Well-Being and Affective Commitment among Ambulance Volunteers: A Mediational Model of Job Burnout

ABSTRACT

Burnout represents a relevant risk for ambulance volunteers. According to the Job Demands-Resources model, role conflict and social support can be considered as antecedents of burnout which, in turn, may lower affective commitment. This study aims to investigate the relationship between social support, role conflict, and affective commitment, as mediated by job burnout. Survey data were collected from 352 Italian volunteers and analyzed using structural equation modeling methods. Social support was confirmed as a protective factor, and role conflict as an antecedent of burnout which, in turn, decreases affective commitment. The relationship between role conflict and affective commitment is mediated by burnout which, on the contrary, does not mediate the effect of social support on affective commitment. Social support may protect against burnout. Because of its positive effects on a personal and an organizational level, affective commitment may be increased raising levels of supervisor support and reshaping role expectations. It could be useful to carry out future longitudinal studies, in order to confirm the antecedents and effects of job burnout; furthermore, this research should be extended to other ambulance organizations, in order to generalize the results; finally, multi-group analyses would allow to bring out possible differences between paid-staff and volunteers.     

南渡士人的佛教因缘与文学创作

宋室南渡以后,禅悦之风较北宋更为盛行.从达官宰执到一般朝野士人,皆对佛教持支持信仰之态度.与北宋士人相比,南渡士人的礼佛参禅在内容与形式上有所变化.如同是援佛入儒,北宋士人是"尽用其学而不自知",一方面吸收佛学的精华,一方面又公开攘斥佛老;而南渡士人不仅援佛入儒,以佛学作为儒学的参照系,而且还身体力行,佛教对其浸染甚深.禅悦之风在士林的盛行,不仅对南宋政府的佛教政策有所影响,而且也因此影响了士林的文学批评与文学创作."以禅喻诗"是南渡士人对文学作出的新诠释,而"援禅入诗"、"援禅入词",则是他们在创作上呈现出的一大特色.就佛教对文学批评的影响来说,尽管参诗之说始自北宋,但真正将参禅与作诗结合起来并提出重要的诗学概念与范畴的,则是南渡诗人.并且就时间来说,禅诗相通,至南渡以后,方为诗人所共识,这是最值得注意的现象.禅悦之风在南宋初期的盛行,有历史、政治及经济等方面的原因,就士人来说,他们信奉佛教,除去学术与个人遭际等因素以外,最重要的原因是南渡政府安置南渡士人的特殊政策增加了士人与佛教接触的机会,从而进一步刺激了士人对佛教的了解.     

Prenatal child abuse risk assessment: a preliminary validation study

Workers need an efficient prenatal screener that can identify mothers at greatest risk of child abuse. Existing risk assessment methods are often invasive and difficult to administer. This study assessed child abuse risk in a sample of 49 expectant mothers using the Brigid Collins Risk Screener (BCRS). At three months postpartum, high-risk mothers scored significantly lower on the quality of infants' physical, social, and emotional environments than moderate or low-risk mothers. BCRS appears to offer a noninvasive, efficient approach to assessing risk of child abuse.     

Evaluation of hip abductor and adductor strength in the elderly: a reliability study

Background

In elderly individuals an increased muscle strength contributes to the diminution of the falls risk and associated adverse events. An increasing interest in lateral control exists due to the fatal consequences of postero-lateral falls. Therefore a proper assessment of frontal plane hip muscle strength in elderly is important but remains challenging.Therefore we aimed to investigate the feasibility and repeatability of a hip abductor and adductor maximum voluntary isometric strength (MVIS) and rate of force generation (RFG) test in elderly. This represents an initial step in the development process of a new and clinically relevant test that could lead to more specific treatment protocols for this population.

Methods

In this measurement focused study hip abduction (ABD) and adduction (ADD) MVIS and RFG were tested twice within one to three hours with a dynamometer fixed to a custom made frame in a geriatric population including fallers and non-fallers. Intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC_agreement), standard error of measurement (SEM), and smallest detectable difference (SDD) were determined.

Results

All recruited persons (N?=?76; mean age (SD) 80.46 (7.05) years old) completed the tests. The average time needed to complete the strength tests was 10.58 min. (1.56) per muscle group. The reliability of the hip ABD and ADD was high with ICC’s_agreement ranging from 0.83 to 0.97. The SDD varied between 18.1 and 81.8% depending on the muscle group and type of strength that was evaluated.

Conclusion

Hip abductor and adductor strength measures in older person are feasible and reliable. However, the significance of moderate changes in these measurements may be limited by the large SDD and SEM. Therefore, physical therapist should be careful when using this measure for assessing the progress of an individual person in a daily clinical use.

     

Austerity and the lives of people with learning disabilities. A thematic synthesis of current literature

Abstract

The Financial Crisis of 2008 resulted in many western economies implementing cuts in health and social care. This systematic review provides a holistic picture of the impact of austerity policy on the lives of people with learning disabilities (LD) and the collateral effects on the people who support them. Our review suggests that in the current climate of economic austerity, available funding to support people with LD is no longer aligned to their care needs. Cuts in disability services have adversely affected the well-being both of people with LD and their informal carers. Individuals with LD have lost social support and are experiencing increased social isolation. Heightened demands on family carers’ time have negatively influenced their wider roles, including parental functioning, and labour market participation. Our review provides the foundations for further discourse and research on the effects of austerity on people with LD and their family carers.