scholarly journals COVID-19, chronic conditions and structural poverty: A social psychological assessment of the needs of a marginalized community in Accra, Ghana

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 577-591
Author(s):  
Ama de-Graft Aikins ◽  
Olutobi Sanuade ◽  
Leonard Baatiema ◽  
Paapa Yaw Asante ◽  
Francis Agyei ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Support Group ◽  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Psychosocial Needs ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Community Members ◽  
African Region ◽  
New Public Health ◽  
Structural Poverty ◽  
The Impact

In the African region COVID-19 infection and death rates are increasing (writing in May 2020), most deaths have occurred among individuals with chronic conditions, and poor communities face higher risks of infection and socio-economic insecurities. We assessed the psychosocial needs of a chronic illness support group in Accra, Ghana, within the context of their broader community. The community lives in structural poverty and has a complex burden of infectious and chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs). Between March and May 2020, we conducted interviews, group discussions, and surveys, with members of the support group and their caregivers, frontline healthcare workers, and religious and community leaders. Data was analysed through the social psychology of participation framework. Community members understood COVID-19 as a new public health threat and drew on eclectic sources of information to make sense of this. Members of the support group had psychosocial and material needs: they were anxious about infection risk as well as money, food and access to NCD treatment. Some community members received government food packages during the lockdown period. This support ended after lockdown in April and while anti-poverty COVID policies have been unveiled they have yet to be implemented. We discuss the impact of these representational, relational and power dynamics on the community’s access to COVID-19 and NCD support. We argue that strategies to address immediate and post-COVID needs of vulnerable communities have to focus on the politics and practicalities of implementing existing rights-based policies that intersect health, poverty reduction and social protection.

scholarly journals Managing chronic conditions care across primary care and hospital systems: lessons from an Australian Hospital Avoidance Risk Program using the Flinders Chronic Condition Management Program

2018 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 542 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sharon Lawn ◽  
Sara Zabeen ◽  
David Smith ◽  
Ellen Wilson ◽  
Cathie Miller ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Emergency Department ◽  
Heart Disease ◽  
Length Of Stay ◽  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Chronic Condition ◽  
Hospital Admissions ◽  
Self Management ◽  
Psychosocial Needs ◽  
Post Discharge ◽  
The Impact

Objective The study aimed to determine the impact of the Flinders Chronic Condition Management Program for chronic condition self-management care planning and how to improve its use with Bendigo Health’s Hospital Admission Risk Program (HARP). Methods A retrospective analysis of hospital admission data collected by Bendigo Health from July 2012 to September 2013 was undertaken. Length of stay during admission and total contacts post-discharge by hospital staff for 253 patients with 644 admissions were considered as outcome variables. For statistical modelling we used the generalised linear model. Results The combination of the HARP and Flinders Program was able to achieve significant reductions in hospital admissions and non-significant reduction in emergency department presentations and length of stay. The generalised linear model predicted that vulnerable patient groups such as those with heart disease (P = 0.037) and complex needs (P < 0.001) received more post-discharge contacts by HARP staff than those suffering from diabetes, renal conditions and psychosocial needs when they lived alone. Similarly, respiratory (P < 0.001), heart disease (P = 0.015) and complex needs (P = 0.050) patients had more contacts, with an increased number of episodes than those suffering from diabetes, renal conditions and psychosocial needs. Conclusion The Flinders Program appeared to have significant positive impacts on HARP patients that could be more effective if high-risk groups, such as respiratory patients with no carers and respiratory and heart disease patients aged 0–65, had received more targeted care. What is known about the topic? Chronic conditions are common causes of premature death and disability in Australia. Besides mental and physical impacts at the individual level, chronic conditions are strongly linked to high costs and health service utilisation. Hospital avoidance programs such as HARP can better manage chronic conditions through a greater focus on coordination and integration of care across primary care and hospital systems. In support of HARP, self-management interventions such as the Flinders Program aim to help individuals better manage their medical treatment and cope with the impact of the condition on their physical and mental wellbeing and thus reduce health services utilisation. What does this paper add? This paper sheds light on which patients might be more or less likely to benefit from the combination of the HARP and Flinders Program, with regard to their impact on reductions in hospital admissions, emergency department presentations and length of stay. This study also sheds light on how the Flinders Program could be better targeted towards and implemented among high-need and high-cost patients to lessen chronic disease burden on Australia’s health system. What are the implications for practitioners? Programs targeting vulnerable populations and applying evidence-based chronic condition management and self-management support achieve significant reductions in potentially avoidable hospitalisation and emergency department presentation rates, though sex, type of chronic condition and living situation appear to matter. Benefits might also accrue from the combination of contextual factors (such as the Flinders Program, supportive service management, clinical champions in the team) that work synergistically.

John Keats and Indian Medicine

Romanticism ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-166
Author(s):  
Nikki Hessell
Keyword(s):  
Medical Knowledge ◽  
John Keats ◽  
Specific Response ◽  
Medical Studies ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Medical Practices ◽  
Traditional Medicines ◽  
Medical Imagery ◽  
Indian Medicine ◽  
The Impact

John Keats's medical studies at Guy's Hospital coincided with a boom in interest in both the traditional medicines of the sub-continent and the experiences of British doctors and patients in India. Despite extensive scholarship on the impact of Keats's medical knowledge on his poetry, little consideration has been given to Keats's exposure to Indian medicine. The poetry that followed his time at Guy's contains numerous references to the contemporary state of knowledge about India and its medical practices, both past and present. This essay focuses on Isabella and considers the major sources of information about Indian medicine in the Regency. It proposes that some of Keats's medical imagery might be read as a specific response to the debates about medicine in the sub-continent.

THE IMPACT OF DECENTRALIZATION ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN UKRAINE

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyudmyla Mishchenko ◽  
◽  
Dmytro Mishchenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Social Entrepreneurship ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Economic Incentives ◽  
Social Enterprises ◽  
Infrastructural Support ◽  
The Impact

The actualization of the results of financial decentralization in Ukraine as part of the reform of decentralization of power and the development of proposals for its improvement is explained by the fact that a clear division of functions, powers and financial resources between national and regional levels is the basis for the well-being of our citizens. opportunities for its sustainable socio- economic development on a democratic basis. It is noted that financial decentralization is a process of giving authority to mobilize revenues and expenditures of local governments in order to increase the effectiveness of the implementation of these powers and better management of community budgets. It is established that unlike traditional entrepreneurship, which focuses on profit generation, the purpose of social entrepreneurship is to create and accumulate social capital. Abroad, social enterprises operate successfully in the fields of education, the environment, human rights, poverty reduction and health care, and their development and dissemination is one way to improve the living conditions of citizens. A similar mission is entrusted to local governments, which allows us to consider the revival of social entrepreneurship as an important element in improving self-government policy. It is determined that in modern conditions social entrepreneurship is one of the tools to ensure the ability of the local community to provide its members with an appropriate level of education, culture, health, housing and communal services, social protection, etc., as well as plan and implement programs efficient use of available natural and human resources, investment and infrastructural support of territorial communities. Due to financial decentralization, local governments have received additional resources that can be used to create economic incentives to promote social entrepreneurship in small and medium-sized businesses at the community level.

Pentecostalism and African diaspora : a case study of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), in North America

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 77-92
Author(s):  
Rotimi Williams Omotoye
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
North America ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
The United States ◽  
Church Of God ◽  
Sources Of Information ◽  
Christian Church ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Church

Pentecostalism as a new wave of Christianity became more pronounced in 1970's and beyond in Nigeria. Since then scholars of Religion, History, Sociology and Political Science have shown keen interest in the study of the Churches known as Pentecostals because of the impact they have made on the society. The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) was established by Pastor Josiah Akindayomi in Lagos,Nigeria in 1952. After his demise, he was succeeded by Pastor Adeboye Adejare Enock. The problem of study of this research was an examination of the expansion of the Redeemed Christian Church of God to North America, Caribbean and Canada. The missionary activities of the church could be regarded as a reversed mission in the propagation of Christianity by Africans in the Diaspora. The methodology adopted was historical. The primary and secondary sources of information were also germane in the research. The findings of the research indicated that the Redeemed Christian Church of God was founded in North America by Immigrants from Nigeria. Pastor Adeboye Enock Adejare had much influence on the Church within and outside the country because of his charisma. The Church has become a place of refuge for many immigrants. They are also contributing to the economy of the United States of America. However, the members of the Church were faced with some challenges, such as security scrutiny by the security agencies. In conclusion, the RCCGNA was a denomination that had been accepted and embraced by Nigerians and African immigrants in the United States of America.

Economic behavior of households and their welfare: models and forms of interaction

2020 ◽  
pp. 3-8
Author(s):  
Maryana Bil ◽  
Olha Mulska
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Central Place ◽  
Economic Behavior ◽  
Human Potential ◽  
Modern Theory ◽  
Economic Behaviour ◽  
Theoretical Approaches ◽  
The Impact

The article defines the content of welfare as a measure of socially oriented efficiency of economic growth, which reflects the appropriate level of providing the population with material and spiritual goods with the formation of favourable conditions for human development and capitalization of human potential in a competitive mobile space. The modern theory of welfare testifies to the deepening of scientific discussions on the transformation of economic welfare into mobile and inclusive, as well as the opposition of competitive and social protection welfare policy. Another milestone in the evolution of welfare theory is the individualization of its provision. Conditions of competition and mobility increase the importance of households in providing their well-being with further reflection on the processes of economic growth of the community, region, and state. This gives grounds to actualize the issues of household welfare research and strengthening economic growth based on behavioural economics. The needs, interests, motives, and incentives determine the economic behaviour of households. At higher levels, it defines an economic culture that is closely linked to the national mentality. In this regard, the main models of economic and social behaviour of households – socialization, adaptation, integration, values, regulation, and the definition of financial development strategies are outlined. Theoretical approaches to the explanation of economic behaviour are generalized, namely religious-ethical, psychological, substantive theories, theories of motivations and acquired needs, process theories, theories of justice, and others. Based on the ideas of foreign scientists, the main determinants of the economic policy of households are proposed. Political, stabilizing, and economic determinants are distinguished in the group of general determinants. In the group of determinants directly related to households, the financial, demographic, cultural, social, empirical, and psychological are suggested. The author’s emphasis is placed on the importance of the impact of financial determinants of the households’ economic behaviour, the central place among which is occupied by savings.

Diverging Paths

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dirk Luyten
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Welfare State ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
National Level ◽  
Gain Control ◽  
Political Strategy ◽  
State Development ◽  
Social Reforms ◽  
Welfare State Development ◽  
The Impact

For the Netherlands and Belgium in the twentieth century, occupation is a key concept to understand the impact of the war on welfare state development. The occupation shifted the balance of power between domestic social forces: this was more decisive for welfare state development than the action of the occupier in itself. War and occupation did not result exclusively in more cooperation between social classes: some interest groups saw the war as a window of opportunity to develop strategies resulting in more social conflict. Class cooperation was often part of a political strategy to gain control over social groups or to legitimate social reforms. The world wars changed the scale of organization of social protection, from the local to the national level: after World War II social policy became a mission for the national state. For both countries, war endings had more lasting effects for welfare state development than the occupation itself.

Belgium: Creeping Vulnerability of Children

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Vinck ◽  
Wim Van Lancker
Keyword(s):  
Social Protection ◽  
Child Poverty ◽  
Growing Up ◽  
Important Lesson ◽  
The Great Recession ◽  
Number Of Children ◽  
Poverty Risk ◽  
Poor Households ◽  
Families With Children ◽  
The Impact

Belgium has been plagued by comparatively high levels of child poverty, and by a creeping, yet significant, increase that started in the good years before the crisis. This is related to the relatively high share of jobless households, the extremely high and increasing poverty risk of children growing up in these households, and benefits that are inadequate to shield jobless families with children from poverty. Although the impact of the Great Recession was limited in Belgium, the crisis seems to have had an impact on child poverty, by increasing the number of children living in work-poor households. Although the Belgian welfare state had an important cushioning impact, its poverty-reducing capacity was less strong than it used to be. The most important lesson from the crisis is that in order to make further headway in reducing child poverty, not only activation but also social protection should be improved.

scholarly journals Cash transfers and child nutritional outcomes: a systematic review and meta-analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (12) ◽  
pp. e003621
Author(s):  
James Manley ◽  
Yarlini Balarajan ◽  
Shahira Malm ◽  
Luke Harman ◽  
Jessica Owens ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Child Nutrition ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Dietary Diversity ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Cash Transfer ◽  
Animal Source Foods ◽  
Animal Source ◽  
Z Scores ◽  
Households With Children ◽  
The Impact

BackgroundCash transfer (CT) programmes are implemented widely to alleviate poverty and provide safety nets to vulnerable households with children. However, evidence on the effects of CTs on child health and nutrition outcomes has been mixed. We systematically reviewed evidence of the impact of CTs on child nutritional status and selected proximate determinants.MethodsWe searched articles published between January 1997 and September 2018 using Agris, Econlit, Eldis, IBSS, IDEAS, IFPRI, Google Scholar, PubMed and World Bank databases. We included studies using quantitative impact evaluation methods of CTs with sample sizes over 300, targeted to households with children under 5 years old conducted in countries with gross domestic product per capita below US$10 000 at baseline. We conducted meta-analysis using random-effects models to assess the impact of CT programmes on selected child nutrition outcomes and meta-regression analysis to examine the association of programme characteristics with effect sizes.ResultsOut of 2862 articles identified, 74 articles were eligible for inclusion. We find that CTs have significant effects of 0.03±0.03 on height-for-age z-scores (p<0.03) and a decrease of 2.1% in stunting (95% CI −3.5% to −0.7%); consumption of animal-source foods (4.5%, 95% CI 2.9% to 6.0%); dietary diversity (0.73, 95% CI 0.28 to 1.19) and diarrhoea incidence (−2.7%, 95% CI −5.4% to −0.0%; p<0.05). The effects of CTs on weight-for-age z-scores and wasting were not significant (0.02, 95% CI −0.03 to 0.08; p<0.42) and (1.2%, 95% CI: −0.1% to 2.5%; p<0.07), respectively. We found that specific programme characteristics differentially modified the effect on the nutrition outcomes studied.ConclusionWe found that CT programmes targeted to households with young children improved linear growth and contributed to reduced stunting. We found that the likely pathways were through increased dietary diversity, including through the increased consumption of animal-source foods and reduced incidence of diarrhoea. With heightened interest in nutrition-responsive social protection programmes to improve child nutrition, we make recommendations to inform the design and implementation of future programmes.

scholarly journals Psychological impact in the time of COVID-19: A cross-sectional population survey study during confinement

2021 ◽  
pp. 135910532098558
Author(s):  
Carmina Castellano-Tejedor ◽  
María Torres-Serrano ◽  
Andrés Cencerrado
Keyword(s):  
Chronic Conditions ◽  
Population Survey ◽  
Psychological Impact ◽  
Survey Study ◽  
Psychological Interventions ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Young Females ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact

The transformation that COVID-19 has brought upon the world is unparalleled. The impact on mental health is equally unprecedented and yet unexplored in depth. An online-based survey was administered to 413 community-based adults during COVID-19 confinement to explore psychological impact and identify high risk profiles. Young females concerned about the future, expressing high COVID-related distress, already following psychological therapy and suffering from pre-existing chronic conditions, were those at highest risk of psychological impact due to the COVID-19 situation. Findings could be employed to design tailored psychological interventions in the early stages of the outbreak to avoid the onset/exacerbation of psychopathology.

scholarly journals Delivering an efficient and effective support group for patients with implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs): patient perspectives of key concerns and predictors of inclination to attend

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Murray ◽  
Kelly Buttigieg ◽  
Michelle Todd ◽  
Vicky McKechnie
Keyword(s):  
Support Groups ◽  
Support Group ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillators ◽  
Cardioverter Defibrillator ◽  
And Coping ◽  
Patients Experience ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Cardioverter Defibrillators ◽  
Patient Concerns

Abstract Background A subset of patients experience psychological distress following insertion of an implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and ICD support groups are recommended, however access to these groups is limited. This study aimed: to gauge a better understanding of patients’ key ICD-related concerns; to determine patient interest in a support group and topics deemed helpful to address in a support group; and to examine factors which affect patient inclination to attend. Methods One hundred and thirty nine patients completed the ICD Patient Concerns Questionnaire – Brief (ICDC-B) and a semi-structured survey. Non-parametric tests were used to examine associations and differences in the quantitative data. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Results 42% of respondents said they would attend a support group and inclination to attend was associated with higher ICD concerns and a shorter time since implant. Topics considered important to address in a group were information about heart conditions and devices, the impact of an ICD on daily life and coping with fear of shocks. Conclusion We concluded that there is interest in further support amongst many patients and that ICD support groups may be delivered efficiently by targeting patients who have higher levels of ICD concerns and within the first few years after implant.

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