New Zealand-China Relations: Common Points and Differences

The 35th anniversary of New Zealand establishing diplomatic relations with the People’s Republic of China (PRC) fell on 22 December 2007. This anniversary was marked by high-powered celebrations in both Beijing and Wellington. Yet, it should not be forgotten that New Zealand-China relations stretch much longer than the 35 years of formal relations with the PRC. There is a saying in Chinese, “when drinking water, think of its source” (yin shui si yuan), and in this paper I will survey some of the historical sources of New Zealand’s current close interest in, and involvement with, China. New Zealand has long had an extensive and complex relationship with China. The diversity of these long-term connections has resulted in an unusually high level of awareness of China and its people in New Zealand, and a strong interest in expanding the relationship still further. Another saying is also useful as a framework for understanding New Zealand-China relations: “seek common points; face up to differences.” China’s rising dominance in the Asia-Pacific region in recent years has brought about a significant readjustment in New Zealand’s foreign policy, one which the New Zealand population appears ill-prepared to adjust to and which poses a number of challenges for the future. In the second half of the paper, I will discuss some of the points New Zealand has in common with China, along with some of the differences

Magic Weapons and Foreign Interference in New Zealand: how it started, how it’s going

In March 2021, the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) launched a remarkable campaign to inform the New Zealand public on the risk of foreign interference. In New Zealand, reference to ‘foreign interference’ almost always relates to the foreign interference activities of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) government. New Zealand has been severely affected by CCP foreign interference. For the Ardern government it was never a matter of ‘whether’ New Zealand would address this issue, but ‘how’. The SIS’s unprecedented public information campaign is part of a significant readjustment in New Zealand–China relations since 2018. This article documents some of those change

D6.3 Report on an analysis of competing influences on the social construction of social rights across Europe and the implications for variations of access to such rights

The concept and the substance of social rights as rights of citizenship are of contested and relatively recent historical provenance. Prior to the emergence of modern welfare states, social provision across Europe was based largely in localised systems of discretionary poor relief shaped in part by religious influences. The rise of industrial capitalism gave rise to social concerns that found expression in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in a tenuous but essentially social liberal consensus favouring the development of a disparate array of social insurance arrangements for the protection of workers. The subsequent evolution of such arrangements was affected in a variety of ways by the consequences of two world wars and the rise and fall of communism. In the mid-twentieth century, at the time that the foundations of the EU were being laid, social rights emerged as implicit or explicit components of national citizenship in a variety of Western European welfare regimes, but also as aspirational principles established through an international human rights framework. Towards the end of the twentieth century, the combined effects of financial globalisation, the collapse of communism in Eastern and Central Europe and the hegemonic rise of neo-liberal economic and managerial orthodoxies have given rise in the twenty-first century to less certain understandings of social rights. Such evidence as we have indicates there is no unanimity among policy actors as to the meaning of social rights and that the discourse and understanding of social rights is as variable within European countries as it is between them. The development of social policy is not grounded in a shared understanding of social rights. The barrier to the defence and promotion of social citizenship in Europe lays not so much in inconsistencies in the de facto realisation of specific rights as in a failure explicitly to engage with and accommodate uncertainties and/or ideological differences as to the aim and purpose of such rights. If there is to be a broadly consensual and effective form of supra-national European social citizenship, this may require serious debate as to the basis for some kind of substantively shared social policy initiative (such as the introduction of a modest European Citizen’s income)

Hard times, new directions? The impact of local government spending cuts on three deprived neighbourhoods. Final report.

In the context of what was described as the worst financial settlement in living memory for local government, we set out in this study to establish how residents living in some of the most deprived neighbourhoods of London have been affected by the local authority spending cuts since 2010. These are neighbourhoods where, because of concentrated disadvantage, residents would be particularly vulnerable to service reductions and not well-positioned to cope with the wider pressures of recession and austerity. This is the first study to map the local impacts of the cuts in detail

Review of Health Services Available for Persons who Contracted Hepatitis C through the Administration within the State of Blood or Blood Products. Implementation of Recommendations.

the State of infected blood and blood products. The Report examines progress on the recommendations published in 2000, and recognizes the evolution in service needs since then with the addition of 4 new recommendations. The Report will assist health service providers, the Department of Health and Children and the support groups to continue working together to ensure that the future service needs of this Hepatitis C group are met. It is timely that this review has come at a time when the health services are entering a new phase of restructuring and renewal. The Consultative Council welcomes this process and is confident that it will bring benefits to both service users and service providers. The Council has assured the Health Service Executive and the National Hospitals Office that we will be happy to co-operate with them and to continue playing a positive role in shaping Hepatitis C services for this cohort of patients in the future. As with the first Review the four support groups - Positive Action, Transfusion Positive, the Irish Haemophilia Society and the Irish Kidney Association - all of which are represented on the Consultative Council, are to be commended for the important role they play, and for encouraging their members to participate in this progress report

A scoping review of the unmet needs of patients diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF)

Aims: Patients diagnosed with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) have a high symptom burden and numerous needs that remain largely unaddressed despite advances in available treatment options. There is a need to comprehensively identify patients’ needs and create opportunities to address them. This scoping review aimed to synthesise the available evidence and identify gaps in the literature regarding the unmet needs of patients diagnosed with IPF. Methods: The protocol for the review was registered with Open Science Framework (DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/SY4KM). A systematic search was performed in March 2022, in CINAHL, MEDLINE, Embase, PsychInfo, Web of Science Core Collection and ASSIA Applied Social Science Index. A comprehensive review of grey literature was also completed. Inclusion criteria included patients diagnosed with IPF and date range 2011–2022. A range of review types were included. Data was extracted using a data extraction form. Data was analysed using descriptive and thematic analysis. A total of 884 citations were reviewed. Ethical approval was not required. Results: 52 citations were selected for final inclusion. Five themes were identified: 1.) psychological impact of an IPF diagnosis. 2.) adequate information and education: at the right time and in the right way. 3.) high symptom burden support needs. 4.) referral to palliative care and advance care planning (ACP). 5.) health service provision-a systems approach. Conclusion: This review highlights the myriad of needs patients with IPF have and highlights the urgent need for a systems approach to care, underpinned by an appropriately resourced multi-disciplinary team. The range of needs experienced by patients with IPF are broad and varied and require a holistic approach to care including targeted research, coupled with the continuing development of patient-focused services and establishment of clinical care programmes

Cancer survivorship:Advancing the concept in the context of colorectal cancer

Purpose Previous conceptualizations of cancer survivorship have focused on heterogeneous cancer survivors, with little consideration of the validity of conclusions for homogeneous tumour groups. This paper aims to examine the concept of cancer survivorship in the context of colorectal cancer (CRC). Method Rodgers’ (1989) Evolutionary Method of Concept Analysis guided this study. A systematic search of PUBMED, CINAHL, PsycINFO and The Cochrane Library was conducted in November 2016 to identify studies of CRC survivorship. The Braun and Clarke (2006) framework guided the analysis and interpretation of data extracted from eighty-five publications. Results Similar to general populations of cancer survivors, CRC survivors experience survivorship as an individual, life-changing process, punctuated by uncertainty and a duality of positive and negative outcomes affecting quality of life. However, CRC survivors experience specific concerns arising from the management of their disease. The concept of cancer survivorship has evolved over the past decade as the importance of navigating the healthcare system and its resources, and the constellation of met and unmet needs of cancer survivors are realised. Conclusions The results highlight core similarities between survivorship in the context of CRC and other tumour groups, but underlines issues specific to CRC survivorship. Communication and support are key issues in survivorship care which may detrimentally affect CRC survivors' well-being if they are inadequately addressed. Healthcare professionals (HCP’s) therefore have a duty to ensure cancer survivors’ health, information and supportive care needs are met in the aftermath of treatment

The cost of survival:an exploration of colorectal cancer survivors’ experiences of pain

Background: The Institute of Medicine report ‘From Cancer Patient to Cancer Survivor’ has drawn widespread attention to the experiences of cancer survivors. Research examining the symptom experiences of survivors are proliferative within the literature but limited by samples which include multiple tumor groups and varying inclusion criteria. This cross-sectional quantitative study seeks to examine pain and quality of life (QoL) in the context of colorectal cancer (CRC) survivorship, as defined by the Institute of Medicine. Material and methods: A purposive sample of CRC survivors (n = 252) attending hospitals and cancer support centers in the Republic of Ireland were recruited between September 2014 and January 2016. Self-rated health (SRH), QoL and pain were assessed in the sample using the EuroQOL questionnaire, the Functional Assessment of Therapy-Colorectal (FACT-C) questionnaire, and symptom experience items. Results: One hundred participants (40%) indicated they had pain on the day of the survey or in the past week. Of those with pain, many also experienced a lack of energy (95%), bowel dysfunction (74%), sleep disturbance (76%) or interference with their ability to enjoy life (75%). Pain was associated with younger age, female gender, current chemotherapy treatment, and previous radiotherapy treatment. Although participants reported positive QoL scores, statistical analysis revealed pain was linked to significantly poorer SRH and overall QoL, and poorer physical, emotional, functional, social/family and CRC-specific wellbeing, compared to those who did not indicate pain. Discussion: Pain was experienced by almost two fifths of CRC survivors up to five years after treatment and was associated with poorer SRH and QoL. In light of these findings, healthcare professionals must endeavor to manage cancer survivors’ needs in a manner which is cognizant of the burden of pain and in the context of other symptoms and morbidities experienced by long-term cancer survivors