Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1981. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Includes bibliographies. / by Richard Mark Whitman. / M.C.P.

Thesis. 1979. M.C.P.--Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH. / Bibliography: leaves 98-99. / M.C.P.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 1982. / MICROFICHE COPY AVAILABLE IN ARCHIVES AND ROTCH / Bibliography: leaves 156-158. / by Jerome Edward Rubin. / M.C.P.

Typescript (photocopy). / Digitized by Kansas Correctional Industries

Since 2010 the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and its Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) have recommended annual influenza vaccinations for all persons aged six months and up (ACIP, 2017). In December of the same year, the Agency of Health and Human Services (AHHS) unveiled Healthy People 2020, a series of health indicators and corresponding 10-year objectives. This newest iteration of the Healthy People program set target influenza vaccination levels for healthy adults 18 and older at 80% (AHHS, 2010). Aside from the inherent health benefits, multiple studies conducted over the past decade suggest there may be significant economic benefits to a highly-vaccinated population. Depending on the effectiveness of seasonal vaccines, the cost of vaccinating a U.S. adult can be outweighed by the health care savings from the resulting reduction in direct and indirect infection treatment costs. As the state of Vermont considers including influenza vaccinations in its state-mandated Vermont Vaccine Purchasing Program (VVPP), it presents a unique opportunity to conduct a state-wide case study on the potential cost-saving implications of a universally available influenza vaccination. This study takes a historical perspective and looks back at Vermont’s influenza cost, usage, and treatment information since the vaccine was recommended in 2010. Using data generated from Vermont’s immunization registry, de-identified claims data, CDC-reported statistics, and numerous published economic studies, this research answers the question: “What societal costs/savings would have been witnessed if the influenza vaccine was included in the VVPP since 2010?” and, more important, what policy changes can be made now to realize savings in the future? Using a dynamic transmission model embedded in cost-benefit analysis, this research concludes that influenza-related savings of 6.2% would have been experienced over the five flu seasons between fall 2010 and summer 2015. Most of the savings are generated by the increased vaccination rate associated with a universal vaccination program. Creation of such a program in the state of Vermont would likely be economically beneficial.

The thesis inquires into the living value of participatory practices to sustainability. The two problems of lack of recognition of participatory practices and the lack of address of sustainability matters are drawn into one collective inquiry initiative. Twelve Australian participatory practitioners, working in three states, in various aspects of social and environmental sustainability in the public, community and academic sectors voluntarily participated in the initiative for over eighteen months. The author, being the initiating researcher and practising participatory principles from the outset, chose not to facilitate a pre-determined method at any stage so as to let a systemic form of inquiry come into being. Working through three emergent iterations, the Inquiry and its thesis propose that globally, participatory practices are distinguishable in four generic constituents of Governance, Development, Learning and Activism and that incorporating all four of these elements constitutes a participatory practice with transformative qualities at systemic scales. Practically, the co-researchers created participatory practices from an eclectic range of such traditions, modes and disciplines, integrated through dialogic, reflexive, autobiographical and contextual inclusions. The ongoing Inquiry entity resists collapse to a defaulted instrumentalist stance and continues to unfold as a sociological embodiment of the thought it generates. Referring to Polanyi, Bohm, Bourdieu, Foucault, Torbert and Miller the author interprets the Inquiry’s legacy as establishing an articulate, committed and responsive open community within which we freely develop capabilities that are inhibited by our daily life worlds while also crucial for transformation towards participatory sustainability in these same worlds. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

The thesis inquires into the living value of participatory practices to sustainability. The two problems of lack of recognition of participatory practices and the lack of address of sustainability matters are drawn into one collective inquiry initiative. Twelve Australian participatory practitioners, working in three states, in various aspects of social and environmental sustainability in the public, community and academic sectors voluntarily participated in the initiative for over eighteen months. The author, being the initiating researcher and practising participatory principles from the outset, chose not to facilitate a pre-determined method at any stage so as to let a systemic form of inquiry come into being. Working through three emergent iterations, the Inquiry and its thesis propose that globally, participatory practices are distinguishable in four generic constituents of Governance, Development, Learning and Activism and that incorporating all four of these elements constitutes a participatory practice with transformative qualities at systemic scales. Practically, the co-researchers created participatory practices from an eclectic range of such traditions, modes and disciplines, integrated through dialogic, reflexive, autobiographical and contextual inclusions. The ongoing Inquiry entity resists collapse to a defaulted instrumentalist stance and continues to unfold as a sociological embodiment of the thought it generates. Referring to Polanyi, Bohm, Bourdieu, Foucault, Torbert and Miller the author interprets the Inquiry’s legacy as establishing an articulate, committed and responsive open community within which we freely develop capabilities that are inhibited by our daily life worlds while also crucial for transformation towards participatory sustainability in these same worlds. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Robert Warren, School of Urban Affairs & Public Policy. Includes bibliographical references.