Perceptions of Collaboration and Service Integration as Strategic Alternatives: An Examination of Social Service Nonprofit Organizations in the Late 1990s

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) have historically dealt with the problem of trying to build organizational capacity while simultaneously dealing with scarce resources. Consequently, practitioners and scholars continue to offer assistance to nonprofits in the development of techniques aimed at addressing these situations. Recent literature shows a push towards innovation, the use of new organizational tax structures, and/or the use of commercial revenue generating activities as plausible strategic alternatives for dealing with declining resources. While these techniques show promise, they typically are reserved for larger nonprofits (as measured by their funding base) and those nonprofits with missions that lend themselves for such activities (e.g., health care, arts and culture). But what about other NPOs that may not be willing to undertake such risk, or who do not have missions that can embrace commercial activity? This article examines two strategies, collaboration and service integration, techniques that are perceived by practitioners to show promise for organizations needing to build capacity, and/or generate new or maintain resources. Based upon data yielded from a national mail survey of social service nonprofit organizations, this article provides an empirical analysis that highlights the extent to which nonprofit social service organizations were engaged in these techniques; and from the perspective of nonprofit upper managers, the impacts their respective nonprofit organizations experienced. Using these data and perspectives, a set of recommendations are derived for today’s organizations to consider. Finding mechanisms to building capacity while increasing organizational resources, including income stream, has never been an easy endeavor for many social service nonprofit organizations. As the number of nonprofit organizations continues to rise, the nonprofit sector faces ever-increasing pressure to become more self-sufficient and resilient, while becoming less reliant upon government funding and charity (Arnold & Edwards, 1998). As nonprofit administrators and academicians probe new and innovative ways for assisting nonprofit organizations in the development of new revenue streams and resources (e.g., innovation, the emergence of new organizational tax structures, the use of commercial activity); the call for collaboration and service integration are still being touted as a plausible means for generating and/or saving resources. This article examines these techniques as a means to develop and enhance organizational resources and strengthen capacity from the perspective of nonprofit practitioners

Designing an Innovative Ecosystem for Student Success: Kennesaw State University Wellstar College of Health and Human Services’ Conceptual Model

The Wellstar College of Health and Human Services (WCHSS) at Kennesaw State University developed a new theoretical model to understand and impact student success by combining two existing frameworks: Whole School, Whole Community, and Whole Child (WSCC) (Willgerodt and Maloy, 2021) and the Student Success Ecosystem (Millet et al, 2020). The WCHSS Student Success Model also appends novel constructs to produce an innovative holistic student success model with four key domains and two strategic initiatives. This model provides academics and practitioners with a framework to conceptualize student success, develop actionable interventions to drive improvement, and evaluate outcomes that continue the call to define student success more holistically

The SOD1-mediated ALS phenotype shows a decoupling between age of symptom onset and disease duration

Superoxide dismutase (SOD1) gene variants may cause amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, some of which are associated with a distinct phenotype. Most studies assess limited variants or sample sizes. In this international, retrospective observational study, we compare phenotypic and demographic characteristics between people with SOD1-ALS and people with ALS and no recorded SOD1 variant. We investigate which variants are associated with age at symptom onset and time from onset to death or censoring using Cox proportional-hazards regression. The SOD1-ALS dataset reports age of onset for 1122 and disease duration for 883 people; the comparator population includes 10,214 and 9010 people respectively. Eight variants are associated with younger age of onset and distinct survival trajectories; a further eight associated with younger onset only and one with distinct survival only. Here we show that onset and survival are decoupled in SOD1-ALS. Future research should characterise rarer variants and molecular mechanisms causing the observed variability

Factors Associated with Revision Surgery after Internal Fixation of Hip Fractures

Background: Femoral neck fractures are associated with high rates of revision surgery after management with internal fixation. Using data from the Fixation using Alternative Implants for the Treatment of Hip fractures (FAITH) trial evaluating methods of internal fixation in patients with femoral neck fractures, we investigated associations between baseline and surgical factors and the need for revision surgery to promote healing, relieve pain, treat infection or improve function over 24 months postsurgery. Additionally, we investigated factors associated with (1) hardware removal and (2) implant exchange from cancellous screws (CS) or sliding hip screw (SHS) to total hip arthroplasty, hemiarthroplasty, or another internal fixation device. Methods: We identified 15 potential factors a priori that may be associated with revision surgery, 7 with hardware removal, and 14 with implant exchange. We used multivariable Cox proportional hazards analyses in our investigation. Results: Factors associated with increased risk of revision surgery included: female sex, [hazard ratio (HR) 1.79, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.25-2.50; P = 0.001], higher body mass index (fo

Evidence for three genetic loci involved in both anorexia nervosa risk and variation of body mass index

The maintenance of normal body weight is disrupted in patients with anorexia nervosa (AN) for prolonged periods of time. Prior to the onset of AN, premorbid body mass index (BMI) spans the entire range from underweight to obese. After recovery, patients have reduced rates of overweight and obesity. As such, loci involved in body weight regulation may also be relevant for AN and vice versa. Our primary analysis comprised a cross-trait analysis of the 1000 single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) with the lowest P-values in a genome-wide association meta-analysis (GWAMA) of AN (GCAN) for evidence of association in the largest published GWAMA for BMI (GIANT). Subsequently we performed sex-stratified analyses for these 1000 SNPs. Functional ex vivo studies on four genes ensued. Lastly, a look-up of GWAMA-derived BMI-related loci was performed in the AN GWAMA. We detected significant associations (P-values <5 × 10−5, Bonferroni-corrected P<0.05) for nine SNP alleles at three independent loci. Interestingly, all AN susceptibility alleles were consistently associated with increased BMI. None of the genes (chr. 10: CTBP2, chr. 19: CCNE1, chr. 2: CARF and NBEAL1; the latter is a region with high linkage disequilibrium) nearest to these SNPs has previously been associated with AN or obesity. Sex-stratified analyses revealed that the strongest BMI signal originated predominantly from females (chr. 10 rs1561589; Poverall: 2.47 × 10−06/Pfemales: 3.45 × 10−07/Pmales: 0.043). Functional ex vivo studies in mice revealed reduced hypothalamic expression of Ctbp2 and Nbeal1 after fasting. Hypothalamic expression of Ctbp2 was increased in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice as compared with age-matched lean controls. We observed no evidence for associations for the look-up of BMI-related loci in the AN GWAMA. A cross-trait analysis of AN and BMI loci revealed variants at three chromosomal loci with potential joint impact. The chromosome 10 locus is particularly promising given that the association with obesity was primarily driven by females. In addition, the detected altered hypothalamic expression patterns of Ctbp2 and Nbeal1 as a result of fasting and DIO implicate these genes in weight regulation

Fracture fixation in the operative management of hip fractures (FAITH): an international, multicentre, randomised controlled trial

Background Reoperation rates are high after surgery for hip fractures. We investigated the effect of a sliding hip screw versus cancellous screws on the risk of reoperation and other key outcomes. Methods For this international, multicentre, allocation concealed randomised controlled trial, we enrolled patients aged 50 years or older with a low-energy hip fracture requiring fracture fixation from 81 clinical centres in eight countries. Patients were assigned by minimisation with a centralised computer system to receive a single large-diameter screw with a side-plate (sliding hip screw) or the present standard of care, multiple small-diameter cancellous screws. Surgeons and patients were not blinded but the data analyst, while doing the analyses, remained blinded to treatment groups. The primary outcome was hip reoperation within 24 months after initial surgery to promote fracture healing, relieve pain, treat infection, or improve function. Analyses followed the intention-to-treat principle. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, number NCT00761813. Findings Between Mar