Physical exercise,employee fitness and the management of health at work

Abstract

This paper presents some recent data on why organizations invest in exercise and physical fitness programmes for their stiff. These data suggest that, owing to a lack of evaluation studies, organizations act mainly on the basis of assumption and belief. However, from a subsequent review of the available literature on the personal and organizational effects of such programmes, it appears that these assumptions and beliefs are not altogether unfounded. The paper concludes by discussing the ways in which exercise and employee fitness programmes might help die individual and their organization in terms of the management of health at work.     

Daily reports of distress: Not for women only

Abstract

A context-dependence paradigm was developed for research into effects of the menstrual cycle in women. This involved the investigation of situational effects on self-reported distress in both men and women. For 35 consecutive days, 25 women and 36 men working in two occupations that varied in degree of situational stress completed Body Awareness Questionnaires (modified menstrual distress questionnaires) and daily subjective stress ratings. After controlling for contraceptive use, age range, and percentage of body fat, the following variables were selected for a multiple regression analysis as predictors of distress: (a) job stress, (b) feminine values, (c) life stress, (d) subjective stress, (e) type of job, (f) sex, (g) job experience, and (h) history of menstrual distress. Women working in the high-stress job (military police) reported significantly more distress than all the other groups. Life stress was identified as the dominant predictor of distress. In a separate analysis of daily distress scores and menstrual cycle phases for all the women, there was no interaction between the type of job and the menstrual cycle phase on reports of distress. A similar analysis of the effects on sex and shift revealed shift effects in distress for men but not women. Sources of variability for both sexes (shift-work rotation and cycle phase) are discussed.     

直观判定法的改进

改进了文献～（［１］）所提出的确定主应力方法的结论，使之更完善，应用更方便。     

论我国戒毒模式中社会工作者的角色

本文主要分析了社会工作者在我国目前的几种戒毒模式中可以扮演的角色和实现途径。社会工作者在自愿戒毒模式中的角色是服务提供者和倡导者，在强制戒毒模式中的角色是协调者，在劳教戒毒模式中的角色是咨询者和组织者，在TC戒毒模式中的角色和功能是支持者。     

The contribution of the psychosocial work environment to sickness absence in human service workers: Results of a 3-year follow-up study

We investigated to what extent psychosocial work characteristics predict sickness absence in a cohort of 890 human service professionals (84% women), followed-up for 3 years. We measured 16 different psychosocial work characteristics at baseline and analysed their associations with number of sickness absence days at follow-up using multivariate Poisson regression. In addition, we computed a psychosocial work environment index, summarizing eight psychosocial scales. Participants with exposure to violence and threats, high emotional demands, high demands for hiding emotions, low influence at work, low meaning of work, low quality of management, and role conflicts had an increased number of sickness absence days at follow-up, after adjustment for numerous confounders. Adjusting for sickness absence history caused little change in most effect estimates. Scoring in the most adverse quartile of the psychosocial work environment index was associated with a 71% increase in sickness absence days. Improving the psychosocial work environment index and eliminating exposure to violence and threats would have prevented 32% of all sickness absence days in the study population. In particular we found that exposure to violence was a strong predictor of absence. This study shows that a wide range of psychosocial work characteristics contribute to sickness absence in human service workers. Improving the psychosocial work environment might help to reduce sickness absence in this population.     

A Cognitive Approach to Direct Practice with the Aging

The recent prominence of cognitive approaches in psychotherapy and more recently in social casework holds considerable promise for direct practice with olderpersons on both an individual and group basis. Several central concepts in cognitive theory are delineated and found to have particular advantages for the aging. First, they deal with conscious concerns and avoid the dangers of affective or regressive approaches in breaking down defenses. Second, they are heavily concerned with questions of meaning and self-concept, issues that are central to the last stage of life, as delineated by Erikson, and the task of achieving ego integrity over despair. Two case illustrations of the application of a cognitive approach in a group context are given.     

Adolescent Mothers and Depression: Predictors of Resilience and Risk Through the Toddler Years

ABSTRACT

This study investigated predictors of depression in 278 African-American, 206 European-American, and 122 Hispanic teen mothers approximately 36 months after the birth while controlling for depression 14 months after the birth. Predictor variables were age, ethnicity, mastery, knowledge of development, and parental distress. Younger teens were not more depressed than older teens. Although there were not significant differences by ethnicity in 14 month depression, significant differences were evident at 36 months. European-American mothers were the most depressed, whereas Hispanic mothers were the least depressed. Parental distress was positively associated with depression at 36 months while controlling for depression at 14 months. This study provides information for targeting teen mothers at the highest risk for depression through the toddler years, as well as spurs ideas for intervention stategies.     

Issues of Elder Care and Elder Abuse in the Indian Context

Summary

With 7% of the population of India being elderly, two-thirds of whom live in villages and nearly a half of them in poor conditions, the care of the elderly is a difficult problem to be tackled. The dwindling of the joint family, the rise of dual-career families, a possible shift in filial piety values, the increasing life expectancy with greater chances of a prolonged old age characterized by poverty, degeneration, more empty-nest years, and dependency, have all added to the seriousness of the problem and made the elderly more susceptible than ever to abusive treatment. This paper examines these issues as well as the issue of elder abuse in light of available data and suggests some strategies to meet the problem. Also discussed are the problems, stresses, and strains of caregivers of the elderly. A greater role is envisaged for Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) than the state in the care of the elderly, particularly in providing support services to family caregivers.     

低渗储层应力敏感评价方法探讨

应力敏感评价是储层保护以及油气井产能评价的重要依据，尤其对低渗储层更显意义重大。目前国内对油气储层的应力敏感评价方法及标准尚存在争议,通过对国内外曾提出的应力敏感评价     

Assessing the cumulative effects of stress: The association between job stress and allostatic load in a large sample of Chinese employees

Job stress can lead to various system dysfunctions, but until now no reliable biomarkers for its assessment have been identified. Allostatic load (AL) is an index that enables the cumulative effect on the body of chronic stress to be assessed, and is derived from a set of relevant biological measures. In this study, a 13-parameter index (building on the original 10-item index) was used to examine the relationship between job strain and AL. Participants were 1219 healthy Chinese employees. Job strain was measured using the Job Content Questionnaire, and AL was assessed by various possible stress responses, including blood pressure, cholesterol, indicators of glucose metabolism, and hormone and inflammation markers. AL in the high job strain group differed sharply from that in the low job strain group. The AL score was positively associated with age and educational level. Several individual parameters also differed between the two groups. Men scored significantly higher on AL and cardiovascular and metabolic health outcomes, whereas for women the associations appeared in the biological indicators. Analyses indicated that decision latitude (DL) and job demands were significantly related to AL. Job demands correlated significantly with the primary biological indicators and DL with the secondary health outcomes. In conclusion, this study provides evidence of the value of measuring allostatic load in assessing the chronic effects of job stress.