Affirmative action is a sensitive and controversial topic evoking a host of emotional reactions regarding tokenism, window dressing, reverse discrimination, lowering of standards, empowerment, disregard for meritocracy and many others. It has been a discussion area in countless number of seminars, symposia and conferences held within our borders. Masters and Doctoral thesis and dissertations have as well researched the topic to provide clarity, understanding and new insight into the notion of affirmative action; but most researchers examined the views of management on affirmative action neglecting opinions and views of the very beneficiaries of affirmative action programme – blacks, women and the disabled. The primary objective of this research exercise is therefore to analyse beneficiaries’ perceptions of affirmative action in Company XXX – that is how they feel about affirmative action and how their feelings may have an effect on the success or failure of affirmative action. This research is of a qualitative nature and enquires into the historical and present context of affirmative action in Company XXX; lessons learned from other countries; assumptions about affirmative action and beneficiaries perceptions of affirmative action programmes in which they are engaged and their ideas of changes and improvements to the programme. Research method used consists of in-depth interviews with a sample of nine beneficiaries from Company XXX using employment equity criteria. Policy documents and reports on affirmative action in Company XXX were scrutinized. Research findings reveal the following amongst others: <ul> <li> That affirmative action programmes generally fail to provide black managers/beneficiaries with a sense of purpose or belonging in their organization</li> <li> That the programmes fail to address problems of racism and resistance to change in the organization</li> <li> That the aims of affirmative action are rarely made explicit</li> <li> That beneficiaries are not given adequate authority and responsibility</li> <li> That beneficiaries are more confident about their abilities</li> <li> That buildings are not sufficiently accommodative of disabled beneficiaries who are wheelchair bound</li> <li> That the environment does not give adequate support to beneficiaries to help them succeed</li> </ul> Research results indicate that beneficiaries feel that affirmative action is good for the organization and economy if implemented correctly and if the necessary support training is provided to them to help them meet and exceed their employers’ expectations. Although they agree that productivity may sometimes be lowered to an extent on their appointment, they feel that it is not an exception. It is common knowledge that a new appointee cannot be as productive as a person who has been in the same positions and received rigorous training as well for a long time. Given reasonable time and the necessary support, the short-term costs of appointing affirmative action beneficiaries will be far outweighed by the long-term benefits. Copyright 2004, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. Please cite as follows: Boikhutso, RA 2004, Qualitative analysis of the perceptions of affirmative action beneficiaries in South African parastatals, MAdmin dissertation, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd < http://upetd.up.ac.za/thesis/available/etd-03162005-143810 / > / Dissertation (MAdmin (Labour Relations))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Human Resource Management / unrestricted

This study evaluated the effect of community-based case management (CM) intervention on patient outcomes in Medicare beneficiaries with chronic illness in a rural Midwest region from 2002 to 2004. The relationships between 252 patients' access and clinical outcomes (the number of hospitalizations, length of stay (LOS), and emergency department (ED) visits) and CM were investigated. CM services were provided as four types: high home, high clinic, high telephone, and mixed-care services by nurse case managers. A descriptive, repeated-measurement design was used, and a secondary analysis of a data set containing longitudinal community-based CM data was conducted. The transitional care model and transition theory served as the theoretical background for the study. Descriptive statistics and frequency analysis, t-test, and a repeated-measure ANOVA analysis were used to analyze the data. Characteristic profiles of the patients were analyzed with their self-care Activities of Daily Living (ADL) and Instrumental Activities of Daily Living (IADL) scores. The patients in this study were relatively healthy on their self-care functional status at the beginning of the study. The four types of CM services were compared with patient-reported clinical outcomes (the self-care ADL, IADL, symptom control, quality-of-life, and personal well-being scores) in each year. Analyses showed that patients' clinical outcomes were similar regardless of the type of CM services in each year. Two years of longitudinal CM intervention greatly affected patient's clinical outcomes and access outcomes. The study found that CM significantly reduced the number of hospital days and influenced patients' quality of life and symptom control. The impact of CM on LOS and ED visits was indeterminate. Further research is needed-including the effect of type and dosage of CM services and outcomes and the development of a comprehensive CM model-to guarantee CM as a core intervention in health care reconfiguration.

Thesis (MPAM.) -- University of Limpopo, 2021 / Globally, land reform has been a burning issue and where it was implemented, it has resulted in both successes and failures. The problems that engulf land reform illustrate that government’s programmes often fail to address the socio-economic conditions of the land claimants. As such, this study undertook to examine government interventions in addressing beneficiaries affected by land restitution in Limpopo province with specific reference to Tshifhefhe community located in Makhado Local Municipality. The study is an examination of governmental interventions in addressing beneficiaries affected by land restitution. The institutional mechanisms used to support land restitutions are considered for discussion. The study focused mainly at the Tshifhefhe community in Limpopo province where the need to restore the land forcibly taken from the community was considered. The restoration is necessary for improvement of their wellbeing, intensification of democracy and emancipation as well as restoration of previously marginalised people. The study adopted a qualitative approach and a case study design. The utilised approach described and explored Tshifhefhe beneficiaries’ perceptions, attitudes, views and feelings about the government’s interventions in their restored land. The findings point to the fact that government has been found to have provided inadequate support in terms of training on land management, marketing and administration of these beneficiaries including the Tshifhefhe restituted land. It is recommended that the government should intervene in the restored land projects by providing capacity building programmes, assessment of failures and successes in other restored land, mentoring, development and implementation of progressive and sustainable land policies and programmes.

The fundamental objective of this study was to determine the impact of PLAS Land Reform Projects on the livelihood (financial, human, physical, natural and social capitals) of beneficiaries. The population of the study included all beneficiaries (97) of PLAS projects within Dr. Kenneth Kaunda District Municipality. Fifty four beneficiaries were randomly selected from all 36 projects and interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Data collected was sorted, coded and analysed using version 21 of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Frequency count and percentage were used to summarize the data. The identified major constraints affecting PLAS projects were found to be: lack of resources (77.9%), lack of finance (77.8%), lack of water (77.8%), lack of incentives (66.7%), lack/poor infrastructure (64.8%) and high inputs cost (59.3%). The respondents indicated that lack of finance was caused by both lack of government support and inability to access credit from financial institutions, Jack of assets and land ownership which could be used as security to secure loans. Binary Logit Regression Model was used to determine factors influencing the impact of PLAS projects on the livelihood of beneficiaries. Five explanatory variables found to be statistically significant were: size of projects (Z=1-.905: P<0.05), purchase price of projects (Z=-2.258: P>0.01), sufficient funding (Z=1.657: P<0.01), established market (Z=2.552: P<0.01) and age of farmers' (Z=-2.697: P>0.05). Wilcoxon Sign-rank Sum Test was used to determine the "before" and "after" impact of PLAS Land Redistribution projects on the livelihood (financial, human, physical, natural and social capitals) of beneficiaries. The findings showed that significant difference existed on the livelihood (social, financial, physical, natural and human capital) before and after participating in PLAS projects. The result indicated an inverse relationship in terms of the impact of PLAS projects on the livelihood of beneficiaries implying that discontinuation or no participation in PLAS projects could reduce livelihood capitals or negatively affect beneficiaries' livelihood. / Thesis (M.Sc.(Agric Economics) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2013

Statins are commonly used for treating the elevation of lipids in the blood stream, also known as hyperlipidemia. Statins are considered to be an economical and effective way to achieve desirable long-term health outcomes for hyperlipdemic patients, however, ensuring adequate adherence to statin medications is often difficult as hyperlipidemia is an asymptomatic condition and patients sometimes fail to recognize the importance of being adherent to their statin medications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate impact of enrollment under Medicaid and Medicare Part D and patient out-of-pocket costs on patient statin adherence, persistence, and mean number of gap days per claim. A retrospective claims database was used in this study to conduct repeated measures analyses on statin prescription claims from independent community pharmacies in Texas. The pre-period in this study extended from January 1, 2005 to September 30, 2005 (Medicaid period) and the post-period extended from January 1, 2006 to September 30, 2006 (Medicare period). The study population consisted of dual-eligible beneficiaries in Texas who had at least two stain claims in the pre and post-periods each. The final study population comprised of 1734 Texas dual-eligible beneficiaries with 6064 statin claims during the pre-period and 7956 claims during the post-period. Patients had an average of 3.49 statin claims during the pre-period and 4.58 statin claims during the post-period. Patients were dispensed an average of 57.34 days of drug supply per claim during the pre-period and 42.02 days of drug supply per claim during the post-period. The results from this study showed that out-of-pocket costs for patients increased from $0.39 per claim under Medicaid to $13.36 per claim under Medicare Part D. Patient adherence to statins was assessed by calculating medication possession ratio (MPR). The results showed that mean patient MPR increased from 75.71 percent under Medicaid to 79.37 percent under Medicare. Results from generalized estimating equations showed that odds of being adherent (i.e., MPR ≥ 80 percent) to statins increased by 36 percent when patients were covered under Medicare Part D. Linear mixed model analysis showed that MPR increased by 3.66 percent when patients were covered under Medicare Part D compared to Medicaid. Also, patient MPR was found to increase by 0.13 percent when patient out-of-pocket payment increased by $1.00. Patient persistence was calculated by measuring gaps in therapy and patients with a gap of 60 or more days were considered to have discontinued therapy. Patients were found to be persistent to their drug therapy for an average of 151.76 days under Medicaid and 159.75 days under Medicare. Linear mixed model analysis showed that patient persistence increased by 7.99 days when patients were enrolled under Medicare Part D compared to Medicaid. Days of persistence was also found to increase by 0.41 days when patient out-of-pocket costs increased by $1.00. Mean number of gap days per claim during the Medicaid period was 11.91 days and decreased to 8.38 days during the Medicare period. Linear mixed model analysis showed that mean number of gap days per claim decreased by 3.52 days when patients were enrolled under Medicare Part D compared to Medicaid. Mean number of gap days in therapy were found to decrease by 0.10 days when patient out-of-pocket costs increased by $1.00. The results of this study showed that implementation of Medicare Part D resulted in an increase in MPR and persistence and a decrease in mean number of gap days per claim for Texas dual-eligible beneficiaries. The results also suggest that increased out-of-pocket costs under Medicare Part D may not have had a negative impact on statin drug utilization by dual-eligible beneficiaries in Texas. / text

Micro enterprises have become popularised globally as the favoured option for development and have played a key role in poverty alleviation. The main premise of using micro enterprises has been to build the capacity of the individual to be self- sustaining and to move away from the continued dependency on state welfare. Micro enterprises are also seen as a key tool to allow participation of the disempowered population. In South Africa micro enterprises have been hailed by government as playing a pivotal role in creating employment opportunities for the poor people. The study was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of how beneficiaries view the role played by micro enterprises in reducing poverty. This qualitative research was based on case studies of 12 female participants who were selected using convenience sampling based on their availability and participation in micro enterprise initiatives. An interview schedule was used and the interviews were tape recorded. The major findings that emerged were that beneficiaries perceive micro enterprises as meeting their basic needs like food and rates, to others they were a way of supplementing income. Most participants perceived micro enterprise rather as a hobby than an effective income generating activity. None of the beneficiaries had business skills, equipment or information and capital to grow their business beyond their residential areas. None of the micro enterprises were able to create employment for others. Various factors such as lack of capital, low literacy levels, poor business management skills and non-entrepreneurial mind-set amongst others have resulted in this failure. Beneficiaries of this study perceived the income from their micro enterprises not enough to qualify their micro enterprises as a poverty reduction tool. The main conclusion drawn from the study is that whilst profit generated through participating in micro enterprises meet the beneficiaries’ basic necessities, it is insufficient income to meaningfully reduce poverty.

Thesis (M.Dev.) --University of Limpopo, 2012

Thesis (M. P. A.)--University of Hong Kong, 2006. / Title proper from title frame. Also available in printed format.

Thesis (Ph.D.) in Individualized Ph.D. Program--University of Maine, 2007. / Includes vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 160-173).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2008. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.