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1 – 10 of 287Elise Catherine Davis, Ashley Evans, Caroline Uptmore, Sarah Lang, Jessica K. McElroy, David Ellenburg, Tony Nguyen and Bita A. Kash
The purpose of this paper is to present proposed solutions and interventions to some of the major barriers to providing adequate access to healthcare in Kenya. Specific business…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present proposed solutions and interventions to some of the major barriers to providing adequate access to healthcare in Kenya. Specific business models are proposed to improve access to quality healthcare in low- and middle-income countries. Finally, strategies are developed for the retail clinic concept (RCC).
Design/methodology/approach
Google Scholar, PubMed and EBSCOhost were among the databases used to collect articles relevant to the purpose in Kenya. Various governmental and news articles were collected from Google searches. Relevant business models from other sectors were considered for potential application to healthcare and the retail clinic concept.
Findings
After a review of current methodologies and approaches to business and franchising models in various settings, the most relevant models are proposed as solutions to improving quality healthcare in Kenya through the RCC. For example, authors reviewed physician recruitment strategies, insurance plans and community engagement. The paper is informed by existing literature and reports as well as key informants.
Research limitations/implications
This paper lacks primary data collection within Kenya and is limited to a brief scoping review of literature. The findings provide effective strategies for various business and franchising models in healthcare.
Originality/value
The assembling of relevant information specific to Kenya and potential business models provides effective means of improving health delivery through business and franchising, focusing on innovative approaches and models that have proven effective in other settings.
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Iman El-Sayed Hossam Hegazy and Ossama El-Sayed Hossam Hegazy
In 2017, 50 percent of Syrian refugee applications in Egypt were submitted by females. However, a suitable integration strategy for this target group remains obscure since the…
Abstract
Purpose
In 2017, 50 percent of Syrian refugee applications in Egypt were submitted by females. However, a suitable integration strategy for this target group remains obscure since the available approaches focus mainly on male integration. That is due to the assumption that women refugees are mere followers to men who socially and economically dominate the families in the Middle East. Accordingly, the integration of the Syrian women refugees in society, as well as in the market, proceeds spontaneously without clear visions and therefore with delays. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
To methodologically understand the circumstances of the aforementioned group expert, focused and narrative “episode interviews” have been conducted. Alexandria, Egypt’s second capital, is the research case study as well as the researchers’ hometown. Thus, it allows following a “descriptive comparative analysis” process between the three Alexandrian districts, with different urban fabric: “Al-Nkhil Agamy” gated community, “El-Asafra/Sidi Becher” informal settlement and “New Borg El-Arab” new city.
Findings
Yet, it is unknown what criteria the Syrian women refugees set for choosing their accommodation. Similarly, the obstacles they encounter, especially the ones preventing their integration, are ambiguous. Even their daily life, which might give insights into the barriers they face, due to their status, is unclear. These are the gaps this paper tackles, in addition to the refugees’ immaterial cultural impact in the host society.
Originality/value
Finally, but also importantly, the topic has been seldom researched in Alexandria, in comparison with Cairo. Therefore, this paper aims at qualitatively hearing of the Syrian refugees’ voices in order to enhance their societal interaction and coexistence in Alexandria.
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Over the last 20 years, food banks in Australia have expanded nationwide and are a well-organised “industry” operating as a third tier of the emergency food relief system. The…
Abstract
Purpose
Over the last 20 years, food banks in Australia have expanded nationwide and are a well-organised “industry” operating as a third tier of the emergency food relief system. The purpose of this paper is to overview the expansion and operation of food banks as an additional self-perpetuating “tier” in the response to hunger.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper draws on secondary data sourced from the internet; as well as information provided by Foodbank Australia and Food Bank South Australia (known as Food Bank SA) to outline the history, development and operation of food banks. Food banking is then critically analysed by examining the nature and framing of the social problems and policies that food banking seeks to address. This critique challenges the dominant intellectual paradigm that focuses on solving problems; rather it questions how problem representation may imply certain understandings.
Findings
The issue of food banks is framed as one of food re-distribution and feeding hungry people; however, the paper argue that “the problem” underpinning the food bank industry is one of maintaining food system efficiency. Food banks continue as a neo-liberal mechanism to deflect query, debate and structural action on food poverty and hunger. Consequently their existence does little to ameliorate the problem of food poverty.
Practical implications
New approaches and partnerships with stakeholders remain key challenges for food banks to work more effectively to address food poverty.
Social implications
While the food bank industry remains the dominant solution to food poverty in Australia, debate will be deflected from the underlying structural causes of hunger.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the limited academic literature and minimal critique of the food bank industry in Australia. It proposes that the rapid expansion of food banks is a salient marker of government and policy failure to address food poverty.
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Sarah Wilkinson, Luciana Lang and Sophie Yarker
The purpose of this paper is to present alternative ways of addressing inequality in age-friendly work by drawing attention to the limitations of place-based approaches in meeting…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present alternative ways of addressing inequality in age-friendly work by drawing attention to the limitations of place-based approaches in meeting the needs of dispersed communities.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study of the age-friendly programme Ambition for Ageing (AfA) is used to explore three examples of working with minority communities.
Findings
Place-based age-friendly development risks further marginalising older people belonging to dispersed communities of identity or experience; therefore, we need to adopt adopt an intersectional approach to inequality in later life.
Practical implications
Three ways that age-friendly programmes may become more inclusive of minority groups who are geographically dispersed are identified: bringing community members together; co-production; and supporting visibility in mainstream settings.
Originality/value
This paper brings together insights from the AfA programme, critically assessing place-based approaches in relation to working with dispersed communities of identity. It offers some ways to mitigate limitations through adopting tailored equality approaches.
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The United Arab Emirates’ complex history, its current demographics, its youthfulness as a country, and the fact that it is a region undergoing fast-paced change make the issue of…
Abstract
The United Arab Emirates’ complex history, its current demographics, its youthfulness as a country, and the fact that it is a region undergoing fast-paced change make the issue of cultura identity particularly relevant and urgent in this part of the world. This is especially true given the rapid spread of English in the sphere of education and everyday life in recent years. This paper discusses the above issues before analyzing the attitudes and perceptions of female Emirati undergraduate students and female Emirati primary school teachers with regard to global English and its effects on local culture and identity. After analysis of the findings from a qualitative study using open-response questionnaires with 35 undergraduates and twelve teachers, a discussion follows with recommendations on how to overcome issues raised in the study.
Philippe Jacques Codjo Lassou, Matthew Sorola, Daniela Senkl, Sarah George Lauwo and Chelsea Masse
This paper aims to investigate the prevalence of corruption in Ghana to understand how and why it has turned public procurement into a mere money-making scheme instead of a means…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the prevalence of corruption in Ghana to understand how and why it has turned public procurement into a mere money-making scheme instead of a means to provide needed public goods and services.
Design/methodology/approach
The study focuses on Ghana as a case study and mobilizes the monetization of politics lenses. Data are collected via interviews with key officials across the procurement sector (including the government, donors and civil society), documents, documentaries and news articles.
Findings
The findings suggest that the increasing costs of elections and political financing coupled with the costs of vote-buying, which has become informally institutionalized, intensify corruption practices and, consequently, turns public procurement into a mere source of cash for political ends. Political appointments and legalized loopholes facilitate this by helping to nullify the safeguard accounting and other control institutions are designed to provide. Likewise, enduring poverty and rising inequality “force” citizens into a vote-buying culture which distorts democratic premises that may drive out unscrupulous politicians; thus, perpetuating capture schemes. Civil society's efforts to remedy these have had little success, and corruption and inequality remain rife.
Practical implications
The main practical implication of the study lies in the need for a gradual demonetization of elections, and the consideration of the fundamental function of public procurement as a policy instrument embedded in economic, social, cultural and environmental plans. Additionally, given the connectedness of the various corruption issues raised, a comprehensive system-based approach in dealing with them would be more effective than a piecemeal approach targeting each issue/problem in isolation.
Originality/value
While extant literature has examined the issue of endemic corruption in developing countries using state capture, few have attempted to explain why it remains enduring, particularly in public procurement. This study, therefore, contributes to the literature on corruption and state capture theoretically and empirically by drawing on monetization of politics from political science to explain why corruption and state capture endure in certain contexts (with Ghana as an illustrative example) which reduce public procurement to a cash-milking scheme.
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Judith Maher and Sarah Burkhart
The purpose of this paper is to describe students’ self-reported learning from engaging in an experiential learning task designed to develop their understanding of sustainable…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to describe students’ self-reported learning from engaging in an experiential learning task designed to develop their understanding of sustainable food systems and dietary practices.
Design/methodology/approach
In all, 143 first-year students enrolled in an entry level food and nutrition subject undertook a three-week eco-friendly food challenge (1. Reduce food (and food-related) waste; 2. localise food purchases; 3. eat seasonally and sustainably; or 4. reduce meat consumption). They blogged about their experience and respond to an action-orientated reflective question each week. Content analysis of the blogs was undertaken using NVivo 10. Content was systematically coded and categorised according to action/activity, learning and response to reflective question.
Findings
Students reported undertaking a range of self-selected practical activities throughout the challenge. Self-reported learning suggested students gained self-awareness and knowledge and demonstrated problem-solving abilities. The importance of planning and preparation was the most common theme in students’ blogs when responding to the action-orientated reflective question in Week 1. In Week 2, students identified socially mediated barriers and the time and energy required to undertake their challenge as the most likely barriers preventing others engaging in the challenge. They provided advice and solutions to overcome these barriers. In Week 3, a range of community, government and multi-sector initiatives to support consumer food-related behaviour change were identified.
Originality/value
This approach presents a possible means for engaging nutrition undergraduates with environmental sustainability.
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Sarah P. Ho and Summer F. Odom
Students (N = 313) in undergraduate leadership degree programs at Texas A&M University were surveyed to determine their leadership mindset using hierarchical and systemic thinking…
Abstract
Students (N = 313) in undergraduate leadership degree programs at Texas A&M University were surveyed to determine their leadership mindset using hierarchical and systemic thinking preferences. Significant differences in thinking were found between gender and academic classification. Male leadership students scored greater in hierarchical thinking than females. Seniors, leadership students typically in their last semester of studies, scored significantly lower in hierarchical thinking than juniors. Findings indicate formal leadership coursework influences students’ leadership mindsets.
Sarah Bolton, Dennis W. Duncan, Nicholas E. Fuhrman and Frank Flanders
Collegiate livestock judging is primarily an extracurricular activity that reinforces concepts taught in the classroom. Previous research has determined that participating on a…
Abstract
Collegiate livestock judging is primarily an extracurricular activity that reinforces concepts taught in the classroom. Previous research has determined that participating on a livestock judging team can aid in the development of perceived life skills. Participants of this study indicated that their experience on a collegiate team helped them develop professional public speaking skills, learn the value of hard work and dedication, and be task and goal- oriented.
Sarah Holdsworth, Carina Wyborn, Sarah Bekessy and Ian Thomas
This paper seeks to report research undertaken to assess the extent to which Australian universities were engaged in professional development (PD) activities focusing on the…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper seeks to report research undertaken to assess the extent to which Australian universities were engaged in professional development (PD) activities focusing on the development of education for sustainability for their academics.
Design/methodology/approach
This web‐based survey seeks to identify the existence of PD programs and teaching induction programs within universities, or where programs in tertiary teaching that included any sustainability education content were offered.
Findings
While the vast majority of universities had information about PD available, only one offers a PD course designed to introduce academics to sustainability and teaching sustainability. This is despite the high number of Australian universities that have signed sustainability education declarations, which include commitments to achieving sustainability literacy in staff and students.
Research limitations/implications
The survey focused only on information contained on web sites, and information that would not have been identified by this methodology such as informal programs, forums and workshops, and anything on secure staff “intranet” sites.
Practical implications
This research indicates that in Australia there is only very limited PD activity, which provides one explanation for the limited extent to which education for sustainability is evident in universities.
Originality/value
There is little information about PD activity in universities generally, and especially in Australia. This research provides a starting‐point investigation into activity that may have been missed by the research. More importantly, it provides a base for the exploration of PD programs that will be the most effective and efficient in facilitating education for sustainability.
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