Isolated Voices: Perspectives of Teachers, School Nurses, and Administrators Regarding Implementation of Sexual Health Education Policy.

BackgroundComprehensive sexual health education (SHE) reduces risky sexual behavior and increases protective behavior in adolescents. It is important to understand how professionals responsible for implementing SHE policy interpret state and local policy and what influences their commitment to formal SHE policy implementation.MethodsThis descriptive study explored content and delivery of SHE policy in a rural, southwestern state with high levels of poverty, unintended adolescent pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections. The social ecological model (SEM) was used to better understand levels of influence on the implementation of SHE policy.ResultsWe conducted telephone surveys with 38 teachers, 63 nurses, and 21 administrators in public secondary schools. There was substantial local variability in the scope and content of SHE curricula. Respondents identified significant barriers to the delivery of SHE content and minimal evaluation of whether educational objectives were met. Based on participant responses, community and organizational SEM levels had the greatest influence on SHE policy implementation, although examples of all SEM levels were identified.ConclusionsGiven perceived challenges regarding subject matter, successful SHE implementation at the local level requires committed stakeholders working in concert at the school and community levels, backed by strong policy commitment at the state level

An Underpinning of School Inequities: Asthma Absences and Lost Revenue in California Schools.

BACKGROUND:Asthma is epidemic in many locations in the United States. Asthma exacerbations pose serious health and education risks for students through school absences, school dropout, and introduction to the juvenile justice system. Accurate school district-level asthma data, currently in short supply, would enable early interventions that focus on specific geographic areas and racial and ethnic subgroups that have higher asthma prevalence. METHODS:To support the development of better local level data systems, we used two California student databases, as well as state education and financial databases, to develop two models to estimate school absences and to extrapolate their economic impact in lost school revenue. RESULTS:Analysis demonstrated subpopulations that are appropriate for early intervention: African American elementary school boys have 9.4 average absences per year, higher than other primary racial and ethnic groups. Students who miss ≥3 school days due to asthma account for $26 million of lost revenue. CONCLUSIONS:Accurate local level asthma data can identify subpopulations of students for whom environmental and treatment programs can be employed to reduce asthma absences and other related outcomes, and to reduce currently lost school revenues. Such programs also may diminish other asthma-related school inequities

The Double Bind of School Nurses and Policy Implementation: Intersecting the Street-Level Bureaucracy Framework and Teaching Sexual Health Education.

As described in the Framework for 21st Century School Nursing Practice, school nurses bridge the realities of health and education policy within the school community every day. This role is inclusive of helping teach sexual health education (SHE) to students. We were interested in characterizing how school nurses navigate requirements of health education policy to provide their students with the SHE content that they need. Using data from a larger study, we organized a subset of school nurse data within the street-level bureaucracy framework to better understand the many challenges school nurses face in implementing SHE policy. School nurses' involvement in SHE policy implementation was congruent with characteristics of the framework. This included using their professional discretion to manage dilemmas, working with inadequate resources, unclear policy expectations, lack of support, and ambiguous policy goals. Trusted relationships with teachers and students helped school nurses with their SHE policy implementation responsibilities

Challenges to generating political prioritization for adolescent sexual and reproductive health in Kenya: A qualitative study.

BackgroundDespite the high burden of adverse adolescent sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes, it has remained a low political priority in Kenya. We examined factors that have shaped the lack of current political prioritization of adolescent SRH service provision.MethodsWe used the Shiffman and Smith policy framework consisting of four categories-actor power, ideas, political contexts, and issue characteristics-to analyse factors that have shaped political prioritization of adolescent SRH. We undertook semi-structured interviews with 14 members of adolescent SRH networks between February and April 2019 at the national level and conducted thematic analysis of the interviews.FindingsSeveral factors hinder the attainment of political priority for adolescent SRH in Kenya. On actor power, the adolescent SRH community was diverse and united in adoption of international norms and policies, but lacked policy entrepreneurs to provide strong leadership, and policy windows were often missed. Regarding ideas, community members lacked consensus on a cohesive public positioning of the problem. On issue characteristics, the perception of adolescents as lacking political power made politicians reluctant to act on the existing data on the severity of adolescent SRH. There was also a lack of consensus on the nature of interventions to be implemented. Pertaining to political contexts, sectoral funding by donors and government treasury brought about tension within the different government ministries resulting in siloed approaches, lack of coordination and overall inefficiency. However, the SRH community has several strengths that augur well for future political support. These include the diverse multi-sectoral background of its members, commitment to improving adolescent SRH, and the potential to link with other health priorities such as maternal health and HIV/AIDS.ConclusionIn order to increase political attention to adolescent SRH in Kenya, there is an urgent need for policy actors to: 1) create a more cohesive community of advocates across sectors, 2) develop a clearer public positioning of adolescent SRH, 3) agree on a set of precise approaches that will resonate with the political system, and 4) identify and nurture policy entrepreneurs to facilitate the coupling of adolescent SRH with potential solutions when windows of opportunity arise

A 12 años de la Declaración Universal de los Derechos de la Madre Tierra y los avances jurídicos en México

More than a decade after the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, our commitment is to contribute to the design of a new paradigm centered on the Earth, recognizing Nature as a collective entity subject to rights, as the center of society's value system, and recognizing the intrinsic value of all the elements that make it up, through the creation of new constitutions and constitutional amendments, as well as secondary and regulatory laws, that help the true implementation of the Rights of Nature in Mexico. These are our legal advances and what we still have to do.A más de una década de la Declaración Universal de los Derechos de la Madre Tierra, nuestro compromiso es contribuir al diseño de un nuevo paradigma centrado en la Tierra, reconociendo a la Naturaleza como un ente colectivo sujeto de derechos, como el centro de sistema de valores de la sociedad, y reconociendo el valor intrínseco de todos los elementos que la conforman, a través de la creación de nuevas constituciones y reformas constitucionales, así como de leyes secundarias y reglamentarias, que ayuden a la verdadera implementación de los Derechos de la Naturaleza en México. Estos son nuestros avances jurídicos y lo que nos falta por hacer

Islands in the desert for cavity‐nesting bees and wasps: Ecology, patterns of diversity, and conservation at oases of Baja California Peninsula

Aims The oases of Baja California Peninsula (BCP) have been proposed as important hotspots of biodiversity that hold an exceptional richness in the middle of desert conditions. We tested the effect of habitat and anthropogenic disturbance on communities of cavity-nesting taxa, with specific emphasis on bees, wasps, and their natural enemies. Methods In oases of BCP and desert neighbor environments, trap-nesting taxa were evaluated in response to factors affecting the nest abundance, richness, and community structure. We used statistical models to find correlates of nest abundance and patterns of diversity, as well as ecological analyses to determine the effect of habitat and human disturbance on species diversity and community structure. Results Solar irradiation, distance to a perennial waterbody and relative humidity influenced the presence of nests, number of brood cells, and parasitism. In general, abundance, species richness, and parasitism were higher in oases, especially in those with less human disturbance. Bees did not discriminate between oases and deserts to nest, whereas mud-daubing wasps were more dependent of oases. The degree of anthropogenic disturbance did not affect the occurrence of parasitism, but it had an adverse effect on the parasitism intensity (number of attacked cells). The community structure was more complex and even in oases and low-disturbed sites. The similarity between sites did not exceed 30%, and the proportion of shared species between oases and deserts varied from 2.7% to 26.6%. Main conclusions The oases of Baja California are functioning as mesic islands in the desert, each oasis hosting a unique community of cavity-nesting taxa. About 65% of the nests and 50% of species occurred exclusively in the oasis. Thus, cavity-nesting species that depend on mesic conditions could be threatened if the oases of BCP disappear in the future. Local conditions in the oases and deserts of the BCP are shaping the community structure. However, large-scale factors such as climate can influence the seasonality and occurrence of species within the community of cavity-nesting dwellers. Since habitat loss and fragmentation can degrade the oases' functionality, strategies to maintain the ecosystem services of pollination and biological control should be included in the conservation programs of these fragile habitats.Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y TecnologiaConsejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnologia (CONACyT) [273254]Open access journalThis item from the UA Faculty Publications collection is made available by the University of Arizona with support from the University of Arizona Libraries. If you have questions, please contact us at [email protected]

Criterios de criminalización y descriminalización

El objeto de conocimiento es cuestionar el contenido de la norma penal a través del análisis de los mecanismos idóneos para reducir la inflación legislativa, como son los recursos que simplifican y descriminalizan, al tiempo que definen la creación de esa norma penal en un marco que asegure que la sanción penal bien puede ser evitada allí donde no se lesionen condiciones vitales de convivencia social, garantizando que la libertad individual solo será afectada en caso absolutamente necesario. La estrategia del proceso de la criminalización significa dirigir los mecanismos de la reaccion institucional hacia la criminalidad mas grave en tanto que la estrategia de la descriminalización supone la sustitución de las sanciones penales por formas de control no estigmatizantes: una permanente apertura de mayores espacios de aceptación social. Se examinan en el primer capitulo los principales lineamientos explicativos del proceso criminalización- descriminalización. Se centra la atención en la funcion punitiva y se resalta la finalidad que cumple en la realidad social en tanto reconocimiento de bienes jurídicos; se trata el fundamento constitucional que ofrece los contenidos suficientes para implementar acciones legislativas concretas. En el segundo capitulo se hace necesario vincular el objeto de conocimiento, esto es el proceso criminalización- descriminalización de las normas, con tres figuras de la parte general y de la parte especial del código penal: la tentativa inidonea, la reincidencia y la protección penal del ambiente