Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Australia – Social policy – Evaluation'
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1
Neylan, Julian School of History & Philosophy of Science UNSW. "The sociology of numbers: statistics and social policy in Australia." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. School of History and Philosophy of Science, 2005. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/31963.
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This dissertation presents an historical-sociological study of how governments of the modern western state use the language and techniques of quantification in the domain of social policy. The case material has an Australian focus. The thesis argues that by relying on techniques of quantification, governments risk introducing a false legitimacy to their social policy decisions. The thesis takes observed historical phenomena, language and techniques of quantification for signifying the social, and seeks meaningful interpretations in light of the culturally embedded actions of individuals and collective members of Australian bureaucracies. These interpretations are framed by the arguments of a range of scholars on the sociology of mathematics and quantitative technologies. The interpretative framework is in turn grounded in the history and sociology of modernity since the Enlightenment period, with a particular focus on three aspects: the nature and purpose of the administrative bureaucracy, the role of positivism in shaping scientific inquiry and the emergence of a risk consciousness in the late twentieth century. The thesis claim is examined across three case studies, each representative of Australian government action in formulating social policy or providing human services. Key social entities examined include the national census of population, housing needs indicators, welfare program performance and social capital. The analysis of these social statistics reveals a set of recurring characteristics that are shown to reduce their certainty. The analysis provides evidence for a common set of institutional attitudes toward social numbers, essentially that quantification is an objective technical device capable of reducing unstable social entities to stable, reliable significations (numbers). While this appears to strengthen the apparatus of governmentality for developing and implementing state policy, ignoring the many unarticulated and arbitrary judgments that are embedded in social numbers introduces a false legitimacy to these government actions.
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Andrew, John Chapman. "A Framework for Energy Policy Evaluation and Improvement Incorporating Quantified Social Equity." Kyoto University, 2016. http://hdl.handle.net/2433/217191.
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Kyoto University (京都大学)0048
新制・課程博士
博士(エネルギー科学)
甲第20016号
エネ博第339号
新制||エネ||68(附属図書館)
33112
京都大学大学院エネルギー科学研究科エネルギー社会・環境科学専攻
(主査)教授 手塚 哲央, 教授 宇根﨑 博信, 准教授 MCLELLAN Benjamin
学位規則第4条第1項該当
3
Fleming, Brian James. "The social gradient in health : trends in C20th ideas, Australian Health Policy 1970-1998, and a health equity policy evaluation of Australian aged care planning /." Title page, abstract and table of contents only, 2003. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phf5971.pdf.
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Summers, Michael. "Great expectations : a policy case study of four case management programs in one organisation /." Connect to thesis, 2007. http://repository.unimelb.edu.au/10187/2182.
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Four different case management programs delivered by UnitingCare Community Options (UCCO) in the eastern suburbs of Melbourne were examined against the expectations of case management as a policy solution to a range of perceived policy problems at the micro-, meso- and macro-levels. The micro-level expectations were related to client and family experiences of the service system and outcomes. At the meso-level expectations were focused on perceived service delivery problems such as poor matching of services to the needs of ‘complex’ clients including a lack of integration, flexibility and responsiveness to clients’ needs and preferences. Perceived macro-level policy problems were concerned with a variety of issues including increasing rates of institutionalisation, increasing costs to governments, lack of economic efficiency and the desire to create market or quasi-market conditions in the community care service delivery sector. (For complete abstract open document)
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Vicary, Adrian Robert. "Social work and social policy in Australia from welfare state to contract state /." [Bedford Park] : Flinders University of South Australia, 1998. http://books.google.com/books?id=RkVHAAAAMAAJ.
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Wood, Chris. "Social capital, ideology and policy in the UK and Australia." Thesis, University of Nottingham, 2011. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.546478.
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Orchard, Lionel. "Whitlam and the cities : urban and regional policy and social democratic reform." Title page, table of contents and abstract only, 1987. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09pho641.pdf.
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Boothe, Katherine. "Pharmaceutical programs and social policy development: comparing Canada, Australia and the UK." Thesis, University of British Columbia, 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/26266.
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Canada is the only OECD country that provides broad public health benefits but lacks a universal, nation-wide system for funding prescription drugs. This puzzle cannot be explained by the literature on national health insurance, which suggests that the tendency to consider all health services as a single policy has missed an important source of cross-national variation. How can we explain the lack of a major pharmaceutical program in Canada, in light of the country’s own extensive health system and the experience of almost all other welfare states? More generally, why do some countries adopt universal, comprehensive pharmaceutical programs, while others do not?
To answer these questions, the study compares Canada to the UK and Australia using a process-tracing approach, and finds that the range of services in a country’s public health system is determined by the earliest decisions about how to approach policy development. Where institutional, ideological and electoral conditions allowed for large-scale change and all services were introduced simultaneously, countries tended to maintain the full scope of services. But where institutional barriers, ideological dissensus and low issue salience made radical change difficult, health programs were introduced incrementally, and policy development tended to stall after the first priority. Although incrementalism was initially less politically risky, it was also inherently limiting. Barriers to the introduction of services increased over time, and services that were initially lower priorities (such as pharmaceuticals in Canada) were pushed off the public agenda. In investigating this phenomenon, I provide specific mechanisms by which a more limited “path” of policy development becomes “dependent,” and argue that we must consider not only the role of ideas in policy making, but also the role of ideas over time. The study also investigates the implications of the approach to policy development for subsequent policy outcomes. It finds that factors that support the simultaneous adoption of a full range of health services also make it more difficult to retrench these services later on.
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Ptanawanit, Surapone, and Surapone Ptanawanit. "Crucial Factors in teh Development of Social Security in Thailand in Comparison with Australia." University of Sydney. Social Work, Social Policy and Sociology, 2002. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/487.
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Rich people in Thailand are enjoying higher shares in income transfer than their poor counterparts. This strange phenomenon implies the malfunction of the Thai social security system. Studies on the relationship between social security development and social, economic and political factors are also very limited. These evident constraints are the rationales for this study. A comparative study was chosen because the justification of social security problems would be more objectively valid if r000esearch findings were compared with external criteria. In addition, comparative analysis would clearly pinpoint possible factors that influenced social security development in Thailand. Like many comparative studies, this investigation did not expect only to identify possible influential factors, but it also intended to learn how the modern social security system could be established in a more developed country. However, the findings would be more adaptable if they were transferred from a country that was economically and culturally close to Thailand. By these reasons, Australia, instead of other Western countries, was more appropriate to be the case for comparison. After reviewing theoretical and empirical literature, the research methodology was designed. Basically, the study applied both qualitative and quantitative methods in analysing data gathered from Thailand and Australia. Comparative evidence shows many problems in social security provisions in Thailand. Relatively narrow coverage, low quality and quantity of benefits and services, higher financial burdens borne by people, and marginal welfare rights are the important indications of the severity of the problems. Many factors are responsible for the existence of these problems. The problematic system of social security was partly the legacy of historical development. The effects of historical roots are intensified by many contemporary factors. Undesirable social values, volatile economic growth, late industrialisation and the defeat of socialism are the four major factors that account for the undeveloped social security system. The influences of the four major factors are supported by another four less crucial ones. These supporting factors comprise the elite�s agenda, workers� power, weak non-governmental organisations and population growth. The findings in both Thailand and Australia similarly indicate that religious institutions and colonial influence do not produce significant effects upon social security development. The comparative findings provide valuable guidelines for the suggestions of system development. Several findings help extend existing theoretical explanations of social security development as well. The study recommends comprehensive operational strategies for the improvement of Thai social security. The study made its final suggestion on the importance of applied research based on Western knowledge and experiences for the improvement of Thai social security.
10
Di, Francesco Michael Francis, and not available. "Program Evaluation and Policy Management in Australian Central Agencies." The Australian National University. Public Policy Program, 1997. http://thesis.anu.edu.au./public/adt-ANU20010726.162328.
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Of the many components of reform to Australian government administration in the
1980s, the introduction of systematic program evaluation is perhaps one of the least
examined. This thesis seeks to assess the Federal Labor Government's evaluation
strategy as an instrument for enhancing what are here termed the policy management
capacities of central agencies. It proceeds in two steps. First, the thesis traces in detail
the development of program evaluation policy in Australian federal government from
the effectiveness reviews of the Coombs Report of 1976 to the current evaluation
strategy, and argues that, despite competing purposes for it, evaluation was intended
primarily to serve decision making in central government. This policy aim was
cemented by the economic crisis of the mid 1980s and framed around budgetary issues
by its steward, the Department of Finance. Second, in order to assess the impact of the
evaluation strategy, the thesis develops a framework for analysing program evaluation
as one instrument for strengthening the core policy management functions of central
agencies. In this context, policy management is essentially a coordination task. The
contribution of evaluation to two aspects of policy management-resource
coordination, and policy development and coordination-is examined. The findings
confirm that attempts to formalise evaluation processes have had a variable impact-
central budgetary processes remain dependent on relatively informal assessment
procedures, although recent attempts to enhance policy coordination through the
evaluation of policy advising processes have proved potentially to be more influential.
In conclusion, the thesis argues that the evaluation strategy represented a credible
attempt to better inform policy making in central government, but suffered for want of
clear policy design and firm execution that resulted in only a marginal impact on these
processes.
11
Backhouse, Peter. "Medical knowledge, medical power : doctors and health policy in Australia /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 1994. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phb126.pdf.
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Parsons, Kelly. "Constructing a national food policy : integration challenges in Australia and the UK." Thesis, City, University of London, 2018. http://openaccess.city.ac.uk/19680/.
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Calls for an integrated food policy to tackle the new fundamentals of the food system have been regularly made by academics, policymakers, the food industry and civil society for over a decade in many countries but, despite some changes, much of the old policy framework remains entrenched. This gap raises questions about why policy innovation has proved so difficult. This study responded to that research problem through a qualitative, interpretivist comparative study of how two countries attempted to improve their policy integration, via two specific policy integration projects: the UK’s Food Matters/Food 2030 process (2008-2010) and Australia’s (2010-2013) National Food Plan. It applied a conceptual framework fusing historical institutionalism and the public policy integration literature, focusing on the policy formulation stage. Fieldwork was conducted in both countries, including interviews with key informants; and publically-available documents about the policy projects and broader policy systems were analysed. The findings suggest the two policy projects represent a food policy shift from single-domain ‘policy taker’, towards multiple domain ‘policy maker’, but both fell short of what might be classed as ‘integration’ in the literature. The research identifies how tensions between domains are sidestepped, and makes broader propositions around how multiple values and goals co-exist in this contested policy space, and the need for improved value agreement capacity. It also highlights a general lack of focus on integration as a process. It explores how the legacy of historical fragmented approaches, plus political developments and decisions around institutional design, and a more general trend of hollowing out of national government, impact on how integrated food policy can be formulated in a particular country setting. It therefore proposes an emerging ‘institutionalist theory of food policy integration’, conceptualising the dimensions of integration, and multiple institutional influences on integration attempts.
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Vaganay, Arnaud. "Evidence-based policy or policy-based evidence? : the effect of policy commitment on government-sponsored evaluation in Britain (1997-2010)." Thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (University of London), 2014. http://etheses.lse.ac.uk/1040/.
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In most mature welfare states, policy evaluations are sponsored by the very organisations that designed and implemented the intervention in the first place. Research in the area of clinical trials has consistently shown that this type of arrangement creates a moral hazard and may lead to overestimates of the effect of the treatment. Yet, no one so far has investigated whether social interventions were subject to such ‘confirmation bias’. The objective of this study was twofold. Firstly, it assessed the scientific credibility of a sample of government-sponsored pilot evaluations. Three common research prescriptions were considered: (a) the proportionality of timescales, (b) the representativeness of pilot sites; and (c) the completeness of outcome reporting. Secondly, it examined whether the known commitment of the government to a reform was associated with less credible evaluations. These questions were answered using a ‘meta-research’ methodology, which departs from the traditional interviews and surveys of agents that have dominated the literature so far. I developed the new PILOT dataset for that specific purpose. PILOT includes data systematically collected from over 230 pilot and experimental evaluations spanning 13 years of government-commissioned research in the UK (1997-2010) and four government departments (Department for Work and Pensions, Department for Education, Home Office and Ministry of Justice). PILOT was instrumental in (a) modeling pilot duration using event history analysis; (b) modeling pilot site selection using logistic regression; and (c) the systematic selection of six evaluation reports for qualitative content analysis. A total of 17 interviews with policy researchers were also conducted to inform the case study and the overall research design. The results show little overt evidence of crude bias or ‘bad’ design. On average, government-sponsored pilots (a) were based on timescales that were proportional to the scope of the research; (b) were not primarily designed with the aim of warranting representativeness; and (c) were rather comprehensively analysed in evaluation reports. In addition, the results indicate that the known commitment of the government to a reform had no significant effect on the selection of pilot sites and on the reporting of outcomes. However, it was associated with significantly shorter pilots. In conclusion, there is some evidence that the known commitment of a government to a reform is associated with less credible evaluations; however this effect is only tangible in the earlier stages of the research cycle. In this respect, sponsorship bias would appear to be more limited than in the context of industry-sponsored clinical trials. Policy recommendations are provided, as this project was severely hindered by important ‘black box’ issues and by the poor quality of evaluation reports.
14
Brankovich, Jasmina. "Burning down the house? : feminism, politics and women's policy in Western Australia, 1972-1998." University of Western Australia. School of Humanities, 2008. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0122.
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This thesis examines the constraints and options inherent in placing feminist demands on the state, the limits of such interventions, and the subjective, intimate understandings of feminism among agents who have aimed to change the state from within. First, I describe the central element of a
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Davies, Evan. "Mandatory detention for asylum seekers in Australia : an evaluation of liberal criticism." University of Western Australia. Political Science and International Relations Discipline Group, 2007. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2007.0202.
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This thesis evaluates the policy of mandatory detention for asylum seekers maintained by successive Australian governments against several core liberal principles. These principles are derived from various accounts of liberal political thought and the major themes and criticisms inherent in the public debate over the policy. The justifications of the policy given by the Australian government and the criticisms enunciated by scholars, refugee advocates and non-government organisations with respect to the policy strongly correspond with the core liberal principles of fairness, protecting the rights of the individual, accountability and proportionality. The claims of the critics converge on a central point of contention: that the mandatory detention of asylum seekers violates core liberal principles. To ascertain the extent to which the claims of the critics can be supported, the thesis selectively draws on liberal political theory to provide a framework for the analysis of the policy against these liberal principles, a basis for inquiry largely neglected by contributors to the literature. This thesis argues that, on balance, the mandatory detention policy employed by successive Australian governments violates core liberal principles. The claims of the critics are weakened, but by no means discredited, by the importance of the government's maintenance of strong border control. In the main, however, criticisms made by opponents of the policy can be supported. This thesis contributes to the substantial body of literature on the mandatory detention policy by shedding light on how liberal principles may be applicable to the mandatory detention policy. Further, it aims to contribute to an enriched understanding of the Australian government's competence to detain asylum seekers.
16
Johnson, Margaret Alice. "United States evaluation policy| A theoretical taxonomy." Thesis, Cornell University, 2014. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=3586275.
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Efforts are currently underway in the US federal context to improve and strengthen evaluation practice and increase the use of evaluation results to inform policies and programs. However, these efforts remain unrealized, due partly to the lack of a comprehensive theoretical framework that views evaluation and related organizational processes and institutions as part of a larger system. Early intuitive theoretical taxonomies of evaluation policy suffer from the lack of connection to specific examples and instances, and are missing clear classification criteria that would allow practical application. To generate a grounded taxonomy of evaluation policy, this study surveyed members of the American Evaluation Association in 2009, asking them to generate examples of evaluation policy, and then to sort and rate these suggested policies. Results are analyzed using the concept mapping method of Trochim (1989), which first translates aggregate sorting decisions into conceptual “distances” on a two-dimensional dot map, then uses hierarchical cluster analysis to generate groupings of ideas. These groupings become the foundation for categories in a theoretical taxonomy. Findings reveal several different dimensions by which participants grouped evaluation policies, including the dimensions of “value” and “policy mechanism.” A values-by-mechanisms taxonomy and instructions for its use in an evaluation policy inventory process are proposed.
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Malavaux, Claire. "Cultivating indifference : an anthropological analysis of Australia's policy of mandatory detention, its rhetoric, practices and bureaucratic enactment." University of Western Australia. School of Social and Cultural Studies, 2007. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2008.0120.
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This thesis is based on a particular domain of anthropological inquiry, the anthropology of policy, which proposes that policy be contemplated as an ethnographic object itself. The policy I consider is Australia's refugee policy, which advocates the mandatory detention of
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Grant, Eli. "Network analysis for social programme evaluation." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2015. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.719991.
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De, Matos Christine, University of Western Sydney, of Arts Education and Social Sciences College, and School of Humanities. "Imposing peace and prosperity: Australia, social justice and labour reform in occupied Japan, 1945-1949." THESIS_CAESS_HUM_De Matos_C.xml, 2003. http://handle.uws.edu.au:8081/1959.7/480.
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Historiography tends to seek patterns of inevitability, attempting to explain a decided course rather than incorporating other evident, though unfulfilled possibilities. In the case of historiography on the Allied Occupation of Japan, this is particularly obvious. Occupation scholarship appears absorbed by the overarching US presence in Japan during this period, reflects the dominant paradigm of the Cold War and when it does venture past the US remains focused on the US-Japan dichotomy. Australia also participated in the Occupation, also held a vision for a Pacific future and developed a relationship with Japan. Often the Australian perspective did not coincide with that of the US especially on the terrain of ideological and historical experiences and interpretations. The potential for conflict between the two nations’ approaches to post-surrender Japan is particularly evident in labour reform policy and issues of social and economic justice – the focus of this thesis. Australian policies towards labour reform under the Chifley Labor Government are examined in this thesis within the context of the Australian labour movement’s historical legacy, Orientalism and racial stereotypes, the Cold War, US hegemony, idealism and pragmatism and overall Australian policy towards Occupied Japan as a dual-paradigm structure. This thesis investigates attempts to turn labour reform polices and ideals into practice, via the diplomatic control machinery established for the Occupation namely the Allied Council for Japan and Far Eastern Commission and as articulated by Australian government representatives including Dr H.V. Evatt, William Macmahon Ball, Patrick Shaw and Sir Frederick Eggleston. The thesis contests the predominant simplistic harsh peace label given to Australian policy in the current literature. By examining Australian policy towards Occupied Japan from a micro perspective, what emerges is a more complex foreign policy mosaic to which the research in this thesis is a contributionDoctor of Philosophy (PhD)
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Chiro, Giancarlo. "The activation and evaluation of Italian language and culture in a group of tertiary students of Italian ancestry in Australia /." Title page, abstract and table of contents only, 1998. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09phc541.pdf.
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Alle, Bruno Azevedo. "An evaluation of centralized provision of social services: the case of Lisbon’s police department." Master's thesis, Instituto Superior de Ciências Sociais e Políticas, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10400.5/5866.
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Dissertação de Mestrado em Gestão e Políticas PúblicasThe European crisis and the subsequent Portuguese financial bailout put social policies under heavy pressure as the current debate focus mostly on budgetary cuts. Contrasting with this tendency, the social services from the Portuguese police have been expanding its services through a centralized service provision policy, starting in Lisbon but with plans to expand it to other cities during the next five years. Whether these services should be provided centralised or decentralised is a matter to be researched as how to use the limited public resources more effectively is now more important than ever. This thesis contributes in this direction by evaluating if there is a rationale for a centralized social policy delivery, if these services are demanded by the users themselves and what is the best alternative to follow. We find that while its beneficiaries state their interest in this kind of service provision they do not seem to use it, which is quite puzzling. The results show that most of them are unaware of the center’s existence and even the majority that is aware does not use it. After applying a regression analysis we find that the major reasons relate to distance issues, particularly when the potential users take more than half an hour to reach it.
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Walker, Sandra, and n/a. "Prostate cancer support groups an evaluation." Swinburne University of Technology, 2005. http://adt.lib.swin.edu.au./public/adt-VSWT20060905.085536.
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The population of Australia is increasing in age, consequently the incidence of
cancer diagnoses is rising. This rise will have a dramatic impact on hospitals with
much of the disease burden extending to psychological support for cancer care. At
present few men diagnosed with cancer seek support. This study sought to explore
men's perceptions of support and prostate cancer support groups.
The benefits of support groups for men with prostate cancer have been well
documented in international studies. In Australia however, relatively few men
diagnosed with prostate cancer join such groups and few studies have examined the
factors that influence membership and attendance. This study investigated the
experiences of a sample of 181 Australian men diagnosed with prostate cancer, 80 of
whom were members of support groups and 107 who were not. The participants were
recruited from prostate cancer support groups and an outpatient department of a major
cancer hospital, in Melbourne, Australia. The two groups were compared on a range
of factors, including disease characteristics, illness perceptions and views of prostate
cancer support groups. Further, members of support groups rated a number of
objectives to determine the effectiveness of the groups.
The majority of members recommended prostate cancer support groups to
other men with prostate cancer (92%), however of the non-members of prostate
cancer support groups, almost half (48%) had never heard of them. Factors that
discriminated between support group members and non-members were emotional
perceptions of the illness, symptom reports and illness coherence, with support group
members reporting higher scores on these variables. Length of diagnosis and age
were also factors that discriminated between the groups with support group members younger and diagnosed longer than non-members. There were no differences between
the groups on personal control, both groups reported high perceptions of control over
the disease. Members reported more benefits and less costs associated with prostate
cancer support groups than non-members. Benefits included information, support,
sharing experiences, and supporting other men with the disease. Costs included
negative discussions, other men dying, and the distance required to travel to the
groups. Both members and non-members reported distance to travel to the groups as
a major barrier to attendance. The majority of members had heard of the groups
through friends and, for non-members who had heard of the groups, through hospital
staff. General practitioners were one of the least likely sources of information about
prostate cancer support groups reported by members.
Prostate cancer support group members reported high levels of satisfaction
with the groups on a range of objectives outlined by the Cancer Council of Victoria.
Making friends and accessing community assistance exceeded men's expectations of
attendance, however men reported a desire for more information and communication.
A need for more funding, advertising, and recognition of prostate cancer support
groups by medical staff was also reported.
Many men with prostate cancer are unaware of support groups, however a
number of benefits were noted by both members and non-members. Greater
recognition of prostate cancer support groups by medical staff may provide men with
prostate cancer an opportunity to access those benefits. Health service providers
should consider the important role prostate cancer support groups play in the recovery
of men from prostate cancer and consider ways of dispelling myths men may hold
regarding the notion of support.
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Strentz, Thomas. "An Evaluation of Two Training Programs Designed to Enable Hostages to Cope More Effectively with Captivity Stress." VCU Scholars Compass, 1986. https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/5532.
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In the present study, airline employees undergoing highly realistic but simulated captivity as hostages were given one of three types of prestress training programs. One group of subjects was given Problem (P)-focused training, which emphasized activities which would be useful in actively manipulating the stress situation. A second group was given Emotion (E)-focused training which emphasized techniques designed to help them directly modulate fear and anxiety associated with the situation. A third (control) group was given no specific stress management training. Retrospective data from the Ways of Coping Check List indicated that subjects tended to engage in the type of coping activity for which they were trained Data from the STAI State -Anxiety scale indicated that stress levels fluctuated dramatically over the course of the experiment, with the greatest changes observed for subjects classified as externals on the Locus of Control Scale who had received P-focused training. This group of subjects also showed the poorest adjustment as measured by the SCL-90). Overall, subjects who received E-focused training showed the best adjustment (as measured by the SCL-90 and the PIP behavioral rating scale). Better adjusting subjects also tended to be perceived as high in Friendliness and Dominance and low in Submissiveness and Hostility by their captors, and they tended to perceive their captors as Friendly and Dominant (as measured by the Impact Message Inventory). The findings were discussed in terms of the stress and coping literature, and their implications for implementation in future stress management programs for potential hostages.
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Arthurson, Kathy. "Social exclusion as a policy framework for the regeneration of Australian public housing estates /." Title page, contents and abstract only, 2001. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09PH/09pha791.pdf.
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Sendziuk, Paul 1974. "Learning to trust : a history of Australian responses to AIDS." Monash University, School of Historical Studies, 2001. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/9264.
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Baltušienė, Jurgita. "The Evaluation Of Agricultural Policy And Social Transfers Impact On Agricultural Household Income." Doctoral thesis, Lithuanian Academic Libraries Network (LABT), 2014. http://vddb.library.lt/obj/LT-eLABa-0001:E.02~2013~D_20140123_133800-71330.
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The research problem raised to this dissertation thesis is the evaluation of the probable impact of agricultural policy and social transfers on agricultural household income, taking into consideration the possible influence of changing direct support to agriculture payments on the social assistance payments that are granted to households following the principle of population income and economic condition testing. The research aim – to evaluate the impact of agricultural policy and social transfers on agricultural household income with respect to the relation between the both transfers. This dissertation research contributes to scientific discussion about the impact of agricultural policy transactions on agricultural household income with respect to the influence of agricultural policy current transfers on cash social assistance. This aspect has not been analyzed much, although, it is important for the existing reverse connection between agricultural policy current transfers and cash social assistance. In many cases agricultural policy transfers influence agricultural household income and one of the income sources – means-tested social benefit.Disertaciniam tyrimui keliama mokslinė problema – kaip įvertinti galimą agrarinės politikos ir socialinių pervedimų poveikį žemdirbių namų ūkių pajamoms, atsižvelgiant į tai, kad pasikeitusios tiesioginės paramos žemės ūkiui išmokos gali daryti įtaką toms socialinės paramos išmokoms, kurios namų ūkiams skiriamos taikant gyventojų pajamų ir materialinės padėties testavimo principą. Tyrimo tikslas – įvertinti agrarinės politikos ir socialinių pervedimų poveikį žemdirbių namų ūkių pajamoms, atsižvelgus į ryšį tarp abejų pervedimų. Šiuo disertaciniu tyrimu prisidedama prie mokslinės diskusijos apie agrarinės politikos pervedimų poveikį žemdirbių namų ūkių pajamoms, atsižvelgiant į agrarinės politikos einamųjų pervedimų daromą poveikį piniginei socialinei paramai. Šis aspektas menkai išnagrinėtas, tačiau yra aktualus dėl egzistuojančio atvirkštinio ryšio tarp agrarinės politikos einamųjų pervedimų ir piniginės socialinės paramos. Daugeliu atvejų agrarinės politikos pervedimai įtakoja žemdirbių namų ūkių pajamas bei vieną iš pajamų šaltinių socialinę paramą, skiriamą finansinės padėties ir turto tikrinimo būdu.
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Filho, Carlos AraÃjo Cruz. "Financial and social outcomes, Employment Strategy, FNE, Evaluation and Public Policy, Territorial Northeast." Universidade Federal do CearÃ, 2013. http://www.teses.ufc.br/tde_busca/arquivo.php?codArquivo=12849.
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nÃo hÃThis work has the objective to evaluate the Nordeste Territorial Strategy of the Banco do Nordeste, a developed bank from Northeast Region from Brazil; a strategy organized and worked in TejuÃuoca City, in the Cearà State, at the period of 2008 to 2012, when a lot of institutional actions from Banco do Nordeste and partners had been implemented in the locality, also and mainly on account of the disposal of financial resources through the Region Public Fund, known as Fundo Constitucional do Nordeste (FNE), intended to enterprises that attend the requirements of the program in that Region. The FNE is part of a roll of public politics of the Federal Government with the responsibility to support companies and entrepreneurs of any size who exert productive activities in the Northeast Region, North of Minas Gerais and North of Espirito Santo. This work evaluates if the objectives considered for the strategy implemented through Banco do Nordeste has being correctly attended, since this program deals mainly with public resources. Also, this work verifies and indicates if changes or improvements in the conditions of life in terms of job and income creation had been reached by the beneficiaries of the loan resources granted by the Bank. Researches were made through questionnaires to the managers of the program, customers that had been attended through, Agents of Development and others stakeholders, objectifying to catch additional information. Finally, the proposal of this work aims also to deal with political, instrumental and technical questionings, considering the possibility of creation of new ranks of job and, consequently, improvement of life conditions of all the involved ones.
Este trabalho tem o objetivo de avaliar a EstratÃgia Nordeste Territorial do Banco do Nordeste organizada e trabalhada no municÃpio de TejuÃuoca (CE), no perÃodo de 2008 a 2012, quando diversas aÃÃes institucionais a partir do Banco do Nordeste e parceiros foram implementadas na localidade, inclusive e principalmente por conta da disponibilizaÃÃo de recursos financeiros atravÃs do Fundo Constitucional de Financiamento do Nordeste (FNE), para empreendimentos que atendem aos requisitos do programa. O FNE faz parte do rol de polÃticas pÃblicas do Governo Federal com a responsabilidade de financiar empresas e empresÃrios de qualquer porte que exercem atividades produtivas na RegiÃo Nordeste, Norte de Minas Gerais e EspÃrito Santo. Para tanto, esta trabalho avalia se os objetivos propostos pela estratÃgia implementada pelo Banco do Nordeste estÃo sendo atendidos, posto que primordialmente foram concedidos financiamentos atravÃs do Fundo Constitucional de Financiamentos do Nordeste (FNE) aos agentes produtivos. TambÃm, este trabalho verifica e indica se mudanÃas ou melhorias nas condiÃÃes de vida em termos de geraÃÃo de emprego e renda, foram alcanÃados pelo beneficiÃrios dos recursos financeiros concedidos pelo Banco. Foram realizadas pesquisas junto aos gestores do programa, clientes e Agentes de Desenvolvimento que fazem parte do processo, objetivando captar informaÃÃes adicionais que foram analisadas. Finalmente, a proposta deste trabalho visa atender tambÃm a questionamentos de ordem polÃtica, instrumental e tÃcnica, diante da possibilidade de criaÃÃo de novos postos de emprego e conseqÃente melhoria das condiÃÃes de vida de todos os envolvidos, atravÃs da concessÃo de financiamentos pelo BNB com os recursos do FNE.
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Nadel, Sara B. "Essays in Optimizing Social Policy for Different Populations: Education, Targeting, and Impact Evaluation." Thesis, Harvard University, 2016. http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:33493361.
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In the first chapter of this dissertation, I look at the relationship between preference sets among students in similar majors, compared with different majors, in Peru. I find that students within majors share preference sets that differ from students in other majors. I further find that students from households without a formal labor market participant have made decisions that are more consistent with predicted professional opportunities compared with students with a formal labor market participant. These differences are systematic and not related to the general industrialization level of the city where the student lives. This research suggests that the difference between students and workers from households with formal labor-market familiarity and those from households without formal labor-market familiarity are not accidental or due to lack of familiarity.
In the second chapter, I evaluate whether proxy-means testing as a method of targeting for Mexico's Conditional Cash Transfer program caused spending distortions among (potential) recipients. The income and wealth effect of participating in Progresa complicate a simple comparison of members of the control and treatment group in the acquisition of assets. To resolve this, I look at reduced asset acquisition just above the cutoff point. Because an imperfect implementation of the eligibility evaluation may have reduced treatment villagers’ perceived benefit of distorting, I also look for evidence of increased spending in non-assets and of increasing the number of eligible-aged children in the home to increase the size of the transfer. I do not find evidence of lack of investment in assets along the eligibility cutoff, but I do find evidence of increased spending as a percentage of income on items not included in the PMT, as well as evidence of increases in eligible-aged children among the poorest families in treatment villages.
In the final chapter, which is joint with Lant Pritchett, we propose that many development programs, projects and policies are characterized by a high dimensional design space with a rugged fitness function over that space. In nearly any project/program/policy there are many design elements, and each design element has a number of possible choices, and the combination produces a high dimensionality design space. If different program designs produce large changes to outcomes/impact, this implies that the "fitness function" or "response surface," the mapping from program design to outcomes/impact, is rugged. We motivate this investigation using as an example a skill-set signaling program for new entrants to the labor market in Peru. We present a simulation model which compares two alternative learning strategies: "crawling the design space" (CDS) and a standard randomized control trial (RCT) approach. In this artificial world, we demonstrate that with even modest dimensionality of the design space and even modest degrees of ruggedness, the CDS learning strategy substantially outperforms the RCT learning strategy. Moreover, we show that the greater the ruggedness of the fitness function, the higher the variance of the RCT results relative to CDS and hence the lower the reliability of RCT results even with "external validity" across contexts. We suggest that RCT results to date are consistent with a world in which social programs exist in a high dimensional design space with rugged fitness functions and hence in which the standard RCT approach has limited direct practical application.Public Policy
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Plaatjies, René. "An evaluation of the social welfare policy of the Eastern Cape provincial government." Thesis, Port Elizabeth Technikon, 2003. http://hdl.handle.net/10948/d1011328.
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A background of serious disparities in past welfare policies, legislation and programmes, necessitated the need for a far-reaching new social welfare policy in South Africa. The adoption of the White Paper for Social Welfare by Parliament in February 1997, set the path for the new social developmental approach to social welfare, dealing with key substantive issues in addressing the restructuring of social welfare services, programmes and social security. The Eastern Cape Province is one of the poorer provinces in South Africa. Negative radio and print media reports on social welfare in the province in the past three years has made it clear that serious problems and disparities face the provincial department. Several of these media reports highlighted issues relating to poor service delivery and unacceptable conditions of underdevelopment and poverty still prevailing in the province. The Eastern Cape Welfare Department has been plagued by fraud and corruption, and in a report of the Eastern Cape legislature’s standing committee on welfare in 2001, it was found that fraudulent activities, corruption and misconduct by government officials are still prevalent in the welfare department. The objective of this research was to assess whether the Eastern Cape Department of Social Development (Welfare) is implementing this new social developmental approach to social welfare, as set out in the 1997 White Paper for Social Welfare.
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Donnelly, Neil James Public Health & Community Medicine Faculty of Medicine UNSW. "The use of interrupted time series analysis to evaluate the impact of Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme policies on drug utilisation in Australia." Awarded by:University of New South Wales. Public Health and Community Medicine, 2005. http://handle.unsw.edu.au/1959.4/22509.
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PROBLEM INVESTIGATED: Methodological issues and policy implications arising from the application of interrupted time series (ITS) analyses to assess the impact of Pharmaceutical Benefit Scheme (PBS) subsidisation policies on drug utilisation in Australia. PROCEDURES FOLLOWED: A critical review of methodological issues relating to the application and analysis of ITS designs was undertaken. This included an examination of drug utilisation data sources in Australia. The PBS policies examined were: (i) the introduction of copayments in 1990; (ii) the introduction of re-supply limits in 1994 and (iii) the introduction of a form of reference pricing in 1998. Monthly aggregate drug utilisation data was obtained from the Australian Department of Health and Ageing. Segmented regression analyses incorporating autocorrelated errors were implemented and statistical diagnostics applied to ensure correct ITS model specification. Alternative seasonal modelling approaches were compared. RESULTS OBTAINED: The copayment ITS evaluation found that while these copayments produced a reduction in the utilisation of essential and discretionary medications, this effect was stronger for discretionary drugs. An unintended policy effect was a large anticipatory increase in drug utilisation during the month prior to the copayments. Repatriation PBS data was also utilised due to the limited number of pre-intervention data points in the Community series. The re-supply limit ITS evaluation found that the 20-day rule markedly reduced the size of the seasonal increase during the month of December. However, logistic regression analyses showed that the size of this reduction attenuated over time, highlighting the need to consider alternative analysis strategies when applying a ITS approach. The reference pricing ITS evaluation found that this policy had achieved its drug utilisation objectives for H2RAs and ACE Inhibitors. However with regard to CCBs, no increase in the utilisation of benchmark priced drug was apparent, which probably reflected clinical concerns at the time about the safety of these drugs. MAJOR CONCLUSIONS: Well implemented ITS analyses provide a valuable tool for evaluating the impact of PBS subsidisation policy change on drug utilisation in Australia. As with any methodology, however, different design and data integrity issues will affect the quality of information provided.
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Kim, Gouk Tae. "Scientizing Science Policy: Implications for Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy and R&D Evaluation." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2012. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/39012.
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In this dissertation research, I try to deepen the understanding of the logic and history behind science of science policy approaches and to substitute for this scientific evidence-based science policy model an evidence-critical and -informed model in which scientific and democratic claims are promoted simultaneously.
Science of science policy, or what I call the scientizing science policy (SSP) discourse, is a strategic response of science policy community members to the following two socio-political developments: the government performance management reform movement and a new social contract of science. These two developments have motivated the science policy community to construct new science R&D management strategies that make science R&D investment more effective and economically beneficial than before. Former Presidential Science Advisor John Marburger played an important role in articulating an SSP approach at the federal level that opened up a political space for the larger SSP discourse to emerge and take hold. Other heterogeneous science policy community actors, including science agency managers and academic researchers, have also engaged and played major roles in shaping the premises, strategies, and directions that make up the SSP discourse by articulating their own approaches to SSP.
The SSP discourse constitutes a series of strategies such as economizing and quantifying R&D investment decisions. In particular, to implement the ideas of performance reform and a new social contract of science in the field of science policy and management, the SSP community members have prioritized the development of data, models, and evidence related to federal R&D investment by funding studies on new scientific data, tools, and quantitative methods through the National Science Foundation (NSF) Science of Science and Innovation Policy (SciSIP) program. Interagency collaboration organized and supported by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) is another key feature promoted by the SSP community.
Through this research of the rise and development of the SSP discourse, I emphasize the following aspects that are relevant to both science policy practice and research community members. First, the SSP discourse demonstrates the influence of the performance reform movement on science, technology, and innovation policy and R&D management. Second, the SSP discourse has the strong potential to shift science policy makersâ focus from planning and implementing to evaluating federal R&D programs. Third, the SSP discourse not only reflects, but also promotes the tendency of public policy makers, politicians, and the public to rely on scientific claims and evidence when they are engaged in discussions or policy decision making processes related to science and technology. Fourth, the SSP discourse alters the balance of authority and influence among science policy actors, including science agency managers, scientists, and executive branch offices in the decision making process on federal R&D priority and investment. Fifth, even though there are conflicts and disagreements among science policy community members on the visions and future of the NSF SciSIP program, the SSP discourse is valuable as a space in which heterogeneous science policy research and practice community members can interact, learn from each other, and collaborate to develop U.S. science, technology, and innovation policy.
I conclude by proposing an evidence-critical and -informed science policy in which the SSP discourse contributes to promoting democratic values in the science policy decision process. In particular, the evidence-critical and -informed model focuses on not only using scientific data and evidence when making federal R&D decisions, but also on promoting the democratic and deliberative process in monitoring R&D activitiesâ performance and social outcomes. In this model, I view the public as a legitimate stakeholder for evaluating federal R&D investment. This evidence-informed model can be implemented under the SSP discourse if the new R&D data, models, and tools developed by the NSF SciSIP-funded research are coupled with a new government performance website in which the public can access information about federal R&D activities as well as provide feedback about R&D investments to science policy makers.Ph. D.
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Purnama, Dadang. "The evaluation of transboundary environmental impact assessment : a case study of the Timor Gap." xi, 103 leaves : ill., map, 1999. http://web4.library.adelaide.edu.au/theses/09ENV/09envp9849.pdf.
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Bibiography: leaves 91-96. The Timor Gap area is managed jointly by Australia and Indonesia through the Treaty of Timor Gap (1989). The Zone of Cooperation area A 's main activity is oil exploration and exploitation. The main concern of the research is the provisions for environmental protection and the procedure of environmental impact assessment in the Treaty.
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Miranda, Montero Juan Jose. "Essays on Experimental and Quasi-Experimental Policy Design and Evaluation." Digital Archive @ GSU, 2012. http://digitalarchive.gsu.edu/econ_diss/86.
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This dissertation comprises two essays. The unifying theme is the evaluation of non-pecuniary (information or norm based messages) conservation programs. These types of policies are widely applied in developing and developed countries to promote conservation, however, their empirical evidence and their effectiveness are not well documented. Each chapter examines some methodological facets of the heterogeneity of non-pecuniary conservation programs and the reliability of non-experimental methods (program evaluation and econometric techniques) to evaluate treatment effects in the context of non-pecuniary conservation programs.
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Bozinovski, Robert. "The Communist Party of Australia and proletarian internationalism,1928-1945." Full-text, 2008. http://eprints.vu.edu.au/1961/1/bozinovski.pdf.
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The theory and practice of ‘proletarian internationalism’ was a vital dimension of the modus operandi of communist parties worldwide. It was a broadly encompassing concept that profoundly influenced the actions of international communism’s globally scattered adherents. Nevertheless, the historiography of the Communist Party of Australia has neglected to address sufficiently the effect exerted by proletarian internationalism on the party’s praxis. Instead, scholars have dwelt on the party’s links to the Soviet Union and have, moreover, overlooked the nuances and complexity of the Communist Party’s relationship with Moscow. It is the purpose of this thesis to redress these shortfalls. Using an extensive collection of primary and secondary sources, this thesis will consider the impact of a Marxist-Leninist conception of proletarian internationalism on the policies,tactics and strategies of the Communist Party of Australia from 1928-1945. The thesis will demonstrate that proletarian internationalism was far more than mere adherence to Moscow, obediently receiving and implementing instructions. Instead, through the lens of this concept, we can see that the Communist Party’s relationship with Moscow was flexible and nuanced and one that, in reality, often put the party at odds with the official Soviet position. In addition, we will see the extent of the influence exerted by other aspects of proletarian internationalism, such as international solidarity, the so-called national and colonial questions and the communist attitude towards war, on the Communist Party’s praxis.
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Soldatic, Karen Maree. "Disability and the Australian neoliberal workfare state (1996-2005)." University of Western Australia. Graduate School of Education, 2009. http://theses.library.uwa.edu.au/adt-WU2009.0190.
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Australia, like other Western liberal democracies, has undergone extensive social policy restructuring as a result of neoliberalism. While neoliberalism had its genesis with Australian Labor governments during the 1980s, it secured the status of orthodoxy under the radical conservatism of the Liberal Coalition government (1996 - 2007). Under the leadership of Prime Minister John Howard a widespread campaign was instigated to advance neoliberal social policy measures across all spheres of social life, leading to the dismantling of rights for a diverse range of social groups including women, refugees, people with disabilities and Indigenous Australians. The restructuring of social provisioning with the intensification of neoliberalism was largely driven by workfare a key domestic social project of neoliberal global restructuring. The thesis examines the Australian experience of workfare and the primary areas of contestation and struggle that emerged in this environment for the Australian Disability Movement during the peak period of workfare restructuring for 'disability' (1996 2005). The thesis draws on the work of critical disability theory to discuss the bivalent social collective identity of disability as it cuts through the politics of recognition and the politics of distribution. From here, the thesis engages with sociological work on emotions, bringing together theories of disgust and disability. The thesis demonstrates that there is a synergy between disability and disgust that informs the moral economy of disability; framing, shaping and articulating able-bodied disabled relations. Drawing on the policy process method the research involved extensive qualitative interviews with members of the Australian Disability Movement, disabled people involved in workfare programs, service providers and their peak organisations, families, as well as the policy elite charged with the responsibility of disability workfare restructuring. Additionally, the study incorporated a range of documents including parliamentary Hansards, key policy texts, government media releases, and publicly available information from disability specialist services and the disability movement. The analytical centrality of policy processes highlighted the strategic interrelationship between macro-structural policy discourses and practices and the role of policy actors as agents, including those collective agents engaged in mediating disability social relations. Three dominant themes emerged from the analysis of the data: movement politics, representation and participation; emotions and processes of moralisation; and finally, the role of temporality in inscribing (disabled) bodies with value. Each of the findings chapters is dedicated to explicating these mechanisms and the effects of these discourses and practices on disabled people involved in workfare programs and the disability movement's struggles for respect, recognition and social justice.
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Hollar, Danielle S. "The Creation and Illustration of Quality of Life: A Conceptual Model for Examining Welfare Reform Impacts." Diss., Virginia Tech, 2000. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/29842.
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Policymakers, public administrators, the media, and others are celebrating the "success" of the latest version of welfare reform, codified into law in the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. Most often, success is defined in terms of declining caseloads or in some other economic form - a practice that does not provide a true sense of the impact of policy changes such as welfare reform. Assessing the human impact of policy change requires more than the evaluation of economic outcomes; it requires knowing about the resources of beneficiaries of social services and their conditions of life from various perspectives. Thus, we have to strive for greater understanding about the socio-cultural aspects of people's lives that create the whole person, aspects such as health, family and friendship networks, housing situations, public and private support service and program use, conditions of work, and so forth (Erikson, 1993). This is how we come to understand one;s quality of life. The present research creates a conceptual model called quality of life, and illustrates the model using data from a follow-up study of former welfare recipients in a county in northern Virginia. Evaluation activities premised on a quality of life model will assist policy actors in understanding policy impacts and how to strategically manage public institutions within their very complex contexts, especially in an era of welfare reform.Ph. D.
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Lee, Pui-chun Dinah, and 李佩珍. "An evaluation of the Social Welfare Department's policy to control or limit substance abuse." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1997. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31965301.
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Zampini, Giulia Federica. "Morality play : a comparative study of the use of evidence in drug and prostitution policy in Australia and the UK." Thesis, University of Kent, 2016. https://kar.kent.ac.uk/54392/.
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The idea of evidence-based policy has gained increasing prominence. Much research exists on the subject, particularly tackling the evidence-based policy turn and, subsequently, its critique. A plethora of studies have identified the shortcomings of the evidence-based policy ideal and challenged its supposed linearity. This project aims to provide an understanding of the way in which evidence is utilized in policy, and contribute to this debate by enacting an innovative research design. I am proposing a 2x2 comparative approach, which looks at the use of evidence across two domains, drug and prostitution policy, across two countries, Australia and the UK. A case-based qualitative comparative approach has the potential to offer a certain depth while at the same time providing the opportunity for analytic generalisation. I argue that evidence can be a prime focus for analysis of the policy process, and that through its lenses one can appraise deeper theoretical and epistemological questions about the state in late modern capitalism, the relationship between knowledge and ideology, science and politics, science and values, reason and emotion. The labelling of prostitution and drug policy as morality policies exposes the nature of these domains as morally and politically antagonistic, whilst providing opportunity to reflect on the role of morality in filtering understandings of evidence and shaping policy positions.
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Shoemate, Justin. "Creating a national mitigation grant evaluation tool| Foresight and resilience." Thesis, California State University, Long Beach, 2015. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/#viewpdf?dispub=1600081.
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In recent years, emergency managers have recognized the importance of building and sustaining resilience in communities. U.S. disaster preparedness has long been centered at the local and state municipality level. However, there has been an increase in federal policy and grant funding to better prepare communities. These federal initiatives may actually be prohibitive when the money runs out. This funding discontinuity can impede progress toward creating resilient and prepared communities. The relationship between existing hazards and dynamic issues showcase the need for refining future approaches to mitigation. One piece of this forward movement includes the evaluation of mitigation grants that embraces concepts of sustainability. A good practice in this area is already underway in the State of California. It utilizes an evaluative process termed SMART and has shown possibility for adapting to a wider use. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with mitigation experts to further inform the adaptation of the instrument. Concepts from the Strategic Foresight Initiative (SFI) were infused together to build community resilience. The adapted mitigation evaluation instrument has been designed to follow current mitigation practices and includes concepts of sustainability, resiliency, and foresight to choose grants that will improve communities. The aim is to better inform the way mitigation project grants are chosen and applied, and to reduce expenditure. Finally, the assessment tool has been adapted to encompass a wider geography.
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Lindquist, Anthea Clare. "The impact of socioeconomic position on outcomes of severe maternal morbidity amongst women in the UK and Australia." Thesis, University of Oxford, 2013. http://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:3ec55671-e8b8-42c6-a777-fb7667b33e6e.
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Aims: The aims of this thesis were to investigate the risk of severe maternal morbidity amongst women from different socioeconomic groups in the UK, explore why these differences exist and compare these findings to the setting in Australia. Methods: Three separate analyses were conducted. The first used UK Obstetric Surveillance System (UKOSS) data to assess the incidence and independent odds of severe maternal morbidity by socioeconomic group in the UK. The second analysis used quantitative and qualitative data from the 2010 UK National Maternity Survey (NMS) to explore the possible reasons for the difference in odds of morbidity between socioeconomic groups in the UK. The third analysis used data from the Victorian Perinatal Data Collection (VPDC) unit in Austra lia to assess the incidence and odds of severe maternal morbidity by socioeconomic group in Victoria. Results: The UKOSS analysis showed that compared with women from the highest socioeconomic group, women in the lowest 'unemployed' group had 1.22 (95%CI: 0.92 - 1.61) times greater odds associated with severe maternal morbidity. The NMS analysis demonstrated that independent of ethnicity, age and parity, women from the lowest socioeconomic quintiJe were 60% less likely to have had any antenatal care (aOR 0.40; 95%CI 0.18 - 0.87), 40% less likely to have been seen by a health professional prior to 12 weeks gestation (aOR 0.62; 95%CI 0.45 - 0.85) and 45% less likely to have had a postnatal check with their doctor (aOR 0.55; 95%CI 0.42 - 0.70) compared to women from the highest quintile. The Victorian analysis showed that women from the lowest socioeconomic group were 21% (aOR 1.21 ; 95% CI 1.00 - 1.47) more likely and that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women were twice (aOR 2.02; 95%CI 1.32 - 3.09) as likely to experience severe morbidity. Discussion: The resu lts suggest that women from the lowest socioeconomic group in the UK and in Victoria have increased odds of severe maternal morbidity. Further research is needed into why these differences exist and efforts must be made to ensure that these women are appropriately prioritised in the future planning of maternity services provisio n in the UK and Australia.
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Lee, Pui-chun Dinah. "An evaluation of the Social Welfare Department's policy to control or limit substance abuse." Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong, 1997. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B18596666.
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Belcher, Helen Maria. "Resisting the Welfare State: An examination of the response of the Australian Catholic Church to the national health schemes of the 1940s and 1970s." University of Sydney. School of Sociology and Social Policy, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2123/712.
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This thesis extends and refines a growing body of literature that has highlighted the impact of Catholic social principles on the development of welfare state provision. It suggests that Catholic social teaching is intent on preserving the role of the traditional family, and keeping power out of the hands of the state. Much of this literature, however, is concerned with European experience (Esping-Andersen, 1990; Castles, 1993; van Kersbergen, 1995). More recently Smyth (2003) has augmented this research through an examination of the influence of Catholic social thought on Australian welfare policy. He concludes that the Australian Church, at least up to the 1970s, preferred a �welfare society� over a �welfare state�, an outlook shared by the wider Australian community. Following the lead of Smyth, this thesis extends the insights of the European research through an examination of Catholic Church resistance to ALP proposals to introduce national health schemes in the 1940s and the 1970s. These appeared to satisfy the Church�s commitment to the poorest and most marginalised groups in the community. Why, then, did the Australian Church resist the proposals? The thesis concludes that there are at least two possible ways of interpreting Catholic social teaching � a preconciliar interpretation that minimises the role of the state, and a postconciliar interpretation that allows for an active, albeit limited, state. The adoption of either is informed by socio-political factors. The thesis, then, concludes that the response of the Church in the 1940s and the 1970s was conditioned by socio-political and historical factors that inclined the Australian Catholic Church towards a conservative view of welfare.
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Dorsey, Dale Edward. "Thresholds and the good a program of political evaluation /." Connect to a 24 p. preview or request complete full text in PDF format. Access restricted to UC campuses, 2007. http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/ucsd/fullcit?p3258395.
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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2007.Title from first page of PDF file (viewed May 30, 2007). Available via ProQuest Digital Dissertations. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 176-179).]
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Lau, For-on Kenny, and 劉火安. "Evaluation of the small house policy in Hong Kong." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 2000. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31968788.
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Stalling, Veda. "The Phenomenological Evaluation of Social Worker Competencies in Patient-Centered Medical Homes." ScholarWorks, 2016. http://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/dissertations/1871.
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The Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) is an innovative, team-based health care model that was applied during the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). However, the competencies for PCMH health care social worker team members are not identified within this model. Thus, the purpose of this phenomenological study focused on identifying the core competencies that will enable social workers to perform competently in PCMHs. This study also explored the roles and training needs as related to improving the competence of social workers. Sandberg’s and Parry’s conceptualization of the competency model was used as the theoretical framework. Data were acquired through interviews with 10 PCMH social workers. These data were then inductively coded and analyzed using a modified Moustakas method. Key findings indicated that these social workers believed that improvements in competencies may include training and knowledge with mental health and physical health knowledge which consist of diagnoses, interventions, medications, symptoms, and terminology. It was also noted that knowledge of evidence-based practices for mental health interventions and patient-centered, team-based principles were essential to ACA policy implementation. The positive social change implications of this study include recommendations to health care leadership, educational institutions, and other PCMH providers to develop competency-based training for social workers. Recommendations are also put forth to adapt social work curriculum to ensure the effective implementation of the principles of the ACA policy and to improve social work practice in PCMH health care settings.
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Lee, Chung-pak Richard, and 李松柏. "An evaluation of social discipline as a factor in economicdevelopment." Thesis, The University of Hong Kong (Pokfulam, Hong Kong), 1985. http://hub.hku.hk/bib/B31974454.
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Lee, Chung-pak Richard. "An evaluation of social discipline as a factor in economic development." [Hong Kong : University of Hong Kong], 1985. http://sunzi.lib.hku.hk/hkuto/record.jsp?B12316945.
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Angelico, Teresa 1956. "Can research influence policy decisions? : a project evaluation of a study of the role of the Catholic Church in higher education." Monash University, Dept. of Anthropology and Sociology, 1999. http://arrow.monash.edu.au/hdl/1959.1/7955.
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Mtshali, Rosemary Makhosazane. "Evaluation of employee performance management development systems policy as implemented amongst social service professionals within department of Social Development." Thesis, University of Zululand, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/10530/1358.
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Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of Master of Arts in the Department of Social Work in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2013.The study investigates the implementation process of the Employee performance management development systems policy within the Department of Social Development, attitude of staff and policy makers towards whether or not it is achieving its goals, the strengths and constraints in its implementation as a way to improve it. This study is conducted with an aim of coming up with solution to the problem or to identify drawbacks and establish if the policy is implemented correctly with the required tools for the purpose of improving service delivery. Since the EPMDS aims at organizational development and efficiency, this study will investigate if social workers are delivering their services to their best and to find out it is the right tool in the grooming and career pathing of social workers. The study reveals that there has been some dissatisfaction the way in which retention strategy was implemented, thus roll out campaigns are highly recommended for the provision of clarity provision of information on how it was implemented by the implementers. It explores the processes involved in implementation of Employee Performance Management Systems (EPMDS) it also identify what tools are used in the identification of other support mechanism and implementation of EPMDS mechanism. It establishes challenges that exist in the implementation and gain from participants possible recommendations for successful implementation of EPMDS. The study also establishes if there is integration of EPMDS with Integrated Service Delivery model (ISDM) and Situational Leadership Supervision Model (SLS), and focuses in the investigation of how Retention Strategy was implemented. The researcher utilizes evaluative research because the study aims at evaluating how EPMDS policy has been implemented within the Department of Social Development .Evaluation research, frequently referred to as program evaluation or practice evaluation, involves searching for practical knowledge in considering the implementation and effects of social policies and the impact of programs.
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Merkes, Monika, and monika@melbpc org au. "A longer working life for Australian women of the baby boom generation? � Women�s voices and the social policy implications of an ageing female workforce." La Trobe University. School of Public Health, 2003. http://www.lib.latrobe.edu.au./thesis/public/adt-LTU20051103.104704.
Full textAbstract:
With an increasing proportion of older people in the Australian population and increasing health and longevity, paid work after the age of 65 years may become an option or a necessity in the future. The focus of this research is on Australian women of the baby boom generation, their working futures, and the work-retirement decision. This is explored both from the viewpoint of women and from a social policy perspective. The research draws on Considine�s model of public policy, futures studies, and Beck�s concept of risk society. The research comprises three studies. Using focus group research, Study 1 explored the views of Australian women of the baby boom generation on work after the age of 65 years. Study 2 aimed to explore current thinking on the research topic in Australia and overseas. Computer-mediated communication involving an Internet website and four scenarios for the year 2020 were used for this study. Study 3 consists of the analysis of quantitative data from the Healthy Retirement Project, focusing on attitudes towards retirement, retirement plans, and the preferred and expected age of retirement. The importance of choice and a work � life balance emerged throughout the research. Women in high-status occupations were found to be more likely to be open to the option of continuing paid work beyond age 65 than women in low-status jobs. However, the women were equally likely to embrace future volunteering. The research findings suggest that policies for an ageing female workforce should be based on the values of inclusiveness, fairness, self-determination, and social justice, and address issues of workplace flexibility, equality in the workplace, recognition for unpaid community and caring work, opportunities for life-long learning, complexity and inequities of the superannuation system, and planning for retirement. Further, providing a guaranteed minimum income for all Australians should be explored as a viable alternative to the current social security system.