Digital economy and institutional dynamics: striving for equitable public service in a digitally transformed era.

Background: The rapid emergence of China's digital economy has sparked profound interest in the complex interplay between digitalization and the provision of public services. This study aims to delve deeper into how the development of the digital economy impacts the level of equalization in public service delivery and evaluates whether institutional factors can moderate this transformation. Against the backdrop of pursuing "common prosperity," this research provides valuable guidance for policymaking and strategic planning. It ensures that the ascent of the digital economy not only elevates the standards of public services but also fosters their equitable distribution, thereby advancing the cause of social equity. Methodology: The study utilized the System Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) model along with longitudinal trend data spanning from 2009 to 2018. This approach facilitated an in-depth analysis of the relationship between the digital economy and the level of equalization in public service delivery. The application of this model provided deeper insights into the impact of the digital economy on public service equalization and the identification of underlying mechanisms. Findings: This study reveals a complex paradox that the digital economy is exacerbating regional disparities in the provision of basic public services. Furthermore, the research underscores the pivotal role of institutional environments in mitigating the adverse effects of the digital economy on public service provision. By examining the interplay between digital economy growth and institutional frameworks, the study suggests that adaptable and robust institutions are essential for harnessing the digital economy's benefits while minimizing its potential drawbacks. Conclusion: In conclusion, the findings from this study offer substantial insights into the dual impact of the digital economy on public service provision, enriching the ongoing discourse on digital transformation and social equity. The research underscores the significance of strategic policy reforms and institutional adjustments to harness the transformative power of the digital economy, promoting equitable access to public services and advancing the goal of "common prosperity" in the digital age.

Influence of organisational climate on public service employee physical health.

Background: The working conditions in the South African public service, notably its challenging environment, pose significant threats to the physical health of employees. Calls exist in understanding how this can be addressed. Aim: The study investigated the predictors of physical health, accounting for the role of organisational climate and decent work. Setting: The study was conducted in Bisho in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Methods: An instrument was administered through a survey using a sample of 289 respondents. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to test the hypothesised relationships. Results: No significant direct effect existed to show that the sounder an organisational climate, the better the physical health of employees will be (ß = -0.014, t = -0.199, p = 0.843, 95% confidence interval [CI] [-0.153 to 0.125]). However, statistically significant evidence existed to show that the more focus on promoting decent work, the better the physical health of employees will be (ß = 0.463, p = < 0.001, 95% CI [0.258 to 0.668]). Finally, decent work has a full mediating effect on the relationship between organisational climate and employee physical health (ß = 0.105, 95% CI [0.054 to 0.167]). Conclusion: Public service organisations need to pay attention to the role of its climate and decent working conditions in promoting employee physical health. Contribution: Interventions are needed centered on improving decent work and the organisational climate as identified predictors of employee physical health.

How Does Public Service Motivation Affect the Proactive Service Behaviors of Grid Workers? A Study of Survey Evidence from Eastern China.

In China, grid workers have increasingly become an indispensable and important force in basic social governance. They not only undertake several tasks, such as gaining publicity, collecting information, resolving conflicts, and assisting in management, but they also actively serve the grid residents enthusiastically and engage in proactive service behaviors. In order to better cultivate this important force, we hope to have a better understanding of the factors contributing to the behavioral performance of grid workers, especially the impact of organizational and personal factors. In this study, we sought to establish what factors influence the proactive service behaviors of grid workers. Based on a theoretical consideration of factors such as public service motivation, occupational identity, and organizational climate, a multi-factor influence hypothesis model was constructed to explain the proactive service behaviors of these workers. By analyzing data based on 348 paired survey samples received in two stages in eastern China, these hypotheses were then tested. The results reflect that grid workers' public service motivation can stimulate proactive service behaviors. Furthermore, occupational identity plays a mediating role, while organizational support and organizational service climate play a positive moderating role between public service motivation and occupational identity. This finding clarifies the important influencing factors of proactive service behaviors among grassroots workers, such as grid workers, and has important implications for how to effectively motivate these groups to provide more proactive services, promoting their sustainable development and improve the effectiveness of grassroots governance.

The Invisible Discrimination: Biases in the Clinical Approach Regarding Migrants: A Study to Help Ethnopsychology Services and Clinicians.

The complexity of migration flows across the world has led to a redefinition of psychological and social services users. The access of migrants from different cultural backgrounds to clinical services or social health services has diversified the demand for concomitant help. Biases and misinterpretations have been created by unaccustomed professionals in this field, which could lead to serious consequences and invalidate diagnostic and treatment procedures. The purpose of this study is to summarize the evidence about errors or prejudices observed in clinical practices regarding the provision of social health services to people from different cultural backgrounds. Results show three main types of biases: racial stereotype activation, ethnocentrism and micro-aggressions. Some implications on the clinical setting were discussed, as being aware of these biases can help mental health professionals manage communication more consciously with users.

The Impact of Servant Leadership on Proactive Service Behavior: a Moderated Mediation Model.

As the implementers of government policies, junior civil servants bear the responsibility of providing services to the public. Whether they can put themselves in the people's shoes and show more active service consciousness directly reflects the government's management ability and the realization of service-oriented government goals. Although proactive service behavior has been studied, it has not been brought into the field of government administration. Hence, from the perspective of servant leadership, this study attempts to introduce proactive service behavior (PSB) into the field of government administration, and discusses the promotion strategies of junior civil servants' PSB in China. Through the statistical analysis of 416 junior civil servants collected in the two stages, this study verifies that servant leadership has a significant positive impact on public service motivation and PSB of junior civil servants. Public service motivation (PSM) can partially mediate the promotion effect of servant leadership on junior civil servants' PSB. Role identity can positively moderate the relationship between servant leadership and junior civil servants' PSM, and then affect their PSB. Therefore, this study suggests that leading cadres should integrate servant leadership into daily life, take the lead in providing quality services to their subordinates, and then inspire more proactive service to the masses.

Enhancing medical students' science communication skills: from the perspective of new media.

With the development of science over the years, people have increasingly realized the importance of science communication. Unfortunately, very little research has focused on helping medical students develop the capabilities of science communication. To improve medical students' science communication and evaluate the effectiveness of New Media through mobile clients in health science communication, a competition was held among medical undergraduates. Outstanding works were selected for publication on our official health science communication WeChat account. Furthermore, the participants volunteered to complete a questionnaire survey to help us assess students' awareness of science communication. Our analysis revealed that students had a strong willingness to serve society and to participate in science communication work. Students generally agreed that science communication work had excellent effects on professional knowledge and related skills. In addition, the correlation results showed that the greater students' willingness to participate in health science communication was, the greater their sense of gain. New Media effectively expand the influence of students' popular science works. Our findings suggest that competition in science communication has a positive impact on enhancing students' awareness and capabilities in science communication. In addition, New Media are an effective way to improve students' scientific communication efficiency. However, we also noted that students' participation rate and enthusiasm for scientific communication were not high. Further research is needed to determine the reasons for this situation and potential strategies to further improve students' science communication.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The science communication competition had a positive impact on helping medical students develop awareness and capabilities for science communication. In addition, New Media are an effective way to improve students' scientific communication efficiency.

Research on the village layout optimization in China's developed areas based on daily life circles.

Public service facilities are the basic material carrier of social services. It is of great significance for the operation of social justice and the improvement of residents' wellbeing. In the process of rapid urbanization, the demand for traffic convenience and diversity of public service facilities in rural areas has been further improved. Since the sudden outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic, it is more necessary to meet the public service needs of human daily life within a certain space. The huge gap between urban and rural infrastructures, human living conditions, and supporting public services such as education, health, and culture has become a key bottleneck constraining the integration of urban and rural areas. It is appropriate to focus on the requirements for the construction of daily life circles and prioritize the satisfaction of villagers' increasing demand for public services in regions characterized by high levels of urban-rural integration. The behavior preference of public service facilities significantly affects the choice of residential areas. The existing research on village layout optimization focused on the spatial pattern, landscape morphology, influencing factors, and other contents. To some extent, the preference for equalization of public services in the context of urban-rural integration has been ignored. Uneven distribution and low utilization of public service facilities in villages resulted in an inability to adapt spatially and functionally in response to the renewal of urban-rural relations. Taking a highly developed urban and rural integration area named Wuxi City of Jiangsu Province in China as an example, this paper combines the current situation of public service facility allocation and the transport situation of residents in rural areas to build a life-circle system of different levels. On this basis, combined with the optimization goal of public service facilities and the constraints of agglomeration coverage, we try to determine the village layout optimization scheme under the construction of both the daily life circle and location-allocation model. The study can effectively adjust the allocation of public resources in rural areas and solve the problems of irrational village layout leading to long travel distances. It can also serve as a reference for improving the situation of lagging rural public service functions and promoting urban-rural equalization.

Perceived superior trust and organizational commitment among public employees: The mediating role of burnout and the moderating role of public service motivation.

The significance of trust as a vital element in the workplace, fostering a strong bond between leaders and their teams, and generating positive organizational outcomes is emphasized in this research. Leveraging the job demand-resource (JD-R) theory, the study employs a dual methodology: experimental (Studies 1 and 2) and field survey (Study 3), to investigate how trust perceived from superiors influences the organizational dedication of public sector employees. It also examines burnout's role as an intermediary and the influence of public service motivation (PSM) as a conditional factor. The key outcomes are: (1) enhanced organizational dedication can result from trust perceived from superiors; (2) this trust indirectly affects dedication through the lens of burnout; and (3) PSM plays a critical role in moderating the impact of perceived superior trust on organizational dedication. By elucidating the dynamic between perceived superior trust and organizational dedication, and its influence, this study presents novel strategies to boost organizational commitment among public employees.

Mining significant local spatial association rules for multi-category point data.

Spatial association rule mining can reveal the inherent laws of spatial object interdependence and is an important part of spatial data mining. Most of the existing algorithms for mining local spatial association rules are oriented towards the spatial association between two categories of points and cannot fully reflect the spatial heterogeneity of complex spatial relations among multiple categories of points. In addition, the interactions between points in different categories are often asymmetrical. However, the existing algorithms ignore this asymmetry. To address the above problems, an algorithm for mining local spatial association rules for point data of multiple categories based on position quotients is proposed. First, the proximity relationship between points is determined by an adaptive filter, and the spatial weight value is given according to Gaussian kernel function. Then, the multivariate local colocation quotient of each point is calculated to measure the strength of the local regional spatial association rule. Finally, the Monte Carlo simulation function is used to generate a random sample distribution to test the significance of the results. The algorithm is verified on artificial simulation data and real Point of Interest (POI) data. The experimental results show that the algorithm can identify significant association regions of different spatial association rules for point sets.

Impact of fiscal decentralization and local government competition on the supply of basic public services: Based on the empirical evidence of prefecture-level cities in China.

Promoting equal access to public services and improving people's well-being is a key link in building a modern national governance system in China. However, under the Chinese-style fiscal decentralization system, local governments face the "dilemma" of economic growth goals and the improvement of people's livelihoods. China's basic public services still have the problems of insufficient supply quantity, unbalanced structure and low efficiency. This paper aims to explore the impact of fiscal decentralization and local government competition on basic public services, and provide a theoretical and practical basis for deepening the reform of China's fiscal and taxation system, perfecting the transfer payment system, and improving the public service provision at the present stage. Under the premise of theoretical hypothesis, based on the panel data of 178 prefecture-level cities in China from 2008 to 2019, which is obtained from the Statistical Yearbook and the Work report of prefecture-level governments, the fixed effect model and threshold model are used for the empirical test. The results show that: first, the increase of fiscal decentralization has a negative impact on supply of basic public services in prefecture-level cities; second, the local government competition aiming at economic growth will intensify the negative impact, and make the relationship between fiscal decentralization and basic public services show nonlinear characteristics; Third, compared with developed areas, the strengthening regulatory effect of local government competition is more obvious in less-developed areas, such as western and northeastern regions, and third-tier, fourth-tier, and fifth-tier cities. Based on these findings, this paper draws the following policy implications: strengthen the reform of the fiscal and taxation system below the provincial level, promote the construction of a direct transfer payment mechanism, adjust the standards and methods of performance appraisal, and use modern information technology to improve the public service demand and interest expression mechanisms.

Wikipedia as an academic service-learning tool in science and technology: higher education case from Siberia.

Wikipedia, the open crowdsourced encyclopedia that anyone can edit, ranks among the top ten most-visited websites globally. Its integration into university curriculum as an innovative educational tool is a slowly growing trend; however, many higher education institutions have yet to fully grasp its potential. In response, a specific optional module for Wikipedia editing, designed for the selected undergraduate science courses at the School of Advanced Studies, Russia, was implemented as an optional extra credit service-learning activity, a teaching methodology combining meaningful service to the community with curriculum-based learning. Students who chose to participate and those who preferred not to participate in the activity were invited to participate in a research project to explore their perspectives and experiences. In total, five sessions of focus group discussions were conducted with participants (12 females and 2 males) in one set and non-participants (5 females and 4 males) in another to identify students' perspectives on themes such as their interest in science, reasons for their choices, and their expectations before the activity while post-experience focus group discussions were used to identify the perspectives of participant students on themes, encompassing contribution of the service-learning activity, acquisition of new skills, and the development of prosocial behaviors. Students' opinions on integrating social responsibility topics into the curriculum were also explored. The results extracted from these focus group discussions, analyzed through consensual coding, revealed factors promoting student participation, like interest in the subject, novelty of the activity, and grade improvement opportunities, as well as factors deterring participation, such as concerns about academic benefits, workload, and time constraints. Furthermore, the results demonstrated that Wikipedia editing serves as a novel teaching methodology, promoting student learning and development in digital literacy and information literacy, which are among the twenty-first-century skills. Interestingly, at the same time, not all students could address the value of contributing to open, crowdsourced knowledge for public service or interpret this activity as an academic service-learning. These suggest that Wikipedia editing is an innovative teaching approach, fostering students' learning and development while also indicating its potential to enhance students' understanding of responsible citizenship and public service in the digital age.

Serviço de convivência e fortalecimento de vínculos: reXistências por via do acontecimento / A public service for youth: community identity through resistance / Un service public pour la jeunesse: l'identité communautaire par la résistance / Un servicio público para los jóvenes: identidad comunitaria por vía de la resistencia

Este texto traz um relato de experiência advindo das atividades de uma orientadora social realizado no Serviço de Convivência e Fortalecimento de Vínculos (SCFV) de um Centro de Referência de Assistência Social (Cras) situado na Grande Florianópolis (SC). O serviço integrou 20 jovens com idade entre 12 e 18 anos no espaço de uma instituição de formação policial. Este trabalho analisará: (1) um acontecimento ocorrido na instituição policial; (2) quais foram os seus desdobramentos; e (3) como a orientadora social atuou na mediação do grupo. A análise da do relato de experiência e a mediação da orientadora social foram embasadas no conceito de acontecimento de Gilles Deleuze. No decorrer dos encontros, a instituição parceira do projeto adotou medidas disciplinares que desqualificavam a cultura proveniente dos cotidiano dos(as) jovens participantes, o que levou o grupo a constituir uma identidade coletiva a partir da resistência à violência simbólica. Assim, diante da situação-problema, tornou-se possível uma experiência de fortalecimentos de laços comunitários

This paper discusses a situation that occurred in a public youth service for young people living in vulnerable city areas. The service worked with 20 young people aged between 12 and 18 years and the meetings took place at a police training institution. Inspired by Gilles Deleuze's theory, this text analyzes 1) an event that occurred at the police institution, 2) their consequences and 3) how the professional responsible dealt with the event in a group context. At some point in the meetings, the police training institution adopted disciplinary measures that disqualified the participants' culture, leading the group to create a collective identity to resist symbolic violence. Thus, a community gathering experience emerged in the face of the conflicted situation

Le texte discute une situation survenue dans une fonction publique désignée pour accueillir des jeunes vivant dans des quartiers vulnérables. Le service comprenait 20 jeunes de 12 à 18 ans et les réunions se sont déroulées dans un établissement de formation policière. Inspirées par la théorie de Gilles Deleuze, ce texte analyse 1) un événement survenu dans l'institution policière, 2) qu'elles en ont été ses conséquences et 3) comment le professionnel responsable a agi pour faire face à l'événement dans un contexte de groupe. À un moment donné au cours des réunions, l'institution de formation a adopté des mesures disciplinaires qui disqualifiaient la culture des jeunes participants, ce qui a conduit le groupe à se forger une identité collective basée sur la résistance à la violence symbolique. Par conséquent, une expérience de rassemblement communautaire a émergé face à la situation conflictuelle

El texto se refiere a una situación ocurrida en un servicio público designado para trabajar con jóvenes que viven en zonas vulnerables de la ciudad. El servicio incluyó a 20 jóvenes de entre 12 y 18 años y las reuniones se ubicaron en una institución de capacitación policial. Este texto analiza 1) un suceso que ocurrió en la institución policial, 2) cuáles fueron sus consecuencias y 3) cómo actuó el profesional responsable del servicio para enfrentar el suceso en un contexto grupal. El análisis de esta situación y la referencia teórica que apoyó los actos profesionales se inspiraron en la teoría de Gilles Deleuze. En algún momento de los encuentros, la institución de capacitación policial adoptó medidas disciplinarias que descalificaron la cultura de los jóvenes participantes, lo que llevó al grupo a constituir una identidad colectiva basada en la resistencia contra la violencia simbólica. Por lo tanto, ante la situación conflictiva, fue posible una experiencia de reunión comunitaria

Barriers to the employability of people with disabilities in the South African public service.

Background: South African public sector efforts to employ people with disabilities (PWDs) in the post-apartheid have been less successful, resulting in a poor transformation record during the past 27 years (1994-2021) due to the failure to integrate PWDs into mainstream employment in government departments. Objective: The objective of this article is to identify and highlight some of the barriers to the employability of PWDs in the South African public service. Method: The research was framed as a case study within the transformative research paradigm. A typical department in the Western Cape provincial government was selected for the study. In-depth interviews were conducted with selected top managers within the Western Cape provincial government. Convenience sampling technique of the purposive sampling method was adopted to select targeted respondents (n = 10). Thematic analysis was employed to condense the data collected into a small number of significant themes. Atlas.ti version 7 was also used to enhance the analysis. Results: The study found, among others, that there are conceptual, infrastructural, managerial and organisational factors affecting the employability of PWDs in mainstream public service. Conclusion: The study concludes that barriers to the socio-economic progression of PWDs, including infrastructural and psychosocial factors, continue to prevail and cause the socio-economic marginalisation of PWDs. Contribution: The study contributes towards efforts aimed at the inclusion of PWDs in the workplace by offering both internal and society-wide actions. Internally, successful inclusion of PWDs involves eliminating barriers, removing bureaucracy, initiating management development for disability matters, introducing appropriate talent development measures, and implementing collaborative management of PWDs. External or society-wide measures include campaigns to demystify disability and change attitudes, engage society structures, and improve societal knowledge of disability.

Can local People's Congress supervision improve the expenditure behavior of local governments? Evidence from provincial budget review.

The Local People's Congress budget review and supervision is an important measure to "effectively safeguard and improve people's livelihood" under the changes of the current major contradictions. Using the multi period DID method, we found that after the revision of the regulations, the local people's livelihood public service expenditure bias and expenditure efficiency were significantly improved. This conclusion is still valid after considering a series of robustness tests and possible explanations. The specific ways for it mainly include the constraint on the opportunistic behavior of local governments and the signal transmission function of the LPC's supervision. Further research shows that more effective media attention, more open and transparent rule of law environment, greater financial pressure and regional differences can all affect the effect of LPC's supervision of spending behavior. The research conclusion shows that the role of LPC supervision should be further played to ensure the development of local people's livelihood and promote the construction of government revenue and expenditure management system.

[Development of the Japanese version of the Public Service Motivation Scale: reliability and validity].

OBJECTIVES: Since the 1990s, overseas research on public service motivation (PSM), a motivation unique to public employees, has been ongoing. However, only recently has empirical studies on PSM in Japan begun, it has been suggested that the PSM scales developed overseas cannot be applied directly to Japan. This study aimed to examine the constructs of PSM in Japan, develop a scale to measure PSM, and verify its reliability and validity. METHODS: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 21 civil servants holding administrative positions in Japan, and a draft of the PSM scale was developed. Subsequently, an online survey of 402 civil servants in their 20s to 60s (395 valid responses) was conducted, and the factor structure of the PSM scale was confirmed using exploratory factor analysis. In addition, the reliability was assessed by calculating the alpha coefficient, and the validity was verified through correlation analysis with related concepts. RESULTS: The outcomes of the exploratory factor analysis classified PSM into six factors: "social impact orientation," "social justice orientation," "community orientation," "future and evolution orientation," "authority orientation," and "helping the weak orientation," with sufficient alpha coefficients. Regarding validity, significant positive associations between PSM and work engagement, performance, work motivation, and job satisfaction were confirmed. CONCLUSION: The Japanese version of the PSM scale developed in this study was confirmed to exhibit a satisfactory level of reliability and validity and may be used to measure PSM among Japanese public employees.

Do I want to work from home today? Specific job crafting strategies of public service employees working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany: a qualitative study.

Background: After the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, employees in Europe increasingly worked from home. In the German public sector, many employees experienced working from home for the first time. Concurrently, employees could use job crafting activities to alter job demands and resources while working from home. This exploratory case study aims to shed light on how public service employees craft their job demands and job resources, and how they perceive job satisfaction and productivity while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. A novel theoretical approach is applied to explore crafting activities that target specific job demands and resources when working from home, using a combined framework of resource-based job crafting based on the Job Demands-Resources model and time-spatial job crafting. Methods: Qualitative telephone interviews were conducted with employees from different public sectors in Germany between December 2021 and February 2022. According to the COREQ guidelines, the 12 semi-structured interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and content-analyzed using MAXQDA. Results: The results suggest that employees, who were new to working from home, developed personal crafting strategies for their flexible work environment. These strategies supported them in coping with hindering job demands (e.g., measures regarding work-related availability or interruptions) by optimizing their working conditions. Additionally, employees used strategies to increase their social resources (e.g., initiating meetings with colleagues) and structural resources (e.g., installing additional work equipment, planning of office days and working-from-home days). The use of given job resources and optimization of job demands are closely linked to the time-spatial demands fit. Thereby, the time-spatial demands fit is used to combine workplaces, work hours, or work tasks with the provided resources and demands to achieve an optimal work environment, which also facilitates employees' productivity and satisfaction. Conclusion: The results enrich the resource-based and time-spatial demand job crafting research by adding specific job crafting strategies utilized by public service employees. Furthermore, the results highlight job crafting strategies for enhancing job satisfaction and productivity when working from home in the post-pandemic world, thus offering valuable insights for researchers and practitioners.

Organizational Error Tolerance and Change-Oriented Organizational Citizenship Behavior: Mediating Role of Psychological Empowerment and Moderating Role of Public Service Motivation.

Purpose: Error management is an important element of organizational management research, and organizational error tolerance has gradually received attention from researchers in recent years. Most previous studies concluded that organizational error tolerance positively affects both the perceived organizational support and job performance of public sector employees, but few have examined the relationship between organizational error tolerance and change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior. Methods: This research examines how organizational error tolerance affects change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior using an experimental approach (Study 1, N = 162 and Study 2, N = 228) and a field survey approach (Study 3, N = 377). Results: The results indicate that organizational error tolerance increases psychological empowerment, which in turn increases change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior. Public service motivation plays a moderating role in this process. Specifically, the positive mediating effect of organizational error tolerance on change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior through psychological empowerment was not significant when the level of public service motivation was high, while it was significant when the level of public service motivation was low. Conclusion: This study clarifies the mechanism and boundary conditions of the effect of organizational error tolerance on change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior, provides a more comprehensive and dialectical perspective for research on organizational error tolerance, and extends research on psychological empowerment and change-oriented organizational citizenship behavior.

Political Activism and the Dermatologist.

The practice of medicine is governed by legislation and regulation at the state and national level. It is crucial, therefore, that dermatologists become and remain involved in the process to advocate for their patients, their practices, and the specialty itself. Maintaining a relationship with one's state and federal senators and representatives is critical for physicians to have a voice in the shaping of health care policy. Local, state, and national medical and specialty societies are a tremendous resource for physicians to remain abreast of policies affecting the practice of medicine.

Learning from intersectoral initiatives to respond to the needs of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants without status in the context of COVID-19 in Quebec and Ontario: a qualitative multiple case study protocol.

BACKGROUND: Refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants without status experience precarious living and working conditions that disproportionately expose them to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In the two most populous Canadian provinces (Quebec and Ontario), to reduce the vulnerability factors experienced by the most marginalized migrants, the public and community sectors engage in joint coordination efforts called intersectoral collaboration. This collaboration ensures holistic care provisioning, inclusive of psychosocial support, assistance to address food security, and educational and employment assistance. This research project explores how community and public sectors collaborated on intersectoral initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic to support refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants without status in the cities of Montreal, Sherbrooke, and Toronto, and generates lessons for a sustainable response to the heterogeneous needs of these migrants. METHODS: This theory-informed participatory research is co-created with socioculturally diverse research partners (refugees, asylum seekers and migrants without status, employees of community organizations, and employees of public organizations). We will utilize Mirzoev and Kane's framework on health systems' responsiveness to guide the four phases of a qualitative multiple case study (a case being an intersectoral initiative). These phases will include (1) building an inventory of intersectoral initiatives developed during the pandemic, (2) organizing a deliberative workshop with representatives of the study population, community, and public sector respondents to select and validate the intersectoral initiatives, (3) interviews (n = 80) with community and public sector frontline workers and managers, municipal/regional/provincial policymakers, and employees of philanthropic foundations, and (4) focus groups (n = 80) with refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants without status. Qualitative data will be analyzed using thematic analysis. The findings will be used to develop discussion forums to spur cross-learning among service providers. DISCUSSION: This research will highlight the experiences of community and public organizations in their ability to offer responsive services for refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants without status in the context of a pandemic. We will draw lessons learnt from the promising practices developed in the context of COVID-19, to improve services beyond times of crisis. Lastly, we will reflect upon our participatory approach-particularly in relation to the engagement of refugees and asylum seekers in the governance of our research.

The link between physician motivation and care.

Studies report an unexplained variation in physicians' care. This variation may to some extent be explained by differences in their work motivation. However, empirical evidence on the link between physician motivation and care is scarce. We estimate the associations between different types of work motivation and care. Motivation is measured using validated questions from a nation-wide survey of Danish general practices and linked to high-quality register data on their care in 2019. Using a series of regression models, we find that more financially motivated practices generate more fee-for-services per patient, whereas practices characterised by greater altruistic motivation towards the patient serve a larger share of high-need patients and issue more prescriptions for antibiotics per patient. Practices with higher altruism towards society generate lower medication costs per patient and prescribe a higher rate of narrow-spectrum penicillin, thereby reducing the risk of antimicrobial resistance in the population. Together, our results suggest that practices' motivation is associated with several dimensions of healthcare, and that both their financial motivation and altruism towards patients and society play a role. Policymakers should, therefore, consider targeting all provider motivations when introducing organisational changes and incentive schemes; for example, by paying physicians to adhere to clinical guidelines, while at the same time clearly communicating the guidelines' value from both a patient and societal perspective.