Purpose: Primary-care referral to community-based exercise specialists (exercise referral) is common in the UK despite limited evidence of effectiveness. A recent pragmatic randomised trial of the Welsh National Exercise Referral Scheme (NERS), demonstrated promising impacts upon physical activity and mental health. This paper presents a…

Describes the endeavor by the Chinese Communist Party to construct a community-based, urban welfare system that would cater to the needs of urban dwellers who were not under the protection of the workers' social assistance system or whose needs could not be met entirely by it. (CT)

The study of the adoption of activities to protect the natural environment has tended to focus on the role of organizational fields. This article advances existing research by simultaneously examining conflicting processes that operate in nested organizational fields at local, national and supra-national levels. It examines the recent spread of an…

Papua New Guinea has made tremendous progress by officially recognizing the value of vernacular languages as a resource in the sociocultural, economic, and political development of the country. Many of the strategies of implementation reflect the peculiarities identified with the current momentum in literacy. The strong lower level involvement in…

The government of Canada announced in the October 2004 Speech from the Throne that it will move ahead with its long-awaited national childcare program. In early 2005, federal, provincial and territorial ministers will meet to forge a deal for a national childcare program. The national Advisory Committee on Rural Issues applauds this attention to…

This booklet first looks at principles in evaluating services for people with mental retardation and strategies for evaluating and monitoring community services. It then describes two programs which involve parents/families in the evaluation and monitoring of community services in New Zealand. Basic principles include the importance of written…

The process used in Papua New Guinea to integrate national and district health planning in a decentralized setting is described, highlighting the key elements of participation, learning by doing, and integration. The importance of this three-pronged approach for program development and application is discussed. (SLD)

This report, in both English and Maltese, describes the mission and activities, from 1987 through 1992, of Malta's National Commission Persons with Disabilities. An introduction lists Commission aims, such as coordinating government and voluntary programs and activities serving people with disabilities and their families. The second section…

This paper examines the current status of programs for preschool children in Chile. Section 1 of the paper provides an overview of the situation of preschool children in Chile. The country's population includes more than 1.6 million children between the ages of 0 and 5 years 11 months, and in urban areas, 18.4 percent of children between the ages…

The approaches to language maintenance in Australia are diverse and heterogeneous and include at least three kinds of programs: bilingual education programs; ethnic school programs (after hours or weekend programs that are controlled and managed by the community concerned); and mainstream school programs where the indigenous native language is…

Provided in this document are case studies of representative and exemplary innovative environmental education programs from various regions of the world (North America, Latin America, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia/Oceania). The case studies provide information on the environment and environmental problems and concerns…

In Ireland, four government programs have traditionally been available to help individuals wishing to establish an enterprise: (1) Enterprise Training; (2) local training initiatives (LTI); (3) the Enterprise Scheme; and (4) the Community Enterprise Programme (CEP). In 1988, the four enterprise measures were combined to form the Training and…

A National Strategy for Adult Basic Skills has been proposed to deal with the English situation in which about one adult in five is not functionally literate and far more people have problems with numeracy. The National Strategy has these 10 main elements: national targets; an entitlement to learn; guidance, assessment, and publicity; better…

This book presents the dynamics of language and literacy policy activism in Australia. The introduction is "Activists and Policy" (LoBianco, Wickert). Part 1, "From Policy to Anti-Policy" (LoBianco), sets a frame and overarching context of the pattern of Australian language and literacy policy. Part 2 contains accounts of how…

Denmark's career guidance system and policies were evaluated. The review team met with policymakers and guidance practitioners in the public and private sectors, analyzed data from a national questionnaire, and reviewed pertinent documentation. The evaluation focused on the following areas: coordinating mechanisms; the role of Denmark's National…