Using the evaluation process as a lever for improving health and healthcare accessibility: The case of HCV services organization in Quebec

BackgroundThe evaluation process can be a lever to improve pathways of access to healthcare. The objective of this article is to show how an evaluation strategy can both contribute to knowledge development and have direct impacts on health services provision. We use the case of hepatitis C (HCV) services organization to illustrate the use and the value of this evaluative approach.MethodInspired by empowerment evaluation, the transformative–participatory approach involved overlapping phases of knowledge development and discussion with stakeholders. We conducted several knowledge development activities to discern the needs of people with HCV, the resources available, and the facilitators and impediments along the care pathway, starting from prevention and screening, all the way through to treatment. Using an overlapping approach allowed us to regularly transfer acquired knowledge back to the participants in the study settings and also to gather their impressions, interpretations, and suggestions during periods of deliberation.ResultsThe knowledge development activities made it possible to document the needs, resources, and experiences of people affected by HCV. In the discussion sessions, viable solutions were identified to improve health and healthcare access for people with HCV and to prioritize certain actions. This project demonstrated that using the evaluation process can enable an instrumental, conceptual use of results and, in fact, can have a transformative impact on services organization.     

The Open Door Project Task Force: A Qualitative Study on LGBT Aging

This paper reports formative qualitative findings from the Open Door Project (ODP), a unique program created by the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Aging Project. Data were collected from Open Door Task Force members (N = 34). This includes 4 focus groups that were held with a total of 22 participants; and key informant interviews that were conducted with 12 participants from 10 different agencies. Findings revealed that agencies took significant steps to make important and long-lasting structural changes, including changing their diversity and personnel policies, and intake forms to be LGBT inclusive; implementing ongoing staff training initiatives on LGBT issues; and actively involving leadership, including senior managers, executive directors, vendors, and Councils on Aging, in helping to create and sustain organizational change. The ODP is an effective model to increase cultural competence in working with aging LGBT communities.     

Sex in the Contemporary Media

No abstract available for this article.     

产业政策与中国数字经济行业技术创新

本文利用2008-2017年沪深A股中数字经济上市公司的专利及财务数据,分析了政府补贴、税收优惠、信用贷款、行业准入制度四类产业政策对数字经济行业技术创新的影响。估计结果表明, 政府补贴和行业准入制度对数字经济行业专利申请和专利发明的影响显著,税收优惠、信用贷款对数字 经济行业技术创新的影响相对不明显。对数字经济行业细分类别进行稳健性检验结果表明,政府补贴和行业准入制度依然是影响数字经济行业技术创新较为显著的产业政策,产业政策对数字经济行业技术创新的影响存在行业异质性。政府补贴对电信传媒和软件信息行业专利申请和发明的影响更为显著,行业准入制度对软件信息行业的影响更为显著。此外,政府补贴和信用贷款均能通过提高企业研发投入来提升企业创新能力, 行业准入制度和税收优惠均能通过提高企业利润而提升企业创新能力。本文为政府制定数字经济行业技术创新激励政策提供了经验证据,有助于政府制定合理的产业政策促进 数字经济行业技术创新。     

Women's & Gender Studies Journal Database

Abstract

The Women's & Gender Studies Journal Database (WGSJD) at Rutgers University is a user-oriented, discipline-based database that provides quick access to journal titles available online. It is also a union list of journal titles, print and online, in the area of women's and gender studies at Rutgers University Libraries. The author describes this database and its value-added service in the context of Rutgers University Libraries' information system. Discussion also includes its advantages and disadvantages, the changing roles and areas of responsibilities for subject selectors, and how the database fits into future developments of the library's information system. Serials Review 2002; 28:261–266.     

The Value of South and Southeast Asian Studies Journal Rankings

Abstract

This article ranks South and Southeast Asian Studies journals along three categories—quality, efficiency, and impact. The ranking summarizes the results of a survey sent to an international sample of South and Southeast Asian Studies scholars. This study is valuable in three ways: as a decision making tool for the South and Southeast Asian Studies academic community, as an evaluation of methodology in journal ranking studies, and as a discussion of the value of journal rankings studies to assessment and evaluation in higher education generally.     

Little Magazine Interview Index 2003

Abstract

Reports on the 2005 Potomac Technical Processing Librarians Conference, Annapolis, Maryland, and the 25th Annual Charleston Conference in South Carolina.     

Generalized Confidence Interval Estimation for the Difference in Paired Areas Under the ROC Curves in the Absence of a Gold Standard

Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves can be used to assess the accuracy of tests measured on ordinal or continuous scales. The most commonly used measure for the overall diagnostic accuracy of diagnostic tests is the area under the ROC curve (AUC). A gold standard (GS) test on the true disease status is required to estimate the AUC. However, a GS test may be too expensive or infeasible. In many medical researches, the true disease status of the subjects may remain unknown. Under the normality assumption on test results from each disease group of subjects, we propose a heuristic method of estimating confidence intervals for the difference in paired AUCs of two diagnostic tests in the absence of a GS reference. This heuristic method is a three-stage method by combining the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm, bootstrap method, and an estimation based on asymptotic generalized pivotal quantities (GPQs) to construct generalized confidence intervals for the difference in paired AUCs in the absence of a GS. Simulation results show that the proposed interval estimation procedure yields satisfactory coverage probabilities and expected interval lengths. The numerical example using a published dataset illustrates the proposed method.     

美国门户开放政策目标定位辨析

迄今为止,人们都习惯于将门户开放政策视为美国的早期对华政策。但这项政策的目标定位并不仅仅限于中国。根据美国国务卿海约翰 1899年、1900年和 1905年三次颁布门户开放照会的历史背景和照会内容,回溯近代早期中外关系演变的历史进程,及美国资本主义扩张的历史轨迹,不难看出,这项政策的目标主体是在华争夺“势力范围”的列强,中国只是实施这项政策的目标客体。美国的对华政策早在门户开放政策出台前就开始形成,门户开放政策本身具有更广泛的扩张意义。