scholarly journals Social impact bonds: Financing grassroots sports

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 199-211
Author(s):  
I. V. Solntsev

This paper aims to analyze the foreign experience of using social impact bonds (SIB) and formulate proposals for the application of this tool in financing projects aimed at developing mass sports and increasing physical activity on a national scale. The scientific novelty of the article is confirmed by the limited application of such a mechanism in Russia and its insufficient study. This research aims to fill this academic and applied gap. The author uses the methods of deconstruction and aspect analysis. The article analyzes in detail the foreign experience of using social impact bonds, reveals the advantages and disadvantages of this model. In the absence of SIB sports projects, the model of social impact bonds is considered through the example of a New York City-based program aimed at reducing the recidivism rate among young people. This example allowed the author to describe the interaction scheme for all participants and stakeholders and to illustrate related advantages and disadvantages. In the future, this model can be introduced into Russian practice and used as a model for launching a similar project in the field of grassroots sports. The analysis of successful projects implemented abroad allowed the author to substantiate the possibility of using social impact bonds in financing programs aimed at increasing population levels of physical activity. A system of target indicators is proposed, including such a metric as social return on investment (SROI). The author describes in detail the methodology for calculating SROI and provides examples of calculating this indicator for mass sports projects. The author concludes that the advantages of SIB prevail over the disadvantages and about the high potential of this tool. Further research in this area can be aimed at clarifying the methodology for calculating the SROI for sport interventions promoting physical activity at the population level and evaluating specific projects in the field.

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alma Agusti Strid ◽  
James Ronicle

In recent years, Latin America has seen the introduction of innovative pay-for-success mechanisms to fund social programs, including Social Impact Bonds (SIBs) and Development Impact Bonds (DIBs), outcome-based contracts that incorporate the use of private financing from investors to cover the upfront capital required for a provider to set up and deliver a social service. In this context, IDB Lab established a SIB Facility in 2014 to promote the focus on outcomes in social programs and increase outcomes-based commissioning. The SIB Facility has resulted in IDB Lab providing support to developing SIBs in Colombia (first SIB launched in a middle-income country), Argentina, Chile, Mexico and Brazil. Since then, several employment SIBs have launched in Colombia and Argentina and prefeasibility studies for SIBs on other topics are currently underway in Chile. This Technical Note aims to capture the lessons learnt from developing SIBs in Latin America, focusing on the five countries where the SIB Facility played a pioneering role. The study takes a retrospective view in examining what has been done and a prospective view in considering how challenges can be overcome and how lessons learnt might be considered within the IDB Lab, both at SIB level and at ecosystem level looking at the SIB ecosystems that have started to emerge. In the study, we find that the SIBs that have launched in the study countries were well designed and that there had also been thorough consideration of the advantages and disadvantages of the model.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
KEVIN ALBERTSON ◽  
CHRIS FOX ◽  
CHRIS O’LEARY ◽  
GARY PAINTER ◽  
KIMBERLY BAILEY ◽  
...  

Open Heart ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. e001600
Author(s):  
Joanne Kathryn Taylor ◽  
Haarith Ndiaye ◽  
Matthew Daniels ◽  
Fozia Ahmed

AimsIn response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK was placed under strict lockdown measures on 23 March 2020. The aim of this study was to quantify the effects on physical activity (PA) levels using data from the prospective Triage-HF Plus Evaluation study.MethodsThis study represents a cohort of adult patients with implanted cardiac devices capable of measuring activity by embedded accelerometery via a remote monitoring platform. Activity data were available for the 4 weeks pre-implementation and post implementation of ‘stay at home’ lockdown measures in the form of ‘minutes active per day’ (min/day).ResultsData were analysed for 311 patients (77.2% men, mean age 68.8, frailty 55.9%. 92.2% established heart failure (HF) diagnosis, of these 51.2% New York Heart Association II), with comorbidities representative of a real-world cohort.Post-lockdown, a significant reduction in median PA equating to 20.8 active min/day was seen. The reduction was uniform with a slightly more pronounced drop in PA for women, but no statistically significant difference with respect to age, body mass index, frailty or device type. Activity dropped in the immediate 2-week period post-lockdown, but steadily returned thereafter. Median activity week 4 weeks post-lockdown remained significantly lower than 4 weeks pre-lockdown (p≤0.001).ConclusionsIn a population of predominantly HF patients with cardiac devices, activity reduced by approximately 20 min active per day in the immediate aftermath of strict COVID-19 lockdown measures.Trial registration numberNCT04177199.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6650
Author(s):  
Yu Zhang ◽  
John A. Rupp ◽  
John D. Graham

This paper examines whether public perceptions of the claimed advantages and disadvantages of fracking are consistent with an evidence-based assessment of the claimed advantages and disadvantages. Public assessments are obtained from an internet-based opinion survey in 2014 in six states: California, Illinois, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Texas. The survey presented eleven advantages and eleven disadvantages of fracking derived from local media stories, from advocacy claims made by pro- or anti-fracking groups, and from think tank pieces. Then the respondents were asked to indicate their feelings about how important each claimed advantage and disadvantage was to their support of/opposition to fracking. Scientific assessments regarding the same claims are compiled from available peer-reviewed literature and evidence-based reviews. We classify each claim as either (a) supported by the weight of the available evidence, (b) not supported by the weight of the available evidence, or (c) there is inadequate evidence to assess it. We find less consistency with respect to the disadvantages than advantages. Respondents perceive four disadvantages out of eleven as extremely important while there is inadequate evidence to assess them or the available evidence does not support them. Our comparison has interesting implications for understanding the controversy about fracking.


SLEEP ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 44 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. A86-A86
Author(s):  
Michael Grandner ◽  
Naghmeh Rezaei

Abstract Introduction The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in societal-level changes to sleep and other behavioral patterns. Objective, longitudinal data would allow for a greater understanding of sleep-related changes at the population level. Methods N= 163,524 deidentified active Fitbit users from 6 major US cities contributed data, representing areas particularly hard-hit by the pandemic (Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, and Miami). Sleep variables extracted include nightly and weekly mean sleep duration and bedtime, variability (standard deviation) of sleep duration and bedtime, and estimated arousals and sleep stages. Deviation from similar timeframes in 2019 were examined. All analyses were performed in Python. Results These data detail how sleep duration and timing changed longitudinally, stratified by age group and gender, relative to previous years’ data. Overall, 2020 represented a significant departure for all age groups and both men and women (P<0.00001). Mean sleep duration increased in nearly all groups (P<0.00001) by 5-11 minutes, compared to a mean decrease of 5-8 minutes seen over the same period in 2019. Categorically, sleep duration increased for some and decreased for others, but more extended than restricted. Sleep phase shifted later for nearly all groups (p<0.00001). Categorically, bedtime was delayed for some and advanced for others, though more delayed than advanced. Duration and bedtime variability decreased, owing largely to decreased weekday-weekend differences. WASO increased, REM% increased, and Deep% decreased. Additional analyses show stratified, longitudinal changes to sleep duration and timing mean and variability distributions by month, as well as effect sizes and correlations to other outcomes. Conclusion The pandemic was associated with increased sleep duration on average, in contrast to 2019 when sleep decreased. The increase was most profound among younger adults, especially women. The youngest adults also experienced the greatest bedtime delay, in line with extensive school-start-times and chronotype data. When given the opportunity, the difference between weekdays and weekends became smaller, with occupational implications. Sleep staging data showed that slightly extending sleep minimally impacted deep sleep but resulted in a proportional increase in REM. Wakefulness during the night also increased, suggesting increased arousal despite greater sleep duration. Support (if any) This research was supported by Fitbit, Inc.


2021 ◽  
pp. 039156032199438
Author(s):  
Riccardo Bientinesi ◽  
Carlo Gandi ◽  
Luigi Vaccarella ◽  
Emilio Sacco

Modifiable lifestyle-related risk factors are the object of increasing attention, with a view to primary and tertiary prevention, to limit the onset and development of diseases. Also in the urological field there is accumulating evidence of the relationship between urological diseases and lifestyle-related risk factors that can influence their incidence and prognosis. Risk factors such as nutrition, physical activity, sexual habits, tobacco smoking, or alcohol consumption can be modified to limit morbidity and reduce the social impact and the burdensome costs associated with diagnosis and treatment. This review synthesizes the current clinical evidence available on this topic, trying to satisfy the need for a summary on the relationships between the most important lifestyle factors and the main benign urological diseases, focusing on benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), infections urinary tract (UTI), urinary incontinence (UI), stones, erectile dysfunction, and male infertility.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Elisabete Nascimento-Gonçalves ◽  
Bruno A.L. Mendes ◽  
Rita Silva-Reis ◽  
Ana I. Faustino-Rocha ◽  
Adelina Gama ◽  
...  

Colorectal cancer is one of the most common gastrointestinal malignancies in humans, affecting approximately 1.8 million people worldwide. This disease has a major social impact and high treatment costs. Animal models allow us to understand and follow the colon cancer progression; thus, in vivo studies are essential to improve and discover new ways of prevention and treatment. Dietary natural products have been under investigation for better and natural prevention, envisioning to show their potential. This manuscript intends to provide the readers a review of rodent colorectal cancer models available in the literature, highlighting their advantages and disadvantages, as well as their potential in the evaluation of several drugs and natural compounds’ effects on colorectal cancer.


Author(s):  
Stephanie L. Orstad ◽  
Kristin Szuhany ◽  
Kosuke Tamura ◽  
Lorna E. Thorpe ◽  
Melanie Jay

Increasing global urbanization limits interaction between people and natural environments, which may negatively impact population health and wellbeing. Urban residents who live near parks report better mental health. Physical activity (PA) reduces depression and improves quality of life. Despite PA’s protective effects on mental health, the added benefit of urban park use for PA is unclear. Thus, we examined whether park-based PA mediated associations between park proximity and mental distress among 3652 New York City residents (61.4% 45 + years, 58.9% female, 56.3% non-white) who completed the 2010–2011 Physical Activity and Transit (PAT) random-digit-dial survey. Measures included number of poor mental health days in the previous month (outcome), self-reported time to walk to the nearest park from home (exposure), and frequency of park use for sports, exercise or PA (mediator). We used multiple regression with bootstrap-generated 95% bias-corrected confidence intervals (BC CIs) to test for mediation by park-based PA and moderation by gender, dog ownership, PA with others, and perceived park crime. Park proximity was indirectly associated with fewer days of poor mental health via park-based PA, but only among those not concerned about park crime (index of moderated mediation = 0.04; SE = 0.02; 95% BC CI = 0.01, 0.10). Investment in park safety and park-based PA promotion in urban neighborhoods may help to maximize the mental health benefits of nearby parks.


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