Suchergebnisse

How women access and utilise health services through pregnancy, childbirth and infancy needs to be understood if we are to improve the delivery of and access to appropriate healthcare. Drawing on ethnographic observations of clinic encounters and in-depth interviews with women in Bangalore, South India, this paper reports on the complexities of negotiating healthcare throughout the perinatal continuum in urban India. Key themes identified include faith and trust in health services, confusion over right to healthcare; and the contested nature of choice for women. What is revealed is a socially restrictive framework that results in choices that seem arbitrary, irrational and self-defeating; poor women being particularly vulnerable. Given the current policy support for public-private-partnerships in reproductive healthcare delivery in India, both public and private health services need to move substantially to achieve true partnership and provide care that is respectful and valued by women and children in urban India.

THIS ARTICLE REVIEWS THE HEAVILY MONITORED NICARAGUAN ELECTIONS HELD ON FEBRUARY 25TH, 1990. THE ELECTIONS HAVE BEEN WIDELY ACCLAIMED BY THE WORLD PRESS AS AUTHENTICALLY EXPRESSING THE WILL OF THE NICARAGUAN PEOPLE. THIS ARTICLE ARGUES THAT THIS IS NOT SO, AND THAT IT WAS NOT A VICTORY FOR THE CAUSE OF DEMOCRACY.

We carried out a cohort study of mortality among 954 Canadian military personnel exposed to low-dose ionizing radiation during nuclear reactor clean-up operations at Chalk River Nuclear Laboratories, Chalk River, Ont., and during observation of atomic test blasts in the United States and Australia in the 1950s. Two controls matched for age, service, rank and trade were selected for each exposed subject. Mortality among the exposed and control groups was ascertained by means of record linkage with the Canadian Mortality Data Base. Survival analysis with life-table techniques did not reveal any difference in overall mortality between the exposed and control groups. Analysis of cause-specific mortality showed similar mortality patterns in the two groups; there was no elevation in the exposed group in the frequency of death from leukemia or thyroid cancer, the causes of death most often associated with radiation exposure. Analysis of survival by recorded gamma radiation dose also did not show any effect of radiation dose on mortality. The findings are in agreement with the current scientific literature on the risk of death from exposure to low-dose radiation.

PurposeThe business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in India is evolving rapidly, and one of the key characteristics of this industry is the emergence of high‐end services offered by knowledge processing outsourcing (KPO) organizations. These organizations are set to grow at a tremendous pace. Given the people‐intensive nature of this industry, efficient employee management is bound to play a critical role. The literature lacks studies offering insights into the HR challenges involved and the ways in which they are addressed by KPOs. The purpose of this paper is to attempt to fill this gap by presenting findings from an in‐depth case study of a KPO organization.Design/methodology/approachTo achieve the research objective we adopted an in‐depth case study approach. The research setting was that of a KPO organization in India, which specialises in offering complex analytics, accounting and support services to the real estate and financial services industries.FindingsThe results of this study highlight the differences in the nature of work characteristics in such organizations as compared to call centres. The study also highlights some of the key people management challenges that these organizations face like attracting and retaining talent. The case company adopts formal, structured, transparent and innovative human resource practices. The study also highlights that such enlightened human resource practices stand on the foundations laid by an open work environment and facilitative leadership.Research limitations/implicationsOne of the key limitations is that the analysis is based on primary data from a single case study and only 18 interviews. The analysis contributes to the fields of KPO, HRM and India and has key messages for policy makers.Originality/valueThe literature on outsourcing has in general focused on call centres established in the developed world. However, the booming BPO industry in India is also beginning to offer high‐end services, which are far above the typical call centres. These KPOs and their people management challenges are relatively unexplored territories in the literature. By conducting this study in an emerging market (India) and focusing on people‐related challenges in KPOs, this study attempts to provide a fresh perspective to the extant BPO literature.

Among all quality strategies, the quality information system (QIS) is the one which finds comparatively little recognition among the quality engineering professionals. The situation is different in the general management arena where management professionals are striving to attain core competence of organizations through the implementation of management information systems (MIS). On realizing this trend and anticipating tremendous benefits, a research project has been started with the objective of developing a QIS compatible to ISO 9001:2000. In this paper, the quality management information system (QMIS) that has been designed by referring to Clause 4 of ISO 9001:2000 has been reported. After designing this QMIS, its development in real-time environment was examined by conducting a study at an ISO 9001:2000 certified high technology-oriented company. Also, a validation study was conducted by gathering the opinions and assessment of the managing partner of the company on QMIS. These studies revealed the feasibility and possibility of implementing QMIS in ISO 9001:2000 certified companies. The details of this work are presented in this paper.

In their replies to our paper (Pearce et al., 2017), both Cook and Oreskes agree with our central point: that deliberating and mobilizing policy responses to climate change requires thinking beyond public belief in a scientific consensus. However, they both continue to defend consensus messaging, either because of 'the dangers of neglecting to communicate the scientific consensus' (Cook, 2017, p. 1) or because '"no consensus"…remains… a contrarian talking point' (Oreskes, 2017, p. 1). Both highlight previously conducted market research by fossil fuel companies which suggested that scientific uncertainty provided a political weapon in fighting regulation, concluding that incorrect public perceptions of the scientific consensus weaken support for policy action (Oreskes, 2017, p. 2).

Children and young people make up around 50% of the humanitarian refugee intake in Australia and New Zealand (over 13 000 people per year) and are arguably the most vulnerable subgroup. The health needs of refugee children and young people have been well documented and include high rates of preventable conditions and psychosocial morbidity. The primary aim of this policy statement is to advocate for timely and high quality health care for every refugee child and young person living in Australia and New Zealand. It recommends that the following are required in order to deliver the most effective health care to refugee children and young people: (i) health service enhancement, (ii) the promotion of research and the development of an evidence base, (iii) dedicated training, and (iv) professional practice. The recommendations range from interventions that involve government leadership to interventions directed at health services and professionals.

Newly arrived refugees and asylum seekers are faced with many difficulties in accessing effective health care when settling in Australia. Cultural, language and financial constraints, lack of awareness of available services, and lack of health provider understanding of the complex health concerns of refugees can all contribute to limiting access to health care. Understanding the complexities of a new health care system under these circumstances and finding a regular health provider may be difficult. In some cases there may be a fundamental distrust of government services. The different levels of health entitlements by visa category and (for some) detention on arrival in Australia may further complicate the provision and use of health services for providers and patients. Children are particularly at risk of suboptimal health care due to the impact of these factors combined with the effect of resettlement stresses on parents' ability to care for their children. Unaccompanied and separated children, and those in detention experience additional challenges in accessing care. This article aims to increase awareness among health professionals caring for refugee children of the challenges faced by this group in accessing and receiving effective health care in Australia. Particular consideration is given to the issues of equity, rights of asylum seekers, communication and cultural sensitivities in health care provision, and addressing barriers to health care. The aim of the paper is to alert practitioners to the complex issues surrounding the delivery of health care to refugee children and provide realistic recommendations to guide practice.