scholarly journals Community readiness for collecting stray dogs in Aradan County: a quantitative‐qualitative study

2021 ◽  
Vol 74 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tahereh Kamalikhah ◽  
Somayeh Mirrezaei ◽  
Tahereh Rahimi ◽  
Leila Sabzmakan ◽  
Safiye Ghobakhloo

Abstract Background Paying more attention to free-roaming dogs’ population control seems to be necessary because of public health and environmental problems. The present study used the community readiness model to determine the readiness of Aradan County in terms of collecting stray dogs. Methods This study is a quantitative-qualitative research study conducted in Aradan County in Semnan Province of Iran. The semi-structured questionnaire uses the six dimensions of the Community Readiness Model as guideline, with 36 items used for the interview. The interviews lasted 45 to 100 minutes with 11 key members including the governor, prefect, mayor’s assistant, city council chairman, key trustees, officials responsible for environmental health network, officials responsible for environmentalism of the city, and governors of a rural district. In quantitative part two, assessors read the interviews carefully and assigned scores based on the rating-scale form suggested by the guideline itself for scoring each dimension. A qualitative directed content analysis with deductive approach was used for analyzing the collected qualitative data. Results The study involved 11 key members of Aradan County, all of whom were male. Most of the participants were over 40 years old and with five years of work experience (73.6 %). The mean score of each six dimensions in Aradan County were: Community efforts (4.78), Community knowledge of efforts (4.28), Leadership (4.90), Community climate (4.38), Community knowledge about the issue (4.20) and Resources related to the issue (3.29) respectively. Community readiness in Aradan County and Aradan City was generally estimated to be in the preplanning stage, whereas vague public awareness was found in the rural areas. In the qualitative part, 870 initial open codes, 589 refund codes, 19 subcategories and 6 themes emerged, including (a) community efforts, (b) community knowledge of the efforts (c) leadership, (d) community climate, (e) community knowledge of the issue, and (f) resources related to the issue. Conclusions For improving the process of collecting the stray dogs, it is necessary to focus on holding educational sessions for the public to increase their partnership and justify the responsible organizations’ activities to collaborate and provide the necessary financial resources.

2018 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-67
Author(s):  
Minhui Liu ◽  
Xi Zhang ◽  
Jinnan Xiao ◽  
Feng Ge ◽  
Siyuan Tang ◽  
...  

Physical activity (PA) has declined in China due to urbanization in the past two decades. Evidence-based programs are good approaches to promote PA, but are limited in China. Adopting existing programs can be a viable option. Prior to that, readiness assessment is needed. This study aimed to assess community readiness levels for disseminating evidence-based PA programs to older adults in Changsha, China. In-person interviews were conducted with 33 participants of five districts in Changsha to assess the community readiness level in five dimensions: community knowledge of efforts, community climate, community knowledge about the issue, leadership and resources. Data was transcribed, reviewed and compared with an anchored rating scale to provide a stage of readiness score ranging from 1 (no awareness) to 9 (high level of community ownership). Participants included 14 community staff, 13 older adults, four community leaders and three health professionals. The top three barriers to disseminating PA programs were lack of appropriate locations, funding and instructors. The top three resources were availability of indoor space, chairs and loudspeakers. Community leadership was the highest-rated readiness dimension (3.3 out of 9) followed by community climate (3.2), community knowledge of efforts (3.1) and resources (2.8); knowledge about the issue scored the lowest (2.7). The overall community stage readiness score of Changsha was 3.0 out of 9. The stage of readiness for communities in Changsha, China is ‘vague awareness’. Developing strategies to improve community readiness levels may increase evidence-based PA program dissemination in Changsha, China.


2020 ◽  
pp. 152483992091712
Author(s):  
Erica Heath ◽  
Victoria Sanon ◽  
Dana Keener Mast ◽  
Debra Kibbe ◽  
Rodney Lyn

The community readiness model (CRM) was used to assess changes in community readiness across four counties in Georgia that were targeted as part of a 3-year Childhood Obesity Prevention Program. Key respondent interviews were conducted with community stakeholders in 2012 (n = 20) and 2017 (n = 18) using a semistructured questionnaire assessing six dimensions of community readiness (i.e., community efforts, community knowledge of efforts, leadership, community climate, community knowledge about the issue, and resources available to support efforts). Interviews were analyzed using the CRM scoring protocol and qualitative methods. Paired t tests were used to compare mean score differences between baseline and follow-up assessments. At baseline, overall mean readiness scores for the four counties ranged from 4.52 to 5.05 on the CRM 9-point scale. At follow-up, overall readiness scores ranged from 6.01 to 6.97 out of 9.00. Data revealed a statistically significant improvement in scores across all communities (+1.70, p = .007; 95% confidence interval [0.87, 2.51]). Data also revealed statistically significant improvements in every dimension of readiness, except community knowledge of the issue. Information gleaned from interviews suggested that investing in staff to support efforts, building awareness to shift the community climate, and cross sector collaboration contributed to improved community readiness among the study communities. The provision of technical assistance, peer learning opportunities, and financial support as part of a cooperative grant initiative holds promise for increasing the capacity of community coalitions to advance childhood obesity prevention efforts in their local communities.


1993 ◽  
Vol 27 (9) ◽  
pp. 159-171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eberhard Steinle

First an overview of the systems currently in use and being discussed for sludge treatment is presented will) particular emphasis on distinguishing between the object of the system (conditioning objective of the various phases in the system) and a system concept (concept of various phases of the system in sequence to attain the disposal objective). More detailed information is given as to the salient systems as used with smaller sewage treatment plants in rural areas, such as digestion, dewatering, hygienization, composting and thermal drying. A further item of discussion is how sludge treatment influences the sewage treatment process. For the critical emissions (nitrogen, phosphorus) demanded in Germany, and thus for the degree of sewage treatment required, the load of the sewage treatment system resulting from sludge treatment needs to be taken into account. Accordingly, operation of sludge treatment and sewage purification must always be harmonized. The extent of these return loads also limits the spatial centralization of the system phases; this applies in particular to smaller sewage treatment plants in rural areas. In conclusion, an attempt is made to present a perspective for the agricultural utilization of such sludge in Germany. Since the critical values for emissions have been further tightened by new regulations, thus considerably elevating the associated sophistication of monitoring techniques, it is to be expected that the use of sewage sludge in agriculture will also be further reduced in rural areas, especially since public awareness of emission control has considerably reduced the acceptance of sewage sludge as fertilizer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (13) ◽  
pp. 7081
Author(s):  
Andres Larco ◽  
Jorge Carrillo ◽  
Nelson Chicaiza ◽  
Cesar Yanez ◽  
Sergio Luján-Mora

Dyslexia is a relatively common language disorder which is generally ignored in rural communities. It hinders children’s learning processes and, in some cases, is the cause of dropouts or violence in schools. The present work strives to create a web and mobile app as a preliminary step towards the diagnosis and treatment of dyslexic children. Apps providing didactic educational games and activities improve literacy skills for students with reading disabilities. The current work incorporates user experience and prototyping to fulfill app requirements. The authors evaluated the apps with the Mobile App Rating Scale (MARS) tool to assess engagement, functionality, aesthetics, and information. The app’s improvements were immediately implemented and tested in the “Escuela Linea Equinoccial” (Ecuador) school, proving its utility for future use in the education system. The app can be a valuable tool for children with dyslexia to progress successfully through school, raising their self-confidence and, thereby, helping them reach their full potential as adults able to make a positive contribution to society.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-113
Author(s):  
Aprilia Nur Aeni ◽  
Asnita Frida Sebayang ◽  
Aan Julia

Village funds are funds sourced from the APBN with the hope of increasing community independence. However, in its management, there are still problems, namely the unpreparedness of the community and village officials. Srirahayu Village is the village with the lowest IDM. In its management, village funds are mostly used for physical development. The research objective was to determine, measure, study, and formulate strategies for handling the level of readiness to use village funds to support community independence in Srirahayu Village. The method used is descriptive analysis with a quantitative approach. Data was collected through questionnaires to 5 respondents (village officials). Techniques for measuring community readiness consist of No Awareness, Denial / Resistance, Vague awareness, Preplanning, Preparation, Initiation, Stabilization, Expansion / Confirmation, Community Ownership. The results showed the level of readiness to use village funds to support community independence in Srirahayu Village by using 5 readiness dimensions, namely general knowledge about village funds at a score of 5.2 (preparation), leadership at 6.2 (initiation), community climate on the score. 5.8 (preparation), knowledge of the use of village funds for community independence at a score of 5.8 (preparation), and resources at a score of 5.0 (preparation), so that the average readiness to use village funds for community independence in Srirahayu Village is a score of 5.6 or being in the preparation stage.


2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-124.e1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deana A. Hildebrand ◽  
Priscilla Blevins ◽  
Lillian Carl ◽  
Barbara Brown ◽  
Nancy M. Betts ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-339
Author(s):  
DS Machado ◽  
AFF Bragança ◽  
IC Travnik ◽  
AP Rossi ◽  
AC Sant'Anna

A need exists for research that contributes to estimating the risk factors associated with the management of outdoor cats (Felis silvestris catus) and addresses the lack of such surveys in Brazil and other Latin American countries. With this in mind we aimed to: i) identify the causal factors affecting the practice of owners allowing their cats to roam freely and; ii) evaluate potential welfare risks associated with the allowance of outdoor access, based on cat owners' reports. An online questionnaire consisting of 25 questions was answered by 8,485 Brazilian cat owners and logistic regression models used to obtain odds ratios. A number of the factors significantly related to owners allowing their cats to have outdoor access were unneutered cats, the manner in which the cat was acquired, residence in rural areas, the number of cats owned, the presence of other pets in the house, younger owner age, owner declaration of not being responsible for the cat, owner perception about the role of the cat in the house, owner knowledge about cats' potential for transmitting diseases, a lack of knowledge about zoonoses, and a lack of knowledge regarding toxoplasmosis. The practice of allowing outdoor access was associated with significantly higher odds of owners reporting several welfare issues, such as frequent flea contamination, sporotrichosis, going missing, poisoning, mistreatment, and accidents. We conclude that the practice of allowing outdoor access, as reported by 37.1% of our respondents, may result in risks to feline welfare. Increasing public awareness through campaigns that highlight the risks associated with outdoor access would improve feline management practices and welfare.


2021 ◽  
pp. 59-60
Author(s):  
Prabhmeet Singh ◽  
Purushottam Jangir ◽  
Priti Singh

BACKGROUND: Gender dysphoria is a rare condition, rarer in females and rarest in rural areas of India. From the surface case presented with depressive features, but inside the core diagnosis of gender dysphoria was met. The objective of index case is highlighting presentation of a female with stigmatizing condition and role of various available treatment options and utilization of services. Case presentation: A 20-year-old female from rural background demonstrating symptoms of low mood, easy fatiguability and ideas of selfharm from past few months with a long -standing history of distress and incongruence between experienced and assigned gender. According to DSM-5, diagnosis of gender dysphoria was made and further evaluated on Gender Identity/Gender Dysphoria Questionnaire for Adolescents and Adults (GIDYQ-AA) and Hamilton depression rating scale. SSRI was started along with supportive psychotherapy sessions and various treatment options for gender dysphoria discussed. DISCUSSION: This case illustrates importance of history taking which becomes paramount in case of rare disorders like gender dysphoria. Multi-level interventions at the individual, interpersonal, and structural levels to reduce stigma toward transgenders, better acceptability would lead to further clarify hypothesis and early diagnosis of the disorder.


Author(s):  
Hasliza Abdul Halim ◽  
Noor Hazlina Ahmad ◽  
T. Ramayah

The potential of the Base-Of Pyramid (BOP) community cannot be realized without an entrepreneurial orientation – an orientation that aims to create market and promote innovation. In line with the notion of the world is searching for avenues for profitable growth and innovation, converting the BOP into active entrepreneurs will foster innovations in business models (Simanis & Milstein, 2012). Realizing this situation, the Malaysian government stated the ambition of becoming a developed nation by the year 2020, and thus, the government has to accelerate their transition into an innovation-based economy. Poverty eradication has become the most important issue in Malaysia. In fact, Malaysia has embarked on many poverty eradication programmes, evidenced by the sharp decline in the incidence of poverty from 52.4% in 1970 to 12.4% in 1992 and further decreased to 3.8% in 2009 (Tenth Malaysia Plan, 2011). Under the Government Transformation Program (GTP), Malaysian government has established Rural Transformation Program (RTP) to reduce the extreme hardcore poor household to zero and also to halve the number of the BOP community. In this manner, Rural Transformation Centre (RTC) was introduced to optimize the potential of rural areas as the generator and growth of new economy. Although Malaysia has done remarkably well, there are challenges to serve this segment in which they need specific interventions to increase attention to eliminate inequalities between rich and poor. Hence, this chapter unlocks and explores the BOP community readiness to venture into business development.


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