scholarly journals Resilience of Water Supply in Practice: Experiences from the Frontline

2021 ◽  

Water Resilience in Practice is co-edited by two experienced water sector professionals and reviews resilience in water supply service delivery in the form of a series of case studies from different economic contexts – ranging from low-income and fragile states to upper-income countries. It documents real experiences and reflects on the initiatives different service providers apply to strengthen resilience in practice. It describes how service providers respond, adapt, innovate and learn on an ongoing basis, and how they endeavour to meet challenges and provide water supply to users equitably and sustainably. In recent years climate resilience in water supply has been a new emerging paradigm. In response it is helpful to document and record some up-to-date experiences, which can be consolidated in one place. However, it is also necessary to recognise the multiple pressures that water resources face, such as: population growth, increased water demands, existing climatic variability as well as climate change. These pressures are having a profound impact on water supply service delivery. In this context service providers and development professionals must take active measures to respond to these risks. This book is primarily addressed to organisations and practitioners involved in planning, designing, managing and financing water supply programmes in urban and rural settings. ISBN: 9781789061611 (paperback) ISBN: 9781789061628 (eBook) ISBN: 9781789061635 (ePub)

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 910-911
Author(s):  
Matthew Yau ◽  
Christine Sheppard ◽  
Jocelyn Charles ◽  
Andrea Austen ◽  
Sander Hitzig

Abstract Community support services are an integral component of aging in place. In social housing, older adult tenants struggle to access these services due to the siloed nature of housing and health services. This study aims to describe the relationship between community support services and social housing for older adults and examine ways to optimize delivery. Data on government-funded community support services delivered to 74 seniors’ social housing buildings in Toronto, Ontario was analyzed. Neighbourhood profile data for each building was also collected, and correlational analyses were used to examine the link between neighbourhood characteristics and service delivery. Fifty-six community agencies provided 5,976 units of services across 17 service categories, most commonly mental health supports, case management and congregate dining. On average, each building was supported by nine agencies that provided 80 units of service across 10 service categories. Buildings in neighbourhoods with a higher proportion of low-income older adults had more agencies providing on-site services (r = .275, p < .05), while those in neighbourhoods with more immigrants (r = -.417, p < .01), non-English speakers (r = -.325, p < .01), and visible minorities (r = -.381, p < .01) received fewer services. Findings point to a lack of coordination between service providers, with multiple agencies offering duplicative services within the same building. Vulnerable seniors from equity-seeking groups, including those who do not speak English and recent immigrants, may be excluded from many services, and future service delivery for seniors should strive to address disparities in availability and access.


Author(s):  
Diane L. Kendall

Purpose The purpose of this article was to extend the concepts of systems of oppression in higher education to the clinical setting where communication and swallowing services are delivered to geriatric persons, and to begin a conversation as to how clinicians can disrupt oppression in their workplace. Conclusions As clinical service providers to geriatric persons, it is imperative to understand systems of oppression to affect meaningful change. As trained speech-language pathologists and audiologists, we hold power and privilege in the medical institutions in which we work and are therefore obligated to do the hard work. Suggestions offered in this article are only the start of this important work.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-29
Author(s):  
E.O. Irokanulo ◽  
M.A. Akalegbere

Gastrointestinal health is a precursor to general wellbeing in humans. Maintaining good normal gut flora for the health benefits they provide is important. Unfortunately, however, the good gut flora is sometimes dislodged during feeding and treatment with certain drugs. Foods that lead to such gut flora displacement may contain other microorganisms whose actions create unfavourable environmental conditions for resident flora. The principle of removing unwanted harmful gut flora; introducing good microorganisms through ingestion of live microorganisms, known as probiotics or foods that contain specific live microbes of interest is now practiced. Consumption of foods containing probiotics has long been practiced world-wide especially in rural settings and in low-income economies even though such consumptions may be unintended. Presently, careful isolation, characterization and testing of candidate probiotic organisms, has become the norm. This re-emerging phenomenon and the great impact it has on human health is considered here looking at probiotic sources; including foods, the role they play in gastrointestinal health, their mode of action and the disease types where they are beneficial to man including their safety and how their introduction in the �medical menu� in low-income nations can help in combating the rather very �regular� gastrointestinal infections in these countries.


2003 ◽  
Vol 3 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 469-476
Author(s):  
S.R.A. Soares ◽  
R.S. Bernardes

The sanitary problems promoted by the rapid urbanization process in developing cities are usually resulted from the absence of planning, high population concentration and inadequate water and wastewater infrastructure for low income people. Because the provision and planning of water supply and is a complex task, a modeling approach was used to enhance the understanding of the process and the aspects involved. In the development of a model, not only the technical aspects were taken into account, but other aspects related to the provision of drinking water and the water resources protection were also analyzed, such as institutional, financial, socioeconomic, environmental and public health. In the modeling process two different methods of conceptualization were used to describe the urban water flow through the water and wastewater systems linked to various aspects related to their implementation in large developing cities. The urban water systems of five large metropolitan areas in Brazil were also evaluated for the complete model. It is expected that the modeling approach developed in this paper consists of a valuable methodology for water supply and sanitation planning in Brazilian cities, and other developing cities with the same characteristics. The suggested conceptual model could, at least, provide more than a starting point for a useful urban water management tool.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mai-Lei Woo Kinshella ◽  
Alinane Linda Nyondo-Mipando ◽  
Queen Dube ◽  
David M. Goldfarb ◽  
Kondwani Kawaza

Abstract Objectives The “Integrating a neonatal healthcare package for Malawi” (IMCHA#108030) project conducted mixed-methods to understand facility-based implementation factors for newborn health innovations in low-resourced health settings. The objective of the two datasets was to evaluate: (a) capacity of quality newborn care in three districts in southern Malawi, and (b) barriers and facilitators the scale up of bubble continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP), a newborn health innovation to support babies with respiratory distress. Data description The Integrated Maternal, Neonatal and Child Quality of Care Assessment and Improvement Tool (version April-2014) is a standardized facility assessment tool developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) that examines quality as well as quantity and availability. The facility survey is complemented by a qualitative dataset of illustrative quotes from health service providers and supervisors on bubble CPAP implementation factors. Research was conducted in one primary health centre (facility assessment only), three district-level hospitals (both) and a tertiary hospital (qualitative only) in southern Malawi. These datasets may be used by other researchers for insights into health systems of low-income countries and implementation factors for the roll-out of neonatal health innovations as well as to frame future research questions or preliminary exploratory research on similar topics.


Author(s):  
Stephane Shepherd ◽  
Aisling Bailey ◽  
Godwin Masuka

African-Australian young people are over-represented in custody in the state of Victoria. It has been recognized in recent government and stakeholder strategic plans that African-Australian community service providers are well placed to help address the increasing complex needs of at-risk African-Australian youth. However little is known about the capacities of such providers to effectively contend with this growing social concern. In response, this study aimed to explore the perspectives and operational (service delivery and governance) experiences of African-Australian community organizations which provide services to at-risk young people in Victoria. Through a series of in-depth interviews with the leadership of eight key African-Australian service providers, we aimed to identify their perceived strengths, obstacles faced and proposed strategies to realize key objectives. Perspectives on key risk factors for young African-Australian justice system contact were also gathered. Several themes were extracted from the interviews, specifically (i) Risk factors for African-Australian youth justice-involvement (school disengagement, peer delinquency, family breakdown, intergenerational discord, perceived social rejection), (ii) The limitations of mainstream institutions to reduce African-Australian youth justice-involvement (too compliance focused, inflexible, business rather than human-centered, disconnected from communities and families), (iii) The advantages of African-Australian community service providers when working with African-Australian youth (community credibility, client trust, flexibility, culturally responsive), (iv) The challenges faced by African-Australian service providers (lack of funding/resources, professional staff shortages, infrastructural/governance limitations), and (v) “What works” in service provision for at-risk African-Australians (client involvement in program design, African staff representation, extensive structured programming matched with client aspirations, prioritizing relationship building, persistent outreach, mental health and legal literacy for clients and families). Implications for service delivery and social policy are discussed within.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (8) ◽  
pp. 2169
Author(s):  
Pauline Macharia ◽  
Nzula Kitaka ◽  
Paul Yillia ◽  
Norbert Kreuzinger

This study examined the current state of water demand and associated energy input for water supply against a projected increase in water demand in sub-Saharan Africa. Three plausible scenarios, namely, Current State Extends (CSE), Current State Improves (CSI) and Current State Deteriorates (CSD) were developed and applied using nine quantifiable indicators for water demand projections and the associated impact on energy input for water supply for five Water Service Providers (WSPs) in Kenya to demonstrate the feasibility of the approach based on real data in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, the daily per capita water-use in the service area of four of the five WSPs was below minimum daily requirement of 50 L/p/d. Further, non-revenue water losses were up to three times higher than the regulated benchmark (range 26–63%). Calculations showed a leakage reduction potential of up to 70% and energy savings of up to 12 MWh/a. The projected water demand is expected to increase by at least twelve times the current demand to achieve universal coverage and an average daily per capita consumption of 120 L/p/d for the urban population by 2030. Consequently, the energy input could increase almost twelve-folds with the CSI scenario or up to fifty-folds with the CSE scenario for WSPs where desalination or additional groundwater abstraction is proposed. The approach used can be applied for other WSPs which are experiencing a similar evolution of their water supply and demand drivers in sub-Saharan Africa. WSPs in the sub-region should explore aggressive strategies to jointly address persistent water losses and associated energy input. This would reduce the current water supply-demand gap and minimize the energy input that will be associated with exploring additional water sources that are typically energy intensive.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document