The Battle for Fox Hill Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

The Battle for Fox Hill - Research Paper Example The division was under the operational command of X Corps, commanded by Maj. Gen. Edward M Almond, USA. The 7th Regimental Combat Team (RCT), commanded by Col. Homer L. Litzenberg, had been ordered to move to Hamhung and relieve the 26th Republic of Korea (ROK) Regiment engaged with Chinese Communists in the north. While marching on the road towards the Changjin Reservoir, also referred by its Japanese name as Chosin Reservoir, the Korean regiment had encountered fierce resistance near Sudong on October 28. Meanwhile, the Chinese forces had also checked the advance of Gen. Walton H. Walker’s Eighth Army south of the border, pushing them back to the Chongchon River. However, United Nations forces had no credible information on the numbers of Chinese troops accumulated across Yalu River on the Manchurian border by that time (Appleman, 1-5; Santelli, 35-36; Simmons, 1-12). Interrogation of 16 Chinese prisoners revealed that 42nd CCF (Chinese Communist Forces) Army had deployed its 124th, 125th and 126th Divisions to check the advance of the 1st Marine Division. On the morning of November 02, the 7th RCT relieved the 26th ROK Regiment without encountering any significant resistance. The 1st (Lt. Col. Raymond C. Davis) and 2nd (Lt. Col. Randolph S. D. Lockwood) Battalions, 7th Marines, were leading the advance, while 3rd Battalion (Maj. Maurice E. Roach) was positioned in the rear. Over the next five days, the 7th RCT fought against determined resistance from the Chinese 124th Division, pushing it north over the Funchilin Pass to Hagaru-ri. On November 13, the RCT received orders to capture Hagaru-ri and advance 40 miles north to the southern tip of Chosin Reservoir. The RCT had reached its objective by November 15. However, Smith was quite concerned over the long narrow stretch of his division against uncertain enemy size and determination. He had expr essed his concerns in a personal letter to Cmdt. Marine Corps, Gen. Clifton B. Cates, stating, â€Å"I do not like the prospect of stringing out a Marine division along a single mountain road for 120 miles from Hamhung to the Manchurian border†¦I have little confidence in the tactical judgment of X Corps or the realism of their planning†. (Simmons, 13-35; BH, 36; Bevilacqua). On November 19-20. the Eighth Army captured the North Korean capital, Pyongyang. The 7th RCT had reached Yudam-ni by November 25. As the elements of 7the Infantry Division arrived at the eastern side of the Chosin Reservoir on November 25, the 5th RCT (Lt. Col. Raymond L. Murray) had began movement to Yudam-ni. According to the plans, the 5th RCT was to pass through the lines of 7th RCT and lead the attack to Mupyong-ni west of the reservoir on the next day. On November 26, three captured enemy soldiers had revealed the presence of 58th, 59th, and 60th CCF Divisions of 20th CCF Army around Yudam-ni. On the night of November 25, a massive attack by Chinese in the west had destroyed three ROK divisions on the Eighth Army’s right flank, repulsing its advance. Now, the Chinese prime objective was destruction of the 1st Marine Division in the east. (Bevilacqua; Appleman, 7-8; Simmons, 40-47). The American high command was under the impression that China will never enter the war, and the resistance was merely a small force of Chinese volunteers. On November 27, the 2nd Battalion, 5th Marines (Lt. Col. Harold S. Roise), launched the attack in the morning. The 7th Marines launched a secondary attack to the southwest. A temporary fall back of Chinese allowed the intermixed lead elements of the 5th and 7th Marines to make a 1 mile advance. Both regiments might have been combined under command of Assistant Division Commander, Brig. Gen. Craig, but he had departed for United States on emergency leave. Litzenberg had command authority as the senior officer.

Psy 104 Final Paper Essay Example for Free

Psy 104 Final Paper Essay Classical conditioning is a developmental theory introduced by a man by the name of Ivan Pavlov. Ivan Pavlov was born on the 26th of September in 1849 in a town called Ryazan in the country of Russia. Ivan Pavlov’s father was a priest and Ivan was the oldest out of 11 children. When Ivan was seven years old he had an accident where he fell from a balcony onto his head. Because of the injuries he sustained from the fall Ivan had a hard time with academics and was kept out of school till he was eleven years old. Ivan Pavlov went to college at St. Petersburg University and was originally going to school for science but since he was bad at math he decided to go for physical science. He ended his schooling in the Academy of Medicine. Before Ivan Pavlov went on to develop his theory of classical conditioning â€Å"In 1904 he was awarded the Nobel Prize for his researches into the neural mechanism by which the secretion of gastric juices was stimulated. † (Harre, 2006) Classical Conditioning is a process of behavior modification by which a subject comes to respond in a desired manner to a previously neutral stimulus that has been repeatedly presented long with an unconditioned stimulus that elicits the desired response. Ivan Pavlov liked to test his theories out on animals mainly dogs. An explanation of his studies with dogs is â€Å"In this type of learning, a neutral stimulus is paired with a stimulus that naturally elicits a response. For instance, a lab coat would not ordinarily bring any response—it is a neutra l stimulus; food naturally elicits a salivary response. When the lab coat is paired with the food repeatedly and learning is complete, the lab coat is no longer neutral. The dog has learned to associate the lab coat with food, even when no food is present. The former neutral stimulus (lab coat) now elicits the response (salivation) even in the absence of the original stimulus (food)† (Mossler, 2011) Another example of classical conditioning is â€Å"John B. Watson and his assistant, Rosalie Raynor, invented a different version. They quickly taught an infant named Little Albert to fear a white rat by banging a loud gong just behind the tot whenever the rat appeared. After just seven gongs, Little Albert was scared to death of the same rat he had played with before the training began. His fear was so great that it generalized to other furry objects, including a Santa Claus mask. (Johnston, 1999) The Second developmental theory I will be discussing is Jean Piaget’s cognitive theory. Jean Piaget was born on the 9th of August in 1896 in Switzerland. His father was a professor of medieval literature at the University of Neuchatel. Jean Piaget was originally interested in zoology and by the age of 15 he had written several artic les on mollusks. Jean Piaget went to the same university that his father taught which was the University of Neuchatel and he also studied at the University of Zurich for a small amount of time. Jean Piaget changed his interest of oology. â€Å"Piaget’s interests turned to child cognitive development while working to standardize tests for schoolchildren. At this time, he witnessed a pattern among children’s correct and incorrect answers, leading him to develop a theory of the stages of understanding through which a child’s cognition passes. He quickly established a clinical method of study, involving not only observation but also verbal interaction with the child subjects of his research. Piaget’s writings on the subject attracted much attention initially and then fell into obscurity for many years. Upon publishing detailed analyses of his work involving his three children, his work once again received wide recognition in the field† (Edinburgh University Press, 2005) Jean Piaget’s theory was his idea that children learned through stages which each one was crucial into leading the child into the next stage of development. Jean Piaget’s theory was broken down into four stages. Those stages are sensorimotor stage, preoperational stage, concrete operations, and formal operations. Each stage is very important to the development of a child and I will explain each one. The sensorimotor stage is the first stage of Jean Piaget’s theory in which† infants gain cognitive understanding primarily through their senses and movements, which are coordinated through reflexes. † (Mossler, 2011) The second stage of Jean Piaget’s theory is the preoperational stage which lasts from ages two to seven. This is the stage where children begin to acknowledge the world through mental structures and symbols. Children learn to play make believe and learn to speak whatever language they are being taught by their parents. They use inadequate logic because at this time they can only view things with one perspective. The third stage of Jean Piaget’s theory is called concrete operations which lasts between the ages of seven and twelve. This is the stage where a child’s thought is guided by logic and they have learned to view things from multiple perspectives. The fourth and final stage is called formal operations. This stage lasts through adulthood and is the stage where children begin to learn complex forms of thought such as being able to hypothesize, think of complicated plans, and accurately predict outcomes. An example of Jean Piaget’s theory is â€Å"in order to understand behavior and outcomes, an infant may experiment by throwing food. The infant gets to understand how the explosion of food behaves as well as the potential explosion by parents. Because adolescents have more sophisticated cognition, they can understand the consequences of throwing food—both what it might look like and the reaction of others—without actually experimenting with the behavior. † (Mossler, 2011) The third and final developmental theory I will be discussing is Albert Bandura’s social-cognitive theory. Albert Bandura was born on the 4th of December in 1925 in Mundare, Alberta, Canada. Albert Bandura went to college at the University of British Columbia where he got into psychology by accident because he had no classes in the morning so he decided to take a psychology class. He got his B. A in psychology. Albert Bandura then went to get his M. A at the University of Iowa Social Cognitive theory is a theory that states that portions of an individuals knowledge acquisition can be directly related to observing others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences. What I am trying to say is, people do not learn new behaviors solely by trying them and either succeeding or failing, but rather, the survival of humanity is dependent upon the ability of people imitating and replicating the actions of others. Depending on whether people are rewarded or punished for their behavior and the outcome of the behavior, that behavior may be imitated. An example of Albert Banduras social cognitive theory is â€Å"study influences on aggressive behavior in children, during which children were shown to imitate, without prompting or incentive, aggressive adult behavior towards a large blow-up doll (Bandura et al. 961). This raised fears that have never been resolved that children might mimic aggressive or violent behavior seen on television. † (Walker, 2007) Another example is â€Å"In his classic study using children who watched adult models punch Bobo dolls, Bandura demonstrated that humans could learn simply by observation. That is, he showed that re inforcement was not always a factor in eliciting behavior. Instead, we know that children also learn by modeling (or imitating) the behavior of others. Imitation partly explains how babies learn to smile, children learn to do cannonballs in a pool, or adults learn to behave in a new environment without being reinforced. † (Mossler, 2011) The difference between classic conditioning and the social cognitive theory is that instead of using associations, reinforcement, and punishment to make someone do something or not do something the social-cognitive theory is teaching people to do things through observation and imitation. The difference between Jean Piaget’s theory and the others that I have wrote about are the fact that he believes that things we be learned without being shown that they will eventually acquire the skills through stages. Another difference between classical conditioning and the social cognitive theory is the need for social interaction with other people. Classical conditioning does not require one human interacting or observing but the social cognitive theory requires it. There are not many similarities between classical conditioning, cognitive theory and, the social cognitive theory. The only similarity I could find is that they are all learning based. In conclusion classical conditioning, social cognitive theory and, cognitive theory are some of the most common developmental theories. Though they may not be that similar a lot of the developmental theories are sometimes ideas that branch off from other theories. I am sure fifty years from now there will be knew theories that come out that can better explain the development of humans physically, mentally and, emotionally. I say that because the social environment changes all the time with new trends and fads and acceptance of things that were once taboo. Reference Mosser, K (2011), Child and adolescent development. Bridgepoint Education, Inc BANDURAS THEORY. (2006). In Elseviers Dictionary of Psychological Theories. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com. proxy-library. ashford. edu/entry/estpsyctheory/bandura_s_theory JEAN PIAGET. (2005). In Key Thinkers in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language. Retrieved from http://www. credoreference. com. proxy-library. ashford. edu/entry/edinburghthinkl/jean_piaget Walker, J, (2007) Psychology for Nurses and the Caring Professions (3rd Edition) Retrieved from

Impact of Health Inequalities on Parkinsons Disease Patient

Impact of Health Inequalities on Parkinsons Disease Patient In the department of health publication from ‘Vision to Reality’ (2001), the minister for public health, Yvette Cooper, and the chief medical officer, Professor Liam Donaldson, stated the following: ‘At the beginning of 21st century, your chances of a healthy life still depend on what job you do, where you live, and how much your parents earn. This is unfair and unjust. That is why this Government is committed to narrowing the health inequalities that scar our nation and to improved health for all’. How does this statement support the elderly with Parkinson disease in Bromley trust Kent? Introduction The focus of this community study is to explore the health inequalities which affect a specific group within Bromley community. This group has been defined as those suffering with Parkinson’s disease, a degenerative condition that tends to affect an older client group and can also be associated with complex medical needs. This essay will define and explore the concept of inequalities in health, define the disease ad its effects on people as their families, and relate these to a community in the Kent area served by Bromley NHS Trust. The other aim of this essay is to postulate solutions and interventions which might address some of the health inequalities and challenges posed by this particular condition and its prevalence within the community. The literature points to the specific health problems and challenges of this client group, and there is government and governance literature which specifically addresses their needs. However, it appears there is still a deficit between the needs of clients, which are complex and difficult to address, and the level of provision in health and social care services, which continue to be under-resourced and less than ideally designed. Parkinson’s Disease Parkinson’s is a progressive neurological disease which occurs as the result of the loss of nerve cells in the substantia nigra in the brain (PDS, 2007). The lack of these cells results in a lack of dopamine, a substance that allows messages to be sent to the parts of the brain that control movement (PDS, 2007). When about 80% of dopamine is lost, symptoms start to develop, and levels continue to reduce over time, causing symptoms to increase (PDS, 2007). Two proposed causes are genetic disorders and environmental toxins (PDS, 2007), although a range of other associations continue to be explored. No real cause is known, and there is no known cure, although some medications can mediate the course of the disease and help in symptom control (PDS, 2007). Motor symptoms of Parkinson’s are tremor, bradykinesia and stiffness of muscles, while non-motor symptoms include sleep disturbance, constipation, depression and urinary urgency (PDS, 2007). Fatigue is another symptom (Lloy d, 1999). It is obvious from this range of symptoms that sufferers may need an increasing range of health and social support services and interventions during the progression of the disease. One epidemiological review puts the rate of Parkinson’s disease in the UK population at 19 per 1000 per year, with a lifetime prevalence of 2 per 1000 people (MacDonald et al, 2000). The Parkinson’s Disease Society (PDS, 2007) state that one in 500 people in the UK suffers from the disease. This would suggest a considerable burden on local health and social care services in any locality. However, there is also the issue that such statistics often only represent the tip of the iceberg (MacDonald et al, 2000). There may be a greater number who have not yet been diagnosed or who do not access services and so are not counted in surveys. The age range of sufferers of Parkinson’s disease is 40-90 years, with the greatest proportion in the 70-74 age group, and the next highest rate in the 74-79 age group (MacDonald et al, 2000). This is obviously an age-associated condition. The Bromley Health Services NHS Trust provides an outpatient Parkinson’s clinic run by Dr B Kessel as part of the elderly medicine directorate (www.bromleyhospitals.nhs.uk, 2007). There is also the Joint Allocation panel which the elderly medicine team contribute to in providing complex home care packages. Therefore, it would seem that for this locality, there is some specialist Parkinson’s disease provision. However, there are no figures to describe the uptake and demand on health and social services from Parkinson’s disease sufferers. For example, the demand on community nursing services, social care services, nursing homes, continence services, primary health services and pharmacy services. Parkinson’s disease is usually treated by drug treatments which aim to redress the loss of dopamine (Pentland, 1999). Levodopa-containing agents replace dopamine within the body, while dopamine agonists mimic the action of dopamine (Pentland, 1999). Enzyme inhibitors can be used, which prevent dopamine breakdown, and anticholinergics can reduce the action of acetylcholine which can also improve symptoms (Pentland, 1999). There is ongoing debate and review of the risk-benefit ratio of these treatments but they have been shown to be effective in limiting symptoms (PDS, 2007: Pentland, 1999). Other pharmacological interventions may be utilised to relieve specific symptoms, such as hypnotics for insomnia, antidepressants for confirmed depression, and pain killers and quinine for pain and muscle cramps (Pentland, 1999). Hoever, achieving and maintaining the correct, effective drug regimen as the condition progresses can be problematic for client and medical team (Lloyd, 1999). Health Inequalities It was in 1998 that health inequality reduction became express aims of the NHS in the UK, with the publication of A First Class Service (DH, 1998). Since then, inequalities in health have remained on government and health service agendas. The National Service Framework for Older People (DH, 2001) sets out a number of standards to address key inequalities in health experienced by the subject group concerned in this essay. The fact that such standards have had to be set is evidence of demonstrable inequalities linked to these areas. To begin with, inequalities are linked to age. It has been shown that in some health and social care services, older people and their carers have been victims of age-based discrimination in access to services and availability of services (DH, 2001). The locality here, Bromley Trust in Kent, does not advertise specialist Parkinson’s disease services explicitly on their website, and so sufferers of this condition fall under the aegis of elderly care services and also neurology services (trust ref). However, resourcing for such services may not be optimum, with less resources perhaps given to less fashionable areas of health need (DH, 2001), but rather to the more ‘fashionable’ and topical areas such as children’s and cancer services. There are certain areas of need which could be viewed as common to older people’s services and specific to those with Parkinson’s disease, such as community equipment (DH, 2001). Another specific inequality for this client group is access to palliative care services, with many palliative care services only available to cancer sufferers (DH, 2001). Parkinson’s disease is a degenerative and ultimately terminal condition, and as such should be a defining condition for palliative care. However, palliative care services in some areas may be funded by cancer charities such as Macmillan Cancer care, which may pose a challenge. This leads to a policy issue which could only be addressed at policy management level within the local trusts. The burden on family and unpaid carers is considerable, and increases with the progression of the disease (Lloyd, 1999). This leads to further demand on services due to carer-related illnesses (Lloyd, 1999). Again, unequal access to services, here based on the condition and the lack of support for those affected by it, continues to exist. The issue of inequality related to ethnic minority or background (DH, 2001) may also be applicable here, as the locality does contain a range of different minority ethnic groups. However, the demographics are not available to explore the rates of Parkinson’s disease across the different ethnic minorities in the region. The literature does highlight one specific incidence of health inequality in relation to this disease. It appears that sufferers who are hospitalized do not have timely access to their medications due to the restrictions of ward rounds and nursing routines (Agnew, 2006). Another inequality is in access to community care assessments which provide the intense levels of care and support necessary as the disease progresses (Lloyd, 1999). Not only do Parkinson’s disease sufferers suffer from a relative difficulty in accessing and obtaining such assessments, the assessment provides only a partial picture when exploring to what extent the health and social care needs of people with Parkinson’s are being assessed (Lloyd, 1999). The assessments are apparently predominantly medical, failing to address the other range of needs, particularly social and emotional issues and everyday living needs such as personal care (Lloyd, 1999). As these assessments are generally not carried out in the person’s own home, they are inadequate in providing a true picture of the realities of the disease in individual cases (Lloyd, 1999). The more general subject of health inequalities highlights a range of factors which might adversely affect the health and wellbeing of this client group. Poor health is linked to social background factors (Iphofen, 2003). The Bromley community area encompasses a wide range of socio-economic groups, from those deemed to be in poverty through the middle classes to the affluent classes. Research has demonstrated that those low down on the social class hierarchy tend to have worse housing, poor nutritional status, are less fit and are more likely to engage in damaging or risky health behaviours (Iphofen, 2003). It is logical that these people are the most likely to become ill, die sooner, or be most in need of health and social care input and support (Iphofen, 2003). Other factors which may affect health inequalities include culture, gender and ethnicity (Iphofen, 2003). It is also important to consider the role of individual action and self-reliance (Iphofen, 2003), which may seem at odds with current political trends towards ‘nanny state’ policies which are in danger of labelling vulnerable groups and individuals as being to blame for their own ill-health. One example of this is the smoking ban, which has been legislated on the back a growing trend of refusing medical treatment to sufferers of smoking-related conditions until they have given up smoking. A similar trend appears to be occurring for obese and overweight individuals, but it would seem that this form of discrimination, whilst socially and morally wrong, is politically sanctioned. Health Problems related to Parkinson’s Disease. As can be seen from the literature, there are a wide range of health problems which affect Parkinson’s sufferers, primarily related to the disease and its symptoms and their affects on health and independence. Parkinson’s is a long term illness (Rhind, 2007; Kristjanson et al, 2006) and as such will require long term nursing and social support, surveillance and review. Parkinson’s disease causes physical disability, and affects all of the activities of daily living by restricting independence, self-reliance and self care (PDS, 2007). It can affect people’s ability to maintain relationships, carry on in employment and leisure activities, and to continue to live on their own in their own home, or with their families (PDS, 2007). Lloyd (1999) also highlights the fact that Parkinson’s disease is socially unacceptable and this can have ongoing effects for the sufferer and their carers. One of the problems associated with the disease is dysphagia, the inability to swallow or difficulty in swallowing (Miller et al, 2006). Dysphagia can have obvious physical effects, such as choking, and inability to access proper nutrition or maintain healthy weight (Miller et al, 2006; Lorefalt et al, 2006). It can also have social and psychological effects, such as embarrassment and depression, withdrawal from social eating situations and effects on family and carers (Miller et al, 2006). Treatment for dysphagia is limited, and so the condition can lead to long term alterations in nutritional state leading to interventions such as total parenteral nutrition (Miller et al, 2006; Lorefalt et al, 2006). Another associated set of symptoms are psychological symptoms. These can vary, but can present as depression, sleep, confusion and delirium, hallucinations and dementia (Nazarko, 2005). These can be challenging conditions to treat, and may require a mixture of support, psychiatric intervention, pharmacological intervention and sedation, and family/carer support (Nazarko, 2005). Such symptoms represent a considerable demand on existing services, and as yet, there are no specialist psychiatric services for this client group within the locality under discussion. Addressing Health Inequalities by Condition Management The Department of Health (2001) stresses the following are necessary to combat the continued inequalities experienced by the older age group in accessing services and support: an integrated approach between local authorities and health services; strong clinical and managerial leadership; service user and carer representation at every level; working parties and management groups which continually address and review the situation. Other actions include workforce development (DH, 2001), and there may be a greater need for training and awareness-raising, particularly with nursing staff. Nursing staff need to listen more to Parkinson’s sufferers when providing care (Agnew, 2006). Another issue is the proper assessment of older people’s conditions (DH, 2001), which is important as Parkinson’s disease can present as one of a complex range of multiple diseases or conditions. Modern management of Parkinson’s disease (PD) aims to obtain symptom control, to reduce clinical disability, and to improve quality of life (Pacchetti et al, 2000). Specific instruments or tools may be necessary as part of the assessment process (Heffernan and Jenkinson, 2005). The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellece (NICE, 2006) make the following recommendations: people with suspected Parkinson’s disease should be seen by a specialist within six weeks; new referrals with later progress of disease should be seen within two weeks; there should be regular, ongoing review of the condition; sufferers should be empowered to participate in their care; and all people with Parkinsons should have regular access to specialist nursing care to provide monitoring and adjustment of medication, a point of contact for support including home visits and a reliable source of information about clinical and social matters relevant to Parkinsons disease. There is a need to access and engage with psychiatric services due to the long-term psychological and emotional effects of the disease (Lloyd, 1999). NICE (2006) argue strongly for specialist nurses and multidisciplinary clinics, which would be appropriate given the complex presentation of the disease. T his comprehensive approach would go a long way to reducing the inequalities experienced by this age group. However, the local services in Bromley may not be currently resourced adequately to meet such targets. Other interventions might also include speech therapy, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and of course palliative care services (Carter, 2006). The local trust has service provision in all these areas, and all but the last can be demonstrated to be involved in the care of clients with Parkinson’s disease in Bromley. However, it might be that more provision and more targeted provision might be necessary to reduce the inequalities suffered by this client group. Some literature suggests the use of complementary therapies such as massage to support those with the condition (Patterson et al, 2005). Other therapies such as music therapy might be appropriate (Pachetti et al, 2000). Music as a therapy acts as a specific stimulus to obtain motor and emotional responses by combining movement and stimulation of different sensory pathways (Pacchetti et al, 2000). In a prospective, randomised controlled trial, music therapy was found to be effective on motor, affective, and behavioral fu nctions, and as such would be a valid addition to therapy programmes for people with Parkinson’s disease (Pacchetti et al, 2000). One example of successful care management has been described by Holloway (2006), who reports in the implementation of a care pathway to meet specific needs. The pathway is user-led, conceptualising the user/carer as the communications centre, resourced and supported in the management of their situation by the professionals to achieve their own integrated package of care (Holloway, 2006). This pathway takes into account individual disease presentation, social factors, severity of illness and degree of use of services (Holloway, 2006). The research showed this pathway to be feasible for implementation within standard, existing clinics and was well received by clients and carers (Holloway, 2006). Another programme which has demonstrated some success and positive outcomes is a club for patients and their carers at a day hospital in Bridlington (Nasar and Bankar, 2006). The multidisciplinary team use the club for patient assessment, education and disease management, while it also provides the patients and carers with a forum for discussion and an opportunity for social interaction (Nasar and Bankar, 2006). Another important aspect of reducing health inequalities is in developing alliances with service users and engaging with specific groups who are socially excluded (Watterson, 2003). It may be that the reason that Parkinson’s sufferers feel so excluded is due to nurses’ perceptions of them as less than cognitively competent, due to prejudices about the nature of the disease. Service users have important and often critical knowledge and experience about their lives, condition, symptoms and responses to treatment (Watterson, 2003), which could greatly enhance both policy planning and direction and individual care planning and ongoing disease management. There are challenges associated with attempting such engagement, and even further policy and procedure planning, with associated resource input, would be needed to ensure accessibility, effective communication and responsiveness. Conclusion As has been demonstrated, sufferers of Parkinson’s disease, itself a complex aetiology, presentation and progression, have a range of specific and challenging needs which are not being met by the local services in Bromley. While some services exist, there are other models of care, management, assessment and monitoring which have been demonstrated to be effective in other localities, which may be appropriate for this specific client group. Services need to be client centred and comprehensive, utilising tools and guidelines developed specifically for the disease and its symptoms. Services must also be multi-disciplinary, multi-agency and also holistic. However, the provision of such services may not be practical within the current NHS climate. With the direction set out in government and NICE documents, however, it would appear that the drive to improve such services will go ahead. This essay addresses a very small, confined client group with a specific disease presentation. However the scope of health inequalities across the whole population may be much wider and more disturbing. It would appear that there is a need for targeted programmes to tackle health inequalities in almost every service, but if these can be addressed in one area, they can be addressed across the whole service to counteract years of unequal access and provision which have continued to fail those in most need. 3,000 words. References Agnew, T. (2006). Nurses out of step with Parkinsons patients. Nursing Older People. 18(6). 8-9 Carter, L. (2006) The role of specialist nurses in managing Parkinsons disease. Primary Health Care. 16(8). 20-2. Costello, J. Haggart, M. (eds.) (2003) Public Health and Society Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan Department of Health (2001) The National Service Framework for Older People Available from www.dh.gov.uk. Accessed 14-4-07. Heffernan, C. Jenkinson, C. (2005) Measuring outcomes for neurological disorders: a review of disease-specific health status instruments for three degenerative neurological conditions. Chronic Illness. 1(2). pp. 131-42 Holloway, M. (2006) Traversing the network: a user-led Care Pathway approach to the management of Parkinsons disease in the community Health Social Care in the Community 14 (1), 63–73 Iphofen, R. (2003) Social and individual factors influencing public health. In: Costello, J. Haggart, M. (2003). Public Health and Society Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Kristjanson, L., Aoun, S., Yates, P. (2006) Are supportive services meeting the needs of Australians with neurodegenerative conditions and their families? Journal of Palliative Care 10 (2). Lloyd, M. (1999) The new community care for people with Parkinson’s disease and their carers. In: Percival, R. Hobson, P. (eds.) (2003) Parkinson’s Disease: Studies in Psychological and Social Care. London: MPG Books Ltd. Lorefalt, B; Granerus, A; Unosson, M. (2006). Avoidance of solid food in weight losing older patients with Parkinsons disease. Journal of Clinical Nursing 15(11) 1404-12. MacDonald, B.K., Cockerell, O.C., Sander, J.W.A.S. Shorvon, S.D. (2000). The incidence and lifetime prevalence of neurological disorders in a prospective community-based study in the UK. Brain 123 665-676. Miller, N; Noble, E; Jones, D. (2006) Hard to swallow: dysphagia in Parkinsons disease. Age Ageing. 35(6) 614-8. Nasar, M; Bankar, R. (2006) Improving outcome in Parkinsons disease. British Journal of Hospital Medicine. 67(1). pp. 6-7 Nazarko, L. (2005) Part 3: psychological effects of Parkinsons disease. Nursing Residential Care. 7(6).261-4. NICE (2006) Draft Guideline on Parkinson’s Disease Available from www.nice.org.uk Accessed 14-4-07. Pacchetti, C., Mancini, F., Aglieri, R. et al (2000). Active Music Therapy in Parkinson’s Disease: An Integrative Method for Motor and Emotional Rehabilitation. Psychosomatic Medicine 62 (3) 386-393. Parkinson’s Disease Society http://www.parkinsons.org.uk/ Accessed 14-4-07. Paterson, C; Allen, J; Browning, M. (2005). A pilot study of therapeutic massage for people with Parkinsons disease: the added value of user involvement. Complementary Therapies in Clinical Practice. 11(3). 161-71. Pentland, B. (1999) The nature and course of Parkinson’s disease. In: Percival, R. Hobson, P. (eds.) (2003) Parkinson’s Disease: Studies in Psychological and Social Care. London: MPG Books Ltd. Percival, R. Hobson, P. (eds.) (2003) Parkinson’s Disease: Studies in Psychological and Social Care. London: MPG Books Ltd. Rhind, G. (2007) Managing Parkinsons disease over the longer term. Independent Nurse. 22 Jan. pp. 18-9 Wacker, R.R., Roberto, K.A. Piper, L.E. (1998) Community Resources For Older Adults: Programs and Services in an Era of Change London: Sage Publications, Inc Watterson, A. (ed.) (2003) Public Health in Practice Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan http://www.bromleyhospitals.nhs.uk/referrers/clinical-services/elderly-medicine/ Accessed 14-4-07.

The Underworld and Morality in Vergils Aeneid Essay -- Aeneid Essays

The Underworld and Morality in Vergil's Aeneid Book IV of the Aeneid can stand alone as Vergil's highest literary achievement, but centered in the epic, it provides a base for the entire work. The book describes Aeneas's trip through the underworld, where after passing through the depths of hell, he reaches his father Anchises in the land of Elysium. Elysium is where the "Soul[s] to which Fate owes Another flesh" lie (115). Here Anchises delivers the prophecy of Rome to Aeneis. He is shown the great souls that will one day occupy the bodies of Rome's leaders. Before the prophecy of Rome is delivered, Aeneis's journey through the underworld provides a definite ranking of souls according to their past lives on Earth. The Aeneid does not encompass a heaven, but the Underworld provides a punishment place where souls are purged of their evils and after one thousand years, regenerated to Earth. The ranking of souls in the Underworld warns of punishment for sin, and provides a moral framework for Roman life. Aeneis's first contact with a soul in the purgatory of the Underworld is Palinurus, who died after falling from one of Aeneis's ships. Aeneis is at the mouth of the river that flows through hell with his guide the goddess Diephobe and Charon the ferryman. Palinurus is waiting to be ferried to his place in the Underworld, so he can begin his thousand-year purge. He pleads with Aeneis's party to take him along, but Deiphobe scolds him: "Shalt thou, unburied, see the Stygian flood, / The Furies stream, or reach the bank unbid?" (107). In Vergil's Underworld one must have had a proper burial to gain a position. This serves as a warning to Romans to give their deceased a proper funeral, less they remain in hell longer. After Pa... ...ere he meets his father and receives the destiny of Rome. Elysium houses those souls "to which fate owes another flesh" (115). These are the great heroes of the Ancient World that will be reincarnated as Roman leaders: They have no human acts to be punished for. The story shifts here from that of moral lesson, to historical prophecy, but underlying the history there is a subtle command of respect for Roman leaders. The Underworld is more then just a creation to make Aeneis's voyage to his father more poetic. Through it, Vergil creates a moral code for his people, emphasizing grayer acts that can be easily justified such as deciding not to raise a child and giving up on love. Vergil saw how these acts hurt humanity, and created the Underworld to curve them. Bibliography Vergil. Aeneid. Dover Thrift Edition. Trans. Charles J. Billson. New York: Dover, 1995.

The Impact of the Current Regulatory Framework on Water Quality in Ireland

Lecturer: Aisling O’Gorman Waste Process Management Lecturer: Aisling O’Gorman Waste Process Management 08 Fall 08 Fall Submission Date: 11/10/2012 Word Count: 2387 Submission Date: 11/10/2012 Word Count: 2387 The Impact of the Current Regulatory Framework on Water Quality in Ireland: Maria McShaneThe Impact of the Current Regulatory Framework on Water Quality in Ireland: Maria McShane Introduction Based on the evaluation of various reports, papers, documents, regulations and legislation from numerous agencies, departments, directives and bodies it can be seen that although â€Å"on paper† major changes have been made so as to improve the quality of water in Ireland, realistically the amendments do not match up.This being that progress has been slow and minimal when compared to the reform of regulations and legislation and the introduction of the Water Framework Directive. Considering the key importance of water as a natural resource both to society and habitats alike it will be argued that although the intention is there to improve the quality of water in Ireland (and there have been some improvements) as an overall, actual major physical improvements to the water quality has yet to be seen.Report Firstly the Water Framework Directive will be examined to highlight its purpose, current status and goals for the future and how it fits into impacting Irelands water quality. The WFD was set up by the EU â€Å"in response to the increasing threat of pollution and the increasing demand from the public for cleaner rivers, lakes and beaches† (The Eu Water Framework Directive. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 08/10/12]). According to the Water Framework Directives’ website, their aims are to â€Å"protect/enhance all waters (surface, ground and coastal waters), achieve â€Å"good status† for all waters by December 2015, manage water bodies based on river basins (or catchments), involve the public and streamline legislationâ € 1 (The Eu Water Framework Directive. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 08/10/12]).In order to achieve these goals a timetable for implementation of the directive was created, starting from its transposition into Irish Legislation by the European Communities (Water Policy) Regulations 2003, (Statutory Instrument 722) on 22nd December 2003 (European Communities (Water Policy) Regulations 2003, (Statutory Instrument 722). (The Eu Water Framework Directive. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 08/10/12]). From the 22nd December 2003 to the 22nd June 2009 no Programmes of Measures were actually implemented in order to beneficially impact Irelands water quality by the WFD.Instead the WFD established (June 2004) and characterised (December 2004) Irelands River Basin Districts, submitted a National Summary Report on the characterisation of the RBDs to the European Commission (March 2005), developed classification systems for surface water and groundwater (June 2006), established and m aintained appropriate Monitoring Programmes (June 2006), prepared and published a work programme and timetable for the production of River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) (June 2006), identified the significant water management issues in each river basin (June 2007), drafted RBMPs and allowed six months for written comment (June 2008), and finally established environmental objectives and final Programmes of Measures and developed RBMPs for implementation (June 2009), (Water Framework Directive, [2005]). Although this research and reporting is a vital function of improving Irelands water quality, the timeframe in which this has been done means that physical progress has been hindered. The actual recovery progress made to Irelands water quality can be seen in various Environmental Protection Agency reports. According to the EPA’s Water Quality in Ireland Report of 2007-2009, between 1987 and 1990, 77. 3, 12. 0, 9. 7 and 0. % surveyed river channel length were unpolluted, slightly polluted, moderately polluted and seriously polluted respectively. By the 2001-2003 report the percentage of unpolluted rivers had dropped from 77. 3% to 69. 3% which is significant, in addition to this the percentage surveyed of seriously polluted rivers had risen from 0. 4% to 0. 6%, slight and moderate pollution had also risen by 5. 9 and 2. 6 percent respectively. By the 2007-2009 report the percentage of surveyed river that remained unpolluted had dropped again to 68. 9%, slight pollution had also risen to 20. 7%. Fortunately moderate and seriously polluted waters had seen a drop from 12. 3 and 0. 6 to 10. 0 and 0. 4 percent respectively (M. McGarrigle et al. [2009).Considering that the water quality of rivers for the 2001-2003 recording period was healthier than the 2007-2009 recording period, even though the 2001-2003 period coincides with the implementation of the WFD, highlights that for a period of six years that the WFD was in effect Irelands river water quality declined . This corroborates to the argument that yes the WFD has carried out reports, monitoring programs and drafted plans all well and good, but without any actual meaningful actions taken, what good is the WFD at all? This is not to say that the WFD has not done anything positive, for example since its introduction â€Å"the percentage of channel surveyed classified as seriously polluted has decreased to 0. 4 percent compared with the previous period when 0. 5 percent was seriously polluted† (M. McGarrigle et al. [2009]).It cannot be stressed enough that in order to improve the quality of water in Ireland research and reporting is fundamental, however the point being made is that pencil pushing and fiddling around writing reports and documents will not recuperate Irelands water systems. Six years is a very long timeframe for an EU commissioned directive to take no feasible action other than talk about and plan what it’s going to do and then expect to reach its target of ret urning all waters to â€Å"good status† by December 2015. To emphasise the case that without acting and merely focusing on the bureaucratic side of things the WFD has impeded its own progress, citing’s from the South Western River Basin Management Plan (2009-2015) report will be looked at.It states, â€Å"municipal wastewater discharge is one of the two most important sources of pollution in Irish rivers, accounting for 38% of the number of polluted river sites recorded (the other source being agricultural activities)† (South Western River Basin District [2010]). This is not new news, this has been known for quite some time and â€Å"the two top sectors responsible for the pollution of Irish rivers are municipal and agriculture† has even been quoted in the 1991-1993 EPA water quality in Ireland report. To add to this the Nitrates Directive was set up in 1991 for the â€Å"protection of waters against pollution by nitrates from agricultural sources† (Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, The Nitrates Directive. [online] Available at: http://www. nviron. ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterQuality/NitratesDirective/ [Accessed on 08/10/12]). This directive actually implemented legislation that â€Å"required the avoidance of practices by farmers which create a risk of causing pollution to water courses and provide for inspections by local authorities. They also provided for strengthened enforcement provisions and for better farmyard management. They included provisions relating to times of the year, weather and soil conditions when the application of fertilisers is permitted, the minimum setback distances from water sources for the application of fertilisers and minimum storage capacity for manures†. Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, The Nitrates Directive. [online] Available at: http://www. environ. ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterQuality/NitratesDirective/ [Accessed on 08/10/12]). Why then is the SWRBD reporting that agriculture is the second biggest cause of pollution to Irish rivers, number one when this has long been known and number two when measures have already been put in place a long time ago to address this problem? To add to this they also quoted â€Å"The main objective in relation to wastewater is to meet the requirements of the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations (2001-2010) in full† (South Western River Basin District [2010]). Not to be crude, but are they for real?This is common sense, these regulations have been in place since 2001, and yes they would have been modified over the years but how in 2010 when this report came out can meeting these regulations still be just an objective? To highlight further the WFDs failure to have a significant positive impact on the quality of Irish water a recent EPA report on the assessment of aquatic ecosystem responses to POM’s intended to improve water quality in Ireland was released. Acco rding to this report, â€Å"results presented suggest that many existing POMs have proven or are proving ineffective in raising BWQ (biological water quality) and restoring ecological functioning† (D. Taylor et al. [2012]). An example of this can be seen in the â€Å"strategic replacement of 10% of septic tank systems in part of the Blackwater catchment in CO. Armagh† (D. Taylor et al. [2012]).The report showed that overall, prior and subsequent to the replacement of the septic tank systems phosphorous loads remained largely the same. In conjunction with this result, â€Å"in other parts of the Blackwater, the replacement and upgrading of septic tank systems had no significant phosphorous concentration effects, despite the implementation of additional POMs aimed at reducing phosphorous inputs from point and diffuse sources† (D. Taylor et al. [2012]). The report goes on to say that some of the â€Å"potential reasons why the implementation of POMs have had limit ed success include the delayed, incomplete or uneven application of measures† (D. Taylor et al. [2012]).This only solidifies the argument that the WFD spent too much time thinking about what to do, and then what measures they did put in place, for the most part either took too long to do so or did not implement the measure properly in order to meet their 2015 deadline. Which follows now onto a report that was released in July 2010 on behalf of the WFD entitled â€Å"Final River Basin Management Plans Background Documentation, Alternative Objectives: Approach to Extended Deadlines†, its main purpose, to focus on certain cases that require an extension past the 2015 deadline (kind of defeats the purpose of the WFD if they are admitting defeat five years before the deadline). Under section 4. 0 ‘Agriculture’ of this report, one of the cases for exclusion is nitrate losses from agriculture to groundwaters. The reason for this, â€Å"Scientific data indicates s tatus recovery extends beyond 2015. â€Å"Recovery of elevated nitrate levels in groundwater bodies is expected to take place in approximately 20 years even with full implementation of the Good Agricultural Practice regulations (Fenton et al, in press). So yes, while it is known that the natural recovery of a water system takes substantial time, with technology today could the WFD not invest in developing nitrate removal techniques such as, layered double hydroxides which â€Å"are of interest because of the potential to use LDHs to remove agrochemicals from polluted water, reducing the likelihood of eutrophication† (Wikipedia. org, Layered Double Hydroxins. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 08/10/2012]). Another case looked at in this report is wastewater discharges from some treatment plants.The reason for the exemption, a technical/practical constraint, it states â€Å"The time required to plan and design upgrades to treatment plants and to achieve approvals and licen sing means it is not technically possible to achieve good status in 2015,† the action applied is to leave â€Å"Local Authorities to upgrade plants through the Water Services Investment Programme† meaning that funding is one of the reasons that there will be a delay in the overhaul of wastewater treatment plants in Ireland. Unsurprisingly, according to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government website â€Å"with the changed economic climate and the finalisation of the first cycle of River Basin Management Plans, the new programme aims to prioritise projects that target environmental compliance issues† (Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, Water Services Investment Programme. online] Available at: http://www. environ. ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterServices/WaterServicesInvestmentProgramme/ [Accessed on 08/10/2012]). This here shown lack of initiative by the Government and the WFD by not investing in technology that can help recover Irish waters allows the development of this last argument. In a very recent position paper entitled â€Å"Reform of the Water Sector in Ireland† carried out by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government it was highlighted that â€Å"water services cost over â‚ ¬1. 2 billion to run in 2010, of which operational costs amounted to some â‚ ¬715 million, with capital expenditure of over â‚ ¬500 million†.The paper goes on to tell of the impending establishment of the state company ‘Irish Water’ â€Å"that will take over the water investment and maintenance programmes of the 34 county and city councils with the key aim of supervising and accelerating the pace of delivery of planned investments needed to upgrade the State’s water and sewerage networks† (Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, [2012]). This state company intends on funding its investments and programmes via water charges paid for by Irish householders. Despite the fact that Ireland is in a recession and its people are struggling as it is financially, the fact remains that Ireland is the only country in the OECD that does not pay for its water use (Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, [2012]).It states, â€Å"Our capacity to fund the future capital investment requirements from the exchequer is severally constrained. The Government’s plan for Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2012-16 shows a decline in exchequer capital investment in water and waste water services from â‚ ¬435 million in 2011 to â‚ ¬371 million in 2012 and a further decline to â‚ ¬296 million by 2014† (Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, [2012]). This is one of the reasons why Irish Water is a good idea as it will actually fund the necessary wastewater treatment plant changes that need to be done in order to tackle some of Irelands water pollution issues while als o effectively reducing the amount of treated potable water wasted everyday by Irish households.So to sum up, yes, introducing the WFD has had a positive impact as it has lead to developments in implementations that will help to recover the quality of Irelands waters, however the main argument being made in this paper is that they failed on several points. Firstly they spent too much time on the bureaucratic side of things, six years to be exact figuring out what the problems were and where, when a lot of them were obvious, had been known about and reported on several years previously and many had already been addressed. Secondly, a lot of POMs that were implemented were done so either to late or not properly, meaning that a lot of them have not lead to any significant positive changes.Finally where the WFD failed was a lack of investment into developing technologies that might help accelerate the return of Irish waters to their natural state, and a huge time lag into implementing wa ter charges so as to invest into Irelands infrastructure regarding wastewater treatment. Overall time here is what has been wasted, as for every day that no action is taken is another day when Irelands water and habitats suffer. Nature does not and can not wait for the pencil pushers. References 1. The Eu Water Framework Directive. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 08/10/12] 2. Water Framework Directive, [2005].The Characterisation and Analysis of Ireland’s River Basin Districts, National Summary Report. Ireland 3. Environmental Protection Agency, M. McGarrigle et al. [2009]. Water Quality in Ireland. Ireland 4. South Western River Basin District, [2010] South Western River Basin Management Plan. Ireland 5. Environmental Protection Agency, [1993] Water Quality in Ireland. Ireland 6. Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, The Nitrates Directive. [online] Available at: http://www. environ. ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterQuality/NitratesDirective/ [Accessed o n 08/10/12]). 7. Environmental Protection Agency, D. Taylor et al. [2012] Water Quality and the Aquatic Environment STRIVE Report 91. Ireland 8.Lag Time: A Methodology For The Estimation Of Vertical, Horizontal Travel & Flushing Timescales To Nitrate Threshold Concentrations In Irish Aquifers Fenton et al under review 9. Wikipedia. org, Layered Double Hydroxins. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 08/10/2012]. 10. Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, Water Services Investment Programme. [online] Available at: http://www. environ. ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterServices/WaterServicesInvestmentProgramme/ [Accessed on 08/10/2012]). 11. Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, [2012] Reform of the Water Sector in Ireland. Ireland The Impact of the Current Regulatory Framework on Water Quality in Ireland Lecturer: Aisling O’Gorman Waste Process Management Lecturer: Aisling O’Gorman Waste Process Management 08 Fall 08 Fall Submission Date: 11/10/2012 Word Count: 2387 Submission Date: 11/10/2012 Word Count: 2387 The Impact of the Current Regulatory Framework on Water Quality in Ireland: Maria McShaneThe Impact of the Current Regulatory Framework on Water Quality in Ireland: Maria McShane Introduction Based on the evaluation of various reports, papers, documents, regulations and legislation from numerous agencies, departments, directives and bodies it can be seen that although â€Å"on paper† major changes have been made so as to improve the quality of water in Ireland, realistically the amendments do not match up.This being that progress has been slow and minimal when compared to the reform of regulations and legislation and the introduction of the Water Framework Directive. Considering the key importance of water as a natural resource both to society and habitats alike it will be argued that although the intention is there to improve the quality of water in Ireland (and there have been some improvements) as an overall, actual major physical improvements to the water quality has yet to be seen.Report Firstly the Water Framework Directive will be examined to highlight its purpose, current status and goals for the future and how it fits into impacting Irelands water quality. The WFD was set up by the EU â€Å"in response to the increasing threat of pollution and the increasing demand from the public for cleaner rivers, lakes and beaches† (The Eu Water Framework Directive. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 08/10/12]). According to the Water Framework Directives’ website, their aims are to â€Å"protect/enhance all waters (surface, ground and coastal waters), achieve â€Å"good status† for all waters by December 2015, manage water bodies based on river basins (or catchments), involve the public and streamline legislationâ € 1 (The Eu Water Framework Directive. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 08/10/12]).In order to achieve these goals a timetable for implementation of the directive was created, starting from its transposition into Irish Legislation by the European Communities (Water Policy) Regulations 2003, (Statutory Instrument 722) on 22nd December 2003 (European Communities (Water Policy) Regulations 2003, (Statutory Instrument 722). (The Eu Water Framework Directive. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 08/10/12]). From the 22nd December 2003 to the 22nd June 2009 no Programmes of Measures were actually implemented in order to beneficially impact Irelands water quality by the WFD.Instead the WFD established (June 2004) and characterised (December 2004) Irelands River Basin Districts, submitted a National Summary Report on the characterisation of the RBDs to the European Commission (March 2005), developed classification systems for surface water and groundwater (June 2006), established and m aintained appropriate Monitoring Programmes (June 2006), prepared and published a work programme and timetable for the production of River Basin Management Plans (RBMP) (June 2006), identified the significant water management issues in each river basin (June 2007), drafted RBMPs and allowed six months for written comment (June 2008), and finally established environmental objectives and final Programmes of Measures and developed RBMPs for implementation (June 2009), (Water Framework Directive, [2005]). Although this research and reporting is a vital function of improving Irelands water quality, the timeframe in which this has been done means that physical progress has been hindered. The actual recovery progress made to Irelands water quality can be seen in various Environmental Protection Agency reports. According to the EPA’s Water Quality in Ireland Report of 2007-2009, between 1987 and 1990, 77. 3, 12. 0, 9. 7 and 0. % surveyed river channel length were unpolluted, slightly polluted, moderately polluted and seriously polluted respectively. By the 2001-2003 report the percentage of unpolluted rivers had dropped from 77. 3% to 69. 3% which is significant, in addition to this the percentage surveyed of seriously polluted rivers had risen from 0. 4% to 0. 6%, slight and moderate pollution had also risen by 5. 9 and 2. 6 percent respectively. By the 2007-2009 report the percentage of surveyed river that remained unpolluted had dropped again to 68. 9%, slight pollution had also risen to 20. 7%. Fortunately moderate and seriously polluted waters had seen a drop from 12. 3 and 0. 6 to 10. 0 and 0. 4 percent respectively (M. McGarrigle et al. [2009).Considering that the water quality of rivers for the 2001-2003 recording period was healthier than the 2007-2009 recording period, even though the 2001-2003 period coincides with the implementation of the WFD, highlights that for a period of six years that the WFD was in effect Irelands river water quality declined . This corroborates to the argument that yes the WFD has carried out reports, monitoring programs and drafted plans all well and good, but without any actual meaningful actions taken, what good is the WFD at all? This is not to say that the WFD has not done anything positive, for example since its introduction â€Å"the percentage of channel surveyed classified as seriously polluted has decreased to 0. 4 percent compared with the previous period when 0. 5 percent was seriously polluted† (M. McGarrigle et al. [2009]).It cannot be stressed enough that in order to improve the quality of water in Ireland research and reporting is fundamental, however the point being made is that pencil pushing and fiddling around writing reports and documents will not recuperate Irelands water systems. Six years is a very long timeframe for an EU commissioned directive to take no feasible action other than talk about and plan what it’s going to do and then expect to reach its target of ret urning all waters to â€Å"good status† by December 2015. To emphasise the case that without acting and merely focusing on the bureaucratic side of things the WFD has impeded its own progress, citing’s from the South Western River Basin Management Plan (2009-2015) report will be looked at.It states, â€Å"municipal wastewater discharge is one of the two most important sources of pollution in Irish rivers, accounting for 38% of the number of polluted river sites recorded (the other source being agricultural activities)† (South Western River Basin District [2010]). This is not new news, this has been known for quite some time and â€Å"the two top sectors responsible for the pollution of Irish rivers are municipal and agriculture† has even been quoted in the 1991-1993 EPA water quality in Ireland report. To add to this the Nitrates Directive was set up in 1991 for the â€Å"protection of waters against pollution by nitrates from agricultural sources† (Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, The Nitrates Directive. [online] Available at: http://www. nviron. ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterQuality/NitratesDirective/ [Accessed on 08/10/12]). This directive actually implemented legislation that â€Å"required the avoidance of practices by farmers which create a risk of causing pollution to water courses and provide for inspections by local authorities. They also provided for strengthened enforcement provisions and for better farmyard management. They included provisions relating to times of the year, weather and soil conditions when the application of fertilisers is permitted, the minimum setback distances from water sources for the application of fertilisers and minimum storage capacity for manures†. Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, The Nitrates Directive. [online] Available at: http://www. environ. ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterQuality/NitratesDirective/ [Accessed on 08/10/12]). Why then is the SWRBD reporting that agriculture is the second biggest cause of pollution to Irish rivers, number one when this has long been known and number two when measures have already been put in place a long time ago to address this problem? To add to this they also quoted â€Å"The main objective in relation to wastewater is to meet the requirements of the EU Urban Waste Water Treatment Regulations (2001-2010) in full† (South Western River Basin District [2010]). Not to be crude, but are they for real?This is common sense, these regulations have been in place since 2001, and yes they would have been modified over the years but how in 2010 when this report came out can meeting these regulations still be just an objective? To highlight further the WFDs failure to have a significant positive impact on the quality of Irish water a recent EPA report on the assessment of aquatic ecosystem responses to POM’s intended to improve water quality in Ireland was released. Acco rding to this report, â€Å"results presented suggest that many existing POMs have proven or are proving ineffective in raising BWQ (biological water quality) and restoring ecological functioning† (D. Taylor et al. [2012]). An example of this can be seen in the â€Å"strategic replacement of 10% of septic tank systems in part of the Blackwater catchment in CO. Armagh† (D. Taylor et al. [2012]).The report showed that overall, prior and subsequent to the replacement of the septic tank systems phosphorous loads remained largely the same. In conjunction with this result, â€Å"in other parts of the Blackwater, the replacement and upgrading of septic tank systems had no significant phosphorous concentration effects, despite the implementation of additional POMs aimed at reducing phosphorous inputs from point and diffuse sources† (D. Taylor et al. [2012]). The report goes on to say that some of the â€Å"potential reasons why the implementation of POMs have had limit ed success include the delayed, incomplete or uneven application of measures† (D. Taylor et al. [2012]).This only solidifies the argument that the WFD spent too much time thinking about what to do, and then what measures they did put in place, for the most part either took too long to do so or did not implement the measure properly in order to meet their 2015 deadline. Which follows now onto a report that was released in July 2010 on behalf of the WFD entitled â€Å"Final River Basin Management Plans Background Documentation, Alternative Objectives: Approach to Extended Deadlines†, its main purpose, to focus on certain cases that require an extension past the 2015 deadline (kind of defeats the purpose of the WFD if they are admitting defeat five years before the deadline). Under section 4. 0 ‘Agriculture’ of this report, one of the cases for exclusion is nitrate losses from agriculture to groundwaters. The reason for this, â€Å"Scientific data indicates s tatus recovery extends beyond 2015. â€Å"Recovery of elevated nitrate levels in groundwater bodies is expected to take place in approximately 20 years even with full implementation of the Good Agricultural Practice regulations (Fenton et al, in press). So yes, while it is known that the natural recovery of a water system takes substantial time, with technology today could the WFD not invest in developing nitrate removal techniques such as, layered double hydroxides which â€Å"are of interest because of the potential to use LDHs to remove agrochemicals from polluted water, reducing the likelihood of eutrophication† (Wikipedia. org, Layered Double Hydroxins. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 08/10/2012]). Another case looked at in this report is wastewater discharges from some treatment plants.The reason for the exemption, a technical/practical constraint, it states â€Å"The time required to plan and design upgrades to treatment plants and to achieve approvals and licen sing means it is not technically possible to achieve good status in 2015,† the action applied is to leave â€Å"Local Authorities to upgrade plants through the Water Services Investment Programme† meaning that funding is one of the reasons that there will be a delay in the overhaul of wastewater treatment plants in Ireland. Unsurprisingly, according to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government website â€Å"with the changed economic climate and the finalisation of the first cycle of River Basin Management Plans, the new programme aims to prioritise projects that target environmental compliance issues† (Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, Water Services Investment Programme. online] Available at: http://www. environ. ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterServices/WaterServicesInvestmentProgramme/ [Accessed on 08/10/2012]). This here shown lack of initiative by the Government and the WFD by not investing in technology that can help recover Irish waters allows the development of this last argument. In a very recent position paper entitled â€Å"Reform of the Water Sector in Ireland† carried out by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government it was highlighted that â€Å"water services cost over â‚ ¬1. 2 billion to run in 2010, of which operational costs amounted to some â‚ ¬715 million, with capital expenditure of over â‚ ¬500 million†.The paper goes on to tell of the impending establishment of the state company ‘Irish Water’ â€Å"that will take over the water investment and maintenance programmes of the 34 county and city councils with the key aim of supervising and accelerating the pace of delivery of planned investments needed to upgrade the State’s water and sewerage networks† (Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, [2012]). This state company intends on funding its investments and programmes via water charges paid for by Irish householders. Despite the fact that Ireland is in a recession and its people are struggling as it is financially, the fact remains that Ireland is the only country in the OECD that does not pay for its water use (Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, [2012]).It states, â€Å"Our capacity to fund the future capital investment requirements from the exchequer is severally constrained. The Government’s plan for Infrastructure and Capital Investment 2012-16 shows a decline in exchequer capital investment in water and waste water services from â‚ ¬435 million in 2011 to â‚ ¬371 million in 2012 and a further decline to â‚ ¬296 million by 2014† (Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, [2012]). This is one of the reasons why Irish Water is a good idea as it will actually fund the necessary wastewater treatment plant changes that need to be done in order to tackle some of Irelands water pollution issues while als o effectively reducing the amount of treated potable water wasted everyday by Irish households.So to sum up, yes, introducing the WFD has had a positive impact as it has lead to developments in implementations that will help to recover the quality of Irelands waters, however the main argument being made in this paper is that they failed on several points. Firstly they spent too much time on the bureaucratic side of things, six years to be exact figuring out what the problems were and where, when a lot of them were obvious, had been known about and reported on several years previously and many had already been addressed. Secondly, a lot of POMs that were implemented were done so either to late or not properly, meaning that a lot of them have not lead to any significant positive changes.Finally where the WFD failed was a lack of investment into developing technologies that might help accelerate the return of Irish waters to their natural state, and a huge time lag into implementing wa ter charges so as to invest into Irelands infrastructure regarding wastewater treatment. Overall time here is what has been wasted, as for every day that no action is taken is another day when Irelands water and habitats suffer. Nature does not and can not wait for the pencil pushers. References 1. The Eu Water Framework Directive. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 08/10/12] 2. Water Framework Directive, [2005].The Characterisation and Analysis of Ireland’s River Basin Districts, National Summary Report. Ireland 3. Environmental Protection Agency, M. McGarrigle et al. [2009]. Water Quality in Ireland. Ireland 4. South Western River Basin District, [2010] South Western River Basin Management Plan. Ireland 5. Environmental Protection Agency, [1993] Water Quality in Ireland. Ireland 6. Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, The Nitrates Directive. [online] Available at: http://www. environ. ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterQuality/NitratesDirective/ [Accessed o n 08/10/12]). 7. Environmental Protection Agency, D. Taylor et al. [2012] Water Quality and the Aquatic Environment STRIVE Report 91. Ireland 8.Lag Time: A Methodology For The Estimation Of Vertical, Horizontal Travel & Flushing Timescales To Nitrate Threshold Concentrations In Irish Aquifers Fenton et al under review 9. Wikipedia. org, Layered Double Hydroxins. [online] Available at: [Accessed on 08/10/2012]. 10. Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, Water Services Investment Programme. [online] Available at: http://www. environ. ie/en/Environment/Water/WaterServices/WaterServicesInvestmentProgramme/ [Accessed on 08/10/2012]). 11. Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, [2012] Reform of the Water Sector in Ireland. Ireland

Defining And Understanding Gender Mainstreaming Social Work Essay Example

Defining And Understanding Gender Mainstreaming Social Work Essay Example Defining And Understanding Gender Mainstreaming Social Work Essay Defining And Understanding Gender Mainstreaming Social Work Essay In order to work out the issue of gender favoritism at workplace, gender mainstreaming would be a solution to restrict gender inequality. Gender mainstreaming was recognized as an international attack that seeks to accomplish gender equality and tantamount rights for both work forces and adult females in the Platform for Action adopted at the Fourth World Conference on Women ( Hannan 2003, pp. three ) . Gender mainstreaming is classified by the 52nd Session of The Economic and Social Council ( ECOSOC ) of the United Nations in 1997 as, Mainstreaming a gender position is the procedure of measuring the deductions for adult females and work forces of any planned action, including statute law, policies or programmes, in any country and at all degrees. It is a scheme for doing the concerns and experiences of adult females every bit good as of work forces an built-in portion of the design, execution, monitoring and rating of policies and programmes in all political, economic and social domains, so that adult females and work forces benefit every bit, and inequality is non perpetuated. The ultimate end of mainstreaming is to accomplish gender equality ( International Labor Organization 2002 ) . Why Gender Mainstreaming? Gender mainstreaming composes the societal job of gender inequality obvious and clear for the community. Additionally, it improves the footing of all organisation s undertakings and processs and besides teaches the organisation s staff about the assorted effects of adult females and work forces s part. Furthermore, gender mainstreaming improves transparence and strategic determination devising within the organisation, every bit good as doing full use of human resources by acknowledging work forces and adult females s capablenesss and chances. In a practical mean, gender mainstreaming will carry any organisation s staff to get down on measuring their organisation and its activities on the footing of gender attack. Therefore, makes the organisation recognize the spreads between work forces and adult females and the beginning of favoritism and its attacks. Furthermore, by finding the job, it would be easier to take the initial of import actions to better the state of affairs and accompl ish gender equality ends by being involved in the consultancy process and policy devising. These actions require puting up a new development program and modifying the organisation s precedences to set them into action. To accomplish gender equality ends, it can non be done single every bit much as it needs the whole organisation s squad cooperation and coordination ( UNDP 2004, pp. 19-20 ) . Gender mainstreaming enhances the organisation s qualities by concentrating on equal rights policies and apportioning equal chances to both work forces and adult females. Furthermore, it would besides assist to apportion fiscal and human resources to fix and implement the policy. In add-on, it would breed more consciousness and cognition on the liberty and equity between work forces and adult females with the handiness of gender expertness. It will besides place the duties and accountability for gender mainstreaming and gender policy ( Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Foreign Information and Communication 2002, pp. 3 ) . Importance of Gender Mainstreaming: There are several grounds of why our society needs gender mainstreaming for its magnitude on the organisational and social degree. Gives people the chance to acquire involved in the policy devising. Gender equality and mainstreaming high spots the demands to measure policies harmonizing to their influence on persons and societal state of affairs, along with their demands. It besides contributes to present among public sentiments, a learning patterned advance of giving more attending of the policies impact people s life. It is a measure frontward to a more human attack of development and modern democratic societies. By taking gender equality, policies will be made upon the existent demands of work forces and adult females. Gender mainstreaming leads to a better authorities. In order to hold a better authorities, so there should be a good formation of policies. Consequently, it will confront all obstructions to inequality and lead to a superior transparence in the policy procedure. Prosecute work forces and adult females to hold full entree to human resources. It is good known that the society depends on human resources and work forces and adult females s experience every bit good. Therefore, gender mainstreaming adds both work forces and adult females s experience and acknowledges their duty to extinguish inequality within the society. Additionally, it might assist in cut downing any democratic shortages. Brands gender equality issues noticeable for the society. Gender mainstreaming gives the chance to unclutter out the thought of the effects of political enterprises on work forces and adult females. Gender equality should be seeable for the society and be integrated into the mainstream of the society. Therefore, gender mainstreaming reveals how gender equality is of import societal affair with deduction for the society development. However, gender inequality can non be combated without full engagement and committedness of the political construction ( Council of Europe 1998, pp. 19-20 ) . Women represent half of the society ; hence, development should be based on the part of both work forces and adult females. Nonetheless, gender inequality straight and indirectly impact the impact of development schemes, therefore, the overall accomplishment of the development jails. The authorization and sovereignty of adult females and the betterment of their societal and political prominence is of import for accomplishing a transparent and accountable authorities, in add-on to sustainable development in assorted life countries. Therefore, accomplishing equality ends to affect both work forces and adult females in the determination doing procedure will reflect a more accurate image of the society composing as there is a high demand to reenforce democracy and advance its appropriate operation ( OSAGI 2001 pp. 1 ) . Gender Mainstreaming in Organization s: Even though gender mainstreaming is an International scheme to advance gender equality, there is still a long manner before gender perceptual experiences are systematically incorporated in all development Fieldss. Specific cognition and capacity is required to convey the worlds of both work forces and adult females every bit good as their part, positions and needs to set up with accurate informations aggregation and analysis, ordinance development, execution and monitoring in all Fieldss of development ( Hannan 2003, pp. 14-15 ) . Governmental or non-governmental organisations policies on gender equality are non effectual or implemented decently due to the traditional domination of work forces s function over adult females s within the organisation. Therefore, taking to low figure of females, deficiency of rural adult females s demands undertakings, low allotment of budget related to adult females activities, and imbalances determination devising. Organizational alteration attempts include developing between genders, gender mainstreaming and organisational development. The most cardinal constituents to accomplish advancement on commiting gender equality duties are to concentrate on senior directors. The direction function is still a pre-requisite to guarantee the handiness of equal resources to work on turn toing the gender issues and for the organisational systems and patterns to necessitate answerability to gender equality policies ( WOCAN 2006, pp. 1-2 ) . For the organisation to react to the gender quality affair, it should place the factors that create and increase gender prejudices within its ambiance such as the vision and aims, construction and policy, patterns, plans and services, beliefs and attitudes every bit good as the patterns of the staff members. However, the organisation should follow some step to eliminate the causes of gender equity throughout some alterations in the vision and aims, reforming the policies, organisational restructuring, behavior gender consciousness seminars, and better physical capablenesss to heighten safety and security ( Sobritchea 2008, pp. 2-3 ) . A gender antiphonal organisation should guarantee plans and programs are being guided by the gender equality rules by taking affirmatory actions when necessary to restrict the spread between male and adult females refering the entree of benefits. In add-on, practising gender equality in determination devising and chances ( Sobritchea 2008, pp. 6 ) . However, the organisation should extinguish any prejudices in the hiring, firing and publicity of male and female staff. Additionally, promote gender equality in educational and developing determination and take part in the determination devising every bit good as following non-sexist patterns and developing constructions and forces services that address gender issues such as torment and coordination between work and household life ( Sobritchea 2008, pp. 7 ) . Troubles of Gender Mainstreaming: On of the constrains to gender equality jurisprudence is the deficiency of consciousness on national and International jurisprudence on equal chance of both adult females and work forces ( International Labor Organization 2003, pp. 83 ) . Most of the jobs can be endorsed by the misinterpretation of the bing processs, techniques and means or the deficiency of political finding. The followers are some troubles that might attach to gender mainstreaming: UÂ ­ Misconstruing the construct of gender mainstreaming. UÂ ­ Need for a wider construct of equality. UÂ ­ Existing attacks to policy devising and the demand of mainstreaming for procedural alterations. UÂ ­ Lack of equal tools and techniques. UÂ ­ Lack of equal cognition about gender equality issues. UÂ ­ Danger of speaking about gender mainstreaming without executions ( Council of Europe 1998, pp. 17-18 ) . Procedures to Address Gender Mainstreaming Problems: Organizational development in footings of exemplifying undertakings and responsibilities, create answerability methods, developing guidelines, using gender specializers and allowing competency development for all work forces and human resources is required and indispensable to back up gender mainstreaming. Full duty to implement mainstreaming schemes should be based on the highest degree within the authoritiess and organisations. Management degrees should be responsible for seting mainstreaming mechanisms to supervise the advancement with mainstreaming. The manner to vouch mainstreaming is to apportion clear indexs on the advancement that can be monitored over clip by the direction ( Hannan 2003, pp. 16 ) . To turn to the job of gender mainstreaming, incorporating genders issues with policies and programmes so that the civil society and the community expeditiously respond to important demands of adult females. The gender mainstreaming constituents are: Establishing committedness and ability by making and beef uping gender cardinal points in local and state development composing thought protagonism with senior determination shapers. Influence policies to be more antiphonal to gender issue by recommending gender legal reforms, organize policy forums and reenforcing adult females s forum. Increase adult females s engagement in the national and local degree by supplying leading preparation to go function theoretical accounts in their societies. Bettering the capacity for gender monitoring and rating by spread outing the information more efficaciously in protagonism. Raise public consciousness by set uping gender focal points in the construction of local and national development ( Hannan 2003, pp. 10 ) . Clear definition of equal chances policy and on adult females and development within the organisation. Organizations executives and seniors should give attending on the issue of equal chances. Organizations employees should lend to gender equity based on their policy field. Gender experts should take a sufficient portion in the policy determination doing process. Allocate adequate money and human resource for the policy devising and operation. Appraisal and comptroller of policy at a specific phase. ( Ministry of Foreign Affairs, foreign Information and Communication, the Netherlands 2002, pp. 2 ) .