Social Capital, Health and Health Care among Street Children: A Case Study of Street Children in Kumasi Metropolitan Area, Ghana

The interest in the relationship between social connections and health related wellbeing of a given population has received a major boost in public health recently. This relationship either produces or prevents health risks and health problems. This paper qualitatively explores this relationship using the case of a unique group (street children) in Kumasi Metropolitan Area in Ghana. Contrary to the notion that street children are incapable of making social connections, the children demonstrated a high sense of pro-social attitude by building and maintaining social relationships which proved beneficial to their health related wellbeing. It is therefore proposed that, reaching out to the children and other vulnerable groups should strongly involve their social networks as such networks have greater influence on their health related choices and decisions. Moreover, it is suggested that, a social marketing approach should be adopted in the design and implementation of relevant policies in order to systematically and successfully influence the health related behaviour and choices of people. The paper however concludes that, social capital is a contextual concept and should be assessed and applied as such so as reduce its potential adverse effects on health related wellbeing of people. Key words: Social capital, Street children, Health care, health related wellbeing, social marketin

The role of social cognition in perceived thresholds for transport mode change

Author's accepted version (postprint).This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Elsevier in Transport Policy on 18/09/2019.Available online: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0967070X18305560This article is based on a study that investigated social cognitive psychological factors associated with economic thresholds related to using public or other sustainable transport modes. A survey was conducted using a random sample of the Norwegian population living in the six largest urban regions (n = 1039). The respondents were asked to indicate the monthly increase in car taxes and fees that they would perceive necessary to make them use sustainable transport modes instead of their private car. The findings revealed that those who perceived themselves as definitive car users (strongly reluctant to change transport mode) reported low tolerance of push measures, low awareness of and ascription of responsibility for the consequences of car use, and weak environmental norms. Environmental norms, attitudes towards transport and push measure tolerance were the strongest predictors of the respondents belonging to either the lowest or the highest threshold groups. The authors conclude that measures aimed at increasing the costs of car use and improving the accessibility of public transport in urban areas could be supplemented by social cognitive factors.acceptedVersio

Judgement of urban transport security, risk perception, and travel mode use

The current study aims to examine judgement of security in public transport. The role of priority of security, risk perception and risk sensitivity in use of public travel modes was focused. The results are based on a self-completion questionnaire survey conducted among residents above 18 years of age in urbanised areas in Norway (n = 1043). The respondents were randomly obtained from the Norwegian population registry. The results showed that priority of security as well as risk sensitivity was significant predictors of travel mode use among an urban public when demographic factors were controlled for. Risk sensitivity is the tendency to perceive all risks to be high and risk insensitivity the opposite. In studies carried out previously risk sensitivity was conceived to be a predictor of risk perception. The large proportion of explained variance in perceived risk reported in previous studies could partly be due to the use of risk sensitivity as a predictor variable which was more or less coincident with the criterion variable. Judgement of urban transport security, risk perception, and travel mode use. The results also showed that the same set of predictor variables explained a significantly larger proportion of explained variance in leisure travel mode use compared to work travel mode use. There could be several explanations for this. Most obvious is that the freedom to choose travel mode could be better during leisure time compared to on work travels. It may be that the freedom of choice is larger for leisure travels compared to work travels. As expected car access was an important predictor of travel mode use. In addition, the power of this predictor variable was significantly larger for travel mode use on work travels compared to leisure travels, indicating that it may be easier to choose other travel modes for leisure travels

Transport priorities, risk perception and worry associated with mode use and preferences among Norwegian commuters

There is currently scant research on the role of transport priorities, risk perception and worry for travel mode use and preferences. The present study aims to examine these factors in relation to mode use and preferences among Norwegian commuters. A web-based survey was conducted in a randomly obtained representative sample of daily commuters in the extended greater Oslo area (n = 690). The results showed that those who prioritized efficiency and flexibility tended to commute by car, while those who prioritized safety and comfort used public (e.g. metro, tram, and train) or active (e.g. walking and cycling) transport. In a free choice scenario, the respondents who prioritized flexibility reported a preference for using a car, whereas those who prioritized safety and comfort preferred public and active transport for their commuter travels. Risk perception of high impact events, such as terrorism and major accidents, as well as risk perception related to personal impact risks (theft, violence etc.) were related to car use on commuter travels. Transport-related worry exerted weak influences on mode use and preferences. Increased speed on rail transport and more frequent departures may be effective in reducing car use on commuter travels. Risk communication should focus on highlighting the low risk of experiencing security and safety issues in the public transport sector, and this message should be complemented by efforts to reduce the probability of negative events affecting public transport

The role of social cognition in perceived thresholds for transport mode change

This article is based on a study that investigated social cognitive psychological factors associated with economic thresholds related to using public or other sustainable transport modes. A survey was conducted using a random sample of the Norwegian population living in the six largest urban regions (n = 1039). The respondents were asked to indicate the monthly increase in car taxes and fees that they would perceive necessary to make them use sustainable transport modes instead of their private car. The findings revealed that those who perceived themselves as definitive car users (strongly reluctant to change transport mode) reported low tolerance of push measures, low awareness of and ascription of responsibility for the consequences of car use, and weak environmental norms. Environmental norms, attitudes towards transport and push measure tolerance were the strongest predictors of the respondents belonging to either the lowest or the highest threshold groups. The authors conclude that measures aimed at increasing the costs of car use and improving the accessibility of public transport in urban areas could be supplemented by social cognitive factors

The role of social cognition in perceived thresholds for transport mode change

This article is based on a study that investigated social cognitive psychological factors associated with economic thresholds related to using public or other sustainable transport modes. A survey was conducted using a random sample of the Norwegian population living in the six largest urban regions (n = 1039). The respondents were asked to indicate the monthly increase in car taxes and fees that they would perceive necessary to make them use sustainable transport modes instead of their private car. The findings revealed that those who perceived themselves as definitive car users (strongly reluctant to change transport mode) reported low tolerance of push measures, low awareness of and ascription of responsibility for the consequences of car use, and weak environmental norms. Environmental norms, attitudes towards transport and push measure tolerance were the strongest predictors of the respondents belonging to either the lowest or the highest threshold groups. The authors conclude that measures aimed at increasing the costs of car use and improving the accessibility of public transport in urban areas could be supplemented by social cognitive factors