Policy Work Research Articles

The Ecological Map of Adolescent Athletes: Examining Integrative Care Approaches

This qualitative study explores the importance of an integrated care approach for adolescent athletes living with physical illness. The researcher used a phenomenological approach to provide this population with a platform to share their stories and to make meaning of their lived experiences. Using snowball sampling, the researcher gathered nine participants, ages 18-35, who resided within the United States. The researcher interviewed the participants via an online platform and analyzed their scripts using an interpretive phenomenological analysis approach. Through their exploration and sharing of consciousness, several important implications and contributions were unveiled to the social work profession. Their stories highlight the impact illness has on their psychological, psychosocial, physical, and overall functioning. Through the lens of the ecological systems theory, the study emphasizes the need for integrated and collaborative care between those who are directly or indirectly involved in the adolescent’s treatment. Ultimately, this preliminary study serves as a framework for clinical social workers as well as those who are involved in research, policy, and community-based work like schools and medical facilities. Through these stories, social workers and other helping professionals learn the power of connection and the importance of safeguarding the dignity and worth of the adolescent athlete.

Link Between Social Relationships and Vulnerability Among Community‐Dwelling Older Adults Living Alone in Taiwan

ABSTRACTThe study investigated the effect of social relationships on vulnerability among community‐dwelling older adults living alone in Taiwan. Data were extracted from the de‐identified service records of 2116 older adults living alone. Logistic regression models were used to identify the connection between social relationships and vulnerability. The results demonstrated that close social relationships help reduce vulnerability for older adults living alone. Moreover, the data indicated a statistically significant relationship between frailty and vulnerability and a statistically significant relationship between public assistance and vulnerability. An increase in the degree of frailty increases the risk of exposure to threats for older adults living alone. However, public assistance benefits older adults living alone. Existing policy and social work interventions aim to strengthen social safety nets for older adults living alone and establish social networks for older adults living alone through an institutional approach to prevent exposure to threats. Moreover, policymakers should focus not only on risk factors (e.g., frailty) but also on protective factors (e.g., social relationships and public assistance).

4.X.1. Health literacy policies – how can they be developed and implemented?

Abstract In Europe and beyond, there is political recognition of health literacy being an important factor for good health and well-being. As health literacy is considered critical to achieving health and as limited health literacy is still a widespread phenomenon, the topic is steadily attracting more attention among policy and decision makers. To meet growing demand from decision makers, a policy guide was initiated by M POHL, the World Health Organization (WHO) Action Network on Measuring Population and Organizational Health Literacy. The guide aims to support awareness-raising, the building of commitment and the implementation of effective policies to improve health literacy. It mainly addresses decision-makers in health policy and administration, but may also inspire researchers and other relevant stakeholders in the health literacy area. Objectives of the workshop This skills building seminar seeks to contribute to capacity building and to offer time for exchange and discussion on health literacy policy work. More specifically, the objectives of the workshop are to: - provide an overview on national health literacy policy implementation; - increase the knowledge of participants on what countries are doing already and identify needs for further support; - support participants in reflecting, initiating, developing and implementing effective measures to improve population and organizational health literacy. Methods of the workshop The workshop will start off by a presentation introducing the guide “Health literacy policies - how can they be developed and implemented?’ and sharing some national experiences in implementing health literacy policies, strategies, and interventions. After these impulses attendees will be divided into groups to enable exchange. A checklist for self-assessment will be provided as a tool to guide the discussion and to identify and address potential challenges in implementing health literacy policies and interventions. The input and identified needs will be captured. They will support M-POHL’s continuing efforts to support policy makers and administrators in their work. Key messages • Health literacy is steadily gaining more interest from policy- and decision-makers. • In this seminar, participants will learn on how evidence-informed policies and practice can be supported.

Navigating ethical and legal challenges in the HEALthy Brain and Child Development Study: Lessons learned from the ethics, law, policy working group

The HEALthy Brain and Child Development (HBCD) Study, a multi-site prospective longitudinal cohort study, will examine human brain, cognitive, behavioral, social, and emotional development beginning prenatally and planned through early childhood. The HBCD study has faced several ethical and legal challenges due to its goal of enrolling pregnant people (including those with substance use disorder) and their newborns. Challenges not fully anticipated at the outset emerged from the rapidly changing legal landscape around reproductive rights in the United States. By embedding scholars in bioethics and law within research teams and engaging them in conversation with each other and other study personnel, we were able to address many challenges proactively and respond promptly to unanticipated challenges. In this paper, we highlight several important ethical and legal challenges that arose from the first phase of funding through the beginning of participant enrollment. We explain the methods used to address these challenges, the ethical and legal tradeoffs that arose, and the resolution of challenges through the design of the study. Based on this experience, we provide recommendations for research teams, sponsors, and reviewers to address legal risks and promote the ethical conduct of studies with pregnant people and caregivers. We highlight the importance of collaboration with bioethics and legal scholars in studies involving complex and evolving legal risks, as well as the necessity of designing robust approaches to informed consent and maintaining participant trust while navigating ethical challenges in research.

Social Justice Imaginaries and Education Policy in Aotearoa New Zealand (2017–2024)

AbstractIn this article, we continue Martin Thrupp’s critical work in education policy in Aotearoa New Zealand by examining the policies of the Sixth Labour-led Government (2017–2023) and the Sixth National-led Government (2023-present). We consider their attempts to mitigate social injustice via education policy and the social imaginaries that underpin such efforts. Our conceptual framework draws on Nancy Fraser’s tripartite analysis (redistribution, recognition, participation), the contributions of education policy scholars who have built upon her work, and others who offer alternative framings of social justice. To contextualise our analysis, we provide a historical account of the discursive shift from equality to equity in New Zealand education policy and the recent transition by the Left from the ‘Third Way’ (Giddens, The third way: The renewal of social democracy, Polity Press, 1999) to ‘progressive neoliberalism’ (Fraser, American Affairs 1:46–64, 2017, Fraser, The old is dying and the new cannot be born: From progressive neoliberalism to Trump and beyond, Verso, 2019). Examination of selected education policies by the most recent Labour and National governments reveals that, despite equity infusing the rhetoric of both governments, their actual policies have consistently adopted affirmative responses aimed only at ameliorating inequality’s most visible effects. We conclude with a call for more intentionally transformative efforts in education based on holistic conceptions of social justice.

Prevalence of the Unmet Needs and its Predictors among Working Mothers of Children with Epilepsy Attending Specialist Hospitals in Kelantan

INTRODUCTION: Unmet needs arise when everyday assistance is lacking. Epilepsy's unpredictability creates significant work-family conflict for working women, potentially leading to increased unmet needs. This study aimed to determine the prevalence and the factors related with the unmet needs of working mothers with children with epilepsy (CWE) in Kelantan. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A crosssectional study using the validated Malay version of the Family Needs Survey questionnaire was conducted among 204 working mothers aged 18 to 60 of CWE attending specialist hospitals in Kelantan. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and multiple linear regression. RESULTS: The highest unmet need was for community services (81.6%), followed by information (71.9%), social support (53.1%), financial (43.2%), explaining to others (28.9%), and family functioning (28.4%). Having follow-ups at tertiary hospitals reduced the unmet need score for information (B=-0.669, 95%CI=-1.276,0.081, p=0.021) and social support (B=-1.454, 95%CI=-2.225, -0.683, p=<0.001). Living in nuclear types of family reduced the unmet need score for community services (B=-0.669, 95%CI=-1.276,0.081, p=0.021) and information (B=-1.216, 95%CI=-1.965,-0.466, p=0.002). Working in the government sector increased the unmet need score for social support (B=0.437, 95% CI=0.062, 1.454, p=0.033). Full-time employment (B=-0.761, 95%CI=-1.244,-0.279, p=0.002) reduced the unmet need score for family functioning. Contract employment status (B=0.566, 95%CI=0.074,1.058, p=0.024) increased the unmet need score for family functioning. CONCLUSION: Mothers of CWE working in the government sector, under contract employment, and seeking follow-up care in secondary hospitals were related to higher unmet needs. The study findings may assist policymakers in introducing a child-friendly employment policy and flexible working arrangements among working parents of children with chronic illnesses such as epilepsy.

Advancing State Policy through Nurse Leader Influence: Exemplars from a Regional Nursing Organization in New England

Nurse leaders and professional nursing organizations are committed to influencing policy. Understanding how these commitments are actualized can accelerate success, and strategies can be replicated. The Organization of Nurse Leaders – New England (ONL)1, has strategic commitments and a strong track record of influencing state-level policy. Member input informs the organization's policy priorities, and engagement in Government Affairs Committee meetings supports learning. Policy and advocacy successes recognized through member communications and an annual award. This article provides detail about ONL's approach to policy and advocacy work, its processes for supporting nurse leader influence, and exemplars highlighting policy success in New England.

Co‐Designing Nurse Practitioner Roles in a Tertiary Hospital: A Qualitative Exploration of Patterns and Underlying Dynamics

ABSTRACTAimsTo explore patterns and dynamics during the co‐design process of nurse practitioners' role development in three departments in a Belgian tertiary hospital.DesignParticipatory action research was utilised in conjunction with principles of a Grounded Theory approach to explore patterns and dynamics.MethodsSixteen meetings were conducted between January and June 2021 with interdisciplinary teams to develop the roles. Thirteen exploratory interviews were held with the stakeholders involved between March and June 2022. All meetings and interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were systematically analysed using researcher triangulation and thematic analysis.ResultsStakeholders' initial conception of the nurse practitioner roles affected development. A dynamic interplay of individual, team‐related and contextual (e.g., financial and legal) factors shaped these conceptions. Through co‐design, stakeholders' conception evolved as insights were shared, misconceptions challenged and perspectives broadened. Physicians generally the developmental process, while nursing leadership was more fragmented.ConclusionThis study identifies patterns and dynamics in interdisciplinary teams during the developmental process. The key findings underpin the crucial role of stakeholders' conceptions, use of co‐design and leadership in this process. Therefore, a thorough understanding of initial conceptions is ess, and efforts should be directed towards providing sufficient knowledge and experience to prevent misconceptions. Additionally, this study emphasises the significance of a balanced team composition that incorporates diverse conceptions of the role. Finally, actions should be taken to empower leadership among nurses.ImpactIdentified dynamics offer insights for healthcare organisations developing nurse practitioner roles. Educational institutions can use these insights to enhance healthcare professionals' curricula, preparing healthcare professionals for evolving advanced nursing roles and leadership. Additionally, it emphasises the necessity for policy work to establish a legal framework for nurse practitioners in Belgium.Reporting MethodThe ‘Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research’ were used for reporting.Patient or Public ContributionThis study did not involve direct participation from patients or the public.

Embodying policy work: an exploration of contexts, actions and meanings towards new possibilities for physical education teacher education (PETE)

ABSTRACT This theoretical paper presents a heuristic framework that is directed towards transformative thinking and practices in Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE). The research focus and direction, embodying policy work, applies and extends Bernstein’s concepts of the pedagogic and corporeal device to offer new directions for inquiry and explore the considerations these raise for PETE professionals and their practices. The paper affirms the importance of policy work in PETE, while recognising a need for more nuanced and critical understandings of the complex interrelationships between contexts and actions, and the potential meanings generated and ascribed to different forms of policy work and identities in-situ. Attention focuses specifically on the ways in which individuals ascribe meaning to practices in PETE through everyday actions and relational behaviours, locating embodied practices and meanings as integral to policy work in PETE. The heuristic framework facilitates exploration of three sets of rules: (i) contextual rules of embodying policy work; (ii) rules of/for embodying actions; and (iii) rules of/for embodying potential meanings. Each focus is explored in turn to develop specific, yet interrelated lines of inquiry that can guide empirical work that extends insight into the policy work of PETE professionals and programmes. Discussion highlights the importance of such work in expanding visions for the sustainable transformation of PETE.

Impact of carbon emission trading on urban green innovation: empirical evidence from China’s carbon emission trading pilot policy

In the face of global climate change challenges, China’s implementation of the carbon emission trading (CET) pilot policy has provided new empirical research opportunities. Based on a dataset covering 281 Chinese cities from 2005 to 2021, this paper employs econometric models to conduct an in-depth analysis of the policy’s impact on urban green innovation (UGI). The findings indicate that the CET pilot policy has significantly promoted green innovation activities in affected cities, with positive effects observed both directly in pilot cities and indirectly in non-pilot cities through spatial spillover effects. In addition, the policy has been found to encourage technological investment and enhance public environmental awareness (PEA), further advancing green innovation. The paper also unveils comprehensive policy effects, indicating that the Big Data Comprehensive Test Zone policy and the New Energy Demonstration City policy work synergistically with the CET pilot policy in advancing green innovation. These findings provide valuable experiences and insights for designing environmental policy tools at the national level, promoting green development, and constructing climate change response strategies.

Seabirds and climate change in North‐West Europe: Identifying opportunities for an effective and efficient conservation response

AbstractClimate change poses a massive and growing threat to wildlife. Calls are growing for coordinated and collaborative responses to conserve species threatened by climate change, but how this works in practice remains largely unexplored. Focusing on seabirds in North‐West Europe, we carried out 32 semi‐structured stakeholder interviews to (1) explore existing conservation work linked to climate change, (2) identify barriers to work on climate change among conservation actors, and (3) identify key conservation actors and characterize their interactions. Interviewees identified a range of research, policy, and practical conservation work for seabirds related—directly or indirectly—to climate change. They highlighted the importance of general conservation work to facilitate seabird adaptation to climate change, and global mitigation of climate change (e.g., through decarbonization and ecosystem restoration). Interviewees identified several barriers to conservation work explicitly addressing climate change, pertaining to information, leadership, resources, and values/beliefs. We discovered that seabird conservation networks are generally well‐established and harmonious, but not tension‐free. There are also some misunderstandings over actor responsibilities that could lead to bystander effects. We present suggestions to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of seabird conservation in response to climate change.

A NoisyNet deep reinforcement learning method for frequency regulation in power systems

AbstractThis study thoroughly investigates the NoisyNet Deep Deterministic Policy Gradient (DDPG) for frequency regulation. Compared with the conventional DDPG method, the suggested method can provide several benefits. First, the parameter noise will explore different strategies more thoroughly and can potentially discover better policies that it might miss if only action noise were used, which helps the actor achieve an optimal control strategy, resulting in enhanced dynamic response. Second, by employing the delayed policy update policy work with the proposed framework, the training process exhibits faster convergence, enabling rapid adaptation to changing disturbances. To substantiate its efficacy, the scheme is subjected to simulation tests on both an IEEE three‐area power system, an IEEE 39 bus power system, and an IEEE 68 bus system. A comprehensive performance comparison was performed against other DDPG‐based methods to validate and evaluate the performance of the proposed LFC scheme.

ANTI-INFLATIONARY STATE POLICY ON THE FOOD MARKET

The article examines the effectiveness of the state’s anti-inflationary policy in the food market and the opinion of citizens on priorities and problems in this area. The study showed that the measures taken have a certain level of effectiveness, but do not seem sufficient. In addition, citizens are not sufficiently aware of the measures taken by the anti-inflationary policy, and information and educational work in this direction is important. A significant proportion of respondents consider it important to check the reasons for price increases in specific cases.

Climate policies that achieved major emission reductions: Global evidence from two decades.

Meeting the Paris Agreement's climate targets necessitates better knowledge about which climate policies work in reducing emissions at the necessary scale. We provide a global, systematic ex post evaluation to identify policy combinations that have led to large emission reductions out of 1500 climate policies implemented between 1998 and 2022 across 41 countries from six continents. Our approach integrates a comprehensive climate policy database with a machine learning-based extension of the common difference-in-differences approach. We identified 63 successful policy interventions with total emission reductions between 0.6 billion and 1.8 billion metric tonnes CO2. Our insights on effective but rarely studied policy combinations highlight the important role of price-based instruments in well-designed policy mixes and the policy efforts necessary for closing the emissions gap.

Strengthening Nurses' Influence in Health Policy.

With nurses at the forefront of health care, the need for their active engagement in policy has never been more urgent. Numerous national and global reports call for nurses to lead policy change. The Patton Zalon Ludwick Policy Assessment Framework is intended to answer this call by serving as a foundational guide to nurses' self-assessment of their health policy actions. It includes three dimensions: engagement, partnership, and reach, each with three levels. The levels of engagement are literacy, advocacy, and influence. The partnership levels are single unit or community group, interdisciplinary team(s), and broad-based coalitions. The reach levels are based on the location of policy work: local/unit/organization, regional/state, and national/global. The dimensions are interconnected, and the levels build upon one another but are not necessarily symmetrical, linear, or prescriptive. In this article, the authors describe each dimension and level in detail, and the accompanying tables provide examples of policy goals and actions. Nurses worldwide can use this framework to engage in self-reflection and envision actions to achieve their policy goals. It will enable nurses to evolve from being policy bystanders to becoming visible, credible policy leaders.

The New Economics of Industrial Policy

We discuss the considerable literature that has developed in recent years providing rigorous evidence on how industrial policies work. This literature is a significant improvement over the earlier generation of empirical work, which was largely correlational and marred by interpretational problems. On the whole, the recent crop of papers offers a more positive take on industrial policy. We review the standard rationales and critiques of industrial policy and provide a broad overview of new empirical approaches to measurement. We discuss how the recent literature, paying close attention to measurement, causal inference, and economic structure, is offering a nuanced and contextual understanding of the effects of industrial policy. We re-evaluate the East Asian experience with industrial policy in light of recent results. Finally, we conclude by reviewing how industrial policy is being reshaped by a new understanding of governance, a richer set of policy instruments beyond subsidies, and the reality of deindustrialization.

Sexual violence, suicide, depression, self-esteem, and satisfaction with life among university students in Spain with a gender perspective: implications for social work

ABSTRACT Current research aims to relate both categories by investigating sexual violence as a risk factor for suicide among college students in Spain (N = 2004). Overall, 13.7% reported having suffered sexual violence in the last year and 3.3% completed sexual penetration. Having suffered sexual violence and lower perceived social support are associated with higher risk of suicidal behaviors. Incorporation of preventive measures against sexual violence in the university environment, as well as the promotion of supportive actions on university campuses in Spain, as well as in other countries. Policy and social work implications are discussed.

Enhancing Repo Market Transparency: The EU Securities Financing Transactions Regulation

Abstract The introduction of the Securities Financing Transactions Regulation into EU law provides a unique opportunity to obtain an in-depth understanding of repo markets. Based on the transaction-level data reported under the regulation, this article contributes to the literature with key facts about the euro area repo market. We start by providing the regulatory background, as well as highlighting some of its advantages for financial stability analysis. We then go on to present three sets of findings that are highly relevant to financial stability and focus on the dimensions of the different market segments, counterparties, and collateral, including haircut practices. Finally, we outline how the data reported under the regulation can support the policy work of central banks and supervisory authorities and contribute to the existing literature on repo markets. We demonstrate that these data can be used to make several important contributions to enhancing our understanding of the repo market from a financial stability perspective, ultimately assisting international efforts to increase repo market resilience.

Healthcare Use and Expenditures in Rural Survivors of Hospitalization for Sepsis.

Sepsis survivors have greater healthcare use than those surviving hospitalizations for other reasons, yet factors associated with greater healthcare use in this population remain ill-defined. Rural Americans are older, have more chronic illnesses, and face unique barriers to healthcare access, which could affect postsepsis healthcare use. Therefore, we compared healthcare use and expenditures among rural and urban sepsis survivors. We hypothesized that rural survivors would have greater healthcare use and expenditures. To test this hypothesis, we used data from 106,189 adult survivors of a sepsis hospitalization included in the IBM MarketScan Commercial Claims and Encounters database and Medicare Supplemental database between 2013 and 2018. None. We identified hospitalizations for severe sepsis and septic shock using the International Classification of Diseases , 9th Edition (ICD-9) or 1CD-10 codes. We used Metropolitan Statistical Area classifications to categorize rurality. We measured emergency department (ED) visits, inpatient hospitalizations, skilled nursing facility admissions, primary care visits, physical therapy visits, occupational therapy visits, and home healthcare visits for the year following sepsis hospitalizations. We calculated the total expenditures for each of these categories. We compared outcomes between rural and urban patients using multivariable regression and adjusted for covariates. After adjusting for age, sex, comorbidities, admission type, insurance type, U.S. Census Bureau region, employment status, and sepsis severity, those living in rural areas had 17% greater odds of having an ED visit (odds ratio [OR] 1.17; 95% CI, 1.13-1.22; p < 0.001), 9% lower odds of having a primary care visit (OR 0.91; 95% CI, 0.87-0.94; p < 0.001), and 12% lower odds of receiving home healthcare (OR 0.88; 95% CI, 0.84-0.93; p < 0.001). Despite higher levels of ED use and equivalent levels of hospital readmissions, expenditures in these areas were 14% (OR 0.86; 95% CI, 0.80-0.91; p < 0.001) and 9% (OR 0.91; 95% CI, 0.87-0.96; p < 0.001) lower among rural survivors, respectively, suggesting these services may be used for lower-acuity conditions. In this large cohort study, we report important differences in healthcare use and expenditures between rural and urban sepsis survivors. Future research and policy work is needed to understand how best to optimize sepsis survivorship across the urban-rural continuum.

Uncovering an emerging policy direction for Australian energy and future fuels using a “participatory decision-making” framework

IntroductionAn online deliberative engagement process was undertaken with members of the general public to understand what they value or would like to change about the energy system, within the broader context of decarbonizing Australia's energy networks, identifying a role for future fuels (hydrogen and biogas). Citizens developed a set of principles that could guide Australia's path toward a low-carbon energy future, reflecting on expectations they place upon energy transition. Next, citizens' principles were shared with policy-makers in government and policy-influencers from the energy industry using an online interactive workshop.MethodsThis study analyses policy-makers and -influencers response to citizens' guiding principles using the 'diamond of participatory decision-making' framework for analysis. Convergence and divergence in diverse, complex and rich views across cohorts and implications thereupon energy policy were identified.ResultsAlthough considerable alignment between multi-stakeholders' views was noted, key areas of divergence, or what is called the “groan zone” were easily identified in relation to social and environmental justice issues. This groan zone highlights the struggles that energy policy-makers face -the need to listen and respond to citizens' voices, vs. the need for practical and workable policies that also support overarching government or industry objectives.DiscussionPolicy making when the views of different stakeholders align is relatively straightforward. However, this is not the case where the expectations diverge. More creative measures will be needed to address divergent views and expectations whilst maintaining procedural fairness, in this case, using democratic deliberative engagement processes. While the use of deliberative processes is gaining momentum worldwide, particularly concerning climate change and energy transition policies, this paper also highlights the benefits of conducting a robust post facto analysis of the content of the processes. Areas of alignment, where policy can be made and implemented relatively easily without contention are identified. Other areas (such as making electrification mandatory) might be more complex or have unwanted negative social and environmental justice effects. Overall, this paper bridges an analytical gap between “expectation studies” and participatory research. By borrowing terminology from a participatory research framework we sharpen the concepts in “expectation studies” from a consensus, inclusion and diversity standpoint.