Project Staff Research Articles

Comparison of anxiety and depression of satellite project staff and accommodation in companies located in Kharg Island

Introduction: Anxiety and depression are the most common psychological problems that reduce employee productivity. Aim: The present study was conducted to compare the level of anxiety and depression of satellite project staff and accommodation in companies located in Kharg Island. Method: The present study was a causal-comparative study. The statistical population of the study included all employees of the satellite project and residents of companies located on Kharg Island in 2021. Using the available method, 104 people (52 from the satellite plan and 52 from the island) were selected. Data were collected using the Anxiety-Depression-Stress Questionnaire (DASS-42). Research data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, parametric statistical defaults and multivariate analysis of variance with SPSS-26. Results: The results showed that the mean scores of anxiety (Eta=0.23, P=0.000, F=31.37) and depression (Eta=0.17, P=0.000, F=21.39) were significantly higher in the resident staff group than the satellite plan staff and there was a statistically significant difference between the two groups. Conclusion: The results showed that employees living in companies based on Kharg Island experienced higher levels of anxiety and depression than employees of the satellite project. In this regard, island managers are advised to use psychologists to increase the psychological performance of employees to increase the productivity of the workforce.

Diskriminierungssensible Sprache in der Forschung zu Migration und Gesundheit – eine Handreichung

ZusammenfassungHintergrundIn der Public-Health-Forschung ist Migration als eine Determinante von Gesundheit zunehmend in den Fokus gerückt. Verantwortungsvolle Forschung in diesem Bereich setzt eine antidiskriminierende Vorgehensweise in der Durchführung, Berichterstattung und Ergebnisdissemination voraus. Ein diskriminierungssensibler Sprachgebrauch ist dabei ein zentrales Element. Handreichungen hierzu gibt es im deutschsprachigen Raum für den Bereich Public Health bisher nicht.MethodenIm Rahmen des Projektes Improving Health Monitoring in Migrant Populations (IMIRA) am Robert Koch-Institut wurde eine Handreichung zu antidiskriminierender Sprache in der Forschung zu Migration und Gesundheit entwickelt, die aus einem Leitfaden und einer Übersicht über relevante Begriffe und Konzepte besteht. Die Bedarfe, Inhalte und Form dazu wurden in einem Aktionsforschungsprozess mit Projektmitarbeitenden aus dem IMIRA-Projekt erarbeitet.ErgebnisseDer Leitfaden zeigt 5 Grundprinzipien für einen antidiskriminierenden Sprachgebrauch auf: 1. Generalisierungen und Verallgemeinerungen vermeiden, 2. diskriminierungssensibel formulieren, 3. Selbst- und Fremdbezeichnungen berücksichtigen, 4. Begriffe unterliegen einem ständigen Wandel und 5. eigene Unsicherheiten offen kommunizieren. Die Übersicht, welche online als „Living Document“ zur Verfügung steht, beinhaltet Begriffe und Konzepte, die im Zusammenhang mit dem Thema Gesundheit und Migration häufig verwendet werden.FazitDie Handreichung soll Forschende dafür sensibilisieren und dabei unterstützen, Sprache antidiskriminierend anzuwenden. Dies geht mit einer Reflexion der eigenen Sprache einher und stärkt verantwortungsvolle Forschung zum Thema Migration und Gesundheit. Die Nutzung und der Nutzen der Handreichung können Gegenstand zukünftiger Evaluationen sein.

Examining the Use of Mobile Technology to Deliver Tailored Sexual Assault Prevention in a Classroom Environment in the Military: Development and Usability Study.

Advances in mobile technology over the last 10 years have expanded its use in scientific research. However, there are challenges in creating a reliable system for intervention content delivery and data collection in an environment with limited internet connectivity and limited staffing capacity. The Sexual Communication and Consent (SCC) study used tablets to provide individualized Sexual Assault Prevention and Response training in a classroom environment that was both technologically and support staff limited. We developed the SCC Basic Military Training app and a separate Sexual Assault Response Coordinator app to support individualized training within the new SCC program. This paper presents the functionality, protocols, challenges, and feasibility of deploying mobile technology in an educational environment in the military with limited resources. We developed both mobile apps targeting the Apple iOS ecosystem. The Basic Military Training app provided a screening instrument that routed the trainee into 1 of 5 specific intervention programs. Over 2 days of basic military training set 2 weeks apart, trainees received a combined 6 hours of program-specific tablet training, combined with universal, interactive classroom training, led by qualified instructors. The Sexual Assault Response Coordinator app, used to deliver supplemental content to a subgroup of trainees, was made available for voluntary and private use at the Sexual Assault Response Coordinator's office on base. All anonymous data were manually transferred onto laptops, where the data were aggregated into files and securely transferred to the project staff for analysis. The study was conducted at the Lackland Air Force Base, Joint Base San Antonio, with 9196 trainees providing the data. A total of 7742 trainees completed both the sessions of the SCC program and a series of evaluative assessments. Some trainees did not receive day 2 training, and only received day 1 training because the COVID-19 pandemic shortened the study period. Of the 190 SCC classes taught, only one class was unable to complete tablet training because of Apple licensing-related technology failure. The 360 study tablets were distributed across 3 classrooms (120 per classroom) and were handled at least 16,938 times with no reports of breakage or requiring replacement. Wi-Fi access limitations exacerbated the complexity of Apple licensing revalidation and the secure transfer of data from the classroom to project personnel. The instructor staff's limited technical knowledge to perform certain technical tasks was challenging. The results demonstrated the feasibility of deploying a mobile app for tablet-based training in a military educational environment. Although successful, the study was not without technical challenges. This paper gives examples of technical lessons learned and recommendations for conducting the study differently, with the aim that the knowledge gained may be helpful to other researchers encountering similar requirements.

Student partners as co-contributors in research: a collective autoethnographic account

ABSTRACT The practice of students as partners can be applied to numerous facets of the university, including curriculum design, governance, and co-curricular programs. However, while scholars have also conceptualised that student partnership can occur through co-research, adoption is far from mainstream. In this paper, we seek to go ‘under the hood’ of students as partners in co-research by exploring and reflecting upon our own recent co-research project. By doing so we aim to understand why the practice of co-research with students has failed to gain widescale traction in higher education. To support our study, we use collective autoethnography which helps to structure our reflections of the co-research process and create dialogue and shared understanding among the research team. Our findings identify two central points of tensions that prohibit partnership in co-research, including how to best support collaborative and reciprocal learning between students and staff in research projects and how students’ contributions can be reconceptualised to be different, yet equal, to experienced researchers. Through our findings, we advocate for universities to consider sustainable practices to support students in co-research and for scholarly journals to reflect on how student authors can be appropriately recognised.

Investigating staff capabilities to make projects resilient: A systematic literature review and future directions

Projects are increasingly confronted with uncertainties and unexpected events, which necessitate having capabilities to build resilience to cope with such events. Yet, the understanding of staff capabilities to make projects resilient remains limited. The study employed Templier and Paré's (2015) six-step instructions for conducting an SLR to close the gap. A data sample of 283 articles was systematically analyzed to filter 97 relevant articles for content analysis, yielding three-fold findings. First, much work has been done on the project manager's competences and skills, followed by projects and project team management. But literature is largely silent on how those competencies can make projects resilient. Second, there is a conceptual overlap among various types of competencies (e.g., behavioral and cognitive), which transcends in understanding of capabilities for project resilience as well. Third, to systemize knowledge development, capabilities literature should be categorized along four dimensions, i.e., project manager, team, staff, and projects (projects are regarded as temporary organizations as per definition in Appendix 1). Then, the capabilities along these dimensions can be classified from behavioral, cognitive, and functional/technical/managerial aspects to overcome the conceptual overlaps and develop strategies to make projects resilient. Academically, the study has: 1) developed a classification scheme to examine staff capabilities for project resilience, and 2) identified six areas of future research agenda, e.g., inter-disciplinary effects of project staff capabilities on resilience.

Study of the Factors Affecting the Quality and Safety of Deep Excavations in Urban Areas of Casablanca-Settat Province-Morocco

Understanding the project environment is essential in managing the works and controlling the risks associated with deep excavations in urban areas. The study was carried out on 33 risks related to the project site (SR) and the company (CR). The projects concerned are located in the Casablanca region. A structured survey questionnaire was sent to 100 project managers, researchers, and construction management experts to attract relevant data, which resulted in a relatively high response rate of 54%. This paper applies the principal component analysis (PCA) method to reduce the original data variables and identify risk factors associated with deep excavations. Spearman rank correlation tests show a good consensus among respondents to corroborate the results further. The PCA results in four principal factors (SR) accounting for 68% of the variance explained. Site geology, geotechnics, and hydrogeology account for 32% of the environmental and social impacts of excavation (17%), natural hazards (10%), and proximity to existing structures (8%). Moreover, four main factors (CR) explain about 72% of all the factors analyzed; non-security of the works (32%), non-quality of project staff (18%), project cost overrun (14%), and non-quality of excavation works (9%). These results are useful for critical thinking in planning excavation projects in urban areas. This study provides the urban development community with valuable information to reassess risk factors and realign project management strategies to ensure the quality and safety of deep excavations.

Promoting Gender Equity in Livelihoods Projects: Practitioners’ Perspectives Through the Lens of a Socio-ecological Model

This article points to the untapped potential for meaningful and mutually beneficial exchange between development research and practice, by presenting an example of an iterative process of knowledge formation, whereby project staff’s collective experiential insights and inductive learning are used to obtain an enriched Socio-ecological Model (SEM), which is attuned to the lived experiences in the field and is reinforced by the available research evidence. Using Catholic Relief Services, one of the largest humanitarian and development organizations worldwide, as case study, interviews were conducted with project staff from nine livelihood and food security projects and gathered staff’s perceptions and experiences with promoting gender-equitable outcomes through improved intra-household gender dynamics and men’s involvement. The qualitative analysis of the interviews shows that, while projects tried to integrate activities across the four levels of the SEM (individual, family, community and societal), staff perceived that the stickiness of social norms, women’s time poverty and limited buy-in from local organizations affected progress and presented new challenges that required constant adaptation. Our proposed method shows how an SEM can be enriched by incorporating these additional elements and by using existing research to confirm the significance of the exercise. An enriched SEM, by explicitly pointing to cross-cutting challenges that emerge from the field, is better reflective of the realities in which the staff works than a simple SEM. A process of SEM’s validation through incorporating insights from field staff and collaboratively involving researchers has the potential to deepen how projects or organizations think about the way they can foster gender transformative change; as well as to lead to more informed research and enhance researchers’ appreciations of the practical nature of development project challenges.

Restoring non-COVID-19 clinical research and surveillance in Oyo state, Nigeria during the SARS-CoV-2pandemic.

Many sub-Saharan African patients receive clinical care from extramurally-supported research and surveillance. Dur- ing the COVID-19 pandemic, pausing these activities reduces pa- tient care, surveillance, and research staff employment, increasing pandemic losses. In Oyo State, Nigeria, we paused a multi-country invasive salmonellosis surveillance initiative and a rural clinical bac- teriology project. Working with research partners raises health facility con- cerns about SARS-CoV-2 transmission risks and incurs infection pre- vention costs, so we developed and implemented re-opening plans to protect staff and patients and help health facilities deliver care. Our reopening plan included appointing safety and per- sonal protective equipment (PPE) managers from existing project staff cadres, writing new standard operating procedures, implement- ing extensive assessed training, COVID-19 testing for staff, procuring and managing PPE, and providing secondary bacteraemia blood culture support for COVID-19 patients in State isolation facilities. Surveillance data showed that the pandemic reduced care access and negatively affected patient unsupervised antibacterial use. The re-opening plan repurposed human and material resources from national and international extramurally-supported programs to mitigate these effects on public health. A structured reopening plan restarted care, surveil- lance, and infection prevention and control.

Understanding the Impact and Tackling the Burden of Osteoarthritis for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People.

The aim of this study was to understand and describe the lived experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with osteoarthritis. Qualitative study guided by cultural security, which ensures that research is conducted in a way that will not compromise the cultural values, beliefs, and expectations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Participants were purposively sampled through the networks of project staff. Research yarns (a cultural form of conversation used as a data gathering tool) were conducted with 25 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults with self-reported osteoarthritis in Western Australia and Victoria, Australia. Data were analyzed using a framework approach and presented through composite storytelling (hypothetical stories representing an amalgam of participants' experiences). Two composite stories were constructed to reflect themes relating to beliefs and knowledge, impact, coping, and health care experiences. Common beliefs held by participants were that osteoarthritis is caused by previous physically active lifestyles. Many participants feared for their future, increasing disability and needing a wheelchair. Pain associated with osteoarthritis impacted daily activities, sleep, work, family, and social life and cultural activities. Multidimensional impacts were often experienced within complex health or life circumstances and associated with increased anxiety and depression. Most participants reported negative health care experiences, characterized by poor patient-provider communication. Our findings highlight that osteoarthritis is a multidimensional issue for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that permeates all aspects of life and highlights the need for integrated, multidisciplinary care that is culturally informed and individualized to patient need.

Caring for the whole person: transgender-competent HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis as part of integrated primary healthcare services in Vietnam.

IntroductionAlthough HIV prevalence among transgender women who have sex with men in Vietnam is high (16–18%), uptake of pre‐exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) is low compared to other populations. When PrEP was initiated in 2017, gender‐affirming healthcare was largely unavailable. Lack of access to competent, stigma‐free healthcare is a well‐documented barrier to transgender women's uptake of PrEP and primary healthcare (PHC). We aimed to demonstrate the utility of a PrEP quality improvement intervention in pinpointing and addressing barriers to PrEP use among transgender women in Vietnam.MethodsWe applied a real‐world participatory continuous quality improvement (CQI) and Plan‐Do‐Study‐Act (PDSA) methodology to ascertain barriers to PrEP uptake among transgender women and determine priority actions for quality improvement. A CQI team representing transgender women leaders, key population (KP)‐clinic staff, public‐sector HIV managers and project staff applied PDSA to test solutions to identified barriers that addressed the primary quality improvement outcome of the monthly change in PrEP uptake among transgender women and secondary outcomes, including month‐3 PrEP continuation, the impact of offering PHC on PrEP uptake and unmet PrEP need. We utilized routine programmatic data and a descriptive cross‐sectional study enrolling 124 transgender women to measure these outcomes from October 2018 to September 2021.ResultsFive key barriers to PrEP uptake among transgender women were identified and corresponding solutions were put in place: (1) offering gender‐affirming care training to KP‐clinics and community‐based organizations; (2) integrating gender‐affirming services into 10 KP‐clinics; (3) offering PHC through five one‐stop shop (OSS) clinics; (4) implementing a campaign addressing concerns related to hormone use and PrEP interactions; and (5) developing national HIV and transgender healthcare guidelines. New PrEP enrolment and month‐3 PrEP continuation increased significantly among transgender women. Of 235 transgender women who initially sought healthcare other than PrEP at OSS clinics, 26.4% subsequently enrolled in PrEP. About one‐third of transgender women reported unmet PrEP need, while two‐thirds indicated an interest in long‐acting cabotegravir.ConclusionsOffering gender‐competent, integrated PHC can increase PrEP enrolment and continuation, and can be an entry‐point for PrEP among those seeking care within PHC clinics. More work is needed to expand access to transgender women‐led and ‐competent healthcare in Vietnam.

Conceptualisation and experience of ownership in multi-stakeholder partnerships: Lessons from the HDECoVA initiative in Ethiopia

Ownership is commonly considered a key principle aiming to promote effective multi-stakeholder partnerships. This article explores the conceptualisation and experience of ownership in a multi-stakeholder initiative in TVET, with an empirical focus on a Public-Private Development Partnership (PPDP) in Ethiopia. The qualitative case study is based on insights derived from semi-structured interviews with project staff and partnership actors and an analysis of relevant documents. The findings indicate discrepancies between rhetoric and reality of ownership dynamics, which complicates the actual ownership practice. The goal of all-inclusive equitable participation, originally intended, is not achieved. Power is not equally shared in the initiative, as local actors play a limited role in the decision-making process, and therefore do not acquire ownership as intended. In this case, the PPDP approach reproduces inequality as international actors exert influence through indirect governance. This study suggests a coherent understanding of the ownership concept, which emphasises the relationship between all parties, promoting co-ownership, rather than merely defining the roles of donors and beneficiaries. PPDPs are likely to achieve better results and local actors may sustain outcomes when their capacity is built through active engagement in the process and the partnership is implemented through joint commitment, responsibility, and equal participation.

Development of report-back materials of air pollution exposure results to participants in the HAPIN trial in Guatemala and Rwanda

Background: Interpretation of individual exposure information for reporting to research participants is an important aspect of the research process that can empower participants, increase community engagement with scientific research, and better tailor future community-engaged research. In the multi-country Household Air Pollution Randomized Intervention Network (HAPIN) trial, a randomized controlled trial among 3200 pregnant women that assessed the effect of a liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove and fuel intervention, we engaged a subset of study participants in Guatemala and Rwanda in the development of context-appropriate materials. The purpose of this study was to: 1) report and explain air pollution exposure levels to: 2) present strategies to increase awareness of the health effects of air pollution; and 3) discuss strategies to reduce personal exposure to air pollution. Methods: Local project staff in Guatemala and Rwanda were trained to conduct qualitative research. Individual interviews and participatory observations in participant homes (n=42 in Guatemala; n=20 in Rwanda) were followed by working groups to assess interpretability of different graphical displays of exposure data. Finally, focus groups assisted in iteration of contextually relevant visual aids illustrating exposure results, health impacts, and strategies to reduce exposures. Results: After iterations, visual materials depicting community and personal exposure to fine particulate matter (PM2.5) using a simple "thermometer-style” graphic were chosen, including a marker of community-level impacts of the liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) stove intervention. Educational material about the health impacts of air pollution and contextually feasible and available methods to reduce exposure were presented. Capacity was built among field teams to conduct qualitative research. Conclusions: Development of materials to report back scientific results to study participants in accurate and understandable ways is an ethical obligation to communities participating in complex research and may yield important benefits to researchers and participating community alike. Keywords: report-back; environmental health literacy; HAPIN trial

Ghanaian Female Adolescents Perceived Changes in Nutritional Behaviors and Social Environment After Creating Participatory Videos: A Most Significant Change Evaluation

ABSTRACTBackgroundUnderstanding the influence of participatory video-making on the nutrition-related behavior of video creators may help shape nutrition education interventions.ObjectivesThis study assessed the perceived value and influence of a participatory video intervention among participants and stakeholders.MethodsA 2018–2019 cluster randomized controlled trial (registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT03704649) selected 20 schools (10 intervention, n = 181; 10 control, n = 170) in 1 Ghanaian rural district, enrolled adolescent girls aged 13–16 y, and provided a nutrition curriculum. Each intervention school also participated in 2 series of activities designed to help adolescents plan, film, and screen 2 nutrition-related videos. The Most Significant Change method involved intervention participants and local stakeholders to assess the value and influence of the intervention – a secondary outcome of the trial. Project staff collected 116 stories of change from the adolescents. Stories described shifts in 4 domains: participant, peer, and family behavior, and structural changes in the school. The project team used a selection rubric to identify 14 stories that reflected heightened nutrition literacy. Staff conducted interviews with the 14 adolescents whose stories were selected to elaborate on details and perceived resonance. Finally, local stakeholders assessed the stories to identify the 4 most significant changes of the intervention – 1 per domain. A separate thematic analysis identified emerging patterns of motivation and action across the 14 interviews.ResultsThe chosen Most Significant Change stories revealed how adolescents found creative solutions to acquire iron-rich foods, encouraged neighbors to eat iron-rich foods, taught their family new agricultural practices, and promoted change in their school canteen. Local stakeholders valued stories that addressed common community nutrition issues in a creative and sustainable way, whereas adolescents prioritized stories that showed a change in health outcomes.ConclusionStories of change revealed that the intervention promoted a transformative influence; participants modified their eating habits, lifestyle, and their environment.

PENGARUH DIMENSI - DIMENSI EMPOWERMENT DARI KINERJA KARYAWAN PADA PT DJINAWI GRESIK INDONESIA

The development of business circumtances that always changes, leads companies to have competitive advantages in efficiency and effectivity. PT. Djinawi is a self-focused contractor company in optimalizing its human resources assets by adapting the empowerment to be successful in market competition. Such adapting of empowerment is viewed from four psychological empowerment dimensions that had been introduced by Spreitzer. Those foour dimensions are meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact. If all of these four dimensions, e.g., meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact is felt by employees, then the empowerment process will go through in good condition. This research used a holistic single case study, by using the technique of data collection by interview, direct-observation, and internal data of company. For the needs of mapping, a pra-case study had been carried out. From this research, it revealed that the adapting of empowerment can go through well, which viewed from the four dimensions, e.g, meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact that has been felt by employees. In line with it, from the triangulation may be obtained that the respondents also expressed some obstacles in project staff level. It can be concluded that if all of four dimensios, e.g, meaning, competence, self-determination, and impact could be felt by employees, then empowerment can go through well as well as make a company success in face against a tight of market competition.

Rates and Determinants of Retention on ART Among Orphans and Vulnerable Children Living With HIV in Tanzania.

Despite the global progress in response to HIV and AIDS, notable challenges remain for children, especially identification, linkage, and retention in HIV care and treatment services. To succeed in pediatric HIV programming requires the linkage and retention of the children in those services over time. This study assessed the level of retention to antiretroviral therapy (ART) and its associated factors among orphans and vulnerable children living with HIV (OVCLHIV) in Tanzania. Data were obtained from the USAID Kizazi Kipya project that collected pediatric ART data from October 2017 to October 2019 in 81 district councils of Tanzania. Community-based volunteers supported the linkage and retention of the OVCLHIV on ART. Analysis of on-ART status was conducted in a cohort of OVCLHIV aged 0–20 years enrolled in the project and monitored for 24 months. OVCLHIV who remained on ART until the end of the follow-up period were referred to as “retained,” otherwise, “not retained”. Multivariable analysis was conducted using logistic regression, adjusting for baseline characteristics. Of the 5,304 OVCLHIV analyzed, the mean age was 13.1 years, 51.5% were female, and 72.2% were living with female caregivers. Their overall rate of retention on ART over the 24 months was 86.7%. Multivariable analysis showed that as the higher frequency of home visit by the project staff increased, the likelihood of retention increased by 8% [adjusted odds ratio (aOR) = 1.08, 95% CI 1.06–1.11, p < 0.001]. Membership in people living with HIV (PLHIV) support groups was associated with a higher likelihood of retention compared to nonmembership (aOR = 3.31, 95% CI 2.60–4.21, p < 0.001). Children in larger family size were 22% less likely to sustain ART (aOR = 0.78, 95% CI 0.72–0.84, p < 0.001). Urban OVCLHIV were 18% less likely to remain on ART than their rural counterparts (aOR = 0.82, 95% CI 0.69–0.98, p = 0.030). Remaining on ART was 49% more likely for OVC in economically better-off households than those in destitute households (aOR = 1.49, 95% CI 1.22–1.81, p < 0.001). Male OVC were 17% less likely to be retained on ART than their female counterparts (aOR = 0.83, 95% CI 0.71–0.99, p = 0.033). Community-based OVC support resulted in a high pediatric retention rate over the 24 months of follow-up. While key enablers of retention were higher frequency of home visits by the project volunteer, participation in PLHIV support groups, and better economic status, large family sizes, urban place of residence, and male gender of the OVC were barriers. This study brings useful evidence to inform strategies for advancing retention of OVCLHIV on ART for their better health outcomes and overall wellbeing.

Paediatric multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in a resource-limited high TB burden setting: a case report

MDR-TB is a matter of growing concern especially in children. The case presented here is a four years MDR-TB girl belonging to the Saharia tribe, a high TB burden ethnic group in central India. She was noticed by the project staff during contact tracing visit to the family as her father had MDR TB. The sputum smear and Cartridge- Based Nucleic Acid Amplification Test (CBNAAT) tests confirmed the diagnosis of M. tuberculosis with Rifampicin resistance. She was promptly initiated on shorter MDR regimen under National TB Elimination Programme (NTEP) and was monitored regularly with successful outcome at the end of the treatment. Though household contact investigations are integral part of NTEP, it is rarely done routinely in resource-limited settings, thereby missing a large number of children with TB disease. The carefully performed household contact investigation in this case, led to prompt detection and timely treatment of this MDR-TB girl in the remote setting who was otherwise missed by the routine programme surveillance. This also led to a favorable outcome. The findings emphasize the need for strengthening household contact tracing mechanism in the national TB elimination programme particularly in hard to reach and marginalised ethnic populations in the country.

Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) applied to evaluating the forest management approaches

The study mainly aims at looking into the disparities in beneficiary’s socio-economic status between the areas without implementation of forestry plans and the areas where forestry plans had initially been available even though they have recently been terminated as well. Babol Roud forestry plan is located in Lafoor forest area in the Babol County, the Mazandaran Province, Northeast Iran. This research was divided into three steps: first of all, by making use of Cochran’s formula, we identified the number of participants. Later on, the Delphi method was employed in order to determine criteria and subcriteria through the questionnaires. From then on, Fuzzy Analytic Hierarchy Process (FAHP) was used to quantify the criteria that were weighted by experts’ viewpoints through the planned questionnaires. By adopting the Fuzzy Forests method, we found out that the economic, environmental, social and managerial criteria are most prominent. Forestry project staff’s income was in the highest relative weight (0.23) based on participant’s viewpoint. Most of the participants in the study did not give their consent to the forestry plan suspension due to the inevitably forthcoming economic and environmental problems ahead. Instead, they strongly underlined the need to go into immediate action such as revising the former plans as well as constant stream of close attention to the plan execution details of the ongoing process. Eventually, developing a new policy and using alternative forest management strategies that would meet the needs of all various stakeholders have been recommended.

Effectiveness of a pay-it-forward intervention compared with user-paid vaccination to improve influenza vaccine uptake and community engagement among children and older adults in China: a quasi-experimental pragmatic trial

SummaryBackgroundChina has low seasonal influenza vaccination rates among priority populations. In this study, we aimed to evaluate a pay-it-forward strategy to increase influenza vaccine uptake in rural, suburban, and urban settings in China.MethodsWe performed a quasi-experimental pragmatic trial to examine the effectiveness of a pay-it-forward intervention (a free influenza vaccine and an opportunity to donate financially to support vaccination of other individuals) to increase influenza vaccine uptake compared with standard-of-care user-paid vaccination among children (aged between 6 months and 8 years) and older people (≥60 years) in China. Recruitment took place in the standard-of-care group until the expected sample size was reached and then in the pay-it-forward group in primary care clinics from a rural site (Yangshan), a suburban site (Zengcheng), and an urban site (Tianhe). Participants were introduced to the influenza vaccine by project staff using a pamphlet about influenza vaccination and were either asked to pay out-of-pocket at the standard market price (US$8·5–23·2; standard-of-care group) or to donate any amount anonymously (pay-it-forward group). Participants had to be eligible to receive an influenza vaccine and to have not received an influenza vaccine in the past year. The primary outcome was vaccine uptake. Secondary outcomes were vaccine confidence and costs (from the health-care provider perspective). Regression methods compared influenza vaccine uptake and vaccine confidence between the two groups. This trial is registered with ChiCTR, ChiCTR2000040048.FindingsFrom Sept 21, 2020, to March 3, 2021, 300 enrolees were recruited from patients visiting three primary care clinics. 55 (37%) of 150 people in the standard-of-care group (40 [53%] of 75 children and 15 [20%] of 75 older adults) and 111 (74%) of 150 in the pay-it-forward group (66 [88%] of 75 children and 45 [60%] of 75 older adults) received an influenza vaccine. People in the pay-it-forward group were more likely to receive an influenza vaccine compared with those in the standard-of-care group (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 6·7 [95% CI 2·7–16·6] among children and 5·0 [2·3–10·8] among older adults). People in the pay-it-forward group had greater confidence in vaccine safety (aOR 2·2 [95% CI 1·2–3·9]), importance (3·1 [1·6–5·9]), and effectiveness (3·1 [1·7–5·7]). In the pay-it-forward group, 107 (96%) of 111 participants donated money for subsequent vaccinations. The pay-it-forward group had a lower economic cost (calculated as the cost without subtraction of donations) per person vaccinated (US$45·60) than did the standard-of-care group ($64·67).InterpretationThe pay-it-forward intervention seemed to be effective in improving influenza vaccine uptake and community engagement. Our data have implications for prosocial interventions to enhance influenza vaccine uptake in countries where influenza vaccines are available for a fee.FundingBill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the UK National Institute for Health Research.

Sleep Duration and Kindergarten Adjustment.

The current study examined longitudinal linkages between child sleep duration and children's socioemotional, learning engagement, executive functioning, and academic outcomes across the full kindergarten (K) year. A measurement-burst design was employed to examine 3 different measures of child sleep duration in 7-day bursts at pre-K (July-August), early K (late September), mid-K (late November), and late K (mid-to-late April), using wrist actigraphy. These measures included mean amounts of child sleep per 24-hour period across the full week, proportion of 24-hour periods per week that children slept 10 or more hours, and proportion of nighttime sleep periods per week that children slept 10 or more hours. Children's outcomes at early, mid-, and late K were provided by their K teachers blind to children's sleep histories, and by assessments administered by project staff. Among the 3 sleep measures examined, regularity of nighttime sleep in which children slept 10 or more hours per night, especially at pre-K, consistently predicted more favorable K outcomes in both socioemotional, learning engagement, and academic domains. Results suggested that establishing healthy nighttime sleep habits before K start was especially promotive of better K adjustment across the full K year. These findings were controlled for income-to-poverty threshold ratios, child health status, and number of missed school days. Efforts to promote a favorable transition to first-time schooling should pay particular attention to sleep hygiene and regularity of 10-plus hours of nightly child sleep established before the start of K.

ORGANIZATIONAL DYNAMICS AND PUBLIC PARTICIPATION IN KENYA: A CRITICAL LITERATURE REVIEW

Purpose: Organizational dynamics entails structural behavior which may include how employees are organized, how daily work deliverables are executed and how the resources are expended. Lack of public participation in CDF-funded projects commonly leads to failure or delay in completion of these projects. Our purpose of study therefore is to evaluate the influence of organizational dynamics on public participation practices in Constituency Development Fund (CDF) funded projects in Kenya, with reference to Manyatta Constituency in Embu County. Methodology: The paper used a desk study review methodology where relevant empirical literature was reviewed to identify main themes and to extract knowledge gaps. Findings: The study concluded that financial audit committees of CDF projects must be competently trained and imparted with relevant financial management skills and that they should be able to operate independently where they frequently hold quality meetings without undue pressures from any unwarranted quarters. The study also made the conclusion that project leadership, financial resources, and staff training played a critical role in influencing public participation in CDF projects. Unique Contribution to Theory and Practice: The study recommends that, all CDF managers should be compelled by the public to allow and embrace public participation as an integral part of management of CDF funded projects. There must be proper priority setting in initiation of CDF funded projects to foster prudent financial resources management by CDF committees. This will further enhance proper running of all activities associated with CDF such as public participation which is a requirement by law