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Community-based HIV testing and counselling (HTC) has been recommended for improving access to prevention, care, and treatment services in at-risk populations. Earlier systematic reviews and meta-analyses have been undertaken, but due to some methodological limitations, their findings do not yet provide a practical significance. The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the recent evidence of the efficacy of community-based HTC approaches on the uptake of HTC in at-risk populations.

The database of PubMed online, Science Direct, the Lancet Global Health, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials, and Google Scholar were systematically searched using Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines to obtain empirical papers published between March 2013 and December 2015.

Of 600 collected papers, there were 6 cluster randomized trials papers which met the inclusion criteria. Compared to the health facilities-based HTC, community-based HTC approaches have been shown to improve the uptake of HIV testing from 5.8 to 37 per cent, and improve HIV testing in men and their partners together from 6.8 to 34 per cent. The community approaches also detected lower HIV-positive cases (0.29 per cent as compared to 4 per cent), improved access to treatment services from 0.3 to 25 per cent, demonstrated higher cluster differentiation 4 count in newly diagnosed patients (median of 400-438 cells/µl), and increased the rate of first-time HIV testing from 9 to 11.8 per cent. With respect to social and behavioural outcomes, community-based HTC increased social norms for HIV testing by 6 per cent (95 per cent CI 3-9), decreased multiple sex partners by 55 per cent (95 per cent CI 42-73), lowered casual sex by 45 per cent (95 per cent CI 33-62), increased knowledge about HIV (83.2 vs 28.9 per cent), improved positive attitudes towards HIV patients (73.0 vs 34.3 per cent), and increased the use of condoms (28.0 vs 12.3 per cent).

Community-based HTC combined with behavioural interventions have been found to be more effective in increasing the uptake of HIV testing as well as other outcomes as compared to the conventional health facilities-based testing and counselling approaches.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the prevalence of potential problem gambling among Finnish prisoners; the associations between problem gambling and demographics, substance use and crime-related factors; and problem gamblers’ support preferences.

Prisoners (n=96) from two Finnish prisons were recruited between December 2017 and January 2018. The estimated response rate was 31 percent. Gambling problems were measured using the Brief Biosocial Gambling Screen. The participants were asked to report their gambling both for one year prior to their incarceration and for the past year. The independent variables were demographics (age, gender and marital status), substance use (alcohol, smoking and narcotics) and crime-related factors (crime type, prison type and previous sentence). Statistical significance (p) was determined using Fischer’s exact test.

Past-year pre-conviction problem gambling prevalence was 16.3 percent and past-year prevalence 15 percent. Age, gender, smoking, alcohol or illicit drug use were not associated with past-year problem gambling before sentencing. One-third of the prisoners (33.3 percent) who were sentenced for a property crime, financial crime or robbery were problem gamblers. One-quarter (24 percent) of all participants showed an interest in receiving support by identifying one or more support preferences. The most preferred type of support was group support in its all forms.

It is recommended that correctional institutions undertake systematic screening for potential problem gambling, and implement tailored intervention programs for inmates with gambling problems.

This study provides a deeper understanding of problem gambling in prisons. Problem gambling is associated with crime and also seems to be linked with serving a previous sentence. Early detection and tailored interventions for problem gambling may help to reduce reoffending rates.

The purpose of the study was to examine whether there were differences in the provision of non-pharmacological interventions based on the level of intellectual disability and the presence or absence of autism. Mental health conditions are often underdiagnosed in adults with intellectual disability and do not always receive psychological interventions as recommended by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellent guidelines. To realise the national UK programme’s aim of stopping the overuse of medications in people with intellectual disability, it is important that these individuals have access to appropriate non-pharmacological interventions. The authors examined the relationship between an individual’s level of intellectual disability and the presence or absence of autism with access to relevant non-pharmacological interventions from specialist community intellectual disability services.

A cross-sectional study of adults accessing four specialist intellectual disability services in North West England in 2019.

There was a high prevalence of mental health comorbidity, even higher for autistic adults. However, a relatively small percentage of the study population was receiving psychological interventions. The most frequent non-pharmacological intervention was a positive behaviour support plan, irrespective of comorbid mental illnesses.

Not having access to psychological interventions for the treatment of mental illness could result in poor health outcomes and increasing health inequalities. The study highlights the need for developing psychological interventions, particularly for those with moderate to severe intellectual disability and for those with associated autism.

This large sample study examined the relationship between intellectual disability level and the presence of autism with accessing psychological interventions.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse the association between drug consumption and unemployment. This paper also studies the differential association between these variables in both the pre- and current-crisis periods. The results are compared in an attempt to verify that the population of users is more vulnerable in terms of how likely they are to get and hold down a job in the labour market.

Matching methods and microdata from the Survey on Alcohol and Drugs in Spain, EDADES are used. The use of these methods on the estimates carried out prove to be particularly effective in reducing treatment-selection bias. The authors’ interest is also to analyse the differential association between the interest variables in both the pre- and current-crisis periods. For this purpose, the authors also use the differences-in-differences (DID) estimation method between the two periods to check if the impact of drug use on unemployment depends on the economic context. The estimations are compared in an attempt to verify that the population of users is less likely to attain and hold down a job in the labour market than non-drug users.

The results obtained in the current study are consistent with the hypothesis that drug use decreases an individual’s capacity and availability when he or she is trying to enter the labour market. In both 2007 and 2013, drug users were more likely to be unemployed, regardless of the type of drug. Differences in the probability of being unemployed intensify during an economic crisis. In light of these results, it is possible to conclude that the negative effect of drug consumption on an individual’s employability is increased during periods of economic recession.

The study presented here has some limitations. Firstly, cross-sectional data were used to examine the causal relationship between consumption and employment. In this sense, the results are susceptible to bias. The unavailability of longitudinal data on the same individual made it impossible for the researchers to consider periods of abstinence, the duration of periods of consumption and how this consumption affected an individual’s productivity and his or her working situation. Another limitation is that certain relevant unemployment variables may have been omitted. Among the variables that affect an individual’s labour participation is the existence of sources of income as an alternative to market salaries. With state subsidies, income from illegal activities and money sent by family or friends, an individual may decide not to work. This problem could be mitigated if omitted variables operate in a similar way throughout both of the periods examined.

Given the results obtained in this paper, the authors believe that public policy conclusions should be mainly concerned with the importance of implementing proactive employment policies, along with family support programmes and a greater role for primary care among the people with the highest risks of exclusion. Health treatment should go jointly with measures that make it easier for individuals to enter the workforce. These steps would only be possible with an improved level of education and more complete professional profiles, to increase motivation when individuals seek employment.

This study could make various contributions to the existing body of evidence. In the authors’ knowledge, this is the first attempt to document the effect of the economic crisis on the employability of the drug-using population in contrast with the general population. Moreover, a methodology is presented that provides an alternative to those used in earlier studies, in terms of reducing treatment-selection bias. At the same time, the use of a DID estimation method between pre- and current-crisis periods allow us to check if the impact of drugs consumption on unemployment depends on the economic context.

The opioid epidemic in the USA, the new psychoactive substances emerging on the market and the recent increase in cocaine treatment demands in Western Europe, all emphasise the importance of monitoring the use and harms of drugs over time. To be informed about new consumption patterns, this study aims to study the trends among people entering treatment for substance use in Belgium.

Belgian data from the Treatment Demand Indicator collected between 2015 and 2019 were used. A reference group of treatment units was selected to allow for comparisons between the different years. Trend analysis was performed by using a joinpoint regression among different regions and groups of clients.

The drugs of choice that were most frequently mentioned among the 23,000 analysed treatment episodes were alcohol and cannabis. Both remained relatively stable over time. Heroin seemed to be decreasing significantly at the national level, but increased in Brussels. Benzodiazepines decreased significantly in Flanders and Brussels, but not in Wallonia. On the other hand, reports of crack cocaine increased significantly in the three regions with a more pronounced trend in Wallonia and Brussels. Substances such as fentanyl, methamphetamine, ketamine or volatile inhalants have been mentioned significantly more by people entering treatment in 2019, although their contribution to the total number is still limited.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to evaluate trends for all drugs of choice at a national and regional level. These results might not only benefit national policymakers but also other countries with similar alcohol or drug use patterns.

This paper aims to examine the time it would take to provide medical prophylaxis for a large urban population in the wake of an airborne anthrax attack and the effect that various parameters have on the total logistical time.

A mathematical model that evaluates key parameters and suggests alternatives for improvement is formulated. The objective of the model is to minimize the total logistical time required for prophylaxis by balancing three cycles as follows: the loading cycle, the shipping cycle and the service cycle.

Applying the model to two representative cases reveals the effect of various parameters on the process. For example, the number of distribution centers and the number of servers in each center are key parameters, whereas the number of central depots and the local shipping method is less important.

Various psychological factors such as mass panic are not included in the model.

There are few papers analyzing the logistical response to an anthrax attack, and most focus mainly on the strategic level. The study deals with the tactical logistical level. The authors focus on the distribution process of prophylaxis and other medical supplies during the crisis, analyze it and identify the parameters that influence the time between the detection of the attack and the provision of effective medical treatment to the exposed population.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of immigration on the labour market outcomes of low-educated natives (i.e. residents without a university diploma). Using the labour market competition theory, which argues that the labour market effects of natives depend on the skill set of immigrants, the paper addresses whether immigrants are complementary to or substitutes for native workers.

Longitudinal matched employer–employee data on Sweden are used to estimate how low-educated natives, in regions experiencing the greatest influx of refugees from the Balkan wars, responded to this supply shock with regard to real wages, employment and job mobility between 1990 and 2003.

First, the analysis shows that low-educated native workers respond to the arrival of immigrants with an increase in real wages. Second, although employment prospects in general worsened for low-skilled workers in most regions, this is not attributable to the regions experiencing the largest supply shock. Third, there are indications that low-skilled natives in immigration-rich regions are more likely to change workplace, particularly in combination with moving upwards in the wage distribution.

Rather than seeing an emergence of the commonly perceived displacement mechanism when an economy is subject to a supply shock, the regional findings suggest that high inflows of immigrants tend to induce a mechanism that pulls native workers upwards in the wage distribution. This is important, as the proportion of immigrants is seldom evenly distributed within a nation.

This study aims to provide a thick description of a four-day bridging course in introductory accounting presented before the start of a student’s first year. The course aims to address the lack of prior accounting knowledge. The study also evaluates the effectiveness of the course using econometric techniques. Treatment effects are considered when interpreting the results.

This voluntary intervention used a quasi-experimental research design and quantitative techniques, including the application of propensity score matching (PSM), to isolate the treatment effect on the treated and untreated groups.

A positive and significant association is reported between attending the bridging course and performance in the first assessment.

A bridging course in accounting offers higher educators an opportunity to ensure that students are academically better prepared when entering university. This course provides adequate prior knowledge from which a student will benefit during the first assessments, which may contribute to increased self-efficacy and retention. This intervention has social implications for students as they can interact, participate and easily transition from school to university. Social implications include learning communities that are formed at the onset of their studies.

Bridging courses have been presented in other disciplines with positive results but not yet in accounting. Bridging courses in accounting are viable interventions to address gaps in prior knowledge and assist with the transition from school to university. This study expands literature by demonstrating the application and interpretation of PSM in quasi-experimental designs.

In order to assess the state of health of Europe’s children, or to appraise the systems and models of healthcare delivery, data about children are essential, with as much precision and accuracy as possible by small group characteristic. Unfortunately, the experience of the Models of Child Health Appraised (MOCHA) project and its scientists shows that this ideal is seldom met, and thus the accuracy of appraisal or planning work is compromised. In the project, we explored the data collected on children by a number of databases used in Europe and globally, to find that although the four quinquennial age bands are common, it is impossible to represent children aged 0–17 years as a legally defined group in statistical analysis. Adolescents, in particular, are the most invisible age group despite this being a time of life when they are rapidly changing and facing increasing challenges. In terms of measurement and monitoring, there is little progress from work of nearly two decades ago that recommended an information system, and no focus on the creation of a policy and ethical framework to allow collaborative analysis of the rich anonymised databases that hold real-world people-based data. In respect of data systems and surveillance, nearly all systems in European society pay lip service to the importance of children, but do not accommodate them in a practical and statistical sense.

This study aims to (1) examine the effect of customer awareness of restaurant philanthropic activities on customer loyalty; (2) investigate the mediating roles of customer social benevolence trust, perceived restaurant reputation and affective commitment on the relationship between their awareness of restaurant philanthropic activities and customer loyalty; and (3) test the path effect differences between the directed and general philanthropic activities during the COVID-19 pandemic period.

This study used online scenario-based surveys to collect data. Based on 293 useable surveys, partial least squares structural equation modeling was applied for data analysis.

This study finds that customer awareness of restaurant philanthropic activities positively relates to customer loyalty. Moreover, customer social benevolence trust, perceived restaurant reputation and affective commitment have positive mediating effects on the relationship between their awareness of restaurant philanthropic activities and customer loyalty. There is no significant path effect difference between the directed and general philanthropic activities.

This study suggests that restaurant decision-makers should conduct either directed or general philanthropic activities as a marketing tool to sustain customers during the COVID-19 recovery.

This study is the first study that discusses the marketing role of corporate philanthropy in the restaurant industry during the COVID-19 pandemic and stresses the importance of proactive strategic donations that helps restaurants' recovery.