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1 – 6 of 6John E. Ehiri and Martin Birley
This paper, which is based on experience from a recent, large, social‐marketing intervention to improve reproductive health in Orissa, India, reviews evidence of harmful effects…
Abstract
This paper, which is based on experience from a recent, large, social‐marketing intervention to improve reproductive health in Orissa, India, reviews evidence of harmful effects of improper disposal of male condoms, e.g. ingestion by cattle, effects on humans (e.g. rag pickers), length of time to biodegrade, drain blockage, screen‐cleaning and disposal costs to waste‐water treatment systems. Evidence of impact on the aquatic environment, of hormones from oral contraceptive pills excreted in urine was examined. Given the dearth of published and anecdotal data on the subject, it is concluded that further evidence of the magnitude and severity of the problem in Orissa and similar places in less developed countries is required to facilitate planning of mitigation actions that can be incorporated into social marketing of reversible contraceptives.
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Benedict O. Ushedo and John E. Ehiri
To determine the human and environmental values that need to be protected at every ethical decision‐making point, given that resources are finite and that the needs of future…
Abstract
Purpose
To determine the human and environmental values that need to be protected at every ethical decision‐making point, given that resources are finite and that the needs of future generations have no upper limit.
Design/methodology/approach
A search was made of the Humanities and Area Studies Databases and Articles, the Philosophers' Index, RenDa Fuyin Baokan Ziliao (People's University reprints series), the Arts and Humanities Citation Index on ISI Web of Knowledge, the Arts and Humanities Data Service, the British Philosophy Database, Dissertation Abstracts International, the Routledge Encyclopaedia of Philosophy (REP Online), ZETOC (Electronic Table of Contents) through MIMAS, and Academic Search Elite. Relevant arts and humanities journals were hand‐searched, and reference lists examined for further relevant reports.
Findings
Although decision making in environmental policy relies on logic, empirical fact and intuition, it does not make sense to have a “universal master plan” covering living persons, the unborn, and the non‐human world when designing an environmental policy. Environmental policy options are meaningful in specific contexts; since each context has its own underpinnings and specific preferences on the basis of its own peculiar socio‐cultural and economic circumstances, the necessity of narrative ethics in decision making becomes evident.
Practical implications
As this review demonstrates, the initial concern in environmental matters may centre on the preservation of human health, clean health, clean air and water, endangered species, jobs and the needs of future generations. Decisions may then be reached through cost benefit analysis, which tends to be whether or not the chosen course of action produces greater balance, the greatest happiness to the greatest number. But there are difficulties in determining what constitutes “cost” or “benefit”.
Originality/value
It became evident from this study that, to stand the test of time, context‐sensitive environmental paradigms should be capable of enriching themselves with ideas from other approaches to decision making such that, although problems may have a global dimension, the solutions to them must be context‐sensitive.
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Mumbai needs to be transformed into a world-class city as stated in the 2005–2025 development plan of Municipal Corporation. For this initiative, hospital management information…
Abstract
Purpose
Mumbai needs to be transformed into a world-class city as stated in the 2005–2025 development plan of Municipal Corporation. For this initiative, hospital management information system (HMIS) has to be implemented across 400+ health facilities in the city.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study methodology was adopted to study HMIS implementation. Wave 1 of Phase 1 implementation of HMIS is carried out as a pilot project at Film City’s Hospital, Mumbai, which “go-live” on 21st June 2018. The work for hardware and software implementation was awarded to HardSystems and Solutions Limited and SoftSolutions India Private Limited, respectively, through e-tender.
Findings
Provision of inadequate quantity of hardware, slowness of network or system, non-satisfactory training after observation confirmation and sign-off process, lack of data entry operators, mismatch in numbering systems in blood bank and many other challenges concerned with the specific departments had become a major impediment in the efforts to maximize number of patients registered into HMIS.
Practical implications
Even after providing many clinical and managerial benefits, being the first cloud-based centrally located HMIS in any of the hospitals in the city, it imposes a major challenge for the management in terms of resistance of employees toward technology and need for the adoption of theoretical models for implementing change for the overall organizational development.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no other teaching case study is conducted to study the HMIS implementation in large-scale public health-care services. This is a dummy case study for teaching exercises. The identity of the stakeholders, organizations and events has been masked to maintain confidentiality.
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Benjamin Sunday Uzochukwu, Chinyere Cecilia Okeke, Joyce Ogwezi, Benedict Emunemu, Felicia Onibon, Bassey Ebenso, Tolib Mirzoev and Ghazala Mir
The importance of social exclusion and the disadvantage experienced by many minority ethnic and religious populations are rooted in SDG 10. To address this exclusion effectively…
Abstract
Purpose
The importance of social exclusion and the disadvantage experienced by many minority ethnic and religious populations are rooted in SDG 10. To address this exclusion effectively it is important to understand their key drivers. This paper aimed to establish the key drivers of exclusion and their outcomes in Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach
The methods involved a scoping review of literature and stakeholder workshops that focused on drivers of social exclusion of religious and ethnic minorities in public institutions.
Findings
At the macro level, the drivers include ineffective centralized federal State, competition for resources and power among groups, geographic developmental divide and socio-cultural/religious issues. At the meso-level are institutional rules and competition for resources, stereotypes and misconceptions, barriers to access and service provision. At the micro-level are socio-economic status and health-seeking behaviour. The perceived impact of social exclusion included increasing illiteracy, lack of employment, deteriorating health care services, increased social vices, communal clashes and insurgencies and vulnerability to exploitation and humiliation. These drivers must be taken into consideration in the development of interventions for preventing or reducing social exclusion of ethnic and religious minorities from public services.
Originality/value
This is a case of co-production by all the stakeholders and a novel way for the identification of drivers of social exclusion in public services in Nigeria. It is the first step towards solving the problem of exclusion and has implications for the achievement of SDG 10 in Nigeria.
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Penelope Fay Mitchell and Philippa Eleanor Pattison
This study aims to investigate whether and how organizational culture moderates the influence of other organizational capacities on the uptake of new mental health care roles by…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to investigate whether and how organizational culture moderates the influence of other organizational capacities on the uptake of new mental health care roles by non‐medical primary health and social care services.
Design/methodology/approach
Using a cross‐sectional survey design, data were collected in 2004 from providers in 41 services in Victoria, Australia, recruited using purposeful sampling. Respondents within each service worked as a group to complete a structured interview that collected quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously. Five domains of organizational capacity were analyzed: leadership, moral support and participation; organizational culture; shared concepts, policies, processes and structures; access to resource support; and social model of health. A principal components analysis explored the structure of data about roles and capacities, and multiple regression analysis examined relationships between them. The unit of analysis was the service (n=41).
Findings
Organizational culture was directly associated with involvement in two types of mental health care roles and moderated the influence of factors in the inter‐organizational environment on role involvement.
Research limitations/implications
Congruence between the values embodied in organizational culture, communicated in messages from the environment, and underlying particular mental health care activities may play a critical role in shaping the emergence of intersectoral working and the uptake of new roles.
Originality/value
This study is the first to demonstrate the importance of organizational culture to intersectoral collaboration in health care, and one of very few to examine organizational culture as a predictor of performance, compared with other organizational‐level factors, in a multivariate analysis. Theory is developed to explain the findings.
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