scholarly journals Key Considerations: India's Deadly Second COVID-19 Wave: Addressing Impacts and Building Preparedness Against Future Waves

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mihir R. Bhatt ◽  
Shilpi Srivastava ◽  
Megan Schmidt-Sane ◽  
Lyla Mehta
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Policy Research ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Health Crisis ◽  
Health Infrastructure ◽  
The Social ◽  
To Come ◽  
Second Wave

Since February 2021, countless lives have been lost in India, which has compounded the social and economic devastation caused by the second wave of COVID-19. The sharp surge in cases across the country overwhelmed the health infrastructure, with people left scrambling for hospital beds, critical drugs, and oxygen. As of May 2021, infections began to come down in urban areas. However, the effects of the second wave continued to be felt in rural areas. This is the worst humanitarian and public health crisis the country has witnessed since independence; while the continued spread of COVID-19 variants will have regional and global implications. With a slow vaccine rollout and overwhelmed health infrastructure, there is a critical need to examine India's response and recommend measures to further arrest the current spread of infection and to prevent and prepare against future waves. This brief is a rapid social science review and analysis of the second wave of COVID-19 in India. It draws on emerging reports, literature, and regional social science expertise to examine reasons for the second wave, explain its impact, and highlight the systemic issues that hindered the response. This brief puts forth vital considerations for local and national government, civil society, and humanitarian actors at global and national levels, with implications for future waves of COVID-19 in low- and middle-income countries. This review is part of the Social Science in Humanitarian Action Platform (SSHAP) series on the COVID-19 response in India. It was developed for SSHAP by Mihir R. Bhatt (AIDMI), Shilpi Srivastava (IDS), Megan Schmidt-Sane (IDS), and Lyla Mehta (IDS) with input and reviews from Deepak Sanan (Former Civil Servant; Senior Visiting Fellow, Centre for Policy Research), Subir Sinha (SOAS), Murad Banaji (Middlesex University London), Delhi Rose Angom (Oxfam India), Olivia Tulloch (Anthrologica) and Santiago Ripoll (IDS). It is the responsibility of SSHAP.

Social Science Theory for Environmental Sustainability

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marc J. Stern
Keyword(s):  
Social Science ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Persuasive Communication ◽  
Practical Applications ◽  
Social Science Theory ◽  
Science Theory ◽  
The Social ◽  
Communication Conflict ◽  
To Come ◽  
Sustainability Challenges

Social science theory for environmental sustainability: A practical guide makes social science theory accessible and usable to anyone interested in working toward environmental sustainability at any scale. Environmental problems are, first and foremost, people problems. Without better understandings of the people involved, solutions are often hard to come by. This book answers calls for demonstrating the value of theories from the social sciences for solving these types of problems and provides strategies to facilitate their use. It contains concise summaries of over thirty social science theories and demonstrates how to use them in diverse contexts associated with environmental conflict, conservation, natural resource management, and other environmental sustainability challenges. The practical applications of the theories include persuasive communication, conflict resolution, collaboration, negotiation, enhancing organizational effectiveness, working across cultures, generating collective impact, and building more resilient governance of social-ecological systems. Examples throughout the book and detailed vignettes illustrate how to combine multiple social science theories to develop effective strategies for environmental problem solving. The final chapter draws out key principles for enhancing these efforts. The book will serve as a key reference for environmental professionals, business people, students, scientists, public officials, government employees, aid workers, or any concerned citizen who wants to be better equipped to navigate the social complexities of environmental challenges and make a meaningful impact on any environmental issue.

Civic Participation and Social Embeddedness: Differences Between Urban and Rural Communities

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 45-67
Author(s):  
Tuuli-Marja Kleiner
Keyword(s):  
Social Network ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
Survey Data ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Civic Participation ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Social Embeddedness ◽  
The Social ◽  
Multi Level

Does civic participation lead to a large social network? This study claims that high levels of civic participation may obstruct individual social embeddedness. Using survey data from the German Survey on Volunteering (Deutscher Freiwilligensurvey; 1999–2009), this study conducts macro- as well as multi-level regressions to examine the link between civic participation and social embeddedness. Findings reveal that civic participation on the sub-national regional level is not generally associated with social embeddedness, but it affects the participants’ and non-participants’ possibilities for friendships differently. This holds especially true in urban areas, but the effect cannot be found in rural areas. The analysis has implications for further research to enhance the social embeddedness of the excluded.

scholarly journals A Study of the Understated Violence Within Social Contexts Against Adolescent Girls

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 29-41
Author(s):  
Shivangi Nigam ◽  
Niranjana Soperna
Keyword(s):  
Adolescent Girls ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Difference ◽  
The Individual

Violence against women is linked to their disadvantaged position in the society. It is rooted in unequal power relationships between men and women in society and is a global problem which is not limited to a specific group of women in society. An adolescent girl’s life is often accustomed to the likelihood of violence, and acts of violence exert additional power over girls because the stigma of violence often attaches more to a girl than to the  perpetrator. The experience of violence is distressing at the individual emotional and physical level. The field of research and programmes for adolescent girls has traditionally focused on sexuality, reproductive health, and behaviour, neglecting the broader social issues that underpin adolescent girls’ human rights, overall development, health, and well-being. This paper is an endeavour to address the understated or disguised form of violence which the adolescent girls experience within the social contexts. The parameters exposed under this research had been ignored to a large extent when it comes to studying the dimension of violence under the social domain. Hence, the researchers attempted to explore this camouflaged form of violence and discovered some specific parameters such as: Diminished Self Worth and Esteem, Verbal Abuse, Menstruation Taboo and Social Rigidity, Negligence of Medical and Health Facilities and Complexion- A Prime Parameter for Judging Beauty. The study was conducted in the districts of Haryana (India) where personal interviews were taken from both urban and rural adolescent girls (aged 13 to 19 years) based on  a structured interview schedule. The results revealed that the adolescent girls, both in urban as well as rural areas were quite affected with the above mentioned issues. In urban areas, however, due to the higher literacy rate, which resulted in more rational thinking, the magnitude was comparatively smaller, but the difference was still negligible.  

scholarly journals Social Progress Index for Urban and Rural Areas of a Region: Evidence from Peru

2021 ◽  
Vol 101 (4) ◽  
pp. 422-435
Author(s):  
Maylee Inga-Hancco ◽  
Adamari Indigoyen-Porras ◽  
Sergio Parra-Alarcón ◽  
Juan Cerrón-Aliaga ◽  
Wagner Vicente-Ramos
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Progress ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
Middle Range ◽  
The Social ◽  
Global Organization ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

The present study describes the methodological process proposed by the Social Progress Imperative Global Organization to calculate the Social Progress Index in urban and rural areas of the province of Huancayo, Peru, in 2020. The survey was based on 229 observations regarding basic human needs, foundations of well-being and opportunities. The result produced an index of 56.04 for urban areas and 53.98 for rural areas; results that are in the low and low middle range respectively, identifying deficiencies in the quality of economic policies, with respect to the sanitation service, where more than 30% do not have access to drinking water, and others. It was concluded that the index showed no improvement with respect to 2019, likewise the social gaps still persist and the well-being of the aforementioned population was not increased.

scholarly journals The nutrition transition in Mexico 1988–2016: the role of wealth in the social patterning of obesity by education

2018 ◽  
Vol 21 (13) ◽  
pp. 2394-2401 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carolina Pérez-Ferrer ◽  
Anne McMunn ◽  
Paola Zaninotto ◽  
Eric J Brunner
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Prevalence Ratio ◽  
Household Wealth ◽  
Education Level ◽  
Obesity Prevalence ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
The Social ◽  
Lower Education ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

AbstractObjectiveThe present study investigates whether the reversal of the social gradient in obesity, defined as a cross-over to higher obesity prevalence among groups with lower education level, has occurred among men and women in urban and rural areas of Mexico.DesignCross-sectional series of nationally representative surveys (1988, 1999, 2006, 2012 and 2016). The association between education and obesity was investigated over the period 1988–2016. Effect modification of the education–obesity association by household wealth was tested.SettingMexico.SubjectsWomen (n 54 816) and men (n 20 589) aged 20–49 years.ResultsIn both urban and rural areas, the association between education and obesity in women varied by level of household wealth in the earlier surveys (1988, 1999 and 2006; interaction P<0·001). In urban areas in 1988, one level lower education was associated (prevalence ratio; 95 % CI) with 45 % higher obesity prevalence among the richest women (1·45; 1·24, 1·69), whereas among the poorest the same education difference was protective (0·84; 0·72, 0·99). In the latest surveys (2012, 2016), higher education was protective across all wealth groups. Among men, education level was not associated with obesity in urban areas; there was a direct association in rural areas. Wealth did not modify the association between education and obesity.ConclusionThe reversal of the educational gradient in obesity among women occurred once a threshold level of household wealth was reached. Among men, there was no evidence of a reversal of the gradient. Policies must not lose sight of the populations most vulnerable to the obesogenic environment.

Strategies used to establish palliative care in rural low- and middle-income countries: an integrative review

2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (8) ◽  
pp. 1110-1129
Author(s):  
Atsede Aregay ◽  
Margaret O’Connor ◽  
Jill Stow ◽  
Nicola Ayers ◽  
Susan Lee
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Low Income ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Care Home ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Integrative Review ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Low And Middle Income

Abstract Globally, 40 million people need palliative care; about 69% are people over 60 years of age. The highest proportion (78%) of adults are from low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), where palliative care still developing and is primarily limited to urban areas. This integrative review describes strategies used by LMICs to establish palliative care in rural areas. A rigorous integrative review methodology was utilized using four electronic databases (Ovid MEDLINE, Ovid Emcare, Embase classic+Embase and CINAHL). The search terms were: ‘palliative care’, ‘hospice care’, ‘end of life care’, ‘home-based care’, ‘volunteer’, ‘rural’, ‘regional’, ‘remote’ and ‘developing countries’ identified by the United Nations (UN) as ‘Africa’, ‘Sub-Saharan Africa’, ‘low-income’ and ‘middle- income countries’. Thirty papers published in English from 1990 to 2019 were included. Papers were appraised for quality and extracted data subjected to analysis using a public health model (policy, drug availability, education and implementation) as a framework to describe strategies for establishing palliative care in rural areas. The methodological quality of the reviewed papers was low, with 7 of the 30 being simple programme descriptions. Despite the inclusion of palliative care in national health policy in some countries, implementation in the community was often reliant on advocacy and financial support from non-government organizations. Networking to coordinate care and medication availability near-patient homes were essential features of implementation. Training, role play, education and mentorship were strategies used to support health providers and volunteers. Home- and community-based palliative care services for rural LMICs communities may best be delivered using a networked service among health professionals, community volunteers, religious leaders and technology.

scholarly journals Changing Incidence of Uterine Cancer in Rural Egypt: Possible Impact of Nutritional and Epidemiologic Transitions

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-7
Author(s):  
Saad Alshahrani ◽  
Ahmed Hablas ◽  
Robert M. Chamberlain ◽  
Jane Meza ◽  
Steven Remmenga ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Uterine Cancer ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Urban Residence ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Middle Income Countries ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
Low Incidence

PURPOSE Uterine cancer is a top-ranking women’s cancer worldwide, with wide incidence variations across countries and by rural and urban areas. Hormonal exposures and access to health care vary between rural and urban areas, globally. Egypt has an overall low incidence of uterine cancer but variable rural and urban lifestyles. Are there changes in the incidence of uterine cancer in rural and urban areas in middle-income countries such as Egypt? No previous studies have addressed this question from a well-characterized and validated population-based cancer registry resource in middle-income countries. The aim of this study was to explore the differences in clinical and demographic characteristics of uterine cancer over the period of 1999 to 2010 in rural and urban Gharbiah province, Egypt. METHODS Data were abstracted for all 660 patients with uterine cancer included in the Gharbiah Population-based Cancer Registry. Clinical variables included tumor location, histopathologic diagnosis, stage, grade, and treatment. Demographic variables included age, rural or urban residence, parity, and occupation. Crude and age-adjusted incidence rates (IRs) and rate ratios by rural or urban residence were calculated. RESULTS No significant differences were observed in most clinical and demographic characteristics between rural and urban patients. The age standardized IR (ASR) was 2.5 times higher in urban than in rural areas (6.9 and 2.8 per 100,000 in urban and rural areas, respectively). The rate ratio showed that the IR in urban areas was 2.46 times the rate in rural areas. CONCLUSION This study showed that the disease IR in rural areas has increased in the past decade but is still low compared with the incidence in urban areas in Egypt, which did not show a significant increase in incidence. Nutritional transitions, obesity, and epidemiologic and lifestyle changes toward Westernization may have led to IRs increasing more in rural than in urban areas in Egypt. This pattern of increasing incidence in Egypt, which used to have a low incidence of uterine cancer, may appear in other middle-income countries that experience emerging nutritional and epidemiologic transitions. The rate of uterine cancer in urban areas in Gharbiah is almost similar to the corresponding rates globally. However, the rate in rural areas in this population has increased over the past decade but is still lower than the corresponding global rates. Future studies should examine the etiologic factors related to increasing rates in rural areas and quantify the improvement in rural case finding.

scholarly journals Mapping poverty using mobile phone and satellite data

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (127) ◽  
pp. 20160690 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica E. Steele ◽  
Pål Roe Sundsøy ◽  
Carla Pezzulo ◽  
Victor A. Alegana ◽  
Tomas J. Bird ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Census Data ◽  
Data Sources ◽  
Human Potential ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Middle Income ◽  
Mobile Data ◽  
Poverty Measures ◽  
Urban And Rural Areas

Poverty is one of the most important determinants of adverse health outcomes globally, a major cause of societal instability and one of the largest causes of lost human potential. Traditional approaches to measuring and targeting poverty rely heavily on census data, which in most low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) are unavailable or out-of-date. Alternate measures are needed to complement and update estimates between censuses. This study demonstrates how public and private data sources that are commonly available for LMICs can be used to provide novel insight into the spatial distribution of poverty. We evaluate the relative value of modelling three traditional poverty measures using aggregate data from mobile operators and widely available geospatial data. Taken together, models combining these data sources provide the best predictive power (highest r 2 = 0.78) and lowest error, but generally models employing mobile data only yield comparable results, offering the potential to measure poverty more frequently and at finer granularity. Stratifying models into urban and rural areas highlights the advantage of using mobile data in urban areas and different data in different contexts. The findings indicate the possibility to estimate and continually monitor poverty rates at high spatial resolution in countries with limited capacity to support traditional methods of data collection.

scholarly journals Design of a Development Index for Spanish Municipalities

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (21) ◽  
pp. 8910
Author(s):  
Ana Nieto Masot ◽  
Gema Cárdenas Alonso ◽  
Ángela Engelmo Moriche
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
Development Index ◽  
Rural And Urban Areas ◽  
Economic Diversity ◽  
Rural And Urban ◽  
The Social ◽  
New Variables

Currently, the demographic vacuum and poor development suffered by most areas of Spain are some of the most worrying issues from a territorial point of view, which is why this study is necessary. In this paper, the objective is to create a Development Index with which to study the different realities of rural and urban spaces through demographic and socioeconomic variables of the Spanish municipalities. Principal Component Analysis is carried out, with whose results the index has been prepared. This is then explored with a Spatial Autocorrelation Analysis. The results show that most developed Spanish municipalities and most of the population are concentrated in coastal areas and in the main cities of the country. In opposition, there are interior rural areas with less developed municipalities at risk of disappearance due to their increasing ages and levels of depopulation. Thus, in this paper, new variables and methods are used in the study of the social and economic diversity of rural and urban areas, verifying the inequality that still exists between both.

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