ECONOMIC AFFAIRS, Issue 4 2007
Daniel B. KleinArticle first published online: 6 DEC 200
In economics, considerations of liberty are generally regarded as a secondary question of ,policy implications' and a matter of mere opinion. This essay rejects the relegation of liberty to such a status. It argues that the distinction between voluntary and coercive action, rooted in concepts of private ownership and consent, and forming the basis of liberty, should play a fundamental role in the way economic issues and arguments are formulated. [source]

WHEN ARE VOLUNTARY EXPORT RESTRAINTS VOLUNTARY?

AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC PAPERS, Issue 2 2010
A DIFFERENTIAL GAME APPROACH
We revisit voluntariness of voluntary export restraints (VERs) in a differential game model of duopoly with sticky prices. We show that a VER set at the free trade level has no effect on equilibrium under open-loop strategies while the same policy results in a smaller profit for the exporting firm, i.e. it is involuntary under a non-linear feedback strategy. Moreover, we prove an extended proposition of Dockner and Haug (1991) on voluntariness of VERs under a linear feedback strategy. [source]

Governance and Democracy in Northern Ireland: The Role of the Voluntary and Community Sector after the Agreement

GOVERNANCE, Issue 3 2001
Cathal McCall
Since 1998, Northern Ireland has been the subject of a unique experiment in governance and democracy. The experiment includes the establishment of a participatory Civic Forum in which the voluntary and community sector has an important stake. Beginning with a discussion of the merits of a participatory aspect to democracy in the contemporary age, this paper identifies factors that might help establish the Civic Forum as a successful participatory institution in Northern Ireland. Key factors include the attitude towards the Forum of political representatives and their willingness to foster a participatory dimension to the new democracy. Other important factors are inclusiveness and the balance of sectoral representation in the Forum. [source]

Quality of Life Outcomes for People with Intellectual Disabilities Living in Staffed Community Housing Services: a Stratified Random Sample of Statutory, Voluntary and Private Agency Provision

JOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 1 2003
Jonathan Perry
Background, Small scale, community-based, staffed housing is a significant form of residential provision for people with intellectual disabilities. Such services are provided by health and local authorities, and voluntary and private agencies, yet little is known about how provision varies between provider sectors. Methods, This study compared sectors in terms of the processes operating within residential services, and objectively and subjectively assessed quality of life (QOL) resident outcomes. Measures of setting structure and processes and resident outcomes were undertaken on a stratified random sample of 47 small scale, community-based residential settings which accommodated a total of 154 people with intellectual disabilities. Results, In general, provider agencies did not differ in terms of the characteristics of the residents they served, the structure of settings, the processes underlying service operation or resident outcomes. However, across agencies there was considerable variation in residents' life conditions when they were measured objectively. Better outcome tended to be significantly correlated with the ability of residents. This was not the case with results on subjective measures (which were also higher than those on objective measures). Conclusions, The results reinforce the need to design services which effectively support people across the ability spectrum. Also, an argument is made for the continued utility of objective measurement in the assessment of service quality. [source]

How Many Labour Force States?

LABOUR, Issue 2 2006
An Analysis Based on the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS)
The goal is to examine whether there are statistically significant differences between the unemployed and non-participants, as well as inside each of the two groups, considering their transitions in the job market. Using logistic regression for a pooled cross-section time-series sample of employed as well as non-employed persons, three different Out of Work subgroups are identified: Seeking Out of Work, Attached Out of Work, and Voluntary Out of Work. The first group can be broadly assimilated to the official definition of unemployment, International Labour Organization unemployment, whereas all the others are usually classified as economically inactive. Nonetheless, the last two groups are characterized by significantly different transition rates, showing a behaviourally distinct attitude in their labour market dynamics. This result points out that the aggregate non-employment has several dimensions, which are not caught by the distinction between unemployment and economic inactivity, and should be accounted for by policy makers and researchers. [source]

The evolving role of trade associations in negotiated environmental agreements: the case of United Kingdom Climate Change Agreements

BUSINESS STRATEGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, Issue 1 2006
Ian Bailey
Abstract Voluntary and negotiated agreements are becoming increasingly popular instruments for regulating industry's environmental performance. Although their main purpose is to modify the behaviour of individual firms, the coordinating role of trade (or industry) associations is often critical to their environmental effectiveness. Thus, a clear and mutually agreed understanding of associations' role in the agreement process is essential. This paper examines the nature of trade associations' input into the negotiation and implementation of environmental agreements, using the case study of United Kingdom Climate Change Agreements. Results show associations serving a range of coordinating roles, including the aggregation of members' viewpoints, negotiation of agreements, provision of regulatory and technical knowledge and collation of performance data. We conclude that further involvement of trade associations in negotiated and voluntary agreements can bring appreciable, though not uncontested, benefits in terms of environmental effectiveness. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment. [source]

Plantar pressure distribution analysis in normal weight young women and men with normal and claw feet: A cross-sectional study

CLINICAL ANATOMY, Issue 4 2005
G. Gravante
Abstract We analyzed the plantar support in 72 normal-weight young voluntaries (46 women, 26 men), by a baropodometric platform. We considered subjects with claw foot (CFS) and subjects with normal foot (NFS). We found a significant reduction of total plantar support surface in the CFS (P < 0.0001 for women, P < 0.001 for men), due to the reduction of the forefoot and rear foot areas of both plantar imprints. Indeed, CFS of both sexes exhibited higher values of both plantar pressure and peak pressure, compared to the NFS. Moreover, the load per units of plantar surface increased in CFS compared to the NFS. In conclusion, the reduction of plantar support surfaces in CFS of both sexes was associated to a major load per units of plantar surface in the forefoot and rear foot areas, and this may be a risk factor to lower extremity overuse injuries. Clin. Anat. 18:245,250, 2005. © 2005 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

Lessons Learned from the Pediatric Heart Transplant Study

CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE, Issue 3 2006
Daphne T. Hsu MD
ABSTRACT The Pediatric Heart Transplant Study (PHTS) group was founded in 1991 as a voluntary, collaborative effort dedicated to the advancement of the science and treatment of children following listing for heart transplantation. Since 1993, the PHTS has collected data in an international, prospective, event-driven database that examines risk factors for outcome events following listing for transplantation. The events include transplantation, death, rejection, infection, malignancy, graft vasculopathy, and retransplantation. Over its 12 years of existence, the PHTS has made major contributions to the field of pediatric heart transplantation, especially in the areas of outcome analysis and risk factor assessment for death and other major morbidities after listing and after transplantation. The new challenges facing the PHTS include how to implement the practice of evidence-based medicine in the field of pediatric heart transplantation and how to support ongoing data collection and analysis to provide long-term outcomes as the PHTS subjects enter their second decade after transplantation. [source]

Global Stakeholders: corporate accountability and investor engagement

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE, Issue 2 2004
Duncan McLaren
In this age of transnational capitalism most victims of corporate malpractice have no means to hold the wrongdoers to account , especially those whose lives are blighted day-in, day-out by the "normal" operations of companies within the letter of the law. This paper argues that corporate social and environmental abuses are rooted in a lack of accountability of corporations to their stakeholders. It explores how governance mechanisms such as corporate engagement by "socially responsible" investors could enhance stakeholder accountability. It identifies and contrasts two paradigms in socially responsible investment engagement, and relates them to voluntary and regulatory responses to corporate abuses. It concludes that the development of standards for stakeholder-oriented engagement and governance could help stimulate effective regulatory measures to protect stakeholder interests. [source]

A 2-year follow-up of involuntary admission's influence upon adherence and outcome in first-episode psychosis

ACTA PSYCHIATRICA SCANDINAVICA, Issue 5 2010
S. Opjordsmoen
Opjordsmoen S, Friis S, Melle I, Haahr U, Johannessen JO, Larsen TK, Røssberg JI, Rund BR, Simonsen E, Vaglum P, McGlashan TH. A 2-year follow-up of involuntary admission's influence upon adherence and outcome in first-episode psychosis. Objective:, To see, if voluntary admission for treatment in first-episode psychosis results in better adherence to treatment and more favourable outcome than involuntary admission. Method:, We compared consecutively first-admitted, hospitalised patients from a voluntary (n = 91) with an involuntary (n = 126) group as to psychopathology and functioning using Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale and Global Assessment of Functioning Scales at baseline, after 3 months and at 2 year follow-up. Moreover, duration of supportive psychotherapy, medication and number of hospitalisations during the 2 years were measured. Results:, More women than men were admitted involuntarily. Voluntary patients had less psychopathology and better functioning than involuntary patients at baseline. No significant difference as to duration of psychotherapy and medication between groups was found. No significant difference was found as to psychopathology and functioning between voluntarily and involuntarily admitted patients at follow-up. Conclusion:, Legal admission status per se did not seem to influence treatment adherence and outcome. [source]

An Appeal to Aid Specialists

DEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 1 2010
Keith Horton
The appeal I am making is (roughly speaking) for aid specialists to do more to help those of us who are not aid specialists to arrive at judgments about the effects of the work of (voluntary) aid agencies that we have at least some reason to think accurate. I argue that the fact that it is so difficult for us to arrive at such judgments at present has certain negative consequences, and that this gives those who are in a position to make it easier for us to arrive at such judgments strong reasons to do so. And I argue that (certain) aid specialists are in such a position. Hence my appeal to them to do so. [source]

From Disaster to Sustainable Civil Society: The Kobe Experience

DISASTERS, Issue 1 2004
Rajib Shaw
Nine years after the Kobe earthquake in Japan, social issues are still prominent, and the rehabilitation process is still ongoing. The earthquake caused two major changes in Japanese society: an increase in voluntary and non-government activities, and the enhancement of cooperation between local government and the residents' association. People's participation in the decision-making process was a significant achievement. To sustain the efforts generated after the earthquake, the Kobe Action Plan was formulated and tested in different disaster scenarios. The current study suggests that civil societies in urban areas are sustainable if, first, the activities related to daily services are provided by the resident's associations; and second, these are linked to economic incentives. Leadership plays a crucial role in collective decision-making. Creation of the support system is essential for long-term sustainability of civil-society activities. These observations are exemplified in the case study in Nishi Suma, one of the worst-affected areas in the Kobe city. [source]

ECONOMICS AND THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN VOLUNTARY AND COERCIVE ACTION1

Positive health-care effects of an alcohol ignition interlock programme among driving while impaired (DWI) offenders

ADDICTION, Issue 11 2007
Bo Bjerre
ABSTRACT Aims To compare the costs of hospital care and sick leave/disability pensions between two groups of driving while impaired (DWI) offenders: participants in an alcohol ignition interlock programme (AIIP) and controls with revoked licences, but with no comparable opportunity to participate in an AIIP. Setting As an alternative to licence revocation DWI offenders can participate in a voluntary 2-year AIIP permitting the offender to drive under strict regulations entailing regular medical check-ups. The participants are forced to alter their alcohol habits and those who cannot demonstrate sobriety are dismissed from the programme. Participants are liable for all costs themselves. Design Quasi-experimental, with a non-equivalent control group used for comparison; intent-to-treat design. Based on the number of occasions/days in hospital and on sick leave/disability pension, the health-care costs for public insurance have been calculated. Finding Average total health-care costs were 25% lower among AIIP participants (1156 individuals) than among controls (815 individuals) during the 2-year treatment period. This corresponds to over ,1000 (SEK9610) less annual costs per average participant. For those who complete the 2-year programme the cost reduction was more pronounced; 37% during the treatment and 20% during the post-treatment period. Conclusions The positive health-care effects were due apparently to reduced alcohol consumption. The social benefit of being allowed to drive while in the AIIP may also have contributed. The reduction in health-care costs was significant only during the 2-year treatment period, but among those who completed the entire AIIP sustained effects were also observed in the post-treatment period. The effects were comparable to those of regular alcoholism treatment programmes. [source]

,Schools without walls?' Developments and challenges in dental outreach teaching , report of a recent symposium

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF DENTAL EDUCATION, Issue 4 2006
K. A. Eaton
Abstract, During the 2004 annual meeting of the International Association for Dental Research, the Education Research Group held a symposium on dental outreach teaching. After a brief introduction, which reviews relevant aspects of the relatively sparse literature, this paper summarises the proceedings, the themes and conclusions that emerged and the research issues that were identified. It aims to describe aspects of current practice around the world and to promote future discussion. Presenters gave details of outreach programmes for dental undergraduates in Australia, Finland, Malaysia (and Southeast Asia), the United Kingdom and the United States. From these presentations four themes emerged. They were: reasons for the introduction of outreach teaching, its perceived beneficial effects, organisational issues, educational issues. The reasons included a recognition of the need to educate dental undergraduates as members of ,care teams' in the environments and communities where they were ultimately like to work and the current shortage of both suitable patients and teachers (faculty) in many dental schools. A wide range of potential benefits and some disadvantages were identified. The organisational issues were, in the main, seen to relate to finance and administration. The educational issues included the need to train and monitor the performance of teachers at outreach clinics and to assess the performance of the undergraduates whilst at the outreach locations. It was concluded that new technology made it easier to teach at a distance and it was possible to create a dental ,school without walls'. It was recognised that few evaluations of dental outreach teaching have been carried out and that there were many research questions to be answered, including: whether it should be a voluntary or compulsory part of the undergraduate curriculum, how long it should last and what type of outcomes should be assessed. [source]

Activity in the superior colliculus reflects dynamic interactions between voluntary and involuntary influences on orienting behaviour

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 8 2008
Andrew H. Bell
Abstract Performance in a behavioural task can be influenced by both bottom-up and top-down processes such as stimulus modality and prior probability. Here, we exploited differences in behavioural strategy to explore the role of the intermediate and deep layers of the superior colliculus (dSC) in covert orienting. Two monkeys were trained on a predictive cued-saccade task in which the cue predicted the target's upcoming location with 80% validity. When the delay between cue and target onset was 250 ms, both monkeys showed faster responses to the uncued (Invalid) location. This was associated with a reduced target-aligned response in the dSC on Valid trials for both monkeys and is consistent with a bottom-up (i.e. involuntary) bias. When the delay was increased to 650 ms, one monkey continued to show faster responses to the Invalid location whereas the other monkey showed faster responses to the Valid location, consistent with a top-down (i.e. voluntary) bias. This latter behaviour was correlated with an increase in activity in dSC neurons preceding target onset that was absent in the other monkey. Thus, using the information provided by the cue shifted the emphasis towards top-down processing, while ignoring this information allowed bottom-up processing to continue to dominate. Regardless of the selected strategy, however, neurons in the dSC consistently reflected the current bias between the two processes, emphasizing its role in both the bottom-up and top-down control of orienting behaviour. [source]

Selecting explanations from causal chains: Do statistical principles explain preferences for voluntary causes?

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2010
Denis J. Hilton
We investigate whether people prefer voluntary causes to physical causes in unfolding causal chains and whether statistical (covariation, sufficiency) principles can predict how people select explanations. Experiment 1 shows that while people tend to prefer a proximal (more recent) cause in chains of unfolding physical events, causality is traced through the proximal cause to an underlying distal (less recent) cause when that cause is a human action. Experiment 2 shows that causal preference is more strongly correlated with judgements of sufficiency and conditionalised sufficiency than with covariation or conditionalised covariation. In addition, sufficiency judgements are partial mediators of the effect of type of distal cause (voluntary or physical) on causal preference. The preference for voluntary causes to physical causes corroborates findings from social psychology, cognitive neuroscience and jurisprudence that emphasise the primacy of intentions in causal attribution processes. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Contractile Properties, Fatigue and Recovery are not Influenced by Short-Term Creatine Supplementation in Human Muscle

EXPERIMENTAL PHYSIOLOGY, Issue 4 2000
J. M. Jakobi
There have been several studies on the effect of short-term creatine (Cr) supplementation on exercise performance, but none have investigated both voluntary and stimulated muscle contractions in the same experiment. Fourteen moderately active young men (19-28 years) were randomly assigned, in a double blind manner, to either a creatine (Cr) or placebo (P) group. The subjects supplemented their regular diet 4 times a day for 5 days with either 5 g Cr + 5 g maltodextrin (Cr group), or 5 g maltodextrin (P group). Isometric maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), muscle activation, as assessed using the modified twitch interpolation technique, electrically stimulated contractile properties, electromyography (EMG), endurance time and recovery from fatigue were measured in the elbow flexors. The fatigue protocol involved both voluntary and stimulated contractions. Following supplementation there was a significant weight gain in the Cr group (1.0 kg), whereas the P group did not change. For each group, pre-supplementation measures were not significantly different from post-supplementation for MVC, twitch and tetanic tensions at rest, time to peak tension, half-relaxation time and contraction duration. Prior to Cr supplementation time to fatigue was 10 ± 4 min (mean ± S.E.M.) for both groups, and following supplementation there was a non-significant increase of 1 min in each group. MVC force, muscle activation, EMG, stimulated tensions and durations were similar for the Cr and P groups over the course of the fatigue protocol and did not change after supplementation. Furthermore, recovery of MVC, stimulated tensions and contractile speeds did not differ as a result of Cr supplementation. These results indicate that short-term Cr supplementation does not influence isometric elbow flexion force, muscle activation, stimulated contractile properties, or delay time to fatigue or improve recovery. [source]

Correlates of Voluntary vs.

GENDER, WORK & ORGANISATION, Issue 3 2001
Involuntary Part-time Employment among US Women
This article presents a study of the extent to which type and duration of labour force attachment add to the explanatory power of psychological, demographic, and family household characteristics to predict voluntary (n=166) vs. involuntary part-time (n=160) employment of women in the United States. We use the terms ,voluntary' and ,involuntary' to reflect the woman's choice in accepting to work in paid part-time employment. In this context, voluntary part-time work is not meant to be construed as charitable, non-paid activities, but rather is construed as individuals who are working part-time but who would prefer to be working full-time, if a suitable job were available. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience (NLSLME), we found that labour market attachment characteristics added little to predict part-time employment status (involuntary vs. voluntary) and had virtually no effect on the odds of any other correlates on employment status. The major exception was number of years of unemployment. The longer working women were previously unemployed, the greater the likelihood they were involuntarily employed in part-time jobs. In addition, we found that marriage and private sector employment decreased the likelihood of involuntary part-time employment. Findings suggest that involuntarily part-time employed women appear to be ,settling' for what they can get, namely, part-time rather than full-time jobs and that unmarried part-timers may be viewed as a stigmatized or marginal group more likely to be employed in the public rather than private sector. Policy implications and future research are discussed. [source]

Non-medical palliative care and education to improve end-of-life care at geriatric health services facilities: A nationwide questionnaire survey of chief nurses

GERIATRICS & GERONTOLOGY INTERNATIONAL, Issue 3 2007
Yoshihisa Hirakawa
Background: Geriatric health services facilities (GHSF) are expected to assume a growing role in caring for the dying elderly. However, research in this area has so far been scant. The purpose of the present study is to reveal the status of non-medical palliative care and staff education aiming at improving and enhancing end-of-life care at GHSF. Methods: The subjects were 2876 chief nurses of GHSF. Data was collected through a mailed questionnaire in 2003. The questionnaire covered the following: (i) staff perception of end-of-life care policies; (ii) staff education; and (iii) available non-medical care. To evaluate the factors correlated with end-of-life care policies at GHSF, we divided the facilities into two groups. Results: We analyzed the answers collected from 313 facilities with a progressive policy toward end-of-life care (PP group) and 818 with a regressive policy toward it (RP group). It was found that staff training was conducted more frequently among PP facilities. Generally, nurses in the PP facilities were more confident that they could provide comprehensive on-site end-of-life care and grieving support, but did not feel so sure about their ability to provide better end-of-life environments for dying residents and family by organizing outside support from voluntary and/or governmental organizations and religious organization for healing and to pursue appropriately a written follow-up communication with the bereaved family. Conclusions: Our results suggest that providing GHSF staff with education about end-of-life issues or setting up collaboration with the outside is an important factor to enhance overall end-of-life care at these facilities. [source]

Governance and Democracy in Northern Ireland: The Role of the Voluntary and Community Sector after the Agreement

An emotive subject: insights from social, voluntary and healthcare professionals into the feelings of family carers for people with mental health problems,

HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 2 2009
Ben Gray BA PhD Senior Research Fellow CCCU
Abstract Caring for people with mental health problems can generate a whole range of positive and negative emotions, including fear, disbelief, guilt and chaos as well as a sense of purpose, pride and achievement. This paper explores the emotions of family carers from the perspectives of social, voluntary and healthcare professionals. Sixty-five participants were interviewed, the sample included directors, managers and senior staff from social, voluntary and healthcare organisations. Participants were encouraged to talk in detail about their understanding of the emotions of family carers. Findings highlight a rich understanding of the broad spectrum of carer emotions and the huge emotional adjustments that are often involved. Diagnosis was seen to be imbued with negative emotions, such as fear, anger and denial. However, feelings of hopelessness and desolation were often counterbalanced by feelings of hope, satisfaction and the emotional rewards of caring for a loved one. Participants noted a clear lack of emotional support for family carers, with accompanying feelings of marginalisation, particularly during transitions and especially involving young carers as well as ethnic minorities. By way of contrast, carer support groups were suggested by professionals to be a holistic, effective and economical way of meeting carers' emotional needs. This paper explores the challenge of family carer emotions from the perspective of managers and practitioners and draws out implications for research, policy and practice. [source]

Independent sector mental health care: a 1-day census of private and voluntary sector placements in seven Strategic Health Authority areas in England

HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 5 2007
Barbara Hatfield PhD
Abstract The aims of this study were (i) to map the extent of all mental health placements in the independent sector, for adults of working age, and elderly people (excluding those with a diagnosis of dementia placed in Local Authority care homes), on a census date, across the areas in which the study was commissioned; (ii) to identify the characteristics of the population in placements; (iii) to explore some of the characteristics of the placements and the patterns of use within the private and voluntary sectors; and (iv) to identify the funding source of placements, and cost differences between the private and voluntary sector. The study took place in seven Strategic Health Authority areas, and information was sought from all Primary Care Trust and Social Services commissioners of mental health services, including regional secure commissioning teams, within those areas. A cross-sectional sample was used. Information was requested in relation to every individual meeting the inclusion criteria, placed in independent (private or voluntary) psychiatric hospitals, registered mental nursing homes and care homes on a specified study ,census date' of 28 June 2004 in six of the Strategic Health Authority areas, and 7 October 2004 in the seventh. Information was recorded on a standard questionnaire specifically designed for the study. Information was obtained on 3535 adults and 1623 elderly people in private or voluntary facilities. The largest groups of adults and elderly people had diagnoses of severe mental illnesses (42.1% and 30.5%, respectively), and placements were described as ,continuing care' or rehabilitation, with a ,niche' in specialist forensic care. Around four-fifths of units were in the private sector, which for adults was significantly more expensive than the voluntary sector. A large proportion of units (47.2% of adult placements and 59.3% of placements for elderly people) had only single placements from particular commissioning authorities, whilst others had large numbers, raising issues for effective commissioning. The distance of placements from patients' area of origin, is also an issue highlighted by the study. The study findings are discussed in relation to commissioning practice, and the development of the independent sector in mental health care. [source]

The responsibility to care for single homeless people

HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 6 2001
Maureen Crane RGN RMN MSc PhD
Abstract This paper examines the reasons why in contemporary Britain many single homeless people with severe physical and mental health problems and welfare needs do not receive the treatment, care and financial support that they manifestly need, and in particular considers the interaction between their personal characteristics and the organisation and the obligations of services. Homelessness is a complex concept associated with problems of housing, health, social care and income. The greatest weaknesses of the service system are that no single agency has a statutory responsibility to ensure that vulnerable homeless people are served, and none of the generalist welfare agencies have a duty to seek out those who do not present. As a result, single homeless people fall between the housing, health and social services and amass exceptional unmet needs. The paper appraises the approaches to single homeless people's problems that have recently been introduced by the Rough Sleepers' Unit (RSU), and discusses the ways in which current reforms of the welfare services may impact on the situation of homeless people. With the possibility that the RSU's prime responsibility for commissioning single homeless people's services will transfer to local authorities in 2002, the paper concludes by specifying the implications for voluntary and statutory providers and makes recommendations about the attribution of the responsibility to care for this vulnerable group. [source]

Negotiating and managing partnership in primary care

HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 5 2001
Julie Charlesworth
Abstract In the UK public service organisations are increasingly working together in new partnerships, networks and alliances, largely stimulated by government legislation, which aims to encourage ,joined-up' policy-making. This is particularly prevalent in health-care where local government, health authorities and trusts, voluntary and community groups are extending existing, and developing new, forms of partnership, particularly around Health Improvement Programmes and new primary care organisations. This paper explores two main aspects of how these new interorganisational relationships are being developed and managed and is based on research conducted in one case study locality. First, the new structures of partnership in primary care are mapped out, together with discussion on why these particular patterns of relationship between statutory and voluntary sector organisations have emerged, exploring both centrally and locally determined influences. Secondly, the paper explores the tensions associated with working within new policy-making and management structures, and how the additional demands of audit, performance measurement and the sheer pace of change, pose a potential threat to the partnership process. [source]

Characteristics of staffed community housing services for people with learning disabilities: a stratified random sample of statutory, voluntary and private agency provision

HEALTH & SOCIAL CARE IN THE COMMUNITY, Issue 5 2000
Jonathan Perry BSc MSc
Abstract Within the staffed housing model relatively little is known about the characteristics of different types of provider agency. Data on size, homeliness and physical integration of settings, organisational culture, working methods, staffing levels and resident characteristics, were collected on a stratified random sample of provision in South-West England and Wales. Provider agencies did not differ significantly on three of the four variables relating to residents' characteristics. Nor did they differ in terms of the homeliness or physical integration of settings. However, there were significant differences between providers on the important variables of working methods and staffing levels. Resident ability correlated with staffing levels and organisational culture, but not with staff working methods. The results and their implications are discussed in the context of other research which has used the same measures. [source]

The effect of practice budgets on patient waiting times: allowing for selection bias

HEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 10 2004
Mark Dusheiko
Abstract Under the UK fundholding scheme, general practices could elect to hold a budget to meet the costs of some types of elective surgery (chargeable admissions) for their patients. It was alleged that patients of fundholding practices had shorter waits for elective surgery than the patients of non-fundholders. Comparison of waiting times between fundholding and non-fundholding practices are potentially confounded by selection bias as fundholding was voluntary. We estimate the effect of a practice's fundholding status on the waiting times of its patients using both cross-sectional methods (OLS, propensity score, instrumental variables, Heckman selection correction and Heckman heterogenous effects estimators) and difference in differences methodologies to correct for selection bias. The estimated effect of fundholding status was to significantly reduce the waiting times for chargeable admissions of the patients of fundholders by 4.1,6.6% (or 4,7 days) with the instrumental variables and Heckman selection correction estimators yielding the highest estimates. We also find that patients of fundholding practices had shorter waits (by 3.7% or 2 days) for non-chargeable elective admissions, suggesting that fundholders were able to obtain shorter waits for all types of elective admissions. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Involuntary, unreinforced (pure) spatial learning is impaired by fimbria-fornix but not by dorsal hippocampus lesions

HIPPOCAMPUS, Issue 3 2003
Norman M. White
Abstract Pure spatial learning occurs when rats acquire information about an environment while exploring it in the absence of reinforcers. We previously reported that voluntary, unreinforced exploration of a radial maze retards subsequent reinforced conditioned cue preference (CCP) learning in the same maze. In the present experiment, we examined the effects of involuntary, unreinforced pre-exposure to a radial maze. During pre-exposure, rats were moved by an experimenter between the ends of two arms of a radial maze five times in 30 min. This form of pre-exposure retarded CCP learning, whereas rats that were not pre-exposed and rats that were pre-exposed to a maze in a different room displayed normal CCP learning. These findings suggest that some information specific to the maze environment was acquired during involuntary unreinforced pre-exposure to it. In experiment 2, the retardation of reinforced CCP learning by involuntary unreinforced pre-exposure was eliminated by fimbria-fornix lesions made before pre-exposure but was unaffected by fimbria-fornix lesions made after pre-exposure but before training. Large neurotoxic lesions of the dorsal hippocampus made before pre-exposure had no effect on the retardation of CCP learning, but the rats with these lesions were impaired on a standard test of reinforced spatial learning in a water maze. The lesion effects in experiment 2 are similar to those previously reported for voluntary exploration and suggest that pure spatial learning may occur during both voluntary exploration of and involuntary exposure to an environment in the absence of reinforcers. Pure spatial learning can apparently occur with exposure to two different locations within an environment, but the rats do not have to move between the locations voluntarily. An intact fimbria-fornix is required for acquisition but not expression of this form of learning. The hippocampus is not involved in this form of learning. Hippocampus 2003;13:324,333. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]

The provincial social survey in Edwardian Britain

HISTORICAL RESEARCH, Issue 187 2002
Mark Freeman
This article examines three social surveys carried out in English provincial towns after Seebohm Rowntree's study of York and before A. L. Bowley's sample surveys of five towns. The authors emphasized specific local circumstances and suggested local voluntary and municipal remedies for the social problems they described. Their focus was on the community, and although informed by the discourses of ,national efficiency' that also lay behind Rowntree's researches, the solutions to the problems of juvenile life and casual labour that compromised national efficiency were to be found in local endeavour. Poverty was viewed in the context of its impact on the community rather than on the individual. [source]

The effect of formal mentoring program characteristics on organizational attraction

HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT QUARTERLY, Issue 4 2008
Michael Horvath
Although the extant mentoring literature describes the post-hire benefits of mentoring programs, less is known about how mentoring programs affect pre-hire perceptions of organizations,perceptions that may have subsequent implications for the success of mentoring programs and other HRD practices. To explore this issue, we used a policy-capturing design to examine the influence of formal mentoring program characteristics on organizational attraction. Results from a sample of 254 undergraduate participants indicated preferences for organizations offering mentorship programs that are voluntary, that give protégé input into the choice of mentor, that link protégés with individuals who hold higher rank (that is, supervisors), and that offer both career and psychosocial support. Furthermore, one of these relationships was moderated by participants' Need for Dominance. Implications for practice and research are discussed. [source]