scholarly journals Technology, Identification, and Access to Social Programs: Experimental Evidence from Panama

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Reyes ◽  
Benjamin Roseth ◽  
Diego A. Vera-Cossio
Keyword(s):  
Social Program ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Lower Income ◽  
Government Programs ◽  
Policy Interventions ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Technology Identification ◽  
Government Benefits

Access to identification cards (IDs) is often required to claim government benefits. However, it is unclear which policies to increase ID ownership are more effective. We experimentally analyze the effect of two policy interventions to induce the timely renewal of identification cards on access to a government social program in Panama. Sending reminders about expiration dates increased the probability of on-time renewals and of accessing benefits from a social program by 12 and 4.3 percentage points, respectively, relative to a control group. In contrast, allowing individuals to renew their ID online only increased renewals and access to benefits by 8 and 2.9 percentage points, respectively. This result was driven by lower-income individuals. The results suggest that policies to increase ownership of valid identity documentation can reduce inclusion errors in government programs and that simply granting access to digital tools may not be enough to unlock important effects.

Research Insights: How Digital Tools Increase Access to Government Services and Social Programs through On-time Renewals of IDs

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Reyes ◽  
Benjamin Roseth ◽  
Diego A. Vera-Cossio
Keyword(s):  
User Experience ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Government Services ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Sms Reminders ◽  
To Receive

Sending SMS reminders increased the probability of on-time renewals of IDs by 12 percentage points, while also allowing citizens to renew their IDs online only increased renewals by 8 percentage points. Providing an online option (instead of in-person renewals) was less effective due to a poor user experience with the online procedure. The poorest individuals who received reminders were also more likely to receive transfers from an emergency in-kind transfer delivered through digital vouchers.

scholarly journals The Efficacy of Anti-Arrhythmic Drugs in Children With Idiopathic Frequent Symptomatic or Asymptomatic Premature Ventricular Complexes With or Without Asymptomatic Ventricular Tachycardia: a Retrospective Multi-Center Study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin A. Bertels ◽  
Janneke A. E. Kammeraad ◽  
Anna M. Zeelenberg ◽  
Luc H. Filippini ◽  
Ingmar Knobbe ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Ventricular Tachycardia ◽  
Beta Blockers ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Premature Ventricular Complexes ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Asymptomatic Children ◽  
Group A ◽  
The Mean ◽  
Multi Center Study ◽  
Center Study

AbstractThe aim of the study is to compare the efficacy of flecainide, beta-blockers, sotalol, and verapamil in children with frequent PVCs, with or without asymptomatic VT. Frequent premature ventricular complexes (PVCs) and asymptomatic ventricular tachycardia (VT) in children with structurally normal hearts require anti-arrhythmic drug (AAD) therapy depending on the severity of symptoms or ventricular dysfunction; however, data on efficacy in children are scarce. Both symptomatic and asymptomatic children (≥ 1 year and < 18 years of age) with a PVC burden of 5% or more, with or without asymptomatic runs of VT, who had consecutive Holter recordings, were included in this retrospective multi-center study. The groups of patients receiving AAD therapy were compared to an untreated control group. A medication episode was defined as a timeframe in which the highest dosage at a fixed level of a single drug was used in a patient. A total of 35 children and 46 medication episodes were included, with an overall change in PVC burden on Holter of -4.4 percentage points, compared to -4.2 in the control group of 14 patients. The mean reduction in PVC burden was only significant in patients receiving flecainide (− 13.8 percentage points; N = 10; p = 0.032), compared to the control group and other groups receiving beta-blockers (− 1.7 percentage points; N = 18), sotalol (+ 1.0 percentage points; N = 7), or verapamil (− 3.9 percentage points; N = 11). The efficacy of anti-arrhythmic drug therapy on frequent PVCs or asymptomatic VTs in children is very limited. Only flecainide appears to be effective in lowering the PVC burden.

scholarly journals Benefit of Digital Tools Used for Integrated Personalized Diabetes Management: Results From the PDM-ProValue Study Program

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-249
Author(s):  
Lutz Heinemann ◽  
Wendelin Schramm ◽  
Helena Koenig ◽  
Annette Moritz ◽  
Iris Vesper ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Diabetes Management ◽  
Intervention Group ◽  
Digital Tools ◽  
Clinical Inertia ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Traffic Light ◽  
Study Program ◽  
Therapeutic Concept ◽  
Cluster Randomized

Background: Integrated personalized diabetes management (iPDM) is a digitally supported therapeutic concept to improve patient-physician interaction to overcome the aspects of clinical inertia. Integrated personalized diabetes management can support decision making and improve therapeutic outcomes of suboptimally controlled persons with insulin-treated type 2 diabetes (T2D). In this paper, we report the results of an analysis of the PDM-ProValue study program on the effectiveness and perceived benefit of this approach, with a focus on how physicians used and assessed the digital tools provided for the iPDM process. Materials and Methods: The study program included two 12-month, prospective, controlled, cluster-randomized multicenter trials. A total of 101 practices participated with 907 patients. Practices were cluster-randomized to an intervention group and a control group. Digital tools for data visualization and analysis applied were used. HCP were asked to assess the use, relevance, and usefulness of the tools. Results: A clear preference was stated for the visual overview over more statistically complex analyses. A total of 83% of the participants rated a high relevance of the “daily profile,” 81% of the “total profile,” and 68% the “risk illustrated by traffic light symbols” for the therapy decision. The overall iPDM process was very favorably rated with respect to structuredness and potential for personalized treatment and well accepted among health care professionals (HCP). Conclusions: Embedding digital tools in a structured process (iPDM) were proved to provide a benefit for insulin-treated T2D patients and their physicians. These results offer insight for further development and improvement of the tools and add information on how to overcome clinical inertia.

scholarly journals Planning prompts to promote uptake of HIV services among men: a randomised trial in rural Uganda

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (11) ◽  
pp. e003390
Author(s):  
Nolan M Kavanagh ◽  
Elisabeth M Schaffer ◽  
Alex Ndyabakira ◽  
Kara Marson ◽  
Diane V Havlir ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Hiv Testing ◽  
Community Health ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Health Campaign ◽  
Percentage Point Increase ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Point Increase ◽  
Cost Planning ◽  
Testing Uptake ◽  
The Impact

IntroductionInterventions informed by behavioural economics, such as planning prompts, have the potential to increase HIV testing at minimal or no cost. Planning prompts have not been previously evaluated for HIV testing uptake. We conducted a randomised clinical trial to evaluate the effectiveness of low-cost planning prompts to promote HIV testing among men.MethodsWe randomised adult men in rural Ugandan parishes to receive a calendar planning prompt that gave them the opportunity to make a plan to get tested for HIV at health campaigns held in their communities. Participants received either a calendar showing the dates when the community health campaign would be held (control group) or a calendar showing the dates and prompting them to select a date and time when they planned to attend (planning prompt group). Participants were not required to select a date and time or to share their selection with study staff. The primary outcome was HIV testing uptake at the community health campaign.ResultsAmong 2362 participants, 1796 (76%) participants tested for HIV. Men who received a planning prompt were 2.2 percentage points more likely to test than the control group, although the difference was not statistically significant (77.1% vs 74.9%; 95% CI –1.2 to 5.7 percentage points, p=0.20). The planning prompt was more effective among men enrolled ≤40 days before the campaigns (3.6 percentage-point increase in testing; 95% CI –2.9 to 10.1, p=0.27) than among men enrolled >40 days before the campaigns (1.8 percentage-point increase; 95% CI –2.3 to 5.8, p=0.39), although the effects within the subgroups were not significant.ConclusionThese findings suggest that planning prompts may be an effective behavioural intervention to promote HIV testing at minimal or no cost. Large-scale studies should further assess the impact and cost-effectiveness of such interventions.

scholarly journals FAILURES IN BRAZILIAN PUBLIC SOCIAL PROGRAMS TO REDUCE EXTREME POVERTY: case study Porto Alegre for all

2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 786
Author(s):  
Gabriel R D Levrini
Keyword(s):  
Target Population ◽  
Social Program ◽  
Joint Analysis ◽  
Social Programs ◽  
Porto Alegre ◽  
Political Issue ◽  
Extreme Poverty ◽  
Human Needs ◽  
The Social

Poverty can be an economic circumstance, but it is also a political issue, since it directly influences several political decisions. The academic literature agrees that fundamental human needs have had, in fact, little development in their concept and scope within recent decades, although significantly changed happened in the Western way of accomplishing needs. We seek to understand different perspectives on possible different paths to a humanist articulation in the development of society. The goal of the research is through a humanistic approach based on Max Neef's theoretical precepts to understand the failure of the social program called Porto Alegre for All, in which less than 10% of the target population adopted the program. The research design had a qualitative phase with interviews with six target individuals, aiming to gain insights for the development of attributes and hierarchy of values for the use of the quantitative technique of joint analysis, made with a sample of 98 individuals. In our research the most important result was the attribute freedom, and the maternal pillar of the family is the great reference of these individuals.Keywords: Extreme Poverty. Freedom. Social programs. Fundamentals human needs.ResumoA pobreza pode ser uma circunstância econômica, mas também é uma questão política. A literatura acadêmica concorda que o conceito das necessidades humanas fundamentais teve, de fato, pouco desenvolvimento na sua atualização e escopo nas últimas décadas, embora mudanças significativas tenham ocorrido no modo ocidental de atender às necessidades. Buscamos a compreensão de diferentes perspectivas sobre os possíveis caminhos diferentes para uma articulação humanista no desenvolvimento da sociedade. O objetivo da pesquisa, é através de uma abordagem humanística baseada em preceitos teóricos de Max Neef compreender o fracasso do programa social denominado Porto Alegre para Todos, no qual menos de 10% da população-alvo adotou o programa. O design da pesquisa teve uma fase qualitativa com entrevistas com seis indivíduos target, com o objetivo de obter insights para o desenvolvimento dos atributos ehierarquia de valores para utilização da técnica quantitativa de análise conjunta, feita com uma amostra de 98 indivíduos. Na nossa pesquisa oresultado mais importantefoi o atributo liberdade, sendo que o pilar materno da familia e a grande referência destes individuos.Palavras-chave: Extrema pobreza. Liberdade. Programas sociais. Necessidades fundamentais humanas.

Access and Adoption of Hybrid Seeds: Evidence from Uganda

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 215-235
Author(s):  
Nikolaus Axmann ◽  
Torben Fischer ◽  
Kevin Keller ◽  
Kevin Leiby ◽  
Daniel Stein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Low Income ◽  
Smallholder Farmers ◽  
Low Income Countries ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Maize Seeds ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Female Farmers ◽  
Hybrid Seeds ◽  
Plant Hybrid ◽  
Hybrid Maize

Abstract Adoption of hybrid seeds remains low in many low-income countries. We conduct a field-experiment designed to measure the effect of offering hybrid maize seeds for purchase during a time when potential customers have high liquidity. Working with a large buyer of agricultural commodities in Northern Uganda, we randomly offer smallholder farmers the opportunity to purchase certified hybrid maize seeds at the same time as they visit the buyers’ stores to sell crops from a previous harvest. 16% of those offered purchase hybrid seeds, and average adoption of hybrid maize among those offered increases by 8 percentage points compared to a control group who does not receive the offer. Among those who accept the offer, we see an increase in the propensity to plant hybrid maize of 50 percentage points. This effect is more pronounced for female farmers than for their male counterparts. Our findings suggest that providing access to certified agricultural inputs at the place and time of post-harvest sales is a promising strategy to increase input usage.

scholarly journals Health Insurance and Income Inequality

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 53-78 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robert Kaestner ◽  
Darren Lubotsky
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Health Insurance ◽  
Income Inequality ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Government Programs ◽  
Cost Of Health Care ◽  
Government Benefits ◽  
Economic Well Being

Health insurance and other in-kind forms of compensation and government benefits are typically not included in measures of income and analyses of inequality. This omission is important. Given the large and growing cost of health care in the United States and the presence of large government health insurance programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, it is crucial to understand how health insurance and related public policies contribute to measured economic well-being and inequality. Our paper assesses the effect on inequality of the primary government programs that affect health insurance.

Orquestas Infantiles and Children’s Musical Education in Argentina

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federico Luis Escribal
Keyword(s):  
Arts Education ◽  
Formal Education ◽  
Musical Training ◽  
Social Program ◽  
Government Programs ◽  
Late 20Th Century ◽  
New Horizons ◽  
Educational Trajectories ◽  
El Sistema ◽  
First World

Arts education tends to be understood exclusively from its insertion into the formal education system, although its impact on educational trajectories is not only represented in the development of specific knowledge in the field but can also contribute with didactic volume to other disciplinary fields—as already recognized by UNESCO in the First World Conference on Arts Education in 2006—as well as opening new horizons in vocational terms. In Latin America, the development of musical training policies through children’s orchestras has become a trend at the beginning of the 21st century, unfolding in particular ways in the different countries of the region, mainly based on the so-called Venezuelan model. Based on the search for excellence and prioritizing classical European instruments and repertoires, El Sistema has generated the irruption of outstanding figures in the mainstream musical field. In Argentina, different public policies have been implemented since the late 20th century tending toward the development of children’s orchestras. Although there were government programs based on the Venezuelan system, there was also an alternative model: the Andrés Chazarreta social program based its actions on the use of American instruments and repertoires, and on collective training as a didactic strategy, opposed to the marked individualism that classical musical training promotes. In the 1970s, the choral movement in Argentina gave birth to outstanding cultural and artistic experiences. Nowadays, participation in this type of initiative stimulates the transformation of imaginaries about what young people can do with their futures, not only professionally, beyond musical vocations.

Retirees and motivation to work by the type of employment contract: impact of the Czech reform

2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (5) ◽  
pp. 595-617
Author(s):  
Filip Pertold ◽  
Lenka Lakotova
Keyword(s):  
Control Group ◽  
Retirement Age ◽  
Skilled Workers ◽  
Employment Contract ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Elementary School Education ◽  
One Year ◽  
Low Educated ◽  
Motivation To Work

PurposeIn this paper, the authors analyse a 2010 legal reform in the Czech Republic, which allowed retirees to simultaneously receive regular pension benefits and to work on a permanent contract for a period longer than one year. Previously, concurrence of employment and receipt of retirement benefits were only allowed in conjunction with a temporary work contract with a maximum duration of one year.Design/methodology/approachThe authors employ the difference-in-differences method. The authors include only males in the analysis because it is not possible to identify the legal retirement age for women from available data. Men in the workforce 1–3 years prior to the statutory retirement age are in a control group, while men 1–3 years older are in a treatment group.FindingsThe authors show that the reform significantly increased the share of permanent contracts held by retirees (by 22.5–27.6 percentage points), though we do not find any aggregate short-term change in employment of retirees. Heterogeneity analysis shows a significant increase in the employment of retirees with only elementary school education (by 17.9 percentage points) and a significant decrease in the number of hours worked by retirees (by 2.5 h weekly for low-educated workers).Practical implicationsThe policy conclusion is that the regulation of employment contract does not affect aggregate employment, but may improve employment of low skilled workers.Originality/valueTo the authors’ best knowledge, there are no studies directly analysing motivation of retirees by types of employment contracts. The authors, thus, add to the literature that studies dealing with the general fixed-term versus permanent contracts (Engellandt and Riphahn, 2003) and motivation to work.

scholarly journals Daily School Physical Activity Improves Academic Performance

Sports ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (6) ◽  
pp. 83
Author(s):  
Jesper Fritz ◽  
Marcus E. Cöster ◽  
Björn E. Rosengren ◽  
Caroline Karlsson ◽  
Magnus K. Karlsson
Keyword(s):  
Physical Activity ◽  
Academic Performance ◽  
Intervention Study ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Compulsory School ◽  
Final Grade ◽  
School Based ◽  
Percentage Points ◽  
Upper Secondary ◽  
The Mean

Physical activity (PA) may improve brain development, cognition, concentration and academic performance. In this prospective controlled intervention study, we increased the level of PA in 338 children aged 6–8 years at study start, from the Swedish standard of 60 min per week to 200 min per week (40 min daily). The intervention continued in all nine compulsory school years until the students graduated between 2007–2012. All other 689,881 Swedish children who graduated the same years were included as a control group. We registered at graduation eligibility rate for upper secondary school and the final grade score (from 0 to 320 grade points). We also registered the same end points in the 295 students in the index school and in all other 471,926 Swedish students who graduated in 2003–2006, that is, those who graduated before the intervention study started. Before the intervention, academic performance was similar among children in the index school as for all other Swedish boys and girls. With the intervention, the eligibility rate increased for boys in the index school by 7.3 percentage points and the mean grade scores by 13.3 points. This should be compared with a decrease of 0.8 percentage points in eligibility rate and an increase by 2.7 points in grade score in other Swedish boys. No changes were seen for intervention girls, neither in eligibility rates or grade scores. By introducing daily school-based PA in compulsory school, more boys would probably reach the eligibility rate for higher education.

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