Effective doctor-patient communication is critical to improving health outcomes. Good communication improves emotional health, symptom resolution, functional and physiologic status, and pain control. Conversely, ineffective communication leads to misdiagnosis, inappropriate treatment poor adherence, misuse of health services, and high patient stress. In the U.S., Hispanics are the fastest growing minority. Despite the high burden of illness among this population, Hispanics are less likely than other minorities to regularly see a health professional. This is explained in part because Hispanics navigate a health system designed for the majority, experience a mismatch between cultural values and health beliefs, and have limited English proficiency. These communication challenges contribute to health disparities among the Hispanic population living in the U.S. Despite the importance of doctor-patient communication, few communication interventions that focus on improving patient skills have been tested in this population. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to evaluate whether a patient communication intervention tailored for female Hispanic patients could be practically implemented in a practice setting. The first aim focused on adapting existing communication skills training tools for a Hispanic population. The second aim assessed the feasibility of implementing the training tool in a federally qualified health center in a US-Mexico border community. The third aim explored the extent to which trained patients were able to integrate the information provided. Results indicate that it is feasible to implement communication training when delivered by clinical staff. Patient follow-up revealed that patients valued training on how to communicate with their doctor the most. Moreover, it is feasible to sustain the intervention when it is aligned with the priorities of the clinical site. Patient communication training in medically underserved rural areas could improve barriers to improved health outcomes in communities with a high prevalence of Hispanic patients. Future funding is needed to further test, dissemination of communication training programs.

<p>Market information and established communication between seller and buyer play an important role in business activities. This thesis investigates the Transkei area in the Eastern Cape&nbsp / Province, South Africa to find out how to empower rural farmers by providing them with less-expensive mobile technology enabling them to post and advertise their produce, access market&nbsp / information on a common database, and find and communicate with potential customers. The farmers&rsquo / requirements were identified using quantitative and qualitative methods and a prototype&nbsp / consisting of USSD and web applications was developed. It allows the farmer to follow a sequence of menu commands to send a request to the database and access market information, such&nbsp / as commodity prices, and post information about their own produce so as to attract more customers. The low cost of USSD and the ubiquity of mobile phones enable the system to be usable, affordable and effective. During the final stage of development, the system was tested successfully and addressed a major problem faced by farmers, i.e. lack of access to market information.</p>

The unemployment rate has become a major concern for policy makers in South Africa and therefore the National Plan for Higher Education states that higher education training providers should produce more graduates to address this problem. This resulted in a labour force that has grown rapidly and has become younger and more educated. It would therefore be expected that graduates with a post–matric tertiary qualification would be in high demand, resulting in a low graduate unemployment rate. The reality is that the unemployment rate among graduates has increased. This is not only a concern for the policymakers of South Africa but also for a private higher education training provider situated in the North West Province, specialising in information technology (IT) qualifications (and whose students and alumni participated in this study as part of the study population). The majority of the IT jobs available to their students are in the Gauteng province which means their graduates often need to relocate. As for all other entry level graduates they also have to make choices – when to decline or accept a job offer. This study determines what the expectations of these entry level IT graduates are and the factors that might influence their decision to accept or decline a job offer. For the training provider it is important to know what the challenges are that their graduates encounter. The factors contributing to unemployment among these IT graduates were also investigated. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The unemployment rate has become a major concern for policy makers in South Africa and therefore the National Plan for Higher Education states that higher education training providers should produce more graduates to address this problem. This resulted in a labour force that has grown rapidly and has become younger and more educated. It would therefore be expected that graduates with a post–matric tertiary qualification would be in high demand, resulting in a low graduate unemployment rate. The reality is that the unemployment rate among graduates has increased. This is not only a concern for the policymakers of South Africa but also for a private higher education training provider situated in the North West Province, specialising in information technology (IT) qualifications (and whose students and alumni participated in this study as part of the study population). The majority of the IT jobs available to their students are in the Gauteng province which means their graduates often need to relocate. As for all other entry level graduates they also have to make choices – when to decline or accept a job offer. This study determines what the expectations of these entry level IT graduates are and the factors that might influence their decision to accept or decline a job offer. For the training provider it is important to know what the challenges are that their graduates encounter. The factors contributing to unemployment among these IT graduates were also investigated. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2011.

The work focuses on the voting behavior of citizens Czech Canada. The work compares the different types of elections to identify factors that voting behavior of citizens the most affected.

Land consolidation affects significantly not only appearance and layout of the area, but also life of its inhabitants. This paper is mainly focused on common facilities in selected complex land consolidation in South Bohemia and further on the possibility of influencing of socio-economical factors by these common facilities. There were chosen some locations for this particular paper: Borkovice, Bušanovice and Čejkovice. There was made an analysis of the common facilities, analysis of some selected socio-economical factors and its overall evaluation.

The primary aim of the thesis "Rural Tourism in South Bohemian Region" was the evaluation of the rural tourism offer in South Bohemian Region and the submission of appropriate suggestions. The secondary aim was to describe South Bohemian Region, to analyse actual documents relating to the tourism in the region and to create and evaluate SWOT analysis of tourism in the region.

The presented thesis deals with the progress of life in the small village of Týnec nad Sázavou in connection with the formation and development of tourist interest in the region of Lower Posázaví. The progress, which was the outcome of local tourism, was reflected in the lifestyle changes made by the rural population. The important elements included new building projects and developmental opportunities in the region of Lower Posázaví, which included the construction of railways, repairing and building of road, electrification, installation of water supply and reconstruction of the state hotel in Týnec nad Sázavou. Included among the summer visitors were important and significant personalities of that period: successful entrepreneurs, scientists, politicians, writers, doctors and artists. One of the main personalities was Frantisek Janecek, who chose this township not only to spend his summer leisure time, but also for his business aims. His intentions had a great positive impact on the life of the population of Týnec nad Sázavou and its surroundings. The reflection of prosperity seen during the period of the first republic in this region remains evident till today.

A distribuição geográfica de médicos é um problema com que se defrontam os sistemas nacionais de saúde e, no Brasil, tem se tornado um dos desafios para a consolidação do Sistema único de Saúde (SUS). A análise dos determinantes dessa distribuição está fundamentado em abordagens sobre o mercado de trabalho em saúde e no médico sua formação ou oferta inserido no contexto histórico, político, social e institucional em que são construídos. O referencial de análise proposto neste estudo tem como objetivo evidenciar os fatores e condicionantes que interferem na distribuição e fixação de médicos identificar possíveis estratégias de intervenção que podem ser aplicadas à realidade brasileira, no contexto das políticas públicas. O mote para essa discussão é a compreensão de que a forte concentração geográfica dos profissionais e dos serviços impede a concretização dos princípios que regem o Sistema Único de Saúde, particularmente no que se refere à universalização, à integralidade e à própria descentralização. As estratégias tentadas pelo governo brasileiro também são abordadas, mais especificamente, o Projeto Rondon, o Programa de Interiorização das Ações de Saúde e Saneamento (PIASS) e o Programa de Interiorização do SUS (PISUS). Essa análise é complementada com um estudo de caso sobre a experiência recente no campo da política pública em saúde destinada a minimizar a má distribuição de médicos no território nacional: o Programa de Interiorização do Trabalho em Saúde (PITS), implementado pelo Ministério da Saúde em 2001. Sua condição de estratégia inédita na política de recursos humanos em saúde em nosso país permitiu identificar aspectos relevantes para qualquer iniciativa que pretenda fortalecer a distribuição de profissionais de saúde, para além dos grandes centros urbanos. Por fim, o estudo oferece um referencial de análise para a distribuição e a fixação de médicos, construído a partir dos elementos contemplados na revisão da literatura, na discussão teórica, no aporte das experiências nacionais e internacionais e nos resultados obtidos no estudo de caso. / The medical geographical distribution is a matter that challenges the nationals systems of health and, Brazil, its becoming one of the main challenges to face to consolidate the SUS (Sitema Único de Saúde Unique System of Health). The analysis of the determinative ones of this distribution is based on approaches about the work market in health and the doctor his formation or offer inserted in the historical context, politician, economic, social and institutional where they are constructed. The referential of analysis considered in this study has as its objective to make evident the factors and conditioning matters that interfere with the distribution and retention of doctors and to identify possible strategies of intervention that they can be applied to the Brazilian reality, in the context of the public politics. The motto for this discussion is the understanding of that the strong geographic concentration of the professionals and of the services it obstructs the concretion of the principles that conduct the SUS (Unique System of Health), particularly as for the universalization, to the integrality and to the proper decentralization. The attempted strategies by the Brazilian government also are focused, emphasizing the Rondon Project, the PIASS (Program of Actions of health and Sanitation in the interior area of Brazil rural areas). This analysis is complemented with a case study on the recent experience in the field of the public health politics destined to minimize the bad distribution of doctors in the national territory: the PITS (a program to stimulate and increase work in the field of health in the interior area of Brazil), implemented by Ministry of Health in 2001. Its condition of unheard-of strategy in the politics of human resources in health in our country allowed identifying relevant aspects for any initiative that intends to fortify the distribution of health professionals towards out of the great urban centers. Finally, the study offers a referential of analysis for the distribution and retention of doctors, constructed from the elements contemplated in the bibliographic revision, in the theoretical discussion, in the related national and international experiences and in the results gotten in the case study.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior / The central objective of this doctorate thesis is establish inferences about possible correlations between entrepreneurial characteristics of rural properties managers which are inserted in the context of a dairy supply chain and its respective rural properties performance, taking as reference an measure proposed evaluation (structured) and validated for this context. This proposal sprang up from a gap in terms of research, identified in literature that deals with themes bound by supply chains and, especially, e, by the entrepreneurial. Thus, a research instrument was structured from several steps, taking as main references the entrepreneurial literature itself, especially the McClelland approach, specialists opinions that deal themes of this thesis and the pre-test experience realized with a non-probabilistic sample of rural producers included in the supply chain object of this research. On the other hand, to identify the researched rural properties performance it was sought, with a south-east of Goiás-Brasil cooperative (COACAL) data bases, statistics regarding milk deliveries from producers associated with the respective cooperative, besides COACAL itself characteristic information and of the dairy segment of Brazil s central west, of primary and secondary resources. With these data, descriptive, qualitative and quantitative analyses about the studied supply chain and the dairy segment of Brazil s central west were done, besides the aspects regarding the data collecting process experience, from the researcher s team reports. Analyses looking for to validate the measure proposed in this thesis were realized basing some statistic procedures like exploratory factor analyze, Mann Whitney s test and multiple linear regression analyze. Finally, it s possible to conclude that the measure structured by this thesis showed evidences about its capacity to stablish relationships between rural properties managers entrepreneurial characteristics and the respective rural properties performance, and to demonstrate that these relationships are effectively valid. / O objetivo precípuo desta tese é estabelecer inferências acerca de possíveis correlações entre características empreendedoras de gestores de propriedades rurais inseridas no contexto de uma cadeia produtiva de leite e o respectivo desempenho destas propriedades rurais, tomando como referência uma medida avaliativa proposta (estruturada) e validada para este contexto. Tal proposição brotou a partir de uma lacuna em termos de pesquisa identificada na literatura que trata de temas vinculados a cadeias produtivas e, sobretudo, ao empreendedorismo. Sendo assim, foi estruturado um instrumento de pesquisa a partir de uma série de etapas, tomando como referências principais a própria literatura de empreendedorismo, sobretudo a abordagem de McClelland, a opinião de especialistas que tratam dos temas desta tese e a experiência de um pré-teste realizado junto a uma amostra não-probabilística de produtores rurais da cadeia produtiva objeto desta pesquisa. Por outro lado, para identificar o desempenho das propriedades rurais pesquisadas se buscou, junto à base de dados de uma cooperativa do sudeste goiano (COACAL), estatísticas referentes às entregas de leite por parte dos produtores associados à respectiva cooperativa, além de informações características da própria COACAL e do segmento lácteo do Centro-Oeste, de fontes primárias e secundárias. Com estes dados foram realizadas análises descritivas qualitativas e quantitativas acerca da cadeia produtiva estudada e do segmento lácteo no Centro-Oeste, além de aspectos referentes à experiência do processo de coleta dos dados, a partir de relatos da equipe realizou a pesquisa. Análises buscando validar a medida proposta nesta tese foram realizadas com base em alguns procedimentos estatísticos como a análise fatorial exploratória, o teste de Mann Whitney e análises de regressão linear múltipla. Por fim, pôde-se concluir que a medida estruturada nesta tese mostrou evidências quanto à sua capacidade de estabelecer relações entre características empreendedoras de gestores de propriedades rurais e o respectivo desempenho destas propriedades e de que estas relações efetivamente são válidas.