International evaluation of the psychometrics of health-related quality of life questionnaires for use among long-term survivors of testicular and prostate cancer

Background: Understanding of the physical, functional and psychosocial health problems and needs of cancer survivors requires cross-national and cross-cultural standardization of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) questionnaires that capture the full range of issues relevant to cancer survivors. To our knowledge, only one study has investigated in a comprehensive way whether a questionnaire used to evaluate HRQoL in cancer patients under active treatment is also reliable and valid when used among (long-term) cancer survivors. In this study we evaluated, in an international context, the psychometrics of HRQoL questionnaires for use among long-term, disease-free, survivors of testicular and prostate cancer. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, we recruited long-term survivors of testicular and prostate cancer from Northern and Southern Europe and from the United Kingdom who had participated in two phase III EORTC clinical trials. Participants completed the SF-36 Health Survey, the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire, the QLQ-PR25 (for prostate cancer) or the QLQ-TC26 (for testicular cancer) questionnaires, and the Impact of Cancer questionnaire. Testicular cancer survivors also completed subscales from the Nordic Questionnaire for Monitoring the Age Diverse Workforce. Results: Two hundred forty-two men (66% response rate) were recruited into the study. The average time since treatment was more than 10 years. Overall, there were few missing questionnaire data, although scales related to sexuality, satisfaction with care and relationship concern

Supporting decentralised urban governance : training women municipal councillors in Mumbai, India

Having realised that the participation of women in local governance in India would not come about naturally, India included a clause in its new 1992 decentralisation legislation to the effect that women are to occupy 33% of all seats in all local bodies, including rural but also municipal councils and the ward committees of large cities. While this bold attempt to involve (or rather kick-start) women in governance through radical positive discrimination has many supporters, the realities, implications and impacts of such policy in the urban areas of India—in contrast to the rural areas—have not been studied much. There is, however, agreement that it is too much to expect that women will be effective and powerful councillors just by being elected. Indeed, there is ample and increasing evidence that newly elected women municipal councillors in India’s cities find it hard to establish and consolidate a strong position. There are many reports that women only manage and survive with the support (or by following the dictates) of husbands, fathers or other family members. There is wide agreement then that these women councillors need professional support and strengthening of their capacity, and increasingly training programmes are organised to this effect. This article is about one set of such training programmes organised by a Mumbai training institution, with the support of the Dutch based Institute of Social Studies. It sets the general context of decentralisation and women’s involvement in urban governance and depicts the characteristics and needs of women municipal councillors in Mumbai and other Indian cities. In a preliminary way, it assesses, first, the extent to which the training programmes met the needs of women newly elected into local bodies and secondly, what their perceived impacts are in view of the logistical conditions and constraints related to capacity building in India