptions of a study.

Ageism is widespread and intensified during the COVID-19 pandemic, with resource shortages contributing to healthcare guidelines that systematically deprioritised older adults. Whilst the ethical considerations of these guidelines are well documented, perceptions of age and ageism in healthcare allocation remain underexplored. This study examined younger and older adults’ perceptions of age and ageism in healthcare during COVID-19 through a social identity approach. Using a story completion method, 22 older and 41 younger adult participants completed a story about a younger or older COVID-19 patient and doctors allocating the last available ventilator. Using thematic analysis, three themes were developed: (1) age determines health, (2) age determines the value of life, and (3) age determines acceptance of death. Results support the need for policies protecting against the influence of ageism in healthcare systems and emphasise the need to understand how internalised ageism may influence perceptions and health behaviours of older patients.

The working relationship between mental health practitioners and service users is one of the greatest determinants of therapeutic success. However, drivers of a productive service user-practitioner relationship are still insufficiently understood, with particularly limited exploration of service users’ perspectives. The present study aims to address a gap in the working alliance literature through a qualitative exploration of service user attitudes towards seeking treatment from a practitioner with personal experience of mental ill-health. Semi-structured interviews and an online survey were completed by adults ( N = 35) who self-identified as mental health service users. Participant attitudes were varied, although generally positive, and reflexive thematic analysis developed understandings of how a practitioner’s lived experience of mental ill-health may be considered a therapeutic resource to strengthen working alliance. The social identity model of the working alliance provided valuable insights, where practitioner lived experience of mental ill-health poses an additional avenue for facilitating the therapeutic relationship.

Background: The increasing availability of voluntary assisted dying (VAD) signifies a major shift in how communities perceive and experience death. Access to VAD can be seen as a new step in the shared meaning-making through which communities respond to death and dying and a new opportunity to engage communities in developing death literacy. The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) VAD legislation took effect in late 2025. Objectives: This paper describes the initial co-creation of a multi-phase project (Getting Ready) seeking to develop end-of-life choices education in partnership with ACT communities. Design: A co-creation process involving researchers, healthcare and community organisations and community members. Methods: A participatory action research paradigm was used. This supported a local approach to co-creation developed in accordance with the principles and stages described by Vargas et al. and Roper et al. Results: Key resources and communities including priority populations with structural vulnerabilities were identified. Inter-relationships and shared values between communities were analysed and utilised to support the fostering of connections. The scope of the collaboration and key contributors to safe engagement were defined. Specific approaches to supporting community participation in Getting Ready were designed, including the development and training of community facilitators to support priority population involvement in the project. Conclusion: Co-creation is a useful mechanism to enable community engagement with the development of projects and resources focused on end-of-life choices education. These approaches support the inclusion of priority populations in death literacy research and resource development. Death literacy is a safe and useful concept to explore within community education development in an environment where VAD has been recently legislated.

Despite increasing employment of peer workers, primarily hired for their lived experience of mental health issues, concerns remain regarding the appropriateness of clinical health professionals (e.g., psychologists, counselors) disclosing their own lived experience. This qualitative study examined how therapists' lived experience disclosures are perceived by clients and other therapists. Participants (160 clients and 158 therapists) shared their experiences with therapist disclosure and responded to one of four hypothetical scenarios. Reflexive thematic analysis identified key themes that highlighted the tension between disclosures demonstrating humanity versus professionalism, openness versus a client-centered approach, and empathy versus competence. Themes also highlighted the challenge of getting disclosures "just right," ensuring therapists had established rapport, kept disclosures brief and relevant, and shared experiences from which they had recovered. The findings underscored the trade-offs between the potential benefits and harms of disclosure, highlighting some conditions under which disclosure is considered appropriate and best supports the client. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Leadership positions remain disproportionately occupied by individuals from historically privileged groups despite decades of organisational diversity initiatives. Traditional interventions focusing on attitude change, such as unconscious bias training, show limited sustained effects on selection decisions. This suggests that modifying individual cognition is insufficient when environmental factors (time pressures, organisational constraints, and the flexibility to justify preferences post-hoc) shape selection behaviours. An alternative approach focuses on redesigning decision-making environments rather than attempting to change decision-makers’ attitudes through training or explicit diversity messaging. This scoping review systematically maps 37 studies examining environmental (or choice architecture) interventions to leadership selection processes. Following Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, studies were synthesised using two behavioural science frameworks: one identifying which behavioural barriers interventions target, and another categorising the intervention techniques employed. Three main findings emerge. First, interventions constraining decision-maker discretion by requiring commitment to evaluation criteria before reviewing applicants and establishing accountability mechanisms demonstrated more consistent positive effects than information-based approaches targeting attitudes. Second, framing interventions around decision quality (identity-concealed) outperformed framing around diversity goals (identity-conscious). Third, a conversion problem was identified whereby interventions found effective at earlier selection stages (application and shortlisting) frequently failed to translate into hiring or promotion outcomes, suggesting integrated cross-stage interventions are necessary to increase leadership diversity. Overall, findings provide a framework identifying which intervention techniques are effective, for whom, and under what conditions, while highlighting critical research gaps. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.

Leadership positions remain disproportionately occupied by individuals from historically privileged groups despite decades of organisational diversity initiatives. Traditional interventions focusing on attitude change, such as unconscious bias training, show limited sustained effects on selection decisions. This suggests that modifying individual cognition is insufficient when environmental factors (time pressures, organisational constraints, and the flexibility to justify preferences post-hoc) shape selection behaviours. An alternative approach focuses on redesigning decision-making environments rather than attempting to change decision-makers’ attitudes through training or explicit diversity messaging. This scoping review systematically maps 37 studies examining environmental (or choice architecture) interventions to leadership selection processes. Following Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methodology and PRISMA-ScR guidelines, studies were synthesised using two behavioural science frameworks: one identifying which behavioural barriers interventions target, and another categorising the intervention techniques employed. Three main findings emerge. First, interventions constraining decision-maker discretion by requiring commitment to evaluation criteria before reviewing applicants and establishing accountability mechanisms demonstrated more consistent positive effects than information-based approaches targeting attitudes. Second, framing interventions around decision quality (identity-concealed) outperformed framing around diversity goals (identity-conscious). Third, a conversion problem was identified whereby interventions found effective at earlier selection stages (application and shortlisting) frequently failed to translate into hiring or promotion outcomes, suggesting integrated cross-stage interventions are necessary to increase leadership diversity. Overall, findings provide a framework identifying which intervention techniques are effective, for whom, and under what conditions, while highlighting critical research gaps. Practical implications and future research directions are discussed.

Background: Aphantasia is neither officially a mental health disorder nor a cognitive disability, but is increasingly being positioned as something adjacent to both. Aim: The current study seeks to explore how aphantasia is positioned by published research, science communication, and social media posts. Method: Two types of data were collected: published research about aphantasia, and content by researchers and the public across several social media sites and forums. Data were extracted, transcribed, and then analysed using a discursive approach. Particular attention was given to the interpretative repertoires researchers and the public draw on when discussing aphantasia. Results: People with aphantasia were largely positioned as disordered, deficient, and dehumanised by researchers from biomedical and cognitive perspectives. There was a lack of lived experience led research into aphantasia. Conclusions: Biomedical and cognitive lenses seem limited in their ability to meaningfully contribute to the field of understanding aphantasia. Drawing on Mad and Crip studies, we can see in the literature about aphantasia the emergence of a field that seeks to try to control or fix aphantasia despite a lack of evidence that such an approach is necessary.