Empirical Approach to Developing an Optimal Socioeconomic Status Index for Health Surveillance

The association between multi-dimensional deprivation and public health is well established, and many area-based indices have been developed to measure or account for socioeconomic status in health surveillance. The Yost Index, developed in 2001, has been adopted in the US for cancer surveillance and is based on the combination of two heavily weighted (household income, poverty) and five lightly weighted (rent, home value, employment, education and working class) indicator variables. Our objectives were to 1) update indicators and find a more parsimonious version of the Yost Index by examining potential models that included indicators with more balanced weights/influence and reduced redundancy and 2) test the statistical consistency of the factor upon which the Yost Index is based. Despite the usefulness of the Yost Index, a one-factor structure including all seven Yost indicator variables is not statistically reliable and should be replaced with a three-factor model to include the true variability of all seven indicator variables. To find a one-dimensional alternative, we conducted maximum likelihood exploratory factor analysis on a subset of all possible combinations of fourteen indicator variables to find well-fitted one-dimensional factor models and completed confirmatory factor analysis on the resulting models. One indicator combination (poverty, education, employment, public assistance) emerged as the most stable unidimensional model. This model is more robust to extremes in local cost of living conditions, is comprised of ACS variables that rarely require imputation by the end-user and is a more parsimonious solution than the Yost index with a true one-factor structure.

Social and Economic Costs of Inequality in the State of Virginia

This study examined selected social and economic costs of inequality in the state of Virginia. We explored the extent of inequality of place across the state, finding significant inequalities between counties on measures such as household income, poverty, college completion, single parenthood, and racial segregation. These inequalities of place were strongly associated with inequalities in the adult outcomes of children raised in different areas of the state, including unequal household income and unequal rates of upward mobility, college completion, incarceration, and marriage in adulthood. When examining the association between homicides and concentrated disadvantage in the capital city of Richmond, our mapping techniques demonstrated a strong association. Finally, we estimated that child poverty results in billions of dollars of economic costs to the state each year.

Decomposition Analysis of Poverty among Rural Farming Household in Oyo State, Nigeria

The incidence of poverty in Nigeria is worrisome, and it has constituted a national menace. The occurrence of poverty incidence had been found to be more pronounced among Rural farming households in the country. However, paucity of data exists in terms of decomposition of household poverty into relevant subgroups using their socio-economic characteristics. Therefore, this paper assessed the decomposition analysis of poverty among rural farming Households in Oyo State, Nigeria using the data collected through a well-structured interview schedule from 170 respondents who were selected through a multi-stage sampling procedure. Data collected were described using frequency counts and percentage while poverty Indices was analyzed using Foster-Greer Thorbecke model and Decomposition analysis. The findings revealed that higher proportion (73.5%) of the respondents were above 40 years, 65.3% were male, 78.2% were married and 27.6% had secondary education, while 62.4% had household size of between 5 and 9 persons. Majority (79.4%) had farm size of more than 1.5 hectares and 62.9% had no access to remittance. Poverty incidence (P0) was 40.59%, Poverty depth/gap (P1) was 16.11% and Poverty severity (P2) was 0.09%, among the respondents using income-poverty line measure. Decomposition analysis showed that Poverty was high among households that were headed by male, young with low literacy level, and large household size. The severity of poverty was higher among households headed by labour of other farms. Effective poverty reduction strategies should therefore focus on education, livelihood diversification and control of household size.

Trends in COVID-19 Health Disparities in North Carolina: Preparing the Field for Long-Haul Patients

Long-term coronavirus disease 2019 (long-COVID) refers to persistent symptoms of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) lingering beyond four weeks of initial infection. Approximately 30% of COVID-19 survivors develop prolonged symptoms. Communities of color are disproportionately affected by comorbidities, increasing the risk of severe COVID-19 and potentially leading to long-COVID. This study aims to identify trends in health disparities related to COVID-19 cases, which can help unveil potential populations at risk for long-COVID. All North Carolina (NC) counties (n = 100) were selected as a case study. Cases and vaccinations per 1000 population were calculated based on the NC Department of Health and Human Services COVID-19 dashboard with reports current as of 8 October 2021, which were stratified by age groups and race/ethnicity. Then, NC COVID-19 cases were correlated to median household income, poverty, population density, and social vulnerability index themes. We observed a negative correlation between cases (p < 0.05) and deaths (p < 0.01) with both income and vaccination status. Moreover, there was a significant positive association between vaccination status and median household income (p < 0.01). Our results highlight the prevailing trend between exacerbated COVID-19 infection and low-income/under-resourced communities. Consequently, efforts and resources should be channeled to these communities to effectively monitor, diagnose, and treat against COVID-19 and potentially prevent an overwhelming number of long-COVID cases.

COVID-19 Death in High-Medicaid Nursing Homes: The Role of Employment Empowerment

This study examines the association between COVID-19 death and employee empowerment in under-resourced nursing homes (70% or higher Medicaid census). Employee empowerment captures elements of participative decision making, autonomy, responsibility, open communication, decentralization, and decision-making flexibility within an organization. Survey data from 391 Directors of Nursing (response rate of 37%) from 2017-2018, were merged with secondary data from CMS Nursing Home COVID-19 Public File, LTCFocus, Area Health Resource File, and Nursing Home Compare. A Poisson regression was used to examine reported COVID-19 death and employee empowerment. The independent variable employee empowerment was the mean score of summated Likert scale questions. Control variables included organizational (size, location, ownership, chain affiliation, quality, payer mix, acuity, occupancy, and race/ethnicity, staffing mix), and county factors (Medicare Advantage penetration, per capita income, poverty, unemployment, education, 65+ population, and competition). Employee empowerment was associated with a lower number of COVID-19 cases (p &lt; 0.05). Rural, not-for-profit, and payer-mix were also significantly associated with a lower number of COVID-19 deaths. Employee empowerment captures the decentralization of authority and an employee’s ability to make decisions without approval. In light of this crisis, empowerment may have helped under-resourced nursing homes be more agile and faster in their response. High-Medicaid nursing homes may need to consider different decision-making practices when faced with a crisis, such as, COVID-19.

The relevance of vocational education to the livelihoods of rural youth, Luang Prabang Province, Laos

<p>Poverty reduction is a top global development priority. Among Least Developed Countries (a United Nations measurement which includes Laos), poverty reduction has been set as the highest development priority for governments, especially since the early 2000s. Scholars and researchers argue that raising national human capital through the provision of equitable access and quality of education could not only reduce poverty, but also increase economic growth, promote democracy, and ensure the sustainability of development. This research examines specifically the role of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in supporting the livelihoods of rural people, especially the Indigenous youth in Luang Prabang province, situated in northern Laos. A sustainable livelihood approach, with an emphasis on human capital and human capabilities, was employed to examine this relationship. Qualitative and ethnographic research methodologies were employed, with interviews, a focus group and transect walks used as methods for data collection and analysis. Results show that the current TVET policy and interventions have concentrated primarily on achieving (income) poverty reduction and economic development objectives, neglecting the importance of other multiple dimensions of human development. This research also reveals that the livelihood aspirations of rural youth are diverse and extend beyond economic prospects. They aspire for general wellbeing, democracy (self-agency and freedom) and social justice. If these dimensions of human development are to be promoted, the government may need to reshape its policy direction by incorporating a human capabilities approach in TVET, or more broadly in the national education system, while still fulfilling the desire for economic development objectives.</p>

The relevance of vocational education to the livelihoods of rural youth, Luang Prabang Province, Laos

<p>Poverty reduction is a top global development priority. Among Least Developed Countries (a United Nations measurement which includes Laos), poverty reduction has been set as the highest development priority for governments, especially since the early 2000s. Scholars and researchers argue that raising national human capital through the provision of equitable access and quality of education could not only reduce poverty, but also increase economic growth, promote democracy, and ensure the sustainability of development. This research examines specifically the role of technical and vocational education and training (TVET) in supporting the livelihoods of rural people, especially the Indigenous youth in Luang Prabang province, situated in northern Laos. A sustainable livelihood approach, with an emphasis on human capital and human capabilities, was employed to examine this relationship. Qualitative and ethnographic research methodologies were employed, with interviews, a focus group and transect walks used as methods for data collection and analysis. Results show that the current TVET policy and interventions have concentrated primarily on achieving (income) poverty reduction and economic development objectives, neglecting the importance of other multiple dimensions of human development. This research also reveals that the livelihood aspirations of rural youth are diverse and extend beyond economic prospects. They aspire for general wellbeing, democracy (self-agency and freedom) and social justice. If these dimensions of human development are to be promoted, the government may need to reshape its policy direction by incorporating a human capabilities approach in TVET, or more broadly in the national education system, while still fulfilling the desire for economic development objectives.</p>

Empowering family with empowering women in empowering assam

Women status and women empowerment these two words very interconnected to each other. Women empowerment can determine by in terms of socio- economic status which influence by an indicators like income, poverty, education, skill, employment opportunities and better health etc. In India, Assam is one of the better positions for women other than North-East state. Because of government always taking initiative and also implementing different types of schemes especially for women. In this paper presenting about the Orunodoi Scheme and their impact factor with implementation for family, women and Assam which is first introduced in October 2020 and but process starting from December 2020. So, only ten-month study highlights with the five objectives by the name of “Empowering family with empowering women in Empowering Assam”.

Poverty in South Africa

The chapter examines poverty in the post-apartheid dispensation (in South Africa), taking into account the various studies that have been undertaken regarding poverty since 1994. Because the South African statistical agency—Statistics South Africa—has not collected poverty data since 2015, the chapter uses the National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) dataset to estimate poverty for the 2008–17 period while analysing existing data and estimates prior to 2017. An attempt to cover the period after 2017 is done using the NIDS-Coronavirus Rapid Mobile Survey (NIDS-CRAM) which is the mobile survey that was undertaken using the NIDS respondents to gauge the impact of the coronavirus pandemic. The analysis focuses on income poverty although other measures such as the multidimensional poverty index are also estimated and analysed. Relative to expenditure, the income approach in measuring poverty provides descriptive information on household welfare and it is useful for policy analysis and programme evaluation as the literature explains. The chapter concludes that although it appears that income poverty has been declining, it remains very high and it is higher for women, for those living in rural areas, and for the African/black population group. In addition, the severity and intensity of poverty has not changed much since 1994.