Factors associated with bronchopulmonary aspiration: a national-based study

ABSTRACT Objectives: to determine the prevalence of bronchopulmonary aspiration in the Brazilian scenario, the factors associated with the incident and the variables associated with death. Methods: a cross-sectional and analytical study, carried out from analysis of notifications of incidents related to bronchopulmonary aspiration of the Health Surveillance Notification System, from January 2014 to December 2018. Results: of the 264,590 notifications, 553 referred to aspiration, whose prevalence rate was 0.21%. There was an association between the event and age, ethnicity, main medical diagnosis, country region, service type, health unit and consequences for patients. Furthermore, four independent predictor variables for death were found: living in the North or South regions, being elderly and receiving healthcare at night. Conclusions: the prevalence rate of bronchopulmonary aspiration was small, but with a negative impact on patients.

Back to Basics: City Services and 311 Service Requests

With data from service delivery requests in twenty-nine cities, this article reports on a comparative analysis of city service request systems (311 systems) and their operations. The study uses actual 311 service request data available through cities’ open data portals. A typology of thirty service type categories was created. Various hypotheses were tested. As city population increases, the number of service requests also increases. Garbage/recycling is the most commonly requested service, followed by code enforcement requests, parking, pickup of bulk items, and abandoned vehicles. Cities are no longer just using telephones for their users to submit requests but have also now incorporated other service channels. Service resolution times vary across cities and service category but there is some evidence that safety and health types of services receive priority and are resolved more quickly. The article ends with managerial and policy implications.

How Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Affected the Perceptions of Public Space Employees?

The purpose of this study is to derive the subjective perception about COVID-19 of public space employees and to identify the characteristics of COVID-19 related issues. By using the Q-method, 24 workers in four public spaces located in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA were selected as P-Sample and Q-Sorting was conducted. Three types of perceptions were identified; Type 1 (Expansion of Non-Face-To-Face Service), Type 2 (Expansion of Professional Labor), and Type 3 (Expansion of Welfare Service Type). All three types recognized that when a confirmed case occurs in a public space, the right and safety of users or communities to know is important, and accurate information must be provided, because it is necessary to prevent the spread of infection. Above all, these results show another side of the COVID-19 situation, as the participants in this study are currently in charge of various tasks such as quarantine and service provision in public spaces. This study can be used as basic data for policy response and system improvement of public spaces in the event of an infectious disease such as COVID-19 in the future.

The Impact of Social Responsibility on the Market Value for Services Corporations, Service Type as a Marketing Variable

The study aims to know the impact of social responsibility as a cost and also to show the market value of the Jordanian services corporations listed on the Amman Stock Exchange. “Services type” was used as a variable for the relationship rate in this study. The descriptive approach was used and applied to the data of 37 companies during the period from 2012-2019. The researcher also used statistical methods such as the arithmetic mean and standard deviation to describe the study data, and the test of linear regression and correlation analysis, in order to test the study hypotheses. Among the most important results that have been reached, there is an impact of social responsibility as costs and the disclosure of the market value of services companies. The study also showed a modified effect of services type on the relationship between social responsibility disclosure and market value.Based on the preceding, the study recommended expanding the social responsibility disclosure, which helps the company build a strong name as a desirable institution, which enhances the image of the company and the name of the product in the services market and among customers.

Utilization of Home and Community-Based Resources by Family Caregivers in a Native American Community

Family caregiving is uniquely significant for elder care within American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) communities. Compared to other populations, AI/AN older adults are disproportionately impacted by chronic conditions and AI/AN are more likely to be family caregivers. However, AI/AN are underrepresented in aging research. We describe a successful research partnership with the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin and report results of a recent survey of tribal members and affiliates (N=405), covering demographics of caregiving, awareness and use of home and community-based resources, and perceptions of factors impacting service use. Approximately 42% of respondents were current caregivers; of these, roughly one-third knew how to access various resources. Most common sources of knowledge were a health care/social worker or finding information on their own. Traditional cultural values were viewed as variably supportive of resource utilization, depending on service type. Implications for efforts to address disparities for AI/AN aging and support caregivers will be discussed.

Policy Design and Consumer Direction: Cross-country Comparisons on Consumer-directed Care Programs

Objectives The consumer-directed care (CDC) program aims to maximize health outcomes by offering older adults more control, choice, and flexibility over the care services they received. However, countries may operate CDC programs in different ways based on heterogenous sociostructural systems. We proposed a comparative framework to evaluate three dimensions of CDC—control and direct services, variety of service options, and information and support—and analyzed how countries varied in their policy design to achieve consumer direction. Methods Using cross-national document analysis, we analyzed eleven CDC programs from seven selected countries (Netherlands, United States (US), United Kingdom (UK), Germany, China, Australia, and Spain) with five CDC care regimes. A total of fourteen indicators capturing three dimensions of CDC programs was developed. We further used these indicators to evaluate and compare similarities and differences of policy features across countries using descriptive statistics and graphical approaches. Results CDC programs in the Netherlands, Arkansas, and the UK ranked at the top in consumer direction. All countries except Germany employed a “service-based” principle in determination of service type. Training care workers was in the most widespread use to assure quality of care. Merely the UK and Germany integrated CDC and conventional agency care without restrictions. Representative with relevant support was only available in the UK and Netherlands. Discussion and Implication: CDC models involve multi-faced aspects, rather than dichotomies and discrete entities. Implications include the need for a systematic reflection with our developed framework and enriching variety of service options to promote consumer direction.

Differences in problem alcohol drinking by military service type among male professional military personnel in South Korea using Military Health Survey data

ObjectivesAlcohol drinking prevalence in Korea is higher than in other countries and is associated with various social and health problems. Korean culture tends to be tolerant of alcohol drinking and to regard it as an important medium for maintaining good interpersonal relationships in one’s social life. Although alcohol drinking is a means of relieving stress, especially among soldiers, who engage in more binge drinking than civilians, there is lack of research focused on problem drinking among soldiers. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the extent of problem drinking across all military services and to identify factors associated with problem drinking by military service type.DesignSecondary data analysis.SettingDataset of the Military Health Survey in 2015.ParticipantsAltogether, 2252 male professional military personnel were included in this study.Main outcome measureProblem drinking in this study was defined as at-risk drinking and alcohol abuse or dependence with an Alcohol Use Disorders Identification-Korean (AUDIT-K) score of 10 points or higher.ResultsThe average AUDIT-K score was 7.38±4.10 points. The prevalence of problem drinking was 16.4% for the Army, 34.5% for the Navy and 32.1% for the Air Force. Factors associated with problem drinking for each military service type were sleep satisfaction (OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.284 to 4.236) and family support (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.487 to 0.904) in the Army, smoking status (OR 1.85, 95% CI 1.130 to 3.039) and sleep satisfaction (OR 2.29, 95% CI 1.142 to 4.574) in the Navy and marital status (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.382 to 0.951), smoking (past smokers and non-smokers OR 2.81, 95% CI 1.593 to 4.973, current smokers and non-smokers OR 1.68, 95% CI 1.114 to 2.544), subjective oral health (OR 1.83, 95% CI 1.011 to 3.297) and family support (OR 0.63, 95% CI 0.45 to 0.88) in the Air Force.ConclusionWhen implementing health projects to address drinking problems, it is necessary to ensure that service-type-specific factors are considered for integrated management.

Comprehending the Pricing Decision of Online Car-Hailing Services in China: Price Regulation Vs Entry Limitation

Online car-hailing service has had an exponential growth in recent years, and poses a substantial threat to taxi service. Yet how to regulate online car-hailing service has not been adequately studied. Based on the regulation of tradition taxi service, price regulation and entry limitation are used to regulate online car-hailing service in this paper. Moreover, we consider two types of online car-hailing service, i.e., high-end service(e.g. UberBlack) and low-end service (e.g., UberX), according to the perceived service level. Then, the optimal platform’s price is formulated. The result shows that the price regulation are likely to increase the optimal platform price, depending on the service type and the taxi price. When the platform offers low-end service and the taxi price is low, the optimal platform price does not change. In contrast, the entry limitation reduces the optimal platform’s price when it achieves the regulation target.

Creating customer value from data: foundations and archetypes of analytics-based services

The digital transformation offers new opportunities for organizations to expand their existing service portfolio in order to achieve competitive advantages. A popular way to create new customer value is the offer of analytics-based services (ABS)—services that apply analytical methods to data to empower customers to make better decisions and to solve complex problems. However, research still lacks to provide a profound conceptualization of this novel service type. Similarly, actionable insights on how to purposefully establish ABS in the market to enrich the service portfolio remain scarce. We perform a cluster analysis of 105 ABS and triangulate it with a revelatory case study to identify four generic ABS archetypes and to unveil their specific service objectives and characteristics. We also isolate essential factors that shape decision-making regarding the choice of adequate archetypes and subsequent transitions between them. The detailed characterization of different ABS types contributes to a more profound theorizing process on ABS as well as provides a systematization for strategic opportunities to enrich service portfolios in practice.