How do primary health care teams learn to integrate intimate partner violence (IPV) management? A realist evaluation protocol

Background: Despite the existence of ample literature dealing, on the one hand, with the integration of innovations within health systems and team learning, and, on the other hand, with different aspects of the detection and management of intimate partner violence (IPV) within healthcare facilities, research that explores how health innovations that go beyond biomedical issues—such as IPV management—get integrated into health systems, and that focuses on healthcare teams’ learning processes is, to the best of our knowledge, very scarce if not absent. This realist evaluation protocol aims to ascertain: why, how, and under what circumstances primary healthcare teams engage (if at all) in a learning process to integrate IPV management in their practices; and why, how, and under what circumstances team learning processes lead to the development of organizational culture and values regarding IPV management, and the delivery of IPV management services. Methods: This study will be conducted in Spain using a multiple-case study design. Data will be collected from selected cases (primary healthcare teams) through different methods: individual and group interviews, routinely collected statistical data, documentary review, and observation. Cases will be purposively selected in order to enable testing the initial middle-range theory (MRT). After in-depth exploration of a limited number of cases, additional cases will be chosen for their ability to contribute to refining the emerging MRT to explain how primary healthcare learn to integrate intimate partner violence management. Discussion: Evaluations of health sector responses to IPV are scarce, and even fewer focus on why, how, and when the healthcare services integrate IPV management. There is a consensus that healthcare professionals and healthcare teams play a key role in this integration, and that training is important in order to realize changes. However, little is known about team learning of IPV management, both in terms of how to trigger such learning and how team learning is connected with changes in organizational culture and values, and in service delivery. This realist evaluation protocol aims to contribute to this knowledge by conducting this project in a country, Spain, where great endeavours have been made towards the integration of IPV management within the health system.

La sostenibilidad en la planificación territorial de escala regional en España: estudio de casos

En las dos últimas décadas, la expresión «desarrollo territorial sostenible» se ha incorporado con éxito en los documentos de ordenación del territorio, hasta convertirse en un principio rector principal. El objetivo de este artículo es analizar la incorporación de los principios de sostenibilidad en la planificación territorial española, valorando los resultados prácticos que ello ha significado. Se ha realizado un análisis de las leyes y planes de ordenación del territorio de escala regional, destacando en cuatro casos de estudio (País Vasco, Navarra, Andalucía y Comunidad Valenciana) por la relevancia que este principio rector ha cobrado en sus procesos de planificación territorial. Se ha completado la información con la realización de entrevistas a actores clave de la ordenación del territorio en esos espacios regionales. Los resultados muestran que, a pesar de las buenas intenciones que incluyen los textos de leyes y planes, por lo común, el proceso de integración de la sostenibilidad a la planificación territorial de escala regional es lento y sus efectos prácticos todavía son escasamente visibles.

Assessment of faculty training program for the use of e-learning platforms: analysis of current use

5th International Conference on Education and New Learning Technologies (Barcelona, Spain. 1-3 July, 2013)

Lanbide heziketako irakasleen prestakuntza konpetentziak garatzeko metodologietan: Ikaskuntza Agertoki Berriak esperientziaren azterketa

[EU]XX. mendearen azken bi hamarkadetatik hona jendartean gertatu diren aldaketek, Lanbide Heziketaren (lan merkatura bideratzeko langileen prestakuntza oinarri duen heziketaren epe gisara ulertuta) planteamendua birpentsatu beharra ekarri dute. Dinamikoa eta aldakorra den jendarte honetan, Lanbide Heziketari bere hezkuntza jardueraren gaineko gogoeta egin beharra suertatu zaio, eta baita zer eta nola irakatsi lanbidea garatzea helburu duten ikasleei bezalako galderei erantzuna eman ere. Ingurumari honetan konpetentzia kontzeptua eta haren inguruko esperientziak eta metodoak garatu dira hala nazioartean nola Euskal Herrian. Master Bukaerako lan honetan Lanbide Heziketan aurrera eraman den irakasleen etengabeko prestakuntza programa baten azterketa egin dugu. Horretarako, berrikuntza eta kalitatea sustatzeko zeregina duen Tknika zentroak zuzendu eta gidatutako Ikaskuntza Agertoki Berriak prestakuntza programan parte hartu duen Tolosaldeko Lanbide Institutua aukeratu dugu, kasu azterketaren ikuspegia erabiliz. Azken xedea, laburki, irakasleei konpetentzietan oinarritutako ikaskuntza aukera didaktikoak eskaini eta haiei buruzko gogoeta egitea da, gero praktikara eraman ditzaten. Gure ikerlanaren helburua, berriz, programa horren asmoak praktikan nola ebazten eta gauzatzen diren ikustea da, prozesuan engaiatuta dauden pertsonen bizipenetatik abiatuta. Hurbilketa kualitatibo eta interpretatibo honetatik lau irakasle elkarrizketatu ditugu eta haien igurikapen, kezka eta bestelakoak jasotzen saiatu gara. Ondorio nagusienak, honakoak: (i) konpetentzien bidezko irakaskuntza-ikaskuntzaren potentziala oso nabarmena dela ikusten dutela elkarrizketatuek, (ii) gogo eta motibazio handia dutela, (iii), ikastetxean, euren egunerokoan, zailtasun eta oztopo andana topatzen dutela, (iv) zailtasunak kasu batzuetan metodologia berari dagozkion arren beste askotan ikasleak eurek ez dutela aldaketarako borondate handirik atzematen da.

Citizenship, immigration and the Basque State

Immigration is directly related to citizenship, the nation and the state, revealing as it does the constructed nature of those categories. Here the impact of immigration on Euskal Herria is examined from this perspective, looking first at the processes of migration to it which have produced the make-up of present-day Basque society to a large extent. This is followed by a consideration of the way migratory movements have been viewed by the movement for the development of Euskal Herria into a state, the Basque nationalist movement, since these attitudes have played a fundamental role in defining Basque citizenship. After some observations about multiculturalism, the chapter concludes with a look at how the creation of a Basque state might contribute to this and the issues that will be raised.

Ecological quality assessment of transitional waters based on fish assemblages in Portuguese estuaries: The Estuarine Fish Assessment Index (EFAI)

The assessment of water quality has changed markedly worldwide over the last years, especially in Europe due to the implementation of the Water Framework Directive. Fish was considered a key-element in this context and several fish-based multi-metric indices have been proposed. In this study, we propose a multi-metric index, the Estuarine Fish Assessment Index (EFAI), developed for Portuguese estuaries, designed for the overall assessment of transitional waters, which could also be applied at the water body level within an estuary. The EFAI integrates seven metrics: species richness, percentage of marine migrants, number of species and abundance of estuarine resident species, number of species and abundance of piscivorous species, status of diadromous species, status of introduced species and status of disturbance sensitive species. Fish sampling surveys were conducted in 2006, 2009 and 2010, using beam trawl, in 13 estuarine systems along the Portuguese coast. Most of the metrics presented a high variability among the transitional systems surveyed. According to the EFAI values, Portuguese estuaries presented a "Good" water quality status (except the Douro in a particular year). The assessments in different years were generally concordant, with a few exceptions. The relationship between the EFAI and the Anthropogenic Pressure Index (API) was not significant, but a negative and significant correlation was registered between the EFAI and the expert judgement pressure index, at both estuary and water body level. The ordination analysis performed to evaluate similarities among North-East Atlantic Geographical Intercalibration Group (NEAGIG) fish-based indices put in evidence four main groups: the French index, since it is substantially different from all the other indices (uses only four metrics based on densities); indices from Ireland, United Kingdom and Spain (Asturias and Cantabria); the Dutch and German indices; and the indices of Belgium. Portugal and Spain (Basque country). The need for detailed studies, including comparative approaches, on several aspects of these assessment tools, especially in what regards their response to anthropogenic pressures was stressed. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pulse vs. Optimal Stationary Fishing: The Northern Stock of Hake

Pulse fishing may be a global optimal strategy in multicohort fisheries. In this article we compare the pulse fishing solutions obtained by using global numerical methods with the analytical stationary optimal solution. This allows us to quantify the potential benefits associated with the use of periodic fishing in the Northern Stock of hake. Results show that: first, management plans based exclusively on traditional reference targets as Fmsy may drive fishery economic results far from the optimal; second, global optimal solutions would imply, in a cyclical manner, the closure of the fishery for some periods and third, second best stationary policies with stable employment only reduce optimal present value of discounted profit in a 2%.

Social Interactions and Subjective Well-Being: Evidence from Latin America

In this paper, we seek to examine the effect of comparisons and social capital on subjective well-being. Furthermore, we test if, through social influence and exposure, social capital is either an enhancer or appeaser of the comparison effect. Using the Latinobarómetro Survey (2007) we find that in contrast to most previous studies, the comparison effect on well-being is positive; that is, the better others perform, the happier the individual is. We also find that social capital is among the strongest correlates of individuals’ subjective well-being in Latin American countries. Furthermore, our findings suggest that social contacts may enhance the comparison effect on individual’s happiness, which is more intense for those who perform worse in their reference group.

Demand for Cultural Heritage

Prepared for the Handbook of the Economics of Cultural Heritage. Forthcoming in Edgard Elgar Publisher. Anna Mignosa and Ilde Rizzo (editors)

Individual notions of distributive justice and relative economic status

We present two experiments designed to investigate whether individuals’ notions of distributive justice are associated with their relative (within-society) economic status. Each participant played a specially designed four-person dictator game under one of two treatments, under one initial endowments were earned, under the other they were randomly assigned. The first experiment was conducted in Oxford, United Kingdom, the second in Cape Town, South Africa. In both locations we found that relatively well-off individuals make allocations to others that reflect those others’ initial endowments more when those endowments were earned rather than random; among relatively poor individuals this was not the case.

Methods for Measuring Aggregate Costs of Conflict

This paper reviews the methods for measuring the economic cost of conflict. Estimating the economic costs of conflict requires a counterfactual calculation, which makes this a very difficult task. Social researchers have resorted to different estimation methods depending on the particular effect in question. The method used in each case depends on the units being analyzed (firms, sectors, regions or countries), the outcome variable under study (aggregate output, market valuation of firms, market shares, etc.) and data availability (a single cross-section, time series or panel data). This paper reviews existing methods used in the literature to assess the economic impact of conflict: cost accounting, cross-section methods, time series methods, panel data methods, gravity models, event studies, natural experiments and comparative case studies. The paper ends with a discussion of cost estimates and directions for further research.