Africa University, [A.U] Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers

Africa University, [A.U] Essays - Free Essays, Term Papers Africa University, [A.U] Institute of peace, Leadership and governance, [I.P.L.G] Master 's in Public Policy and Governance (MPPG) Mutare , Zimbabwe Semester Assignment POLICY BRIEF: COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF NIGERIA'S HEALTH SYSTEMS; CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES By Ishaya Ajet Hosea Reg Number: 130151 Presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the course Course title: Health policy and Health care in Africa Signed Date 04 March 2018 Executive Summary COUNTRY FACTS (2018 ) Population: 190,632,261 Life Expectancy at Birth Total : 53.8 years Male: 52.8 years Female : 55 years Infant Mortality Rate (Live Births) Total : 69.8 deaths/1,000 Male : 74.5 deaths/1,000 Female : 64.8 deaths/1,000 Health Expenditures: 3.7% of GDP (2014) (Source: CIA World Fact Book, 2017) The health system of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is currently in need of full evaluation. This is in order for new and revisited policies to fine-tune the wants of the forthcoming shift in infection pattern due to an epidemiological circumference (incidence, distribution, and control of diseases.) This means that the trouble of diseas e shifts away from communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS to non-communicable diseases but most recurring like diabetes. The contemporary health system is not fully built and equipped for the growing number of chronic diseases attacking the growing population of the country. Health care can be delivered at low cost, but in the current case , public health care delivery is notably inefficient and more expensive ly delivered by the private. This puts pressure on the financial situation of the health system. Therefore, policies in Nigeria's public health should focus more on providing access on a large scale. On that account, reinventing the parameters of operations of the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) should aim at availing health access with ease for all and put more considerations into sicknesses that are considered minor. To achieve this objective, health facilities need further support by the government of the fe deration to enhance training and proficiency and a comprehensive focus on diseases. In addition, budgetary allocation towards heal ought to increase and be equally distributed across the nation Introduction There have been intense suppositions that Nigeria would reform its health sector. Nigeria is one of the largest countries in Africa. The country is blessed with many natural resources ( Meo et al, 2014). This makes it one of the richest in the continent. Despite the country's wealth , it is still underdeveloped. The country has passed thr ough different administrations. There have been many outcries from the country and international world. The plea is for the administration to better the lot of the country by increasing the standards of living of its citizens . Nigeria faces many challenges among which health care packages are included. The main health domains informing Nigeria's health care policies and reforms include: genetic makeup, social circumstances, environmental circumstances, behavioural choices, medical care availability . Nigeria's health care budgetary allocation falls in line with the World Health Organisation's recomm endation on health expenditure. According to (World Bank Group, 2018) report, Nigeria currently invest about 5.3 percent of its Gross Domestic Product to the Health Sector. This is in line with the Universal Health Policies UNIVERSAL HEALTH POLICIES Is also known as universal health coverage . This is a specific type of health care where everyone is provided coverage regardless of their income, race, age, pre-existing conditions, gender, or wealth. In other words, as long as you are a legal resident of the region that is being covered, (e.g . Federal Republic of Nigeria ), you are eligible for universal health care. The purpose of universal health care is to provide all citizens with an opportunity to obtain the health care that they may need without having to worry about financial hardship. Currently, the costs associated with privatized health care are really expensive. Private companies set their own costs for insurance premiums, medical tests, and other services in order to make a profit. A universal health care system would be run by the government. The assumption here is that the government would not be interested in making profits, but in promoting the best interests of its citizens. Therefore, a universal health care system would likely result in decreased costs for medical care and

Free Essays on Comparison Between Ancient Egypt And Judiac Civilization

Ancient Egypt and Judiac Civilization are two of the three Primitive Civilizations. They lived in different places and they also belived in different religions. The Egyptians were believeing in polytheistic religion.There were lots of Gods and Goddesses they believed. The Egyptians believed that the soul of the dead body travel into the afterlife at their first night after death. They believed the dead body must be mummified to reach eternal life. They also believed that there were a judge after death and if you can pass the judgement , you would have a journey from East to the West to have peace.East was named as Thermopolis and west was named as Heliapolis.At the judgement ;Maat,who was the Goddess of truth, balance and order , was the judge. The heart of the dead person was getting balanced by the feather on Maat’s head. If the heart is lighter than the feather , it can continue to the journey to Heliapolis. If the heart is heavier than the feather , Anubis , who was the guardian of Necropolis , eats the heart. So the soul of the dead body dies forever. For the ones who passed the judge , there is a Book of The Dead .This book is replaced to the curve of the dead person. The aim of the book is to help the dead person to reach Heliapolis. This book is set as a guide or a map. This book is thicker to rich people and there are names on it for the rich people. It is thinner for the poor people and instead of names , people are mentione as â€Å"X† or â€Å"N† for the word â€Å"noble† . Egyptian people had funerary figures named â€Å"shabti†. Shabtis were mentioned in The Book of The Dead at the spell six : O shabti , allotted to me , if I be summoned or if I be detailed to do any work which has to be done in the realm of the dead ;if indeed obstacles are implanted for you therewith as a amn at his duties , you shall detail yourself for me on every occasion of making arable the fields , of flooding the banks or of conveying ... Free Essays on Comparison Between Ancient Egypt And Judiac Civilization Free Essays on Comparison Between Ancient Egypt And Judiac Civilization Ancient Egypt and Judiac Civilization are two of the three Primitive Civilizations. They lived in different places and they also belived in different religions. The Egyptians were believeing in polytheistic religion.There were lots of Gods and Goddesses they believed. The Egyptians believed that the soul of the dead body travel into the afterlife at their first night after death. They believed the dead body must be mummified to reach eternal life. They also believed that there were a judge after death and if you can pass the judgement , you would have a journey from East to the West to have peace.East was named as Thermopolis and west was named as Heliapolis.At the judgement ;Maat,who was the Goddess of truth, balance and order , was the judge. The heart of the dead person was getting balanced by the feather on Maat’s head. If the heart is lighter than the feather , it can continue to the journey to Heliapolis. If the heart is heavier than the feather , Anubis , who was the guardian of Necropolis , eats the heart. So the soul of the dead body dies forever. For the ones who passed the judge , there is a Book of The Dead .This book is replaced to the curve of the dead person. The aim of the book is to help the dead person to reach Heliapolis. This book is set as a guide or a map. This book is thicker to rich people and there are names on it for the rich people. It is thinner for the poor people and instead of names , people are mentione as â€Å"X† or â€Å"N† for the word â€Å"noble† . Egyptian people had funerary figures named â€Å"shabti†. Shabtis were mentioned in The Book of The Dead at the spell six : O shabti , allotted to me , if I be summoned or if I be detailed to do any work which has to be done in the realm of the dead ;if indeed obstacles are implanted for you therewith as a amn at his duties , you shall detail yourself for me on every occasion of making arable the fields , of flooding the banks or of conveying ...

Risk Management - Hospitality Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Risk Management - Hospitality Industry - Essay Example Every business entity when initiated will have inherited risk in them as it has to reach the costumers expectations and has to place itself in a competitive environment or it has to create a market demand to its new product to be launched. With out perceiving the risk of venturing into new market arenas the purpose of making profitability does not arise. All organizations will face some kind of risk proportions in their daily activities of their operations as the sectors demands a standard or particular norms and expectations to be met. The risk is inherited with the unexplored option which may turn in to organization benefit or it may crumble depicting that the perceptions were wrong. The common risk concerns areas are: Hazard risk: it is related to sudden incidents like fire eruption, natural calamities. Financial risk: the financial risks deal with the uncertainty of the economic viability of industry. Operational risk: is associated with various factors which has a significant ro le in the processes, methodologies adapted in the running the company. Strategic risk: eludes about the accuracy of the strategy implemented and explains ho far the methods adopted were proper to the company growth within the market.... officials failed in analyzing the sources. The south Indian region has more coffee consumers when compared to North. The Company did not expand aggressively into the north India where there was more corporate culture in cities like Delhi and Mumbai. In a span of six years from 1996 to 2002 it was able to open only 50 outlets major of them in south India metros cities and a few in north India parts like Pune. The lack of aggressive marketing of the cafe coffee day brand allowed other competitors to captivate on the demand created by CCD .There is an inability to choose right market. The south Indian market has already some active players in the coffee shops, as coffee used to be consumed more in South India. Caf coffee day choose to compete in existing market and confined itself to southern region. The negligence of the north Indian market where there are many industrially developed areas like New Delhi, Mumbai gurgoan, Noida, Pune and the consumers who are willing to accept the trendy ambience of the caf coffee day was untapped for a long time. In a booming market a new entrant taking such a long time will certainly allow the competitors to cash the opportunity which the other coffee shops like the barista and qwiky's have done. The CCD lacked professional expertise in the business expansion which can be observed in time lag for five years, before the decision to expansion has been taken place. The workers doesn't know how to analyze the feasibility, how to locate the right market. CCD has entered into a market with other active players who already exists in the South Indian market. A company having an ambitious plan to introduce a new product should do the necessary Market research which depicts the: Type of expected

Appropriate Changes in the Operation of Unlisted Real Estate Funds Essay

Appropriate Changes in the Operation of Unlisted Real Estate Funds Market - Essay Example From 2002 to 2007, there occurred yield compression, the capital values of real estate rose rapidly, and the availability of capital for investment in the real estate increased drastically. â€Å"The rapid rise in property values was already losing momentum prior to the liquidity crisis of the summer of 2007, which in turn triggered a significant downturn in both the broader economy and the property market† (pwc.co.uk, 2012, p. 4). The global financial crisis has severely tested the managers of unlisted real estate funds in a whole range of ways that include but are not limited to investor activity, liquidity management, vacation accuracy of indirect as well as direct holdings, availability of asset, pricing, debt management, investor communication, and unit pricing. All of this has happened in context of the economic instability along with market commentary and an increasingly subjective media. In spite of the fact that the global financial crisis has receded and the flow of money in the unlisted real estate funds has started to become normal, yet much needs to be done to resolve the process of selectivity by the investors. The movement of capital because of the cost of withdrawal of the funds has inertia as an inherent feature. The under-performance of open-ended funds by few investors has enabled them to withdraw funds and use the secondary market for selling interests. In some cases, the investors have made a joint effort to change the funds’ manager. The complete effect of judgment of the investors upon the fund managers can take years to play out rather than few months because the deployment of new capital is the decision of the investors. Fund managers who have not been able to satisfy their investors may find it difficult to raise new funds. Collection of the new funds makes the depiction of success and loss among the fund managers more apparent. â€Å"Unlisted funds typically are structured as a private equity fund† (Huibers, 2012, p. 5). Since the onset of the global financial crisis, there has occurred immense change in the landscape of real-estate private-equity in terms of drawing out of numerous financial institutions from the unlisted real-estate market and sale of platforms (Yue et al., 2010). During the global financial crisis, the investors were struck into funds which they could not find escape from easily. After gaining this experience, many investors are looking for more flexibility in the real estate investment. Cash-rich investors wanted to increase their equity in an attempt to keep the bank from seizing their portfolio in cases of breaches of loan-to-value. Fund managers realized that some investors were not able to match the investments. The interests became so divergent that it was hard to reconcile. As a result of this, many investors are nowadays looking for like-minded co-investors for partnership with them so as to be able to reach agreement easily in the times of conflict. This trend re duces the size of the investors’ clubs established to invest money in specific portfolios, properties, and redevelopment projects. There are also certain investors who are seeking funds to get them structured in such a way that increases the liquidity. Investor registers are also being made by the large pooled funds to improve communication among the investors. Debt and the way it was dealt with by the fund managers during the last boom and bust is an important issue. Debt was readily

Jane Eyre Vs Wuthering Heights

Jane Eyre Vs Wuthering Heights The Bronte sisters definitely played a major role in the English literature. They wrote in a style which is called Gothic fiction or sometimes Gothic Horror, this style is an extension of the Romantic Movement. The Bronte family had six children, Charlotte was the third child, and Emily was the fifth child in the family of Bronte. They novels were admitted as sensational and now they count as a part of the English Classicism Literature. Jane Eyre is the most famous novel of Charlotte Bronte and one of the most famous novels in Great Britain. The novel reflects perfectly the fundamental relationships of the society of that time in Great Britain. Passion, search for love and family, differences between social classes and role of the women in society of that time, all is included. Wuthering Heights is Emilys Bronte only novel, which tells about passions which can rise in the heart of lovers, about how circumstances may change the way of life and what is most important, it is a portrait of womans heart. Jane Eyre is a novel written by Charlotte Bronte which was published for the first time in 1847. It tells a story about a young girl Jane, which had lost her parents in the early childhood. Because of that, she must life with her aunt and cousins, the Reeds, at the Gates head Hall. They treat this innocent orphan very badly. Later on, Jane finishes a religious boarding school for orphans, after that she works as a teacher for two more years, until she is eighteen years old. At eighteen she decides to leave the institution and begins to work as a governess. Her duty now is to watch after a little French girl, Adele Varens, at a country house called Thornfield. At Thornfield she meets Mr. Rochester and they both fall in love with each other. All is going well, but Mr. Rochester has some dark secrets from his past. At the day when Mr. Rochester and Jane should marry, two men arrive at the church and claim, that he is already married. Mr. Rochester tries to explain, that his wife is not mentally normal and that his father made him to marry her, because of the familys money. However, Jane refuses to listen and runs away from him. With no money for existence she almost dies, however a kind Rivers family finds her and provides a shelter for her. Later on it turns out, that Rivers siblings are actually her cousins. They live quite well, but then St. John (her cousin) offers her to marry him and travel to India as missioners. Jane almost agrees, but then one night, she sees a dream where Mr. Rochester is calling her from the void. After this strange dream, she decides to visit Thornfield. As she goes there, she finds out, that the house has been burnt to the ground, and that Mr. Rochester, while trying to save his mad wife from the fire has lost one eye, one hand and is blind. Jane now finds Mr. Rochester, he tells how hard he tried to find her and could not succeed in it. She offers her help as a housekeeper or a nurse, but deep inside she wants, that Mr. Rochester off er her to marry him. After a short period he does so, they have a quiet wedding and after several years, his vision is gradually turning back to him. Wuthering Heights is a gothic novel written by Emily Bronte and it is her only work. It was first published in 1847. The story is set in Yorkshire moors, in winter 1801 a man named Lockwood in the search of solitude rents a country house called Thrushcross Grange. Here he finds out about his landlord and neighbour, Heathcliff a man who lives in exaltation. Nelly Dean is the housekeeper of Thrushcross Grange, and Lockwood asks her to tell the story of Heathcliff. Nelly starts her story with remembering her childhood; when she worked as a young girl at Wuthering Heights as a servant girl for Earnshaws family. Once Mr. Earnshaw left his family, because of the business in Liverpool, he returns back home with an orphan boy. At first Mr. Earnshaw children, that is Hindley and Catherine hates the dark hair orphan, but soon Catherin feels love for young Heathcliff and they start to spend all their time together. However, Hindley feels nothing, but disgust and hate to Heathcliff. Later on, Mr . Earnshaws wife dies and as time is passing Mr. Earnshaw starts to prefer Heatchcliff over his own child. He even sends Hindley away to the college. Passes three more years, and death takes away Mr. Earnshaw. As Mr. Earnshaw dies, Hindley returns to Wuthering Heights from his banishment. He returns with his wife, Frances, and immediately starts his revenge on Heathcliff. Hindley forces Heathcliff to work on fields as a common worker. Catherine still feels love for Heathcliff. One day they both decide to visit Linton family, who inhabited Thrushcross Grange at that time. As they approach Thrushcross Grange, the dogs come out and Catherine is bitten by one of them. Lintons take her to their house, however Heathcliff leaves it immediately. Because of injuries, she is forced to stay at Thrushcross Grange. She stays there for almost five weeks and during that time Mrs. Linton, who feels interest for Catherine Earnshaw, teaches her how to behave properly and how to be a lady. Another thi ng is that as Catherine returns to Wuthering Heights, she is already charmed by Edgar, the son of the Linton family and her relationship with Heathcliff, becomes much more complicated. Soon, another tragedy happens in Wuthering Heights, Frances (Hindleys wife) dies when giving birth to a son. After this happens, Hindley starts to abuse alcohol and his attitude towards other people in Wuthering Heights change dramatically, and the most cruelty and rage is turned against Heathcliff. Catherine after inhabiting Lintons house for almost five weeks and meeting Edgar Linton, feels need for social status improvement and becomes engaged with Edgar. Heathcliff banishes himself from Wuthering Heights for three years. As he returns, Catherine and Edgar are already married. Heathcliff feels rage and is full of hate; moreover he has a mysterious fortune in his hands. Hindley is continuing abuse the alcohol and Heathcliff is lending money to him without any mercy, knowing that it will increase Hin dleys total debts. Hindley dies. Heathcliff buys Wuthering Heights and marries Isabella Linton, so he can become a master of Thrushcross Grange. He treats Isabella very cruelly after the marriage. Meanwhile, Catherine gives birth to a beautiful daughter, also named Catherine, and dies during the childbirth. Heathcliff feels desperate and crushed; he begs Catherine to remain on Earth and be with him. Isabella goes to London and gives birth to a son of Heathcliff and stays there. Nelly Dean serves as a nurse of Heathcliffs daughter for thirteen years at Thrushcross Grange. After thirteen years, Isabella dies and her son is forced to move to Wuthering Heights to live with his father, that is Heathcliff. After three years, young Catherine meets Hareton (Hindleys son) near the moors of Wuthering Heights. Later on she decides to visit the estate and meets a young Linton. They both begin romance in letters, however this romance is not real, Heathcliff forces Catherine to write to Linton, b ecause of hope, that she will marry him, so he could claim all rights on Thrushcross Grange. Later on Edgar falls ill and is near to death; Heathcliff steals Nelly Dean and Catherin; until Catherin agrees to marry young Linton. Soon after their marriage Edgar dies, and soon after that, the death takes away young Linton as well. Heathcliff now becomes a master of both estates. Catherine is all alone and Heathcliff makes her life in Wuthering Heights as a nightmare. At this point Nellys story ends and reaches the present moment, when Lockwood arrived. Lockwood shocked ends his visit in Thrushcross Grange and turns back to London. After the six months Lockwood decides to make a second visit. There he finds out, that Heathcliff has died one night. Also, Catherine lives and feels interest for Haerton, even though at first she made a laugh at his appearance and illiteracy. Later on Lockwood decides to visit the grave of Catherine and Heathcliff. Definitely more mysterious mood and plot is in Wuthering Heights, Jane Eyre do not show so many mysteries in its plot. However, in Jane Eyre Jane sees a dream where Mr. Rochester is calling her from the abyss, same is in Wuthering Heights also, after reading strange letters in Heathcliffs house Lockwood sees a ghost. If look at Wuthering Heights one can see that work is written according to restrictions of time, place and manner. However, if place and manner is included in this work, the restriction of time is not, because the events take more than 24 hours until the culmination of the drama. Contrary, Jane Eyre does not follow these three restrictions. As for drama, Wuthering Heights definitely outscores Jane Eyre, more events happens in the first novel, even though they are all around the estate. What is similar in both stories is happy end, if we look at Jane Eyre Mr. Rochester marries Jane, however he is invalid and his vision is damaged. In Wuthering Heights, Haerton and Catheri ne also at the end live together and plan to marry, but we cannot say that it is a happy end of the story, because so many deaths happened during the storyline. Another similarity of these two stories is their semantic similarity. During my research, I pointed out, that for both stories semantic fields would be as follows: death, marriage, family life. And for conclusion, one more similarity can be distinguished, Jane becomes an orphan and Heathcliff was brought to Wuthering Heights as also as an orphan. Conclusion Probably, if one will read at least one of the two discussed works and will like it, he will read the other offered work by Bronte family as well. Both works are rich with context, which describes the way of life during the 19th century.

Alcohol in the body

After the ingestion of the alcohol by the man, it passes from the stomach then to the intestines and into the blood stream in a process called absorption. This alcohol is then broken down by body chemicals called enzymes. In this case alcohol is converted to acetaldehyde after a mediation of an enzyme called Alcohol Dehydrogenase (ADH). ADH is believed to cause non-dehydration symptoms of hangover, like nausea. This process occurs in the liver. Under the influence of other enzymes acetaldehyde is quickly converted to acetate which is eventually reduced to water and carbon dioxide.An enzyme called cytochrome in the liver metabolizes the liver. This enzyme is increased in the event of continuous heavy drinking by the person in question. Although large percentage of alcohol consumed is metabolized in the liver, some small portions of unmetabolized alcohol will still find their way in urine of the individual. It is also likely to find some portions in breath. 30 to 45 minutes of after wi ll see the man’s blood alcohol level rise.Despite the amount of alcohol consumed by the individual, the liver will only be able to metabolize a specified amount of alcohol per hour. This rate of alcohol metabolism depends on the amount of metabolizing enzymes in the liver of the guy. This amount of enzymes varies from one individual to another. It appears to have some genetic determinants. Alcohol is absorbed more slowly than it is consumed. Consequently, the consumption needs to be checked to reduce the risk of it accumulating in the body due to its slow metabolism. Alcohol can even intoxicate the body.

Attitudes Toward Seeking Mental Health Essay

Abstract According to the World Health Organisation an estimated 200 million people globally are affected by serious mental health problems, however, research evidence indicates that only around one-third of those experiencing mental health difficulties actually seek treatment. A number of psycho-social and demographic factors have been found to explain variation in attitudes towards, and intentions to, seek psychological help. This study sought to examine the association between attitudes towards seeking mental health services and intentions to engage in psychological counselling. The sample for the current study consisted of 331 active and retired members of the national police force of the Republic of Ireland. It was predicted that psychological openness, help-seeking propensity, and indifference to stigma would all positively predict intentions to participate in psychological counselling, after controlling for age, gender and personality factors. The results showed that Finish Abstract Introduction According to the World Health Organisation an estimated 200 million people globally are affected by serious mental health problems (Mollica, 2000). Available data, however, suggests that only around one-third of those experiencing mental health difficulties actually make treatment contact (Kessler et al., 2009). This is of concern not only because of the deleterious impact on individual’s lives, but also because of the associated economic and societal costs of untreated mental health problems (Kessler et al., 2009). A number of psycho-social and demographic factors have been found to explain variation in attitudes towards, and intentions to, seek psychological help (e.g., Bartels, 2003; Segal, Coolidge, Mincic, & O’Riley, 2005; Vogel, Wester, Wei, & Boysen, 2005). How favourable and effective one believes psychological counselling to be, one’s own belief in their capacity to engage in counselling, and perceptions of subsequent social rejection  following counse lling attendance, have been identified as particularly influential (e.g., Hyland, McLaughlin, Boduszek, & Prentice, 2012; Vogel & Wester, 2003). Research also suggests that females may be significantly more likely than males to hold favourable attitudes towards utilising mental health services (e.g., Chandra & Minkovitz 2006; Raunic & Xenos, 2008), although some studies have shown that males and females do not differ in their attitudes or intentions towards the utilisation of mental health services (e.g., Kelly & Achter, 1995; Vogel & Wester, 2003). Additionally, personality factors have been suggested to impact upon individuals’ help-seeking attitudes and intentions. Jagdeo, Cox, Stein, and Sareen (2009) found that antisocial personality disorder was associated with greater negative attitudes towards help-seeking using data from the US National Comorbidity Survey (NCS) (n = 5877) and the Ontario Health Survey (OHS) (n = 6902). Given the disparity between mental health service needs and service utilization a more comprehensive understanding of the factors involved in counselling-seeking behaviour is required. The Inventory of Attitudes toward Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS; Mackenzie, Knox, Gekoski, & Macaulay, 2004) is a 24-item scale designed to assess the attitudinal factors that influence the seeking of mental health services. This scale was developed based upon Fisher and Turner’s (1970) Attitudes toward Seeking Professional Psychological Help Scale. The scale was developed with a clear theoretical foundation, and its increasing use in research (James & Buttle, 2008; Loya, Reddy, & Hinshaw, 2010; Mackenzie, Gekoski, & Knox, 2006; Mojaverian, Hashimoto, & Kim, 2012; Floersch et al., 2009). The IASMHS initially included 41-items, however the results an exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using maximum likelihood estimation among a sample of 208 adult volunteers (Mackenzie et al., 2004) reduced the number of items in the scale to 24. Results indicated that the 24-item scale could be explained in terms of three correlated factors, which accounted for 43% of variance: (a) Psychological Openness (the degree to which an individual is open to acknowledging the presence of a psychological problem and to seek professional care for such a problem), (b) Help-Seeking Propensity (one’s willingness and perceived ability to seek help for psychological problems), and (c) Indifference to Stigma (how concerned an individual would feel were significant others to discover that they were receiving psychological care).  Internal consistency coefficients for the IASMHS subscales were reported to be good with Cronbach’s alphas of .82 (psychological openness), .76 (help-seeking propensity), and .79 (indifference to stigma). Factor correlations were moderate with r values ranging from .37 to .47. In the same paper, using an independent sample of 293 undergraduate university students and employing confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) techniques, Mackenzie and colleagues (2004) reported that they replicated the three-factor solution indicated by the EFA. Model fit was acceptable and factor correlations ranged from r = .26 to .43. The current study aims to assess the degree to which intentions to participate in psychological counselling can be predicted by attitudes towards seeking mental health services. Specifically, it was predicted that psychological openness, help-seeking propensity, and indifference to stigma would all positively predict intentions to participate in psychological counselling, after controlling for age, gender and personality factors. Method Participants The sample for the current study consisted of 331 (Males: n = 202; Females: n = 129) active and retired members of the national police force of the Republic of Ireland. Of the officers recruited, 302 (91%) were currently serving members of the Irish police force, while 29 (9%) were retired. Participants ranged in age from 20 to 77 years, with an average age of 28.41 years (SD = 8.63). Just under half the sample of officers were stationed in rural areas (45%, n = 149), 41% were stationed in suburban areas (n = 136), and 14% were stationed in urban areas (n = 46). The majority of officers who participated in this study were recent entrants into the police service with 63% of respondents indicating that they had been serving for two years or less (n = 209). Approximately half were married (48%, n = 159), while the remaining participants either resided with parents (27%, n = 89), lived with other family members (3%, n = 10), or lived alone (22%, n = 73). Procedure The majority of study participants were recruited during a training seminar (n = 259), while the remaining officers were recruited via formal written requests (n = 72). Appropriate authorization was granted from the relevant  officials to carry out the study. In total, 532 members were approached to complete the research questionnaire, and 365 volunteered their participation (68%). However due to overwhelming missing data in 34 returned surveys only 331 responses were retained for the final analysis (62%). Participants were required to complete an anonymous self-report, paper-and-pencil questionnaire booklet which included an instruction sheet and a consent form attached to the front of the booklet. Participants were assured about confidentiality and informed that their participation was voluntary. Completed questionnaires were returned by the participants to their superior officer in sealed envelopes, and were subsequently returned to the principal investigator. Measures The Inventory of Attitudes toward Seeking Mental Health Services (IASMHS: Mackenzie et al., 2004) is a 24-item scale designed to measure an individual’s attitudes towards seeking mental health services. The IASMHS was developed in order to measure three factors labeled (a) Psychological openness, (b) Help-seeking propensity, and (c) Indifference to stigma. Psychological openness reflects the degree to which an individual is open to acknowledging the presence of a psychological problem and to seek professional care for such a problem. Help-seeking propensity reflects one’s willingness and perceived ability to seek help for psychological problems. Indifference to stigma refers to how concerned an individual would feel if significant others were to discover that they were receiving psychological care. Each factor is proposed to be measured via 8 items and each item is measured using a five point Likert-scale ranging from 0 (â€Å"disagree†) to 4 (â€Å"agree† ). Intentions to Participate in Psychological Counselling: Intentions were measured as part of a larger questionnaire designed to measure the various constructs of the Theory of Planned Behavior (Ajzen, 1991). This questionnaire was constructed according to the guidelines set forth by Ajzen (1991, 2002). The questionnaire was based upon a fictitious scenario which included the four elements of time, context, action, and target, as proposed by Ajzen and Fishbein (1977). The scenario describes an event that took place six weeks previously in which an individual witnesses a severe road  traffic accident. In the intervening six weeks this individual begins to experience significant personality changes. The individual is reported to now experience prolonged periods of extreme sadness, lack of energy, distressing thoughts related to the traumatic event, reduced interest in normally pleasurable activities, severe panic attacks while outside, and refusal to leave the house even for work. A friend of this individual attends a G.P. about the matter and the G.P. recommends that the described person should attend a professional psychologist for counselling within the next week. An appointment is thus made for next week. Participants in this study are asked to place themselves in the position of this fictitious person and to complete the questions that follow (see Appendix A for the full vignette). Behavioural intentions were measured via three items (Cronbach’s alpha = .77). 1. How likely is it that you would intend to go along to see a professional psychologist for counseling within the next week if you were in Terry’s position? 2. You will try to participate in counseling with a professional psychologist within the next week. 3. You have decided to participate in counseling with a professional psychologist within the next week. Each item was measured along a seven point Likert scale ranging from 1 (extremely unlikely) to 7 (extremely likely) and the scores on the three questions were summed. Higher scores on this scale indicate stronger intentions to engage in counselling.