Role of Intersectoral Collaboration in Mental Health Policy Formulation And Service Delivery in Saint Lucia

RESUMO: Santa Lúcia pequena ilha de país em desenvolvimento com recursos limitados e é confrontada com uma série de desafios socioeconômicos que exigem soluções criativas e inovadoras. É comprovado que a combinação de recursos entre setores para estabelecer os determinantes social, econômico e ambiental da saúde são uma estratégia útil para melhorar a saúde da população, principalmente a sua saúde mental. Este estudo, o primeiro do seu tipo em Santa Lúcia, procurou examinar até que ponto a disponibilidade de uma política nacional de saúde mental levou a ação intersetorial para o fornecimento de serviços e promoção da saúde mental. Além disso, o estudo examinou o nível de colaboração intersetorial que existe entre as agências que prestam cuidados diretos e serviços de suporte para pessoas com doenças mentais e problemas sérios de saúde mental. O estudo também teve como objetivo identificar os fatores que promovem ou dificultam a colaboração intersectorial e gerar recomendações que possam ser aplicadas para países muito pequenos e com perfis socioeconômicos semelhantes. Os dados gerados a partir de três (3) fontes foram sintetizados para formar uma visão ampla das questões. Uma avaliação da política de saúde mental de 2007, uma avaliação que identifica até que ponto a ação intersetorial atualmente deixa a prestação de serviços de saúde mental e a administração de entrevistas semiestruturadas nas mãos de gestores do programa de diferentes agências em todos os setores. O estudo concluiu que, apesar da disponibilidade de uma política de saúde mental, que articula clara e explicitamente a colaboração intersetorial como área prioritária para ação, quase não existe no sistema de fornecimento atual do serviço. Os provedores de serviços em todos os setores reconhecem que há os benefícios da colaboração intersectorial e com entraves significativos em relação à colaboração intersetorial, que por sua vez, impede uma abordagem nacional para o planejamento e o fornecimento do serviço. A colaboração intersetorial não será possível se os próprios setores dependerem da abordagem direta do setor da saúde ou se a atmosfera geral for ofuscada pela estigmatização das doenças mentais.------------------------------------------------------------------------ABSTRACT: Saint Lucia a small island developing country with limited resources, is faced with a number of socio-economic challenges which require creative and innovative solutions to address. Combining resources across sectors to address the social, economic and environmental determinants of health has proven to be a useful strategy for improving population health in particular mental health. This study, the first of its kind for Saint Lucia sought to examine the extent to which the availability of a national mental health policy led to intersectoral action for mental health promotion and service delivery. In addition the study examined the level of intersectoral collaboration which actually exist between agencies which provide direct care and support services to people with mental illnesses and significant mental health problems. The study also aimed to identify the factors which promote or hinder intersectoral collaboration and generate recommendations which can be applied to extremely small countries with similar socio-economic profiles. Data generated from three (3) sources was synthesized to form a broad picture of the issues. An evaluation of the mental health policy of 2007, an assessment of the extent to which intersectoral action currently exist in mental health service delivery and the administration of semi-structured interviews with program managers from different agencies across sectors to identify implementation issues. The study concluded that despite the availability of a mental health policy which clearly and explicitly articulates intersectoral collaboration as a priority area for action, very little exists in the current service delivery system. Services providers across sectors acknowledge the benefits of intersectoral collaboration and that there are significant barriers to intersectoral collaboration, which in turn hinders a national approach to service planning and delivery. Intersectoral collaboration is not possible if sectors themselves are dependent on a top-down health sector driven and dominated approach, or if the general atmosphere is clouded by stigmatization of mental health illnesses.

Differences in ERP use and value across Iberian Manufacturing and Services SMEs

Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system literature reports very little research on post-adoption stages, that is, actual usage and value. Even fewer studies focus on the specificities of an industry analysis. Based on the Technology-Organizational-Environment (TOE) framework and the Resource-Based View (RBV) theory, we develop a research model to measure and examine determinants of ERP use and value and their impact in the Iberian region (Portugal and Spain) across Manufacturing and Services industries in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The empirical test was conducted through structural equation modelling, using data from 261 firms in the peninsula in the Manufacturing and Service industries. Results show that amongst ERP use determinants, Training is the most important determinant for Service firms and Compatibility for Manufacturing firms. Firm size, Analytics, and Collaboration contribute to ERP Value in both industries, with Analytics being more important for the Service industry. The paper provides insight into which determinants contribute to ERP use and ERP value in Iberian Manufacturing and Services SMEs, offering managerial and academic implications.

Use of multi-sensory marketing techniques and its influence on brand experience in retail and HORECA sector

Double degree. A Work Project presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Management from the NOVA- School of Business and Economics and Warsaw School of Economics

Assessing Cybersecurity service quality in corporate environments

This study assess the quality of Cybersecurity as a service provided by IT department in corporate network and provides analysis about the service quality impact on the user, seen as a consumer of the service, and on the organization as well. In order to evaluate the quality of this service, multi-item instrument “SERVQUAL” was used for measuring consumer perceptions of service quality. To provide insights about Cybersecurity service quality impact, DeLone and McLean information systems success model was used. To test this approach, data was collected from over one hundred users from different industries and partial least square (PLS) was used to estimate the research model. This study found that SERVQUAL is adequate to assess Cybersecurity service quality and also found that Cybersecurity service quality positively influences the Cybersecurity use and individual impact in Cybersecurity.

Consumer satisfaction with water, wastewater and waste services in Portugal

While the concept of consumer satisfaction is a central topic in modern marketing theory and practice, citizens' satisfaction with public services, and especially water and waste services, is a eld that still remains empirically rather unexplored. The following study aims to contribute to this area by analysing the determinants of user satisfaction in the water, wastewater and waste sector in Portugal, using a unique survey of 1070 consumers undertaken by the Portuguese Water and Waste Regulator ERSAR. I perform an analysis of the relation between overall service satisfaction and attributespeci c service satisfaction with an ordered logit model. I then explore if subjective consumer satisfaction can be re ected by ERSAR's technical performance indicators. The results suggest that overall consumer satisfaction is driven by consumer's satisfaction with speci c service aspects but unrelated to socioeconomic and demographic characteristics. Furthermore, I show that there is no monotonic association between ERSAR's technical performance indicators and consumers' levels of satisfaction.

Customer service process optimization at Sonae e MC

Sonae MC is constantly innovating and keeping up with the new market trends, being increasingly focused on E-commerce due to its growing importance. In that area, a telephone line is available to support customers with their problems. However, rare were the cases in which those problems were solved in the first contact. Therefore, the goal of this work was to reengineer these processes to improve the service performance and consequently the customer’s satisfaction. Following an evolutionary approach, improvement opportunities were suggested and if correctly implemented the cases resolution time could decrease 1 day and Sonae MC will save €7.750 per month.