Experiences with the expansion of hospital accreditation into the developing world

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Boston UniversityMore developing countries are adopting hospital accreditation to improve the quality of their health systems, but it is uncertain whether accreditation standards and processes, largely borrowed from Western countries, are being adapted to fit each country's context. Three qualitative studies explore issues in assimilating hospital accreditation into developing countries, drawing mainly from experiences of two Southern African countries, Lesotho and Swaziland. Data sources included: archival records, documentary information, interviews, focus groups, expert panel surveys, and direct observations. Study 1, Explaining the expansion of hospital accreditation in the developing world, investigates the proposition that institutional theory largely explains the adoption of hospital accreditation in developing countries and how this external motivation influences the innovation process. Adoption of accreditation in developing countries is associated with the perceived contribution of accreditation to quality care in developed countries, endorsement of accreditation by key international players, and substantial donor support for implementing accreditation. This can result in less adaptation of Western accreditation practices, and this lack of local adaptation can hinder true assimilation and sustainability. Study 2, Connecting hospital accreditation with other quality improvement efforts in the developing world, explores the perceived connection between hospital accreditation and other quality improvement efforts and the effects of this com1ection on subsequent improvement efforts. This study found that hospital accreditation is laying important groundwork and establishing norms for future quality efforts, but is not being tied to more comprehensive national strategies for quality assurance and quality improvement. Study 3, Considerations in implementing hospital accreditation in the developing world, examines perceived appropriateness of hospital accreditation standards and processes implemented in Lesotho and Swaziland according to stakeholders in those health systems. Standards were perceived to be of high importance, fairly strong relevance, and moderate feasibility due to limited financial and human resources. Perceptions of the appropriateness of accreditation processes were strongly influenced by how accreditation was introduced to hospital staff, its gradual implementation, inclusion of hospital staff in the process, clearly defined role responsibilities, leadership commitment to accreditation, and implementation support. Overall, lower perceived control over accreditation standards and processes was linked to lower perceptions of appropriateness among hospital staff

NATO Code of Best Practice for C2 Assessment

This major revision to the Code of Best Practice (COBP) for C2 Assessment is the product of a NATO Research and Technology Organisation (RTO) sponsored Research Group (SAS-026). It represents over a decade of work by many of the best analysts from the NATO countries. A symposium (SAS-039) was hosted by the NATO Consultation Command Control Agency (NC3A) that provided the venue for a rigorous peer review of the code. This new version of the COBP for C2 assessment builds upon the initial version of the COBP produced by SAS-002. The earlier version focused on the analysis of ground forces at a tactical echelon in mid- to high-intensity conflicts. In developing this new version of the COBP, SAS-026 focused on a changed geopolitical context characterized by a shift from preoccupation with a war involving NATO and the Warsaw Pact to concern for a broad range of smaller military conflicts and Operations Other Than War (OOTW). This version also takes into account the impact of significantly improved information-related capabilities and their implications for reducing the fog and friction traditionally associated with conflict. Significantly reduced levels of fog and friction offer an opportunity for the military to develop new concepts of operations, new organizational forms, and new approaches to C2, as well as to the processes that support it. In addition, SAS-026 was cognizant that NATO operations are likely to include coalitions of the willing that might involve Partnership for Peace (PfP) nations, other partners outside of NATO, international organizations, and NGOs. Cost analyses continue to be excluded because they differ among NATO members, so no single approach would be appropriate. Advances in technology are expected to continue at an increasing rate and spur both sustaining and disruptive innovation in military organizations. It is to be expected that this COBP will need to be periodically revisited in light of these developments.https://digitalcommons.odu.edu/msve_books/1012/thumbnail.jp

2010 SWOSU Accreditation Report

The Oklahoma State Legislature changed the name of the University in 1949, this time to Southwestern State College. Since that time, SWOSU has maintained accreditation by the Higher Learning Commission (North Central Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools). SWOSU proudly advertises that “SWOSU—a premiere regional university—offers 15 nationally-accredited academic programs, the most among Oklahoma’s regional universities.” For a complete listing of accredited programs, please see the Undergraduate Catalog and the Graduate Catalog

Institutional effectiveness : a handbook for program implementation by members of the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine whether the institutional effectiveness model appropriate for the Accrediting Association of Bible Colleges (AABC) members was the same as the model used in other colleges and universities. The resolution of the research question allowed the development of a recommended model for Bible college outcomes assessment and the writing of a handbook for program implementation. The researcher prepared a model of institutional effectiveness for non-Bible colleges by complementing the literature search with data obtained by means of on-site visits to regionally accredited institutions. On-site visits were made to two community colleges, two private liberal arts colleges, and two members of the University of North Carolina System. An institutional effectiveness mail survey of the 86 AABC members was conducted. After 20 well-defined institutional effectiveness programs were identified based on the questionnaire data, the researcher surveyed those colleges by means of a telephone interview. To complete the data-gathering process, five AABC member colleges were visited by the researcher

New actors and scales of agriculture:A land system science perspective

The study of land systems aims to disentangle and understand the range of interactions between humans and the land they use. It takes, among others, environmental, biophysical, economic, political, technological, and social perspectives to comprehend how coupled human-environmental systems work, who decides over them, and how they could or should be transformed. Land systems take a central position in human livelihoods and environmental issues, and are a crucial parameter in many Sustainable Development Goals. This thesis starts from the premise that land systems are increasingly changing in ways that are poorly understood from a conventional land system science perspective. Conventional land system science rests on assumptions of mostly gradual processes, driven by a somewhat narrow range of actors, such as family farmers or local land administrations. However, large-scale land acquisitions, arguably the most dramatic land system changes of the 21st century, are definitively non-gradual, operate at scales that are orders of magnitude larger than typical smallholder dynamics, and are instigated by an international group of actors with a very different set of priorities than traditional actors. Pejoratively known as land grabs, large-scale land acquisitions globally cover an area over double the size of Germany, yet as a process, they have not been introduced in land system change models. This lacuna is significant, not only because large-scale land acquisitions cover large areas, but also because they profoundly change the relation that humans have with land as a resource. For example, the conversion of swidden landscapes to rubber monocultures in Southeast Asia causes a significant loss of agro-environmental diversity, but also a complete overhaul of livelihoods, culture, tradition, diets, and more. Furthermore, the constellation of decision-making concerning land is changed, and therefore, the possibilities for sustainable transitions are different. Upon closer inspection, large-scale land acquisitions are merely the most visible manifestation of a more general trend of new actors, changing land systems at new scales. In Sub-Saharan Africa, a trend is being signaled of an emergence of medium-scale farms replacing smallholders, and, as a consequence, commercial agriculture replacing semi-subsistence agriculture. With limited empirical data, it is unclear whether this is an organically appearing structural transformation or an elite capture of land with similar characteristics as large-scale land acquisitions, nor is it clear what the potential consequences are for livelihoods or the environment. Even when farm scales are not perceivably shifting, decision-making concerning land is: value chain actors usurp some of the agency concerning land management from smallholders or state actors, for example by using contract farming. Land system science wishes to understand why land systems have the characteristics they have and change the way they change. To do so, new actors and new scales of changes can no longer be disregarded as mere aberrations. This leads to the overall objective of this thesis, which is to develop concepts and methods to integrate new actors and scales of agriculture into land system science. In pursuing this objective, four research questions are posed. RQ1: What are the land system characteristics related to new agricultural actors? RQ2: How can new agricultural actors, and associated scales of land system change, be integrated in land system models? RQ3: What are the objectives of new actors in agriculture and how do these objectives align or misalign with environmental or rural development objectives? RQ4: How do new actors and arrangements in agriculture provide opportunities for environmental management and rural development? I address these questions in six chapters. A summary of these chapters is given in the thesis

Improving Oncology Worldwide

This open access book describes strategies and experiences of highly skilled professionals in improving oncology care worldwide. The book is structured into three main sections with several chapters each, reflecting the authors' individual, real-life experiences. It explores ways to improve oncology education and scientific training, how to set up and run a clinical research facility ethically and efficiently in low- and middle-income settings, addressing the challenges that the workforce encounters in the real world. The main challenges of today’s oncologists seem to be the ever-growing patient care and administrative workload and the risk of burn-out. What are the best strategies to maintain a healthy work-life for the benefit of the patients, the physicians and society, taking into account the different needs, depending on factors like peace, social and gender equality? This book addresses oncologists all over the world and their allies throughout the associated industries to highlight the importance of shared and sustainable education, clinical research and global cancer care