3,448 research outputs found

    Community-based service for the frail elderly in China

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    This study of community-based social services for the frail elderly in China shows that as China turns into an ageing society and the capacity of the family support for the frail elderly is rapidly declining, there is an urgent need to develop formal social services to support elderly persons continuing to live in their community. This article provides a general background on the structure of the emergent community services. Using the example of a city in China, the operation of the community services for the elderly is illustrated The strengths and limitations of community services are discussed.postprin

    Initial validation of the Chinese Quality of Life Questionnaire - Intellectual Disabilities (CQOL-ID): A cultural perspective

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    Background In the field of intellectual disabilities (ID), the quality of life concept has been developing rapidly in Chinese societies including Hong Kong, mainland China and Taiwan. However, there is a lack of locally validated instruments to measure the quality of life of people with ID. The study reported in this paper attempted to validate the Chinese Quality of Life Questionnaire - Intellectual Disabilities adapted from the Quality of Life Questionnaire developed by Schalock & Keith. Methods People with mild/moderate ID aged 15 years or above were recruited from special schools, skills centres, community service units and residential units in different regions of Hong Kong. A number of procedures were followed including reliability tests, factor analysis, content validity and construct validity. Results A total of 359 participants were recruited for the study. Factor analysis was conducted according to the rotated component matrix method, in which 23 items were extracted from the original 40-item version of the Quality of Life Questionnaire and three domains (renamed satisfaction, competence and daily choice making/interpersonal relations) were observed. The items in each domain were shown to have factor loadings ranging from 0.42 to 0.90. Construct validity tests indicated the positive nature of the relationship between earnings, and that self-determination and social interaction increase with more independent living environments and less segregated work environments achieving higher scores (P<0.000, P<0.01 and P<0.05 respectively). The scale also achieved a good degree of reliability (Cronbach's α=0.79). Conclusions Initial validity tests indicated that the Chinese Quality of Life Questionnaire - Intellectual Disabilities may be a useful instrument for measuring the quality of life of Chinese people with ID. Cultural issues are discussed and recommendations for future research and service development are made. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.postprin

    Humanitarian welfare values in a changing social environment: A survey of social work undergraduate students in Beijing and Shanghai

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    • Summary: Internationally accepted social work values are based on ideas about rights, social justice and equitable resource distribution. Does social work education in China embody similar values? Are these values influenced by culture and the current political/economic environment? The research posed three questions. Do social work students studying in metropolitan China support humanitarian welfare values? Are values affected by demographic backgrounds? Does social work education enhance humanitarian values? A self-administered, standardized questionnaire was distributed in 26 classes of social work students studying in seven universities in Beijing and Shanghai (n = 1328).• Findings: Students do not support humanitarian welfare values strongly; and a decrease in these values was observed in senior students. Significant differences in values were found based on gender and on rural/urban origins. Female students were more likely to agree with humanitarian value statements; rural and urban students tended to agree more with values from which they had potential to benefit.• Applications: Social work knowledge and skills rather than values maybe more immediately relevant to Chinese society. However, independent professional practitioners need a solid foundation of professional values to inform practice and standardize the social work role. There needs to be an ongoing debate in China involving social work educators and practitioners about values and their relation to Chinese society, the ways in which they are influenced by non-Chinese cultures; and how to infuse these consistently into social work curricula in Chinese universities. © The Author(s) 2010.postprin

    A multi-commodity discrete/continuum model for a traffic equilibrium system

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    We consider a city with several highly compact central business districts (CBDs). The commuters’ origins are continuously dispersed. The travel demand to each CBD, which is considered to be a distinct commodity of traffic movements, is dependent on the total travel cost to that CBD. The transportation system is divided into two layers: major freeways and a dense network of surface streets. Whereas the major freeway network is modelled according to the conventional discrete-network approach, the dense surface streets are approximated as a continuum. Travellers to each CBD can either travel within the continuum (surface streets) and then transfer to the discrete network (freeways) at an interchange (ramp) before moving to the CBD on the discrete network, or they can travel directly to the CBD within the continuum. Specific travel cost-flow relationships for the two layers of transportation facilities are considered. We develop a traffic equilibrium model for this discrete/continuum transportation system in which, for each origin–destination pair, no traveller can reduce his or her individual travel cost by unilaterally changing routes. The problem is formulated as a simultaneous optimisation programme with two sub-problems. One sub-problem is a traffic assignment problem from the interchanges to the CBD in the discrete network, and the other is a traffic assignment problem within a continuum system with multiple centres (i.e. the interchange points and the CBDs). A Newtonian algorithm based on sensitivity analyses of the two sub-problems is proposed to solve the resultant simultaneous optimisation programme. A numerical example is given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed method.postprin

    Lyme disease - a brief review and report of a case in Hong Kong

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    In a search for the spirochetes responsible for Lyme disease in Hong Kong, a sixty year old female, with a clinical diagnosis of arthritis, was found to have a rising antibody litre against Borrelia burgdorferi by indirect immunofluorescent assay (IFA). This paper presents a brief review of Lyme disease, its epidemiology, clinical features, diagnosis, prevention and treatment, followed by a report of this first case of Lyme disease in Hong Kong.published_or_final_versio

    Lyme disease - a brief review and report of a case in Hong Kong: Reply to Letters to the editor

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    Decentralization and marketization of education in China: challenges for migrant children and social harmony

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    Parallel Session II Governing the Asian Giants - Good Governance and Public Policy: Session on Managing Urban Development and Policy ResponsespostprintLaunch Conference for Journal of Asian Public Policy: "Governing the Asian Giants: The Search for Good Governance and Sustainable Development in China and India", Hong Kong, China, 29-30 March 2010

    Real-time estimation of lane-based queue lengths at isolated signalized junctions

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    In this study, we develop a real-time estimation approach for lane-based queue lengths. Our aim is to determine the numbers of queued vehicles in each lane, based on detector information at isolated signalized junctions. The challenges involved in this task are to identify whether there is a residual queue at the start time of each cycle and to determine the proportions of lane-to-lane traffic volumes in each lane. Discriminant models are developed based on time occupancy rates and impulse memories, as calculated by the detector and signal information from a set of upstream and downstream detectors. To determine the proportions of total traffic volume in each lane, the downstream arrivals for each cycle are estimated by using the Kalman filter, which is based on upstream arrivals and downstream discharges collected during the previous cycle. Both the computer simulations and the case study of real-world traffic show that the proposed method is robust and accurate for the estimation of lane-based queue lengths in real time under a wide range of traffic conditions. Calibrated discriminant models play a significant role in determining whether there are residual queued vehicles in each lane at the start time of each cycle. In addition, downstream arrivals estimated by the Kalman filter enhance the accuracy of the estimates by minimizing any error terms caused by lane-changing behavior.postprin

    Public transport policy measures for improving elderly mobility

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