Awareness-raising Activities Research Articles

On negative aspects of environmental and other non-profit organizations’ activities under conditions of global challenges and threats

Subject. This article considers the activities of international environmental and other non-profit organizations, in the context of continuing economic integration of countries. Their humanitarian reputation, potential, and pervasiveness are increasingly being used by the West in unfair competition in the markets for natural resource extraction and territory development. Objectives. The aim is to identify and assess possible threats to the economic security of the State, associated with the activities of environmental and other non-profit organizations in its territory. Methods. The study employs the dialectical method, systems approach, and tabular interpretation of empirical and factual information. In view of little knowledge of the problem in economic science, for our empirical reasoning and hypotheses, we perform the analysis of resonant examples of the influence of international organizations on economic processes in the State. Results. We examined negative aspects of activities of environmental organizations, potentially posing a threat to the economic security of the State. We analyzed examples that confirm the illegal actions of such movements, predicted their possible consequences, assessed resonant situations associated with the functioning of Greenpeace, WWF, and attempts to establish external control over political, social, and economic projects of the State. Conclusions. International non-profit organizations have a direct impact on government processes in the Russian Federation. It is important to establish and develop national environmental structures, implement awareness-raising activities, and support domestic science.

Nationwide awareness-raising program for viral hepatitis in Japan: the "Shitte kan-en" project.

Chronic viral hepatitis is one of the most widespread infectious diseases in Japan. In the 2009 financial year, the Japanese government enacted the Basic Act on Hepatitis Measures, followed by the Basic Guidelines for Promotion of Control Measures for Hepatitis 2 years later. The guidelines emphasize the importance of provision and dissemination of accurate information on viral hepatitis and public awareness-raising. A subsidy program on hepatitis was therefore launched by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in 2011, called "Shitte kan-en" (in English, "Let's learn about hepatitis"), and involves popular Japanese actors and singers. The project started awareness-raising activities in the 2013 financial year, as the "National Campaign Project for Hepatitis Measures". It aims to communicate concise and accurate information about hepatitis and the necessity of testing for viral hepatitis. It also encourages citizens to take a positive approach to early detection and treatment. To date, the main initiatives of the project are as follows: i) celebrity visits to prefectural governors to draw attention to the condition, ii) educational events in cooperation with hepatologists in regional core hospitals, iii) support for partner companies' hepatitis awareness activities in workplaces, and iv) support for the activities of program promoters. Targeting approaches to particular groups is likely to be key to success for general awareness-raising. Evaluation of the effectiveness of this multifaceted approach is warranted to reduce the undiagnosed population and improve the link between testing and care for viral hepatitis in Japan.

Water and Libraries. A Combination That Is Only Apparently Distant

The natural element ‘water’ is the most precious resource we have. For years, we have been observing exponentially growing water needs, compared to increasingly the lower availability of water itself, caused by both environmental and socio-economic factors. This project aims at carrying out information, cultural and awareness-raising activities, in order to make citizens more aware on the responsible use of water. The target-audience is diversified, and different initiatives can be planned for children and adults. The resulting impact should benefit the environment (less consumption of water resources), the acquired knowledge (chemical-physical composition of water, origin of water of a specific city, evaluation of mineral waters), and the economic savings of families (how to read a bill, how to save water through simple daily actions and so pay less). Information meetings can be accompanied by cultural moments on the topic of ‘water and civilization’.

Outcomes and Future Prospect of Japan's National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance (2016-2020).

The threat from antimicrobial resistance (AMR) continues to grow. Japan’s National Action Plan on Antimicrobial Resistance, which was formulated in 2016 and targets six areas, has already had a major impact on the countermeasures implemented against AMR. Particular advances have been made in AMR-related surveillance, and we now know the situation regarding antimicrobial use and antimicrobial-resistant bacteria in the country. Educational and awareness-raising activities for medical professionals and the general public have been actively implemented and seem to have contributed to a gradual move toward an appropriate use of antimicrobials. However, there is still insufficient understanding of the issue among the general public. Determining how to use surveillance results and implementing further awareness-raising activities are crucial to address this. Tasks for the future include both raising awareness and the promotion of AMR research and development and international cooperation. The government’s next Action Plan, which will detail future countermeasures against AMR based on the outcomes of and tasks identified in the current Action Plan, has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is urgently awaited.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Physicians Regarding Vaccinations in Yerevan, Armenia: A Case Study of HPV.

This paper highlights the low levels of vaccine coverage and high levels of reported vaccination hesitancy in Yerevan, Armenia, that present profound challenges to the control of disease through routine vaccination programmes. We draw on investigations of hesitancy towards the introduction of new vaccines, using the Human Papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine Gardasil as a case study, to interrogate underlying challenges to vaccine acceptance. We analyse primary data from the introduction of Gardasil, first used in Armenia in 2017, to investigate how levels of medical knowledge amongst physicians in 20 health facilities in Yerevan, Armenia, regarding vaccine science influence attitudes towards the introduction of a newly developed vaccine. A questionnaire-based cross-sectional study was completed by 348 physicians between December 2017 and September 2018. The responding physicians displayed a respectable level of knowledge and awareness regarding vaccination with respect to some characteristics (e.g., more than 81% knew that HPV infection was commonly asymptomatic, 73% knew that HPV infection was implicated in most cervical cancers, and 87% knew that cervical cancer is the most prevalent cancer amongst women) but low knowledge and poor understanding of other key issues such as the age at which women were most likely to develop cervical cancer (only 15% answered correctly), whether or not the vaccine should be administered to people who had already been infected (27% answered correctly) and whether sexually active young people should be treated for infection before vaccination (26% answered correctly). The study suggests that the drivers of vaccine hesitancy are complex and may not be consistent from vaccine to vaccine. The Armenian healthcare sector may need to provide additional training, awareness-raising and educational activities alongside the introduction of new vaccines to improve understanding of and trust in vaccination programmes.

Maternal and child factors associated with early initiation of breastfeeding in Chad: evidence from nationally representative cross-sectional data.

BackgroundEarly initiation of breastfeeding (EIB) is an inexpensive practice but has a substantial potential to reduce neonatal morbidity. Therefore, this study investigated the maternal and child-related factors associated with EIB and makes recommendations that could help improve the practice in Chad.MethodsWe used data from the children's recode file of the 2014–2015 Chad Demographic and Health Survey. A total of 3991 women ages 15–49 y who had last-born children in the 2 y preceding the survey were included in our study. The outcome variable for the study was EIB. Both descriptive (frequencies and percentages) and inferential (binary logistic regression) analyses were carried out. All results of the binary logistic analyses are presented as adjusted odds ratios (aORs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs).ResultsWe found the prevalence of EIB in Chad to be 23.8%. In terms of maternal factors, the likelihood of EIB was high among non-working women (aOR 1.37 [95% CI 1.18 to 1.59]), the richest wealth quintile women (aOR 1.37 [95% CI 1.04 to 1.79]) and non-media-exposed women (aOR 1.58 [95% CI 1.24 to 2.02]) compared with working women, the poorest wealth quintile women and media-exposed women, respectively. EIB was lower among children whose mothers had one to three antenatal care visits (ANC; aOR 0.73 [95% CI 0.61 to 0.87]) and four or more ANC visits (aOR 0.80 [95% CI 0.66 to 0.97]) compared with those who had no ANC visits. With the child factors, EIB was higher among mothers of children who were smaller than average size at birth compared with those of larger than average birth size (aOR 1.47 [95% CI 1.24 to 1.74]). Mothers of children of fifth-order or more births compared with those of first-order births (aOR 1.51 [95% CI 1.07 to 2.12]) and those who were delivered through vaginal birth compared with those delivered through caesarean section (aOR 4.71 [95% CI 1.36 to 16.24]) were more likely to practice EIB.ConclusionsMaternal and child-related factors play roles in EIB in Chad. Hence, it is important to consider these factors in maternal and neonatal health interventions. Such initiatives, including training of outreach health workers, health education, counselling sessions and awareness-raising activities on breastfeeding geared towards EIB should be undertaken. These should take into consideration the employment status, wealth quintile, exposure to mass media, size of the baby at birth, ANC visits, parity and delivery method.

САНИТАРНО-ГИГИЕНИЧЕСКИЕ МЕРОПРИЯТИЯ, ПРОВОДИМЫЕ НА ТЕРРИТОРИИ МИНСКОГО ВОЕННОГО ОКРУГА (1914-1917 ГГ.)

The article highlights and analyzes sanitary and hygienic measures carried out on the territory of the Minsk Military District at the beginning of the First World War. With the outbreak of war, the number of cases constantly increased, the growth of infectious diseases was especially large. Cholera epidemics were recorded annually. There was a high incidence of typhoid fever and dysentery. There was an increase in the incidence of variola. The spread of diseases was facilitated by huge flows of refugees who were evacuated by whole echelons to the internal provinces of Russia and whose route passed through the territory of the Minsk Military District. The program of anti-epidemiological and preventive measures included concern for the health of soldiers, contentment, and a place to relax. Awareness-raising activities were carried out. However, the measures taken at the beginning of the war turned out to be ineffective due to the lack of a single military medical organization and medicines. The lack of medical staff in the rear and especially at the front, material and human resources, and the inconsistency of actions between departmental structures complicated the implementation of preventive and therapeutic measures to prevent and reduce the spread of morbidity rate. The article is written on the basis of the materials of the Orders of the Minsk Military District Administration at the theatre of war.

El papel de los medios de comunicación en la juventud rusa

The purpose of this article is to analyze the role of the media in shaping the moral values ​​of Russian youth in the city of Nizhny Novgorod, and to measure the effect of various media sources on the consciousness of these young people. . At the center of this research was a sociocultural approach, which allowed to identify the main trends in the development of the sociocultural dimension of Russian society. We present the results of our sociological study of young people (N-195) based on the questionnaire survey method followed by data processing in the SPSS-21 program. The results of the research indicate the change in the priority sources of information, since the current interest of young people has shifted towards the consumption of Internet resources. Respondents named messengers, computer games, music services, and online stores as the most attractive Internet content. Due to the great popularity of the Internet among this age population, it becomes a powerful tool for manipulating young minds. Therefore, the findings of this document can be useful to organize cultural, enlightening, awareness-raising and educational activities with young people.

Sustainable business events: The perceptions of service providers, attendees, and stakeholders in decision-making positions

Sustainable business events have the potential to diversify the tourism offering of destinations, to attract higher-spending visitors, and to elongate the tourism season, while economically, socially and environmentally benefiting host communities. Nonetheless, the incorporation of sustainability principles in business events requires coordinated actions and collaboration from a range of stakeholders, including service providers and those in decision-making positions. This research employed quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate the perceptions of 50 business event attendees, 16 business event service providers, and five decision-makers in Cyprus with regards to the state of the business event sector’s sustainability, and obstacles and opportunities for its sustainable growth. Our findings suggest that very few sustainability practices are currently implemented in the organization of business events and demand for sustainability is relatively low. However, the provision of incentives coupled with trainings and capacity building for key actors within the supply chain as well as extensive horizontal awareness-raising activities could catalyze the transition of the business event sector toward sustainability and attract additional business events to Cyprus. Importantly, the emergence of a sustainable business event sector in Cyprus could also contribute to the sector’s and the country’s post-COVID-19 recovery.

Telluric and Climate-Related Risk Awareness, and Risk Mitigation Strategies in the Azores Archipelago: First Steps for Building Societal Resilience

Islands are often considered excellent socio-ecological laboratories for testing the rapidity of global change since they experience the climate effects of sea-level rise faster than other areas. The Azores are a Portuguese volcanic archipelago located on the junction of the three tectonic plates: the Eurasian, the African and the North American plates. São Miguel, the main island of the Azores archipelago, hosts three active volcanoes, but the last significant volcanic eruption was the Capelinhos volcano on the island of Faial in 1957. Hence, the Azores offers the opportunity to assess insular risk awareness, facing both telluric and climate-related hazards. The key research question emerges from their natural situation: how does the local population perceive the threat of the natural hazards that occur in Azores? Because risks are socially constructed and depend on the uniqueness of territories, risk mitigation strategies must focus on the individual experiences of local dwellers, as a relationship between risk awareness and such strategies may be expected. To analyze this relationship, a web-based survey with a questionnaire including these variables was administered to a sample of Azoreans. The study aimed to assess risk awareness of the Azorean population and find a relationship between this and reported mitigation strategies. The results gave a preliminary insight into Azorean risk awareness of natural hazards and showed a significant positive relationship between risk awareness-raising activities and reported mitigation strategies. This is relevant information for municipalities and regional governments of areas with similar risk exposures, showing that, although risk awareness alone is not enough for measures to be implemented, it may be an important motivational first step for this to occur.

Records management at the Council of Europe (2): the digital turn

The implementation of electronic records management at the Council of Europe was a crucial step in leading the intergovernmental human rights organization towards comprehensive corporate information management. The motivation for introducing records management was to improve access to information. Finding information proved to be difficult due to the fragmented information landscape, combined with a lack of governance for digital information. To amend this situation, corporate control and standardization were introduced along the whole information life cycle, involving the information producers as key players. The article describes this implementation, covering roughly the decade from 2008 to 2018, from its foundations and preparations to the deployment, awareness-raising and training activities. Special emphasis is put on the instruments that support a standardized records management approach, such as business classification scheme, retention and disposal schedules, and metadata. The success and failure points are briefly presented. It appears that records management can be a catalyst for corporate-wide information management.

Knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) regarding COVID-19 and Coronavirus anxiety levels in the Turkish population

Aim: The knowledge, attitude and practice level of the people about the disease can provide data on behavioral change for the health authorities. This study aims to measure the knowledge, attitude, and practice levels of people living in Turkey towards COVID-19 and determine their anxiety levels. Material and Methods: Eight hundred sixty people were reached through online surveys between May 20-30, 2020. Along with questions measuring demo-graphic features, Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices (KAP) Towards COVID-19 and Coronavirus Anxiety Scale (CAS) were used in the research. Descriptive statistical analysis, chi-square tests, t-tests, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), multiple linear regression analyses, and logistic regression analysis were used in the study. Results: The overall mean of the KAP scale was 10.65 ± 1.26. This shows that Turkish people have a high level of knowledge about COVID-19. Moreover, the overall mean of the anxiety scale was 1.96 ± 3.30, and the general anxiety levels of the participants were determined to be very low. Most of the participants showed positive attitudes towards the successful control of COVID-19 (65.9%) and Turkey’s ability to defeat the disease (82.1%). Discussion: It can be stated that this study is important because it is the first study evaluating the KAP and CAS levels for COVID-19 in Turkey. As a result, health education programs and awareness-raising activities targeting individuals with less knowledge about COVID-19 can be important in controlling the outbreak.

Contributions of participatory budgeting to climate change adaptation and mitigation: current local practices across the world and lessons from the field

This paper explores the extent to which participatory budgeting (PB) contributes to climate change adaptation and mitigation, based on an analysis of initiatives from 15 cities and regions in the global South and North. PB contributions are far from marginal, with significant investments decided by local people. The paper highlights some of the numerous innovations introduced to integrate PB into climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. Through a scrutiny of 4,400 PB projects, the research identified six categories of climate-related projects encompassing hardware as well as software approaches, such as awareness-raising activities, community-based early warning projects and research. The paper advocates for solidarity PBs for climate justice, and raises awareness of the huge (and as yet largely untapped) potential for this to help address the dramatic impacts that climate change has on millions of people’s lives. It also points to questions for future research.

Toward the development of a vibrant, super-aged society: The future of medicine and society in Japan.

Toward the development of a vibrant, super-aged society: The future of medicine and society in Japan.

Funding of activities of state veterinary services of Russian Federation Subjects

The due performance by the veterinary service of its assigned functions depends largely on the amount of funding provided for different aspects and types of its activities. The paper presents analysis results for 13 main funded activities of veterinary services in 85 Subjects of the Russian Federation in 2019. All the funded activities were reviewed in relation to three funding sources: the federal budget, the budget of a Russian Federation Subject and extrabudgetary sources. The paper examines funding levels of the Russian Federation Subjects’ veterinary services (against actual funding requirements) with respect to each object of expenditure and each funding source; besides, the share of each funding source in overall funding of the veterinary service of the country on the whole and of certain types of its activities was determined. In 2019, overall funding of the veterinary service of the country amounted to about 49.5 billion rubles which made up 96% of funding requirements for this period. The major sources of funding were the budgets of the Russian Federation Subjects (56.3%) and veterinary services’ own extrabudgetary resources (43.2%). Only 0.5% of all the funds received by the state veterinary service of the Russian Federation were allocated from the federal budget. The following 4 out of 13 analyzed aspects of activities of the Subjects’ veterinary services were fully funded: staff salaries, anti-epidemic activities, the purchase of reagents and test systems, the implementation of monitoring and screening programmes at the Subject level for contagious animal disease control. The funding levels for other activities of the country’s veterinary service were from 9% (accreditation of veterinary laboratories and maintenance of accreditation) to 87% (the implementation of regional monitoring of food product, raw material, animal product quality and safety; animal health awareness-raising and information activities).

The Effect of Explicit, Implicit, and Modified-Implicit Instruction on EFL Learners’ Vocabulary Learning and Retention

The present study examined the effect of different vocabulary instruction methods on EFL learners’ vocabulary learning and retention. Elementary and advanced EFL learners (N = 120), selected through convenience sampling, were randomly assigned to three conditions (i.e., six groups for the two levels). The learners in the explicit group received vocabulary awareness-raising and pushed output activities. The implicit group was exposed to input flooding, while the modified-implicit group received the pushed output activity and input flooding. The vocabulary learning of the participants was measured using teacher-developed vocabulary tests. The results indicated that learners receiving explicit as well as modified-implicit activities outperformed those exposed to implicit instruction on vocabulary tests. This implies that awareness-raising as well as pushed output activities help learners notice, learn vocabulary better, and retain them longer. Several implications for teachers, materials developers, and syllabus designers on including pushed output activities with more involvement, and areas for further research are discussed.

The impact of project diabetes with dignity intervention on knowledge and quality of life among adults with diabetes in a rural Indian setting

Objective: Inadequate knowledge about diabetes leads to its under-diagnosis and sub-optimal control. We studied the impact of project diabetes with dignity (DWD) intervention on knowledge and quality of life (QoL) among adults with diabetes in a rural Indian setting. Methods: DWD was a community-based, quasi-experimental trial conducted with 416 participants (30–70 years) with diabetes across two Primary Health Centers (one intervention; one control) in Western India, over a year. The intervention involved monthly home visits, patient/caregiver, and community-based awareness-raising activities by trained accredited social health activists (ASHAs) workers. Differences in changes in knowledge about: Diabetes, symptoms, management, and complications, and QoL between participants in the intervention versus control areas, from baseline to end-line, were assessed using a questionnaire and analyzed via mixed-effects regression models. Results: About 52% of patients belonged to the intervention group. There was a significant increase in knowledge about diagnosis/management among participants in intervention group (31.48% [95% confidence interval (CI) 24.52–38.43] to 59.55% [52.52–66.58]) versus a decline in the control group (40.73% [33.40–48.07] to 27.95% [19.40–34.50]) (P < 0.001). Similar improvements in intervention group were observed for knowledge about symptoms/complications of diabetes. For QoL, percentage of patients having some self-care problems showed a higher decline in intervention group (29.46% to 6.98%) versus control group (4.85% to 3.55%) (P = 0.005). Reduction in anxiety/depression was significant in the intervention versus control group (P < 0.001). Conclusion: DWD was effective in improving QoL and diabetes knowledge which are key to prevent disease progression/complications in the intervention compared to the control group. Capacity-building of community health workers such as ASHAs, for the prevention and management of diabetes in rural settings, is recommended.

Waste management and zero waste practices in educational institutions

In this study, the situation of waste management and zero waste applications in educational institutions was investigated in Turkey. For this purpose, the wastes collected and separated within the scope of zero waste and the wastes collected without separating them in trash cans were determined at certain periods and the total amount of waste generated per unit time and per person was calculated for an engineering faculty, vocational school, high school and primary school. A questionnaire study was conducted to determine the viewpoints of the students studying at the engineering faculty on zero waste management. According to the obtained data, the amount of waste collected in the faculty was calculated as 184 kg day-1 and only 27 kg day-1 of this amount is being recycled. Considering all types of waste in the whole schools, waste generation rates were found to be 17,6, 32,3, 93,7 and 113 g person-1 day-1 respectively for primary school, high school, vocational school, and engineering faculty. One of the important results obtained in the study is that the necessary training and awareness-raising activities in zero waste implementation are very important, and every stage from the reduction of the number of trash cans to the correct placement of zero waste sets requires detailed planning.

Фибромиалгия: принципы диагностики и терапии

Fibromyalgia (FM) is one of the causes of chronic pain syndrome. The prevalence of FM in the general population is 2%. Etiology and pathogenesis of FM are not well understood. It is believed that the disorder results from interaction of genetic and psychosocial factors, as well as from environmental exposure. Central sensitization associated with inhibition of pain inhibitory pathways and altered levels of a number of neurotransmitters underlies pathogenesis of the disorder. Clinical pattern of FM is characterized by generalized chronic widespread pain that lasts for over three months and persists in the absence of any apparent organic lesions, which is usually accompanied by joint stiffness, pathological fatigue, sleep disturbances, cognitive dysfunction, and depression. Failure to define the site of injury makes FM difficult to diagnose. The diagnosis is often ignored or incorrectly established. To avoid such mistakes, it is recommended to begin the examination of the patient with suspected FM with the detection of generalized chronic widespread pain (calculating the Widespread Pain Index and Symptom Severity values) lasting for over three months. Upon detection of generalized chronic widespread pain, the major FM symptoms (sleep disturbances, fatigue) should be checked in accordance with the criteria, established by American College of Rheumatology in 2016. Pharmacological (antidepressants – duloxetine, milnacipran, amitriptyline; analgesics – tramadol, paracetamol; antiepileptic drugs – pregabalin) and non-pharmacological (education and awareness-raising activities, physiotherapy and psychotherapy) FM treatment methods are recommended. Unfortunately, these methods show moderate efficiency in reversing persistent symptoms, functional limitation and reduced quality of life in patients with FM.

A Study on Communication Breakdowns between Native and Non-native Speakers in English Speaking Classes

English majored students have a positive influence on intercultural awareness in learning a foreign language. In their classes, they are often asked to discuss some academic matters in British cultural beliefs. Although they have a high level of proficiency in English communication, there often encountered misunderstandings between them when they interpret things or present academic matters. As a result, students cannot achieve plurilingual and pluricultural competence in the course. This paper was conducted to investigate communication problems between Vietnamese learners of English and Native teachers at HUFI. The data were collected from 28 participants who are third-year students and four different lecturers from different countries. The findings revealed that sources were mainly clustered for the following reasons: perceptual and language differences, information overload, inattention time pressures, distraction/noise emotions, complexity in organizational structure, and poor retention. The perceptual and language differences, information overload, and emotions were mainly responsible for the quality of communication. This paper can help students engage in awareness-raising activities that promote understanding in some contacts and discussions.