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Every stage of a construction project has a time and cost aspect. Project delays are normal and frequently happen in the construction industry. Delays have a massive impact on completing deadlines for projects, managing cash flow, and maintaining the appropriate level of quality. This paper aims to identify the financial problems facing by the contractor of construction sector and their effects on the projects in Kedah and Perlis. The goal of the study was to identify the options and tactical approaches that may be used to address these financial issues, as well as to analyse the causes, consequences, and repercussions of these issue. The hermeneutic phenomenology method is chosen for this study and six respondents who were chosen based on their expertise and skill in managing building projects in rural areas with more than 10 years of experience participated in structured interview sessions utilising standard semi-structured questions. The paper reveals that the critical financial issues in Kedah and Perlis of the construction industry are the withholding of payment by the approval parties, lack of cash flow management, past due payment received from the client, difficulties in obtaining funds from financial institutions, and inflation. The recommendations made to enhance and resolve the financial issues encountered, meaning that all these things had to take place earlier stage in the construction process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food insecurity is a pressing multidimensional problem that negatively impacts the health and well-being of a significant number of the older population. Finding ways to better address nutritional issues among this vulnerable population is vital to their well-being. Using a mixed-methods approach, we conducted semi-structured phone interviews with a representative sample of 434 low-income older adult households in Tennessee. The aim of this study is to assess the prevalence of food insecurity, examine ongoing barriers, and, using qualitative data, to explore the diverse daily experiences older adults face when confronted with a food insecure lifestyle. Based on the USDA Adult 10-Item Household Screening Module, we found that 30% in our sample were designated as marginally, low or very low food secure. Many of those most vulnerable (older women, widowed or divorced, poor health and below the poverty line) constantly struggled with food insecurity. Being food insecure was attributed to limited financial resources, lack of transportation, health limitations, and a poor psychological state. Utilizing food stretching practicing, governmental agencies offering food supplements, family/friends, religious groups and personal resilience were common coping strategies. Implications and recommendations for service providers are offered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the roles of different types of social support economic stress and life satisfaction in retirement among Korean Older Adults. Topics include reduced or lower income after retirement tends to erode feelings of life satisfaction among older adult retirees; and studies have documented a consistent relationship between economic stress and life satisfaction in different age groups including older adults.

Cognitive impairment and dementia are public health concerns with significant financial implications for both individual households and public insurance systems. Though research has refined diagnostic tools for cognitive impairment and dementia diseases, little attention has focused on how cognitive decline may impact financial security. Research indicates that financial decision-making may be one of the first cognitive abilities impacted by cognitive decline, putting individuals at risk of financial fraud and exploitation. However, financial decision-making is not directly assessed in cognitive screenings. Identification of prodromal decline in financial decision-making may help individuals to preserve their financial security and reduce the likelihood of relying on public benefits. This commentary outlines the need for social workers and researchers to better understand the relationship between cognitive health, financial decision-making, and financial security in later life to formulate culturally responsive strategies that can uphold and benefit financial statuses, especially for minoritized communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Money Smart for Older Adults is a program that is tailored to older adults to raise awareness for the risk of financial exploitation and teach them how to plan and make informed financial decisions. The purpose of this study was to examine financial circumstances of older adults in the program and to explore how the program could better support their financial well-being. Individual, in-depth interviews were conducted with 29 older adults who attended the program provided by a local agency in northern Texas. Three themes emerged when exploring financial circumstances of the participants: (1) victims of financial fraud scams, (2) struggles with money management, and (3) inability to make ends meet. The program has been serving older adults, particularly ethnically diverse older adults and low-income older adults who may not have access to financial education workshops or seminars provided by private financial institutions. The Money Smart for Older Adults Program was perceived as helpful among the participants because it raised awareness of the importance of their financial well-being and it also supported their financial decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is little research about trauma, financial stress, and social service needs emanating from the experience of parenting grandchildren caused by the opioid crisis in the United States. We conducted a qualitative study with 15 grandparents who currently or in the past had custodial care of their grandchildren. We also interviewed nine issue-related stakeholders in Eastern Massachusetts. Specific inquiries centered on events leading up to a change in guardianship, stressors related to legal, financial, and family issues, and system-wide response to the grandparents' needs. Results indicate that the opioid crisis presents distinct challenges for the grandparent-led families and for the systems that serve the new family arrangement. Crisis triggers a change in guardianship and continues throughout the years. The continued crises stem from events related to the parent's opioid use disorder (OUD) and from expenses related to raising a young family, especially when the grandchild has adverse childhood experiences. Our analysis shows that systems break down on a number of levels, and the fluidity of custodial arrangements due to parents' OUD status does not map onto existing support or benefit systems. Policy responses must focus on the immediate and long-term needs of grandparent caretakers, especially since the opioid crisis is likely to continue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic virtually ended studying abroad. New (online) formats are offered, but this has not stopped universities from having to revise curricula, renegotiate partnerships and consult with students about studying abroad in 2020 and beyond. This short essay stems from the author's experience of cancelling his own Japanese study abroad program in late February 2020 to avoid the program participants taking unnecessary risks in the face of the unknown speed at which COVID-19 was spreading in Europe. The cancellation of that study trip brought to the fore, however, entrenched issues with short term study abroad programs and pushed the author to consider what the value of the 'abroad' in 'study abroad' had been until then. A short comparison with the practice of ethnography ensues, inspired by early pandemic debates on the future of anthropological fieldwork, which is another endeavour that has traditionally depended on relatively extended stays abroad. The essay closes with two problems that study abroad organisers will have to think about in a post-corona world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to draw attention to consequences of the transfer of competency at the level of the building procedure from state authorities to municipal offices in the Slovak Republic and the Czech Republic. The defined research objective was achieved firstly by conducting controlled interviews with representatives of the building offices in the Nitra Region and, secondly, by analysis of financing of this competency from the obtained data from publicly available sources in both states. Secondly, the paper includes a comparison of the financial management of the transferred competencies at the level of the building procedure between the Nitra Region (Slovakia) and the Pardubice Region (Czech Republic). By conducting controlled interviews in the Nitra Region, we came to the conclusion of the financial under-dimensioning of this competency. By comparing the amount of state subsidies provided for the building procedure in both regions, significant differences were found. Based on our research findings, we recommend reassessing the state subsidies for the transferred competency in the field of building procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research paper is to explore the social and economy elements among private universities aging workers to continue working. There are four variables were studies which are work-life balance, working experience, financial issues and working environment. The targeted populations was aging workers 55 to 60 years working in private education industries in Selangor, Malaysia. A questioners was distributed among 200 aging workers. Data was collected using a probabilities sampling methods, particularly a stratified random sampling technique. The findings indicate that work-life balance, working experience, financial issues and working environment contribute in the participation of aging workers in Malaysia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dementia is a destructive, debilitating, and progressive terminal disease. Palliative care has potential to ameliorate some of the devastating effects for both client and family. In consideration of the Grand Challenges for Social Work, social workers can provide prevention and assistance in supporting individual and family well-being through addressing the practical problems associated with dementia. This field note provides a brief narrative of the challenges I discovered when navigating the minutiae of unraveling the financial affairs of a relative with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ethical applications in group psychotherapy are known as complex and unpredictable processes. Group psychotherapy is fragile in ethical applications for several reasons. First, group members disclosure themselves not only to therapist but also other group members. Second, therapist-patient relationship includes several different interactions, which include other group members. Third, there are much more situations that therapist may not take control in group psychotherapy. Finally, there are much more possibilities in group psychotherapy that interrupt the effectiveness of the psychotherapy process. Therefore, the processes of examining group psychotherapy in terms of ethical dilemmas, becoming aware of the situations that create ethical dilemmas, and specifying the actions to be taken in these situations become prominent. Internalization of the ethical rules and applying these rules to different situations for the sake of patients constitute the basis of ethical awareness. Therefore, educating professionals regarding ethical issues in group psychotherapy and developing an ethically-sensitive atmosphere in the psychotherapy applications are important. In light of these information, the present review focuses on the group psychotherapy processes. Specifically, the situations that may create ethical dilemmas (therapist's competence, forming the group, informed consent, confidentiality, note taking, financial issues, multiple relationships, and termination process) were reviewed. In addition, a general synthesis was made, the limitations of the previous studies were declared and suggestions for future studies were added. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In today's competitive environment as well as the dynamic nature of the business environment, managing inventory and financial flows has become more challenging. As inventory and financial flows are interdependent, setting an optimal plan for managing them simultaneously can have a dramatic impact on the company's efficiency The literature indicates that previous studies have rarely considered financial considerations in the inventory management problem. Thus, this study proposes a multi-objective programming model to optimize the inventory management problem for dairy products. In the model, material substitution is considered in order to assist in managing the inventory value. A fuzzy model is developed to deal with uncertain parameters such as inventory costs, raw milk volume, and the cost of purchasing raw materials. Then, a real-world case study is conducted in the Iranian dairy industry. Additionally, the proposed model is solved using a multi-choice goal programming approach. Further, sensitivity analyses are conducted in order to investigate the impact of critical parameters on the research question. Finally, managerial insights and theoretical implications are discussed. Based on the results, raw milk volume decreases inventory costs, and material substitution decreases inventory value as obsolete materials are used in products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current economic crisis has created a climate of financial uncertainty for many American families. One solution for an increasing segment of the population is to start a new business. While there is an established body of research that explores the financial implications of launching a new business venture, there is limited work on the relational aspects involved. Previous research suggests that a strong marital relationship may be one of the myriad resources needed to sustain a new business, yet the business may also place significant strain on the marital relationship. The authors present an exploration of how couple expectations of the impact of the new business venture interact with the perceptions of social support by using concepts from Optimal Matching Theory and Conservation of Resources theory. Findings suggest that the relationship between expectations and social support within entrepreneurial couples is complex and that clinicians who work with these couples may need specialized strategies to assess, conceptualize, and treat their presenting problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Free access to technology, help for immigrants, a safe space for kids—NYPL Branch libraries play an increasingly important role. But funding hasn’t kept up. Will the lack of support undermine a critical civic resource? This publication is based on an ongoing project looking at the potential for New York’s libraries to fill a critical gap in New York City’s civic infrastructure, as well as the challenges and difficult choices the library systems face. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In Belgium, where haemophilia affects approximately 1:7000 people (2011), data on patients' quality of life (QoL) is scarce. This project aims to assess physical and mental QoL (P-QoL and M-QoL) simultaneously, and to analyse the influence of different variables on these two aspects of QoL. After Ethics Committee approval, we contacted 84 adult haemophilia A (HA) and haemophilia B (HB) patients, without current inhibitors, on replacement therapy (on-demand or secondary prophylaxis), regularly followed up at our comprehensive treatment centre. Seventy-one (n = 59 HA, n = 12 HB) replied to our questionnaire, which included the SF36v2 QoL assessment forms. We analysed two groups of variables: one including variables previously associated with decreased QoL, and another including variables with unclear impact on QoL (e.g. patients' understanding of haemophilia-related issues, economical concerns). In our population (mean ± SD age: 45.2 ± 14.7 years old), P-QoL appeared more reduced than M-QoL. P-QoL was strongly influenced by the number of arthropathies while M-QoL was primarily affected by patients' concern of personal costs due to haemophilia. Among this latter group, having knowledge of insurance coverage had a positive impact on M-QoL. Scores did not depend on haemophilia type. QoL was impaired in our haemophilia patients. A simultaneous assessment of P-QoL andM-QoL confirmed the benefit of primary prophylaxis in P-QoL, while originally pointing out the major burden of patients' concerns and poor understanding of haemophilia-related economical issues on their M-QoL. This might become a particularly challenging issue in times of financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The number of university spin offs in the Spanish University System have increased in the last years. However, these companies still have to face financial and organizational problems, like the lack of management abilities of their founder members. Based on a panel of 72 spin offs created in Spain in the last decade, this paper analyzes the main problems of these companies, and proposes financial and organizational tools to solve some of them. As a result of this previous research, we describe, on the one hand, a series of applied initiatives in organizational design and human resources policies. On the other hand,from afinancial perspective, we propose the use of venture capital resource as potential financial instrument. This paper contributes to increase the data frame of university spin offs in Spain, and proposes new approaches to support the management abilities of entrepreneurs, through the proposal of applied organizational and financial tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financing retirement is a major concern, especially for women. The present paper reviews significant changes to Australian retirement incomes that require greater individual responsibility for saving, planning, and managing retirement finances. Data on women's financial situation and planning for retirement, and the possible reasons for their limited superannuation accumulations, are explored. The implications for social work of the requirement that women develop capacity for financial planning and management before, as well as in old age, when physical and cognitive capabilities may be compromised, are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article integrates developmental schema and the tenets of positive psychology toward addressing "money issues" for stepfamilies. As stepfamilies represent the fastest growing demographic in family configurations, family counselors must be knowledgeable regarding normative stepfamily issues and familiar with techniques to support family development and enhancement. This article offers attention to the initial three areas of family demographics, positive psychology, and stepfamily developmental schema as foundations for the suggested practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why did the Han government allow the southern Xiongnu to immigrate into the prefectures on the fringe of the Han border? In this paper we discuss only the financial reasons of the Han empire's policy on this issue. The nomad economy of the Xiongnu was not self-sufficient. They depended on the supply of the agricultural society of the Han empire in several ways. First, the Xiongnu raided the Han border prefectures and took the ration and other goods. Second, the Han emperor offered consorts to the Xiongnu chieftains when the latter surrendered and were recognized as the subject of the former. Third, the Han emperor made payment of cash and goods to the Xiongnu when the latter was strong and the former wanted peace. The Han government had to pay the Xiongnu whatever they asked to maintain peaceful relations. The only way the Han government avoided payment to the Xiongnu was to wage war, defeat the Xiongnu and chase them far away from the border. But the cost of war deemed too expensive. In the beginning of the Eastern Han, the southern Xiongnu surrendered to the Han emperor. The Han government settled them in the regions inside the border, and kept them under surveillance. The government considered that this was the best way to handle the matter financially, though the emperor still gave a large sum of valuable gifts annually to the Chief of the southern Xiongnu, and provided the tribesmen with economic assistance in their difficult times. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The direct and indirect costs to society from child maltreatment are estimated to be quite high. The costs related to medical care are of interest to professionals serving on medically-oriented child protection teams that conduct medical evaluations of alleged abuse. This study was designed to explore a number of financially related issues on medically-oriented child protection teams specifically examining the team’s staffing, funding sources, reimbursement, budgeting, perceived impact of managed health care and their perception of funding stability.Method: Mailed survey of medically-oriented child protection teams throughout the United States using a questionnaire that contained 28 items focused on a variety of financial issues; 14 items were drawn from a similar study done 6 years earlier, which allowed for comparison over time.Results: Responses were received from 320 out of 472 organizations, yielding a response rate of 68%. Inclusion criteria were met by 153 responses and were included in the analysis; 22 of these had also responded to the earlier survey. Median total budget was $300,000 and state and local government funding was the largest revenue source (Mdn=30%, range: 0–100%), followed by patient care generated revenue (Mdn=20%, range: 0–100%). The mean charge for an evaluation was $283 (SD=$196.11, range: $0–$800). Forty percent of teams indicated that managed care had no impact where as 49% saw a negative impact. Comparisons between the responses to this survey and the one done 1993 demonstrated that teams were seeing about the same number of patients and showed trends towards increased budget amounts and broader inclusion of various health care and non-health care disciplines on the teams.Conclusions: No single source of funds for such teams has emerged as the uniform solution for all teams. Creative patchworks composed of various funding sources remain the typical solution to the funding needs of medically-oriented child protection teams. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]