This article analyses the policy of the Spanish government in relation to a potential change in the model of airport management, through the Advocacy Coalition Framework (ACF). This theoretical ...framework and other theories explain the shift of policies based on ideas, beliefs and learning processes. This study confirms some of the hypotheses of the ACF but at the same time points to the weakness of the framework, because it does not include the analysis of the interaction between beliefs at the micro-policy system level and political interests at the macro level. Along the same line of argumentation, the ACF does not pay enough attention to the institutional features that condition the authority of the executive to adopt new policies.
This study presents findings from a pilot randomized controlled trial, testing a 12-week intervention to train parents of youth with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) to advocate for adult disability ...services—the Volunteer Advocacy Program-Transition (VAP-T). Participants included 41 parents of youth with ASD within 2 years of high school exit, randomly assigned to a treatment (
N
= 20) or wait-list control (
N
= 21) group. Outcomes, collected before and after the intervention, included parental knowledge about adult services, advocacy skills-comfort, and empowerment. The VAP-T had acceptable feasibility, treatment fidelity, and acceptability. After participating in the VAP-T, intervention parents (compared to controls) knew more about the adult service system, were more skilled/comfortable advocating, and felt more empowered.
BackgroundWe have designed an assessment instrument, to empower health care advocacy by trauma team members and managers.1 The context of the assessment is the readiness of hospitals to receive ...traumatically injured children, as trauma is the leading cause of mortality in infants and children.2 The instrument is to be used by the healthcare professionals that constitute or manage trauma teams, and highlights a series of trauma team hospital interactions and performances. The instrument enables the description, reflection, evaluation and eventual improvement of team – hospital interactions by health advocacy.MethodologyWe have run unannounced fully immersive in-situ/point of care paediatric trauma simulations in a major paediatric trauma centre, once a month, for over 24 months, to date. We tested the instrument (Field Assessment Conditioning Tool (FACT)) utilising high fidelity patient simulators as surrogates for real children presenting to trauma bays. These were followed by semi-structured interviews with both trauma team members and trauma governance board administrators.ResultsFour themes emerged from interviews:The support for a more holistic approach to evaluating and assessing both the organisation’s and trauma team’s readiness to receive paediatric trauma.The support for harnessing internal expertise of all team members to evaluate quality of trauma care.The FACT provides a language to describe, evaluate quality and potentially invoke changes.Perceived usefulness by all of the staff (team members and governance boards) will determine to a large extent to which the FACT will be used.Potential impactAssessing all aspects of medical performance is complex and requires a programme of assessment incorporating both psychometric measurements instruments and framework tools. This is especially important to support the role of health advocates.Preliminary data from the FACT implementation and evaluation contributes to the conceptual validity of this approach to assessment.ReferencesMacKinnon RJ, Kennedy C, Doherty C, Shepherd M, Cole J, Stenfors-Hayes T, on behalf of the INSPIRE Trauma Outreach. Fitness for purpose study of the Field Assessment Conditioning Tool (FACT): a research protocol. Med Educ Train BMJ Open 2015;5:e006386 doi:10.1136/bmjopen-2014-006386Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. National Center for Health Statistics. VitalStats. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/vitalstats.htm. accessed April 20, 2013
Effective child health advocacy is an essential strategy to improve child health, and can improve access to equitable care. It can also be professionally rewarding and improve career satisfaction. ...However, while advocacy has been a part of pediatrics since its origins as a specialty, many barriers to engaging in health advocacy exist which can be challenging to navigate. There are a wide range of organizational practice settings, which are each accompanied by unique strengths and limitations. No matter the practice setting, pediatricians can be effective advocates for child health through leveraging organizational, professional, and community resources and partnerships.
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