AGE 84925163, The study evaluates 145 health care programs that were implemented in the 1970s to serve nonmetropolitan populations in the United States. The evaluation employs multiple indicator unobserved variable models to disaggregate the effects of the socio-environmental milieu; i.e., education, income, racial composition, poverty, housing conditions, crowding, occupation structure, and rural health care programs on physician availability and two health status indicators--neonatal mortality and post-neonatal mortality. The results show that rural health care programs did not increase the availability of physicians in the targeted areas. However, implementation of the programs contributed significantly to lowering the neonatal mortality rate.
16 pages, via online journal, Purpose: This study elucidates on how faculty supervision support to students during farm placements and other facilitating conditions influence farmer learning in the student-centred university outreach.
Methodology/Design/Approach: Cross-sectional data were collected from a sample of 283 farmers who had previously hosted students of Gulu University in the student-to-farmer university outreach. Structural equation modelling was used to analyse how faculty supervision support to students in combination with other facilitating conditions affect the formation of intentions for learning and actual farmer learning behaviour.
Findings: Faculty supervision support in the student-to-farmer outreach was found to significantly influence formation of intentions for learning (β = 0.380; t = 5.263; P < .01) and actual farmer learning behaviour (β = 0.182; t = 2.081; P < .05).
Practical implications: Faculty supervision support to students is critical to fostering lasting learning relationships in university outreach. Thus, it needs to be a part of the transformation agenda of the higher education sector for improved community linkages and innovation.
Theoretical implications: Empirical data obtained from the context of student-centred university outreach is used to extend the model of facilitating conditions.
Originality/Value: The study addresses how faculty supervision support together with farmers’ perception of student attitudes and the value of the learning content influence farmers’ learning behaviour during university outreach.
