From Ice Sheets to Main Streets: Intermediaries Connect Climate Scientists to Coastal Adaptation

Despite the societal relevance of sea‐level research, a knowledge‐to‐action gap remains between researchers and coastal communities. In the agricultural and water‐management sectors, intermediaries such as consultants and extension agencies have a long and well‐documented history of helping to facilitate the application of scientific knowledge on the ground. However, the role of such intermediaries in adaptation to sea‐level rise, though potentially of vital importance, has been less thoroughly explored. In this commentary, we describe three styles of science intermediation that can connect researchers working on sea‐level projections with decision‐makers relying on those projections. We illustrate these styles with examples of recent and ongoing contexts for the application of sea‐level research, at different spatial scales and political levels ranging from urban development projects to international organizations. Our examples highlight opportunities and drawbacks for the researchers involved and communities adapting to rising seas.Key PointsThere are many more sea‐level adaptation decisions that could use scientific information than there are scientists available to adviseScience intermediaries (boundary organizations, consultancies, extensions) offer an avenue for researchers to engage more in decision‐makingAll parties to climate adaptation decision‐making, including scientists, should attend to equity and accountability in those processesPeer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143786/1/eft2308_am.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/143786/2/eft2308.pd

Household income modifies the association of insurance and dental visiting

BACKGROUND Dental insurance and income are positively associated with regular dental visiting. Higher income earners face fewer financial barriers to dental care, while dental insurance provides partial reimbursement. The aim was to explore whether household income has an effect on the relationship between insurance and visiting. METHODS A random sample of adults aged 30–61 years living in Australia was drawn from the Electoral Roll. Data were collected by mailed survey in 2009–10, including age, sex, dental insurance status and household income. RESULTS Responses were collected from n = 1,096 persons (response rate = 39.1%). Dental insurance was positively associated with regular visiting (adjusted prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.18; 95% CI: 1.01-1.36). Individuals in the lowest income tertile had a lower prevalence of regular visiting than those in the highest income group (PR = 0.78; 95% CI: 0.65-0.93). Visiting for a check-up was less prevalent among lower income earners (PR = 0.65; 95% CI: 0.50-0.83). Significant interaction terms indicated that the associations between insurance and visiting varied across income tertiles showing that income modified the effect. CONCLUSIONS Household income modified the relationships between insurance and regular visiting and visiting for a check-up, with dental insurance having a greater impact on visiting among lower income groups.Olga Anikeeva, David S Brennan and Dana N Teusne

Disaster resilience: What it is and how it can engender a meaningful change in development policy

Disasters pose a growing threat to sustainable development. Disaster risk management efforts have largely failed to arrest the underlying drivers of growing risk globally: uncontrolled urbanization and proliferation of assets in hazardous areas. Resilience provides an opportunity to confront the social-ecological foundations of risk and development; yet it has been vaguely conceptualized, without offering a concrete approach to operationalization. We propose a conceptualization of disaster resilience centred on wellbeing: ‘The ability of a system, community or society to pursue its social, ecological and economic development objectives, while managing its disaster risk over time in a mutually reinforcing way.’ We present a conceptual framework for understanding the interconnections between disasters and development, and outline how it is being operationalized in practice

Insurance Fraud: Issues and Challenges

This article is devoted to the phenomenon of insurance fraud. We start by surveying the various forms of insurance fraud as well as its extent and cost. We proceed to analyse the problem as the product of motivation and opportunity, and address the complexities of fraud control. Finally, we provide a high-level overview of current anti-fraud activity. The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance (2004) 29, 313–333. doi:10.1111/j.1468-0440.2004.00290.x

After the Flood Is Before the Next Flood

This chapter explains the rationale and approach of the PERC methodology and presents consolidated findings from studies conducted so far. Conducting a forensic post-event study is similar to detective work in that it needs an experienced team of experts, a consistent and iterative meta-structure, and guidance on how to pursue leads and new information. As part of this analysis and assessment work, an agent landscape map is built identifying the key players involved in disaster risk management and their roles, decision making, and communication structures and interactions within their and across sectors. The central aim of a single PERC analysis is to provide a comprehensive picture of what happened and why, and what opportunities exist to build disaster resilience. By using a systematic methodology like PERC to provide a “forensic” analysis of disaster events, we are identifying generalizable lessons aimed at understanding and increasing resilience and reducing vulnerability across social, political, economic, and geographic contexts