How ordinary consumers make complex economic decisions: financial literacy and retirement readiness

This paper explores who is financially literate, whether people accurately perceive their own economic decision-making skills, and where these skills come from. Self-assessed and objective measures of financial literacy can be linked to consumers’ efforts to plan for retirement in the American Life Panel, and causal relationships with retirement planning examined by exploiting information about respondent financial knowledge acquired in school. Results show that those with more advanced financial knowledge are those more likely to be retirement-ready

Numeracy, financial literacy, and financial decision-making

Financial decisions, be they related to asset building or debt management, require the capacity to do calculations, including some complex ones. But how numerate are individuals, in particular when it comes to calculations related to financial decisions? Studies and surveys implemented in both the United States and in other countries that are described in this paper show the level of numeracy among the population to be very low. Moreover, lack of numeracy is not only widespread but is particularly severe among some demographic groups, such as women, the elderly, and those with low educational attainment. This has potential consequences for individuals and for society as a whole because numeracy is found to be linked to many financial decisions. Now more than ever, numeracy and financial literacy are lifetime skills necessary to succeed in today’s complex economic environment.

Supporting community engagement through teaching, student projects and research

The Education Acts statutory obligations for ITPs are not supported by the Crown funding model. Part of the statutory role of an ITP is “... promotes community learning and by research, particularly applied and technological research ...” [The education act 1989]. In relation to this a 2017 TEC report highlighted impaired business models and an excessive administrative burden as restrictive and impeding success. Further restrictions are seen when considering ITPs attract < 3 % of the available TEC funding for research, and ~ 20 % available TEC funding for teaching, despite having overall student efts of ~ 26 % nationally. An attempt to improve performance and engage through collaboration (community, industry, tertiary) at our institution is proving successful. The cross-disciplinary approach provides students high level experience and the technical stretch needed to be successful engineers, technologists and technicians. This study presents one of the methods we use to collaborate externally through teaching, student projects and research

Mapping the terrain: A conceptual schema for a mental health medication support service in community pharmacy

Objective: Mental health–related problems pose a serious issue for primary care, and community pharmacy could make a significant contribution, but there is a dearth of information. Methods: This article reports synthesis of the literature on mental health interventions across a range of pharmacy models, and pharmacy services in contexts beyond mental health. To best inform the design of a community pharmacy medication support intervention for mental health consumers, the literature was reported as a conceptual schema and subsequent recommendations for development, implementation and evaluation of the service. A broad conceptualisation was taken in this review. In addition to mental health and community pharmacy literature, policy/initiatives, organisational culture and change management principles, and evaluative processes were reviewed. Key words were selected and literature reviews undertaken using EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL and Web of Science. Results: Recommendations were made around: medication support intervention design, consumer recruitment, implementation in community pharmacy and evaluation. Surprisingly, there is a scarce literature relating to mental health interventions in community pharmacy. Even so, findings from other pharmacy models and broader medicines management for chronic illness can inform development of a medication support service for mental health consumers. Key learnings include the need to expand medicines management beyond adherence with respect to both intervention design and evaluation. Conclusion: The conceptual framework is grounded in the need for programmes to be embedded within pharmacies that are part of the health system as a whole

Te Tai Tini Transformations 2025

No abstract availabl

Disabled Māori and disability support options

The goal of this research project was to provide information to enhance the development and implementation of an effective model of disability support service provision to Maori with disabilities. This was done by identifying and documenting the needs expressed by disabled Maori and their carers living in the Midland area, and by considering the experiences and observations of a key informant group. From our reading of the literature and the feedback we received from participants, a proposed model of disability support service provision has been proposed. In five sections, this report begins by defining disability, and also by defining the act of caring for the disabled. Focussing on the Maori experience, obstacles, access to existing support services, cultural barriers, and health policies are discussed. In the second chapter, the research methodology is described, along with how the information was gathered. Following this is the third section which presents the opinions and reflections of Maori with disabilities. It concludes strategically with a view of the ideal community, suggesting possible resolutions, by exposing current flaws and inadequacies. Chapter four records the views and perspectives of key informant/whanau carers who participated in the project. They offer an insightful account of the often unrecognised side of the disability experience. Considering the preceding discussions, the final section develops a model of service provision for Maori with disabilities, and proposes this for effective service delivery

Mental health and addiction credential in primary care

This report is an evaluation of a demonstration coordinated by Health Workforce New Zealand. The&nbsp;credential aims to recognise and boost the skills and knowledge of registered nurses who work with patients with mental health and addiction needs. This evaluation report finds credentialing: improves the competence and confidence of primary care nurses working&nbsp;with&nbsp;patients with mental health and addiction issues aids understanding of the integration of physical and mental health encourages&nbsp;closer collaboration with secondary care and community practitioners. Barriers for wider&nbsp;implementation include: limited understanding of the value credentialing can&nbsp;add to staff competency difficulty obtaining release time for nurses to attend education and training lack of available education resources

Sexual violence: Raising the conversations, a literature review

This literature review is intended to contribute to efforts to raise awareness and conversations around sexual violence. It is focused on men’s sexual violence against adolescent and adult women. We begin our review by briefly considering the definition of sexual violence, its prevalence, and its impact. In Section 2, following the lead of public health theorists, we use an ecological framework to discuss factors which contribute to – or are protective of – sexual violence. That is, we adopt a multi‐level approach, considering risk factors at societal, community, relationship and individual levels. Although we look at each of these levels in turn, as will become evident, it is also important to consider the interactions between levels. In Section 3, we review evaluations of various attempts to prevent sexual violence. Mostly, these evaluations have focused on individual level prevention efforts: prevention at community and societal levels seem to have received little attention from evaluators. Nevertheless, there are some useful lessons to be gained from the evaluation literature. In section 4, we attempt to integrate the material considered in sections 2 and 3 into a framework proposed by the (US) National Sexual Violence Resource Center (Davis, Parks, & Cohen, 2006). Consistent with a public health approach, the Spectrum of Prevention is a multi‐level model