Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Wyoming Sage-Grouse Working Groups: Lessons Learned, Thomas J. Christiansen, Lorien R. Belton

Human–Wildlife Interactions

The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) has been the subject of multiple status reviews under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Wyoming accounts for approximately 38% of the range-wide population. Since 2000, 2 statewide and 8 local citizen working groups have been established in Wyoming to developed conservation plans and advise state policy. The first statewide plan for the conservation of sage-grouse was formally adopted in 2003. The statewide plan established local sage-grouse working groups charged with developing and facilitating implementation of local conservation plans. Those 8 plans were completed in 2007 and 2008, and updated in 2014. From 2005-2017, …

Considerations For Measuring The Impact Of Policy-Relevant Research, Megan Collado, Lauren Gerlach, Caroline Ticse, Katherine Hempstead

The Foundation Review

Philanthropy, and the research and analysis it supports, has an important role to play in informing policy and making government more effective. Yet all too often, foundations and other research funders struggle to understand whether and how their investments have affected policy.

This article highlights the findings of an 18-month pilot project conducted by AcademyHealth to help the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation better understand the impact of a subset of the foundation’s research grants, across investment types, on health insurance coverage and health reform, and to help inform how the foundation may more systematically track and measure the impact of …

Financial Exploitation Of Maine's Older Adults: An Analysis Of Maine Adult Protective Services And Legal Services For The Elderly Case Records, State Fiscal Years 2010-2016, Eileen Griffin Jd, Catherine Mcguire Bs, Kimberly I. Snow Mhsa, Ba

Disability & Aging

The goal of this study was to capture information about the amount of money Maine’s older adults have lost to financial exploitation, along with information about those exploited, the perpetrators of financial exploitation, the type of loss, and amount of money lost. This report summarizes key findings emerging from this analysis. In particular, we found that, when compared to Maine’s general population of adults age 60 and older, the victims of financial exploitation served by Maine's Adult Protective Services (APS) and Legal Services for the Elderly (LSE) are more likely to be age 80 and older, female; and widowed, single, …

World Changers: Inspiring Cultural And Linguistic Excellence In Children, Parents And Teachers, Ana I. Berdecia Med, Caitlin Kosec Mpp, The John S. Watson Institute For Public Policy For Thomas Edison State College

Center for the Positive Development of Urban Children

The New Jersey Cultural Competency and English Language Learners Summer Institute and Mentoring Program hosted its 10th Anniversary, Three-Day Learning Institute, Aug. 23-25, 2016, with the theme, World Changers: Inspiring Cultural and Linguistic Excellence for Children, Parents and Teachers. After the Three- Day Learning Institute, classroom teachers were assigned a mentor who provided monthly supports to the classroom teachers in the adoption English language learners and cultural competency strategies with the goal of creating culturally and linguistic responsive classrooms. Twenty-three teachers from Trenton Public Schools were recruited and received 21 hours of training in best practices for engaging diverse …

Knowledge Of Health Insurance Concepts And The Affordable Care Act Among Rural Residents, Erika C. Ziller Phd

Health System Reform

Health insurance literacy is central to identifying eligibility for coverage and subsidies, choosing a plan, and using optimal healthcare services under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) or other insurance reform initiatives. To fully benefit from policy efforts to improve health insurance access, rural residents must have the ability to select the plan that best meets their healthcare needs. However, a higher proportion of rural residents possess characteristics that may put them at risk of lower health insurance literacy, including lower incomes and educational attainment, less experience with private insurance, and historically higher uninsured rates. Using Health Reform Monitoring Survey data …

Social Isolation And Loneliness In Older People: A Closer Look At Definitions, Mary Lou Ciolfi, Frances Jimenez Ba

Disability & Aging

Social isolation and loneliness are related and the terms are often used interchangeably, but they are distinct concepts with different definitions, health impacts, and interventions. Our population is aging and older people are at increased risk for both social isolation and loneliness and the associated negative health consequences. Understanding the important differences between social isolation and loneliness will help us recognize them earlier in vulnerable populations, engage in more meaningful conversations with older adults about their own risks, and will inform the development and delivery of more individualized, meaningful, and cost-effective interventions.

Influences On University Staff Members Responsible For Implementation Of Alcohol-Control Policies, Glenn A. Cochran

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Excessive college student drinking is a complex problem associated with a range of consequences including deaths, injuries, damage, health risks, legal difficulties, and academic problems. State governing boards, trustees and executives have enacted policies aimed at reducing the negative effects of excessive drinking. This study examined influences on university staff members responsible for implementation of alcohol-control policies. Deeper understanding of factors influencing alcohol-control policy implementation may help leaders improve policy making, implementation and attainment of policy objectives.

This mixed methods study utilized a sequential transformative mixed methods strategy with a quantitative survey, sequenced first, informing the prioritized qualitative multiple case …

A Guide For Assessing Older Adults’ Needs On Maine Islands, Beatrice Byrne

Muskie School Capstones and Dissertations

This template may help Maine island communities identify older adults’ needs and island resources, in order to allow older adults to age in the island communities.

Three interviews with island health leaders, one community conversation with older islanders, and one pilot test provided information about what to include in the template.

The template includes a demographic survey, guides for conducting semi-structured interviews and group conversations with older adults and caregivers, a guide and worksheet for analyzing the data, a guide for assessing community resources, a guide for dissemination, and a list of additional resources.

The Role Of Public Versus Private Health Insurance In Ensuring Health Care Access & Affordability For Low-Income Rural Children, Erika C. Ziller Phd, Jennifer D. Lenardson Mhs, Amanda Burgess Mppm

Access / Insurance

Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have played a critical role in ensuring access to health insurance coverage among children and have been particularly important sources of coverage for rural children. More than 35.5 million children were enrolled in Medicaid or CHIP in September 2016—accounting for just over half of total Medicaid and CHIP enrollment. Given the large proportion of rural children covered by public insurance, it is critically important to understand the role of that coverage in ensuring access to affordable healthcare for rural children. Using data from the 2011-2012 National Survey of Children’s Health, this study …

Diffusion Of Renewable Energy Policies, Khatera Alizada

Graduate Program in International Studies Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the global diffusion of renewable energy policies: feed-in tariffs (FIT) and renewable portfolio standards (RPS). Existing studies of policy diffusion have failed to differentiate between four possible mechanisms of policy diffusion: emulation, suasion, learning and competition. To test these competing explanations, the study uses a mixed-method research design that combines statistical analysis of time-series cross-sectional data with an agent-based model of diffusion processes. The findings of the statistical analysis show strong support for the suasion (European Union Membership, Clean Development Mechanisms) and emulation mechanisms (cultural similarity or common language) in the diffusion of FIT. In the diffusion …

Establishing Sustainable Community Garden Interventions With Aid From Health Promotion Organizations, Rachel Joann Buenemann

Theses and Dissertations

Community garden interventions provide policy, system and environmental change at the community level to establish health behaviors, which act in contest to obesity risk factors. Limited research examines factors, which influence the sustainability of community garden interventions. Therefore, in this study, a sample of 10 Midwestern community gardens associated through funding from a health promotion organization in 2013, collected data through the interviewing and surveying of 10 garden administrators and surveying of 12 garden volunteers. The study identified garden benefits perceived by garden administrators and volunteers to include contributions to social justice, continued education, enhanced social cohesion, increased access to …

Designing Urban Policy For A Thriving New Jersey • New Jersey Urban Mayors Association Addresses Policy Priorities, Thomas Edison State University, Evan Weiss, New Jersey Urban Mayors Association

Urban Mayors Policy Center

Cities are the Solution, Not the Problem:

While decades of suburban development might suggest otherwise, New Jersey is at its core an urban state. It is dense, covered by one of the largest transit networks in the country and incredibly diverse. Every region of the state has great livable cities, with small, midsized and large cities all represented — most states are lucky to have just a handful. But, for decades, new jersey cities have too often been portrayed as problems that need to be fixed. As the economic and lifestyle preferences of future generations shift back toward cities and …

Policy And Institutional Challenges In Climate Information Services Provisioning In Philippine Agriculture, Dulce D. Elazegui, Agnes C. Rola, Roger A. Luyun, Nico Jayson C. Anastacio, Francis John F. Faderogao, Maria Cristina A. Alvarez

Journal of Public Affairs and Development

Current and immediate information about the increasingly unpredictable weather conditions are needed to augment conventional knowledge in local communities. Policy analysis on climate information services (CIS) provisioning in the agriculture sector is vital and warranted. This paper describes the global and national CIS policies as well as the institutions involved in provisioning through the characterization of pathways from data generation to dissemination. Further, it identifies the various intermediary users of the CIS and how CIS are ultimately disseminated to the municipal agricultural offices and the farmers. Secondary data sources were searched. Primary data were gathered through key informant interviews. Qualitative …

Promoting Policy Advocacy In Nursing Via Education, Carolyn Sue Jurns

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Nurses have a professional, ethical, and social responsibility to advocate for optimal healthcare and an optimal professional environment. However, nurses often default on that responsibility. Leadership at a national nursing organization's state affiliate (SNO) perceived a need to optimize its members' policy advocacy. To meet that need, the Policy Advocacy Toolkit for Nurses (PATN) was developed for this doctoral project. The evidence-based PATN relied on established theories and frameworks, notably Knowles' adult education theory and Kingdon's multiple streams approach; research specific to this project; evidence from other researchers, healthcare organizations, and government websites; and input from a statistician, nursing education …

Paralleled Support Models For Young Adults With Intellectual And Developmental Disabilities, Lucy Ellen Klym

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the State of Indiana, for students over the age of 14 who have been diagnosed with intellectual or developmental disabilities, the transition from special education to Medicaid waiver oversight should occur seamlessly, but gaps in integrated and aligned goal development strategies remain. As a consequence, students who need adult-based support may not be receiving the full scope of services to which they are entitled. Using common-pool resource theory as a foundation, the purpose of this explanatory case study of transitional services to Indiana Medicaid was to understand, from the perspective of disability support service staff, the barriers to effective …

The Adequacy And Perceived Impact Of Nigeria's Health Policy, Kennedy Magoma Ongwae

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

From 2004 to 2015, the health sector in Nigeria was substantially underfunded despite the existence of a federal health policy committing 15% of the national budget to health care financing. The purpose of this narrative and phenomenological study was to explore the nature and significance of economic claims made in this policy. The central research question examined the extent to which these economic claims were perceived to be realistic, attainable, and successful in meeting their intended policy objectives and impact. The study's conceptual framework combined Kingdon's ambiguity and multiple streams theory, Roe's narrative policy analysis, and Skocpol's policy feedback theory. …

Emergency Managers' Perceptions Of All-Hazards Pandemic Planning Effectiveness In North Texas, Timothy Goss

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

All-hazards pandemic planning is the foundation of current emergency management planning doctrine, yet there is limited information and limited studies related to its effectiveness in mitigating pandemics. The North Texas emergency management community handles incidents of West Nile Virus, H1N1 influenza, and a recent Ebola incident. Despite efforts to mitigate these threats, reported cases and deaths are still occurring from both influenza and West Nile virus. The purpose of this case study was to assess the risk perceptions of emergency planners in a small emergency operation center in North Texas using the cultural theory of risk perception as the theoretical …

Factors Affecting Hampton Roads, Virginia, Elected Official Emergency Management Recovery Policy Decisions, William Francis Reiske

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

For many regions and local governments, budgetary restraints limit funds appropriated for emergency management activities to inadequate levels, and little guidance exists related to decision factors used by elected officials in identifying budget and ordinance priorities. Using Kwon, Choi, and Bae's conceptualization of punctuated equilibrium theory, the purpose of this case study was to examine how decision factors influenced Hampton Roads, Virginia, elected official disaster recovery policy between 2003 and 2012. Data were collected through review of 1,310 city documents and 10 semistructured interviews with elected officials. Data were inductively coded and analyzed using a thematic analysis procedure. Data analysis …

Law Enforcement Fitness Policies In Relation To Job Injuries And Absenteeism, Marlana Lynn Hancock

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

After employment, job-related fitness requirements vary for law enforcement agencies within North Carolina. Police academies mandate specific job-related fitness requirements for recruits as a condition of graduation. Once employed, little is known about why some law enforcement agencies in North Carolina have physical fitness policies and others do not, particularly when injury rates and healthcare costs continue to rise. To better understand this inconsistency, the current study used a mixed methods approach to examine 6 midsized law enforcement agencies in North Carolina with varying fitness policies. The policy of each agency, along with OSHA work-related injuries and absenteeism reports, were …

Social Cohesion As A Gateway: Examining France's Efforts In Building Equitable Education Access For Marginalized Immigrants, Cherish Molezion

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis examines the effects of France’s educational social cohesion policies, Zones d’Education Prioritaire (ZEP schools) and L’Agence nationale pour la cohesion sociale et l’égalité des chances (Acsé). I argue that these policies affect access to education for working-class descendants of immigrants; however, France’s republican ideology inhibits the extent to which equitability can be established between working-class descendants of immigrants and the majority population. Though a quantitative and qualitative data analysis, I scrutinize trends in education access and the labor market over the 2000s. Lastly, I make policy recommendations centering around positive discrimination approaches that France should adopt, in …

The Effect Of Rules On Racially-Influenced Policing And Police Uses Of Force, Joe D. Mazza

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Public opinion polls have shown the public lacks confidence in U.S. police to use appropriate amounts of force and treat racial minorities fairly, which undermines police legitimacy and the quality of life of all citizens. Although rules have been shown to positively constrain police uses of force, researchers have not demonstrated the effect of rules on racially influenced policing (RIP). In 2005, the RIP directive which prohibits officers from using race as a factor in taking discretionary actions was promulgated in New Jersey. The purpose of this study was to determine through the theoretical lens of Lipsky's street-level bureaucrat theory …

Impact Of The Zambian Agricultural Policy On Grain Trade, Onesphore Karuho

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The agricultural sector in Zambia is supported through the government use of public expenditure programs to spur the production and subsidize the consumption of key grains to stabilize prices. Previous research has documented the effects of public spending on agriculture in terms of food prices and food security. The effects of government spending on the trade of key grains, however, is not well understood. As such, there is a gap in knowledge regarding the impact of agricultural policy on the agricultural trade. The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of Zambian agricultural policy on grain trade. A …