This research reviews how mentoring has manifested in public service and how it can evolve to be better positioned to address key diversity, equity, and inclusion objectives. This work inventories the current understanding of public sector mentoring, highlighting the contrast between the classical mentoring approach of functionalism with the emerging humanist approach. Barriers to implementing meaningful humanist mentoring are reviewed, and e-mentoring is presented as a modality well situated to overcome these obstacles. The humanist e-mentoring model provides a process and modality to advance social equity by removing existing barriers to opportunities. Finally, best practices and outcomes for successfully implementing e-mentoring humanist and relationships in public service are presented and an updated model of critical outcomes is advanced. A brief agenda for future scholarship on this topic is presented.
Animal shelter research has seen significant increases in participation over the past several decades from academic organizations, private organizations, public entities, and even corporations that aims to improve shelter programs, processes, operations, and outcomes for the various stakeholders/participants involved in a shelter system (animals, humans, the community, wildlife, and the environment). These efforts are scattered through a huge variety of different research areas that are challenging to define and scope for organizations seeking to start new lines of research inquiry. This work aims to enumerate some of the most critical outstanding problems for research in animal sheltering in a conceptual framework that is intended to help direct research conversations toward the research topics of highest impact (with the highest quality outcomes possible). To this end, we define seven (7) key areas for research: animal behavior, adoptions and special needs populations, medical conditions, disease transmission, community, ecology, and wellness (one health), operations, and public-private-academic-corporate collaboration. Within each of these areas, we review specific problems and highlight examples of successes in each area in the past several decades. We close with a discussion of some of the topics that were not detailed in this manuscript but, nonetheless, deserve some mention. Through this enumeration, we hope to spur conversation around innovative methodologies, technologies, and concepts in both research and practice in animal sheltering.
Access to veterinary care is a complex problem that sits at the intersection of a number of societal factors including income inequality, access to transportation, language and cultural differences as well as the spatial distribution of veterinary care providers. This research aims to create an index evaluating accessibility of veterinary care across the contiguous United States and thus fill an important gap in the literature. The location and number of employees of veterinary clinics were aggregated at the county level. Projected pet population and household counts were used to normalize the number of employees to provide a relative assessment of the distribution of care access. Existing US Census data was used as percentile rankings to identify counties which may experience additional, non-spatial, barriers to care. By combining the percentile rankings of each of the variables, an overall index was created, evaluating the relative accessibility of veterinary care in each of the counties of the contiguous US. This work can be used by organizations looking to improve access to care or by policymakers considering legislation that impacts this issue. It may also be of use to individuals in human health care as they consider the intersection of human wellness and companion animal wellness.
Equity issues persist in defining public sector women as in need of accommodation, including during times of child-rearing or caregiving. The authors argue instead that viewing the fullness of a woman's existence should empower others to see broad life experiences as a benefit to be fostered. Public service organizations and the academy should build policies and systems that recognize this value and work to cultivate, rather than accommodate. While women have historically taken the turtle approach-that is, keep your head down-the #MeToo movement has morphed women into strong bison, standing shoulder to shoulder. The authors advocate for more inclusive and supportive mentoring relationships to move into a new era-the pigeon era. In public administration, this manifests as providing holistic support and intentional mentorships throughout the arc of women's careers and institutional policy changes that support the unique value of women in the public sector and the academy. Evidence for Practice • Public sector organizations should institute policy changes that recognize the broad life experiences of women as something to celebrate, not something to accommodate. • Leadership appointments based on the multidimensionality of skills will better position the public sector to respond to the full spectrum of public needs. • Instituting intentional humanistic mentorship opportunities across career trajectories will serve to shift dysfunctional paradigms instead of reinforcing them.
Introduction: Access to veterinary care is a complex issue that lies at the intersection of socioeconomics, culture, and space. Although there has been substantial research that has explored factors that impede access to care, the issue has not been well addressed from a geographic perspective. Access deserts is a familiar concept that has been applied to human health care, access to nutritious foods, etc. Thus, there is value in conceptualizinsg access to veterinary care through the same lens. This research aims to advance the effort of identifying veterinary care deserts by specifying normative values for two fundamental parameters: the ratio of care providers to measures of the population and the catchment of clinics. Methods: Total employees at veterinary clinics were aggregated at the county level and normalized by different measures of human and companion animal population. All clinic employees are included under the assumption that increased support staff increases the overall care capacity. Weighted means were generated and reported for each approach. The number of veterinary clinic employees needed in each county in order to reach the weighted mean for the overall country is also reported both at the county level and state level. Clinic catchment was measured by evaluating the mean distance traveled using data from a large number of clinics and clinic clients. The data were further analyzed using Rural Urban Commuting Areas (RUCA) classifications. Results: Veterinary employee shortages were observed ranging from 20,000 to 60,000 employees depending on how the data are viewed. Parameters for the weighted mean number of employees were reported in a detailed chart. Results of the distance analysis indicate that most people travel between 2 and 6 miles to reach clinics. Conclusion: This research indicates spatial disparities in the distribution of veterinary staff. The parameters of the ratio of employees to population measures and distance traveled can both be used in future research that aims to identify local and regional veterinary care deserts. This analysis could be further enhanced by the addition of factors such as socioeconomic data or social determinants of health to further define and identify care deserts.
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