Adverse Economic Impacts on the Occupationally Insecure Workforce in Thailand Amid the Pandemic

The author suggests a range of public policies that the Thai government should employ so as to help Thai nationals and smaller-size businesses weather the storm of the pandemic. As the Thai economy is significantly tied to its tourism development, it is not pragmatic for Thai authorities and nationals to aim at full economic recovery in the short- and mid-term. In the short-term, Thai authorities should help local businesses and nationals to satisfy household subsistence. Then, the Thai government should create more job opportunities for the Thai workforce and financially support local businesses in the short- and mid-term. Concurrently, the Thai government should expand their delivery of social protection schemes to Thai nationals, helping local populations obtain basic social welfare services that are conducive to their survival. In the longer-term, the Thai government should welcome international tourisms in phases, and co-build transport infrastructures with neighbouring countries in order to prepare a full re-opening of national borders in due course.

Analysis of New Era Social Welfare Policy Transformation Path

It is in the nature of social policy for social welfare services to adapt to the social demands that arise as a result of changes in social structure. Meanwhile, it is a distinguishing feature of social welfare that special attention is paid to specific social groups, particularly vulnerable and difficult communities. The economic, political, and social factors of a society influence the direction of social service policy objectives, which is also influenced by the broader trend of social development, particularly global modernization and the transformation of local social structures. As a result, sorting out and analyzing the external environment and circumstances of the development of social services is both theoretical and practical.

Comparing Government Social Welfare Service Acquisition Regimes: Marketisation and Bases for Competition in Canadian and English Homelessness

When governments acquire third-party social welfare services (SWS), they create institutions of acquisition. The rules and practices that governments adopt define who is able to participate, on what basis, and how prices are determined. This paper conceptualizes the institutions of SWS acquisition, their variations, and implications, in order to contribute to a deeper understanding of the link between contracting and nonprofit commercialisation. Institutions of SWS acquisition include rules of entry, participation, and assessment. Resulting acquisition regimes can be marketised to a greater or lesser extent, and this is influential through its effect on nonprofit competition. Drawing on interviews with public servants and nonprofit staff, the paper compares acquisition regimes for homelessness services in England, a regime that closely resembles a market, and Canada, a regime which is not marketised. In contrast to their non-marketised counterparts, this paper finds that marketised SWS acquisition regimes create incentives for participants to reduce prices by loss-leading or ratcheting down service quality.

Future palliative competence needs – a qualitative study of physicians’ and registered nurses’ views

Background Globally, the need for palliative care will increase as a result of the ageing of populations and the rising burden of cancer, non-communicable diseases as well as some communicable diseases. Physicians and registered nurses working in palliative care should have a sufficient level of education and competence in managing the changing needs and requirements of palliative care. There is, however, need for evidence-based palliative care training and education of physicians and registered nurses. The purpose of this study was to describe the views of physicians and registered nurses regarding future competence needs within palliative care. Methods The study was conducted through use of a cross-sectional qualitative design. A total of 54 physicians and 110 registered nurses completed an open-ended questionnaire about the future competence needs of palliative care. The data were analyzed using inductive content analysis. Results The results revealed four main competence needs within palliative care for the coming decade: palliative care competence at all levels within healthcare and social welfare services; individualized palliative care competence; person-centered encounters competence; and systematic competence development within palliative care. Conclusions The results offer cues for education and professional development, which can be used to support physicians and registered nurses when future palliative care competences are included in educational programs. Seamless cooperation between palliative care services and educational institutions is recommended to ensure that undergraduate and postgraduate education is based on a continuous assessment of competence requirements within the field of palliative care. Therefore, online multi-professional simulations, for example, could be used to enhance future competencies within palliative care; undergraduate medical, nursing and allied healthcare students as well as postgraduate palliative care professionals and experts of experience could work together during simulations.

Архивные свидетельства о происхождении. Письменные и вещественные следы биологического родства в документах Службы защиты детей (Франция, 1995-2015 гг.)

На основе исследования, проведенного в архивах французской Службы защиты детей, мы проанализируем письменные и материальные “следы” биологических родителей, сохраняемые в делах детей-отказников или детей, рожденных анонимными матерями. Административные бумаги, письма, фотографии или вещи рассказывают об отношениях, связанных с рождением, их месте в жизни приемных детей и их новых семей, проливая свет на новое явление множественного родительства. Framed on an investigation in the French Childhood social welfare services, this article analyses the “trac-es” kept within the files of the children born “in the secret” and/or abandoned. The treatment of the admin-istrative documents, letters, pictures or things that have been kept informs the birth relationships concep-tions in adoptive situations, enlightening a new side of contemporary multiparenthood.

Disaster Mitigation for Elderly: The Challenges of Social Welfare Services for Elderly in The COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aims to determine the achievement of disaster mitigation in handling COVID-19 for the elderly through social welfare services. The elderly are the age group that has the highest risk of death due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This research is descriptive qualitative using in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation. Respondents selected by purposive sampling included government agencies, elderly families, social workers, nursing homes, senior regional commissions, the Yogyakarta Province COVID-19 task force, and the elderly. The study found that disaster mitigation in handling COVID-19 for the elderly was not optimal in lesson learn of understanding and knowledge to the elderly. The result of an emergency response plan has not been responsive because there is no accurate database and systematic and integrative standard procedures in handling the COVID-19. Thus, the assisted early warning system is already running well because of the integrated coordination from the family, local government to the national level in the authority of the COVID-19 Task Force. The mobilization of resources needs has not been able for the particular needs of the elderly during the COVID-19 pandemic in several areas in Yogyakarta Province, especially for neglected elderly. Therefore, the findings of this study recommend optimizing each stage in disaster mitigation to minimizing the risk of death in the elderly effectively.

Social Participation and Survival in Widowed Persons: Results of the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging

It has been considered that widowed persons have a higher risk of death. This study intended to explore whether social participation could improve this trend. A longitudinal study database was constructed to explore the trend of survival and its change with social participation in widowed persons. The Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (TLSA), based on four consecutive waves of longitudinal follow-up data in 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011 was linked with the National Death Registry from 1999 through 2012. In total, there were 1417 widowed persons and 4500 nonwidowed persons included in this study, excluding divorced and never-married people. The survival trend analysis was carried out with social participation as the main predictive factor stratified for comparative analysis. Our results showed that the widowed were older than the nonwidowed, were female-dominant, had a lower education level, were more economically stressed, and were less likely to engage in regular exercise, and thus showed generally poorer health; for example, being more vulnerable to having chronic diseases, disability with the Activities of Daily Living (ADL), cognitive impairment with the Short Portable Mental State Questionnaire (SPMSQ), and depression with The Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D). The death risk of the widowed was significantly higher than that of the nonwidowed, but the death trend for those with social participation was significantly lower than that of their counterparts in both the widowed and nonwidowed. After matching with gender and age for widowed persons, the widowed with social participation had a significantly lower risk of death (adjusted hazard ratio (HR), 0.83; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.71–0.98) compared to the widowed without social participation. It was concluded that social participation can improve the death risk for the widowed, and it is worthily included in health promotion plans and social welfare services for widowed persons.

Penerapan Sistem Informasi Pendataan Penerima Dana Program Keluarga Harapan pada Gampong Beurawe Kecamatan Kuta Alam berbasis Web GIS

Administratively, Gampong Beurawe is one of the villages in Kuta Alam District, Banda Aceh City. The Department of Social Affairs is in charge of collecting data and providing assistance to people in need of social welfare services. Data collection is done manually in the form of archives and files, this causes inefficiencies in space, security, time and costs. The Social Service has difficulties in conveying information on the Family Hope Program (PKH) which includes data on poor households, education data and health data, to the wider community and related parties, causing data information to be unclear. So we need an automatic data collection system to help collect data on the hopeful family program in Gampong Beurawe, Kuta Alam District. In the geographic information system itself, there are two important elements, namely Geographical Data which is used as a reference for attribute data. The design of the map that will be displayed in this application uses map info and google maps. This PKH acceptance mapping information system in Beurawe Village, Kuta Alam District, Banda Aceh City is to assist the Social Service, especially the social assistance and security department in the storage and delivery of information data (PKH) so that it can provide clear information about the program. Data information system in the form of maps, graphs and tables.

Digital inequality in Finland: Access, skills and attitudes as social impact mediators

In recent years, digital health care and social welfare services have been spreading rapidly and partly replacing face-to-face services, particularly in developed countries. This may lead to a pronounced digital inequality. This population-based study of Finnish adults ( N = 4495) examined the associations of offline resources with perceived benefits from online services and the mediating effects of access, skills and attitudes in these associations. The results indicated that those with lower personal, economic and social offline resources perceived online services as less beneficial. This was largely explained by poor access to the services, poor digital skills and negative attitudes towards online services. To increase equality, it would be important to improve Internet access and digital skills and implement means to address negative attitudes, especially among vulnerable groups. Moreover, online health and social welfare services should be designed to be more inclusive.