Organizational Affiliation Research Articles

Attitudinal Barriers Hindering Adoption of Telepsychiatry among Mental Healthcare Professionals: Israel as a Case-Study.

Despite proven advantages for the use of telemedicine in psychiatry, mental healthcare professionals have shown deep-seated mistrust and suspicion of telepsychiatry, which hinders its widespread application. The current study examines the attitudes of Israeli mental health professionals towards telepsychiatry and seeks to uncover the effects of experience and organizational affiliation on its adoption. The methodology included qualitative and thematic analysis of 27 in-depth interviews with Israeli mental health professionals, focusing on three major themes—clinical quality, economic efficiency, and the effects on the work–life balance of healthcare professionals. The attitudes of mental health professionals were found to be widely divergent and sharply dichotomized regarding different aspects of telepsychiatry and its suitability for mental healthcare services. However, there was a general consensus that telemedicine may not fulfil its promise of being a panacea to the problems of modern public medicine. In addition, attitudes were related to hierarchical position, organizational affiliation, and personal experience with telepsychiatry. Specifically, organizational affiliation influenced experience with and support for the assimilation of telepsychiatry. The study also revealed the role of organizational leadership and culture in promoting or inhibiting the proliferation and adoption of innovative technologies and services in modern medicine.

Social and Economic Exchange Between Social Workers and their Employers in the Context of their Sectorial Affiliation and Seniority.

Partial privatization creates organizational hybrids that can generate conflict between professional and institutional logic among social workers. Research is scant but necessary to identify better organizational approaches. Using the social and economic exchange (SEE) model, we examined Israeli social workers’ perception of their relationships with their workplaces. To examine organizational affiliation and seniority impact on SEE, we conducted a two-way ANOVA on data from 824 social workers: 55.1% from government sector (GSO) 30.8% from ‘third sector’ (TSO), and 14.1% from for-profit sector (FPO) organizations. Our findings showed the SEE model identified ways organizations and their social workers manage sector hybridity. Social exchange among TSO social workers was higher than GSOs, but similar to FPOs. Economic exchange was higher in FPOs, compared to GSOs. Seniority related only to economic exchange, possibly signaling change among newer social workers. TSOs must strengthen their social exchange to maintain their advantage among social workers.

Supplemental Material for Organizational Political Affiliation and Job Seekers: If I Don’t Identify With Your Party, Am I Still Attracted?

Supplemental Material for Organizational Political Affiliation and Job Seekers: If I Don’t Identify With Your Party, Am I Still Attracted?

Social and built environment antecedents to disparities in adult nature engagement

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Antecedent factors which forge adult nature engagement are underexplored given the human health benefits strongly associated with nature exposure. This qualitative study contributes first-hand insights into the phenomenon of nature engagement to explain how health disparities partially attributable to uneven nature access unfold far upstream of quantitative measure-based analyses. METHODS: Using a phenomenological approach to qualitative research, we probed experiential pathways and attitudes toward nature engagement among adults purposefully sampled across U.S. region, age span, and population density. We conducted ten semi-structured focus group interviews with consenting participants (N=126) in four U.S. metropolitan regions, with discussions recorded, transcribed, and analyzed qualitatively after Braun and Clarke’s phases of thematic analysis (2006). RESULTS:Findings show the existence of a general—though not universal—exposure model which structures adult nature engagement for most individuals. Experiential factors including early life exposures outdoors, parental or other personal mentorship, and organizational affiliation were found highly influential in socializing individuals to nature and in soldering attachment to nature which continued to manifest into adulthood. In contrast, changing demographics, social dynamics, metropolitan growth, urban renewal, and modern lifestyle demands explained alienation from nature. Urban, low-income individuals encountered a distinct model which precludes opportunities to benefit equally from nature contact. CONCLUSIONS:Formative influences and causes of separation remain valid under each exposure model but in different combinations and weights, framing who gets to experience nature and how this occurs as an environmental justice as well as epidemiological concern. Identifying patterns and uniquenesses in nature access across regions and subpopulations can inform intervention potentials in public health policy and urban planning decisions targeted to specific use. KEYWORDS: Green space, built environment, environmental disparities, methodological study design, socio-economic factors

Social identity and acceptability of wild pig (Sus scrofa) control actions: A case study of Texas hunters

ABSTRACT Wild pigs (Sus scrofa) pose significant challenges to wildlife managers. This research explored Texas hunters’ acceptability of wild pig control actions, and whether acceptability varied according to hunters’ affiliation with four different categories of natural resource organizations as an indicator of social identity. Results of a survey (n = 37,317) revealed that most hunters were accepting of all control actions except toxicants and non-lethal deterrents. Mean acceptability scores for each action differed significantly across the four affiliation categories, but effect sizes were minimal. Hunters affiliated with agricultural organizations were the most accepting of control actions, while hunters with no organizational affiliations were least accepting. Findings suggested that while the type of organization with which a hunter affiliates provides some basis for predicting acceptability of control actions, the association is likely not significant enough to warrant differentiating wild pig outreach messaging on the basis of affiliation.

Personality trait of conscientiousness impact on tacit knowledge sharing: the mediating effect of eagerness and subjective norm

PurposeThis study aims to examine psychological mechanisms underlying tacit knowledge-sharing behaviours. The personality trait of conscientiousness is tested in relation to knowledge sharing, and the effect of eagerness and subjective norm on the intention to share is measured in the context of local and multinational knowledge-intensive enterprises in Croatia.Design/methodology/approachThe quantitative study was conducted on a sample of 288 employees of small and medium-sized companies working on knowledge-intensive tasks. The purposive sampling technique and a survey strategy were used in the study. Organizational affiliation, as it was presumed that these individuals possess a higher degree of tacit knowledge. The data collection was conducted in October 2019. Respondents worked in science and technology companies in Croatia on assignments involving information technology, electronics, petrochemicals, medicine and biochemistry. Statistical product and service solutions analysis of a moment structures software was used to perform confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modelling.FindingsThe findings suggest that the personality trait of conscientiousness has a positive impact on tacit knowledge sharing behaviour. An attitude of eagerness and subjective norm were also confirmed as predictors of tacit knowledge sharing behaviour. Furthermore, conscientiousness influences the eagerness to share knowledge. A significant association between subjective norm and conscientiousness was also established. Finally, the mediating effects were identified, indicating that subjective norm and eagerness mediate the relationship between conscientiousness and tacit knowledge sharing.Practical implicationsExplaining the relationship between personality and attitude in the context of knowledge sharing will result in a better understanding of factors that should be nurtured within individuals. Accordingly, distinct management initiatives are to be developed to suit these factors. Furthermore, to intensify the knowledge exchange when working on knowledge-intensive tasks of significant economic value, organizations tailor a more particularistic application to suit the individual in the domain of leadership, staffing decisions, work organization and incentive systems.Originality/valueThis study provides an in-depth analysis and theoretical understanding of factors salient for knowledge-sharing behaviour. The authors provide an overview of how knowledge sharing evolves during social interaction through intensive problem-solving sessions and teamwork. The authors render the explanation on how the personality trait of conscientiousness, conjoint with the attitude of eagerness to share know-how in the expert surrounding, is conducive to the generation of tacit knowledge sharing. Underpinning this study are employees’ psychological motives and internal drives to communicate individual cognitive capital outweighing the potential negative consequences, such as losing the competitive advantage over the colleagues.

THE IMPLEMENTATION OF AUTONOMOUS REGION IN MUSLIM MINDANAO (ARMM) PROGRAMS AND PROJECTS FOR MORO NATIONAL LIBERATION FRONT (MNLF) COMMUNITY IN MAGUINDANAO PROVINCE

This study aims to determine the ARMM programs and projects implementation to MNLF identified communities in the province of Maguindanao during the year periods of 2013 to 2017. Specifically, this study attempts to determine the programs and projects of ARMM to MNLF identified communities; how the implementing offices and agencies of ARMM implement these programs and projects to the MNLF-respondents; the extent of benefits do MNLF respondents have obtained from these programs and projects in terms of: (a) Livelihood (b) Health and (c) education; the problems encountered by the MNLF-respondents during the implementation of these programs and projects; and the prepared alternatives/solutions to these problems. This study further used the combination of “Quantitative and Qualitative” analysis of data. The respondents were the MNLF-Field Commanders and identified MNLF community leaders in Maguindanao Province. The Purposive Sampling was used because only One Hundred Fifty-Six (156) MNLF Commanders and Leaders under Prof. Nur Misuari were used as sample respondents. The findings show that there are serious problems that need to be addressed by the national government on the implementation of the MOU signed by the OIC-GPh-MNLF tripartite process structure to monitor the implementation of the 1996 Peace Agreement and the security, governance, economic activities, including the delivery of social services in the conflict-affected areas. Thus, the government specially, ARMM is tasked to formulate and oversee programs and projects implementation in the cities, provinces and municipalities to improve the lives of the Moros and MNLF combatants regardless of race, tribes and group or faction organization affiliation. Hence as concluded further, various socio-economic activities of the ARMM government found out failed or maybe failed again.
 
 Keywords: Implementation, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Programs and Projects, Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Maguindanao Province

The computation intelligent system of role of parental leadership in organizational familiarity in Iraqi Airways employees

The research aimed to know the effect of parental leadership represented by (benevolent leadership, moral leadership, and authoritarian leadership) found in the research sample, in the organizational familiarity (employee morale, empowerment, and objective merit), the research relied on the questionnaire as a key instrument to collect the necessary data to meet its goal. As (60) forms were distributed to find the level of availability of parental leadership and organizational harmony, while (56) forms were retrieved. A set of statistical methods were used, represented by normal distribution, stability factor (Alpha Kronbach), reliability, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, and coefficient Simple correlation Pearson, multiple regression coefficient. The results showed that there is a positive correlation and effect relationship with statistically significant between parental leadership with its dimensions (benevolent leadership, moral leadership, authoritarian leadership) and organizational affiliation with its dimensions (employee morale, empowerment, and merit's Objectivity), and the research showed a direct impact relationship between parental leadership and the organizational affiliation of the studied sample. Accordingly, the research concluded that the study sample should pay attention to the nature and type of empowering workers in order to give them freedom and independence in making decisions regarding the tasks assigned to them.

Engaging Experts in Global Biotech Governance: What Influences their Judgement on Value-Laden Challenges?

AbstractExperts play important roles in global biotech governance. In serving their roles, they are often selected based on their expertise rather than the representativeness of social diversity. However, current biotechnology development generates many value-laden issues. This led us to ask what may affect experts’ attitudes towards such issues, besides expertise. In this paper, we explored experts’ attitudes towards human genetic data governance—a value-laden global challenge. Thirty-two experts from 12 countries were interviewed regarding their attitudes towards the commercialization of, global sharing of, and personal privacy protection in acquiring and using human genetic data. By analysing the interview transcripts with thematic analysis, we found that experts differ in their attitudes, and organizational affiliation and national regulatory context influence their attitudes. The results call for rethinking the role of epistemic community and facilitating inclusive participation of experts from various socioeconomic backgrounds in addressing global challenges.

Fiqh Mu’āmalah Content in Friday Sermon: Dialectics of the Mosque as a Ritual Space and the Market as Economic Space

This paper describes fiqh mu’āmalah content in Friday sermons at the Great Mosque of Kauman Semarang to understand the dialectics between the mosque as a ritual space and the market as an economic space. This paper's data are in the form of 51 sermons delivered in 2015 from January 1 to December 31, 2015, and interviews with the foundation, ta’mīr, and the preachers. This paper shows that Friday sermons' characteristics at the mosque are reflected in their preachers' diversity, both in terms of educational background, scientific fields, organizational affiliations, and professions. This paper finds that fiqh mu’āmalah's content has not become the point of attention of the preachers. This finding is proven by the absence of a sermon theme on fiqh mu’āmalah (mu’āmalah madiyah). The topic that appeared in Friday's sermon was related to Islamic economics's ethical principles and business-related to mu’āmalah adabiyah. The minimal content of fiqh mu’āmalah or economic fiqh in the Friday sermon of the mosque reflects the low intensity of the mosque's dialectics as a ritual space with the market as an economic space. The Friday sermon at this mosque still does not pay more attention to the jamā’ah of Johar market seller as the essential segment.

Disparities in Preventable Hospitalization Among Patients With Alzheimer Diseases

System-level care coordination strategies can be the most effective to promote continuity of care among people with Alzheimer's disease; however, the evidence is lacking. The objective of this study is to determine whether accountable care organizations are associated with lower rates of potentially preventable hospitalizations for people with Alzheimer's disease and whether hospital accountable care organization affiliation is associated with reduced racial and ethnic disparities in preventable hospitalizations among patients with Alzheimer's disease. This study employed a cross-sectional study design and used 2015 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project inpatient claims data from 11 states and the 2015 American Hospital Association Annual Survey. Logistic regression and the Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition method were used. African American patients with Alzheimer's disease were less likely to be hospitalized at accountable care organization‒affiliated hospitals than White patients. Among patients with Alzheimer's disease who were hospitalized, hospital accountable care organization affiliation was associated with lower odds of potentially preventable hospitalizations (OR=0.86, p=0.02; OR=0.66, p<0.001 with propensity score matching) after controlling for patient characteristics, hospital characteristics, and state indicators. Hospital accountable care organization affiliation explained 3.01% (p<0.01) of the disparity in potentially preventable hospitalizations between White and African American patients but could not explain disparities between White and Latinx patients. Evidence suggests that accountable care organizations may be able to improve care coordination for people with Alzheimer's disease and to reduce disparities between Whites and African Americans. Further research is needed to determine whether this benefit can be attributed to accountable care organization formation or whether providers that participate in accountable care organizations tend to provide higher-quality care.

Distance (Media policy/ Meta journalism)

The variable “distance” reflects the competitive relationships that exist between media organizations and outlets in terms of journalistic, economic and media policy interests, which can lead to reporting differences in media self-coverage (Pointner, 2010). This is due to the special situation that in the case of media self-coverage, both the reporting unit and the covered subject originate from the media sector. Several studies have shown that media organizations strategically use self-coverage to pursue their own interests, to legitimize their actions or to differentiate themselves from their competitors (Beck, 2001; Gilens &amp; Hertzman, 2000; Hackett &amp; Uzelman, 2003; Kemner, Scherer, &amp; Weinacht, 2008; Lichtenstein, 2011; Löblich, 2011; Maier &amp; Dogruel, 2016; Müller &amp; Donsbach, 2006; Pointner, 2010; Snider &amp; Page, 1997; Uzelman, Hackett, &amp; Stewart, 2005; Weiß, 1986).&#x0D; &#x0D; Field of application/Theoretical foundation&#x0D; The variable serves as an indicator of potential conflicts of roles, interests and objectives at organizational level, which can lead to unbalanced or biased reporting.&#x0D; &#x0D; Example study&#x0D; Pointner (2010)&#x0D; &#x0D; Information on Pointner, 2010&#x0D; Research interest: The study examines whether and how economic interests of media companies are reflected in the reporting on media companies.&#x0D; Object of analysis: A sample (one artificial day per month, all articles covering media companies) was drawn from four national German daily newspapers.&#x0D; Time frame of analysis: January 1, 1992 to December 31, 2006&#x0D; &#x0D; Information about variable&#x0D; Level of analysis: article&#x0D; Coding logic: The relationship between the reporting unit and the covered subject is recorded on two levels. First, a distinction is made with regard to the media sector, i.e. whether the reporting concerns a subject originating from the same sector (intramedial, e.g. print observes print) or from a different sector (intermedial, e.g. print observes broadcasting). Within the intramedial level, a further distinction is made with regard to the organizational affiliation: Codes indicate whether the reporting relates to the own company (direct self-observation), affiliated companies of the own company (indirect self-observation), one or more direct competitors operating within the same media sector in the same media submarket (direct competitor observation), affiliated companies of competitors (indirect competitor observation) or media companies of other genres within the own media sector (general observation) (Pointner, 2010).&#x0D; For the implementation, it is recommended to first code the outlet in which a contribution appears, as well as separately code the outlet and the media sector that is the main subject of the coverage. Based on this, the assignment can be made with the help of an affiliation list of the outlets and affiliated companies of the publishing houses, media companies or media sectors investigated. However, it should be mentioned that in connection with the horizontal diversification of media companies into other media sectors and increasing convergence, the differentiation into intramedial and intermedial as well as direct and indirect is becoming increasingly difficult.&#x0D; &#x0D; Values:&#x0D; intramedial direct self-observation&#x0D; intramedial indirect self-observation&#x0D; intramedial direct competitor observation&#x0D; intramedial indirect competitor observation&#x0D; intramedial general observation&#x0D; intermedial&#x0D; &#x0D; Intercoder reliability: Holsti’s coefficient of .94 across categories (6 coders), not specified for individual category&#x0D; Codebook not available&#x0D; &#x0D; References&#x0D; Beck, K. (2001). Medienberichterstattung über Medienkonzentration. Publizistik, 46(4), 403-424. doi: 10.1007/s11616-001-0121-3&#x0D; Gilens, M., &amp; Hertzman, C. (2000). Corporate Ownership and News Bias: Newspaper Coverage of the 1996 Telecommunications Act. The Journal of Politics, 62(2), 369-386. doi: 10.1111/0022-3816.00017&#x0D; Hackett, R. A., &amp; Uzelman, S. (2003). Tracing Corporate Influences on Press Content: a summary of recent NewsWatch Canada Research. Journalism Studies, 4(3), 331-346. doi: 10.1080/14616700306486&#x0D; Kemner, B., Scherer, H., &amp; Weinacht, S. (2008). Unter der Tarnkappe. Publizistik, 53(1), 65-84. doi: 10.1007/s11616-008-0006-9&#x0D; Lichtenstein, D. (2011). Kommerzialisierung des Medienjournalismus? Eine empirische Untersuchung zum „Fall Berliner Zeitung“. M&amp;K Medien &amp; Kommunikationswissenschaft, 59(2), 216-234. doi: 10.5771/1615-634x-2011-2-216&#x0D; Löblich, M. (2011). Frames in der medienpolitischen Öffentlichkeit. Publizistik, 56(4), 423-439. doi: 10.1007/s11616-011-0129-2&#x0D; Maier, D., &amp; Dogruel, L. (2016). Akteursbeziehungen in der Zeitungsberichterstattung über die Online-Aktivitäten des öffentlich-rechtlichen Rundfunks. Publizistik, 61(2), 145-166. doi: 10.1007/s11616-016-0258-8&#x0D; Müller, D., &amp; Donsbach, W. (2006). Unabhängigkeit von wirtschaftlichen Interessen als Qualitätsindikator im Journalismus. In S. Weischenberg, W. Loosen, &amp; M. Beuthner (Eds.), Medien-Qualitäten: Öffentliche Kommunikation zwischen ökonomischem Kalkül und Sozialverantwortung (pp. 129-147). Konstanz: UVK.&#x0D; Pointner, N. (2010). In den Fängen der Ökonomie? Ein kritischer Blick auf die Berichterstattung über Medienunternehmen in der deutschen Tagespresse. Wiesbaden: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften.&#x0D; Snider, J. H., &amp; Page, B. I. (1997). Does Media Ownership Affect Media Stands? The Case of the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Institute for Policy Resarch at Northwestern University (IPR working papers 97-12).&#x0D; Uzelman, S., Hackett, R. A., &amp; Stewart, J. (2005). Covering Democracy's Forum: Canadian Press Treatment of Public and Private Broadcasting. Critical Studies in Media Communication, 22(2), 156-169. doi: 10.1080/07393180500072053&#x0D; Weiß, H.-J. (1986). Rundfunkinteressen und Pressejournalismus. Abschließende Analysen und Anmerkungen zu zwei inhaltsanalytischen Zeitungsstudien. Media Perspektiven, 2(86), 53-73.

Consolidation of primary care physicians and its impact on healthcare utilization.

We use administrative data from Medicare to document the massive consolidation of primary care physicians over the last decade and its impact on patient healthcare utilization. We first document that primary care organizations have consolidated all over the United States between 2008 and 2014. We then show that regions that experienced greater consolidation are associated with greater decline in overall healthcare spending. Finally, in our primary exercise, we exploit transitions of patients across organizations that are driven by changes in the organizational affiliations of their primary care physicians to study the impact of organizational size on overall spending. Our preferred specification suggests that patients switching from small to large physician organizations reduce their overall healthcare spending by 16%, and that this reduction is primarily driven by a 13% reduction in primary care visits and 0.09 (21%) fewer inpatient admissions per year.

Collective resources for individual recovery: The moderating role of social climate on the relationship between job stressors and work-related rumination – A multilevel approach

In this study, we link cognitive processes of recovery to the social context in which employees experience job stressors. The aim was to examine how the social context in which employees experience work stressors is associated with individuals’ work-related thoughts in nonwork time and thus may prolong work-related mental efforts beyond working hours. We used aggregated individual ratings on social relations with colleagues and supervisors as a primer for social climate within workgroups, calculated the rate of permanent employment contracts per workgroup as a proxy for the stability of social relations within workgroups and used organizational affiliations to specify job settings in terms of routine versus creative tasks. Drawing on cross-sectional data from a psychosocial risk assessment and occupational health promotion survey of N = 1836 employees in 118 workgroups with different occupations at a German university, we tested multilevel random-coefficient models for affective rumination and problem-solving pondering. Results indicated a negative association of collegial climate with affective rumination but no association with problem-solving pondering. Supervisory climate was unrelated to both types of ruminative thinking. The stability of social relations within workgroups was negatively associated with affective rumination as well as with problem-solving pondering, whereas the job setting was only associated with problem-solving pondering. A cross-level interaction indicated a positive moderation effect of collegial climate on the relationship between job stressors and affective rumination. The findings indicate that a positive collegial climate can buffer the negative impact of low to average levels of job stressors on work-related thoughts and lead to the conclusion that the social context in which job stressors are experienced may alter individuals’ ability to mentally unwind from work.

Core Competencies as an Entrance for Enhancing Job Engagement in Egyptian Hotels

The study assessed the dimensions of the core competencies (CC) of five-star hotels at Sharm El-Sheikh and measured their impact on enhancing job engagement (JE). It tried to provide a comprehensive theoretical framework for the most important researchers studies about the CC and JE, in addition to conducting an analytical framework through a questionnaire divided into three sections. The first section included demographic data, the second the dimensions of the core capabilities, and the third dimension of job engagement. Three main data analytical techniques were employed: descriptive analysis, correlation, and multi regression by SPSS V25. A questionnaire was distributed to a random sample of employees in these hotels. The collected data were statistically processed. The study found that there are a positive relationship and effect of the CC on promoting JE in hotels. The study recommends that the hotel management should adopt the concept of CC because of its positive and direct impact on enhancing JE by taking all necessary measures to advance all its combined dimensions and to provide material and human requirements. Investing in the CC of the hotel employees by supporting them financially and morally, which enhances their organizational affiliation, which in turn leads to their JE.

Equitable sharing of benefits from tiger conservation: Beneficiaries’ willingness to pay to offset the costs of tiger conservation

Costs of large predator conservation may not be equitably distributed among stakeholders; these include farming communities, tourism business owners and visitors. Financial redistribution mechanisms based on accrued benefits and costs of conservation require relevant data unavailable in many locations. To address this, a contingent valuation method identified willingness to pay (WTP) among national park visitors and connected tourism business owners. Both groups derive benefit from government-funded conservation policies. The study was conducted in Bardia and Chitwan National Parks, Nepal 2017–2018; two locations world-renowned for tiger conservation. Local and international park visitors (N = 387) provided WTP for ongoing conservation via additional park entry fees. Tourism business owners (TBOs; N = 74) proximate to the parks stated their WTP for compensation funding provided directly to farmers. The majority (65%) of park visitors were willing to pay extra to support conservation (sample mean US$ 20) while 85 percent of TBOs supported their payment of funds for compensating farming communities (sample mean annual contribution being US$ 156). Valid WTP regression modelling found that visitor WTP was predicted by international travel costsand environmental organization affiliation. For TBOs indicating WTP, the amount to pay was predicted by annual net income from the tourism business. Application of study data indicates US$ 25 average increase to visitor park fees would maximise revenue and contribute a further US$ 495,000 available for conservation activities. Similarly, a flat-rate tariff on TBOs at the mean WTP amount would contribute more than double the annual budget available for farmer compensation (providing approximately US$ 43,000). More generally, the study findings are informative for policy-makers seeking equitable conservation outcomes while maintaining viable populations of critically endangered wild tigers. They should however be interpreted with caution given limitations of the sampling frame and method of data elicitation. Regardless, any policy decision effects require careful scrutiny to ensure desired outcomes are realized.

Measuring Development of Self-Help Organizations for Patients with Chronic Health Conditions in Hong Kong: Development and Validation of the Self-Help Organization Development Scale (SHODS).

Self-help organizations (SHOs) enable patients with chronic health conditions (PCHCs) to overcome common difficulties through the exchange of knowledge and mutual assistance, which serves as the basis for promoting the self-reliance and well-being of PCHCs. Nevertheless, practical challenges persist because little is known about what and how to evaluate for the developmental outcomes of SHOs. To address this knowledge gap, the present study seeks to develop and validate the Self-Help Organization Development Scale (SHODS). A total of 232 core members from 54 SHOs in Hong Kong participated in our study. The SHODS structure was validated by confirmatory factor analysis. This analysis derived five factors: citizen support, business support, member recovery and mutual aid, organizational health, and functional sustainability. The five-factor structure demonstrated stability across various types of SHOs, as validated by the subgroup analysis based on two criteria: duration of SHO establishment and organization affiliation. Good concurrent validity was supported by significant correlations between the SHODS factors and organizational variables, including staff supervision, staff understanding, networking, advocating, and educating the public and patients. The SHODS also showed excellent internal consistency. In conclusion, the SHODS is a psychometrically sound instrument for measuring the developmental outcomes of SHOs.

Estimating Heterogeneous Effects of a Policy Intervention across Organizations when Organization Affiliation is Missing for the Control Group: Application to the Evaluation of Accountable Care Organizations.

First introduced in early 2000s, the accountable care organization (ACO) is designed to lower health care costs while improving quality of care and has become one of the most important coordinated care technologies in the United States. In this research, we use the Medicare fee-for-service claims data from 2009-2014 to estimate the heterogeneous effects of Medicare ACO programs on hospital admissions across hospital referral regions (HRRs) and provider groups. To conduct our analysis, a model for a difference-in-difference (DID) study is embellished in multiple ways to account for intricacies and complexity with the data not able to be accounted for using existing models. Of particular note, we propose a Gaussian mixture model to account for the inability to observe the practice group affiliation of physicians if the organization they worked for did not become an ACO, which is needed to ensure appropriate partitioning of variation across the different units. The results suggest that the ACO programs reduced the rate of readmission to hospital, that the ACO program may have reduced heterogeneity in readmission rates, and that the effect of joining an ACO varied considerably across medical groups.

Leading from the inside Out: Contemplative Practice as Radical Self-care for BIPOC Activists

ABSTRACT This article contributes to scholarship focused on the contemplative justice movement. The study analyzes the experiences of BIPOC activists engaged in contemplative practice through the Practice in Transformative Action (PiTA) program in Oakland, California. Utilizing a Black feminist power analysis, I interpret theories of social change and organizational affiliations among these activists to speak to the utility of contemplative practice as a form of radical self-care which supports the individual and their work for social justice.

Toward Nationalizing Regimes: Conceptualizing Power and Identity in the Post-Soviet Realm by Diana T. Kudaibergenova

Reviewed by: Toward Nationalizing Regimes: Conceptualizing Power and Identity in the Post-Soviet Realm by Diana T. Kudaibergenova Matthew Blackburn (bio) Diana T. Kudaibergenova, Toward Nationalizing Regimes: Conceptualizing Power and Identity in the Post-Soviet Realm. 240 pp. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 2020. ISBN 9780822946175. Diana T. Kudaibergenova’s monograph is a welcome contribution to the study of nation-building, nationalism, and minority integration in Kazakhstan and Latvia, cases previously compared in landmark studies by David D. Laitin and Pål Kolstø.1 Kudaibergenova’s contribution moves beyond the paradigms dominant in the late 1990s and into the complex developments of the last two decades. The book’s central framework is “nationalizing regimes” and, with an ambitious and wide-ranging scope, it considers the political uses of nationalism in the two countries. The book brings the fascinating perspective of a researcher with extended experience of living in both countries to tackle challenging and vital questions of power, identity, and politics. With an innovative approach and a variety of empirical data on view, the author has assembled some fascinating insights into the contemporary development of the two countries examined. In conceptual terms, the framework of “nationalizing regimes” is explained in dense and, at times, hard to follow, theoretical language. The author argues that nation-building is “the most powerful space that guides political decision-making mechanisms post-1991” (5) and aims to explore why “the exclusiveness of a certain ethnic or national group” is made “the cornerstone” of political legitimation. By defining “nationalizing regimes” as “the politically defined power field of a regime guided by control and an obsession with nationalism” (6), the author leaves one wondering what is meant by “nationalism” and how this “field” will be accessed. In replacing Brubaker’s “nationalizing state” with “nationalizing regime” we do not move to a more coherent set of actors but toward a vaguer, less graspable “power field”: “the space of interchangeable positions of actors involved in the process of competing for power but also as elites relating to nonelites in the state” (11). This approach may prove confusing for some but may also be well received by others looking for a fresh approach to the study of nation building. If we accept that “nationalizing regimes are formed of the most powerful elites who manage to control and impose the specific discursive and nation-building outcomes” (7), the key question is how to access and examine these power elites. Unfortunately, the author does not include any table of those interviewed, their organizational affiliation, nor dates and locations. The book contains more in-depth quotes from those who are alienated and excluded than from the “powerful elites” determining policy and discourse. [End Page 311] There is some doubt that there was sufficient access to dominant elites to answer the question, “Who influences nationalizing strategies development and who is in charge of controlling and challenging the dominant discourse?” (11). The author explains there were four layers (20) of elites interviewed, but in the analysis does not return to this point or offer reflexivity on which layers she accessed best and how this affected her findings. The way the contextual background to Kazakhstan and Latvia is provided is also an issue in the book. Instead of one contextualizing chapter, developments across 1985–2010 are handled in small sections across the books, jumping across chronologies. This may be confusing for readers not well versed in the recent history of these two countries. The choice of the two countries, despite their extremely divergent pathways post-1991, is also not fully justified (33). While there is visible elite competition and democracy in Latvia; politics is opaque and controlled in Kazakhstan. Latvia as a democracy allows opposition groups far more space than the author argues; the patronal system in Kazakhstan is a very different environment. While comparing the two in the 1990s had a certain logic, the case for doing this today is not made clear. As for the structure of the book, the introduction and chapter 1 are rather heavy-going, conceptually laden sections that argue in favor of “nationalizing regimes” as a solid framework for examining political developments in these countries. Chapter 2 covers the narratives...