The development of social class sensitive proxies for infant mortality at the PCT level: An appraisal of candiate indicators for the commission for health improvement

The main aim of the work is to identify social class-sensitive proxies for infant mortality at Primary Care Trust level that could be used in the CHI performance ratings process for PCTs in 2003/4

A Regional Socio-Economic Life Cycle Assessment of a Bioeconomy Value Chain

A bioeconomy tackles sustainable development at both the global and regional levels, as it relies on the optimized use of renewable bio-based resources for the provisioning of food, materials, and energy to meet societal demands. The effects of the bioeconomy can be best observed at a regional level, as it supports regional development and affects the social dimension of sustainability. In order to assess the social impacts of wood-based production chains with regional differentiation, the social life cycle assessment framework “RESPONSA” was established in 2018. We present an initial study, in which this method is applied to an exemplary production chain in a case study of laminated veneer lumber produced in central Germany. The results show a relatively better social performance compared to the reference economic sector, reflecting a relatively low rate of female employees as a major social hotspot. Several social opportunities are identified, in terms of health and safety, equal opportunities, and adequate remuneration, for the organization taking part in the value chain. Finally, considering the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a global normative framework, a number of additional indicators for RESPONSA, as well as further developments and recommendations regarding its application in other regions and the upcoming social life cycle assessment (S-LCA) guidelines, are identified

An Experience-Connected e-Learning System with a Personalization Mechanism for Learners’ Situations and Preferences

This paper presents an “experience-connected” e- Learning system that facilitates users to learn practical skills of foreign language by associating knowledge and daily-life experiences. “Experience-Connected” means that the users of this system receive personalized and situation-dependent learning materials automatically. Knowledge associated to users’ daily-life has the following advantages: 1) provides opportunities to learn frequently, and 2) provides clear and practical context information about foreign language usage. The unique feature of this system is a dynamic relevance computation mechanism that retrieves learning materials according to both preference relevance and spatiotemporal relevance. Users of this system obtain appropriate learning materials, without manual and time-consuming search processes. This paper proves the feasibility of the system by showing the actual system implementation that automatically broadcasts the media-data of foreign language learning materials to smart-phones

Functional Skills Support Programme: Developing functional skills in personal, social, health and economic education

This booklet is part of "... a series of 11 booklets which helps schools to implement functional skills across the curriculum. The booklets illustrate how functional skills can be applied and developed in different subjects and contexts, supporting achievement at Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4. Each booklet contains an introduction to functional skills for subject teachers, three practical planning examples with links to related websites and resources, a process for planning and a list of additional resources to support the teaching and learning of functional skills." - The National Strategies website

National guide to a preventive health assessment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

The National guide to a preventive health assessment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people was conceived and started by NACCHO in 2001 and went on to be supported by the RACGP from 2002. The first edition was published in 2005 and has proven to be widely used by health services and health policy makers to inform best practice in preventing disease in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. This second edition has been significantly updated and improved, with appraisal and endorsement from peak bodies across Australia. The National Guide is a practical resource intended for all health professionals delivering primary healthcare to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people. Its purpose is to provide GPs and other health professionals with an accessible, user-friendly guide to best practice in preventive healthcare for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients. This second edition of the National Guide comprises: • the National Guide, which contains evidence statements, recommendations, risk calculation tables and an outline of the development of the guide • the evidence base: the collection of evidence underpinning the guide and recommendations (electronic only) (see the Methodology section ‘Searching the evidence base and drafting recommendations’) • a child and adult lifecycle summary chart listing activities recommended at each age group. The National Guide is available on the NACCHO and the RACGP websites at www. naccho.org.au and at www.racgp.org.au/aboriginalhealth/nationalguide. The National Guide is being integrated into clinical software over time to support primary healthcare professionals to implement best practice by providing them with accessible, accurate and up-to-date preventive health information relevant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. For further information contact the RACGP National Faculty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health on 03 8699 0499 or email [email protected]. Purpose: The National Guide is intended for all health professionals delivering primary healthcare to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. This includes general practitioners (GPs), Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers, nurses and those specialists with a role in delivering primary healthcare. The National Guide makes specific recommendations regarding the elements of a preventive health assessment across the lifecycle of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. The aim of the National Guide is to provide an up-to-date, evidence-based national resource that can help inform health providers and policy makers on a defined set of activities that are of particular relevance to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These activities may prevent disease, detect early and unrecognised disease, and promote health in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population while allowing for variations based on regional and local circumstances. The health status of Torres Strait Islander people is very similar to that of the Aboriginal population, and the information in the National Guide can be applied to both population groups

Clinical trial metadata:Defining and extracting metadata on the design, conduct, results and costs of 125 randomised clinical trials funded by the National Institute for Health Research Health Technology Assessment programme

Background:  By 2011, the Health Technology Assessment (HTA) programme had published the results of over 100 trials with another 220 in progress. The aim of the project was to develop and pilot ‘metadata’ on clinical trials funded by the HTA programme.   Objectives: The aim of the project was to develop and pilot questions describing clinical trials funded by the HTA programme in terms of it meeting the needs of the NHS with scientifically robust studies. The objectives were to develop relevant classification systems and definitions for use in answering relevant questions and to assess their utility.   Data sources: Published monographs and internal HTA documents.   Review methods: A database was developed, ‘populated’ using retrospective data and used to answer questions under six prespecified themes. Questions were screened for feasibility in terms of data availability and/or ease of extraction. Answers were assessed by the authors in terms of completeness, success of the classification system used and resources required. Each question was scored to be retained, amended or dropped.    Results: One hundred and twenty-five randomised trials were included in the database from 109 monographs. Neither the International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number nor the term ‘randomised trial’ in the title proved a reliable way of identifying randomised trials. Only limited data were available on how the trials aimed to meet the needs of the NHS. Most trials were shown to follow their protocols but updates were often necessary as hardly any trials recruited as planned. Details were often lacking on planned statistical analyses, but we did not have access to the relevant statistical plans. Almost all the trials reported on cost-effectiveness, often in terms of both the primary outcome and quality-adjusted life-years. The cost of trials was shown to depend on the number of centres and the duration of the trial. Of the 78 questions explored, 61 were well answered, 33 fully with 28 requiring amendment were the analysis updated. The other 17 could not be answered with readily available data.   Limitations: The study was limited by being confined to 125 randomised trials by one funder.   Conclusions: Metadata on randomised controlled trials can be expanded to include aspects of design, performance, results and costs. The HTA programme should continue and extend the work reported here

The value of implementation and the value of information: combined and uneven development

<i>Aim</i>: In a budget-constrained health care system, the decision to invest in strategies to improve the implementation of cost-effective technologies must be made alongside decisions regarding investment in the technologies themselves and investment in further research. This article presents a single, unified framework that simultaneously addresses the problem of allocating funds between these separate but linked activities. <i>Methods</i>: The framework presents a simple 4-state world where both information and implementation can be either at the current level or "perfect". Through this framework, it is possible to determine the maximum return to further research and an upper bound on the value of adopting implementation strategies. The framework is illustrated through case studies of health care technologies selected from those previously considered by the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE). <i>Results</i>: Through the case studies, several key factors that influence the expected values of perfect information and perfect implementation are identified. These factors include the maximum acceptable cost-effectiveness ratio, the level of uncertainty surrounding the adoption decision, the expected net benefits associated with the technologies, the current level of implementation, and the size of the eligible population. <i>Conclusions</i>: Previous methods for valuing implementation strategies have not distinguished the value of efficacy research and the value of strategies to change the level of implementation. This framework demonstrates that the value of information and the value of implementation can be examined separately but simultaneously in a single framework. This can usefully inform policy decisions about investment in health care services, further research, and adopting implementation strategies that are likely to differ between technologies

Population health profile of the Northern Melbourne Division of General Practice

© Commonwealth of Australia To view the data presented in the profiles in Excel spreadsheets or via Interactive Mapping, please see the PHIDU website at: www.publichealth.gov.au

Classifying pupils by where they live : how welldoes this predict variations in their GCSE results?

Classifying consumers according to the type of neighbourhood in which they live isnow standard practice among most of Britain?s successful consumer facingorganisations. In recent years these ?geodemographic? classifications have becomeincreasingly used in public sector applications. Their use has made it possible notjust to gain a clearer understanding of the level of inequalities that exist betweendifferent types of neighbourhood but also to understand which policy interventionsare likely to be most successful in different localities throughout the country.This paper summarises key findings resulting from the appending of the UK Mosaicneighbourhood classification system to the records of the Pupil Level Annual SchoolCensus. The most significant of these findings is that other than the performance ofthe pupil at an earlier key stage test the type of neighbourhood in which a pupil livesis a more reliable predictor of a pupil?s GCSE performance than any otherinformation held about that pupil on the PLASC database.Analysis then shows the extent to which the performance of pupils from anyparticular type of neighbourhood is also incrementally affected by theneighbourhoods from which the other pupils in the school they attend are drawn. Itfinds that whilst a pupil?s exam performance is affected primarily by the socialbackground of people he or she may encounter at home, the social background offellow school pupils is of only marginally lower significance.These findings suggest that so long as pupils? GCSE performances are so stronglyaffected by the type of neighbourhood in which they live, a school?s league positionbears only indirect relationship to the quality of school management and teaching. Abetter measurement of the latter would be a league table system which took intoaccount the geodemographic profile of each school?s pupil intake.The paper concludes with discussion of the relevance of these findings to thesociology of education, to the debate on consumer choice in public services, to thegeneral appropriateness of adjusting public sector performance metrics to take intoaccount the social mix of service users and to parental strategies in the educationalsector in particular. Classifying consumers according to the type of neighbourhood in which they live isnow standard practice among most of Britain?s successful consumer facingorganisations. In recent years these ?geodemographic? classifications have becomeincreasingly used in public sector applications. Their use has made it possible notjust to gain a clearer understanding of the level of inequalities that exist betweendifferent types of neighbourhood but also to understand which policy interventionsare likely to be most successful in different localities throughout the country.This paper summarises key findings resulting from the appending of the UK Mosaicneighbourhood classification system to the records of the Pupil Level Annual SchoolCensus. The most significant of these findings is that other than the performance ofthe pupil at an earlier key stage test the type of neighbourhood in which a pupil livesis a more reliable predictor of a pupil?s GCSE performance than any otherinformation held about that pupil on the PLASC database.Analysis then shows the extent to which the performance of pupils from anyparticular type of neighbourhood is also incrementally affected by theneighbourhoods from which the other pupils in the school they attend are drawn. Itfinds that whilst a pupil?s exam performance is affected primarily by the socialbackground of people he or she may encounter at home, the social background offellow school pupils is of only marginally lower significance.These findings suggest that so long as pupils? GCSE performances are so stronglyaffected by the type of neighbourhood in which they live, a school?s league positionbears only indirect relationship to the quality of school management and teaching. Abetter measurement of the latter would be a league table system which took intoaccount the geodemographic profile of each school?s pupil intake.The paper concludes with discussion of the relevance of these findings to thesociology of education, to the debate on consumer choice in public services, to thegeneral appropriateness of adjusting public sector performance metrics to take intoaccount the social mix of service users and to parental strategies in the educationalsector in particular