scholarly journals Deprivation, policy and rurality: The limitations and applications of area-based deprivation indices in Scotland

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Clelland ◽  
Carol Hill

Indices of multiple deprivation have become increasingly sophisticated and high profile as a means of identifying and targeting deprived areas and populations. However, these have been challenged on a number of grounds, both conceptual and practical, with particular concerns about their applicability to rural areas. At the same time, there is little research on how such measures are used in practice or how they influence policies or the allocation of resources. This paper seeks to quantify the effectiveness of this type of measure in terms of inclusion or exclusion of deprived populations implied by targeting areas based on the results of the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. The results show that the proportion of deprived individuals within these apparently most deprived areas varies widely across different regions. However, this was not strongly related to rurality, suggesting that claims of an inherent bias against rural regions resulting from the use of these measures should be treated with caution. Nevertheless, this analysis demonstrates potential drawbacks to the uncritical reliance on indices of multiple deprivation as a basis for policy and highlights the need for the aims and rationales of such approaches to be more clearly articulated.

2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (4) ◽  
pp. 414-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lindsay Paterson ◽  
Lucy Hunter Blackburn ◽  
Elisabet Weedon

Policy on widening access to higher education in Scotland is defined mainly in terms of students who live in deprived areas as defined by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation. Although area measures can be informative, and are convenient because they require only a postcode to classify any person into a deprivation category, they are crude. We use data from the Higher Education Statistics Agency, the Growing Up in Scotland Survey and the Scottish Household Survey to analyse the extent to which neighbourhood measures can be used as the basis of valid indicators of widening access. We conclude that they are flawed, although not wholly useless, and ought to be supplemented by more valid measures of students' social circumstances.


2022 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-46
Author(s):  
Kirsty Cater ◽  
Jonathan Yazbek ◽  
Paul Morris ◽  
Karen Watts ◽  
Claire Whitehouse

A pilot fast-track COVID-19 vaccination clinic was created in the east of England to provide expert advice, education and support for pregnant people. As the COVID-19 pandemic has progressed, it is clear that pregnant people are at high risk of becoming seriously unwell with the COVID-19 virus. Establishment of the clinic led to a 20% increase in COVID-19 vaccine uptake in this group, with 211 vaccinations between 28 June and 30 September 2021. Almost two-thirds (59%) of pregnant people reported they would not have taken up the vaccination if they had not discussed it as part of this service. Over half of those attending (50.2%) reside within the index of multiple deprivation levels 1–4, the most severely deprived areas. This article explores the development of the fast-track vaccination service and seeks to support others wishing to replicate its delivery in their areas.


Agriculture ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 141
Author(s):  
Marcin Surówka ◽  
Łukasz Popławski ◽  
Helena Fidlerová

The work discusses issues of the infrastructure, its instruments, and specifics of infrastructure in Polish and Slovak rural areas. The aim of this article is to analyze the level of technical infrastructure development in rural regions of the Małopolskie Voivodeship in Poland and the west part of Slovakia—Trnava self-governing region (Trnava region) as two regions with a similar position regarding regional competitiveness index. Following the topic, after identification of strengths and weaknesses of mentioned regions, the opportunities, and threats of sustainable development of infrastructure in rural areas have been analyzed using the SWOT method. The development of sustainable, reliable, and functional infrastructure does not only refer to the chosen regions of Poland and Slovakia but also other regions in the European Union. Sustainable infrastructure is a factor stimulating social and economic progress as one of the most important determinants of sustainable development and regional competitiveness. The authors notice a particular lack in the sustainable development of infrastructure in the field of water and sewerage management together with the supply of water. Therefore, this article tries to complete the gap in research focusing on the concept of a more systematic approach to technical infrastructure improvement in the context of sustainable development, and strategy of cooperation.


The Forum ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kenneth M. Johnson ◽  
Dante J. Scala

Abstract This study of the 2018 congressional midterms demonstrates how voting patterns and political attitudes vary across a spectrum of urban and rural areas in the United States. Rural America is no more a monolith than is urban America. The rural-urban gradient is better represented by a continuum than a dichotomy. This is evident in the voting results in 2018, just as it was in 2016. We found that the political tipping point lies beyond major metropolitan areas, in the suburban counties of smaller metropolitan areas. Democrats enjoyed even greater success in densely populated urban areas in 2018 than in 2016. Residents of these urban areas display distinctive and consistent social and political attitudes across a range of scales. At the other end of the continuum in remote rural areas, Republican candidates continued to command voter support despite the challenging national political environment. Voters in these rural regions expressed social and political attitudes diametrically opposed to their counterparts in large urban cores.


2021 ◽  
Vol 108 (Supplement_2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Z Vinnicombe ◽  
M Little ◽  
J Super

Abstract Introduction Differential attainment (DA), according to the General Medical Council (GMC), is the gap between attainment levels in different groups. Attainment measures should cover aspects that include academic performance and career progression. Two such areas in surgical training are the MRCS examinations and ARCPs, both of which are required for progression in a career in surgery. Our aim was to investigation whether socio-economic background was a significant factor for progression in surgical training. Method Data from the GMC for Core Surgical Trainees (CSTs) taking the MRCS examination between 2016 and 2019 and CST ARCP outcomes between 2017 and 2019 were obtained. Socio-economic background was assessed using the Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD). ARCP and MRCS outcomes were assessed against IMD. Results Trainees from IMD Q1&2 (most deprived) had a significantly higher (p < 0.01) mean number of attempts (1.86) to pass MRCS examinations than trainees from IMD Q4&5 (least deprived) (1.54). IMD Q1&2 were significantly more likely to obtain unsatisfactory outcomes (24.4%) than trainees from IMD Q4&5 (14.2%) (p < 0.05). Conclusions There is clear evidence that differential attainment exists within Core Surgical Training. The reasons for this are likely to be complex and more work is needed to further investigate the relationship.


Land ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 1211
Author(s):  
Žana Jurjević ◽  
Stanislav Zekić ◽  
Danilo Đokić ◽  
Bojan Matkovski

Rural regions with a larger share of the primary sector in the overall economy are limited in their ability to achieve a sufficient level of competitiveness. In countries such as Serbia, where rural areas play an important role, addressing the problems affecting these areas is important for overall development. The purpose of this study is to determine the socioeconomic performance of the rural regions of Serbia and the EU in order to indicate the position of Serbia’s rural areas in the process of European integration. NUTS 3 (NUTS 2 for Germany) was used for analysis, and from this an Index of Socioeconomic Performance was created. This Index was created using Factor Analysis. The results point to Serbia lagging behind other EU regions in terms of development, with most of Serbia’s rural regions receiving the lowest ratings. These results are cause for alarm and indicate a need to create strategies that will direct resources towards key issues in these areas, whose potential would be adequately used through the implementation of rural policy measures, with the aim of overall socioeconomic development.


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