Seasonal and weather-related behavioral effects among urban Aboriginal, urban non-Aboriginal, and remote Aboriginal participants in Canada

The influence of seasonal change and weather on mood, social activity, weight, food consumption, and sleep length was compared across urban Aboriginals (n = 43), urban non-Aboriginals (n = 49), and remote Aboriginals (n = 39) in Ontario, Canada. Such research is important since climate change may differentially shape the well-being of social groups. Behavioral items—including mood, social activity, weight, sleep, and food consumption—were measured using the Seasonal Pattern Assessment Questionnaire, and associations between these items and meteorological data were examined with bivariate and multivariate approaches. Weather variables had consistent, significant associations with behavior except within the remote Aboriginal group despite living in a more extreme climate. Lifestyle and adaptation may contribute to an increased weather tolerance among remote Aboriginal people, intriguing findings as cultures grapple with the implications of future climate change.     

Multidimensional Measurement of Poverty Among Women in Sub-Saharan Africa

Since the seminal work of Sen, poverty has been recognized as a multidimensional phenomenon. The recent availability of relevant databases renewed the interest in this approach. This paper estimates multidimensional poverty among women in fourteen Sub-Saharan African countries using the Alkire and Foster multidimensional poverty measures, whose identification method is based on a counting approach. Four dimensions are considered: assets, health, schooling and empowerment. The results show important differences in poverty among the countries of the sample. The multidimensional poverty estimates are compared with some alternative measures such as the Human Development Index, income poverty, asset poverty and the Gender-related Development Index. It is found that including additional dimensions into the analysis leads to country rankings different from those obtained with the mentioned four measures. Decompositions by geographical area and dimension indicate that rural areas are significantly poorer than urban ones and that a lack of schooling is, in general, the highest contributor to poverty. The paper also conducts robustness and sensitivity analyses of the multidimensional estimates with respect to the number of dimensions in which deprivation is required in order to be considered poor, as well as to the poverty lines within each dimension. Several cases of dominance between countries are found in the first robustness test.     

Work integration social enterprises as vessels of empowerment? Perspectives from employees

Various countries across the East Asian region have witnessed the rapid proliferation of social enterprises, especially work integration social enterprises (WISEs) in the recent decade. Drawing from qualitative interviews with WISE employees and middle managers in Hong Kong, we examined what working in a WISE meant for employees with disabilities, and how such work differs from traditional service delivery organisations and other employment-support schemes. Three emergent themes, Meaningful Engagement, Individual-Based Empowerment and Relational-Based Empowerment, were identified as critical outcomes. Discussion pertaining to the role of WISE in the production of welfare and practice implications are presented.     

Work rehabilitation for migrant workers with work injury--the magic of Chinese paper cutting

As China has gradually transformed from agricultural economy into industrial economy since 1978, occupational injuries and diseases become a serious social problem in China. For occupational rehabilitation professionals, helping workers with occupational injuries and diseases, return to work and re-integrate to community are the ultimate goals of occupational rehabilitation. This article reports a new indigenous initiative with cultural notions in occupational rehabilitation piloted by Guangdong Provincial Rehabilitation Center. Case studies reflected that by learning and practicing traditional Chinese paper cutting, workers with occupational injury and disease could regain their self confidence, identity their strengths, learn more vocational skills as well as to re-integrate into community.     

The functional capacity of healthcare workers with history of severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (SARS) complicated with avascular necrosis--case report

Two years after the SARS outbreak in Hong Kong, 128 healthcare workers continued to present with musculoskeletal complaints and 38 workers were diagnosed with avascular necrosis (AVN) in different joints. 13 healthcare workers were referred to six designated Physiotherapy Departments of the Hospital Authority for a tailor-made standardized Functional Capacity Evaluation (FCE) from 2004 to 2005 on a voluntary basis. Job analysis, workers' self-perceived disability and functional capacity, non-material handling tests, and the cardiopulmonary fitness test were performed. Retrospective review of the FCE data showed that there were 17 AVN of hips, 16 AVN of knees, 3 AVN of shoulders. All patients had AVN of lower limb joints. Nearly full ranges of movement (ROM) were observed in the knees involved, but the hip range was decreased for most subjects suffering from hip AVNs. Most workers (n=12) could not complete the cardiopulmonary test due to intolerable joint pain. Six workers' self-perceived physical demands level (PDC) matched with the physical demands level identified by the FCE. 12 healthcare workers attained a sedentary physical demands level and were unable to match with their previous job demands. One staff was classified as light physical demands and managed his original duty. Four workers had returned to work at the time FCE was performed. The tailor-made FCE added information to facilitate the return-to-work planning for the staff. Four more workers returned to work with modified duties one year after the FCE.     

China's demographic dilemmas

The year 2000 marks the end of a tumultuous century in China's population history, which weathered the demographic effects of devastating famines, wars, and epidemics and population growth and change. This paper examines the effect of population policies on the demographic dilemmas of China. In the 1950s, China had seen the fastest demographic transition in history, with a dramatic decline in mortality rates, followed by a decrease in fertility rates. However, in the 1970s, revisions in population control measures, changes in age structure, and fluctuations in age at marriage resulted in lower fertility rates. The struggles encountered by China in regulating fertility are described; these include the different methods of birth control, gender preference, marriage, population aging, and minority populations. Population and development issues within the context of urbanization, employment, education, health care, economy, and environment are also discussed. Future implications of these findings indicate the need for a systematic, effective, and complete environmental clean-up, as well as fertility and population policies.     

Intergenerational relations and reproductive behavior in Taiwan

The character of intergenerational relationships between parents and their adult unmarried children in Taiwan is consistently and systematically related to the later reproductive behavior of the children after they marry. The greater the extent to which the adult unmarried children are exposed to nonfamilial relationships and contexts in school, at work, in the use of wages, in marriage decisions, and in first place of residence after marriage, the fewer children they will have and want and the greater the likelihood that they will begin contraception for spacing rather than for limiting their number. These relationships are consistent with theories about the transformation of familial relationships and reproductive patterns in the course of development.     

Korean patterns of women's labor force participation during the period, 1960-1980

"This article investigates how the patterns of Korean women's labor force participation have changed during the 1960s and the 1970s, [periods] of rapid economic development and social changes. The discussion focuses on the comparison of three sets of cross-sectional data derived from the 1960, 1970 and 1980 [Republic of Korea] censuses. Although not dramatic, the gross rates of women's labor force participation show an upward trend. A very high and rapidly increasing rate of rural women's labor force participation did not result in a big increase in the total rate because of the significant rise in the proportion of the population living in urban areas. However, the employment structure and patterns of women's labor force participation have changed significantly, especially in urban areas."