Politics and Growth

Theories of growth have made progress in understanding the mechanisms of growth in economic terms. However, there is less understanding of the political processes that enable or obstruct these mechanisms. This article provides a four‐stage framework to clarify and analyse the connections between politics and growth: (i) discussing the basic conditions essential for growth; (ii) suggesting that whether or not these conditions emerge depends on specific forms of public‐private interaction; (iii) linking these relationships to the incentives facing those in political power and investors; and (iv) considering the factors at country level that may help to push incentives in a pro‐growth direction.     

Getting reluctant substance abusers to engage in treatment/self-help: a review of outcomes and clinical options

This review examines the results from 19 outcome studies, involving 1,501 cases, within 10 different clinical approaches to getting alcohol or drug abusers to engage in treatment or self-help. Each approach is summarized and its "success rate(s)" presented. Comparisons are made across various subcategories, such as alcohol vs. drug abusers, adolescents vs. adults, and experimental conditions vs. controls. A distinction is drawn between "Dual-Purpose" approaches, which combine engagement with counseling of the concerned person who originally sought help for the substance abuser, and "Engagement-Primary" approaches, which generally confine their efforts (through working with family members and others) to getting the substance abuser into treatment/self-help. "Best bet" clinical options are presented in terms of which particular approach appears to have the edge with which kind of substance abuser.     

Bicycle ergometry in subacute-stroke survivors: feasibility, safety, and exercise performance

This study evaluated the feasibility, safety, and findings from a protocol for exercise-bicycle ergometry in subacute-stroke survivors. Of 117 eligible candidates, 14 could not perform the test and 3 discontinued because of cardiac safety criteria. In the 100 completed tests, peak heart rate was 116 +/- 19.1 beats/min; peak VO(2) was 11.4 +/- 3.7 ml x kg x min(-1), peak METs were 3.3 +/- 0.91, exercise duration was 5.1 +/- 2.84 min, and Borg score was 14 +/- 2.6. Among 71 tests, anaerobic threshold was achieved in 3.0 +/- 1.7 min with a VO(2) of 8.6 +/- 1.7 ml x kg x min(-1). After screening, this protocol is feasible and safe in subacute-stroke survivors with mild to moderate deficits. These stroke survivors have severely limited functional exercise capacity. Research and clinical practice in stroke rehabilitation should incorporate more comprehensive evaluation and treatment of endurance limitations.     

Basic Reading Through Dance program. The impact on first-grade students' basic reading skills

This study evaluates the effectiveness of an arts-based educational program, Basic Reading Through Dance. Basic Reading Through Dance is a 20-session, curriculum-based reading intervention for first-grade students developed by Whirlwind, a not-for-profit organization. There were a total of 721 first-grade students from Chicago public schools who participated in the study, with 328 students from 6 schools receiving the program and 393 students from 9 schools serving as controls. The program was designed to improve reading skills, as assessed by the PhonoGraphix Test, such as code knowledge (alphabet sounds) and phoneme segmentation (separating letter sounds within spoken words). Results suggest that the students who participated in the program improved significantly more than control students on all reading skills that were assessed.     

The Structural Adjustment Experiment

Book reviewed in this article: Stabilization and Structural Adjustment: Macro-economic Frameworks for Analysing the Crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa. By Finn Tarp Structural Adjustment and Beyond in Sub-Saharan Africa: Research and Policy Issues. Edited by Rolph van der Hoeven and Fred van der Kraaij Hemmed In: Responses to Africa's Economic Decline. Edited by Thomas M. Callaghy and John Ravenhill     

Survey of midwives’ perinatal mental health knowledge,confidence, attitudes and learning needs

Background

Midwives have a primary role in facilitating the first stage of perinatal mental health risk reduction through inquiring about perinatal mental health, identifying risk factors and current perinatal mental health problems, providing support or crisis intervention, referring for treatment and decreasing stigmatisation.