Information technology (IT) outsourcing has been recognized as a new methodology in many organizations. Yet making an appropriate decision with regard to selection and use of these methodologies may impose uncertainties and risks. Estimating the occurrence probability of risks and their impacts organizations goals may reduce their threats. In this study, an extended analytical hierarchical proc...

The area of natural forest in Iran is approximately 12.4 million hectares, comprising 7.5%  of the total area of Iran. Forest management in the country was changed to the legislature after order of the Forest Nationalization Law in 1963. With  civilization development, pressure on forests was significantly increased. In the early  20th century a system of development planning began as a series ...

Policy formulation and adoption are poorly understood phases of the health policy process. We conducted a narrative synthesis of 28 articles on health policy in low- and middle-income countries to provide insight on what kinds of activities take place in these phases, the actors crafting policies and the institutions in which policy making occurs. The narrative synthesis involved an inductive p...

. . . despite all the talk and activity in this ®eld since the early 1990's, the basic argument and message of con ̄ict prevention still has not `stuck' in many critical policy quarters and levels of decision making. The quantity of policy doctrine, designated of®cials and of®ces, routinised decision procedures, public hearings, policy papers, political debates, appropriations, non-governmental ...

In an endemic area of North-East Brazil (the town of Picos, State of Piauí), a nongovernmental organization (NGO) supported the activity against leprosy in connection with governmental health organizations and local agents. The indicators of leprosy elimination were compared over time (within Picos) and across space (Picos versus Piauí). The case detection rate, above 8 per 10,000 people in the...

Although the importance of patient participation in the design and evaluation of health programs and services is well-documented, there is scarcity of research with regard to patient association (PA) participation in health policy decision-making processes. To this end, the present study aimed to validate further a previously developed instrument as well as to investigate the degree of PA parti...