Initiatives to meet the challenge of providing water services to the most underprivileged communities: tools and oportunities - the case of Empresas Públicas de Medelín (EEPPM)

2002 ◽  
Vol 46 (6-7) ◽  
pp. 355-362
Author(s):  
F.J. Piedrahíta ◽  
F.A. Zuleta ◽  
J.F. Manjarrés
Keyword(s):  
Community Participation ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Problem ◽  
Public Utility ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Financial Feasibility ◽  
Utility Companies ◽  
Utility Services ◽  
Commercial Opportunity

Due to problems such as migration from rural areas to cities and to the difficulties generated by those displaced by violence, the water utility companies in developing counties are faced with the challenge of supplying this service to communities that have settled in an irregular and disorganized manner. The challenge public utility services face is solving the problem without letting such circumstances impinge on the financial feasibility of the company. In order to achieve this, it is essential to design programs with a prominent degree of community participation and self-management, which may even change this social problem into a commercial opportunity. This paper portrays EEPPM's experience in four successful programs within this field, illustrating their benefits as regards sustainability and replication.

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) as a community participation model for people with multiple sclerosis: A hierarchical regression analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 55-72
Author(s):  
Joseph Pfaller ◽  
Fong Chan ◽  
Kanako Iwanaga ◽  
Jia-Rung Wu ◽  
Stuart Rumrill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Multiple Sclerosis ◽  
Regression Analysis ◽  
Community Participation ◽  
International Classification Of Functioning ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Hierarchical Regression ◽  
Personal Factors ◽  
Disability And Health ◽  
The Relationship

AbstractMultiple sclerosis (MS) is a central nervous system disorder that impacts more than 400,000 people in the U.S. The disease results in multiple functional impairments that are diverse and varied across individuals. Additonally, MS has a profound impact on community participation which, like other rehabilitation outcomes, cannot be explained on the basis of functional limitations alone. The purpose of this study was to develop and evaluate a model of community participation for people living with MS using the World Health Organization (WHO) International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) framework. The model focused on the roles that personal factors have as predictors of community participation, while also serving as mediators and moderators for the relationship between activity limitation and participation. Results from the hierarchical regression analysis indicated that demographic characteristics (i.e. MS type), personal factors (i.e. core self-evaluations (CSE), MS self-management, resilience, and social skills), and activity limitations accounted for 64% of the variance in participation. Further, mediation analysis indicated that CSE mediated the relationship between activity limitation and community participation. Finally, moderation analysis indicated an interaction effect between educational attainment and MS self-management. Implications for future research in rehabilitation and clinical application are discussed.

scholarly journals Mitigation of the Water Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa: Construction of Delocalized Water Collection and Retention Systems

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 1673
Author(s):  
Adolfo F. L. Baratta ◽  
Laura Calcagnini ◽  
Abdoulaye Deyoko ◽  
Fabrizio Finucci ◽  
Antonio Magarò ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Water Shortage ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Economic Activities ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Research Areas ◽  
Emilia Romagna Region ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Surrounding Areas

This paper presents the results of a three-year research project aimed at addressing the issue of water shortage and retention/collection in drought-affected rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa. The project consisted in the design, construction, and the upgrade of existing barrages near Kita, the regional capital of Kayes in Mali. The effort was led by the Department of Architecture of Roma Tre University in partnership with the Onlus Gente d’Africa (who handled the on-the-ground logistics), the Department of Architecture of the University of Florence and the École Supérieure d’Ingénierie, d’Architecture et d’Urbanisme of Bamako, Mali. The practical realization of the project was made possible by Romagna Acque Società delle Fonti Ltd., a water utility supplying drinking water in the Emilia-Romagna region (Italy) that provided the financing as well as the operational contribution of AES Architettura Emergenza Sviluppo, a nonprofit association operating in the depressed areas of the world. The completion of the research project resulted in the replenishment of reservoirs and renewed presence of water in the subsoil of the surrounding areas. Several economic activities such as fishing and rice cultivation have spawned from the availability of water. The monitoring of these results is still ongoing; however, it is already possible to assess some critical issues highlighted, especially with the progress of the COVID-19 pandemic in the research areas.

scholarly journals Are animal-related injuries in rural areas a social problem? A survey from Poland

2017 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 392-395
Author(s):  
Aneta Neskoromna-Jędrzejczak ◽  
Katarzyna Bogusiak ◽  
Anna Kasielska-Trojan ◽  
Bogusław Antoszewski
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Social Problem

scholarly journals Experiences and guidelines for footcare practices of patients witli diabetes mellitus

Curationis ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Matwa ◽  
M. M. Chabeli ◽  
M. Muller ◽  
N. S. Levitt
Keyword(s):  
Diabetes Mellitus ◽  
Lower Limb ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Diabetic Patients ◽  
Eastern Cape Province ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Patients With Diabetes ◽  
Poor Infrastructure

The former Transkei is a predominantly rural region of the Eastern Cape Province. The poor infrastructure in this area results in inaccessibility of the available health services. The majority is ill equipped to deliver optimum diabetes care. There is an increase of lower limb amputations and lack of knowledge among patients with diabetes mellitus in the former Transkei. These complications can be prevented by patient education on self-management and appropriate footcare procedures. This qualitative study was conducted to explore and describe the experiences and footcare practices of diabetic patients who live in the rural areas of Transkei.

scholarly journals FINANCIAL, PRICING AND TARIFF POLICY IN THE FIELD OF HOUSING AND UTILITIES: MAIN ISSUES, TRENDS AND SOLUTIONS

2014 ◽  
pp. 58-65
Author(s):  
A. N. Ryakhovskaya
Keyword(s):  
State Regulation ◽  
Public Utility ◽  
Tariff Policy ◽  
Utility Companies ◽  
Low Efficiency ◽  
Utilities Services

Reasons of low efficiency of institutional transformations in the field of housing and utilities are being studied; and specific features of public utility companies related to natural monopolies, as well as possible options of solving such issues are being considered; necessity of state regulation of their activity has been justified. Provisions to be taken into account at establishment of tariff policy in housing and utilities services have been shown.

scholarly journals Impact of a Wearable Device-Based Walking Programs in Rural Older Adults on Physical Activity and Health Outcomes: Cohort Study (Preprint)

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Il-Young Jang ◽  
Hae Reong Kim ◽  
Eunju Lee ◽  
Hee-Won Jung ◽  
Hyelim Park ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Wearable Devices ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Wearable Device ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Community Dwelling Older Adults

BACKGROUND Community-dwelling older adults living in rural areas are in a less favorable environment for health care compared with urban older adults. We believe that intermittent coaching through wearable devices can help optimize health care for older adults in medically limited environments. OBJECTIVE We aimed to evaluate whether a wearable device and mobile-based intermittent coaching or self-management could increase physical activity and health outcomes of small groups of older adults in rural areas. METHODS To address the above evaluation goal, we carried out the “Smart Walk” program, a health care model wherein a wearable device is used to promote self-exercise particularly among community-dwelling older adults managed by a community health center. We randomly selected older adults who had enrolled in a population-based, prospective cohort study of aging, the Aging Study of Pyeongchang Rural Area. The “Smart Walk” program was a 13-month program conducted from March 2017 to March 2018 and included 6 months of coaching, 1 month of rest, and 6 months of self-management. We evaluated differences in physical activity and health outcomes according to frailty status and conducted pre- and postanalyses of the Smart Walk program. We also performed intergroup analysis according to adherence of wearable devices. RESULTS We recruited 22 participants (11 robust and 11 prefrail older adults). The two groups were similar in most of the variables, except for age, frailty index, and Short Physical Performance Battery score associated with frailty criteria. After a 6-month coaching program, the prefrail group showed significant improvement in usual gait speed (mean 0.73 [SD 0.11] vs mean 0.96 [SD 0.27], P=.02), International Physical Activity Questionnaire scores in kcal (mean 2790.36 [SD 2224.62] vs mean 7589.72 [SD 4452.52], P=.01), and European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions score (mean 0.84 [SD 0.07] vs mean 0.90 [SD 0.07], P=.02), although no significant improvement was found in the robust group. The average total step count was significantly different and was approximately four times higher in the coaching period than in the self-management period (5,584,295.83 vs 1,289,084.66, P<.001). We found that participants in the “long-self” group who used the wearable device for the longest time showed increased body weight and body mass index by mean 0.65 (SD 1.317) and mean 0.097 (SD 0.513), respectively, compared with the other groups. CONCLUSIONS Our “Smart Walk” program improved physical fitness, anthropometric measurements, and geriatric assessment categories in a small group of older adults in rural areas with limited resources for monitoring. Further validation through various rural public health centers and in a large number of rural older adults is required.

scholarly journals Reasonableness and Legal Right of the Minimum Charge in Public Utility Services

1917 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 807
Author(s):  
Walter H. Timm ◽  
Samuel S. Wyer
Keyword(s):  
Public Utility ◽  
Utility Services ◽  
Legal Right

scholarly journals Wireless Middleware Solutions for Smart Water Metering

Sensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (8) ◽  
pp. 1853 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefano Alvisi ◽  
Francesco Casellato ◽  
Marco Franchini ◽  
Marco Govoni ◽  
Chiara Luciani ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Field Testing ◽  
Water Utility ◽  
Smart Water ◽  
Computing Paradigm ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Utility Companies ◽  
Lock In ◽  
Water Meters ◽  
Water Metering

While smart metering applications have initially focused on energy and gas utility markets, water consumption has recently become the subject of increasing attention. Unfortunately, despite the large number of solutions available on the market, the lack of an open and widely accepted communication standard means that vendors typically propose proprietary data collection solutions whose adoption causes non-trivial problems to water utility companies in term of costs, vendor lock-in, and lack of control on the data collection infrastructure. There is the need for open and interoperable smart water metering solutions, capable of collecting data from the wide range of water meters on the market. This paper reports our experience in the development and field testing of a highly interoperable smart water metering solution, which we designed in collaboration with several water utility companies and which we deployed in Gorino Ferrarese, Italy, in collaboration with CADF (Consorzio Acque Delta Ferrarese), the water utility serving the city. At the core of our solution is SWaMM (Smart Water Metering Middleware), an interoperable wireless IoT middleware based on the Edge computing paradigm, which proved extremely effective in interfacing with several types of smart water meters operating with different protocols.

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