Awareness Workshops Research Articles

Sustainable Development through Effective Tax Governance

The objective of writing this paper is to share the two practical examples of the success stories that resulted in a developing country, Pakistan regarding boosting the tax revenues. The tax revenue figures of Punjab Revenue Authority (PRA), which is one of the Revenue Authorities in Pakistan, escalated vigorously by adopting effective measures in tax governance. The tax revenue trend of PRA enhanced exceptionally by developing and strengthening the capacities of Public Sector Withholding Agents in Pakistan through conducting awareness workshops for them in major cities. The numerical evidence shows an increase of 427% from the quarterly target assigned in the last quarter of the financial year 2016 in the public sector withholding tax figures of PRA. However, the untapped service sector of Beauty Salons in Pakistan has also shown an overwhelming tax payers’ response after these entrepreneurs were educated through conducting awareness workshops for them as well. The tax revenue collections of the Beauty Salons sector in the financial year 2016 has increased by 170.4% from the previous financial year. Though quite simple, this endeavour of The German Development Partner, a German technical Cooperation, has made a remarkable effort for achieving sustainable development through enhanced capacity building of the citizens. This successful venture of conducting awareness workshops for the taxpayers as well as for the withholding agents has proved to be effective as the department is now able to roll over this activity on its own at District and Tehsil levels. This the German Development Partner innovative measure for boosting revenue of sales tax in services sector in Pakistan is worth noticeable and can be adopted by any other developing country for promising results.

From fear to understanding: changes in media representations of leopard incidences after media awareness workshops in Mumbai, India

From fear to understanding: changes in media representations of leopard incidences after media awareness workshops in Mumbai, India

Racial/Cultural Awareness Workshops and Post-College Civic Engagement

Racial/cultural awareness workshops constitute a salient form of co-curricular diversity engagement in higher education. Although these workshops are generally quite short in duration (often no more than two hours), previous research suggests that workshop participation is associated with undergraduate civic growth. The current study uses multilevel propensity score matching analyses to explore whether racial/cultural awareness workshops during college are associated with a variety of civic outcomes six years after graduation. Using a 10-year longitudinal sample of 8,634 alumni from 229 institutions, diversity workshop participation is significantly and positively related to 10 post-college behaviors, attitudes/beliefs, and skills/tendencies. Moreover, these effects are consistent regardless of participants’ race/ethnicity, gender, and institutional affiliation.

Implementing plagiarism awareness workshop to nursing faculty members, Damanhour University

Background and objective : Plagiarism is defined as intentionally and without agreement presenting someone else’s ideas or words, as one’s own work. Plagiarism by academics occurs due to the growing pressure to publish research, in addition to increasing burden to publish in high-impact top-tier journals. The present study aims to implement a plagiarism awareness workshop to Nursing Faculty members to introduce the plagiarism concept as one of research misconducts and to compare between knowledge of Nursing faculty member pre and immediately post workshop. Methods : The study was conducted at Faculty of Nursing, Damanhour University. Subjects: The study subject included 51 working full time nursing faculty members who agreed to participate in the workshop. Study instrument: the researchers had developed a self-administered questionnaire which was designed to assess the nursing faculty member’s perceptions of plagiarism. Results : The current study results showed that 55% of participants have fair knowledge about plagiarism as compared to 11.7% whom knowledge level is poor. Also, it was found that the highest percentage of participants (96.1%) was among those who refused plagiarism post workshop with a significant difference ( p = .001) between responses pre and post workshop. Moreover, the highest median of change (19.23) was among age group 40-50, while the lowest median (3.23) was recorded for the age group 30- with a significant difference between groups ( p = .002). Regarding the participants’ titles, the highest median (20.69) was among assistant professor while the lowest median (-1.72) was among clinical instructor with a significant difference recorded ( p = .050). Conclusions : The current study findings concluded significant positive changes in the level of knowledge of the participants after implementation of workshop.

'Culture' as HIV prevention: Indigenous youth speak up!

This article explores the ways in which (a) Indigenous youth involved in an HIV intervention took up and reclaimed their cultures as a project of defining ‘self’, and (b) how Indigenous ‘culture’ can be used as a tool for resistance, HIV prevention and health promotion. Data were drawn from the Taking Action Project: Using arts-based approaches to develop Aboriginal youth leadership in HIV prevention. ‘By youth, for youth’ HIV education and awareness workshops were facilitated in six Indigenous communities across Canada, incorporating traditional and contemporary art forms to explore how youth perceived the links between structural inequality and HIV vulnerability. Over 100 youth participated, with 70 partaking in individual interviews to reflect on their experiences at the workshops. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed using NVivo software. Indigenous youth understood culture as a complex construct that included reconnecting to land, body, history, community and ceremony. For many youth, being Aboriginal and participating in cultural activities was seen as important for intergenerational healing, empowerment, health and combatting HIV. Youth spoke excitedly of their attempts to reclaim their languages and cultures despite barriers. They also understood art as a medium for self-expression and as an important site of cultural evolution.Our project demonstrates that the incorporation of culture within health strategies is important for effective HIV prevention amongst Indigenous youth. Reclaiming Indigenous cultures, languages and ceremonies may help to nurture future generations, diminish cycles of victimisation and combat hopelessness by reconnecting youth to stories of resistance and survival.Keywords: Indigenous youth, culture, HIV prevention, arts-based research

Vulnerability and adaptive capacity of the Granite Belt tomato industry to future increases in temperature

A project funded by the Queensland Government in 2010 sought to improve the capacity of primary producers in selected horticultural industries to manage risks and identify opportunities arising from Queensland's changing and variable climate. Tomato growers in the Granite Belt in south-east Queensland documented their vulnerability to climate change, adaptation options and economically evaluated risk management responses in the supply of fresh tomatoes. The production and quality of field grown tomatoes is significantly reduced when mean monthly maximum temperatures exceed 29°C two weeks prior to flowering. Granite Belt tomato growers who took part in this extensive series of interactive climate awareness workshops were presented with (best knowledge) future climate scenarios for their Granite Belt production location. Once aware of the Tomato plants intrinsic high temperature flowering threshold they concluded that the possibility of reaching this threshold was unlikely in the medium term (i.e. by 2030). Granite Belt summer tomato production has evolved in a unique high altitude region, where mean maximum monthly temperature, both current and projected, does not exceed the maximum temperature threshold above which tomato crop yield is reduced. Growers understand that their unique high altitude location gives them a production advantage, and that their industry will benefit from projected future temperature changes. Granite Belt growers now have a better understanding of the impact of climate variables on tomato production through increased knowledge which they applied using the Horticulture Vulnerability Matrix. Discussion of projected future climate impacts and the populating of this Vulnerability Matrix was a major focus of each workshop session, and allowed growers to increase their knowledge, identify areas of vulnerability and document adaptation options necessary to build industry resilience.

‘Now I see how my students feel’: expansive learning in a language awareness workshop

ABSTRACTThis study looks at a case study research on a language awareness workshop in a New York public school with a dual language (Spanish/English) program. A learner-centred lesson, taught in Spanish, focused on basic personal information exchanges for in-service teachers who taught only in English and who had some limited knowledge of Spanish. The instructors’ charge was to teach participants how to exchange basic personal information in Spanish. Working from a cultural historical activity theory perspective, the interactions that took place in a videotaped session were analysed, using tools from discourse analysis, conversation analysis, and linguistics. The focus was set on the interactions of the instructors with one of the teachers in the workshop to examine how she moved from resisting a new language to embracing an understanding of the role of a new language in learning by paying attention to the dynamics of identity production. By exploring moment-to-moment identity moves and moves across time, the authors identified learning actions leading to the potential of expansive learning and suggesting enhancement of the concept of experiencing (Sannino, 2010) by examining the production of the teacher's identity.

Breast Cancer Awareness and Prevention Behavior Among Women of Delhi, India: Identifying Barriers to Early Detection.

BACKGROUNDGlobally, breast cancer (BC) has become the leading cause of mortality in women. Awareness and early detection can curb the growing burden of BC and are the first step in the battle against BC. The aim of this qualitative study was to explore the awareness and perceived barriers concerning the early detection of BC.METHODSA total of 20 focus group discussions (FGDs) were conducted during May 2013–March 2014. Pre-existing themes were used to conduct FGDs; each FGD group consisted of an average of ~10 women (aged ≥18–70 years) who came to participate in a BC awareness workshop. All FGDs were audio taped and transcribed verbatim. The transcripts were inductively analyzed using ATLAS.ti. Based on emerged codes and categories, thematic analysis was done, and theory was developed using the grounded theory approach.RESULTSData were analyzed in three major themes: i) knowledge and perception about BC; ii) barriers faced by women in the early presentation of BC; and iii) healthcare-seeking behavior. The findings revealed that shyness, fear, and posteriority were the major behavioral barriers in the early presentation of BC. Erroneously, pain was considered as an initial symptom of BC by most women. Financial constraint was also mentioned as a cause for delay in accessing treatment. Social stigma that breast problems reflect bad character of women also contributed in hiding BC symptoms.CONCLUSIONSLack of BC awareness was prevalent, especially in low socioeconomic class. Women’s ambivalence in prioritizing their own health and social and behavioral hurdles should be addressed by BC awareness campaigns appropriately suited for various levels of social class.

Adverse drug reactions reporting: a questionnaire-based study on Egyptian pharmacists' attitudes following an awareness workshop.

Hospital pharmacists can promote medication safety through spontaneous reporting of adverse drug reactions (ADRs). However, different educational interventions and different factors (socio-demographic and professional) have been implicated to influence the reporting process. The aims of this study were to assess the impact of pharmacovigilance awareness workshop on knowledge of hospital pharmacists; and to identify the main factors and barriers that influence ADRs reporting. Two validated self-administered questionnaires were distributed to pharmacists attending an awareness workshop (pre and post); and a telephone survey was completed three months after the workshop. ADR reports (yellow cards) received from participating pharmacists were monitored for six months, and analysed for quality (validity and seriousness) and reporter demographic and professional factors. Two hundred and eighty-one pharmacists (95.25%) and 270 pharmacists (91.52%) completed pre- and post-workshop questionnaires respectively. A comparison of their knowledge of ADRs to report before and after the workshop showed significant difference (Wilcoxon test P < 0.05). Two hundred and four pharmacists (72.6%) completed the follow-up questionnaire, with lack of time, administrative barriers and inability to complete patient details being the most frequent reasons for not reporting. A total of 163 yellow cards were received from 49 pharmacists (17.44%) over 6 months, of which 126 reports (77.3%) were serious ADRs. Demographics of reporting pharmacists showed significance for completion of post-graduate studies, ministry of health hospitals and pharmacist post in hospital. Despite pharmacists' adequate knowledge after the workshop, they failed to maintain consistent reporting. Addressing the barriers to reporting and the personal factors influencing the process may be needed.

Effects of Corporal Punishment on Girl's Enrolment and Retention in the Techiman Municipality

School corporal punishment is administered within schools, when pupils’/students are punished by teachers or school administrators for going against rules and regulations. The goal of punishment in the schools is to decrease the behaviour that it follows. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of corporal punishment on girls’ enrolment and retention in schools in the Techiman Municipality using six selected schools in the municipality which is located in the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana. Descriptive survey research design which falls under quantitative research design was used with a sample size of 120 junior high school pupils selected from six (6) public schools. Questionnaire was the main instrument used in this study. The findings revealed that corporal punishment had both positive and negative effects on students. The findings also indicated that physical punishment made some students stop school, therefore, it was inferred that corporal punishment affect girls’ enrolment and retention in schools. It is thus recommended that the Ghana Education Service (GES) in the Techiman Municipality organises or conduct awareness workshops and seminars about the effects of corporal punishment on learners for both students and teachers.

Evaluation of borderline personality disorder awareness workshops for service users and carers

Clare Carter and colleagues describe how participants benefited from being given the chance to learn and be heard in a safe and supportive forum

Breast Cancer Awareness at the Community Level among Women in Delhi, India.

To assess women's awareness from diverse sections of society in Delhi regarding various aspects of breast cancer (BC)--perceptions, signs and symptoms, risk factors, prevention, screening and treatment. Community-level survey was undertaken in association with the Indian Cancer Society (ICS), Delhi during May 2013-March 2014. Women attending BC awareness workshops by ICS were given self-administered questionnaires before the workshop in the local language to assess BC literacy. Information provided by 2017 women was converted into awareness scores (aware=1) for analysis using SPSS. Awareness scores were dichotomized with median score=19 as cut off, create more aware and less aware categories. Bivariate and multivariate analysis provided P-values, odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Broadly, 53.4% women were aware about various aspects of BC. Notably, 49.1% women believed that BC was incurable and 73.9% women believed pain to be an initial BC symptom. Only 34.9% women performed breast self-examination (BSE) and 6.9% women had undergone clinical breast-examination/mammography. 40.5% women had higher awareness (awareness score>median score of 19), which was associated with education [graduates (OR=2.31; 95%CI=1.78, 3.16), post-graduates (OR=7.06; 95%CI=4.14, 12.05) compared to ≤high school] and socio-economic status (SES) [low-middle (OR=4.20; 95%CI=2.72, 6.49), middle (OR=6.00; 95%CI=3.82, 9.42) and upper (OR=6.97; 95%CI=4.10, 11.84) compared to low SES]. BC awareness of women in Delhi was suboptimal and was associated with low SES and education. Awareness must be drastically increased via community outreach and use of media as a first step in the fight against BC.

Awareness Workshop as an Effective Tool and Approach for Education in Disaster Risk Reduction: A Case Study from Tamil Nadu, India

The core of empowering a community to become more resilient is rooted in disaster risk reduction and its education imparted using various educational tools, mainly through awareness and training programs. Conveying the available knowledge resources to the community by transforming it in a way that matches the local context in order to build a “culture of safety” is the hardest matter to be dealt with. It becomes the responsibility of the disaster management experts, concerned authorities, and researchers to focus more on disaster education by making the resources available to vulnerable communities. Taking this into account, this paper discusses an educational tool prepared for conducting awareness workshops. The paper particularly focuses on the educational tool application in the study area to illustrate its use in “real world” circumstances and to test its efficiency and limitations. It was found that such workshops can bring about a positive change in the level of understanding about disasters and the significance of disaster risk reduction measures. At the same time, it emphasizes that awareness generation is not a short-term affair. The sustainability of educational projects and programs is essential in inculcating disaster risk reduction as a part of people’s life and culture.

The Effect of School Violence on Psychological Status of Intermediate Schools’ Students in Baghdad City

Objectives: to assess school violence patterns toward the intermediate schools‟ students and to determine the effect of school violence on the psychological status of the students. Methodology: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at intermediate schools in Baghdad. A self-administered questionnaire was used as a mean for data collection. It composed of three parts: part 1 represented the sample characteristics; part 2 concerned with the violence behavior, it was constructed by the researchers to achieve the study objectives; and part 3 included 2 scales (GHQ-12 and self-esteem scales), it concerned with the psychological status of the students. A random sample of 600 intermediate school’s students was selected of different Baghdad districts‟ schools through a formal steps of administrative arrangements. The researcher visited and interviewed the sample at their schools to distribute the questionnaire for them to collect the required data. Data was analyzed by using the descriptive statistics like frequencies, percentages, means, and standard deviations and inferential statistics like Pearson correlation coefficient. Results: Results revealed that there were a significant negative relationship between violence of teachers toward school students and the psychological wellbeing and self-esteem levels of the students (r= - 0.194, r= - 0.291 respectively) at p &lt;0.01. Conclusions: The study concluded that intermediate schools‟ students (males and females) face different types of physical and psychological violence of their teachers that have a significant effect on their psychological status. Recommendations: The study recommended that antiviolence awareness workshops should be implemented to stop and prevent violence behaviors by teachers toward student and further similar studies on a nationwide should be carried out to assess the prevalence of school violence behavior and its effects on the student's psychological wellbeing.

PharmaChk: Poor quality medicines screening tool for resource-limited areas

Program/Project Purpose: Substandard medicines account for $75B of a $962B global pharmaceutical market and over 100K preventable deaths annually, leading to tremendous financial loss and emergence of drug resistance. Estimates indicate that 30e50% of all antimalarials are substandard. Additionally, while oxytocin has demonstrated high efficacy in saving maternal lives, it often fails quality tests in LMICs. Similar challenges are seen with many high impact pharmaceuticals. Production and sale of substandard drugs are indicators of a compromised health system that greatly undermine health programs. In absence of proper storage, drugs that initially pass quality testing often deteriorate before the point of sale. This project’s primary objective is to develop a scalable platform that comprehensively screens for substandard medicines, expand implementation from central to regional testing facilities, and create demand through awareness workshops over a four year period. Structure/Method/Design: Project goals: 1) Optimize PharmaChk platform based on pilot user feedback and testing results, 2) Scale-up testing ability to include fixed-dose combination artesunate therapies and oxytocin, 3) Scale-up PharmaChk pilot from one central location to three regional and six community health facilities in Ghana, and 4) Scale-up user demand and awareness by implementing education workshops targeting regulators, pharmacists, manufacturers, and other stakeholders. We work with local stakeholders in Ghana (Procurement and Supplies Department in Ghana’s Ministry of Health and leadership at the Ghanaian FDA and Central Medical Stores) through the US Pharmacopeia’s Promoting Quality of Medicines program. PQM is well-versed with challenges on the ground and provides valuable input on user and technology needs. Outcomes & Evaluation: PharmaChk was pilot tested at the Center for Pharmaceutical Advancement and Training in Accra, Ghana in March 2014. Samples of artesunate pills and injectables were locally sourced and tested using MiniLab , HPLC and PharmaChk. Quantification: Assay accuracy was tested and showed an average error of less than 6% compared to HPLC. Precision/Reliability: Field test revealed excellent device precision, with tests on both tablets and injectables showing< 5% variability. User-friendliness: User training and sample preparation was reduced. Throughput: Testing time was significantly decreased. MiniLab tests took two hours while PharmaChk tests took 15 minutes. Going Forward: Risk mitigation strategy: Inadequate chemical shelf-life might complicate commercial viability of device.User errors and fatigue -we will work closely with users to incorporate their feedback and experiences. Further reduce sample preparation and develop a testing protocol. Basic training protocols need to be designed. Lastly, strong program management, and contingency planning will ensure that we meet our milestones. Funding: US Pharmacopeia, Saving Lives at Birth Consortium, Coulter Foundation, National Collegiate Inventors and Innovators Alliance, Center for Integration of Medicine and Innovative Technology, the National Institutes of Health, USAID. Abstract #: 01ITIS012

The Use of Humor to Help Bridge Cultural Divides: An Exploration of a Workplace Cultural Awareness Workshop

Humor can be used to ease tensions and create a safe place to dialogue across cultural differences in educational initiatives that seek to address social inequality. Little is written however on the appropriate use of humor within these educational programs. This article explores how group facilitators utilized specific types of humor to challenge ill-informed or intolerant statements while still maintaining a safe space to dialogue across difference. Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal worldviews on the understanding and use of humor are contrasted to help inform group facilitators on the knowledge and skills needed to appropriately utilize humor within their work.

Practice of Informed Consent, Confidentiality and Privacy by Physicians at a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital

Objective: The aim of this paper was to assess the practice of medical ethics by the physicians at a public sector hospital in Jamshoro Sindh. Material and methods: This survey was conducted at four medical units of tertiary care hospital at jamshoro in the month of august 2014. Participants were randomly selected from patients aged over 18 years. A structured questionnaire was designed and the participants were asked about their demographic profile and their physician’s practice regarding informed consent, maintaining confidentiality, privacy and other treatment formalities. Written consent was taken from all the participants before interview.Results: A total of 100 patients were randomly selected for this study. The majority of patients reported that informed consent was taken from them. The patients also responded that privacy and confidentiality is maintained during their treatment. However, many patients agreed that they were not properly informed about the laboratory findings, role of proposed drugs and also side effects of drugs. Conclusion: There is marked improvement in the practice of medical ethics by physicians of this tertiary care hospital. However, awareness workshops should be conducted to update and improve the knowledge of medical ethics among physicians. This will surely help them translate the knowledge into practice. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bioethics.v5i3.21531 Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2014 Vol.5 (3): 1-5.

The Ecology of Volunteerism Among College Women: Identifying Campus Environments that Inform Volunteering Behaviors

This study explores the relationship between campus environments, female college student peer culture, and the tendency to volunteer while in college. The authors used Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of human development (1977, 2005) as a framework to (a) identify one multi-faceted campus environment that is linked to volunteerism among college women and (b) investigate the experiences of both those who do and do not volunteer in college. Findings suggest that females who participate in student clubs/groups, leadership training, and racial/cultural awareness workshops are over 10 times more likely to volunteer compared to students who do not engage in these three specific campus environments. The authors also show that the relationships between some academic and co-curricular experiences are vastly different between women who volunteer and women who do not volunteer. The results of this study not only shed light on the importance of using a more nuanced approach toward examining patterns of volunteerism but also offer a template for researchers and practitioners to apply the ecological model to their own unique campus populations and settings.

Exploring the Importance of Age Factor in the Delivery and Implementation of Tutorship Programme in Institutions of Higher Learning with Empirical Examples Drawn from One Institution of Higher Learning

Incontrovertibly, the conceptualization and implementation of tutorial programs in many higher education settings can be a panacea if the programme can bolster learning and improve throughputs among the learners of different cadres. Although traditionally tutoring has involved older and more experienced individuals taking charge of the role of assisting others, the age factor has become a critical factor possibly stifling the success of the programme. The study adopted a mixed method approach. Multiple data collection methods were employed through semi structured questionnaires to first year students and focus group discussions with tutors. The study found that age was a strong determinant of tutorial learning. On one hand, younger tutees felt uncomfortable with older tutors who exerted their authority the same way as teachers. On the other hand, some of the more mature first year students were less confident of the younger tutors’ support in learning. The study also observed a strong influence of cultural values in the tutee expectations of tutor behaviour. The study recommends that tutor age be considered when allocating tutors to specific tutorial groups. Ongoing awareness workshops and talks on appreciating diversity and the key principles of tutoring need to be conducted with tutors so that they develop skills in handling tutees in a cross age tutoring model. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p924

Controlling congenital and paediatric chagas disease through a community health approach with active surveillance and promotion of paediatric awareness.

BackgroundChagas disease (CD) is endemic in countries of continental Latin America. Congenital transmission is a major concern worldwide. In 2010, the Public Health Agency of Catalonia (ASPCAT) launched a screening protocol for Trypanosoma cruzi infection in pregnant women and their newborns. In 2012, ASPCAT detected appropriate follow-up of pregnant women but incomplete information about their offspring.MethodsThe PROSICS community health team carried out active surveillance and community health action in target populations. These activities included active case searches, group awareness workshops and visualization campaigns as well as investigation of all lost children born from pregnant women with CD and their families.ResultsOverall, 42/179 (23.5%) cases were included in the study: 35/42 (83.3%) children were born in Hospitalet de Llobregat (Catalonia, Spain); 4/42 (16.7%) were born in Latin America; two were miscarried and one was stillborn. The mean age of pregnant women was 31.3 years (SD 5.52; range: 21–44): 90.5% were Bolivian, of whom 74% were diagnosed with CD during pregnancy. Of the 35 newborns, 31 were recovered by community health action; 12/31 were correctly controlled at Hospitalet de Llobregat and 19/31 were controlled at a primary health centre. Of these 19 (73.7%) cases, 14 were not tested for CD by family paediatricians and were recovered by the PROSICS community health team. Finally, two (6.9%) of the 29 newborns tested with serology were positive.ConclusionsIt is essential to implement active surveillance, education and information activities at paediatric primary care and community levels to avoid the loss of CD-infected mothers and their newborns. Training sessions addressed to paediatricians and other involved health professionals would consolidate surveillance and care reference circuits, improving the control of congenital CD.