Those with chronic illnesses or disabilities face numerous obstacles and issues as they come to terms with and manage the realities of their situation. How well health care providers and funders understand this can determine the types and quality of services offered. Antonovsky (1993) has developed the Sense of Coherence (SOC) concept, which introduces a salutogenic (health promotion) model of health. This challenges the pathogenic model (origins of disease) that dominates health care. A relationship between the SOC and coping has been established in the literature. Currently, the SOC is widely viewed as a stable personality trait, but emerging evidence suggests that the SOC may be amenable to change. The purpose of the study was essentially to investigate the stability of the SOC in relation to an intervention over time. The study was conducted using a time series design (Pre-admission (T1), admission(T2), discharge (T3), 6-month follow up(T4)). A convenience sample of 120 participants (93 women, 27 men) was recruited for the study. The instruments used as dependant measures were the SOC-29, the Acceptance of Disability Scale ADM (modified) and the SF-36. Analysis of the SOC-29 revealed a significant change over time (p= .05), with the follow up analysis indicating that this change occurred following the intervention. This same finding was also true of the ADM scores (p=0.0005). This was not sustained at 6-month follow up for either the SOC or the ADM. Analyses of the SF-36 scores showed a significant improvement from admission to the 6-month follow up on all scores except general health. Only 72 participants completed at the 6-month follow up and this reduced the power of the study to yield a statistically significant result. Furthermore, a post-hoc analysis revealed that over 93% of the participants had medium to high SOC scores at the beginning of the study and this may have impacted on the outcome. There were significant correlations between the scores on the SOC-29 and the ADM and all scales of the SF-36 except physical function. As the significant change in SOC-29 scores was not sustained at the six-month follow up it could suggest that the SOC is indeed a stable trait. However, there were other factors identified, related to the characteristics of the sample and to wider factors that could have had an impact on the outcome of this study. In particular it is possible that a 3-week programme is not long enough to effect a lasting change in the SOC and this raises questions about health care delivery for those who have chronic illness or disability.

This thesis is a study of the work of the Committee on Australian Universities of 1957, usually called the Murray Committee after its chairman. Interpretations of the Murray Committee's work usually focus on its achievement in securing funding increases for Australian universities at a time of great financial need, and establishing an arms-length grants body that assisted what was referred to as the "balanced development" of the sector. In this thesis I look at the context of the inquiry and the text of the committee's report to place this outcome within what I consider to be the broader scope and intent of the committee's work. I argue that the committee was anxious to secure the position of the universities at the top of an educational hierarchy in a period of change and challenge. The committee responded to the Commonwealth Government's request that the future pattern of university development be in the best interests of the nation by defending what they saw as the traditional role and purpose of the university. I argue that this response is one that has at various times been put foward by universities to demands for change, a response that, to paraphrase a view popular in university circles at the time, seeks to give government what it needs rather than what it wants. In this instance the committee looked to an English model of a residential university as the "traditional" template on which Australian institutions should be fashioned. The committee argued for the value of a broad, liberal education as emblematic of university pedagogy in an era of increasing knowledge specialisation and increasing confusion of purpose in the tertiary education system. It considered that a residential university conducted on liberal principles was the best institutional representation of its ideal of a community of scholars. The committee set down in its report a range of strategies by which the ideal might be realised, or at least approached, in the Australian context. It paid particular attention to the incorporation of first year students - the newest and most vulnerable members of the community. I also argue that in setting down its ideas on the institutional form and pedagogy of the university, the committee made assumptions about the personal characteristics of "the scholar", and I analyse these assumptions. In redefining the university in the Australian context the committee also engaged in a process of defining the roles and purposes of other tertiary education institutions. The committee took a hierarchical view of social organisation to their work, and viewed the education system in this light. The committee charged the universities with oversight of the Australian education system and intellectual guardianship of the Australian community. University graduates, in the committee's view, were the natural leaders of Australian society, and their education should prepare them to undertake properly this role. In redefining the university the committee members engaged in a process of boundarysetting, consolidating an institutional hierarchy in what they saw as a confused and uncoordinated system. However, they sought to incorporate a commitment to meritocracy and expansion of education opportunity within this perspective and urged the creation of pathways between the institutions. To characterise the committee's work I extend the concept of "balanced development" to the various areas in which the committee made recommendations. The concept of balanced development can be seen to refer to the proper development of the individual in the university system (the production of a balanced personality, or the education of the whole person); to the balanced development and co-ordination of the university sector; to the development of the tertiary education system as a whole and its proper articulation with the labour market; and to the process of reconciling the needs of the universities with the demands of government

The study investigates the nature and extent of provision of English as a Second Language (ESL) programs and services for students of non-English speaking background (NESB) in government school systems in the six Australian states and two territories and the interrelationship of state/territorial education authority provision and levels of commonwealth funding. The study further examines perceptions of state/territorial service providers of where the onus of responsibility for ESL provision lies. The study is limited to examination of ESL provision at the school level in government education systems only and does not address services for adult NESB learners or provision in the non-government sector. The study is set in the context of the impact of commonwealth immigration policies on the nature of Australia's multicultural society and on the evolution of provision of appropriate programs and services for NESB students in Australian government schools. The major findings to emerge from this study which bear on the issues identified in the literature and which are of significance for the future of ESL service delivery are: · the existence of overall commonality of definition of NESB students and identification of such students for ESL programs on the basis of need, but a degree of variation in procedures used by state and territorial systems which falls short of standard practice and renders comparative measurement of perceived shortfalls in provision difficult; · variation in definition of intensive programs which renders comparison of provision difficult; · strong commonality in overall provision of both programs and services across all schooling sectors, with limited local variation in service delivery; an increasing commitment in all systems to the mainstreaming of ESL provision through language across the curriculum programs aimed at complementing specialist ESL provision by enabling mainstream teachers to accept responsibility for the language needs of NESB learners; · variation in degrees of dependence on commonwealth funding for provision of programs and services ranging from almost total dependence on commonwealth funding in two systems to significant local education authority provision in four systems; · commonality of opinion among local service providers of the commonwealth's responsibility for some degree of funding of ESL provision, but variations in perceptions of the extent of the commonwealth's responsibility in this area; · commonality of experience of initial identification of need at the local level, but dependence on commonwealth intervention to approach adequate provision to meet identified need; · a degree of tension between on the one hand, recognition of individual differences among systems and the concomitant need, or desire, for state/territorial autonomy in service delivery; and on the other hand, recognition of commonality of purpose and provision and the concomitant need for some standardisation of practice in the interests of efficiency and accountability of service delivery. The study concludes with an examination of the implications of these findings for policy for future ESL service delivery.

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how well Swedish banks’ follow the interest rate development of Swedish Treasury Bills and Swedish Government Bonds when they are determining the levels for their deposit and lending rates. Individuals’ deposits in a bank serves as one of the banks main assets in the balance sheet, and the spread between the bank’s deposit rate and the short-term market rate is a large source of funding for the bank. If there is a strong relationship of this spread over time, one may assume that this spread is of great importance for financing of the banking firm. The spread between the bank’s lending rate and the long-term market rate – credit risk spread – also serves a large source of interest income for the bank, and if this relationship is strong over time, one may assume that this spread is of great importance for financing of the banking firm as well. The banks subjected for investigation in this paper are Handelsbanken (SHB) and Föreningssparbanken (FSB). This paper finds a weaker relationship between the banks’ deposit rates and the short-term market rates, than for the lending rates and the long-term market rates. This indicates that the credit risk spread is of greater importance for financing of the banking firm than the funding spread. The weaker relationship between the banks’ deposit rates and the short-term market rate may be due to the great variability of savings alternatives offered in the market place today. The fact that banks today have deposit-deficit may also explain the weaker relationship, which may be explained by the Baumol-Tobin transaction model – where the higher the interest rate, the greater amount is being kept in the account. The stronger relationship between the banks’ lending rate and the long-term market rate may be due to the nature of the credit risk spread to function as a price-discrimination tool between lending clients.

The Canadian health care system is primarily public funded. With constant rise in health care costs, there is debate on how to best fund Canadian health care. <p>Public, private and mixed funding options are being discussed. The funding options people support will depend on how they view the health care system. Is health care a commodity or a public right? Pharmacists interact with patients daily and are involved in the delivery of health services. Their views on whether health care should be a public right or a commodity can add meaningful input to the debate.<p>The primary objective of this study was to develop a scale to measure pharmacists perceptions of health care as a commodity or a public right. In turn, this scale was used to see if a relationship exists between pharmacists orientation to health care (commodity vs. public right) and their support for different health care funding options.<p> A mail-in survey of community pharmacists in Saskatchewan was conducted based on the Dillman approach. The questionnaire consisted primarily of six-point Likert scale questions. Data analysis was performed using non-parametric tests such as Mann-Whitney U and Kruskal Wallis tests. One-way ANOVA was used for parametric data and post-hoc analysis was performed using Bonferroni test. Correlation of the scales was tested using Spearmans and Pearsons correlation coefficients. The response rate achieved was 64.2%.<p>The study results indicate that pharmacists are not willing to provide cognitive services free of charge. However, they are willing to continue providing OTC drug counseling free of charge. They will not restrict provision of cognitive services only to patients able pay. They prefer being reimbursed through other sources. They are unwilling to make time and income adjustments to improve patient health outcomes. They do not want to link the financial rewards they receive to the amount of benefit the patient receives.<p>Pharmacists favour the current system of funding health care in Canada but would prefer more choice in the delivery and funding methods. The results do not indicate any relationship between pharmacists orientation to health care (commodity vs. public right) and their level of support for different health care funding strategies. <p>The study conclusions suggest that pharmacists value and appreciate the direct impact of their work on patients. However they consider themselves to be professionals first and expect to be compensated financially for their services. Their willingness to spend time and effort towards provision of services as a public right seems to be predicated to a certain extent by the financial rewards they receive.

Knowledge production has changed considerably in the past few decades. This transformation has notably affected universities both as unique institutions and citadels of knowledge. These changes are being brought by a number of factors, such as the globalization of the economy, the rise of technologies based on generic forms of knowledge, and the ability of universities to hold and exploit patents. In both scale and intensity, these alterations have led policy makers to reflect more on how scientific and technological innovation can and should be enhanced by policy decisions that would improve university-industry and government cooperation. This new fusion of three complementary societal sectors has been described by sociologists as the triple helix. As an analytical and normative concept, the triple helix is derived from the changing role of government in different societies in relation to academia and industry. Its basis is the recognition that the interaction among university-industry-government as relatively independent, yet inter-dependent institutional spheres is critical to improving the conditions for innovation in a knowledge-based society. The study reveals that commercial research funding significantly affects the perceptions of university-industry collaboration and academic knowledge capitalization. The analysis showed that academic scientists who received commercial research funding have relatively positive views about university-industry relations than those who do not receive such funds. However, one cannot conclude that commercial activities of academic scientists are harming the core functions of the university or that intellectual autonomy is being surrendered to industrial partners. Based on the findings of the study, and the contours of the triple helix model, it is argued that the growth of university-industry-government collaboration is not necessarily pre-determined in favour of either private corporations or the state, nor is it necessarily at the expense of universities. It is further contended that the growing notion that academic capitalism is harming the core functions of the university is perhaps a bit simplistic in that the issue is more complex and multifaceted than usually acknowledged. <p>In light of the above, the study asserts that the future viability of policies encouraging universities to be entrepreneurial may, if approached strategically, be catalysts for the science-based knowledge economy. For that to be realistic there is the need to understand the university as a differentiated social system rather than a unified whole. This will avoid the situation whereby all university activities are subordinated under a homogenous policy of one size fits all. In the context of triple helix relations, conceptualizing the university as a differentiated social system means a deep-seated and continually growing purposeful specialization such as the adoption of an economic development function in addition to teaching, research and community engagement.

Health authority administrators were interviewed for their perspectives on what makes a good health care system; on tailored population-specific services as a way to address health inequities; and on how they perceive themselves to be making good funding decisions on the public’s behalf. The qualitative descriptive research dataset includes 24 hour-and-a-half long interviews with administrators from four BC health authorities, health region documents, memos, and field notes. Participants support the continuation of a public health care system and all participants acknowledge using tailored services as a route towards reducing health inequities. However, these identified services have not been evaluated for their overall effectiveness. When it comes to decision-making, participants describe using a series of governance and bioethical principles that help them frame what and how issues can be considered. Decision situations are framed in a way that informs them whether they need to use formal or informal processes. In both cases participants collect information that allows others to understand that they have made wise decisions. The Recognition-Primed Decision Model accurately reflects the intuitive processes that participants describe using during informal decision-making and portions of formal decision-making. However, in relation to formal decision situations, there is less alignment with existing Decision-Analysis literature. Seven practice and future research recommendations are provided: 1. Increase health authority participation in intersectoral partnerships that address non-medical determinants of health. 2. Develop new strategies for addressing health inequities. 3. Evaluate the efficacy of using tailored services beyond their ability to remove barriers to access. In addition, increase focus on testing new strategies for reducing the inequities gap. 4. Enhance existing decision-making processes by including the explicit review of decision tradeoffs, value weighting, and mechanisms for requesting revisions. 5. Focus future research on developing and evaluating the usefulness of formal decision-making tools in health authority structures and their relation to decision latitude. 6. Launch a longitudinal research study that examines how health authority expert decision-makers use judgmental heuristics and how they avoid the negative effects of bias. 7. Commission public dialogue on shifting the current illness-based system to one that is wellness based.

The business plan introduces the +YOU online service and presents the idea of a high potential fast growing business. +YOU is an online service that provide tools to raise funds for creative books via crowding funding through its website, especially for people who want to make the English edition books to be translated into Chinese edition. We believe that back a book is more than just giving someone money, it’s about “Buy this book” and “Make it happen” +You is a new way to fund book can be translated into Chinese Edition. Internet gives us a big platform to spread our product to a wide range of customers in the world, especial for Asia market. We are aware of competition in this business sector, and that customers will compare us with other online stores. However, we are confident that our unique certified product with soft colors, its unique classic service and partnership with publishers at the same time, thus the service we provide, will be profitable, and fill a niche. It is this uniqueness and variety, what will make this business successful right from the beginning. Each book is independently created and published For each project that you see on +YOU have complete control over and responsibility for their projects. +YOU is not just a platform and a resource , and we will also involved in the development of the projects themselves .Any translators who become our partner can raise books on +YOU as long as it meets our guidelines. Together, Publisher, book translator and backers make projects happen. Project creators set a funding goal and deadline, the funding goal need to consider royalty income and Transaction fee. If people like this book, they can pledge money to make it happen. Funding on +YOU is all or nothing, projects must reach target funding goals to make it happen. If this project success at the end, then we will corporate to make translate progress smoothly. Backing a project is more than just buying an eBook Backers are supporting projects to make it happen to life, not to profit financially. Instead, we will offer rewards to thank backers for their support. People around their friends’ project, fans support, and other simply come to +YOU to support good books. Some books take longer than anticipated, but initiators who are transparent about delays usually find their backers to be understanding. A bigger pledge to a book project will get your name on the cover and also you will receive a thank you reward on the internet, or a private screening for you and your friends. After the book been translated, we will authority a code for you to download and read this eBook in Chinese. In return for their support, these subscribers might have received an early copy of this book. Easy to involve and easy to start Unlike the other worldwide funding platform, +YOU doesn't require the extra 3rd account to back project book. All users need to do is select the package and fill out the money that they want to back, then follow the simple three steps to finish it. User will find +YOU platform is quite easy to get familiar with the simply, and easy user interface design. User can easy to verify with open ID, like Facebook, Google account and easy to manage your packer history in the personal management toolbar.

Using a qualitative multiple case study methodology, this study explores the relationship between government funding and INGO autonomy in three INGOs through resource dependence and tool choice frameworks. Adapting Verhoest, Peters et al.'s (2004) conceptualization of organizational autonomy as the extent of an organization's decision making capacity in matters concerning agency operations and human resource and financial management; this research regards the authors second definition of financial, structural, legal, and interventional constraints not as types of autonomy per se, but as the mechanisms through which INGOs' actual use of their decision making competencies is constrained. The findings in this research suggest that relative to other funding sources, government funding disproportionately impacts INGOs' operational and managerial autonomy. This is largely accomplished through various ex ante and ex post constraints such as, rules and regulations on inputs allocation and use, performance controls and evaluation requirements attached to government funding. This research also finds that the tool of choice used by government to finance INGO activities also steer, direct and influence INGO grantees' decisions thus positioning INGOs to incorporate government policy interests, preferences and priorities. However, INGOs can exercise their autonomy through various strategies ranging from program design, contract negotiation, and participation in advisory groups.

This study examined the determinants of public pension fund performance through the lens of agency theory. The study sought to answer the following questions: (1) How much of the fluctuation in the performance of pension plans is due to political interference - either directly from decisions made by legislatures or through the governance structure of the pension boards, after controlling for asset allocation, plan size, and other external factors? (2) Do pension board expertise, education and training, and information disclosure requirements improve the performance of pension plans? (3) Do pension trustees strategically determine the actuarial rate of return (discount rate) in order to reduce contributions in times of fiscal stress for the pension sponsor? Using longitudinal data of pension fund performance over the period 2000 to 2009 and instrumental variables methods to address endogeneity issues, the study found partial support for the agency theory hypotheses. The results indicate that political interference through reduced contributions was the main factor explaining pension performance. There was no direct evidence about the negative impact of politically appointed trustees on pension performance. The impact of these findings for current policy and future research are discussed.