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This study has been conducted to measure the collaborative research among the social scientist at Jawaharlal Nehru University, India during the year 1998-2017. The sample of 2128 articles has been collected from the Scopus database during the year 1998-2017 and were analyzed to study the collaborative coefficient, collaborative index, year wise degree of collaboration, modified collaboration coefficient, co-authorship index and language wise distribution of articles. From this study, it is found that the growth rate of publications in the social sciences is rapidly increasing. The collaborative coefficient is below 0.5 which implies that single-authored papers are dominating. The co-authorship index for the single-authored paper is higher, and the degree of collaboration is low as the value is 0. The research articles are the preferred format to publish in the journals. This study was limited to the data collected from the Scopus database during the period 1998-2017. The findings have significant implications for the researchers/scholars to know the growth and trend of collaborative research in the social sciences. This study extends the knowledge on the bibliometric tools employed to measure the collaborative research in the social sciences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The present study aims to understand context and dynamics of cognitive learning of students as an outcome of the usage of popular movies as a learning tool in the management classroom and specifically in the context of a course on cross-cultural management issues. Design/methodology/approach: This is an exploratory study based on qualitative analysis of reflection notes of 14 students who participated in an elective course on "managing cross-cultural issues (MCCI)" in the second year of their MBA programme. Students were asked to submit reflection notes focused on classroom learning as an outcome of the course MCCI with specific reference to used movies "Outsourced" and "My Big Fat Greek Wedding". Students' reactions in their reflection notes were analyzed through qualitative content analysis. Findings: The findings of this study reveal that students found selected movies very relevant and effective in learning cross-cultural theories, issues and developing cross-cultural competence. They also enjoyed movies as learning experience in the classroom. Both instructor's observations and students' reactions regarding the effectiveness of movies as classroom learning tool are very positive. Practical implications: Popular movies, if appropriately selected and included in cross-cultural training programmes for expatriate managers, immigrant workers and managers who travel to different countries, could be very useful as a learning tool for developing multicultural perspective and cross-cultural competence. Originality/value: This paper could be very useful to academicians and researchers who want to use popular movies as an instructional or research tool for exploring the psychodynamics of classroom learning in management and social sciences courses or professional training programmes focused on cross-cultural management skills, global leadership skills, diversity management. (Contains 2 notes and 2 tables.)

Background: Resource allocation decisions for disease categories can be informed by proper estimates of the magnitude and distribution of total spending. In the backdrop of a high burden of Non-Communicable Diseases and Injuries (NCDI) in India, and a paucity of estimates on government spending on NCDI, this paper attempts to analyse public sector expenditure on NCDI spending in India. Methods: Various recent budget documents of the Centre and States/Union Territories have been used to extract expenditure on NCDI. The aggregates thus arrived at have been analysed to estimate aggregate and state level per capita spending. State level spending have been compared against disease burden using DALYs. Patterns of spending on NCDI across states were also analysed together with state level poverty to observe possible patterns. Findings: The total spending on NCDI by the government is low at less than 0.5% of GDP. NCDI spending is little more than one-fourth of total health spending of the country and most spending takes place at the state level (80%). The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare’s share in Central spending on NCDI is around 65%, and currently it spends 20% of its total health spending on NCDI. The gap between spending and DALYs is the most for the economically vulnerable states. Also, the states with high poverty levels also have low per capita expenditure on NCDI Interpretation: India does not depend on donor funding for health. It will have to step up domestic funding to address the increasing disease burden of NCDIs and to reduce the high out-of-pocket expenditure on NCDI. Policies on NCDI need to focus on UHC, service integration and personnel gaps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The changing population age structure has a significant influence on the economy, society, and numerous other aspects of a country. This paper has innovatively applied the method of compositional data forecasting for the prediction of population age changes of the young (aged 0–14), the middle-aged (aged 15–64), and the elderly (aged older than 65) in China, India, and Vietnam by 2030 based on data from 1960 to 2016. To select the best-suited forecasting model, an array of data transformation approaches and forecasting models have been extensively employed, and a large number of comparisons have been made between the aforementioned methods. The best-suited model for each country is identified considering the root mean squared error and mean absolute percent error values from the compositional data. As noted in this study, first and foremost, it is predicted that by the year 2030, China will witness the disappearance of population dividend and get mired in an aging problem far more severe than that of India or Vietnam. Second, Vietnam’s trend of change in population age structure resembles that of China, but the country will sustain its good health as a whole. Finally, the working population of India demonstrates a strong rising trend, indicating that the age structure of the Indian population still remains relatively “young”. Meanwhile, the continuous rise in the proportion of elderly population and the gradual leveling off growth of the young population have nevertheless become serious problems in the world. The present paper attempts to offer crucial insights into the Asian population size, labor market and urbanization, and, moreover, provides suggestions for a sustainable global demographic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore the problem of establishing a network among the stocks of a market at high frequency level and give an application to program trading. Our work uses high frequency data from the National Stock Exchange, India, for the year 2014. To begin, we analyse the spectrum of the correlation matrix to establish the presence of linear relations amongst the stock returns. A comparison of correlations with pairwise mutual information shows the further existence of non-linear relations which are not captured by correlation. We also see that the non-linear relations are more pronounced at the high frequency level in comparison to the daily returns used in earlier work. We provide two applications of this approach. First, we construct minimal spanning trees for the stock network based on mutual information and study their topology. The year 2014 saw the conduct of general elections in India and the data allows us to explore their impact on aspects of the network, such as the scale-free property and sectorial clusters. Second, having established the presence of non-linear relations, we would like to be able to exploit them. Previous authors have suggested that peripheral stocks in the network would make good proxies for the Markowitz portfolio but with a much smaller number of stocks. We show that peripheral stocks selected using mutual information perform significantly better than ones selected using correlation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the causality between energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth is helpful for policymakers to formulate energy, environmental and economic policies. For the first time, based on nonlinear dynamics, this paper employs multispatial convergent cross mapping (CCM) to revisit the energy-carbon-economy causation for China, India and the G7 countries using both aggregate data and per capita data. The findings indicate that there are significant differences between developing countries and developed countries. A bidirectional nexus between energy consumption, carbon emissions and economic growth is found in China and India, but various causal relationships are identified in the G7 countries, including bidirectional, unidirectional and neutral nexus. The results confirm that the decoupling phenomenon is common in most G7 countries. By leveraging a variety of samples and a new approach, this study provides new evidence for policy authorities to formulate country-specific policies to obtain better environmental quality while achieving sustainable economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the social inclusiveness of agricultural extension services in India. We estimate the probability and frequency of farmers’ access to extension services and resulting changes in crop income across different caste groups. The literature suggests that caste-based social segregation manifests in various spheres of life, and perpetuates economic inequality and oppression. An econometric analysis of nationally-representative data from rural India verifies this with respect to the agricultural sector. Farmers belonging to the socially-marginalized castes are found to have a lower chance of accessing the public extension services, primarily due to their inferior resource-endowment status. Contacting extension agents at least once increased the average annual crop income by about 12 thousand Indian rupees per household, which is equivalent to 36% of the annual crop income of those without access to extension services. There exists significant impact heterogeneity. Farmers from the socially-marginalized castes hardly benefited from accessing the extension services. Based on these observations, we have developed a number of policy recommendations that could improve the social inclusiveness of agricultural development strategies in rural India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the ongoing demographic and epidemiological transition, cancer is emerging as a major public health concern in India. This paper uses nationally representative household survey to examine the overall prevalence and economic burden of cancer in India. The age-standardized prevalence of cancer is estimated to be 97 per 100,000 persons with greater prevalence in urban areas. The evidence suggests that cancer prevalence is highest among the elderly and also among females in the reproductive age groups. Cancer displays a significant socioeconomic gradient even after adjusting for age-sex specifics and clustering in a multilevel regression framework. We find that out of pocket expenditure on cancer treatment is among the highest for any ailment. The average out of pocket spending on inpatient care in private facilities is about three-times that of public facilities. Furthermore, treatment for about 40 percent of cancer hospitalization cases is financed mainly through borrowings, sale of assets and contributions from friends and relatives. Also, over 60 percent of the households who seek care from the private sector incur out of pocket expenditure in excess of 20 percent of their annual per capita household expenditure. Given the catastrophic implications, this study calls for a disease-based approach towards financing such high-cost ailment. It is suggested that universal cancer care insurance should be envisaged and combined with existing accident and life insurance policies for the poorer sections in India. In concluding, we call for policies to improve cancer survivorship through effective prevention and early detection. In particular, greater public health investments in infrastructure, human resources and quality of care deserve priority attention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — Among the several sub-themes for this Special Issue this paper aims to deal, broadly, with the Hindu view of economics and allied matters. Design/methodology/approach — The approach is a conceptual one that highlights a few crucial aspects of the ‘positive’ flank of Hinduism vis-à-vis its ‘normative’ dimension. Researchers, thinkers, scholars and, above all, some important but ignored realizers of Hindu psycho-philosophy, have been dug into for materials comprising the paper. Findings — The findings clearly show that the amazing sustainability of Bharat's (i.e. India's) socio-economic processes, structures and systems, despite the tortures of history visiting her, can be explained by her abiding fidelity to the eternal as the basis of the temporal. This is the very foundation of the sacro-secular character of Hindu culture. Practical implications — The expected impact is long-term through deep-structure germination on a wide tract. Hurried practical application in tiny fractions is not intended as this will be premature and superficial. Originality/value — The contents of this paper are meant to generate a holistic and respectful orientation to the forging of constructive links between culture and economics in the context of Hinduism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A basic premise of representative democracy is that all those subject to policy should have a voice in its making. However, policies enacted by electorally accountable governments often fail to reflect the interests of disadvantaged minorities. This paper exploits the institutional features of political reservation, as practiced in Indian states, to examine the role of mandated political representation in providing disadvantaged groups influence over policy-making, I find that political reservation has increased transfers to groups which benefit from the mandate. This finding also suggests that complete policy commitment may be absent in democracies, as is found in this case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we model the bus networks of six major Indian cities as graphs in L-space, and evaluate their various statistical properties. While airline and railway networks have been extensively studied, a comprehensive study on the structure and growth of bus networks is lacking. In India, where bus transport plays an important role in day-to-day commutation, it is of significant interest to analyze its topological structure and answer basic questions on its evolution, growth, robustness and resiliency. Although the common feature of small-world property is observed, our analysis reveals a wide spectrum of network topologies arising due to significant variation in the degree-distribution patterns in the networks. We also observe that these networks although, robust and resilient to random attacks are particularly degree-sensitive. Unlike real-world networks, such as Internet, WWW and airline, that are virtual, bus networks are physically constrained. Our findings therefore, throw light on the evolution of such geographically and constrained networks that will help us in designing more efficient bus networks in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Out-of-pocket spending at out-patient departments (OPD) by households is relatively less analyzed compared to hospitalization expenses in India. This paper provides new evidence on the levels and drivers of expenditure on out-patient care, as well as choice of providers, using household survey data from 8 districts in 3 states of India. Results indicate that the economically vulnerable spend more on OPD as a proportion of per capita consumption expenditure, out-patient care remains overwhelmingly private and switches of providers—while not very prevalent—is mostly towards private providers. A key result is that choice of public providers tend to lower OPD spending significantly. It indicates that an improvement in the overall quality and accessibility of government facilities still remain an important tool that should be considered in the context of financial protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Common mental disorders (CMD) such as depression, suicidal risk and emotional/medically unexplained complaints affect a large number of people in India, but few receive appropriate care. Key reasons for this include few trained mental health professionals and stigma associated with mental health. A potential approach to address poor access to care is by training village healthcare workers in providing basic mental health care, and harnessing India’s vast mobile network to support such workers using mobile-based applications. We propose an intervention to implement such an approach that incorporates the use of mobile-based electronic decision support systems (EDSS) to provide mental health services for CMD, combined with a community-based anti-stigma campaign. This will be implemented and evaluated across 42 villages in Andhra Pradesh, a south Indian state. This paper discusses the development and testing of the EDSS, and the formative research that informed the anti-stigma campaign. Materials and Methods: The development of the EDSS used an iterative process that was validated against clinical diagnosis. A mixed methods approach tested the user acceptability of the EDSS. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews provided community-level perceptions about mental health. This study involved 3 villages and one primary health centre. Results: The EDSS application was found to be acceptable, but some modifications were needed. The community lacked adequate knowledge about CMD and its treatment and there was stigma associated with mental illness. Faith and traditional healers were considered to be important mental health service providers. Discussion: A number of barriers and facilitators were identified in implementing the intervention analysed in a framework using Andersen’s behavioural model of health services use. Conclusion: The findings assisted with refining the intervention prior to large-scale implementation and evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Media education should not be merely about making media professionals. It should rather be about enlightening the citizens. The problem lies in the basic approach to media education which is essentially considered to be a vocational course. This approach in itself results in segmentation of the students from the very beginning. While all students of political Science do not end up becoming politicians and all students of Sociology do not end up becoming sociologists, Media Education, unfortunately, is essentially projected as a subject whose primary focus is upon producing media professionals. However, just as the primary focus of teaching political Science and Sociology is creating political and social sensibility, the primary focus of teaching media education should be creating media sensibility/ awareness among the youth of the nation as the media has emerged as a force to reckon with in today's scenario. Thus, they need to be aware of the powers and functions of the media so that they may judge the stance taken by the media in regional, national and even the international affairs. This paper shall strive to throw some light upon such issues through both theoretical and practical approaches such as content analysis and surveys. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Engineering, particularly in India, is a very technical form of education, with very little emphasis on social science and liberal arts related subjects. It produces a large number of quality engineers from different institutions every year, who are highly capable of solving engineering problems in their chosen fields, but quite often find its difficult to effectively participate in the developmental activities in the country as they are unable to comprehend correctly the societal needs. The present society and the education system do not provide enough opportunities to explore nature and the society at large and thus quite often, the experts in various engineering fields become isolated and are unable to understand the real needs of the people. One option to bridge the gap is to introduce a few humanities, social sciences and ethics related courses in the engineering curricula. The paper discusses various possible methods to implement such a plan, evaluates them and concludes that at this point of time, the most appropriate solution would be to make these topics in-built into the engineering subjects. However, in order to implement this, the engineering professionals must get convinced about the need and the initiative should come from them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on the political sociology of caste identity/mobilisations in contemporary India and her democratic political process generally focuses primarily on macro analysis of electoral politics or caste associations. The existing formulations on ‘caste and politics’ have also been drawn largely from such analyses where the political experience of the so-called middle-level, landowning ‘dominant’ castes has been the primary source of empirical data. Based on three case studies of caste-related conflicts and dalit assertions in contemporary rural Punjab, this paper tries to show that, historically, politicisation of caste identities varies significantly across different caste groups. The experience of being a member of a dalit caste, for example, is very different from that of being a member of an ‘upper’ or dominant caste. This paper, therefore, argues for a more differentiated understanding of the subject, which can be best derived from micro analyses of changing caste relations in contemporary India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We estimate the returns (measured by hourly earnings) to education, experience, and social networking in India using individual-level panel data from the India Human Development Surveys. We combined the two latest waves of this survey using individual-level identifiers to generate a balanced panel and merged it with various household characteristics. We provide estimates of private returns for an additional year of education and experience by consumption quintiles, gender, caste, and religion in a fixed-effects Heckman model that controls for selection bias. This methodology improves upon estimates of all earlier studies on earnings in India, as most of the literature has relied on cross-section data or pseudo-panel data. We also examine the impact of social networking on earnings, which is under-explored in nationwide studies in India. We find that education significantly and positively affects earnings for all consumption quintiles, gender, caste (except schedule castes), and religious groups. Among economic groups, the highest returns are observed for the third quintile above the poverty line. Returns to females for an additional year of education are nearly double that of males but the difference in starting earnings keeps earnings of males higher for long periods. Among the castes, scheduled castes have the highest returns to education and other minorities among religious groups. Social networking positively impacts males, Hindus, and the quintile just above the poverty line. Experience positively impacts women's earnings, general caste and scheduled caste, Hindus and Other minorities and two consumption quintiles (two and five) above the poverty line. Plain Language Summary: Impact of Education, Experience, and Social Networks Impact Earnings in India by Class, Gender, Caste and Religion Purpose: Enhancing human capital is critical for India's development. It would help overcome existing labor market hierarchies based on economic class, gender, religion, and caste. We study the impact on private earnings of (a) an additional year of education and experience, and (b) social networking. Methods: We use an individual level panel dataset assembled from the two latest rounds of the Indian Human Development Survey (I&II). Our Heckman type earnings equation controls for selection bias. Results: An additional year of education increased earnings between (a) 2.4% and 8.8% among different consumption quintiles (b) 3.7% for males to 5.2% for females, (c) 1.5% (STs), to 5.9% (SCs), and (d) 2.3% (Muslims), to 9.9% (Other Minorities). Experience increased earnings of two economic groups, females, the General and Scheduled castes, and of Hindus and Other Minorities. Social networking increased earnings of males, Hindus, and one economic quintile. Conclusions: Higher marginal returns to education for females justifies greater investment in women's education. Lower returns on education among STs and Muslims indicate the need for affirmative action for these groups. The positive returns to education for the poor suggests that anti-poverty programs in combination with educational opportunities for the less privileged would meet the goals of social justice. Implications Better education (SDG4) would help achieve gender equality (SDG5), and social justice for marginalized (economic, caste and religious) groups (SDG1, SDG10). Limitations: We were unable to account for ability bias. Stratification by state and sector would provide better estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates whether past declines in mortality could have created a huge deficit of eligible men in the marriage market, and whether the ensuing competition for mates could be responsible for the coercive character the dowry system of marriage has assumed in India. New indices have been developed to measure the trends in bridegroom availability that aid in the inquiry into the demographic origins of marriage squeeze. It is contended that the marriage squeeze against women was particularly intense in India because mortality decline, in addition to age structural changes, drastically reduced the number of widowers in the population who once accounted for about one-fifth of the annual supply of bridegrooms. Our projections indicate that, as a result of recent declines in fertility, the marriage squeeze against females will ease substantially by the end of the first decade of the twenty-first century, and that marriages of men will begin to be delayed more than those of women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions of identity and culture have perhaps never been as important for the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, history or even geography as they are today. This new interest in identity and culture has definitely helped in opening up fresh topics for research and politics. However, in certain instances this has also led to the revival of some "old" concepts. The new discourse of community is not confined to academics alone. It has permeated the ideologies of political parties on the Right and the Left and is freely used to consolidate support for struggles against a variety of enemies, be they multinational corporations, the globalised media, consumer culture or communalist mobilisations. It was also pointed out in another paper that the nation-state that had come to acquire a critical place in contemporary political discourses was also based on a notion of community, it defined itself as the only legitimate form of community, an oppositional other of the "primordial" communities. In another paper on "Narratives in the Re-Constitution of Communities," it was argued that in the contemporary political discourses on India, much attention was being paid to the increasing presence or emergence of communities as "political actors" in the public domain of the nation, and to the resulting community-state interfaces.

This article ethnographically traces the performance of data collection and analysis for a cancer cost-of-illness study in an East Indian Cancer hospital. By reflecting on my experience in this project, I show how the hospital's obligations for philanthropic and business self-sustainability spatially and temporally structured data in a way that produced the conditions of possibility for what was able to be made knowable of patients' experiences in cancer health economics. While collecting and analysing data within the spatial and temporal structuring of this self-sustainable hospital, I argue that our research team attempted to craft an ethical epistemology by incorporating the unique realities of Indian cancer patients based upon assumptions made from our tacit knowledge. Specifically, we called upon this knowledge to exercise a form of tacit epistemological ethics for patients existing in an in-between space of classification within Euro-North America cancer health economics frameworks. Finally, I suggest that in light of an attempt to produce a more ethical economic logic, the results of the cost-of-illness analysis are ultimately returned to larger conditions of possibility within austere health systems and Euro-North America health economics frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the papers "The Role of Social Sciences in India," by Yogendra Singh and "Indian Sociology: Historical Development and Present Problems," by Ram Krishna Mukerjee. These papers have raised serious issues and it is the professional obligation to submit the reactions to their line of framing the perspective for the role of social sciences, particularly of sociology in contemporary Indian situation. It is necessary to avoid academic obscurantism on this issue. In search of an innovative elan for social sciences in India and obsessed with the idea of nation building through social sciences, Singh raises the populist ghost of the Western reference model. He also gives a warning that one should not be cynical towards the internationally accepted norms of scientific objectivity. Even if one takes up the author's thesis of existential linkage, the assumed threat from the alien reference model is unintelligible. One cannot be blind to the development of ideas in the world.

Based on an appraisal of Radhakamal Mukerjee's critique of western social science approaches to the study of Indian society and culture, this paper attempts to discern the elements of an alternative indigenous (Indian?) vision through a critical and selective reading of his oeuvre. It foregrounds Mukerjee's axial concerns and analytical thematics and explores the contours of a critique of western modernity in his pioneering contributions. Its primary focus is to delineate the nature and premises of Mukerjee's exposition of Indianness in relation to his conceptualisation of the relations between individual, society, and culture [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The social sciences have played a significant role in challenging and politicising various forms of exploitation. However, Indian social science discourse has largely ignored the exploitation that is inherent in most human-non-human relationships and, at times, even actively delegitimised any efforts to question the same. This paper tries to understand why the ethical aspects of human-non-human (specifically, animal) interactions have remained outside social science analysis. It does so by examining the arguments used to support such exclusion and by exploring a range of taken-for-granted differences between human and non-human animals. The analysis suggests that the reluctance of the Indian social sciences to engage with this question is unjustified. In doing so, it points to the need for social sciences to continually question the exclusionary power of their boundaries by deploying an empathetic and self-reflexive imagination. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social Science is a study society and human relationship, It is a complex whole and is the understanding of the society, persons, groups, institutions and interactions among them in a logical manner and it takes an effort to find out solution of Indian Society. When a social science is considered as the study of society why it is not becoming popular as of management study of personal development etc? Present paper is an attempt to study the deteriorating status of social science. An effort is being to find out the solution to this problem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the northern Nilgiris of South India the post-colonial state, local Adivasi communities and imaginations of modernity constitute a dynamic field of often tense but also creative relationships. Rather than an arid dichotomy of tradition and modernity we are dealing here with a specific form of an alternative or local modernity. This paper analyses how this particular modernity is constructed through a broad spectrum of activities ranging from dominance and cultural hegemony to cohabitation down to everyday and cultural resistance. Moreover, this field is constituted through cultural processes of imagination, everyday practices and performances - ill secular as well as in religious/shamanic contexts. Seen together these practices present the domain of public culture as a zone of" debate and as a contested terrain. In particular this essay explores how actors use these everyday practices and political/ religious performances to imagine or/and contest particular notions of modernity, statehood and sociality and how these relate to one another in short, how complex agencies constitute local modernity in a field of what Ortner (1995:176) has called political and cultural "authenticity". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper traces the trajectories of different types of anti-dam mobilisation in independent India with a focus on the well-known Narmada Bachao Andolan. While the studies on anti-displacement mobilisations produced a substantial body of knowledge, they are useful neither to the civil society activists nor to the policy makers. It is suggested that, in order to render sociology relevant, we need to combine the sociology of movements and polices with sociology for movement and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we follow a lead provided by Basu and Basu [‘The Greying of Populations: Concepts and Measurement,’ Demography India 16, pp. 79–89], in order to advance a class of ‘agedness’ indices which, because they have been motivated by analogous considerations in the poverty measurement literature, can find application in that area of enquiry as well. The properties of the proposed indices are discussed, and illustrations of empirical application are provided. The note is intended as a contribution to the larger enquiry into the measurement of development indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the issue of women's political representation in France and India. Its aim is threefold. First, it explains how women's representation was placed on the political agenda. Second, it examines the arguments used to justify and oppose demands for better representation. Finally, it considers what conclusions can be drawn from the two cases. By moving beyond conventional comparative categories in Western feminist literature and beyond the isolationist insistence within France on its own specificity, the paper identifies the particularisms and commonalities of each case, thus attempting to achieve what Shirin Rai calls a "rooted crossing of cultural, historical and political boundaries" (Rai, 2000:15). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender inequality in science is common to most nations. To a large extent, this inequality is a product of the socio-cultural environment in which science is conducted. The professional environment and the socio-cultural context are inextricably linked together in the practice of science. This Note analyses the perceptions of women academic scientists in India regarding the work and social environment, and the nature of problems faced by them. A triangulation of questionnaire and interview methods was employed to develop a holistic picture. The findings show that women academic scientists are influenced by the prevailing sociocultural system. Thus, 'patrifocal' ideology prevails at the workplace and in the family. Women face gender-related difficulties at work, and also shoulder a dual burden resulting in stress. These problems have significant consequences for the career of women academic scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents information on the Post World Congress of Sociology Session held under the auspices of the Department of Sociology, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India on August 24-25, 1986. The session focused on the theme of "Social Stratification and Social Changes" in view of its importance in contemporary sociology, as well as its practical relevance in developing countries, such as India. Social change embodying freedom and equality as its basic values is now making a growing impact in developing societies in the process referred to as modernization which causes conflict between different strata within these societies and also has international ramifications. The first paper by sociologist Shafique Naqvi, titled, "Some Conceptual Problems in the Study of Social change," dealt with the problems involved in defining social change, in determining its direction and rate, and in adopting a suitable methodology for assessing its consequences. Determining the direction of change implies that there is a reference to values in assessing social change, and this is essential if the sociologist is to be involved in making policies for social reform in societies committed to conscious and deliberate planning for the future.

In line with the decision of the XXI conference at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India, to hold the XXII conference at Barkatullah University, Bhopal, a meeting of the Programme Preparatory Committee of the Indian Sociological Society and the Delhi-based members of the Managing Committee was held at the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi, in April 1995. The aim was to identify the general and the specific themes for the different panels. For the panels the following themes were identified: Emergent Social Realities and Paradigms of Change, Teaching of Sociology, Human Cost of Development: Disaster and Displacement, Indian Sociology and Sociologists Invitations were sent out to various scholars identified by the Committee to write the working papers and to the speaker and chairpersons. All the life members of the Society were informed about the conference through a general announcement which was also carried in the March 1995 issue of the periodical "Sociological Bulletin." The section "Research in Progress" was introduced to enable scholars to share the results of their ongoing research with other interested scholars.

The article focuses on various research papers on sociology in India as discussed in a conference on "Sociology in India and Its Future." It is a truism to state that modern societies are extraordinarily complex and diversified but sociologists assume, for purely heuristic reasons, that they are functioning wholes, the parts of which are interrelated, with the result that changes in one segment tend to trigger off changes in some others. But at any given moment, the intensity of the relation between any pair of segments is not the same: for instance, changes in the economy might result in changes in gender relations but not in the area of religion. Sociology is an empirical discipline, and fieldwork is integral to it. Field work may be carried out through the survey method, or by participant observation, usually identified with social anthropologists, in recent years, however, even development agencies have begun to see the inadequacies of relying only on surveys, in particular large-scale surveys.

The article highlights the seminar entitled Politics, Bureaucracy and Development of Weaker Sections, organized by the Department of Sociology of the C.C.S. University in Meerut, India from March 30 to 31, 1999. The seminar was inaugurated by Professor Yogesh Atal, former Principal Director, UNESCO, Paris, and was presided over by D. P. Tewari, vice chancellor of the university. There were five sessions: inaugural, paper presentation I and II, interface, and valedictory. In all 16 papers were presented . The valedictory address was given by T. K. Oommen, former president of the International Sociological Association. The seminar discusses the political and bureaucratic factors in the development of weaker sections in India--the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, women and children, especially during the period after the independence. It was observed that the political factors play an important role in shaping the destiny and direction of development of these underprivileged sections. The papers highlighted lacunae in the implementation of policies and programs and in bureaucratic procedures and focused on rampant corrupt practices. The issues of child labor, lack of proper knowledge, illiteracy, weaker sections' participation in the process of development from the stage of policy formation to its implementation were discussed conceptually and reported through field researches.

Background: Malnutrition among children is one of the most pressing health concerns middle- and low-income countries face today, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Early-life malnutrition has been shown to affect long-term health and income. One hypothesized channel linking early-life malnutrition and long-term outcomes is cognitive development. However, there is limited empirical evidence on the relationship between nutritional status and cognitive achievement in middle childhood. Study design: As part of the South India Community Health Study (SICHS), we collected educational attainment and anthropometric data from 1,194 children in rural Vellore district of Tamil Nadu, India, and assessed their math and reading skills. We analyzed the relationship between continuous and binary anthropometric measures of nutritional status and three measures of cognitive achievement (reading, math, and grade level), adjusting for potential confounders, using a regression framework. Results: Lower height-for-age and weight-for-age and their corresponding binary measures (stunting, underweight) were associated with lower reading scores, lower math scores, and lower grade level, with the exception of the association between weight-for-age and reading, which was marginally significant. A stunted child had one-third of a grade disadvantage compared to a non-stunted counterpart, whereas an underweight child had one-fourth of a grade disadvantage compared to a non-underweight counterpart. Lower BMI-for-age was associated with grade level and marginally associated with lower math scores, and its binary measure (thinness) was marginally associated with lower math scores. Conclusions: Acute and chronic malnutrition in middle childhood were negatively associated with math scores, reading scores, and educational attainment. Our study provides new evidence that cognitive achievement during middle childhood could be an important mechanism underlying the association between early-life malnutrition and long-term wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: India has recently introduced telemedicine initiatives to enhance access to specialized care at a low cost for the pediatric HIV patients, who face multiple challenges due to growing disease burden and limited preparedness of the health system to address it. There are limited evidences on the cost-effectiveness of these interventions. This study was undertaken in Maharashtra, a province, located in the western region of the country, to inform policy regarding the effectiveness of this programme. The objective was to estimate the unit cost of ART services for pediatric HIV patients and examine the efficiency in the use of resource and treatment compliance resulting from telemedicine initiatives in pediatric HIV compared to usual ART services. Methods: We selected 6 ART centers (3 from linked centers linked to Pediatric HIV Centre of Excellence (PCoE) and 3 from non-linked centers) randomly from three high, middle and low ART centers, categorized on the basis of case load in each arm. A bottom up costing methodology was adopted to understand the unit cost of services. Loss to follow up and timeliness of the visits were compared between the two arms and were linked to the cost. Results: The average cost per-visit was INR 1803 in the linked centers and that for the non-linked centers was INR 3412. There has been 5 percentage point improvement in lost to follow-up in the linked centers compared to non-linked centers against a back-drop of a reduction in per-pediatric patient cost of INR 557. The linkage has resulted in increase in timeliness of the visits in linked centers compared to non-linked centers. Discussion and conclusion: The telemedicine linkage led to an increase in the case load leading to a decrease in cost. The evidence on efficiency in the use of resource and improvement in treatment compliance as suggested by this study could be used to scale up this initiative. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: With India preparing for the next decennial Census in 2021, we compared the disability estimates and data collection methodology between the Census 2011 and the most recent population-level survey for India and its states, to highlight the issues to be addressed to improve robustness of the disability estimates in the upcoming Census. Methods: Data from the Census 2011 and from two complementary nationally representative household surveys that covered all Indian states with the same methodology and survey instruments–the District-Level Household Survey-4 (DLHS-4, 2012–2013) and the Annual Health Surveys (AHS three rounds, 2010–11, 2011–12 and 2012–13) were used. Data from DLHS-4 and AHS 2012–13 round were pooled to generate estimates for the year 2012–13. Data collection methodology between the sources was compared, including the review of definitions of each type of disability. The overall, mental, visual, hearing, speech, and movement disability rate (DR) per 100,000 population were compared between the sources for India and for each state, and the percent difference in the respective rates was calculated. We explored the reliability of these estimates comparing yearly data from the AHS for three successive rounds. Results: Survey data were collected through proxy reporting, however, it is not entirely clear whether the data were proxy- or self-reported or a mix of both in the Census. The overall DR was 25.1% higher in the Census (2,242; 95% CI 2,241–2,243) than the survey (1,791; 95% CI 1,786–1,797) per 100,000 population, with the state-level difference ranging from -64% in Tamil Nadu to 107% in Sikkim state. Despite both sources using nearly similar definitions for overall disability and disability by type, the difference in DR was 125.5%, 54.2%, -25.7%, -19.7%, and 21.9% for hearing, speech, mental, movement, and visual DR, respectively. At the state-level, the difference in disability-specific estimates ranged from -84% to 450%. The extent of variations in the disability-specific estimates in AHS successive rounds ranged from -25% to 929% at the state-level. Conclusions: There is momentum globally towards building disability measurement that is consistent with the data required for monitoring of the Sustainable Development Goals to ensure robust estimation of disability. The current estimates from the Census and surveys seem much lower than would be expected at the population level. We make recommendations that India needs to take serious note of in order to improve the validity and reliability of India’s disability estimates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been growing recognition of menstrual hygiene management (MHM) as a significant public health issue. However, research has predominately focused on the experiences of adolescent girls in school settings. The purpose of this research is to examine detailed accounts of menstruation for women in rural Odisha, India at various life stages with a view toward improving international monitoring of MHM. Focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted to understand women’s experiences of menstruation across four life stages (unmarried women, recently married women, married women, and older women). Thematic analysis was used to identify menstruation-related challenges and needs. We found women voiced needs that aligned with those captured by the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Programme for Water Supply, Sanitation and Hygiene (JMP) definition for MHM: access to clean materials, privacy for changing materials, soap and water for bathing, and disposal facilities for materials. However, we also found women require materials that are not only clean but comfortable and reliable; soap and water for more than bathing; privacy for the full spectrum of menstruation-related practices, not just when changing; and disposal facilities that are private and safe, not just accessible. Additionally, we identified needs that extend beyond the existing definition: pain management, social support, and an enabling sociocultural environment. Overall, women representing all life stages discussed menstruation challenges, including bathing, pain, and washing, drying, and storing cloth materials. Cloth management challenges were most acute for unmarried and recently married women, who were concerned that practices could reveal their menstrual status and harm their reputations, thus informing their preference for disposable materials, if attainable. We propose a revised definition of adequate MHM for this population that more comprehensively captures their needs. This definition may also prove useful for other populations, future research, creating measures of assessment, and guiding interventions and program priorities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched in India in 2005 to address the health needs of under-served populations in rural areas, and to support universal access to care. Despite this initiative, unaccredited informal providers (IPs) often remain patients’ first point of contact, which has led to inconsistencies in treatment, and has compromised the quality of care. Aim: To explore the factors that influence patients’ decisions about healthcare providers in rural areas of central India. Methods: Nine focus group discussions (FGDs) were held in nine villages in central India. Framework analysis using an inductive approach was used to analyse the data. Results: The crosscutting theme across the discussions was not choice but need—the need for affordable and accessible health care regardless of the provider’s qualification. Results highlighted that IPs play a pivotal role in villagers’ lives. Formal healthcare services were accessed infrequently, and mainly when a condition was judged severe or possibly even fatal. Even then, affordability was carefully weighed. Villagers’ distance from formal providers contributed to high cost and low preference of formal providers. When opting for IPs, familiarity and trust were more important to villagers than qualifications. IPs have operated in rural communities in India for a long time and have adapted their services to meet the needs, preferences, social norms, and economic conditions of villagers. Conclusion: IPs have captured a niche and are often the first contact point in rural settings even when patients ultimately are diagnosed and treated by trained doctors. Merely tackling the undersupply of qualified doctors is not effective or sufficient to impact on the rural healthcare system: the strong and prevalent influence of IPs needs to be addressed also. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As population health and well-being are influenced by multiple factors that cut across sectoral boundaries, an intersectoral approach that acknowledges and leverages the multiple determinants, actors and sectors at play is increasingly seen as critical for achieving meaningful and lasting improvements. In this study, we utilize social network analysis (SNA) to characterize the intersectoral collaboration between the organizations working on maternal & child health (MCH) and water & sanitation (WASH) before and immediately after the implementation of HCL Foundation (HCLF)-funded HCL Samuday Project (2015–2017) in a rural block of Uttar Pradesh state, India. While SNA has been used to examine public health issues, few have used it monitor stakeholder relationships, intervene, improve and facilitate project implementation involving intersectoral partnerships, particularly in the context of a low-and middle-income countries. Method: An organization-level SNA was conducted with 31 key informants from 24 organizations working on MCH and/or WASH in Kachhauna, Uttar Pradesh, India. Data were collected using face-to-face, semi-structured interviews between June and September 2017. Density, centrality and homophily were calculated to describe the network and a qualitative analysis was also conducted to identify the strengths and weaknesses of collaboration between organizations working on MCH and WASH. Results: Overall, our findings showed that the network of organizations working on MCH and WASH in Kachhauna grew in number since the implementation of Samuday. HCLF rapidly achieved centrality, thus positioning the organization to serve as a gatekeeper of information and enabling it to play a coordinator role within the network. Direct collaboration between other organizations working on MCH and WASH was low at both time points. Interviews with key informants indicated widespread interest in increasing interorganizational interactions and engagement throughout the network. Conclusion: This study demonstrates the feasibility and practical application of SNA for projects like Samuday that involve intersectoral collaboration. It also provides lessons about the use of SNA with organizations as the unit of analysis and in the context of rural India, including challenges, practical considerations, and limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Low birth weight is an important predictor of maternal and child health. Birth weight is likely to be affected by maternal health, socioeconomic status and quality of health care facilities. Objective: To assess trends in the birth weight, the proportion of low birth weight, maternal factors and health care facilities for delivery in villages of Western Maharashtra from the year 2004 to 2016 and to analyze factors associated with low birth weight for total birth data of 2004–2016. Methods: Data collected for 19244 births from 22 villages in Vadu Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS), Pune, Maharashtra, India from the year 2004 to 2016 were used for this analysis. Results: There was an overall increase in the annual mean birth weight from 2640.12 gram [95% CI 2602.21–2686.84] in the year 2004 to 2781.19 gram [95% CI 2749.49–2797.95] in the year 2016. There was no secular trend to show increase or decrease in the proportion of low weight at birth. Increasing maternal age (>18 years) compounded with better education, reduced parity and increasing number of institutional deliveries were significant trends observed during the past decade. Low birth weight was found to be associated with female gender, first birth order, poor maternal education and occupation as cultivation. Conclusion: Changes in maternal age, education, occupation, and increased institutionalized deliveries contributed in to increasing birth weights in rural Maharashtra. Female gender, first birth order, poor maternal education and occupation of cultivation are associated with increased risk of low birth weight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although most Indians live in rural settings, data on cardiovascular disease risk factors in these groups are limited. We describe the association between socioeconomic position and cardiovascular disease risk factors in a large rural population in north India. Methods: We performed representative, community-based sampling from 2013 to 2014 of Solan district in Himachal Pradesh. We used education, occupation, household income, and household assets as indicators of socioeconomic position. We used tobacco use, alcohol use, low physical activity, obesity, hypertension, and diabetes as risk factors for cardiovascular disease. We performed hierarchical multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for age, sex and clustering of the health sub-centers, to evaluate the cross-sectional association of socioeconomic position indicators and cardiovascular disease risk factors. Results: Among 38,457 participants, mean (SD) age was 42.7 (15.9) years, and 57% were women. The odds of tobacco use was lowest in participants with graduate school and above education (adjusted OR 0.11, 95% CI 0.09, 0.13), household income >15,000 INR (adjusted OR 0.35, 95% CI 0.29, 0.43), and highest quartile of assets (adjusted OR 0.28, 95% CI 0.24, 0.34) compared with other groups but not occupation (skilled worker adjusted OR 0.93, 95% CI 0.74, 1.16). Alcohol use was lower among individuals in the higher quartile of income (adjusted OR 0.75, 95% CI 0.64, 0.88) and assets (adjusted OR 0.70, 95% CI 0.59, 0.82). The odds of obesity was highest in participants with graduate school and above education (adjusted OR 2.33, 95% CI 1.85, 2.94), household income > 15,000 Indian rupees (adjusted OR 1.89, 95% CI 1.63, 2.19), and highest quartile of household assets (adjusted OR 2.87, 95% CI 2.39, 3.45). The odds of prevalent hypertension and diabetes were also generally higher among individuals with higher socioeconomic position. Conclusions: Individuals with lower socioeconomic position in Himachal Pradesh were more likely to have abnormal behavioral risk factors, and individuals with higher socioeconomic position were more likely to have abnormal clinical risk factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Women in developing countries continue to face barriers to accessing sexual and reproductive health (SRH) services, with marginalized women facing increased challenges to accessing care. The Diagonal Interventions to Fast-Forward Enhanced Reproductive Health (DIFFER) project implemented a package of interventions for female sex workers and women from the general population which integrated horizontal health services for the general population with existing vertical targeted interventions aimed at sex workers with an aim to improve SRH and HIV services. We present an outcome evaluation of the DIFFER project in terms of uptake rates for SRH services among sex workers in Mysore, India. Methods: Ashodaya Samithi, a sex worker-led organization, implemented the DIFFER strategy through their community-based clinic and a Well Women Clinic (WWC), established at a partner private hospital that provided SRH services for women living with HIV. Mixed methods were used to evaluate the intervention that included a baseline (2012–13) and end of project (2015–16) cross sectional surveys (CSS), focus group discussions (FGDs), key informant interviews, and analysis of service statistics from 2013–2016. Results: The CSS found that condom use, STI testing, and treatment were high before, and throughout the intervention; cervical cancer screening and treatment increased significantly, from 11.5% to 56% (aOR 9.85, p<0.001) and HIV testing in the last 3 months increased from 26.3% to 73.3% (aOR 7.25, p<0.001). The proportion of sex workers using any SRH service in the past year doubled from 25.7% to 51.4% (aOR 2.91, p<0.001). Service statistics showed similar trends. The FGDs and key informant interviews showed that women and stakeholders held high levels of satisfaction with the strategy, and affirmed potential for scale up. Conclusion: The DIFFER strategy demonstrated that SRH service uptake can occur in conjuction with HIV services offered to sex workers. This model of integrated service delivery has been accepted by policy makers and needs further analysis for scaling up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the efforts of community health workers to increase access to healthcare among ethnic minority groups in low- and -middle income countries, members of ethnic minorities are less likely than women from other ethnic groups to use maternal and child healthcare services. However, much less is known about the factors that limit access of ethnic minorities to healthcare services, including the services of community health workers in Nepal, who are known as Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs). To address this issue, we conducted a qualitative study to explore perceived barriers to accessing maternal and child healthcare services among ethnic minority groups in two different geographical locations (the hill and Terai regions- flatland bordering south India) with varying degrees of access to local healthcare centres. Between April 2014 and September 2014, semi-structured interviews were conducted with twenty FCHVs, 26 women service users and 11 paid local health workers. In addition, 15 FCHVs participated in four focus group discussions. A thematic analysis of the data identified five major themes underlying barriers to accessing available maternal and child healthcare services by ethnic minority groups such as Dalits, Madhesi, Muslim, Chepang and Tamang. These themes include: a) lack of knowledge among service users; b) lack of trust in volunteers; c) traditional beliefs and healthcare practices; d) low decision-making power of women; and e) perceived indignities experienced when using health centres. We conclude that community health programmes should focus on increasing awareness of healthcare services among ethnic minority groups, and the programmes should involve family members (husband and mothers-in-law) and traditional health practitioners. Both the FCHVs and local healthcare providers should be trained to communicate effectively in order to deliver respectful care among ethnic minorities if we want to achieve universal healthcare coverage for maternal and child health in low- and -middle income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Private providers dominate health care in India and provide most tuberculosis (TB) care. Yet efforts to engage private providers were viewed as unsustainably expensive. Three private provider engagement pilots were implemented in Patna, Mumbai and Mehsana in 2014 based on the recommendations in the National Strategic Plan for TB Control, 2012–17. These pilots sought to improve diagnosis and treatment of TB and increase case notifications by offering free drugs and diagnostics for patients who sought care among private providers, and monetary incentives for providers in one of the pilots. As these pilots demonstrated much higher levels of effectiveness than previously documented, we sought to understand program implementation costs and predict costs for their national scale-up. Methods and findings: We developed a common cost structure across these three pilots comprising fixed and variable cost components. We conducted a retrospective, activity-based costing analysis using programmatic data and qualitative interviews with the respective program managers. We estimated the average recurring costs per TB case at different levels of program scale for the three pilots. We used these cost estimates to calculate the budget required for a national scale up of such pilots. The average cost per privately-notified TB case for Patna, Mumbai and Mehsana was estimated to be US$95, US$110 and US$50, respectively, in May 2016 when these pilots were estimated to cover 50%, 36% and 100% of the total private TB patients, respectively. For Patna and Mumbai pilots, the average cost per case at full scale, i.e. 100% coverage of private TB patients, was projected to be US$91 and US$101, respectively. In comparison, the national TB program’s budget for 2015 averages out to $150 per notified TB case. The total annual additional budget for a national scale up of these pilots was estimated to be US$267 million. Conclusions: As India seeks to eliminate TB, extensive national engagement of private providers will be required. The cost per privately-notified TB case from these pilots is comparable to that already being spent by the public sector and to the projected cost per privately-notified TB case required to achieve national scale-up of these pilots. With additional funds expected to execute against national TB elimination commitments, the scale-up costs of these operationally viable and effective private provider engagement pilots are likely to be financially viable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence highlights a global shortage of wheelchair service provision education and training that results in inappropriate wheelchair provision with associated health and economic consequences. Two learning methodologies, a hybrid and an in-person course, based on the World Health Organization Wheelchair Service Training Package Basic Level, currently are available to train wheelchair service providers worldwide. The effectiveness of the in-person methodology, used as the standard of practice, has never been tested. Meanwhile, the Hybrid Course, which combines online and in-person training, was developed to reduce training costs and to scale training interventions and has shown potential effectiveness in increasing basic level wheelchair service provision knowledge. The objective of this study was to compare the effectiveness of both learning methodologies based on knowledge and satisfaction among a group of wheelchair service providers in India and Mexico. Methods: We conducted a controlled quasi-experimental study to evaluate changes in basic wheelchair knowledge and levels of satisfaction between Hybrid and In-person course learners in India and Mexico. A convenience sampling method guided by local stakeholders’ input was used to recruit participants. Outcomes were assessed using self-administered online surveys, the International Society of Wheelchair Professionals Wheelchair Service Provision Basic Test (primary outcome) completed pre- and post- the learning intervention and an anonymous Satisfaction Survey (secondary outcome) completed post- intervention. Baseline characteristics were compared among groups using hypothesis tests based on their assumptions. The primary analysis was intention-to-treat. To address missing values and lost to follow-up, multiple chained imputations were conducted. The primary outcome was analyzed using linear mixed models. The secondary outcome was analyzed using a two-tailed two independent samples t-test. Results: A total of 81 participants, 43 (53.1%) in the In-person group and 38 (46.9%) in the Hybrid group, participated in the study. Mean baseline knowledge scores were below the passing cutoff of the test (53 points) in both groups. Both study groups experienced statistically significant improvements in the primary outcome when comparing pre- and post-test scores (p<0.0001) with total mean scores above the passing cutoff of the test. The in-person group experienced, on average, larger effects on the primary outcome. The difference in mean change from post-test to pre-tests between In-person groups and Hybrid was 3.6 (95% Confidence Interval: 1.7;5.4), Cohen’s d = 0.36, with a small effect size favoring the In-person training. With regards to satisfaction, the difference between the two interventions was 0.23±0.07 in favor of the In-person group (p = 0.0021). Conclusions: Both learning methodologies had a statistically significant effect in increasing wheelchair service knowledge with overall high levels of satisfaction. However, the In-person group reported overall larger effects when compared with the Hybrid methodology. This study provided recommendations on how organizations can improve blended learning interventions to enhance participants’ learning experiences and reduce potential barriers and limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Evidence on where in the hypertension care process individuals are lost to care, and how this varies among states and population groups in a country as large as India, is essential for the design of targeted interventions and to monitor progress. Yet, to our knowledge, there has not yet been a nationally representative analysis of the proportion of adults who reach each step of the hypertension care process in India. This study aimed to determine (i) the proportion of adults with hypertension who have been screened, are aware of their diagnosis, take antihypertensive treatment, and have achieved control and (ii) the variation of these care indicators among states and sociodemographic groups.Methods and Findings: We used data from a nationally representative household survey carried out from 20 January 2015 to 4 December 2016 among individuals aged 15-49 years in all states and union territories (hereafter "states") of the country. The stages of the care process-computed among those with hypertension at the time of the survey-were (i) having ever had one's blood pressure (BP) measured before the survey ("screened"), (ii) having been diagnosed ("aware"), (iii) currently taking BP-lowering medication ("treated"), and (iv) reporting being treated and not having a raised BP ("controlled"). We disaggregated these stages by state, rural-urban residence, sex, age group, body mass index, tobacco consumption, household wealth quintile, education, and marital status. In total, 731,864 participants were included in the analysis. Hypertension prevalence was 18.1% (95% CI 17.8%-18.4%). Among those with hypertension, 76.1% (95% CI 75.3%-76.8%) had ever received a BP measurement, 44.7% (95% CI 43.6%-45.8%) were aware of their diagnosis, 13.3% (95% CI 12.9%-13.8%) were treated, and 7.9% (95% CI 7.6%-8.3%) had achieved control. Male sex, rural location, lower household wealth, and not being married were associated with greater losses at each step of the care process. Between states, control among individuals with hypertension varied from 2.4% (95% CI 1.7%-3.3%) in Nagaland to 21.0% (95% CI 9.8%-39.6%) in Daman and Diu. At 38.0% (95% CI 36.3%-39.0%), 28.8% (95% CI 28.5%-29.2%), 28.4% (95% CI 27.7%-29.0%), and 28.4% (95% CI 27.8%-29.0%), respectively, Puducherry, Tamil Nadu, Sikkim, and Haryana had the highest proportion of all adults (irrespective of hypertension status) in the sampled age range who had hypertension but did not achieve control. The main limitation of this study is that its results cannot be generalized to adults aged 50 years and older-the population group in which hypertension is most common.Conclusions: Hypertension prevalence in India is high, but the proportion of adults with hypertension who are aware of their diagnosis, are treated, and achieve control is low. Even after adjusting for states' economic development, there is large variation among states in health system performance in the management of hypertension. Improvements in access to hypertension diagnosis and treatment are especially important among men, in rural areas, and in populations with lower household wealth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childhood pneumonia accounts for 17% of IMR in India, posing a major health burden. With cultural beliefs influencing care seeking behaviour and disparities existing in health infrastructure across the country, an understanding of the underlying issues merits exploration. Study assessed prevalence of probable pneumonia and examined care seeking behaviour of mothers in three states, Madhya Pradesh (MP), Uttar Pradesh (UP) and Tamil Nadu (TN). This mixed methods study involved a household survey and qualitative interviews with mothers in three districts from each state. Households with children aged 2–59 months were screened to identify those with probable pneumonia; sub-sample of mothers participated in qualitative interviews. Care seeking behaviour was explored in the context of recognition of symptoms, nature of first care provided, time when care was sought outside the home and choice of health provider. Overall 17,442 children from 13,544 households were screened, of which 729 (MP), 752 (UP) and 713 (TN) children respectively, were identified with probable pneumonia; 72 mothers participated in the qualitative interviews. Three months period prevalence was estimated in study districts at 22.2%—MP 13.3%—UP and 8.4%—TN. Most mothers in MP and UP were not perceptive to severity of illness; type of care sought was often inappropriate, delayed, with home remedies and visits to unqualified care providers being their first response. In contrast, in TN, use of home remedies was minimal, going to untrained care providers, non-existent and more than 90% mothers sought appropriate care. Private doctors were the preferred choice among all mothers but utilization of government care was highest in TN (20%). Community health workers were underutilized, with less than 10% mothers consulting them. Need for educating mothers about appropriate care seeking and development of good health infrastructure as essential to attainment of better child health indices are advocated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]