No / Affirmative action policies in South Africa and other countries have been designed to address inequity and discrimination, and to manage a wide range of diversity in all spheres of life, particularly after the end of apartheid in 1994. Years after implementing affirmative action in South Africa, perceptions of its impact or even benefit seem to vary from person to person. This article presents the findings from a study utilizing different data sources including document review, interviews, and a consensus workshop on the perceptions of the impact of affirmative action in South Africa. It is part of a larger European Commission–funded comparative study of positive action measures across countries in North America, the European Union, and South Africa. Participants were drawn from different public and private organizational sectors, racial groups, genders, age groups, and people with disabilities. The analyzed data provided insight into how society might be perceiving and reacting to the operation of affirmative action in South Africa.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of a PhD in Community Psychology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2012. / Ongoing global crises impact negatively on human health. International comparison studies may improve health promotion. A community psychology, appreciative inquiry was conducted into local staff perceptions of selected child and adolescent mental health interventions in the Kent and Zululand regions of the United Kingdom and South Africa respectively. The Kent findings, supported by a quasi-experimental investigation, indicated that intervention was beneficial, the mental health practitioner role had value and additional mental health practitioners should be employed. The Zululand findings, complemented by a single client case study, suggested that intervention provided a valuable people focused programme, and that additional emphasis should be placed on promoting the intervention, its structure and staffing. Evaluative comparisons thus illustrated the differential effectiveness of the respective interventions. The Kent service could learn from the way in which the Zululand intervention was people orientated and the Zululand programme could learn from the way in which the Kent intervention was structured and organized. Findings highlighted the ongoing need to evaluate existing models of community psychology, create new models, and the temporal and contextual nature of any such models.

Intense intervention is needed for students who have persistent math challenges and perform below grade level. In the classroom setting, teachers need to provide additional support for some students based on their specific needs. This correlational study was an examination of interventions' impact on student achievement in math. The sample comprised students enrolled in Algebra I during the 2021–2022 school year. The results of this study showed that interventions may have a positive impact on student performance, especially when carried out in the proper educational setting. The findings from the research showed that there is no significant statistical correlation between students who received the intervention and those who didn't, as observed through the Algebra 1 EOC. Further studies are required to determine the impact of the interventionist on the academic performance of the students.

In this thesis, the Education System Intervention Modeling Framework (ESIM Framework) is introduced for analyzing interventions in the K-12 education system. This framework is the first of its kind to model interventions in the K-12 school system in the United States. Techniques from systems engineering and operations research, such as agent-based modeling and social network analysis, are used to model the bottom-up mechanisms of intervention implementation in schools. By applying the ESIM framework, an intervention can be better analyzed in terms of the barriers and enablers to intervention implementation and sustainability. The risk of failure of future interventions is thereby reduced through improved allocation of resources towards the system agents and attributes which play key roles in the sustainability of the intervention. Increasing the sustainability of interventions in the school system improves educational outcomes in the school and increases the benefits gained from the millions of dollars being invested in such interventions. In the first part of this thesis, a case study of an Engineers Without Borders chapter is modeled which helped in the development of a more generalized framework, applicable across a broad range of education system interventions. In the second part of this thesis, the ESIM framework is developed. The framework developed is divided into four phases: model definition, model design, model analysis, and model validation. Each of these phases has detailed steps in order to build the agent-based model of the particular intervention. In the third part of this thesis, the ESIM framework is applied to a case study of a curriculum intervention, Science Learning: Integrating Design, Engineering and Robotics, involving the design and implementation of an 8th-grade, inquiry-based physical science curriculum across three demographically varying schools. This case study provides a good comparison of the implementation of the intervention across different school settings because of the varied outcomes at the three schools.

No description available.

Many school administrators in the United States continue to struggle with students not meeting the pass rate on statewide assessments. This study examined the effectiveness of a Tier 2 reading intervention, the Wilson Reading System (WRS) that was implemented at a local Virginia school for 1 semester to address the low pass rate on the statewide reading assessments. The framework for this study was based on the multi-tiered systems of support and the response to intervention model. A quasi-experimental pre-post research design was used to examine the differences on two reading assessments after completing the 16-week WRS program. A multivariate analysis of variance was used to examine the change between the 8th grade reading Student Growth Assessment (SGA) pretest and posttest scores, as well as the Lexile scores from the Scholastic Reading Inventory (SRI) of the 82 8th grade students that received the WRS intervention. The results indicated a significant difference in the SGA (p < .005) and the SRI Lexile reading pretest and posttest scores (p < .005). These findings led to a recommendation to the school district leadership team to expand their reading intervention program at the middle school and to adequately train teachers on using the WRS. If students can maintain their respective reading grade level, students will be able to not only pass statewide reading assessments but also succeed in other school subjects, increasing the opportunity for students to graduate from high school and obtain successful careers.

acase@tulane.edu / Since 2005, Senegal has scaled up malaria control interventions nationwide, mainly by an approach that allowed reaching people of highest needs. Activities have included vector control interventions such as Insecticide Treated Nets (ITN) and Indoor Residual Spraying (IRS), prevention of malaria in pregnant women, and diagnosis and treatment with an effective anti-malarial. This study aim to evaluate the impact of malaria interventions on all cause mortality among children under five years following the approach of targeting people of highest needs while scaling up of malaria control in Senegal. A “pre/post” study design following the recommendations of the RBM Monitoring and Evaluation Reference Group (MERG) was used. This assessment of the impact of the scalingup of malaria control interventions is based on a plausibility argument. Given that it is difficult to measure mortality resulting from malaria, the objective of the plausibility argument is to demonstrate the association between the scaling-up of malaria interventions and the reduction of all-cause mortality in children under 5 years of age in Senegal. Efforts in vector control led to an increase in the availability of resources, and substantial improvement in intervention coverage. Use of ITN by children under 5 increased from 7 per cent to 35 percent (p<0.001). The greatest increases were observed among populations most at risk of malaria, namely the poorest two quintiles, southern and central regions. Parasite prevalence decreased significantly from 6 per cent in 2008 to 3 per cent in 2010 (p< 0.001). The greatest reductions in anemia and parasitaemia were observed in populations from rural areas, the poorest populations, and populations from the central and southern epidemiological zones, who also displayed the highest increase in ownership and use of ITNs. All-cause under 5 mortality decreased by 40 per cent. Kaplan-Meier survival analysis showed better child survival over the period 2005–2010 compared to 2000–2005. Except for the region of Dakar, child survival estimates were higher in areas with the lowest prevalence of malaria. In addition, All-cause mortality in children under 5 years was significantly lower during the period after the scaling-up of malaria control interventions (OR: 0 63; 95% CI: 0.46–0.86). Other factors that might affect malaria transmission and child mortality were controlled for in the analysis. Despite increased rainfall malaria morbidity decreased, most strikingly among populations in which access to and use of ITNs increased most. While mortality declined in general during the study period, the greatest decreases in both parasitemia and child mortality were observed among the same populations that had the greatest increase in coverage of malaria control interventions. Similarly, the biggest declines in mortality occurred among the age group most likely to die of malaria, suggesting that malaria control interventions contributed substantially to the decrease in malaria morbidity, and consequently, to all-cause under 5 mortality. Based on the LiST model, the scaling-up of ITNs and IPTp from 2004–2010 averted 5,774 deaths in children under 5. The advent of home-based management to deliver malaria care at home, even in difficult to access rural areas, where the largest number of deaths usually occurs, has greatly contributed to expanding malaria case management across Senegal. All-cause mortality in children under 5 was significantly lower in the period after the scale up of malaria control interventions by targeting people of highest needs. The declines in mortality were greater in the populations and regions where coverage of malaria interventions was highest. The associations held even after taking into account other contextual factors. We drawn the conclusion that malaria control activities reduced malaria related morbidity and mortality, thus contributing to significant declines in all-cause child mortality between 2005- 2010 in Senegal. / 1 / Demba Anta Dione

Purpose: This review evaluates the impact of intervention studies for informal dementia caregivers. Methods: Meta-analytic methods were used to integrate the findings of 14 intervention studies evaluating the cognitive behaviour therapy for caregivers. Meta-regression and analysis of variance were used to evaluate the impact of caregiver and intervention characteristics on the outcomes. Results: Significant effects sizes were found for the impact of CBT on depression, burden, and mental health difficulties, g* = -0.55, 95% CI [-0.92, -0.19], g *= -0.37, 95% CI [-0.57, - 0.17], and g* = -0.54, 95% CI [-0.78, -0.30], respectively. CBT facilitated more adaptive coping, with significant effects on caregiver adaptive coping and dysfunctional thoughts, g* = 0.48, 95% CI (0.02, 0.24) and g* = -1.33, 95% CI (-2.22, -0.44). The impact of CBT on caregiver outcomes was associated with the nature of the study control condition, and the intervention delivery, timing and specificity to dementia type. Caregiver ethnicity and gender were not predictive of the CBT outcome. Implications: Overall, caregiver interventions are efficacious in alleviating caregiver distress and facilitating more adaptive coping responses, with prominent effects established for CBT. Future research needs to consider CBT as part of multi-intervention approach tailored to the needs of caregivers across the disease progression. Further improvements are needed, with greater consideration of the impact of the intervention design in alleviating caregiver distress.

No description available.

Class of 2014 Abstract / Specific Aims: To assess the impact of provider outreach for an MTM program by comparing two formats of recommendations: a general informational fax and a prescription template fax. Methods: This study was a retrospective analysis of pharmacist recommendations at an MTM center in 2012. Recommendations were made following either a comprehensive medication review with a patient or of available pharmacy claims. Interventions included in this analysis were those made to improve patient treatment through the use of medications consistent with national treatment guidelines (“guideline alerts”) or those made to reduce cost (“cost alerts”). A recommendation was a success if the change in medication therapy was noted in claims data within 120 days. The success rates between the two interventions were compared using Chi square. Main Results: The overall success rate was 20.9% (10,947/52,409). For guideline alerts, there was a significant difference in the acceptance of prescription faxes (13.1%) versus informational faxes (9.9%) (P <0.001). Prescription faxes recommending the addition of an ACE inhibitor for hypertension in diabetic patients was significantly higher compared to informational faxes in females over 60 years old (14.8% vs. 10.00%, P <0.001) and all males (13.2% vs. 9.9%, P <0.001). For cost alerts, there was a statistically significant difference in the acceptance of prescription faxes (49.7%) versus informational faxes (37.7%) (P <0.001). Conclusion: Prescription faxes produce higher rates of acceptance for guideline and cost recommendations. While both prescription and informational faxes could be used to further improve the communication between prescribers and pharmacists that provide MTM services, providers may prefer specific prescription faxes.