A review of evidence-based evaluation of measures for assessing social and emotional well-being in indigenous Australians

Addressing low levels of social and emotional well-being (SEWB) in Indigenous communities has been a national strategic priority for over 10 years and yet progress in assessing the impact of interventions has been slow. One of the key factors limiting the development of evidence-based practice has been the lack of well-validated instruments to assess SEWB and how it changes over time as a result of intervention. This article systematically reviews available measures, classifying them in terms of the evidence base that exists to support their use. It is concluded that there is an ongoing need to develop psychometrically sound, comprehensive, culturally appropriate measures to operationalise Indigenous SEWB at a population health, programme evaluation, and clinical level. It is suggested that seven pathways be followed to achieve this goal, including the need to recognise that the gold standard status for Indigenous measurement tools cannot be ascribed based on evidence-based assessment criteria alone.

Mapping 100 years of Thornthwaite moisture index: Impact of climate change in Victoria, Australia

Geographer C. W. Thornthwaite proposed in 1948 a moisture index called Thornthwaite Moisture Index (TMI) as part of a water balance model for a new classification system for climate. The importance of TMI climatic classification has been recognised in many areas of knowledge and practice worldwide over the last 60 years. However, although past climate research was focused on developing adequate methods for climate classification, current research is more concerned with understanding the patterns of climate change. The use of TMI as an indicator for climate change is still an incipient area of research. The contributions of this paper are twofold. First, it is to fully document a methodology based on geostatistics adopted to produce a time series of TMI maps that are accurate and have high spatial resolution. The state of Victoria, in Australia, over the last century, is used as the case study. Second, by analysing these maps, the paper presents a general evaluation of the spatial patterns found in Victoria related to moisture variability across space and over time. Some potential implications of the verified moisture changes are discussed, and a number of ideas for further development are suggested. © 2014 Institute of Australian Geographers.

Understanding feedback report uptake: process evaluation findings from a 13-month feedback intervention in long-term care settings

BACKGROUND: Long-term care settings provide care to a large proportion of predominantly older, highly disabled adults across the United States and Canada. Managing and improving quality of care is challenging, in part because staffing is highly dependent on relatively non-professional health care aides and resources are limited. Feedback interventions in these settings are relatively rare, and there has been little published information about the process of feedback intervention. Our objectives were to describe the key components of uptake of the feedback reports, as well as other indicators of participant response to the intervention. METHODS: We conducted this project in nine long-term care units in four facilities in Edmonton, Canada. We used mixed methods, including observations during a 13-month feedback report intervention with nine post-feedback survey cycles, to conduct a process evaluation of a feedback report intervention in these units. We included all facility-based direct care providers (staff) in the feedback report distribution and survey administration. We conducted descriptive analyses of the data from observations and surveys, presenting this in tabular and graphic form. We constructed a short scale to measure uptake of the feedback reports. Our analysis evaluated feedback report uptake by provider type over the 13 months of the intervention. RESULTS: We received a total of 1,080 survey responses over the period of the intervention, which varied by type of provider, facility, and survey month. Total number of reports distributed ranged from 103 in cycle 12 to 229 in cycle 3, although the method of delivery varied widely across the period, from 12% to 65% delivered directly to individuals and 15% to 84% left for later distribution. The key elements of feedback uptake, including receiving, reading, understanding, discussing, and reporting a perception that the reports were useful, varied by survey cycle and provider type, as well as by facility. Uptake, as we measured it, was consistently high overall, but varied widely by provider type and time period. CONCLUSIONS: We report detailed process data describing the aspects of uptake of a feedback report during an intensive, longitudinal feedback intervention in long-term care facilities. Uptake is a complex process for which we used multiple measures. We demonstrate the feasibility of conducting a complex longitudinal feedback intervention in relatively resource-poor long-term care facilities to a wider range of provider types than have been included in prior feedback interventions.

Impact of grain microstructure on the heterogeneity of precipitation strengthening in an Al-Li-Cu alloy

The effect of grain microstructure on the age-hardening behavior is investigated on recrystallized and un-recrystallized Al-Cu-Li alloys by combining electron-backscatter-diffraction and micro-hardness mapping. The spatial heterogeneity of micro-hardness is found to be strongly dependent on the grain microstructure. Controlled experiments are carried out to change the pre-strain before artificial ageing. These experiments lead to an evaluation of the range of local strain induced by pre-stretching as a function of the grain microstructure and results in heterogeneous formation of the hardening T1 precipitates.

The National Perinatal Depression Initiative: An evaluation of access to general practitioners, psychologists and psychiatrists through the Medicare Benefits Schedule

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the impact of the National Perinatal Depression Initiative on access to Medicare services for women at risk of perinatal mental illness. METHOD: Retrospective cohort study using difference-in-difference analytical methods to quantify the impact of the National Perinatal Depression Initiative policies on Medicare Benefits Schedule mental health usage by Australian women giving birth between 2006 and 2010. A random sample of women of reproductive age enrolled in Medicare who had not given birth where used as controls. The main outcome measures were the proportions of women giving birth each month who accessed a Medicare Benefits Schedule mental health items during the perinatal period (pregnancy through to the end of the first postnatal year) before and after the introduction of the National Perinatal Depression Initiative. RESULTS: The proportion of women giving birth who accessed at least one mental health item during the perinatal period increased from 88 to 141 per 1000 between 2007 and 2010. The difference-in-difference analysis showed that while there was an overall increase in Medicare Benefits Schedule mental health item access as a result of the National Perinatal Depression Initiative, this did not reach statistical significance. However, the National Perinatal Depression Initiative was found to significantly increase access in subpopulations of women, particularly those aged under 25 and over 34 years living in major cities. CONCLUSION: In the 2 years following its introduction, the National Perinatal Depression Initiative was found to have increased access to Medicare funded mental health services in particular groups of women. However, an overall increase across all groups did not reach statistical significance. Further studies are needed to assess the impact of the National Perinatal Depression Initiative on women during childbearing years, including access to tertiary care, the cost-effectiveness of the initiative, and mental health outcomes. It is recommended that new mental health policy initiatives incorporate a planned strategic approach to evaluation, which includes sufficient follow-up to assess the impact of public health strategies.

Children impacted by parental substance abuse: an evaluation of the supporting kids and their environment program

The deleterious impact of parental substance abuse on child development and family functioning is well established. However, evaluations of interventions designed to ameliorate such impacts are very limited. This paper presents the results of a service evaluation using a pre-post design of the Supporting Kids And Their Environment (SKATE) program; a child-focused group program run by Glastonbury Community Services from 2006 to 2010 in the Geelong region of Victoria, Australia. The intervention was an 8-week psycho-educative model that used family-based techniques. Outcomes are reported for child behavior problems, assessed on the Child Behavior Checklist, and family functioning, assessed on the Family Support Scale. A total of 89 children and families within 13 intervention groups were recruited via adult Drug and Alcohol Services (Mean age = 10.4 years; SD = 2.4). Results suggest reductions in emotional and behavioral problems in children as well as improving family functioning with small to moderate effect sizes after children’s participation in the SKATE program compared to pre-test. These preliminary findings suggest that children whose parents are substance abusing are a high-risk group but they may benefit from targeted intervention programs that are well integrated with the adult drug treatment system. Such interventions warrant further development and evaluation.

Mixed method evaluation of a community-based physical activity program using the RE-AIM framework: practical application in a real-world setting

BACKGROUND: Communities are a pivotal setting in which to promote increases in child and adolescent physical activity behaviours. Interventions implemented in these settings require effective evaluation to facilitate translation of findings to wider settings. The aims of this paper are to i) present findings from a RE-AIM evaluation of a community-based physical activity program, and ii) review the methodological challenges faced when applying RE-AIM in practice.

METHODS: A single mixed-methods case study was conducted based on a concurrent triangulation design. Five sources of data were collected via interviews, questionnaires, archival records, documentation and field notes. Evidence was triangulated within RE-AIM to assess individual and organisational-level program outcomes.

RESULTS: Inconsistent availability of data and a lack of robust reporting challenged assessment of all five dimensions. Reach, Implementation and setting-level Adoption were less successful, Effectiveness and Maintenance at an individual and organisational level were moderately successful. Only community-level Adoption was highly successful, reflecting the key program goal to provide community-wide participation in sport and physical activity.

CONCLUSIONS: This research highlighted important methodological constraints associated with the use of RE-AIM in practice settings. Future evaluators wishing to use RE-AIM may benefit from a mixed-method triangulation approach to offset challenges with data availability and reliability.

HPV.edu study protocol: a cluster randomised controlled evaluation of education, decisional support and logistical strategies in school-based human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination of adolescents

BACKGROUND: The National Human Papillomavirus (HPV) Vaccination Program in Australia commenced in 2007 for females and in 2013 for males, using the quadrivalent HPV vaccine (HPV 6,11,16,18). Thus far, we have demonstrated very substantial reductions in genital warts and in the prevalence of HPV among young Australian women, providing early evidence for the success of this public health initiative. Australia has a long history of school-based vaccination programs for adolescents, with comparatively high coverage. However, it is not clear what factors promote success in a school vaccination program. The HPV.edu study aims to examine: 1) student knowledge about HPV vaccination; 2) psycho-social outcomes and 3) vaccination uptake.

METHODS/DESIGN: HPV.edu is a cluster randomised trial of a complex intervention in schools aiming to recruit 40 schools with year-8 enrolments above 100 students (approximately 4400 students). The schools will be stratified by Government, Catholic, and Independent sectors and geographical location, with up to 20 schools recruited in each of two states, Western Australia (WA) and South Australia (SA), and randomly allocated to intervention or control (usual practice). Intervention schools will receive the complex intervention which includes an adolescent intervention (education and distraction); a decisional support tool for parents and adolescents and logistical strategies (consent form returns strategies, in-school mop-up vaccination and vaccination-day guidelines). Careful process evaluation including an embedded qualitative evaluation will be undertaken to explore in depth possible mechanisms for any observed effect of the intervention on primary and secondary outcomes.

DISCUSSION: This study is the first to evaluate the relative effectiveness of various strategies to promote best practice in school-based vaccination against HPV. The study aims to improve vaccination-related psychosocial outcomes, including adolescent knowledge and attitudes, decision-making involvement, self-efficacy, and to reduce fear and anxiety. The study also aims to improve school vaccination program logistics including reduction in time spent vaccinating adolescents and increased number of consent forms returned (regardless of decision). Less anxiety in adolescents will likely promote more efficient vaccination, which will be more acceptable to teachers, nurses and parents. Through these interventions, it is hoped that vaccination uptake will be increased.

A process evaluation of the Supermarket Healthy Eating for Life (SHELf) randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND: Supermarket Healthy Eating for Life (SHELf) was a randomized controlled trial that operationalized a socioecological approach to population-level dietary behaviour change in a real-world supermarket setting. SHELf tested the impact of individual (skill-building), environmental (20 % price reductions), and combined (skill-building + 20 % price reductions) interventions on women's purchasing and consumption of fruits, vegetables, low-calorie carbonated beverages and water. This process evaluation investigated the reach, effectiveness, implementation, and maintenance of the SHELf interventions.

METHODS: RE-AIM provided a conceptual framework to examine the processes underlying the impact of the interventions using data from participant surveys and objective sales data collected at baseline, post-intervention (3 months) and 6-months post-intervention. Fisher's exact, χ (2) and t-tests assessed differences in quantitative survey responses among groups. Adjusted linear regression examined the impact of self-reported intervention dose on food purchasing and consumption outcomes. Thematic analysis identified key themes within qualitative survey responses.

RESULTS: Reach of the SHELf interventions to disadvantaged groups, and beyond study participants themselves, was moderate. Just over one-third of intervention participants indicated that the interventions were effective in changing the way they bought, cooked or consumed food (p < 0.001 compared to control), with no differences among intervention groups. Improvements in purchasing and consumption outcomes were greatest among those who received a higher intervention dose. Most notably, participants who said they accessed price reductions on fruits and vegetables purchased (519 g/week) and consumed (0.5 servings/day) more vegetables. The majority of participants said they accessed (82 %) and appreciated discounts on fruits and vegetables, while there was limited use (40 %) and appreciation of discounts on low-calorie carbonated beverages and water. Overall reported satisfaction with, use, and impact of the skill-building resources was moderate. Maintenance of newly acquired behaviours was limited, with less than half of participants making changes or using study-provided resources during the 6-month post-intervention period.

CONCLUSIONS: SHELf's reach and perceived effectiveness were moderate. The interventions were more effective among those reporting greater engagement with them (an implementation-related construct). Maintenance of newly acquired behaviours proved challenging.

Debt management in Brazil: evaluation of the Real Plan and challenges ahead

The Brazilian domestic debt has posed two challenges to policy-makers: it has grown very fast and its maturity is extremely short. This has prompted fears that a default or a compulsory lengthening scheme would be imposed. Here, we analyse the domestic public debt management experience in Brazil, searching for policy prescriptions for the next few years. After briefiy reviewing the recent domestic public debt history, we decompose the large rise in federal bonded debt during 1995-2000, searching for its macroeconomic causes. The main culprits are the extremely high interest payments-which, unti11998, were caused by the weak fiscal stance and the quasi-fixed exchange-rate regime; and since 1999, by the impact ofthe currency depreciation On the dollar-indexed and the externai debt-, and the accumulation of assets of doubtful value, much of which may have to be written off in the future. Simulation exercises of the net debt path for the near future underscore the importance of a tighter fiscal stance to prevent the debt-GDP ratio from growing further. Given the need to quickly lengthen the debt maturity, our main policy advice is to foster, and rely more on, infiation-linked bonds.

The impact of property rights and its limits

The empirical evaluation of the effect of land property rights typically suffers from selection problems. The allocation of property rights across households is usually not random but based on wealth, family characteristics, political clientelism, or other mechanisms built on differences between the groups that acquire property rights and the groups that do not. In this paper, we address this selection concern exploiting a natural experiment in the allocation of property rights. Twenty years ago, a homogenous group of squatters occupied a piece of privately owned land in a suburban area of Buenos Aires, Argentina. When the Congress passed an expropriation law transferring the land from the former owners to the squatters, some of the former owners surrendered the land (and received a compensation), while others decide to sue in the slow Argentine courts. These different decisions by the former owners generated an allocation of property rights that is exogenous to the characteristics of the squatters. We take advantage of this natural experiment to evaluate the effect of the allocation of urban land property rights. Our preliminary results show significant effects on housing investment, household size, and school attrition. Contradicting De Soto's hypotheses, we found nonsignificant effects on labor income and access to credit markets.

An evaluation of the Business Model Canvas by technology-oriented startups in Brazil : a qualitative study about the usage of the tool by Brazilian entrepreneurs

The following paper was conducted with the support of several entrepreneurs and startups from Brazil. The aim of the research was to find out which impact the Business Model Canvas, further abbreviated as BMC, has on technology-oriented startups in Brazil. The first step of the study was identify some general concepts of entrepreneurship, as well as the conditions and environment of the country. Afterwards, it was focused on defining and comparing different business model tools and concepts to the BMC. After the literature review and meeting with several professionals in the area of entrepreneurship and startups, a questionnaire was formulated in order to conduct the qualitative study and identify the main impact of the tool. The questionnaire was answered by ten startups. In order to check the validity and credibility of the research outcomes, theory and investigator triangulation was used. As a result, the usage of the BMC could be evaluated by obtaining the outcomes and the theory, which showed that Brazilian tech startups are using Osterwalder’s model for the reason of idea creation and testing, validating and pivoting their business model. Interestingly, the research revealed that the entrepreneurs are using the tool often not in the traditional way of printing it, but rather applying it as a thinking approach. Besides, the entrepreneurs are focusing mostly on developing a strong Value Proposition, Customer Segment and sustainable Revenue Streams, while afterwards the remaining building blocks are built. Moreover, the research showed that the startups are using also other concepts, such as the Customer Development Process or Build-Measure-Learn Feedback Loop. These methodologies are often applied together with the BMC and helps to identify the most sustainable components of the business idea. Keywords: Business

Impact assessment and quality analysis of corporate social responsability (CSR) programs of mining companies and their contribution to sustainable development in the communities they operate: case study Tenke Fungurume Mining SA in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)

Purpose – This case study presents an impact assessment of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) programs of the TFM Company in order to understand how they contribute to the sustainable development of communities in areas in which they operate. Design/Methodology/Approach - Data for this study was collected using qualitative data methods that included semi-structured interviews and Focus Group Discussions most of them audio and video recorded. Documentary analysis and a field visit were also undertaken for the purpose of quality analysis of the CSR programs on the terrain. Data collected was analyzed using the Seven Questions to sustainability (7Qs) framework, an evaluation tool developed by the Mining, Minerals and Sustainable Development (MMSD) North America chapter. Content analysis method was on the other hand used to examine the interviews and FGDs of the study participants. Findings - Results shows that CSR programs of TFM SA do contribute to community development, as there have been notable changes in the communities’ living conditions. But whether they have contributed to sustainable development is not yet the case as programs that enhance the capacity of communities and other stakeholders to support these projects development beyond the implementation stage and the mines operation lifetime need to be considered and implemented. Originality/Value – In DRC, there is paucity of information of research studies that focus on impact assessment of CSR programs in general and specifically those of mining companies and their contribution to sustainable development of local communities. Many of the available studies cover issues of minerals and conflict or conflict minerals as mostly referred to. This study addressees this gap.

On the distributive impact of unconventional monetary policy

Logo após à crise financeira de 2007-08 o Federal Reserve interveio para tentar controlar a recessão. No entanto, ele não apenas baixou os juros, como também adotou políticas não-convencionais, incluindo o empréstimo direto para empresas em mercados de crédito de alto nível. Estas novas medidas foram controversas e alguns opositores protestaram porque elas estariam ajudando disproporcionalmente aquelas pessoas ligadas ao sistema financeiro que já eram ricas. Nós utilizamos um modelo DSGE para a análise de políticas monetária não convencional e introduzimos dois tipos distintos de agentes, capitalistas e trabalhadores, para investigar o seu impacto distributivo. Nós encontramos que a política de crédito to Fed foi bem sucedida no mercado de trabalho, o que ajuda mais os trabalhadores, e introduziu um novo competidor no mercado bancário, o governo, o que prejudica mais os capitalistas. Logo, nós encontramos que a política de crédito diminuiu a desigualdade nos EUA.

Rising Publication Delays Inflate Journal Impact Factors

Journal impact factors have become an important criterion to judge the quality of scientific publications over the years, influencing the evaluation of institutions and individual researchers worldwide. However, they are also subject to a number of criticisms. Here we point out that the calculation of a journal’s impact factor is mainly based on the date of publication of its articles in print form, despite the fact that most journals now make their articles available online before that date. We analyze 61 neuroscience journals and show that delays between online and print publication of articles increased steadily over the last decade. Importantly, such a practice varies widely among journals, as some of them have no delays, while for others this period is longer than a year. Using a modified impact factor based on online rather than print publication dates, we demonstrate that online-to-print delays can artificially raise a journal’s impact factor, and that this inflation is greater for longer publication lags. We also show that correcting the effect of publication delay on impact factors changes journal rankings based on this metric. We thus suggest that indexing of articles in citation databases and calculation of citation metrics should be based on the date of an article’s online appearance, rather than on that of its publication in print.