From compliant to capable: balanced capacity development for local organisations

How to strengthen local capacity through donor-funded projects remains opaque. Using the European Centre for Development Policy Management's core capabilities model to examine a project engaging local organisations, we identify capabilities differentiating performance and gains from project participation. The studied organisations were often weak in capabilities important for successfully working with local governments. Some strengthened capacity, but improvements were concentrated in capabilities related to complying with donors’ requirements rather than capabilities enhancing performance. We question assumptions underlying programme designs based on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's donor-country cooperation principles, and offer suggestions for balancing capacity gains to sustain independent local organisations.     

Harvested rainwater: quality,adequacy, and proximity in Ghanaian rural communities

This article presents a study that aimed to assess the accessibility, use, and quality of harvested rainwater in three rural communities in Ghana where the government of Ghana and local and international development organisations have sponsored domestic rainwater harvesting. The results showed that rainwater storage facilities were within the recommended distance of 1000m from each house. The amount of rainwater per person per day was below the recommended amount. The majority of the respondents therefore depended on other sources of water. Though the physico-chemical quality of rainwater met the WHO guideline limit for drinking water, the bacteriological quality did not. The majority of common water-associated infections experienced prior to the project have not been experienced after the project.     

When development breeds contempt: case examples of community-driven health systems initiatives

This article discusses case examples of community-led initiatives triggered by the introduction of an external development programme in Senegal and Mali. These are community initiatives that learn from projects initiated and funded by an external donor organisation, and transform interventions to better meet their own needs. The circumstances leading to the demand for, and successful establishment of, health infrastructure are examined to understand the triggers. These breakthroughs demonstrate unintended benefits of development, and the need to leverage donor-led initiatives. Therefore, community involvement, participation, and empowerment are key in establishing local ownership in development projects.     

Informal powers and the removal of Aboriginal children: Consequences for health and social order

Current high levels of morbidity and mortality, and high rates of incarceration among Australian Aboriginal populations are related historically to the attempted separation of Aboriginal people from family and community. The paper discusses these events through an analysis of legal and extra-legal forms of power in the late 19th century in Victoria, and through an analysis of the workings of the informal powers of administrators and mission superintendents, within a broader framework of liberal political reason.     

卫生监督中建立卫生行政指导制度的必要性分析

突发性公共卫生事件在新时期对人们的生命和健康有着越来越大的威胁,并容易造成社会性恐慌。宪法和行政法 要求卫生监督部门有所作为,但行政权不宜涉及国民的日常生活和心理状况,以往的卫生行政管理体制在新时期日显不足, 此时,在卫生监督工作中卫生行政指导制度的建立和应用便成为必然。卫生行政部门应按照市场经济发展的要求,建立卫生 行政指导制度。     

研究生心理健康教育的思考--辅导员应积极参与研究生心理健康教育工作

调查分析研究生的心理健康现状,其目的是及时发现心理问题,采取正确方式疏导,以促进研究生素质的全面发展,培养合格的公安专业人才.辅导员积极参与研究生的心理健康教育工作势在必行.     

公安机关人民警察心理健康的维护

警察是一种高危险、高压力、高强度、高负荷的特殊职业,需要有良好的心理素质和适应社会的良好状态。为了使警察很好地胜任保卫国家安全,维护社会稳定的繁重任务,公安机关必须建设一支富有生机和活力,心理健康的群体。目前,半数以上的警察有心理健康问题,不容乐观。如何维护警察心理健康,是一项迫切需要研究和解决的课题。     

On the measurement of low self-control in Add Health and NLSY79

Limited attention has been devoted to the dimensionality of the low self-control scales commonly constructed in two nationally representative datasets routinely used to test self-control theory (SCT) – Add Health and NLSY79. We assess the measurement properties of the low self-control scales by comparing a series of exploratory and confirmatory models that are appropriate for the categorical nature of the observed items, including unidimensional, correlated factors, second-order factor, and bifactor models. Additionally, based on these results we explore the predictive validity of the respective scales on adolescents’ delinquent behavior. The results indicate that the low self-control scales in these data have acceptable levels of internal consistency but do not represent unidimensional latent factors. Rather, scales are best represented by a second-order factor structure. When measured this way, our Add Health scale is associated with delinquency in a cross-sectional context and our NLSY79 scale predicts delinquency longitudinally. This study reveals that low self-control is best conceptualized as a multidimensional construct within these data. The results of this study provide guidance to researchers measuring low self-control in either dataset (or other data sources) and inform the larger SCT measurement literature.     

The Issue of Ethics and Authority for Licensed Mental Health Professionals Involved in Parenting Coordination

We examine the ethics of licensed mental health professionals accepting the authority inherent in binding arbitration when acting as parenting coordinators (PCs). PCs execute their duties under the umbrella of their professional identity and standards of practice. Fundamental differences exist in how the law and the behavioral sciences conceive human behavior and authority, in particular, authority by role and authority by status. Ethical concerns arise when licensed mental health professionals accept the authority to render binding judgments and ask clients to surrender their autonomy through informed consent. We offer recommendations for PCs to avoid these ethical complications.     

Everyday health security practices as disaster resilience in rural Bangladesh

Health security is a relatively new concept in terms of how it is practised in disaster-prone locales. We observed 10 rural households in Bangladesh for four months using informal interviews, field diaries, and observation. The findings suggest that the everyday practises of health security involve the capabilities of “caring for themselves” in resource-constrained contexts. Understanding how households care for themselves prior to and during disasters presents an opportunity to examine how improved health might reduce the effects of disasters, ill health, and poverty. Some interventions are proposed to improve health security for poorer households in general and women in particular.