[ORGANIZATIONAL AND MANAGERIAL ASPECTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROJECTS IN THE FIELD OF MEDICAL CHARITY].

The article deals with organizational and managerial problems of projects in the field of medical charity. The development of the sector of non-profit organizations in the medical field today is due to the fact that the effective activity of the state is ensured by the stable development of the social sphere. The importance of charitable projects in the field of medicine is one of the important resources aimed at increasing the availability of medical care to needy categories of citizens around the world. Accessibility of medical care is achieved due to a complex of factors, among which a significant role is given to the capabilities of medical organizations themselves. Due to the fact that financial support has its limitations, charitable projects in the medical field become a resource that allows you to regulate the availability of medical care. The activities of charitable organizations in the medical field in modern conditions require the involvement of significant resources and the formation of an organizational and managerial mechanism for the development of projects in the field of assistance to those in need. The analysis of organizational and managerial aspects of the development of projects in the field of medical charity and the development of proposals for improving the activities of charitable organizations are the purpose of this work.

Safeguarding cancer research funding by European charities amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

The COVID-19 outbreak has affected cancer research and cancer care. European cancer charities need to reconsider strategies for safeguarding income and supporting cancer researchers, in times when sustaining cancer research funding is more crucial than ever.

Diaper Need Met Among Low-Income US Children Younger Than 4 Years in 2016.

Objectives. To document the collective effort of diaper banks in the United States and to estimate the percentage of low-income children whose diaper need is met through these efforts.Methods. For each state, we compared the number of children younger than 4 years in families living at or below 200% of the federal poverty level with the number of children served by diaper banks in each state. We collected data reporting all 2016 activities from diaper banks (n = 262) via survey from January to March 2017.Results. In each state, the percentage of children experiencing diaper need that received assistance from a diaper bank ranged from 0% to 16% per month.Conclusions. The findings from this study highlight that a small proportion of low-income families accessed diapers through the existing community-based safety net provided by a national network of nonprofit diaper banks.Public Health Implications. Policies at the federal, state, and municipal level are needed to alleviate this consequence of poverty for children and their families.

Governing Commercial Access to Health Data for Public Benefit: Charity Law Solutions.

There is a growing body of evidence that supports the view that research participants and the public are concerned about commercial access to health data. Evidence also suggests that attitudes are ameliorated when charity organisations are involved and where research promises to deliver 'public benefit'. To a significant extent, therefore, mechanisms that ensure the public benefit are key to sustaining public and participant support for research access to health data. As a regime founded on the concept of public benefit, charity law provides regulatory and governance mechanisms through which the public benefit of a charity is protected and promoted. This article examines the merits of charity law mechanisms and analyses their significance for governance of commercial access to health data for public benefit, using UK Biobank Ltd, a charitable company limited by guarantee, as an example. The article critically analyses three charity law mechanisms that operate to ensure that an organization providing access to data meets its public benefit requirements: charitable purposes; members' and directors' powers and duties; and accountability via the oversight powers of the Charity Commission and charity proceedings in court. The article concludes that there is potential for the charity model to be the benchmark for governing commercial access to health data for public benefit research, but notes the limitations of the model and recommends the appointment of independent data governance committees to further bolster the charity law framework.

Communities as 'renewable energy' for healthcare services? a multimethods study into the form, scale and role of voluntary support for community hospitals in England.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the forms, scale and role of community and voluntary support for community hospitals in England. DESIGN: A multimethods study. Quantitative analysis of Charity Commission data on levels of volunteering and voluntary income for charities supporting community hospitals. Nine qualitative case studies of community hospitals and their surrounding communities, including interviews and focus groups. SETTING: Community hospitals in England and their surrounding communities. PARTICIPANTS: Charity Commission data for 245 community hospital Leagues of Friends. Interviews with staff (89), patients (60), carers (28), volunteers (35), community representatives (20), managers and commissioners (9). Focus groups with multidisciplinary teams (8 groups across nine sites, involving 43 respondents), volunteers (6 groups, 33 respondents) and community stakeholders (8 groups, 54 respondents). RESULTS: Communities support community hospitals through: human resources (average=24 volunteers a year per hospital); financial resources (median voluntary income = £15 632); practical resources through services and activities provided by voluntary and community groups; and intellectual resources (eg, consultation and coproduction). Communities provide valuable supplementary resources to the National Health Service, enhancing community hospital services, patient experience, staff morale and volunteer well-being. Such resources, however, vary in level and form from hospital to hospital and over time: voluntary income is on the decline, as is membership of League of Friends, and it can be hard to recruit regular, active volunteers. CONCLUSIONS: Communities can be a significant resource for healthcare services, in ways which can enhance patient experience and service quality. Harnessing that resource, however, is not straight forward and there is a perception that it might be becoming more difficult questioning the extent to which it can be considered sustainable or 'renewable'.

Publicly funded clinical research in Canada.

Clinical research is funded by industry, governments, charities, and hospitals. It is important to know the economic commitment of the various funding bodies, but until now there has been no national source available which provides these data. We surveyed the major funders to provide such a measure. There is evidence that government and charity funding of medical research is a trigger for private sector research investment; therefore, tracking all sources of funding for clinical research will provide policy-makers with an overall picture of health research funding. These data support policy decision-making related to clinical research in Canada.

Celebrating partnership working between the third sector and the NHS.

Emeritus Professor Alan Glasper, University of Southampton, discusses the success of partnerships between the third sector and the NHS, which is crucial to improving care for people in society.

Walking and running to benefit breast cancer: descriptive characteristics of participants in the 2017 Walk for Life events.

AIMS: The prevalence of charities and other non-profit organisations sponsoring for-cause physical activity (PA) events has continued to rise. Few studies have examined for-cause events through a public health perspective to determine the reach and potential for public health and PA promotion. This study described participants in a for-cause event supporting breast cancer to determine the reach of the event and identified possible leverage points of for-cause events for public health promotion. METHODS: Participants registered online for the Walk for Life events in Columbia, SC (Half marathon, 10k, 5k, and Walk-a-thon), were included in this study. Data were analyzed using Microsoft Excel. RESULTS: Over 6,000 people participated in the event and 4,942 registered online. Of online registrants, most participants were women (n = 3,800, 78.95%) and most participants, completed the walk-a-thon (n = 3,539), followed by the 5k (n = 829), half-marathon (n = 236), and 10k (n = 209). The average age of participants was 39.79 years (SD = 1.35). CONCLUSIONS: For-cause PA events often recruit high numbers of participants, particularly high-priority populations in PA interventions. Therefore, these events bear innovative implications for PA researchers and practitioners to leverage these events to promote health and PA while simultaneously supporting charity and non-profit organisations.

Undeserving, Disadvantaged, Disregarded: Three Viewpoints of Charity Food Aid Recipients in Finland.

Since the economic recession of the 1990s, Finland has experienced the proliferation of charity food aid as a means of helping people who are afflicted by poverty. However, so far little research has been conducted regarding the food aid recipients. This article gives discursive, demographic, and experiential insights into charity food provision and reception in Finland. Drawing on quantitative survey data, online discussion data related to news published on Finnish newspapers' web pages, and observation and interviews with food aid recipients, this article sheds new light on Finnish food aid recipients from three perspectives. First, public perceptions about food aid often portray food recipients as dishonourable and responsible for their own poverty. Secondly, the survey data shows that the main reason for people resorting to charity food aid is deep economic disadvantage, and further, that there is an unequal accumulation of disadvantage among the food aid recipients, illustrating internal diversity. Third, observational and interview data show that from the food recipients' perspective, the food aid system has only a limited ability to answer even their immediate food needs, and for the recipients, food aid venues can become not only socially significant, but also socially demanding and emotionally burdening places.

Charitable Food Systems' Capacity to Address Food Insecurity: An Australian Capital City Audit.

Australian efforts to address food insecurity are delivered by a charitable food system (CFS) which fails to meet demand. The scope and nature of the CFS is unknown. This study audits the organisational capacity of the CFS within the 10.9 square kilometres of inner-city Perth, Western Australia. A desktop analysis of services and 12 face-to-face interviews with representatives from CFS organisations was conducted. All CFS organisations were not-for⁻profit and guided by humanitarian or faith-based values. The CFS comprised three indirect services (IS) sourcing, banking and/or distributing food to 15 direct services (DS) providing food to recipients. DS offered 30 different food services at 34 locations feeding over 5670 people/week via 16 models including mobile and seated meals, food parcels, supermarket vouchers, and food pantries. Volunteer to paid staff ratios were 33:1 (DS) and 19:1 (IS). System-wide, food was mainly donated and most funding was philanthropic. Only three organisations received government funds. No organisation had a nutrition policy. The organisational capacity of the CFS was precarious due to unreliable, insufficient and inappropriate financial, human and food resources and structures. System-wide reforms are needed to ensure adequate and appropriate food relief for Australians experiencing food insecurity.

Innovate Global Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery: Cleft Lip and Palate Charity Database.

BACKGROUND: There is an emerging interest in global surgery. The Lancet Commission on Global Surgery recognizes the important role that nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) play in the delivery of cleft lip and/or palate (CLP) surgical care. To better address the unmet burden of surgical disease, the commissioners propose the use of a centralized registry to maximize coordination of global surgical volunteerism efforts. This study aims to create a comprehensive database of CLP organizations. METHODS: A systematic search of the following resources was conducted: The Plastic Surgery Foundation, Smile Train, Wikipedia, Google, and lists of surgical NGOs. A secondary review of each organization's website was performed to verify inclusion criteria and to extract data. Organizations were classified as providing surgical or nonsurgical care. RESULTS: Thirty-one organizations providing CLP care were reviewed, with 30 that met inclusion criteria. Of the 20 surgical NGOs, 50% use a diagonal approach of international outreach, 40% a vertical one-way approach, and 10% a horizontal approach. All 10 of the nonsurgical NGOs provide care through a horizontal approach. Their offices are distributed across North America (43%), Asia (27%), Europe (23%), and Australia (7%). Forty-three percent of the organizations provide CLP surgeries or services in more than 1 country; 93% do so with a multidisciplinary team. A majority of the organizations established collaborations with host institutions (80%). CONCLUSION: To the authors' best knowledge, this database includes the largest collection of CLP organizations. This list will be made publicly available to inform surgical care planning, facilitate collaboration, and promote further research.