Financial Assistance (financial + assistance)

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Humanities and Social Sciences


Selected Abstracts


Climate-Change Mitigation Revisited: Low-Carbon Energy Transitions for China and India

DEVELOPMENT POLICY REVIEW, Issue 6 2009
Frauke Urban
China and India are heavily dependent on high-carbon fossil fuels. This article elaborates the implications of low-carbon energy transitions in the two countries, which can mitigate their serious contribution to climate change while allowing economic growth. Three modelling case studies are presented: for the Chinese power sector, the economy of Beijing and rural Indian households without access to electricity. They demonstrate a significant reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and energy use, while costs are likely to increase. Financial assistance and technology transfer will be needed to support their efforts towards a climate-friendly low-carbon economy. [source]


Swedish Guidelines for Strategic Environmental Assessment for EU Structural Funds

ENVIRONMENTAL POLICY AND GOVERNANCE, Issue 1 2002
Berit Balfors
This paper examines the Swedish Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) guidelines as developed by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency for applications made to the EU Structural Funds for financial assistance for regional development plans and programmes. These guidelines aim to increase the integration of environmental concerns in the programming process by promoting the application of environmental-objective-led SEA. The issues of screening for sustainability and environmental integration through objective-led SEA are addressed. The guidelines are considered as a positive development, which has potential for furthering the application of SEA in regional planning in Sweden. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment [source]


Effect of livestock breed and grazing intensity on grazing systems: 5.

GRASS & FORAGE SCIENCE, Issue 4 2007
Management, policy implications
Summary This paper explores the management and policy implications of research findings investigating the use of grazing intensity and traditional breeds to achieve biodiversity outcomes on grasslands in four countries of Europe. An economic analysis, based on these research findings, indicated that financial assistance and/or premium prices are required to achieve sustainable grazing systems with a high biodiversity. The research findings suggested that existing agri-environment scheme prescriptions based only on blanket stocking rates are too crude to increase plant diversity, lacking consideration of initial site conditions. Conversely, some invertebrates seem to rapidly benefit from lenient stocking, highlighting the importance of clear goals for agri-environment schemes. Recommendations for an appropriate support package to deliver grazing systems with high biodiversity are presented. [source]


Human resource development in remote island communities: an evaluation of tour-guide training in Vanuatu

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, Issue 2 2002
Rosemary Black
Abstract About 30% of visitors to Vanuatu visit the outer islands, where ecotourism has recently emerged as a small-scale but significant activity. In the face of increasing competition from comparable Asia,Pacific destinations, there has been pressure on tourism operators and the Vanuatu Government to improve product quality through mechanisms such as the development of high-quality tours. One way to enhance product quality is through the provision of appropriate professional training for tourism sector employees, including local tour guides. The paper outlines a tour-guide training programme delivered on the outer islands, which received financial assistance from several foreign aid agencies. The programme is an instructive example of an attempt to implement a human resource strategy in a developing country arising from the recommendations of a national tourism masterplan that sought the active involvement of international funding agencies in the implementation phase. The paper evaluates the effectiveness of the training programme and outlines the challenges of programme delivery. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


Advancing Patient Safety through Process Improvements

JOURNAL FOR HEALTHCARE QUALITY, Issue 5 2009
Linda Elgart
Abstract: The department of Women's and Children's Services at the Hospital of Saint Raphael (HSR) in New Haven, CT, has initiated several different and successful approaches to reducing patient risk within the department. The department purchased a computerized fetal monitoring and documentation program that has improved the ability to provide high-level antepartal care for mothers and fetuses with automatic patient data management and continuous fetal heart rate surveillance. A Risk Reduction Grant offered through the hospital malpractice insurance program provided the financial assistance for all medical providers to become certified in electronic fetal monitoring. The certification is now a required educational standard for nurses, certified nurse midwives, and for physicians who work in the labor and delivery unit. Infant and pediatric security is incorporated into policy and practice measures that include hospital-wide drills for the prevention of infant abduction. The Obstetrics and Gynecology (OB/GYN) Quality Improvement Committee supports systematic reviews of identified clinical risks and works to find viable solutions to these problems. The hospital has supported specialized obstetrical care through the Maternal Fetal Medicine Unit (MFMU), Newborn Intensive Care Unit (NICU), the Inpatient Pediatric Unit, and the labor and delivery unit. In addition, HSR has initiated an enhanced medical informed consent that is available online for providers and a patient education tool that includes a computer room at the hospital for patient use. [source]


Consequences of Parental Divorce for Adult Children's Support of Their Frail Parents

JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND FAMILY, Issue 1 2008
I-Fen Lin
Using three waves of data from the Health and Retirement Study, I examined the association of parental divorce and remarriage with the odds that biological, adult children give personal care and financial assistance to their frail parents. The analysis included 5,099 adult children in the mother sample and 4,029 children in the father sample. Results indicate that adult children of divorced parents are just as likely as adult children of widowed parents to give care and money to their mothers, but the former are less likely than the latter to care for their fathers. The findings suggest that divorced fathers are prone to be the population most in need of formal support in old age. [source]


On the Cost of Adverse Selection in Individual Annuity Markets: Evidence From Singapore

JOURNAL OF RISK AND INSURANCE, Issue 2 2002
Wai Mun Fong
New evidence is presented on the cost of adverse selection in individual annuity markets using Singapore data. The Singapore annuity market is an interesting setting to examine the cost of adverse selection for three reasons. First, unlike many Western countries, the Singapore government provides very limited public financial assistance for retirees. Second, while social security contributions mandated under the Central Provident Fund (CPF) result in a high forced savings rate, a large proportion of CPF savings, are used up for housing. Third, to ensure that retirees have sufficient funds to meet basic needs, individuals who reach age 55 are required to set aside a minimum amount of their CPF savings, which can be withdrawn at age 62. The CPF Board allows various options for investing the minimum sum, but the most attractive option is to purchase an annuity. The institutional setting in Singapore in effect provides insurers with a large captive market for annuities. It is conjectured that this should be reflected in a significantly lower cost of adverse selection for annuities sold in Singapore as compared with other countries. The results herein, using data for CPF-approved insurers, are strongly consistent with this conjecture. On average, money's worth of annuities is higher than annuities sold to a similar age-gender mix in the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia. Adverse selection accounts for less than 13 percent of the cost of longevity insurance compared to 30,50 per- cent documented in many previous studies. These results suggest that one way to resolve the adverse selection problem is to adopt a universal individual defined contribution pension scheme that mandates or provides strong incentives for retirees to purchase annuities. [source]


Offering Incentives for New Development: The Role of City Social Status, Politics, and Local Growth Experiences

JOURNAL OF URBAN AFFAIRS, Issue 2 2002
Paul G. Lewis
The propensity of municipal governments to offer incentives for new development is empirically examined, drawing upon both the literature on local economic development policy and studies of local residential restrictions. The data are from a 1998 mail survey of city managers in California in which officials assessed the likelihood that their local governments would offer financial assistance or zoning changes to various types of new business and residential land uses in their communities. Multivariate analysis indicates that local conditions resulting from past growth patterns,commuting times, job/population balance, and housing affordability,play an important role in shaping respondents' assessments as to whether their cities are likely to grant incentives. Such factors deserve an important role in explaining local government growth orientations, alongside measures of community status, political institutions, and the strength of progrowth coalitions. [source]


Following the path of ICU survivors: a quality-improvement activity

NURSING IN CRITICAL CARE, Issue 4 2003
Wendy Chaboyer
Summary ,,Recent interest in continuity of care has meant that the illness trajectory experienced by intensive care unit (ICU) patients has received more attention ,,Using continuous quality improvement as a framework, this paper describes information obtained during a 3-year period relating to ICU patients' long-term experiences after being discharged from hospital ,,This information identified that most participants had been discharged home but that many experienced problems with mobility, disability and fatigue. Changes in employment status and the need for financial assistance were noted ,,As a result of the information provided by this activity, clinical practice has changed and a number of formal research studies have been undertaken [source]


Voices from the margins: Pacific ambassadors and the geopolitics of marginality at the United Nations

ASIA PACIFIC VIEWPOINT, Issue 1 2009
Karen E. McNamaraArticle first published online: 25 MAR 200
Abstract This paper captures some of the structural deficiencies within the United Nations' decision-making processes at its headquarters in New York. Ideas and methodological approaches from critical geopolitics are adopted here to examine semi-structured interviews held with Pacific ambassadors (n = 7) at the United Nations and bring new knowledge to an underexplored area. Results demonstrate that the institutional capacities of Pacific small island states hinder their ability to voice their concerns adequately at every United Nations' forum, while shifting imaginaries and a decline in popularity of issues has seen a drop in on-the-ground financial assistance for these states. In this way, this paper attempts to contribute to our understanding of the practice of international diplomacy within the United Nations. [source]


Do women have equitable access to quality breast prosthesis services?

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 4 2000
P LIVINGSTON
Although up to 90% of women who have had a mastectomy use breast prostheses, significant gaps exist around current breast prosthesis services for Australian women. These gaps include the timeliness and quality of information provision, the disparity in financial assistance, and the lack of knowledge regarding the determinants of what constitutes a "quality" breast prosthesis. Revised policy initiatives are central to addressing these gaps to ensure equitable access to quality breast prosthesis services. [source]


Democratisation, External Exposure and State Food Distribution in The Dominican Republic

BULLETIN OF LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH, Issue 2 2009
KENNETH MITCHELL
The Dominican Republic shares the island of Hispaniola with a ,failed' state, requires regular financial assistance from international funds and remains exposed to external economic pressures. State food distribution in the country, however, adheres to traditional statist policies and institutions that disappeared elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean during the 1980s and 1990s. Relevant literature arguably does not anticipate this outcome. This article proposes that political institutions associated with Dominican democratisation since the late 1970s, particularly strong presidentialism, a stable, non-ideological party system and high voter turnout at elections, provide incentives for a status quo, clientelistic policy in this strategic area of social policy. [source]