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1 – 10 of over 1000Karen Bunning, Joseph Karisa Gona, Charles Richard Newton and Sally Hartley
Raising a child with learning and developmental disabilities in a low-income setting is challenged by inadequate resources, limited support and poverty. The impacts on caregivers…
Abstract
Purpose
Raising a child with learning and developmental disabilities in a low-income setting is challenged by inadequate resources, limited support and poverty. The impacts on caregivers include fatigue, distress and isolation. The purpose of this paper is to report on a programme (2008-2021) that was set up in Kilifi County, Kenya to investigate and address these difficulties.
Methodology
The programme used mixed methods through a series of interconnected studies, starting with a situation analysis, followed by a home-based intervention where the caregiver served as agent for change using augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) methods. This was followed by two community-based inclusive development initiatives: disability awareness training to community groups and empowering self-help groups for caregivers of children growing up with disabilities.
Findings
The situation analysis revealed scarce support services for caregivers and children with learning and developmental disabilities, with report of limited resources, inadequate coverage and poor professional practice. A home-based, AAC intervention was associated with improved caregiver well-being, significant positive changes to caregiver perceptions of the child’s communication and some expansion to the child’ social activities. However, questions around sustainability persisted. Disability awareness training led by persons with lived experience of disability showed positive changes to the views, values and attitudes of established community groups. Caregiver participation in self-help groups was associated with their greater personal agency, perceptions of increased social support and reduced severity of child’s disability.
Originality
The programme narrative demonstrates a rationalised and evidence-based process for community-based inclusive development that is low cost, culturally acceptable, with potential for sustainability.
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Kanida Narattharaksa, Mark Speece, Charles Newton and Damrongsak Bulyalert
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the elements that health care personnel in Thailand believe are necessary for successful adoption of electronic medical record (EMR…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the elements that health care personnel in Thailand believe are necessary for successful adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) systems.
Design/methodology/approach
Initial qualitative in-depth interviews with physicians to adapt key elements from the literature to the Thai context. The 12 elements identified included things related to managing the implementation and to IT expertise. The nationwide survey was supported by the Ministry of Public Health and returned 1,069 usable questionnaires (response rate 42 percent) from a range of medical personnel.
Findings
The key elements clearly separated into a managerial dimension and an IT dimension. All were considered fairly important, but managerial expertise was more critical. In particular, there should be clear EMR project goals and scope, adequate budget allocation, clinical staff must be involved in implementation, and the IT should facilitate good electronic communication.
Research limitations/implications
Thailand is representative of middle-income developing countries, but there is no guarantee findings can be generalized. National policies differ, as do economic structures of health care industries. The focus is on management at the organizational level, but future research must also examine macro-level issues, as well as gain more depth into thinking of individual health care personnel.
Practical implications
Technical issues of EMR implementation are certainly important. However, it is clear actual adoption and use of the system also depends very heavily on managerial issues.
Originality/value
Most research on EMR implementation has been in developed countries, and has often focussed more on technical issues rather than examining managerial issues closely. Health IT is also critical in developing economies, and management of health IT implementation must be well understood.
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War is, perhaps, mans greatest sin, which is not the same as saying war is never necessary — when an army of Argies shot up a small Royal Marine unit in the Falklands and occupied…
Abstract
War is, perhaps, mans greatest sin, which is not the same as saying war is never necessary — when an army of Argies shot up a small Royal Marine unit in the Falklands and occupied the land area against the will of the English speaking people, what does a self‐respecting country do? Well, the only answer is to ask what you would do if a renegade mob smashed into your house, abused your family and refused to leave. Let's face it, if you had not the muscle to eject them, the number dialled would be 999 and a squad car with a couple of boys in blue would be round double quick to do their duty.
The management of children′s literature is a search for value andsuitability. Effective policies in library and educational work arebased firmly on knowledge of materials, and on…
Abstract
The management of children′s literature is a search for value and suitability. Effective policies in library and educational work are based firmly on knowledge of materials, and on the bibliographical and critical frame within which the materials appear and might best be selected. Boundaries, like those between quality and popular books, and between children′s and adult materials, present important challenges for selection, and implicit in this process are professional acumen and judgement. Yet also there are attitudes and systems of values, which can powerfully influence selection on grounds of morality and good taste. To guard against undue subjectivity, the knowledge frame should acknowledge the relevance of social and experiential context for all reading materials, how readers think as well as how they read, and what explicit and implicit agendas the authors have. The good professional takes all these factors on board.
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Presents the first chapter in this work with regard to the search for new ideas and better interpretations in the growth and development of new ideas. Investigates the exchange of…
Abstract
Presents the first chapter in this work with regard to the search for new ideas and better interpretations in the growth and development of new ideas. Investigates the exchange of views between thinkers of different points of view. Invites co‐operation between various factions to investigate unification of all known sciences (natural and economic) and to include the arts. Mentions all the great thinkers in these areas and unreservedly discusses their contribution in the school of thought. Proffers that modern technology cannot and should not be slowed down and that for the social economy of human solidarity should be aimed for, to begin a new era for humanity.
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The systemic sciences, be they politico‐socio‐econometric, medico‐systemic, psycho‐neurological, or ecologico‐environmental, must be founded on a computer science that permits not…
Abstract
The systemic sciences, be they politico‐socio‐econometric, medico‐systemic, psycho‐neurological, or ecologico‐environmental, must be founded on a computer science that permits not only the expeditious and conscientious modelling of collections of natural phenomena, but also a methodology which ensures that computerized simulation models are stringently verified and assiduously validated by both their authors and their critics. The paper delineates the operational procedure by which simulation models can be well‐written, yet, despite their complexity, subjected to the scrutiny of the entire scientific community in order that they be deemed credible mimics of the complex systems that they describe. The important aspects and evolutionary development of computational linguistics are placed in the context of providing ad hoc simulation languages especially amenable to the systemic scientist. In this context, the role, and value of the use of, the telecommunications technology to the verification and validation of the computerized models of the systemic scientists are delineated.
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Stephen P. Walker and Sue Llewellyn
The paper explores the potentialities for accounting research on the household, individual and family. It is suggested that the home has not been construed in accounting as an…
Abstract
The paper explores the potentialities for accounting research on the household, individual and family. It is suggested that the home has not been construed in accounting as an arena worthy of academic study due to the preoccupation with concerns in the glamorised and professional world of the “public”. Yet, the social and behavioural implications of the practice of accounting in the home are potentially as profound as they are in institutions which inhabit the public domain. The paper presents a series of vignettes of the manner in which issues pertaining to accounting and accountability have engaged practitioners in other disciplines. It attempts to reveal interfaces between accountants and students of the home drawn from history, law, personal finance, economics and statistics, and sociology. Argues that the accounting academy has a significant contribution to make in the “explosion” of research activity on household‐family systems in their contemporary and historical perspectives. Such participation would also enrich our understanding of accounting as a social and institutional practice.
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