Municipal Teams Research Articles

Mayor-Entrepreneur and Territorial Development: Proposal for a Model of the Mayor’s Capacity to Undertake

The current context - the yellow vests crisis - seems to imply a need to rethink the relationship between elected officials and citizens, given their expectations, the loss of trust in the elites, and the decrease in state grants. The protest movement emphasizes the citizens' desire to be true actors rather than mere extras in politics. They are inserting themselves into the public debate. Is it the moment to innovate in practices and reinvent politics? Is it solely the role of the mayor or the role of all stakeholders (the idea of everyone as entrepreneurs)? To address this movement, the President of the Republic has launched a national debate with mayors at the forefront. Indeed, who better than the mayor embodies proximity with the citizens? However, this approach of the entrepreneurial mayor has its limitations. Indeed, the dynamics, the desire to innovate, and the willingness to take risks must be shared by the municipal team, by public or private actors, and also by citizens. In this article, the findings of a study conducted among political leaders and elected officials invite us to propose a model of the mayor's entrepreneurial capacity based on the work of Huron (2001) on the typology of mayors and Lopez (2018) on the capacity of leaders to undertake.

Scaling up a home-visiting program for child development in Brazil: a comparative case studies analysis

In 2016, Brazil scaled up the Criança Feliz Program (PCF, from the acronym in Portuguese), making it one of the largest Early Childhood Development (ECD) programs worldwide. However, the PCF has not been able to achieve its intended impact. We aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to achieving the PCF implementation outcomes across the RE-AIM dimensions (Reach, Effectiveness or Efficacy, Adoption, Implementation and Maintenance) during the COVID-19 pandemic. This comparative case study analysis selected five contrasting municipalities based on population size, region of the country, implementation model, and length of time implementing the PCF. We conducted 244 interviews with PCF municipal team (municipal managers, supervisors, home visitors), families, and cross-sectoral professionals. A rapid qualitative analysis was used to identify themes across RE-AIM dimensions. Families' limited knowledge and trust in PCF goals were a barrier to its reach. While the perceived benefit of PCF on parenting skills and ECD enabled reach, the lack of referral protocols to address social needs, such as connecting food-insecure families to food resources, undermined effectiveness. Questions about whether the social assistance sector should be in charge of PCF challenged its adoption. Implementation barriers exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic included low salaries, temporary contracts, high turnover, infrequent supervision, lack of an effective monitoring system, and nonexistence or non-functioning multisectoral committees. The absence of institutionalized funding was a challenge for sustainability. Complex intertwined system-level barriers may explain the unsuccessful implementation of PCF. These barriers must be addressed for Brazil to benefit from the enormous reach of the PCF and the evidence-based nurturing care principles it is based upon. NIH/NICHD.

Municipal socialism and the impact of urban decay: the case of Nevers, a mid-sized town in Central France (1971–2020)

Nevers, a medium-sized city of 33,000 inhabitants in the centre of France, has long been regarded as a laboratory for municipal socialism as well as for the union of the left. The socialist party has dominated the local political scene for more than four decades. In 2014, however, a list without any party label put an end to this hegemony by winning the election. The 2020 municipal election confirmed the changeover: the outgoing list won the election, this time in the first round. How to explain this lasting change in a city that has long been a socialist city, in favour of an "apolitical" list that does not benefit from partisan resources? If this change is part of a more general movement, characterized by the decline of the “Parti socialiste” (PS) and the “Parti communiste Français” (PCF), we will show that it is also rooted in the socio-demographic transformations that the city has undergone in recent decades. Such as many medium-sized French cities, Nevers is indeed confronted with a long-standing phenomenon of urban decline, particularly marked in the central districts. The departure of managers and middle-level professions and the arrival of precarious populations has contributed to the transformation of the electorate, while the theme of decline has become one of the main issues of the last elections. This article thus proposes to examine the evolution of the local political field in the light of the social, economic, and demographic transformations of the territory. To do so, several databases are used in order to quantify and map these transformations: the results of municipal elections since 1971 and census data at municipal level since 1968 and at the neighbourhood level (Iris) since 1990. These data will be put into perspective with archives relating to municipal elections from 1971 to 2020 as well as interviews and observations conducted during the 2014 and 2020 campaigns. In conclusion, the urban decline, in the case of Nevers, has contributed to bring down municipal socialism in two ways: (1) by weakening its electoral base, (2) by imposing a political agenda that the socialist municipal team cannot keep, which will be blamed on them in 2014.

Management of operational activities at the Regional Human Milk Collection Center: an analysis from the perspective of local intervention strategies and information systems

The purpose of the creation of the Human Milk Donation Network is to function as a device for knowledge and interaction between actors at different provincial, regional and municipal levels, to revalue and empower the figure of the community promoter, administrative and childcare worker as part of the health team, each in his/her role, raising awareness among the population of the importance of milk donation, strengthening promotion and increasing the number of donors, jointly elaborating (central, regional and municipal teams) local intervention strategies and establishing and integrating the information system. The objective of this paper was to describe the experience on the implementation of the Human Milk Collection Center that contributes to increase the volume of human milk for pasteurization in the human milk bank, in the HZGA Prof. Dr. Ramon Carrillo of Ciudadela in the month January to March 2022. Between the two hospital institutions, the Human Milk Bank of the HZGA San Martin de La Plata and the Breastfeeding Center of the HZGA Prof. Dr. Ramon Carrillo de Ciudadela, an effective chain of support for breastfeeding has been activated, through the Health Service Network modality, with the objective of contributing to the increase of pasteurized human milk. With this purpose, safe strategies have been promoted, which promote donation and increase the number of human milk donors, a coordinated work has been propitiated that guarantees equity of access to human milk and equal opportunities for premature or critical newborns who require pasteurized milk, when there is not enough milk from the mother's own milk, donated milk is the best alternative.

Municipal management team in the system of methodological support of schools with low educational results

The article explores the possibilities of interaction between municipal and school management teams in solving topical issues of improving the quality of school education by the example of the implementation of regional and federal projects to overcome low educational results. Based on risk factors, a number of indicators were developed for the first time to monitor the effectiveness of project implementation. The principle of harmonization of management systems, the implementation of measures by the municipal team at all stages of the full management cycle, correlation and mutual complementation of the activities of management teams to improve educational results are defined as conditions for the achievement by the municipal education system of performance indicators enshrined in strategic and conceptual documents. The result of the study is the introduction of changes in the methodology and technology for the implementation of federal and regional projects for the transfer of schools in the Ryazan region to an effective mode of operation, taking into account changes in the implementation of relevant concepts and development programs.

School Feeding and Food and Nutrition Security in the Context of the Covid-19 Pandemic in the Northern Region of the State of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Due to the pandemic and the suspension of in-person school classes, there was an interruption in the meals served to approximately 40 million students who benefited from the Brazilian National School Feeding Program (PNAE). This article describes two case studies, comparing the strategies adopted by two municipalities for maintaining school feeding during the Covid-19 pandemic in the northern region of the state of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and discuss possible impacts of these strategies on food and nutrition security. These municipalities together cover about 81% of the population in the region. In July 2020, we conducted interviews with PNAE municipal managers, following a qualitative approach. We discuss the results in relation to existing Brazilian guidance on food and nutrition security. The municipalities have developed distinct strategies to overcome operational obstacles and maintain PNAE goals, such as distributing food kits and making cash transfers to students’ families. The main determinants of these strategies are financial availability, the relationship between municipal teams and school communities, and the pre-pandemic PNAE logistics and management. Depending on the strategy and duration of the pandemic, the impacts on food and nutrition security can be wide-ranging, affecting food quality and local farmers who sell products to PNAE. It is necessary to acknowledge that this is not a short-term pandemic and find ways to perform school feeding in accordance with PNAE criteria.

Fluvial family health: work process of teams in riverside communities of the Brazilian Amazon.

This study aimed to understand and analyze the work process of fluvial family health teams in the context of riverside populations in the Brazilian Amazon. Action research was undertaken, conducting focus groups, individual interviews and participant observation with 27 workers of municipal teams of the state of Pará, in the Brazilian Amazon. The analysis was performed by the content, following the theoretical framework of the work process. The following themes emerged: work object of the teams; work agents (who are the workers?); work technologies (the instruments of the process in fluvial health teams); and challenges for achieving the purpose of the work process. Recognition of the work object centered on the needs of the individual, family and community. The center for permanent education, supply of materials and inputs to the teams were implemented, and improved workflow for referring users was observed.

The Canary Platform for the Reduction of School Absenteeism

In 2012, the Canaries School Council (CSC) and the Canary Federation of Municipalities (FECAM) decided to investigate the level of school absenteeism in the Canary Islands. They therefore with the Ministry of Education Canary Islands Government about holding a conference for municipal technical teams on addressing this problem, which is particularly worrying in the Canary Islands. Following a needs analysis, the Canary Platform for the Reduction of Absenteeism was developed, comprising three web pages: i) a social network, for communication and cooperation between municipal technical teams; ii) a repository, for resources, such as protocols, documents, articles, communications, available to download; and iii) Moodle, for offering a 125-hour university course for the technical teams. The Canary Platform for the Reduction of Absenteeism operated between March 2013 and September 2018, beginning with 292 technicians from all the Canarian municipalities and, subsequently extending to other institutions, such as island councils, secondary school teachers, educational and psycho-pedagogical guidance teams, and local police. The level of use of, number of visits to, and number of downloads from the website during the first stage were much higher than the second, when despite not being updated, demand continued, especially for the standardized protocol for school absenteeism. These results proved that municipal teams need technical support, supervision, and guidance.

Investigation of garbage code deaths to improve the quality of cause-of-death in Brazil: results from a pilot study.

Reliable cause-of-death statistics are an important source of information on trends and differentials in population health. In Brazil, the Mortality Information System is responsible for compiling cause of death (CoD) data. Despite the success in reducing R-codes ill-defined causes of death, other garbage codes (GC), classified as causes that cannot be the underlying CoD, according to the Global Burden of Disease study, remain a challenge. The Ministry of Health (MoH) aims to decrease the proportion of all GCs, and a pilot study tested a comprehensive strategy to investigate GC deaths that occurred in 2015. The research was conducted in seven Brazilian cities during five months in 2016: two rural cities, one metropolitan area, and four capitals. For all GCs selected, municipal healthcare workers collected information about the terminal disease from hospital records, autopsies, family health teams, and home investigation. The fieldwork was coordinated at Federal level in partnership with State and municipal teams. Out of 1,242 deaths selected, physicians analyzed the information collected and certified the CoD in 1,055 deaths, resulting in 92.6% of cases having their underlying cause changed to a usable ICD-10 code. It is noteworthy the capacity the health teams in the seven cities showed during the implementation of the pilot. After results analysis, the GC investigation protocol was modified, and the implementation scaled up to 60 cities in 2017.

Co-diseñar el problema de proyecto. Participación en diseño a escala local y uso de la linkografía como medio para estudiar las interacciones de diseño

Durante la última década, ha surgido en Chile una demanda social respecto de la incorporación de la participación ciudadana en los procesos de producción de ciudad y territorio. Dicha demanda no ha tenido todavía una respuesta cabal desde el Estado en términos de generar marcos legales y metodológicos consistentes con las exigencias de participación de la ciudadanía. Entre los obstáculos a una participación en diseño inclusiva, vinculante y efectiva hay variables de orden institucional como procedimental. Entre ellas, una variable importante parece ser la insuficiente conexión entre los procesos de proyecto y el sistema de evaluación de proyectos de inversión.Un ejemplo de ello es que, en la mayoría de los proyectos de desarrollo urbano o territorial, las instancias de participación se programan en la etapa de diseño, cuando la mayor parte de las decisiones sobre el programa, su localización y presupuesto ya han sido tomadas.Nuestro trabajo aborda esta problemática mediante el desarrollo de una experiencia de participación en diseño de espacios públicos a escala local en Alhué, con énfasis en dos aspectos. Por una parte, el codiseño del problema de proyecto, entendido como espacio de posibilidad para relacionar aspectos políticos y procedimentales con asuntos estéticos y funcionales en un proceso de participación temprana. Por otra parte, la posibilidad de evaluar de forma cualitativa la interacción entre diseñadores expertos y no expertos, así como entre representantes institucionales y miembros de la comunidad. La propuesta metodológica se basó en un análisis inverso del problema de diseño y en un análisis de protocolo a través del método de la linkografía. Los resultados muestran que el acento en la discusión del problema de diseño permitió generar dinámicas de complementariedad antes que de conflicto y otorgar legitimidad a las propuestas de imagen objetivo desarrolladas por el municipio, así como a la priorización de proyectos.

Why high tech needs high touch: Supporting continuity of community primary health care

BackgroundIntegrated care through community-oriented primary care (COPC) deployed through municipal teams of community health workers (CHWs) has been part of health reform in South Africa since 2011. The role of COPC and integration of information and communication technology (ICT) information to improve patient health and access to care, require a better understanding of patient social behaviour.AimThe study sought to understand how COPC with CHWs visiting households offering health education can support antenatal follow-up and what the barriers for access to care would be.MethodA mixed methodological approach was followed. Quantitative patient data were recorded on an electronic health record-keeping system. Qualitative data collection was performed through interviews of the COPC teams at seven health posts in Mamelodi and telephonic patient interviews. Interviews were analysed according to themes and summarised as barriers to access care from a social and community perspective.ResultsAn integrated COPC approach increased the number of traceable pregnant women followed up at home from 2016 – 2017. Wrong addresses or personal identification were given at the clinic because of fear of being denied care. Allocating patients correctly to a ward-based outreach team (WBOT) proved to be a challenge as many patients did not know their street address.ConclusionPatient health data available to a health worker on a smartphone as part of COPC improve patient traceability and follow-up at home making timely referral possible. Health system developments that support patient care on community level could strengthen patient health access and overall health.

Tehran thunderstorm: An unexpected success story

On June 2, 2014, a local thunderstorm winds of speed as high as 118 km/h hit Tehran, capital of Iran. This thunderstorm plugged the city into darkness for hours, emotionally affected the citizens, and damaged properties. Based on Tehran Disaster Mitigation and Management Organization meteorological station, the temperatures suddenly dropped from 33.83 to 18.46 centigrade within 2 h and the air humidity elevated from 14.2% to 68.4%. This thunderstorm resulted in eight deaths, 81 injuries (63 male and 18 female and an estimated property damage of about $40 million at the official exchange rate.). More than half (58.5%) of the injuries were caused by multiple trauma. Shortly after thunderstorm stop, Tehran emergency operation and command center was mobilized for rapid assessment and emergency response to the event. One hundred electricity response teams, 15 search and rescue teams, and emergency medical and municipal teams were involved in response phase. After 6 h, about 24 response phases were accomplished and the city entered to recovery phase. This storm highlighted the challenges of need for harmonized individual and organized organizational participation, necessity for education of people through mass media and training all construction workers, and vulnerable parts of Tehran megacity during a disaster period.

Ecotourism Challenges: the Case Study of Sainte-Anne Commune (Martinique, FWI)

Sustainable tourism and ecotourism open new perspectives in tourism due to renewed approaches, another review of resources, other relationships between tourists and hosts. After noting the range of possibilities regarding ecotourism, the objective of this study is to highlight tourism issues in the municipality of Saint-Anne (south of Martinique) - the main tourism municipality of the island. The municipal team runs a voluntary program of sustainable development aiming to inserting tourism into a more global development of the municipality. From theory to practice in the field, the challenges are important in this municipality which is dominated by traditional seaside practices which intends to emphasize ecotourism models.

Private Sector-led Urban Development Projects. Management, Partnerships and Effects in the Netherlands and the UK

Private Sector-led Urban Development Projects. Management, Partnerships and Effects in the Netherlands and the UK

Private Sector-led Urban Development Projects. Management, Partnerships and Effects in the Netherlands and the UK

Private Sector-led Urban Development Projects. Management, Partnerships and Effects in the Netherlands and the UK

Private Sector-led Urban Development Projects. Management, Partnerships and Effects in the Netherlands and the UK

Private Sector-led Urban Development Projects. Management, Partnerships and Effects in the Netherlands and the UK

Private Sector-led Urban Development Projects. Management, Partnerships and Effects in the Netherlands and the UK

Private Sector-led Urban Development Projects. Management, Partnerships and Effects in the Netherlands and the UK

Tackling tuberculosis patients' internalized social stigma through patient centred care: An intervention study in rural Nicaragua

BackgroundWe report a patient-centered intervention study in 9 municipalities of rural Nicaragua aiming at a reduction of internalized social stigma in new AFB positive tuberculosis (TB) patients diagnosed between March 2004 and July 2005.MethodsFive out of 9 municipal teams were coached to tailor and introduce patient-centered package. New TB patients were assigned to the intervention group when diagnosed in municipalities implementing effectively at least TB clubs and home visits.We compared the changes in internalized stigma and TB treatment outcome in intervention and control groups. The internalized stigma was measured through score computed at 15 days and at 2 months of treatment. The treatment results were evaluated through classical TB program indicators. In all municipalities, we emphasized process monitoring to capture contextual factors that could influence package implementation, including stakeholders.ResultsTB clubs and home visits were effectively implemented in 2 municipalities after June 2004 and in 3 municipalities after January 2005. Therefore, 122 patients were included in the intervention group and 146 in the control group. After 15 days, internalized stigma scores were equivalent in both groups. After 2 months, difference between scores was statistically significant, revealing a decreased internalized stigma in the intervention group and not in the control group.ConclusionThis study provides initial evidences that it is possible to act on TB patients' internalized stigma, in contexts where at least patient centered home visits and TB clubs are successfully implemented. This is important as, indeed, TB care should also focus on the TB patient's wellbeing and not solely on TB epidemics control.

Retour sur le terrain. La préparation des élections municipales de 1995 par l’équipe d’Edmond Hervé, maire de Rennes

Between 1977 and 1989, the municipal team headed by Edmond Hervé successfully implemented a local mode of government linking social progress to economic growth. During his third mandate, Hervé was challenged as former minister of Health in the French blood transfusion scandal: this had obvious repercussions at the local level. In addition, protest grew over an underground railway project for Rennes which also weakened his political plans. But by mastering numerous skills •such as communication techniques or activist work —, the Socialists were able to rally their traditional supporters for the upcoming election. A microstructural approach to recruitment in social movements may throw a relevant light on this aspect of political activity described as «craftsmanship».

Cities, Giants and Municipal Power. Parody Rituals for the Investiture of Processional Effigial Figures in Northern French Cities.

The rites described here are urban ceremonies in which central importance is assigned to a type of symbols that is characteristic of northern France, i.e. processional giant effigies. These events help to reinstate local collective entity: besides the celebrations are closely linked to municipal authority and to the elite whose relationships they recall and consolidate. In their performance, they emerge as a type of serious parody of the civil ceremonies involved in the life cycle - christenings, marriages and funerals. The importance assigned to the city hall as a republican space, one that is symbolically very marked in the consciousness of the French people should be noted in this context. This reference to the realm of vital records (birth-, marriage and death certificates), which clearly expresses the union between the celebration and the institutions, confers prime importance upon the social actors, in charge of the effigies, as they are often closely connected to the local political power. In addition, the various ritual features (delivering of speeches, signing of certificates, choosing of godparents) reveal the complex pattern of hierarchies within the municipal team.