Airway obstruction due to arytenoid prolapse in a child

Outcomes of clients with severe mental illness in a psychosocial and vocational rehabilitation program modeled after the Program for Assertive Community Treatment were tracked through record review to determine if clients' employment gains were sustained while they were in the program. A total of 184 clients participated in the program between December 1984 and February 1994, of whom 34 percent remained for one to four years and 33 percent remained for longer than four years. Sixty-four percent of the clients who stayed in the program a year or longer attained employment. The program maintained an average employment rate of 33 percent of all participating clients. More than half of the clients who held jobs worked part time and were employed more than half of the time that they were in the program.     

The New Hampshire study of supported employment for people with severe mental illness.

This study compared supported employment services in 2 contrasting programs: (a) Group Skills Training, a professional rehabilitation agency outside of the mental health center that provided preemployment skills training and support in obtaining and maintaining jobs, or (b) the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) model, which integrated clinical and vocational services within the mental health center. People with severe mental disorders who expressed interest in competitive employment (N?=? 143) were randomly assigned to 1 of these 2 programs. Results showed that clients in the IPS program were more likely to be competitively employed throughout most of the 18-month follow-up. Among those who obtained jobs, there were few group differences, although workers in the IPS program did work more total hours and earn more total wages during the 18-month followup. There were no group differences on nonvocational outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The relationship between osmotic stress and calcium elevation: in vitro and in vivo rat lens models

Recent evaluations by the U.S. General Accounting Office and the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill of reemployment efforts of the federal-state vocational rehabilitation program found that services offered by state vocational rehabilitation agencies do not produce long-term earnings for clients with emotional or physical disabilities. This paper examines reasons for these poor outcomes and the implications of recent policy reform recommendations. Congress must decide whether to take action at the federal level to upgrade programs affecting persons with severe mental illnesses or to continue to rely on state decision making. The federal-state program largely wastes an estimated $490 million annually on time-limited services to consumers with mental illnesses. Rechanneled into a variety of innovative and more appropriate integrated services models, the money could buy stable annual vocational rehabilitation funding for 62,000 to 90,000 consumers with severe mental illnesses. Larger macrosystem problems involve the dynamics of the labor market that limit job opportunities and the powerful work disincentives for consumers with severe disabilities now inherent in Social Security Disability Insurance, Supplemental Security Income, Medicare, and Medicaid.     

Using concept mapping to develop a conceptual framework of staff's views of a supported employment program for individuals with severe mental illness.

Describes the use of concept mapping to develop a pictorial multivariate conceptual framework of staff views of a program of supported employment (SE) for individuals with severe mental illness. The SE program involves extended individualized supported employment for clients through a mobile job support worker who maintains contact with the client after job placement and supports the client in various ways. Participants were 14 staff members of a psychiatric rehabilitation agency with assignments associated with the SE program. They brainstormed a large number of specific program activity statements (N?=?96), sorted and rated the statements, and interpreted the map that was produced through multidimensional scaling and hierarchical cluster analysis. The resulting map enabled identification of 4 issues that should be included in any theory of SE programs: the specific activity sequences that characterize the program itself, the pattern of local program evolution, the definition of program staff roles, and the influence of key contextual factors such as the client's family or the program's administrative structure. The implications of concept mapping methodology for theory development and program evaluation are considered. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Supported work: An innovative approach to the vocational rehabilitation of persons who are psychiatrically disabled.

Presents a model for the vocational rehabilitation of persons with severe psychiatric disability (SPD) that helps clients find private-sector jobs and provides support to both client and employer. Preliminary data on a supported work program in which 152 Ss with SPD participated suggest that the model is effective in returning individuals with SPD to competitive employment. Close monitoring of a subset of 34 Ss during the 1st yr of the program revealed that Ss whose disabilities were identified in adolescence (age 19 yrs or younger) were almost twice as likely to be employed as those with an adult onset. Clinical stability and level of motivation also appeared to affect program outcome. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Alterations of fatty acyl turnover in macrophage glycerolipids induced by stimulation. Evidence for enhanced recycling of arachidonic acid

Most welfare-to-work programs designed to help single mothers leave welfare for employment focus on the challenge of finding a job. This article looks beyond the point of employment to consider the difficulty many former welfare recipients have keeping their jobs. The authors review evidence showing that many families cycle back and forth between welfare and work, losing jobs and returning to public assistance while they seek work again. Factors contributing to high rates of job loss include characteristics of the job and of the worker. Temporary jobs, frequent layoffs, low pay in relation to work expenses, lack of experience meeting employer expectations, and personal or family problems all lead to dismissals and resignations. Drawing from the experience of innovative programs, the authors recommend policy changes and program approaches that can help families overcome setbacks and stabilize their lives as they move from welfare into increasingly stable employment.     

Food-contact epoxy resin: co-variation between migration and degree of cross-linking

The last decade has witnessed the increasing importance of consumers as providers of mental health services. Assertive Community Treatment (ACT) teams and ACT variants, with their emphasis on rehabilitation and support in the client's natural environment, have hosted consumer-professional collaborations. The authors discuss one such program in which an ACT program for homeless mentally ill adults employed consumer advocates (CAs). Consumer advocates were found to have a service profile similar to other staff. Further, there is suggestive evidence that the employment of CAs created a more positive attitude toward persons with mental illness. Issues of role definition, boundaries, support with supervision and the importance of CAs' experiences with mental illness are discussed.     

Humanistic psychology and rehabilitation programs in mental hospitals

A humanistic growth-oriented theory, specifically Maslow's need-satisfaction theory, was used as a basis for examining the contributions work and employment make toward rehabilitation of the state mental hospital patient. Research literature reviewed indicated that if the rehabilitation program is to be viable and optimally effective, satisfying the belongingness and esteem needs of the patient is important. Research that stresses the therapeutic benefit of work, as well as research that raises the issue of workshops inhibiting independence and fostering dependence are presented. Modifications of rehabilitation programs that resulted in reports of increased program effectiveness are discussed. Fundamental features of these alternative or ancillary programs were: 1. a definite structure that allows various levels of advancement; 2. group participation; 3. patient initiative; 4. an orientation that reflects the competitive nature of employment; and 5. early community involvement. The importance of evaluating each client's needs and planning for growth before his/her job placement is considered vital to the program and to the individual.     

WorkPlan: Constraint-Based Database for Work Package Scheduling

A database program called WorkPlan has been created to systematically develop weekly work plans. Such work plans are used by crew foremen in scheduling work packages and allocating available labor and equipment resources. WorkPlan adopts the Last Planner methodology, which implements several lean construction techniques. A week prior to conducting work, WorkPlan guides the user step by step through the process of spelling out work packages, identifying constraints, checking constraint satisfaction, releasing work packages, and allocating resources; then at the end of the week, collecting field progress data and reasons for plan failure. This systematic approach helps the user create quality work plans and learn from understanding reasons for failure. The lean planning philosophy underlying WorkPlan and the functionality of the computer program implementation are detailed in this paper. Various ways of displaying work package data are illustrated. WorkPlan's job-shop scheduling view complements the view traditionally adopted by project management, as is reflected in scheduling tools using the critical-path method.     

The balance of employment and motherhood: Longitudinal study of mothers' feelings about separation from their first-born infants.

Examined how older, college-educated White mothers' preference to be employed or to remain home with their infants affected the development of their anxiety about separation from their infants over the 1st 13? mo of motherhood. On measures of anxiety about separation, career salience, and maternal role investment, 26 mothers (mean age 27.38 yrs) who preferred employment were compared with 36 mothers (mean age 27.89 yrs) who preferred to stay at home. Measures were taken at 2 days, 7 wks, 8 mo, and 13? mo postpartum. Employment-preference mothers' anxiety about separation declined earlier and to a greater extent than that of home-preference mothers, who were more strongly invested in the maternal role but less committed to jobs or careers. Discussion centers on the importance of employment preference as opposed to actual employment status for understanding how women balance career and motherhood. (21 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparative Study of Activity-Based Construction Labor Productivity in the United States and China

This research compares construction labor productivity (CLP) of the United States with its Chinese counterpart at the activity level to evaluate productivity differences between the two countries from an operational perspective. Supplementing other comparative construction studies measuring productivity by output value per person, this research examined CLP—measured by physical quantity installed per labor hour—based upon published national average productivity data. Sampled activities included earthwork, concrete, masonry, structural steel, waterproofing, and interior finishes. Paired comparisons (United States–China) of these selected activities were then analyzed and evaluated. The source of the U.S. labor productivity data was RSMeans Building Construction Cost Data, which was cross validated by data from the Walker’s Building Estimator’s Reference Book. The source of Chinese labor productivity data was mainly the Beijing construction quota, which was cross validated by Chinese quotas from several other cities and provinces in China. In terms of hourly output, significant differences were observed in many operational categories. To test the hypothesis that the labor-equipment compositions of the Chinese construction crews contributed to the labor-productivity gaps, a labor intensive factor (LIF) was introduced to measure the intensity of labor usage in a construction activity. Statistical analysis indicated that modest to strong correlations exist between the productivity differences and LIFs of the sampled activities. Chinese CLP significantly lags behind its U.S. counterpart in equipment-intensive construction activities. Smaller CLP gaps or comparable CLPs between the two countries were observed for labor-intensive activities. According to these findings, construction equipment efficiency appears to be a major factor contributing to the productivity difference between the two countries.     

Wedded to the job: Moderating effects of job involvement on the consequences of job insecurity.

Two hundred eighty-three public-sector employees experiencing a workplace reorganization completed surveys assessing the relationships between job involvement and job insecurity on self-report measures of psychological, behavioral, and physical outcomes. Using C. L. Hulin's (see record 1993-97200-008) job adaptation theory, differential predictions were made regarding the specific outcomes of job insecurity for high job involvement versus low job involvement employees. Results indicate that employees who were highly invested in their jobs were most adversely affected by job insecurity. Specifically, they reported more negative job attitudes, more health problems, and a higher level of psychological distress than their less involved counterparts when they perceived their jobs to be threatened. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Antecedents of bridge employment: A longitudinal investigation.

Bridge employment is the labor force participation pattern increasingly observed in older workers between their career jobs and their complete labor force withdrawal. It serves as a transition process from career employment to full retirement. Typical bridge employment decisions include full retirement, career bridge employment, and bridge employment in a different field. In the current study, 3 dominant theories (i.e., role theory, continuity theory, and life course perspective) on retirement processes were reviewed. On the basis of these theories, the authors proposed 4 categories of antecedents (i.e., individual attributes, job-related psychological variables, family-related variables, and a retirement-planning-related variable) of different types of bridge employment decisions. The authors used longitudinal data of a large, nationally representative sample from the Health and Retirement Study (F. Juster & R. Suzman, 1995) to test the current hypotheses. These data were analyzed with multinomial logistic regression, and most of the hypotheses were supported by the results. The implications of this study are discussed at both theoretical and practical levels. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Job testing and the disadvantaged.

Discusses elements in the chain of events that can lead to inappropriate use of labor and unfair and self-defeating practices. Decisions regarding employment and promotion involve a variety of structured and unstructured elements of management–employee relations that are liable to bias and unjust discrimination. Hazards inherent in employment and promotion decisions are outlined, and special problems in the use of skill and knowledge and aptitude tests are considered. Recommendations for reducing bias, using psychological tests, and effectively using labor resources are presented. The responsibilities of psychologists in these areas are noted. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Hartford Study of Supported Employment for Persons With Severe Mental Illness.

The authors compared 3 approaches to vocational rehabilitation for severe mental illness (SMI): the individual placement and support (IPS) model of supported employment, a psychosocial rehabilitation (PSR) program, and standard services. Two hundred four unemployed clients (46% African American, 30% Latino) with SMI were randomly assigned to IPS, PSR, or standard services and followed for 2 years. Clients in IPS had significantly better employment outcomes than clients in PSR and standard services, including more competitive work (73.9% vs. 18.2% vs. 27.5%, respectively) and any paid work (73.9% vs. 34.8% vs. 53.6%, respectively). There were few differences in nonvocational outcomes between programs. IPS is a more effective model than PSR or standard brokered vocational services for improving employment outcomes in clients with SMI. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Reiteration frequency of the histone genes in the genome of the amphibian, Xenopus laevis

Although female employment and fertility are generally inversely related in already developed countries, no clear association has been found in the developing economies. The absence of a uniform relationship is related to the problems of measurement for both variable s. Consequently, it is suggested that a better understanding of the relationship between fertility and employment for women can be obtained by giving consideration to: 1) the ecological or individual level of analysis, 2) the life cycle aspects of fertility and labor force participation by means of the use of small age groups in the analysis or cohort data if available, 3) the matching of current or historical perspective on both work and fertility, 4) more complete measures of fertility that consider both the number and spacing of children, and 5) a new approach to measuring the labor force and labor force participation as outlined in the Council of Asian Manpower Studies and the Organization of Demographic Associates approaches. Although there is a need for more data, the most important need is for different data and for different combinations of fertility and work data. It is particularly the labor force data that require a new approach. Both the gainful worker and labor force approaches were designed to measure the work of men in a Western society. These approaches were not designed nor can they be expected to provide useful service for measuring the very different work of women in developing countries, much less in relating work to other variables such as fertility. Thus, it is expected that the relationship between work and fertility will remain elusive under these circumstances. Neither the labor force dimension nor the other dimensions indicated have been generally considered in studies of work and fertility in developing countries. No study has been made using all these suggested dimensions. It is believed that the use of these dimensions is necessary in order to achieve a complete understanding of the relationship between female employment and fertility.     

Surgical treatment of otosclerosis in the aged. Results of retrospective analysis

Due to the demographic development and the changes in morbidity, the medical rehabilitation in the statutory pension insurance will be more and more important in future. The budgeting of expenditures is not an appropriate means for the elimination of existing insufficiencies related to medical rehabilitation. Excessive or insufficient use of these services can be interpreted as moral hazard problems. The focus of all measures has to be to eliminate the existing disincentives in the interface between pension insurance and labor market in order to increase the efficiency of medical rehabilitation.     

Neoliberalism, "globalization," unemployment, inequalities, and the welfare state

This analysis of "neoliberalism" and its economic and social consequences is presented in six sections. Section I begins by describing the impact of neoliberal public policies on economic growth and inflation, on business profits and business investments, on productivity, on business credit, on unemployment and social inequalities, on social expenditures, and on poverty and family debt. The author shows that, except in the area of business profits and control of inflation, neoliberal policies have not proved superior to those they replaced. Section II deals with unemployment and social polarization in the developed capitalist countries. The author criticizes some of the theories put forward to explain these social problems, such as the introduction of new technologies and globalization of the economy, and suggests that a primary reason for these problems is the implementation of neoliberal policies. Section III challenges the widely held neoliberal perception that the U.S. economy is highly efficient and the E.U. economies are "sclerotic" due to their "excessive" welfare states and "rigid" labor markets. The author shows that the U.S. economy is not so dynamic, nor the E.U. economies so sclerotic. Some developed countries with greater social protection and more regulated labor markets are shown to be more successful than the United States in producing jobs and lowering unemployment. The reasons for the growing polarization in developed capitalist countries, rooted in political rather than economic causes, are discussed in section IV--especially the enormous power of the financial markets and their influence on international agencies and national governments, and the weakness of the labor movements, both nationally and internationally. Section V questions the major theses of globalization. The author shows that rather than globalization of commerce and investments, we are witnessing a regionalization of economic relations stimulated by political considerations. He also analyzes the globalization of capital finance, criticizing the thesis that capital markets are determining public policies. The economic determinism that underlies the globalization position is questioned, uncovering the importance of political explanations for understanding major social problems such as unemployment. Finally, section VI shows that neoliberal public policies on the deregulation of labor markets are creating enormous instability in the labor force, worsening the living conditions of the majority of the populations.     

A multidiscipline approach in low vision rehabilitation

The first low vision clinic was instituted at the Industrial Home for the Blind in 1953 in response to a growing demand that more effective use be made of the residual vision in blind persons. The technology was there. Eye practitioners certainly knew enough about vision problems to offer many of these people an opportunity to enter a new life. The problem was: how to put that knowledge to work through a sound service delivery system. By its twentieth anniversary in 1973 the clinic had seen almost 5,000 patients for low vision evaluation and had built a service which consistently provided substantial and useful improvement in vision through the use of optical aids to a majority of its patients. The low vision optometric staff works as an integral part of a rehabilitation team. That team consists of a number of professionals, including ophthalmologists, social workers, teachers, and a variety of rehabilitation instructors. All members work simultaneously to create a total program of rehabilitation for thepartially sighted. We feel this teamwork approach is of basic importance to effective rehabilitation.