Umbrella Organization Research Articles

How caring communities become part of the health system of the future in the Netherlands. Developments, bottlenecks, and impact.

In the past decade the Netherlands has seen major reforms in health- and social care. These reforms accomplished a shift from a social democratic welfare state to a ‘participation society’; people with care and support need to live at home longer and have to rely on their informal network for support. In order to provide an answer to the retreat of state organized support we see an increase of citizens initiatives for care, wellbeing and support in The Netherlands.
 The growing movement of citizens initiatives, or ‘caring communities, is diffuse. ‘They vary in target groups, activities, organisation and goals. However, they have in common that they are filling the gap care and support provisions that the government has left behind. In order to get a better image of this movement, their impact and the challenges they face in collaborating with the Dutch care system, Vilans and the Dutch umbrella organization of citizens initiatives (NLZVE) bundled their forces in a variety of research projects.
 This collaboration started in 2020 with the ‘Monitor on the Movement of Caring Communities’. In co-creation with key figures from the movement of caring communities we developed a survey. The results of this survey (n=346) gave us insight in the activities, goals, partners and bottlenecks of these initiatives and initiated new participatory action research projects. These focused on reliable and sustainable financing for citizen initiatives, how initiatives measure their impact and how caring communities and ‘system parties’ work together.
 Together with different initiatives we explored different financing models and their pros and cons. The lack of sustainable financing options for citizen initiatives is a bottleneck for the development of these initiatives and for durable collaboration with the system parties. Simultaneously we found that many initiatives struggle to show their impact. This impact is often implied (i.e. less loneliness or a healthier population) but hardly mapped. We found that the lack of a clear message about the impact of an initiative hinders a durable financial model. Municipalities and other financiers need to know what the effect of their investment is. To help the movement of caring communities better map their impact and organize sustainable financing we developed, through co-design, two different tools.
 Another bottleneck for caring communities is the collaboration between these communities and the ‘system’. Caring communities often exist because of discontent with and/or inaccessibility of care and wellbeing services. However, we see that when initiatives want to expand their services (i.e. in the field of home- or social care) they have to collaborate, or in some cases even become part of, the care system. Our project focused on how these worlds come together without both of them losing their strengths and identity. The lessons learned will, together with the survey outcome and both tools, presented during the oral presentation. Additionally we will present our next steps, which include a qualitative and participatory research project on the impact of citizens initiatives and a data driven approach to identify the complete movement of caring communities in The Netherlands.

Health Ambassadors – the bridge between professionals and vulnerable groups

Introduction: “De Koepel” is one of twelve federal pilot projects for integrated care, focusing on chronically ill patients. The goal is to achieve integrated care among the entire population in the region where the pilot is based. As this group is more at risk of developing chronic diseases it is important to focus on vulnerabilities. Vulnerable patients is defined in the broadest sense, e.g. people in poverty, with weak health skills, socially isolated people, migrants and refugees. Ostend (one of the cities where the project is been run) has the highest number of people with a non-Belgian nationality (11 %) and is higher than the Flemish average (10%). Unfortunately, these groups are hard to reach. However, it is important that these groups find access to health-care in Belgium, which is what the collaboration with FMDO and “De Koepel” in Ostend aim to achieve. FMDO is an umbrella organization of about 200 self-associations working with people with a migration background.
 Description: FMDO started in 2018 with health ambassadors and the development of an educational game for the prevention of cancer. FMDO and “De Koepel” engaged in 2021 with the purpose of connecting and improving the lives of people in a diverse society and expanding the initial focus group to chronic ill patients.
 The first step of the project was to conduct outreach to understand the current health-care needs of the target groups. Based on the identified needs, “De Koepel” provided training in participatory lessons to the current ambassadors. Finally, the educational game was adapted based on the information gathered during the trainings. 
 In practice, the educational game allows the ambassadors to provide information regarding health care to people belonging to the target group by playing the game together. Furthermore, connecting with the vulnerable groups can either happen in community centers, shops, hospitals, etc. or through the contacts hours that the ambassadors organize to answer personal and practical questions. 
 Target Population: Vulnerable groups like people in poverty, with weak health skills, socially isolated people, migrants and refugees in Ostend. 
 Highlights: A combination of bottom-up and top-down approach is used to educate, improve health literacy and lifestyle within the target group. From the 39 ambassadors in the project, 22 different nationalities are represented. Through the game, every ambassador or participant can expand their network and knowledge and pass it on to their constituency. 
 Conclusion: The concept of ambassadors emulates that the right target group is reached. The ambassadors are key figures in the project and form the bridge between “De Koepel”, FMDO and the target group. Through the educational game, the ambassadors facilitate access to the correct healthcare information and dissemination of information. However, this game is not comprehensive and can be further expanded based on feedback and further requirements. 
 Prospective, the objective is to measure the number of participants and the impact of the education. In addition, the aim is to increase the content of the trainings provided, improve the educational game and the follow-up of the most vulnerable people.

PP13 Results Of An International Survey About Barriers In Patient Involvement In Health Technology Assessment Of Digital Health Technologies

IntroductionIn recent years, several efforts have been initiated by health technology assessment (HTA) agencies to increasingly incorporate patient involvement (PI) into their assessment processes. The rationale behind PI in HTA is that patients can give their perspective and experiences about health, illness and the use of health technologies, complementing clinical and healthcare system standpoints.A recent systematic review summarized current evidence on the barriers and facilitators of PI in HTA. Barriers and facilitators were classified according to the context in which they appear, as organizational, decision-making, political and community-related.Digital health technologies offer a singular opportunity to address some challenges faced by healthcare systems. However, we hypothesized that their intrinsic characteristics may have some implications for PI in digital HTA. We conducted a survey to gain knowledge about barriers in PI in digital HTA.MethodsThe survey was elaborated using Microsoft Forms and consisted of 31 questions divided into four blocks (organizational, decision-making, political and community-related). It was sent to three Spanish, one Catalan and one International patient umbrella organizations. The results were analysed using Microsoft Excel.ResultsA total of four responses were received from three Spanish and one Catalan patient umbrella organizations. Results showed high, partial, and low concordance among organizations in 65 percent, 19 percent and 16 percent of the answers received, respectively. According to the results, most of the barriers for PI seem to be the same for HTA of digital health technologies as for other types of health technologies. However, two or three of the four umbrella organizations consider that HTA of digital health technologies might pose greater challenges in terms of achieving significant patient participation, sufficient patient training and knowledge of HTA processes, proper preparation and tools of the HTA experts and logistics during the HTA process.ConclusionsBarriers in PI are mostly the same for digital or other types of health technologies. Few differences are related to patient training, tools, and logistics during HTA process.

Bolstering Education Statistics to Serve the Nation

Despite providing objective, benchmark statistics on the condition and progress of U.S. education since 1867, the National Center for Education Statistics has been the center of scrutiny over the last dozen years for its lack of resources and agility as well as for its diminished stature and autonomy. Motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic exposure of NCES’ bureaucratic hurdles, Congress’ interest in reauthorizing the agency and its umbrella organization, and the 2022 National Academies’ report, A Vision and Roadmap for Education Statistics, we explore legislative changes and attendant administrative actions that would contribute to building the trust of respondents who provide data to NCES and users who depend on the agency’s products; our article offers recommendations to that end.

The Difficulties of Making Sport Policy Succeed: A Case Study of Sri Lanka

Although a new Sri Lankan sport policy framework was introduced in 2012, no research has been done to evaluate the implementation of the policy framework. Consequently, the purpose of this study was to evaluate and identify mitigating factors in achieving the strategic goals of the Sri Lankan sport policy framework. Qualitative data and a quantitative approach were used to analyse and investigate the sport policy framework. A questionnaire (N = 240) and interviews (N = 05) were utilised to gather data from sport participants, non-sport participants and top-level sport administrators. Both quantitative and qualitative analyses suggested that the goals of the national sport policy framework have not been achieved. Lack of financial support, deficiency of government provision, institutional structural issues, and negative attitudes of policy actors were identified as mitigating factors in the process of policy implication. Developing an umbrella organisation for coordinating sport and government’s support are vital to resolve those problems.

Driving Positive Change

CECIMO – the European Association of Manufacturing Technologies – is an umbrella organisation dedicated to promoting the common interests and values of European manufacturing technologies, encompassing European machine tools and additive technologies. The UK's Manufacturing Technology Association (MTA), the organiser of MACH, is one of the 15 members. Ahead of EMO, we spoke to CECIMO's director general Filip Geerts

Understanding the Political and Religious Implications of Turkish Civil Religion in The Netherlands: A Critical Discourse Analysis of ISN Friday Sermons

Civil religion encompasses the implicit religious values of a nation manifested through public rituals, symbols, and ceremonies at significant locations and on special occasions. The emergence of new religious symbolisms reflects the evolving structure of religious authority. The Islamic Foundation Netherlands (Islamitische Stichting Nederland (ISN)), the largest mosque umbrella organization in the Netherlands, holds significant influence in shaping the religious beliefs and ethical standards of the Turkish–Dutch Muslim community. Furthermore, the ISN possesses the ability to construct and authenticate discourses that redefine the conceptualization of the ‘self’ and the ‘other.’ In early 2017, following increased criticism of sermons written by the Turkish Presidency of Religious Affairs (PRA/Diyanet) in the Netherlands, the ISN, as the Dutch branch of Diyanet, started composing its own Friday sermons in both Turkish and Dutch. This article aims to examine the discursive features of the Friday sermons delivered between 1 January 2017 and 1 January 2023 and explore their connection to civil religion. The study employs Fairclough’s three-dimensional critical discourse analysis (CDA) framework and Wodak’s discourse–historical approach (DHA) to analyze the Friday sermons. The findings reveal that the civil religious discourses advanced by the ISN possess both unifying and divisive potential. However, the collected empirical evidence suggests that state-sponsored civil religion, emphasizing Turkish nationalism and Islamism, dominates the liberal and pluralistic form of civil religion.

Defending Nature

Despite the violence of law enforcement forces in Turkey, both urban and rural communities are protesting environmental injustices, including the ecological destruction, human rights violations, health problems, and displacement that the extractive industry causes. Despite the recent increase in discussions on the topic, the extractive industry and environmental protests are not recent debates in Turkish politics. Since the military coup of 1980, changes in mining codes have led communities to organize environmental protests to defend their livelihoods, place, and culture. For four decades, many communities have organized successful protests that have helped develop the environmental movement in Turkey. However, while some environmental movements have been ongoing for many years through grassroots activism, others have failed to create a collective identity that enables the entire community to come together. Hence, in this paper, I comparatively analyse the anti-mining environmental struggles of two communities. In doing so, I show how local inhabitants have been able to organize an environmental movement against extractivism to defend their livelihoods and space under an umbrella organization...

‘Orunmila needs a new house’: religious fundraising and the revitalisation of Ijo Orunmila Adulawo in southwest Nigeria

ABSTRACT In the last three decades, neo-traditional religious groups in Nigeria have continued to (re-)emerge and expand, despite their earlier inhibition by the increased dominance of Christianity, Islam and secular-modernist values. One such group is Ijo Orunmila Adulawo (African Congregation of Orunmila Devotees), originally established in 1934 as an umbrella organisation for traditional worshippers. Based on fieldwork in the Ikenne branch, I examine the innovative fundraising methods that the group has adopted since 1992 in pursuit of the construction of a modern iledi (temple), and the debates they sparked among members, some of whom felt they reflected Christian or foreign, rather than traditional Yoruba ethics and values. A closer look at the dynamics of the group’s fundraising practices, however, suggests they have been shaped within a moral-economic framework oriented toward the flourishing of what the group takes to be traditional religion and the assertion of related values. The article shows how economic practices not only reflect but are an important part of the politics of value negotiated by neo-traditional religious groups like Ijo Orunmila as they have sought to establish and maintain the authority and relevance that has driven their growth in contemporary Nigeria.

“Been there, done that but also not quite:” Discoveries and limitations in an evaluative, short-term, and multi-sited ethnography of the boy scouts of America

This paper reflects on the possibilities and limits of a team-based, multi-site, evaluative ethnography. In this study, a team of qualitative researchers deployed participant observation methods to assess the level of standardization and local adaptation in the training curriculum for adult leaders in the Boy Scouts of America. While the umbrella organization remained consistent over the course of the 12-months project, researchers completed intense intervals of observation in 13 different settings across the United States over the course of a year. We reflect on the benefits and challenges that fast-paced, evaluative ethnographic approaches offer for applied settings as well as insight into the complexities of team-based field work with regards to positionality, legitimacy, and relationships between researchers.

Perancangan Enterprise Architecture HMI Sampit Menggunakan TOGAF

The Islamic Student Association (HMI) is an umbrella organization with a clear model of being Indonesian and Islamic, providing a platform to train and develop leaders with honesty and quality determination, faith and responsibility. The factors that provide direction within the organization to adopt an Enterprise Architecture (EA) system are aimed at enhancing what the organization needs. Enterprise architecture or what can be called Enterprise Architecture (EA) is a description of the task in question consisting of knowledge, actions, direction from the organization and architectural performance parameters in the description of the design or plan and development of an integrated system. TOGAF (The Open Group Architecture Framework) is a framework that is widely used in creating enterprise or organizational architectures. TOGAF offers methods and tools for creating, running, implementing, and maintaining enterprise architectures in existing systems. The results of this study are in the form of a blueprint that is expected to be useful for organizations as material to assist IT development in HMI.

THE POLITICAL VISION OF THE ORGANIZATION OF TURKIC STATES: AN ANALYSIS OF THE TURKIC WORLD VISION 2040

After 1991, the phenomenon of the Turkic world turned from an ideological dream to a political reality, with the independent Turkic states becoming equal and sovereign subjects in the international system and international politics. In this process, many cooperation organizations (TURKSOY, TURKPA, TWESCO, etc.) were established among the Turkic states. The Organization of Turkic States (OTS), established in 2009 as the umbrella organization of the Turkic world cooperation organizations, became even stronger with the membership of Uzbekistan in 2019. The 2021 Istanbul Summit and 2022 Samarkand Summit of the OTS are extremely important for the future of cooperation in the Turkic world. In this study, the political vision for the OTS and the Turkic World Vision - 2040 will be analyzed.

The Problem with the Anthropocene: Kainos, Not Anthropos

The Problem with the Anthropocene: <i>Kainos</i>, Not <i>Anthropos</i>

UK Music before and after Covid-19

ABSTRACT This article analyses the statistical reporting of UK Music, the umbrella organization that provides a collective voice for British music industry trade bodies. It documents changes in methodology from the organization’s earliest reports, which provide financial data for each industry sector and use the prosperity of the business as a platform from which to lobby, to the reports for the years of the COVID-19 pandemic, which turn away sectoral information to argue that the industry is an ecosystem and music is beneficial for national well-being. In the process, UK Music submerges evidence that record companies and music publishers fared well during the pandemic while music creators and live music industry workers suffered greatly. As well as uncovering this information, this article considers why it has been neglected. It has enabled UK Music to lobby for actions that work across the industry and sidestep arguments that music creators should receive a greater share of remuneration. It has also helped to keep UK Music intact.

A future EU overall strategy for agriculture and forest genetic resources management: Finding consensus through policymakers’ participation

The Genetic Resources Strategy for Europe (GRSE) is an overarching, integrated strategy for the conservation and use of plant, animal and forest genetic resources both the domesticated and wild to ensure more sustainable EU land use policies for the future. It was developed in a three-step consensus seeking iterative process involving EU, national and regional level policymakers, and umbrella organisations representatives. The GRSE provides the missing link between basic biodiversity management (genetic resources) and associated policies and strategies addressing agriculture, forestry and the environment. It also provides guidance for more effective and harmonised genetic resources management in the EU and beyond, and promotes stakeholders’ collaboration in all these areas. In this study, we use a foresight participatory approach to understand the perspectives of identified stakeholders in the adoption of the GRSE at local, national and European level. This methodology enabled researchers to discuss the role of genetic resources management in addressing geographical, economic and societal needs in Europe and beyond, and anticipate the long-term beneficial impacts. The study assessed the outlook for the adoption of the GRSE in the wider policymaking perspective. It applied a three-step Delphi methodology i) interviews, ii) survey, and iii) focus group discussion. It involved a 26-member policy makers panel representing EC and national-level policymakers, and umbrella organisationsfrom across the European Union. Our study reveals a lack of consensus regarding the need to align policy and legal frameworks at national and European levels, but consensus was found in the need to jointly adopt national action plans across member states. Based on these results we identified three main priorities for addressing the gaps within current genetic resources management and conservation approaches: i) align fragmented policy for and develop legislation to harmonise the operational differences between European countries, ii) find funding mechanisms for improving genetic resources infrastructure, research and business development across Europe, and iii) raise awareness and collaboration to involve actors from different levels and sectors.

On the history of neuroscience research in the Max Planck Society, 1948–2002—German, European, and transatlantic perspectives: Introduction

ABSTRACT To further our understanding of the transformations of the modern, globalized world, historical research concerning the twentieth century must acknowledge the tremendous impact that science and technology exerted and continue to exert on political, economic, military, and social developments. To better comprehend a global history of science, it is also crucial to include Germany’s most prominent research organization: The Max Planck Society for the Advancement of Science (MPG). Despite the existence of numerous institute chronicles and selected anniversary editions, the overall development of the MPG—historically situated in more than 80 institutes with more than 250 research service departments (of which approximately 50 have reached into the wider field of neuroscience, behavioral science, and cognitive science)—it remains largely terra incognita from a scholarly perspective. From June 2014 to December 2022, the Research Program on the History of the Max Planck Society (GMPG) opened previously neglected vistas on contemporary history, academic politics, and economic developments of the Federal Republic of Germany and its international relations by raising questions such as these: Who were the key scientific actors? In what networks did they work? In what fields had the MPG paved the way for cutting-edge innovations? What were its successes and where did it fail? In what ways were its institutional structures connected to its scientific achievements and its historical legacies? What is specific about the MPG in comparison to other national institutions in and outside of Germany? These questions relate to the emerging interdisciplinary field of the neurosciences. They refer in part to the MPG’s founding years—from the late 1940s to the mid-1960s—which faced significant challenges for a “normalization process” in biomedical research and the burgeoning field of neuroscience. This special issue of the Journal of the History of the Neurosciences is composed of an introduction, five articles, and two neuroscience history interviews. It reflects on the multifold dimensions of behavioral psychology, brain research, and cognitive science developments at the MPG since its beginning through the reopening of several former Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes. After World War II, the extra-university research society—named in honor of physicist Max Planck (1858–1947)—was eventually established in the British Occupation Zone in 1946, in the American Zone in 1948, and in 1949 in the French Zone, unifying the MPG as the successor umbrella organization of the Kaiser Wilhelm Institutes (KWIs), now transformed into Max Planck Institutes. Chronologically, the research period covered in this special issue ranges from 1948 to 2002.

Olympic Infighting: An Exploration of Power Games between Leaders of International Sport Federations and the International Olympic Committee

A diffuse network of institutional and individual actors comprises international sport governance. Amongst them is the General Association of International Sport Federations (GAISF), an umbrella organization under which international sport federations (IFs) are organized. For several decades, GAISF leaders have engaged in power plays with individuals leading the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The GAISF’s history from its foundation in the late 1960s to the early 2000s highlights the roles of individual leaders in shaping and blocking joint initiatives between the two organizations. An important role is played the presidents of the International Association of Athletics’ Federations (IAAF) due to their influential role in opposing GAISF. Due to personal interests, GAISF was disorganized and at times dysfunctional, wrought with disagreements on topics ranging from global politics to accusations of individual favouritism. This eventually led to the formation of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF) and its winter counterpart, the Association of Winter Olympic International Federations (AWOIF).

Psychotherapy prescribed by accident insurance consultants : Important component in treatment procedures of the statutory accident insurance

In Germany around 1 Million working and commuting accidents per year are officially registered. Since several years this number is constantlyat this high level, only just since the appearance of the actual Covid pandemia significantly lower because of lockdowns and increase of homeoffice workplaces. To ensure the professional care of psychotraumatic sequelae of work-related injuries, in 2012 new regulations were introduced by the DGUV, the national umbrella organization of the German statutory health insurances. This healthcare reform (named "Psychotherapeutenverfahren", verbally translated: psychotherapists' procedure) is looked at 10 years later. Is the new regulation accepted by the surgeons' community? What case constellations can be observed? The use of this new instrument among trauma surgeons was evaluated by national data for the complete years 2013-2021. Additionally, we include regional data and case reports from amultidisciplinary medical facility including trauma surgery and psychiatry, located in Güstrow (Northeast Germany). Nationwide the percentage of psychotherapy amongst the regular treatment has doubled between 2013 and 2021 from 0.47 to 0.96%. Looking at the first 10 years of its clinical implementation, the new German psychotherapy regulation is apparently well accepted by the accident insurance consultants. As data from population based studies are not available, the actual percentage of psychological sequelae of accidents in this cases is notknown yet. So there is further need of research and training in this interdisciplinary field to ensure appropriate treatment of victims of work-related accidents. The integration of psychotraumatological facts in the educational agendas of accident insurance consultants has already started.

Leader interlocks in Swedish civil society organizations

This paper contributes to the understanding of power structures in civil society by the exploring organizational connections of leaders holding multiple top-level leadership positions in resource-rich civil society organizations (CSOs) in Sweden. Based on unique association network data among national level CSOs collected in 2018, we discuss possible explanations behind the observed clusters of organizational connections via leader interlocks. Our results show that the resource-rich, national CSOs in Sweden are highly connected with each other via leader interlocks. We find that working within similar policy areas, sharing similar ideological backgrounds or historical legacies, and being a member of sectoral umbrella organizations or federations are among the salient characteristics of CSOs connected via leader interlocks. We suggest a multilevel understanding of leader interlocks among CSOs, including those at the individual level, as an avenue for further research. The focus on the individual level explanation would allow an understanding of the field of CSOs through the lens of an elite phenomenon rather than an organization-centered view.

Creationism USA: Bridging the Impasse on Teaching Evolution

Creationism USA: Bridging the Impasse on Teaching Evolution