EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT AND ITS INFLUENCE ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: A CASE OF HAZARA UNIVERSITY

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of employee empowerment on the performance of faculty members at Hazara University. In this regard survey approach was used and data was collected through self-administered questionnaires. Out of total population of 490 faculty members, 450 were selected as a sample and questionnaires were distributed among them out of which 360 were received back. The findings of the study revealed that trust, reward and communication have a statistically significant and positive effect on employee performance. Additionally, knowledge has a negative relationship with employee performance but it is statistically in significant

Does Stress affect job performance of male and female employees differentially? A study of the perceptions of employees of Sungi in Hazara Region of Pakistan

This study was carried out to find how stress affects the performance of male and female employees in the NGO sector in Pakistan. The authors have used a case study approach. The data was collected using in-depth interviews of the employees of Sungi foundation in district Abbottabad of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Our results suggest that stress differentially impacts both male and female employees in the NGO sector in Pakistan. Although both males and females thought they experienced a drop in performance due to stress, the female employees felt they were affected more. This is due to their family responsibilities in addition to job duties. The study does not seek to generalize to all the other settings and the authors strongly suggest further studies to replicate the findings. The use of rigorous quantitative methodologies will lend more rigors to the results

EMPLOYEE EMPOWERMENT AND ITS INFLUENCE ON EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE: A CASE OF HAZARA UNIVERSITY

The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of employee empowerment on the performance of faculty members at Hazara University. In this regard survey approach was used and data was collected through self-administered questionnaires. Out of total population of 490 faculty members, 450 were selected as a sample and questionnaires were distributed among them out of which 360 were received back. The findings of the study revealed that trust, reward and communication have a statistically significant and positive effect on employee performance. Additionally, knowledge has a negative relationship with employee performance but it is statistically in significant

Teaching children road safety through storybooks: an approach to child health literacy in Pakistan

Background: Road traffic injuries (RTIs) commonly affect the younger population in low- and-middle-income countries. School children may be educated about road safety using storybooks with colorful pictures, which tends to increase the child’s interest in the text. Therefore, this study assessed the use of bilingual pictorial storybooks to improve RTI prevention knowledge among school children.Methods: This pretest-posttest study was conducted in eight public and nine private schools of Karachi, Pakistan, between February to May 2015. Children in grades four and five were enrolled at baseline (n = 410). The intervention was an interactive discussion about RTI prevention using a bilingual (Urdu and English) pictorial storybook. A baseline test was conducted to assess children’s pre-existing knowledge about RTI prevention followed by administration of the intervention. Two posttests were conducted: first immediately after the intervention, and second after 2 months. Test scores were analyzed using McNemar test and paired sample t-test. Results: There were 57% girls and 55% public school students; age range 8–16 years. Compared to the overall baseline score (5.1 ± 1.4), the number of correct answers increased in both subsequent tests (5.9 ± 1.2 and 6.1 ± 1.1 respectively, p-value \u3c 0.001). Statistically significant improvement in mean scores was observed based on gender, grades and school type over time (p-value \u3c 0.001).Conclusion: Discussions using bilingual pictorial storybooks helped primary school children in Pakistan grasp knowledge of RTI prevention. RTI education sessions may be incorporated into school curricula using storybooks as teaching tools. Potential exists to create similar models for other developing countries by translating the storybooks into local languages

Complications Following Posterior Fossa Tumour Surgery in Children: Experience from a Tertiary Care Neurosurgical Facility in a Developing Country

Background: Posterior fossa tumours are the commonest childhood brain tumours with diverse clinical presentations, treatment modalities and postoperative outcomes. The literature has limited description of postoperative complications following surgery for these tumours. Objective: The aim of this study is to analyse the postoperative complications, which occur after PFT surgery in children. A brief overview of the in-hospital mortality and management of these complications presented. Materials and Methods: This is a retrospective chart review of children who were operated for PFTs. The occurrence of complications during the postoperative period was noted. Complications management, in-hospital mortality and overall survival was also recorded until the time of discharge. The complications are divided according to the modified Clavien-Dindo classification and outcome was stratified accordingly. Results: 79 (60.3%) males and 52 (39.7%) females with a mean age of 8.15 ± 3.3 years. The mean duration between symptoms onset and diagnosis was 35.3 ± 16.6 days. Overall, there were 53 (40.5%) cases of medulloblastoma, 40 (30.5%) cases of ependymoma, 34 (26.0%) cases of pilocytic astrocytoma and only 4 (3.1%) cases of atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumours. Twenty-five (19.1%) patients developed hydrocephalous postoperatively. The most common complication was postoperative incisional CSF leak, which occurred in 17 (13.0%) patients. Wound infection was noted in 8 (6.1%) patients, eight (6.1%) of patients presented with cerebellar mutism, five (3.8%) patients had bleed in tumour bed, five (3.8%) patients had aspiration pneumonia and 7 (5.3%) patients developed hospital acquired pneumonia. The overall mean length of stay (LOS) was 5.4 ± 2.2 days (range: 3 – 12 days). The overall mortality rate was 9.9% (n = 13). Conclusion: The most common complication is the development of hydrocephalous, followed by cerebrospinal fluid leaks, cerebellar mutism, peri-tumour oedema, tumour bed haematoma and systemic complications such as meningitis, sepsis and postoperative pneumonia.&nbsp

Does Stress affect job performance of male and female employees differentially? A study of the perceptions of employees of Sungi in Hazara Region of Pakistan

This study was carried out to find how stress affects the performance of male and female employees in the NGO sector in Pakistan. The authors have used a case study approach. The data was collected using in-depth interviews of the employees of Sungi foundation in district Abbottabad of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province in Pakistan. Our results suggest that stress differentially impacts both male and female employees in the NGO sector in Pakistan. Although both males and females thought they experienced a drop in performance due to stress, the female employees felt they were affected more. This is due to their family responsibilities in addition to job duties. The study does not seek to generalize to all the other settings and the authors strongly suggest further studies to replicate the findings. The use of rigorous quantitative methodologies will lend more rigors to the results

A review of groundwater fluoride contamination in Pakistan and an assessment of the risk of fluorosis

This study was conducted with the financial support of the Higher Education Commission of Pakistan, and the University of Peshawar, Pakistan. We greatly acknowledge with deep gratitude this financial supportPeer reviewedPublisher PD

Supervised treatment in outpatients for schizophrenia plus (STOPS+): protocol for a cluster randomised trial of a community-based intervention to improve treatment adherence and reduce the treatment gap for schizophrenia in Pakistan

Introduction There is a significant treatment gap, with only a few community-based services for people with schizophrenia in low-income and middle-income countries. Poor treatment adherence in schizophrenia is associated with poorer health outcomes, suicide attempts and death. We previously reported the effectiveness of supervised treatment in outpatients for schizophrenia (STOPS) for improving treatment adherence in patients with schizophrenia. However, STOPS was evaluated in a tertiary care setting with no primary care involvement, limiting its generalisability to the wider at-risk population. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness of STOPS+ in scaling up the primary care treatment of schizophrenia to a real-world setting. Methods and analysis The effectiveness of the STOPS+ intervention in improving the level of functioning and medication adherence in patients with schizophrenia in Pakistan will be evaluated using a cluster randomised controlled trial design. We aim to recruit 526 participants from 24 primary healthcare centres randomly allocated in 1:1 ratio to STOPS+ intervention and enhanced treatment as usual arms. Participants will be followed-up for 12 months postrecruitment. The sample size is estimated for two outcomes (1) the primary clinical outcome is level of functioning, measured using the Global Assessment of Functioning scale and (2) the primary process outcome is adherence to treatment regimen measured using a validated measure. An intention-to-treat approach will be used for the primary analysis. Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval has been obtained from Keele University Ethical Review Panel (ref: MH-190017) and Khyber Medical University Ethical Review Board (ref: DIR-KMU-EB/ST/000648). The results of the STOPS+ trial will be reported in peer-reviewed journals and academic conferences and disseminated to local stakeholders and policymakers

At War with the World: Nuclear weapons, development and security

Zia Mian looks at the ideas and practices and institutions of a nuclear age, one that is like development oriented towards the future, sees no limits and links state power, science and technology, national politics and the threat and use of violence. He argues that we are trapped in the nuclear age until we understand the fundamental links between development and nuclear weapons. Development (2004) 47, 50–57. doi:10.1057/palgrave.development.1100021