Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons^™

Preliminary Findings From An Interventional Study Using Network Analysis To Support Management In Local Health Departments In Florida, Chin S. Park, Hado Byon, Jonathan W. Keeling, Leslie M. Beitsch, Jacqueline A. Merrill

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Management is the core service that integrates and coordinates essential public health services. Managers of local health departments (LHDs) are experts in practice but may not have expertise in organizational management. We conducted an evidence-based training intervention in 10 LHDs in Florida to support managers’ decision-making on organizational integration and coordination. We deployed a standard survey to collect organizational network measurements pre and post intervention. We presented results as evidence-based performance feedback and interviewed managers to document how they used the results in the context of each organization. Post intervention we found unexpected, significantly higher network centralization in daily work. …

Characteristics Of A Local Health Department Associated With The Use Of The Health Equity Index, Moira A. Lawson, Sharon Mierzwa, Michael Knapp

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Local health departments are tasked with understanding and addressing health inequities in the populations they serve. To meaningfully address health inequities, local health departments have identified the need for credible local data to better understand the relationship between community conditions and health outcomes. Yet, when given access to these data, we observe a very large variation in the level of interest between local health departments.

In this study, we offered Connecticut’s Local health departments access to the Health Equity Index, a web based tool that provides data on health outcomes and community conditions at the state, municipal or neighborhood levels. …

Evaluating Use Of Custom Survey Reports By Local Health Departments, Nadya M. Belenky, Christine A. Bevc, Elizabeth Mahanna, Carol Gunther-Mohr, Mary V. Davis

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

This report demonstrates how providing survey feedback, like comparative reports, to survey respondents can result in improvement activities. For each of the past three years (2010-2013), the North Carolina Institute for Public Health (NCIPH) has invited local health departments (LHDs) from 40 states to participate in a preparedness capacities survey. In addition, NCIPH fielded a six-question evaluation survey to a subset of LHDs (n=70) to determine how LHDs use these reports. LHDs that reported using their custom reports compared their preparedness capacities to other LHDs, conducted strategic planning (e.g., benchmarking, setting preparedness goals), planned staff trainings, and disseminated the report …

The Relationship Between Quality Improvement And Health Information Technology Use In Local Health Departments, Kendra Johnson, Kim K. Nguyen, Shimin Zheng, Robin P. Pendley

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

This research examined if there is a relationship between engagement in quality improvement (QI) and health information technology (HIT) for local health departments (LHDs) controlling for workforce, finance, population, and governance structure. This was a cross-sectional study that analyzed data obtained from the Core questions and Module 1 in the NACCHO 2010 Profile of LHDs. Descriptive statistics, bivariate analyses, and logistic regression analyses were conducted. Findings suggest that LHD engagement in QI has a relationship with utilization of HIT including electronic health records, practice management systems, and electronic syndromic surveillance systems. This study provides baseline information about the HIT use …

Commentary: The Road To Quality In Public Health, A Long But Important Journey, F. Douglas Scutchfield, Glen Mays, Marylou Wallace

Frontiers in Public Health Services and Systems Research

Quality improvement (QI) in public health departments is a focus in this sixth issue of Frontiers. Data is important to the development of quality improvement efforts. As we see growth of and meaningful use of electronic health records, the health department is in a position to take the lead as a data hub and to use this information wisely to both improve their QI efforts and link that QI to outcomes.

Playing In The Sandbox: Using Mixed Methods And Social Network To Examine Interorganizational Relationships Between Nonprofit Housing Organizations In The Richmond Metropolitan Area, Tamarah Holmes

Theses and Dissertations

Nonprofit housing organizations primarily exist to address the housing needs of low-income residents, whose housing needs are not sufficiently met by the public or private housing market. NHOs are very similar to private corporations in their size, productivity and commitment to the “bottom line.” However, unlike private firms, NHOs are “mission driven” instead profit-driven corporations. The development of affordable housing in the nonprofit housing sector requires a myriad of financial and non-financial resources. As competition for financial resources intensifies many organizations are adopting strategies as a means to not only reduce organizational uncertainty and sustain them, but also increase or …

E-Bikes In The United States, John Macarthur

PSU Transportation Seminars

Electric bicycles (e-bikes) are well established in China and other Asian and European countries but have yet to realize their potential in the United States, although recently the number of e-bikes has been growing. Research on the economic, operational, and safety issues of e-bikes in the U.S. is limited. This research aims in part to understand if different bicycling technology, in this case electric assist bicycles or e-bikes, can reduce barriers to bicycling and encourage more bike trips and longer bike trips, and increase the diversity of people bicycling, including people with a disability or chronic injury to bicycle. Some …

Charter Commission For Urban County Government - Warren County, Kentucky (Sc 1128), Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Manuscript Collection Finding Aids

Finding aid only for Manuscripts Small Collection 1128. Correspondence, agendas, minutes and membership lists of Charter Commission and the draft and final copy of the Charter of the Urban County Government of Bowling Green and Warren County, Kentucky.

Using Indicators Projects As Prompts For Exploring Equity: A Case Study Of Greater Portland Pulse, Meg Merrick, Diane Besser, Shelia A. Martin

Institute of Metropolitan Studies Publications

This paper describes the process that the Greater Portland Pulse (GPP) initiated to incorporate the measurement of progress toward social equity into the project. While equity may appear to be a widely accepted priority for communities, the GPP process created a dialogue that was sometimes contentious but also profoundly educational for the participants revealing some of the complexities, not only of the issue of equity, but the challenges (particularly the inadequacy of available data) and trade-offs that are inescapable when using conventional data sets.

Additionally, this paper discusses some of the consequences of a process that, while incorporating equity values …

Assessing The Potential Impact Of The Affordable Care Act On Uninsured Community Health Center Patients: A Nationwide And State-By-State Analysis, Peter Shin, Jessica Sharac, Sara J. Rosenbaum

Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative

In this brief, we estimate the number of uninsured community health center (CHC) patients who would gain coverage under the Affordable Care Act using data from the 2009 HRSA Survey of CHC patients and 2011 Uniform Data System. We find that were all states to implement the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion, an estimated 5 million uninsured health center patients – or two-thirds of all uninsured patients served by CHCs nationally – would be eligible for coverage. However, over one million uninsured patients – 72% of whom live in southern states – who would have been eligible for coverage will …

Proactive Transparency And Government Communication In The Usa And The Netherlands, H.J.M. (Erna) Ruijer

Theses and Dissertations

Proactive government transparency has recently entered the spotlight. Examples of information made public at the initiative of the public body, without the need for filing a request, are: www.data.gov and www.recovery.gov. Transparency is an intrinsic value of democratic societies. In much of the literature an automatic link is assumed between transparency and increased accountability or trust. However, this link may not be as straightforward. Whether and how information is used to further public objectives also depends on the way information is incorporated into the complex communication chain of comprehension, action and response. Therefore, in this dissertation a communication approach was …

Masculinity: The Unseen Barrier In Survivor Assistance, Anne-Sophie Duprat, Lusia Pecak

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Survivors of landmine and explosive remnants of war (ERW) incidents suffer unique consequences from their injuries as a result of their age and gender. As they often have distinct societal roles, survivor assistance needs for women, girls, boys and men differ. Inadequate research on the effects of mine/ERW incidents on men and boys may hinder recovery for male survivors and their families and communities.

The Power Of Peers: Rethinking Victim Assistance, Ken Rutherford, Cameron Macauley

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Peer support is a psychological tool that can expedite recovery time and have longlasting positive results for landmine/explosive remnants of war survivors.

Survivors Promote Victim Assistance And Disability Rights, Megan Burke, Loren Persi

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In 2012, the International Campaign to Ban Landmines and the Cluster Munition Coalition launched the Survivor Network Project, in which networks of landmine survivors collaborate to develop victim assistance objectives. One year after its launch, the Survivor Network Project has achieved some success.

The Journal Of Erw And Mine Action Issue 17.3 (2013), Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Survivor Assistance | Middle East | Syria | Notes from Field | Research and Development

Survivor Success Story: Mezgebu Abiyu Tesfaye, Bekele Gonfa

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Mezgebu Abiyu Tesfaye, an Ethiopian landmine survivor, was born in the East Gojjam zone, Amhara region, in 1967. Raised in a farming family, Mezgebu left school after the eighth grade to help his parents care for their cattle and do daily chores.

Nama: A Gis-Based Network-Analysis Approach For Mine Action, Pierre Lacroix, Rocío Escobar, Olivier Cottray, Pable De Roulet

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

To demonstrate the potential of geographic information system (GIS) network-analysis tools in mine action, a hypothetical case study uses these tools to examine the distance survivors of mine incidents must travel for medical and rehabilitative care in one region in Colombia and suggests a location for a new facility.

Rehabilitation For Gazan Children And Young Adults, Nataša Uršič, Goran Gačnik

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Years of conflict in the Gaza Strip have killed and injured thousands. In response to the need for survivor rehabilitation, Slovenia’s ITF Enhancing Human Security and the University Rehabilitation Institute of the Republic of Slovenia (URI Soča) initiated the Gaza Project, a rehabilitation program for injured children and young adults. Since the Gaza Project’s inception in 2009, more than 300 children and young adults were medically evaluated, 100 children and young adults received treatment and 18 local medical professionals were trained at URI Soča.

Demining Quality Management: Case Studies From Jordan, Jamal Odibat

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Two case studies of clearance in the Jordan Valley and along Jordan’s northern border highlight the importance of quality management to ensure efficiency of clearance and credibility of land release.

The New Imsma And Victim Assistance, Angela Desantis, Daniel Eriksson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

A new update to the Information Management System for Mine Action will include a victim assistance module, which will facilitate the monitoring and tracking of the access of victims to their rights and the accountability of the assistance process.

Aiding Survivors Of The Syrian Crisis, Elizabeth Macnairn, Molly Feltner

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Handicap International (HI) launched operations in northern Syria in December 2012, where it provides postsurgical rehabilitation to survivors of violence. In Lebanon and Jordan, where the organization has worked since the summer of 2012, HI provides assistance to Syrian refugees, placing particular focus on people with disabling injuries.

Spirit Of Soccer In The Zaatari Refugee Camp, Mike Geddes

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Zaatari refugee camp in northern Jordan is home to almost 150,000 refugees from the Syrian conflict—many are children. Spirit of Soccer uses soccer to bring hope and teach the children of Zaatari skills that could save their lives when returning home.

Self-Help Ammunition Destruction Options Worldwide (Shadow), Lee Maroney, Kay Gamst

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

In response to the increasing number of explosions at ammunition storage sites (ASA), Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) created Self-Help Ammunition Destruction Options Worldwide (SHADOW), a program emphasizing national capacity building for stockpile management and destruction through low-tech and cost-effective techniques. Following the success of its first SHADOW project in Moldova in 2010, in 2012 NPA implemented another SHADOW project focused on ASAs in cooperation with Moldova’s National Army and Ministry of Defense.

Has The Ccm Accommodated Gender?, Dalila Mahdawi

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

While the Convention on Cluster Munitions has taken steps to include gender, it missed the opportunity to mainstream gender into a disarmament treaty.

Miniature Aerial Photography Planes In Mine Action, Inna Cruz, Daniel Eriksson

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

The Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining analyzed the benefits, potential uses and cost efficiency of miniature aerial photography planes for use in mine action.

Reinforcement For Operational Mine Detection Rats, Amanda Mahoney, Christophe Cox, Bart Weetjens, Tess Tewelde, Tekimiti Gilbert, Amy Durgin, Alan Poling

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

When using animals for the detection of landmines, handlers face challenges of when to reinforce indication responses, as the actual location of landmines in the field is unknown.Anti-Persoonsmijnen Ontmijnende Product Ontwikkeling(Anti-Personnel Landmine Detection Product Development or APOPO) evaluated an inexpensive method to reinforce rat-indication responses in field settings using TNT to contaminate ground area. Rat detection accuracy was high over the TNT contamination after an overnight soak period of 16 hours and detection accuracy decreased as a function of days passed since soaking.

Faces Of Mine Action: Ammco’S Ermira Keraj, Cisr Journal

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Ermira Keraj lives in the Kukes district of Albania, a region that until recently had the most landmine contamination in the country. Keraj became involved in mine action to make her country, especially her home district, a safer place to live.

Honeybees Trained To Locate Landmines, News Brief

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Croatian researchers from Zagreb University are training honeybees to detect landmines in the Balkans. By feeding the bees a solution of sugar and TNT, the insects learn to associate the scent of explosives with a possible food source.

Military Ordnance Found On U.S. Shores, News Brief

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

(WWII) bomb was detonated 25 June 2013 after it washed ashore on Assateague Island National Seashore, Maryland, U.S.

Do-It-Yourself Weapons In Syria, News Brief

The Journal of Conventional Weapons Destruction

Free Syrian Army forces fighting against President Bashar Assad have filled major gaps in their arsenals by building improvised weapons to combat the Syrian government’s superior arsenal of artillery, tanks and warplanes.