Rural Survey Research Articles

A national study into the rural and remote pharmacist workforce

As for many health professionals, distance presents an enormous challenge to pharmacists working in rural and remote Australia. Previous studies have identified issues relating to the size of the rural and remote pharmacist workforce, and a number of national initiatives have been implemented to promote the recruitment and retention of pharmacists in rural and remote locations. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the current rural and remote pharmacy workforce, and to identify barriers and drivers influencing rural and remote pharmacy practice. A mixed-methods approach was used, which comprised a qualitative national consultation and a quantitative rural and remote pharmacist workforce survey. Semi-structured interviews (n=83) and focus groups (n=15, 143 participants) were conducted throughout Australia in 2009 with stakeholders with an interest in rural and remote pharmacy, practising rural/remote pharmacists and pharmacy educators, and as well as with peak pharmacy organizations, to explore the issues associated with rural/remote practice. Based on the findings of the qualitative work a 45-item survey was developed to further explore the relevance of the issues identified in the qualitative consultation. All registered Australian pharmacists practising in non-urban locations (RRMA 3-7, n=3,300) were identified and invited to participate in the study, with a response rate of 23.4%. The main themes identified from the qualitative consultation were the impact of national increases in the pharmacist workforce on rural/remote practice; the role of the regional pharmacy schools in contributing to the rural/remote workforce; and the perceptions of differences in pharmacist roles in rural/remote practice. The survey indicated that pharmacists practising in rural and remote locations were older than the national average (55.8 years versus 40 years). Differences in their professional role were seen in different pharmacy sectors, with hospital pharmacists spending significantly more time on the delivery of professional services and education and teaching, but less time on medication supply than community pharmacists. Rural/remote pharmacists were generally found to be satisfied with their current role. The main 'satisfiers' reported were task variety, customer appreciation, use of advanced skills, appropriate remuneration, happiness in their work location, sound relationships with other pharmacists, a happy team and relationships with other health professionals. This study described the distribution, roles and factors affecting rural and remote pharmacy practice. While the results presented provide an extensive overview of the rural/remote workforce, a comparable national study comparing rural/remote and urban pharmacists would further contribute to this discussion. Knowledge on why pharmacists chose to work in a particular geographical location, or why pharmacists chose to leave a location would further enrich our knowledge on what drives and sustains the rural/remote pharmacist workforce.

THE CONSUMPTION COMPARISON AMONG HOUSEHOLDS OF DIFFERENT INCOME LEVEL --- EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF RURAL HOUSEHOLD SURVEY DATA

Econometric method was adopted to simulate demand functions for twenty three kinds of commodities using China rural households survey data of 2009,which followed the Ratio Semi-log Inverse function.Marginal budget shares and income elasticities were estimated.With the rising income,households of different income levels have different consumption tendency,households of low and middle income level tend to increase culture,education and recreation and services,health care and medical services,transportation,while for households of high income level,many commodities are necessaries,and their consumption focus on residence.

碳汇目标下农户森林经营最优决策及碳汇供给能力——基于浙江和江西两省调查

PDF HTML阅读 XML下载 导出引用 引用提醒 碳汇目标下农户森林经营最优决策及碳汇供给能力——基于浙江和江西两省调查 DOI: 10.5846/stxb201209181314 作者: 作者单位: 浙江农林大学经济管理学院,浙江农林大学经济管理学院,浙江农林大学经济管理学院,浙江农林大学经济管理学院,浙江农林大学经济管理学院 作者简介: 通讯作者: 中图分类号: 基金项目: 国家自然科学基金(71203198);国家自然科学基金(71073148);国家自然科学基金(71273245);浙江省高校人文社科重点研究基地"决策科学与创新管理"重大招标项目(RWSKZD01-2012ZB2,RWSKZD01-2012ZB);浙江省哲学社会科学规划(12JCJJ15YB);浙江省自然基金(Q12G030048) Household optimal forest management decision and carbon supply: case from Zhejiang and Jiangxi Provinces Author: Affiliation: zhejiang agriculture@forestry university,shenyueqin,,, Fund Project: 摘要 | 图/表 | 访问统计 | 参考文献 | 相似文献 | 引证文献 | 资源附件 | 文章评论 摘要:增加森林碳汇已成为应对气候变化的重要举措。基于浙江和江西两省农户调研数据,以杉木为案例树种,引用生长模型、修正的Faustmann模型碳密度和价格数据,对单一和碳汇木材复合经营目标下的杉木最佳轮伐期和林地期望值进行比较研究,并模拟了不同碳价格和利率水平下的变化,同时绘制了农户的碳汇供给曲线。可以发现,在碳汇林经营模式下,基于目前的杉木市场价格远高于碳价格的现实,农户的经营采伐决策并不会发生明显改变,从而导致在大范围的碳价格变动下碳汇的供给也没有显著增加,这也说明木材收益和碳收益的两个不同经营目标是协调的。同时,基于碳汇经营模式下的杉木林地期望值增长迅速,碳汇林地潜在投资价值巨大,也意味着森林碳汇对于土地利用改变可能会产生巨大影响。 Abstract:Using forest for carbon sequestration is widely accepted as an important strategy to mitigate climate change. Using data collected from rural households' survey in Zhejiang and Jiangxi, Faustmann model was applied to investigate the optimal rotation age and forestland expectation value between traditional timber management and joint timber and carbon management for Chinese fir. Carbon supply curve was developed and sensitivity analysis was conducted with various interest rate and carbon price. It was found that the optimal rotation of Chinese fir in the joint management does not change from traditional timber management due to the fact that timber price is much higher than carbon price, suggesting that optimal decision for Chinese fir management will not change significantly and carbon sequestration supply from current Chinese fir forestland would not increase significantly within a large range change of carbon price. However, including carbon value would significantly increase the land value for forest management against alternative land uses, and will expand the forest area, which also increase the carbon storage in the expanded forestland. 参考文献 相似文献 引证文献

Socioeconomic, cultural and behavioural features of prior and anticipated influenza vaccine uptake in urban and rural Pune district, India: a mixed-methods case study

IntroductionEnsuring production capacity of efficacious vaccines for pandemic preparedness alone may not be sufficient for effective influenza control. Community willingness to accept the vaccine is also critical. Population acceptance must...

Processed Foods as an Integral Part of Universal Salt Iodization Programs: A Review of Global Experience and Analyses of Bangladesh and Pakistan

Despite the reference to salt for food processing in the original definition of universal salt iodization (USI), national USI programs often do not explicitly address food industry salt. This may affect program impact and sustainability, given the increasing consumption of processed foods in developing countries. To review experience of the use of iodized salt in the food industry globally, and analyze the market context in Bangladesh and Pakistan to test whether this experience may be applicable to inform improved national USI programming in developing countries. A review of relevant international experience was undertaken. In Bangladesh and Pakistan, local rural market surveys were carried out. In Bangladesh, structured face-to-face interviews with bakers and indepth interviews with processed food wholesalers and retailers were conducted. In Pakistan, face-to-face structured interviews were conducted with food retailers and food labels were checked. Experience from industrialized countries reveals impact resulting from the use of iodized salt in the food industry. In Bangladesh and Pakistan, bread, biscuits, and snacks containing salt are increasingly available in rural areas. In Bangladesh, the majority of bakers surveyed claimed to use iodized salt. In Pakistan, 6 of 362 unique product labels listed iodized salt. Successful experience from developed countries needs to be adapted to the developing country context. The increasing availability of processed foods in rural Bangladesh and Pakistan provides an opportunity to increase iodine intake. However, the impact of this intervention remains to be quantified. To develop better national USI programs, further data are required on processed food consumption across population groups, iodine contents of food products, and the contribution of processed foods to iodine nutrition.

Effects of credit constraints on household productivity in rural China

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the effect of credit constraints on agricultural productivity in China.Design/methodology/approach – Using data from a rural financial survey, a switching regression model is used to account for endogeneity and heterogeneity. Carter presents three ways that credit might affect the production functions; a shift along a given production surface by allowing an optimal level of inputs, a shift the production surface out by allowing the purchase of more efficient inputs, and the third is to increase net revenue by more intensive use of fixed inputs and resources. Thus, the effects of factors on agricultural productivity may not be independent of credit status; therefore, separate functions for credit‐constrained and non‐constrained households are examined.Findings – Empirical estimates of the impacts of credit constraints on agricultural productivity are provided for the Heilongjiang province, a major agricultural production area, in Northeast China. By removin...

It Takes Two to Tango: Activation of Cortex and Lumbosacral Circuitry Restores Locomotion in Spinal Cord Injury

In a resource-poor environment such as rural East Africa, expensive medical devices such as computed tomographic (CT) scanners are rare. The CT scanner at the rural Haydom Lutheran Hospital (HLH) in Tanzania therefore offers a unique chance to observe possible differences with urban medical centers in the disease pattern of trauma-related cranial pathologies. The purpose of this study was to compare traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) between a rural and an urban area of Tanzania.HLH has 350 beds and one CT scanner. The urban Aga Khan Hospital is a private hospital with 80 beds and one CT scanner. This was a retrospective study. Data of 248 patients at HLH and of 432 patients at Aga Khan Hospital with TBI could be collected.The prevalence of TBI was significantly higher in the rural area compared to the urban area (34.2% vs. 21.9%, P < 0.0001). TBI due to violence was noted to occur more frequently at HLH, whereas road traffic accidents were more frequent at the Aga Khan Hospital. The number of patients showing a normal CT result was significantly higher in the urban area (53.0% vs. 35.9%, P < 0.0001). Bone fractures (35.9% vs. 15.7%, P < 0.0001) and pneumocephalus (6.9% vs. 0.9%, P < 0.0001) were diagnosed significantly more frequently in the rural survey. Soft tissue swelling (11.6% vs. 1.2%, P < 0.0001) and frontal sinus injuries (7.4% vs. 0.4%, P < 0.0001) were observed significantly more often in the urban setting.This study documents the burden of TBI and the differences in TBI-related CT diagnoses and their incidence between urban and rural areas in Eastern Africa. These results are important as they demonstrate that patients with severe TBI are not a primarily urban concern. Management of TBI should be included in the training curricula for health personnel alike irrespective of whether their workplace is primarily urban or rural.

Investigation of water consumption patterns among Irish adults for waterborne quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA)

Microbial and chemical contamination of drinking water supplies can cause human health problems. Microbial pathogens are of primary concern and quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) is employed to assess and manage the risks they pose. Estimates of drinking water consumption, or distributions, are required to assess levels of waterborne pathogen exposure. To establish distributions for the Irish population, water consumption data were collected from 549 rural survey respondents. A further 110 participants completed a five-day water consumption diary. Average daily consumption of tap-water among the primarily rural-dwelling questionnaire respondents was 940 ml day(-1) (SD 670 ml day(-1)) and 1,186 ml day(-1) (SD 701 ml day(-1)) among the principally urban-dwelling diary respondents. Both mean figures are significantly less than the 2,000 ml day(-1) default figure currently used for QRMA; therefore its use may lead to overestimation of the waterborne health burden. As the observed daily consumption difference between rural and urban residents is statistically significant, use of separate consumption distributions for QMRA is advocated. Although males reported higher daily tap-water consumption rates than females, these differences were insignificant, so separate consumption distributions are not considered necessary. A log-normal distribution provides the most adequate fit for daily tap-water intake (ml day(-1)) within both datasets.

Individual and district-level predictors of alcohol use: cross sectional findings from a rural mental health survey in Australia.

BackgroundExcessive alcohol use is a significant problem in rural and remote Australia. The factors contributing to patterns of alcohol use have not been adequately explained, yet the geographic variation in rates suggests a potential contribution of district-level factors, such as socio-economic disadvantage, rates of population change, environmental adversity, and remoteness from services/population centres. This paper aims to investigate individual-level and district-level predictors of alcohol use in a sample of rural adults.MethodsUsing baseline survey data (N = 1,981) from the population-based Australian Rural Mental Health Study of community dwelling residents randomly selected from the Australia electoral roll, hierarchal logistic regression models were fitted for three outcomes: 1) at-risk alcohol use, indicated by Alcohol Use Disorders Identification Test scores ≥8; 2) high alcohol consumption (> 40 drinks per month); and 3) lifetime consequences of alcohol use. Predictor variables included demographic factors, pre-dispositional factors, recent difficulties and support, mental health, rural exposure and district-level contextual factors.ResultsGender, age, marital status, and personality made the largest contribution to at-risk alcohol use. Five or more adverse life events in the past 12 months were also independently associated with at-risk alcohol use (Adjusted Odds Ratio [AOR] 3.3, 99%CI 1.2, 8.9). When these individual-level factors were controlled for, at-risk alcohol use was associated with having spent a lower proportion of time living in a rural district (AOR 1.7, 99%CI 1.3, 2.9). Higher alcohol consumption per month was associated with higher district-level socio-economic ranking, indicating less disadvantage (AOR 1.2, 99%CI 1.02, 1.4). Rural exposure and district-level contextual factors were not significantly associated with lifetime consequences of alcohol use.ConclusionsAlthough recent attention has been directed towards the potential adverse health effects of district or community level adversity across rural regions, our study found relatively few district-level factors contributing to at-risk alcohol consumption after controlling for individual-level factors. Population-based prevention strategies may be most beneficial in rural areas with a higher socio-economic ranking, while individual attention should be focused towards rural residents with multiple recent adverse life events, and people who have spent less time residing in a rural area.

Evaluating National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme in India: A Dynamic Rural Survey Method Using Mobile Phones

National Rural Employment Guarantee Act is a scheme formulated by the Government of India for the uplifting of the poorest of the poor in rural India. It has been implemented in all the states of India. The effectiveness of any scheme, especially one aimed at rural empowerment, can be measured only by studying the impact it has made in changing the lives of the beneficiaries. RTBI had evaluated the impact of NREGA in Tamilnadu by conducting a study. For this study, RTBI used a mobile phone based data gathering system instead of the regular paper based process. This paper will discuss how the questionnaire was developed, the data gathering method and the use of mobile phones as a reliable tool for conducting surveys.

Attitudes towards dysmenorrhoea, impact and treatment seeking among adolescent girls: A rural school-based survey

Study aimed to determine the prevalence of dysmenorrhoea, its impact, and treatment-seeking behaviour of rural adolescent girls in Malaysia. Large cross-sectional study on 1295 adolescent girls (aged 13-19 years) from 16 public secondary schools in rural districts of Kelantan, Malaysia conducted between February 2009 and April 2009. Dysmenorrhoea was reported in 76.0% of the participants. Concentration at school (59.9%) and participation in social events (58.6%) have been most affected. Multivariate analysis shows that being in upper secondary level was the strongest predictor for poor concentration, absenteeism, and poor school grade due to dysmenorrhoea. In spite of its high prevalence and enormous impact on their lives, 76.1% believed that dysmenorrhoea is a normal part of the female menstrual cycle and only 14.8% sought medical treatment. The majority of adolescents obtained information from their mothers (62.3%) and peers (52.9%). The findings imply the need for educating adolescent girls on effective management of dysmenorrhoea. Education should be extended to parents and school peer leaders to address the reproductive health needs of adolescents.

Clinical and epidemiological perspectives of dyspepsia in a multiracial Malaysian population

Dyspepsia is perhaps the most common gastrointestinal disease universally. The prevalence of dyspepsia ranges from 7-40% in population based studies worldwide. These figures vary with definition of dyspepsia used and also with the survey methodology. As with Western studies, functional dyspepsia (FD) predominates in Asia. With a decline in peptic ulcer disease and gastric cancer, the proportion of FD is set to increase further. Studies have shown FD to account for 50-70% of cases of uninvestigated dyspepsia. In Malaysia dyspepsia has been reported in up to 15% of a rural and 25% of an urban population. No racial differences were seen in the rural survey. In the urban survey, Malays and Indians were found to have significantly more dyspepsia than Chinese. No clear explanation can be found for these racial differences. In clinical practice, Malays seem to complain a lot of wind and bloating in the "stomach." This is interesting to note when you compare it with the prevalence of H. pylori which is distinctly less common amongst Malays compared to the Indians and Chinese. As with many Asian populations, many Malaysians do not consult for complains of dyspepsia. Many will self medicate and others may even bear with their complains. This is probably true in the rural population. Traditional medications are often used and these are often ethnic based. Different types of lotions for example are used for massaging the putative area in the abdomen by Malay, Chinese and Indian patients. Moxibustion and acupuncture is still practiced by Chinese traditional physicians for treatment of dyspepsia. The notion that mood disorders may underlies dyspepsia is still poorly accepted by a less educated or rural population who consider a psychiatric consultation a taboo. Amongst urban dwellers where Westernized medical care is readily available and the awareness of potential serious disease like cancer is higher, consultation for dyspepsia is certainly higher. Indeed a higher education level has been identified as independent risk factors for dyspepsia in both an urban and rural population survey in Malaysia. With greater consultation for dyspepsia, there has also been a higher demand and utilization of endoscopy services for investigation of gastrointestinal diseases in the country.

Control of cattle trypanosomiasis in coastal savannah of Ghana Part I: triangulation method for mixed-mode research

Triangulation design of mixed-mode research on control of trypanosomiasis involving Participatory Rural Appr-aisal (PRA), surveys, parasitological studies and satellite data (as a holistic approach) is presented. Trypanoso-miasis is a disease affecting human and livestock, and the multi-method research approach was adopted to anal-yse accurately information on trypanosomiasis surveys and control methods. Triangulation is based on the assu-mption that weakness in a single method would be compensated by strengths of other methods, and qualitative results were supplemented by the quantitative methods to improve validity and reliability of data. The research focussed on farmer’s production objectives, use of Berenil® to control trypanosomiasis, and satellite mapping of areas at risk of diseases for targeting predictions and control. For convergence of results, different aspects of the disease, with respect to risk areas, severity, disease location and patterns, were investigated for validity and reli-ability of trypanosomiasis survey and control by triangulation.

Incomplete property rights, exposure to markets and the provision of environmental services in China

Abstract This paper uses data from a 2003 rural survey to examine the determinants of household provision of environmental services under China's Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP), the largest payments for environmental services program in the developing world. The paper examines the determinants of plot-level survival rates of program-planted trees and grasses. It finds that household rights over retired land as well as autonomy in program decision-making (which we argue on the basis of supportive evidence are plausibly exogenous to post-retirement outcomes) have important and potentially countervailing impacts on the provision of environmental services targeted by the program. Households permitted to select what to plant obtain better program outcomes, but do not make the choices that the government would like them to, while those permitted to decide what land to retire perform worse. The analysis also finds that households more vested and experienced in agriculture and with less exposure to off-farm labor markets fare better in managing their planted trees. Significant learning-by-doing effects are also evident, suggesting that greater technical support to farmers could improve outcomes and lower program costs.

Taking Over the Reins: Trends and Impacts of Changes in Rural Property Ownership

There has been limited international research examining the recent trend to higher turnover in rural property ownership in developed nations. In this article we discuss findings from innovative Australian research that analyzed property sales records and spatially referenced rural landholder survey data. Large scale and increasing rates of turnover were identified with 50% of properties in our case study predicted to change ownership in the next decade, double the previous rate. New property owners are significantly different from longer term landholders in that they own smaller properties; are less likely to be farmers by occupation; self-report lower levels of knowledge of land management; are more likely to value conservation over agricultural production; and are less likely to adopt recommended sustainability practices. We explore the implications of these trends for natural resource management, including the difficulties of engaging an increasing number of nonfarmer and absentee landholders.

The Importance of a Social Science Research Agenda in the Management of Protected Natural Areas, with Selected Examples

The advent of the modern protected area movement began in 1872 with the creation of Yellowstone National Park in the United States. For a century thereafter, as more nations began to set up protected area systems, the movement was largely western-dominated and adhered to ‘fences and fines’ forms of conservation. As many more developing nations gained independence in the latter half of the twentieth century, it was increasingly recognized that strict forms of conservation based on western ideals of nature could not be sustained in the long term. Specifically, many rural people in developing countries are dependent on local natural resources, and the conservation rules put into place in many protected areas frequently forbade all extraction and in many cases all entry except for tourism or research. This created a climate of increasing park-people conflicts that in many cases compromised conservation goals and led to a refocus in protected areas management and research in the social sciences worldwide. Here I describe survey and non-survey based protocols developed to study the effectiveness of protected areas in the societal realm. Policy gap analyses, rapid rural appraisals, key informant and focus group surveys and structured and semi-structured social surveys are described. Such studies can allow managers to plan for interventions where needed and can aid in designing appropriate local development projects in an effort to ameliorate park-people conflicts. I finish with a preliminary social research protocol, tested in May, 2009, for Yachang Orchid Reserve, Guangxi Province, the People’s Republic of China.

Computerized motion sensitivity screening tests in a multicountry rural onchocercal community survey in Africa

Purpose:To determine whether the Wu–Jones Motion Sensitivity Screening Test (MSST) accurately reflects the burden of optic nerve disease in several onchoendemic communities in Africa.Materials and Methods:The MSST was used to evaluate subjects in the communities of Raja in Sudan, Bushenyi in Uganda, Morogoro in Tanzania, and Ikon, Olomboro, and Gembu in Nigeria. Motion sensitivity was expressed as a percentage of motion detected in the individual eye, and this was averaged for the community. A perfectly normal eye would detect all motion and score 100%.Results:In this study, 3858 eyes of 2072 subjects were tested. The test was completed in 76% of respondents. Acceptability was high. Average test time was 120.4 s. The overall mean motion sensitivity of all eyes tested was 88.49%, ±17.49. Using a cutoff level of 50%, 6.4% of all subjects tested were subnormal. The highest proportion of subnormals recorded was in Morogoro at 12.7%. Severe defects in a community best correlated with optic nerve disease prevalence, while the proportion of the defect from a higher cutoff level best correlated with overall ocular morbidity. A repeat examination in the next 5 years following ivermectin treatment will show the influence, if any, on community-wide MSST performance.Conclusion:A wide range in community scores reflected disease diversity. The MSST appears to be a useful test in community-wide screening and diagnosis as it reflects the general level of ocular pathology and specifically, optic nerve disease.

Rural energy survey and scenario analysis of village energy consumption: A case study in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

In developing countries, providing all citizens an access to modern forms of energy is among the central energy policy objectives, as the linkages between modern energy services and human development are widely recognized. This paper presents in a scenario analysis of rural energy consumption, how energy services in different sectors of a village economy contribute to the achievement of the UNDP Millennium Development Goals. In a rural village in Lao People’s Democratic Republic, household energy demand and energy uses were surveyed immediately prior to the electrification of the village. Based on the situation preceding electrification of the village, the development of village electrification was studied by simulating the village energy system, accounting for all village energy uses but transportation. To study the potential development of electricity demand in the village, three scenarios were constructed using the LEAP model: “residential demand”, “income generation” and “public services”. Energy demand in each scenario was analyzed with reference to the Millennium Development Goals.

Incomplete Property Rights, Exposure to Markets and the Provision of Environmental Services in China

This paper uses data from a 2003 rural survey to examine the determinants of household provision of environmental services under China’s Sloping Land Conversion Program (SLCP), the largest payment for environmental services program in the developing world. The paper examines the determinants of plot-level survival rates of program-planted trees and grasses. It finds that household rights over retired land as well as autonomy in program decision-making (which we argue on the basis of supportive evidence are plausibly exogenous to post-retirement outcomes) have important and potentially countervailing impacts on the provision of environmental services targeted by the program. Households permitted to select what to plant obtain better program outcomes, but do not make the choices that the government would like them to, while those permitted to decide what land to retire perform worse. The analysis also finds that households more vested and experienced in agriculture and with less exposure to off-farm labor markets fare better in managing their planted trees. Significant learning-by-doing effects are also evident, suggesting that greater technical support to farmers could improve outcomes and lower program costs.

Gender and locality differences in tobacco prevalence among adult Bangladeshis

Objectives:To determine the extent of all forms of tobacco usage in adult Bangladeshis in relation to gender and locality.Methods:Three annual urban and rural cross-sectional surveys were carried out between 2001...