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Health Information Technology And Nurse Staff Efficiency: An Empirical Test In Residential Care Facilities, Jason D. Smith

Public Affairs Theses - Archive

This study examines the effects of health information technology (IT) on nursing staff efficiency. Specifically, the impact of clinical health IT applications on nursing staff efficiency is considered, along with the impact of health information exchange on nursing staff efficiency in those facilities with that utilize clinical IT. In an effort to elucidate these effects, I use data from the 2010 National Survey of Residential Care Facilities (NSRCF) to estimate six ordered logit models. The results indicate that clinical IT sophistication is positively associated with registered nurse (RN) HPPD. The effect on licensed practical nurses (LPN)/licensed vocational nurses (LVN) and …

The Nonprofit Sector's Involvement In Prisoner Reentry : A Mixed Methods Analysis, Michael Jay Woods

Public Affairs Theses - Archive

The 1990's were plagued with crime and high recidivism rates, and the State of Texas responded by embarking upon the largest expansion of a criminal justice system in its history. Having served their sentences, record numbers of offenders who were sent to prison in the 1990's are now flooding the streets. At the time of their release, some of these offenders will have unmet needs, such as a lack of food, housing, and clothing. Others may need help enrolling in school or finding a job. Whatever their needs, a host of nonprofit organizations stand ready to assist ex-offenders in their …

Drinking With Friends: A Cellular Automata Approach To Modeling Peer Influence On Binge Drinking Behavior, Piper Jackson, Andrew Reid, Niki Huitson, Kathryn Wuschke, Vahid Dabbaghian

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications and Presentations

In this project, we adopt Cellular Automata (CA) modeling as a means to focus solely on the elements of concern: individual state (binging) and local interactions (peer pressure). CA models are well suited for exploring the dynamics that occur within a population, and are useful for visualizing the clustering behaviour of communities. With this more abstract approach, it is possible to simulate large populations with reasonable computational requirements.

How Well Do Home Energy Audits Serve The Homeowner?, Aaron Ingle, Mithra Moezzi, Loren Lutzenhiser, Richard Diamond

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

Home energy audits administered by utilities and government typically provide homeowners with lists of technical upgrade recommendations intended to increase the technical energy efficiency of the house. Audits proceed with assessment of physical characteristics, subsequently processed with a computational model and transformed into a report, sometimes customized by the auditor. While the design of an energy audit reflects program and policy points of view – balancing program cost with expected program savings, educating people about the value of energy efficiency, etc. – it is crucial to consider the criteria for a good home energy audit and recommendations from homeowners’ points …

Public Safety Networks – Examining Mimetic, Complexity, And Legacy Effects On Interorganizational Collaborations, Martin A. Dias

2012

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine information systems-enabled interorganizational collaborations called public safety networks – their proliferation, information systems architecture, and technology evolution. These networks face immense pressures from member organizations, external stakeholders, and environmental contingencies. This dissertation investigates the role of three effects on these networks - the effect of peers in network proliferation, the effect of environmental and organizational complexity on their information systems, and the effect of legacy systems on capability scale and scope. Better understanding the conditions associated with network proliferation will assist decision-makers in assessing appropriate partnering opportunities. Better understanding the nature of …

Implementing A Health Care Reform Through Inter-Municipal-Cooperation: Adapting And Implementing The Norwegian Cooperation-Reform In Three Inter-Municipal Health Regions, Daf Olaf Torjesen, A. Bryce Hoflund

Public Administration Faculty Publications

In this explorative article we will try to identify some issues and questions about how the Norwegian municipalities are preparing to implement the Cooperation reform and the new health care legislation. Our main focus is on examples of measures municipalities in three Norwegian inter-municipality regions so far have developed with respect to the Cooperation reform which will be implemented from spring 2012. By comparing and contrasting this three regions, with different history and adjustment patterns, our aim is to investigate inter-municipal cooperation as an suitable organizational solutions the municipalities can use in their struggle to prepare for their new extended …

Hispanic/Latino Changes In Nebraska’S Population: 1980 To 2010, David Drozd

Past Publications

The Hispanic/Latino population has risen dramatically in Nebraska. After totaling about 28,000 Nebraska residents in 1980, the Hispanic/Latino population increased by about 9,000 or 32 percent to about 37,000 in 1990. Then the Hispanic/Latino population more than doubled in the 1990s, to more than 94,000 persons, an increase of more than 57,000 or about 155 percent. The 2010 census showed continued growth and more than 167,000 Hispanic/Latino Nebraska residents, an increase of nearly 73,000 or 77 percent since 2000.

Omaha Again Among Best Large Metros For Median Income Relative To The Cost Of Goods And Services, David J. Drozd

Past Publications

In 2007 the Center for Public Affairs Research (CPAR) released an analysis of 2006 American Community Survey (ACS) income data from the U.S. Census Bureau. These data were adjusted for the costs of goods as services (COGS) using indices released by the Council for Community and Economic Research. At that time the Omaha metro area ranked 2nd best among the 100 most populous metros for which data were available regarding this “purchasing power”. The Omaha metro’s median income in 2006 dollars was $51,627, but when accounting for Omaha’s relatively low cost of goods and services, this income had a purchasing …

Selected Characteristics From The 2006-2010 American Community Survey For Nebraska Counties, Center For Public Affairs Research (Cpar)

Past Publications

Selected Characteristics from the 2006-2010 American Community Survey for Nebraska Counties

Strategic Defense And Attack For Series And Parallel Reliability Systems: Comment, Dan Kovenock, Brian Roberson

Economics Faculty Articles and Research

The contest-theoretic literature on the attack and defense of networks of targets focuses primarily on pure-strategy Nash equilibria. Hausken's 2008 European Journal of Operational Research article typifies this approach, and many of the models in this literature either build upon this model or utilize similar techniques. We show that Hausken's characterization of Nash equilibrium is invalid for much of the parameter space examined and provides necessary conditions for his solution to hold. The complete characterization of mixed-strategy equilibria remains an open problem, although there exist solutions in the literature for special prominent cases.

The Practice Of Government Public Relations, Mordecai Lee, Grant W. Neeley, Kendra Stewart

Political Science Faculty Publications

With the recent change of administration in the U.S. executive branch, we have seen increased attention to issues of public information, transparency in government, and government and press relations in the United States and abroad. In addition, rapidly evolving technology and its influence on public communication have left many in government struggling to remain current in this area. Citizens and constituents learn to use interactive tools when searching for information, utilize technology for communications, and now expect government information and services to exist in the same information space as private entities.

This book is an effort of leading experts in …

The Lilliputians Of Environmental Regulation: The Perspective Of State Regulators, Michelle C. Pautz, Sara R. Rinfret

Political Science Faculty Publications

When we think about environmental policy and regulation in the U.S., our attention invariably falls on the federal level and, more specifically, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Although such a focus is understandable, it neglects the actors most responsible for the implementation and maintenance of the nation's environmental laws — the states. Recognition of the importance of the states still ignores an even smaller subsection of actors, inspectors. These front-line actors in state environmental agencies are the individuals responsible for writing environmental rules and ensuring compliance with those rules. They play an important role in the environmental regulatory state.

With …

One Tough Nut: The Development Of Legislative Structure And Procedure In The Constitution Of The Buckeye State, Nancy Martorano Miller, Ronald D. Hedlund

Political Science Faculty Publications

American state legislatures have evolved dramatically throughout their history. In particular, the structures, rules and procedures governing the operations legislatures have changed significantly over the course of the 20th and 21st Centuries. The purpose of this paper is to present a theoretical framework for studying the development and evolution of American state legislatures. We then apply that framework to the case of constitutional provisions impacting the legislative branch in Ohio and conclude that the initial decision to invest significant authority in the legislative branch significantly impacted the evolution of legislative evolution and development in the state.

Lifestyles, Buildings And Technologies: What Matters Most?, Loren Lutzenhiser, Huafen Hu, Mithra Moezzi, Anthony Michael Levenda, James Woods

Center for Urban Studies Publications and Reports

There is considerable variation across households in energy use, even within similar climates and housing styles. There is also considerable variation in energy savings following upgrades of housing and appliances. We combine empirical data on household consumption with advanced simulation modeling techniques to investigate just how much behavior matters in determining consumption levels. compared to weather, technology and building characteristics. We explore several new concepts, including the BETA (building, environment, technology, activity) Model of household energy use, a habitation zone approach that can be used to differentiate BETA effects, and a hybrid (simulation/ statistical) end-use consumption analysis approach. For illustrative …

Nonstatistical Factors Influencing Predictions Of Financial Distress And Managerial Implications In The All-Cargo Airline Industry, Robert O. Walton

Publications

All-cargo airlines carry over 50% of global airfreight, yet they are prone to bankruptcy. Many financial models are designed to predict a firms' financial health, but they do not assess many nonstatistical factors that influence the prediction capability of these models. In this study, qualitative grounded theory design was used to identify nonstatistical factors and explore how they influence bankruptcy prediction models in the all-cargo airline industry. In the first phase of the study, financial data from 2005 to 2009 for 17 all-cargo U.S. airlines were used to determine the bankruptcy prediction ability of the Kroeze financial bankruptcy model. A …

Northeast Ohio Storm Water Training Consortium Strategic Plan: 2012-2014, Claudette Robey

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Fiscal Review Of The Cleveland Public Library And Scan Of State And National Trends In Library Funding, Claudette Robey, Kevin O'Brien, Kyle Julien, Scott Winograd

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

The Next Steps Toward Consolidating Public Safety Dispatch Centers: Parma, Ohio, Daila Shimek, Scott Winograd, Kimberly Renee Vining, Eugene Kramer, Thomas Cozzens, Claudette Robey, Kevin E. O'Brien, Andrew Batson

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Racial And Ethnic Proportions Of Early In-Person Voters In Cuyahoga County, General Election 2008, And Implications For 2012, Norman Robbins, Mark Salling

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Review Of The Operations Of Bay Village, Ohio, Daila Shimek, Kyle Julien, Scott Winograd, Claudette Robey, James Wyles, Kevin E. O'Brien

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Responding To Foreclosures In Cuyahoga County 2011 Evaluation Report, Kathryn W. Hexter, Molly Schnoke

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

The foreclosure crisis hit Cuyahoga County earlier and harder than the rest of the nation. The crisis continues to weaken the County’s already weak housing market, as evidenced by declining property values, increasing numbers of vacant and abandoned properties and the continuing high rates of foreclosure filings. In 1999, there were 4,900 residential foreclosure filings in Cuyahoga County. That number doubled to about 10,000 by 2005 and peaked in 2007 at close to 14,000. In 2011, the County had just over 11,000 residential foreclosure filings. In total, an estimated 68,000 homes in the County have been “touched” by foreclosure. The …

Demographic And Socioeconomic Conditions And A Patron Borrowing Analysis Of Cleveland Public Library Branch And Main Libraries, Mark Salling

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

We provide here an analysis of the demographic and socioeconomic characteristics of the Cleveland Public Library’s (CPL) service area and that of the neighborhoods in which the library’s patrons live. We also describe the borrowing patterns for the branch and downtown, Main Library, locations. The census-based demographic and socioeconomic data used for the analysis include income, number of children, race, Hispanic ethnicity, language spoken at home, ability to speak English, public-versus-private school attendance by grade level, housing tenure (owner/renter), educational attainment, employment status, and place of employment (Cleveland versus other). Data from the 2010 census and the Census Bureau’s 2005-2009 …

Gateway Center For Domestic Violence Evaluation Report, Portland State University. Hatfield School Of Government. Center For Public Service, Masami Nishishiba, Mathew Jones, Jillian Girard

Center for Public Service Publications and Reports

The Gateway Center for Domestic Violence, which opened in September 2010, is governed by the terms of an intergovernmental agreement between the City of Portland and Multnomah County, Oregon. The intergovernmental agreement established an Advisory Council. It also requires a formal evaluation of the Center. This report assesses the Gateway Center’s operation based on the success measures identified by the Gateway Center Advisory Council.

The Impact Of Water Supply And Sanitation On Child Health: Evidence From Egypt, Rania Roushdy, Maia Sieverding, Hanan Radwan

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Using a combination of qualitative and quantitative data, this working paper investigates whether access to improved sources of water and sanitation is an effective “treatment” for the incidence of diarrhea among children under five years of age in Egypt. Both components of the study indicate that widespread access to improved sources of drinking water and toilet facilities exists across Egypt; however, service quality remains a significant problem in many areas. In particular, cuts in water supply—and the resulting practice of storing water—are quite common; a sizable percentage of flush toilet facilities are not connected to the public sewer system; and …

Is Early Childhood Care And Education A Good Investment For Egypt? Estimates Of Educational Impacts, Costs, And Benefits [Arabic], Caroline Krafft

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This summary details the impact of early childhood education in Egypt. The results show that early childhood care and education has an impact on educational attainment that is both statistically significant and sizeable. Such interventions increase overall educational attainment by approximately one year, primarily due to decreased primary and preparatory drop out. The impact on educational attainment is reflected in improved school performance, such as higher test scores, decreased grade repetition, and improvements in school tracking, during the early years. Investments in early childhood education can be a powerful approach to improving educational outcomes, and the research suggests that increases …

The Reproductive Health Of Young People In Egypt [Arabic], Nahla G. Abdel-Tawab, Noha Roushdy, Maia Sieverding

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This Population Council brief presents results from the Survey of Young People in Egypt (SYPE) on reproductive health (RH). The SYPE results underscore the need for: the assessment of state and civil society initiatives to transmit RH information; a national, comprehensive, age-appropriate reproductive health module to be integrated into the educational program; a national campaign on HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections that targets young people of reproductive age; the integration of female circumcision into a broader approach to youth reproductive health and bodily rights; specialized reproductive health services for married adolescent girls; and further research on sexuality and reproductive …

Incentivizing Providers To Improve Maternal, Newborn And Child Health Services In Bangladesh: Pay-For-Performance Model Refinement And Advocacy (P4p Mra) Final Report, Md. Noorunnabi Talukder, Ubaidur Rob, Laila Rahman, A.K.M. Zafar Ullah Khan, Riad Mahmud, Azizul Alim, Ismat Ara Hena, Farhana Akter, Anup Kumar Dey

Reproductive Health

An operations research project by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of Bangladesh tested the feasibility of a pay-for-performance (P4P) approach, which offered financial incentives to reward service providers for meeting and exceeding specified performance targets for maternal, newborn, and child health services. In response to the encouraging findings, the DGHS implemented a follow-up project, with technical assistance from Population Council and UNICEF, to utilize the experiences and findings of the P4P OR project. Despite it short duration, implementation of the revised P4P scheme induced improvements in service volume and …

Introduction Of Emergency Contraceptive Pills (Ecps) Through Lady Health Workers (Lhws) Program In Pakistan: Findings Of An Evaluation Study, Arshad Mahmood, Yasir Bin Nisar

Reproductive Health

This report documents the findings from a five-day study tour of Pakistani officials to Bangladesh, organized by the Population Council, to afford an opportunity for representatives of both the Ministry of Health and Population Welfare to learn from the experience of Bangladesh in introducing emergency contraceptive pills (ECPs) through their National Public Health System. One of the recommendations was to enhance the availability of emergency contraception in Pakistan by making it available through outlets of the health system, especially through the network of the community-based Lady Health Workers (LHWs). There is a high unmet need for ECP in LHW areas, …

Assessment Of Management Information System [Mis] Of National Program For Family Planning And Primary Health Care [Lhw Program], Arshad Mahmood, Syeda Saman Naz

Reproductive Health

This assessment by the Population Council is based on a random sample of 154 Lady Health Workers (LHWs) from three provinces of Pakistan. The aim is to strengthen the routine LHW-MIS (management information system) in the districts so that it can contribute to the improvement of the district health system by providing reliable evidence. Further, based on the findings of the current assessment, the districts managers/decisionmakers should be able to continuously improve the LHW-MIS through applying a problem-solving approach. The report details recommendations for program management, including: 1) providing all necessary MIS tools to each LHW; 2) providing basic equipment …

Key Opinion Leaders' Views Regarding Emergency Contraception In India, M.E. Khan, Isha Bhatnagar, Deepthi S. Varma, Anvita Dixit

Reproductive Health

This policy brief explores the views of key opinion leaders (KOLs) in the field of reproductive health and family welfare on provision of emergency contraception (ECPs). The study’s objective was to gain a better understanding of how the attitudes and beliefs of KOLs might influence policy and program implementation, either encouraging or opposing ECP promotion and service delivery. Results suggest strong support by the majority of KOLs to continue the sale of ECP as an over-the-counter drug. KOLs also emphasized the importance of comprehending and addressing the main barriers to ECP provision and use: poor knowledge, lack of training, moral …