2009 Annual Report to Congress

[Excerpt] Enacted in 2004, Public Law 108-375 also created an Office of the Ombudsman (the Office) and urged the Secretary of Labor to take appropriate action to ensure that it be an independent Office within the Department of Labor (DOL), including independence from the other officers and employees of the DOL engaged in activities related to the administration of the provision of the EEOICPA. See 42 U.S.C. § 7385s-15(d). The Secretary of Labor appointed an Ombudsman in February 2005, and the Office submitted its first report to Congress covering calendar year 2005 on February 15, 2006. When initially created, the duties of the Office only extended to Part E. On October 28, 2009, Public Law 111-84, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, expanded the authority of the Office to also include Part B of the EEOICPA. The day to day activities of the Office are driven by two goals; 1) to provide information and assistance to claimants and potential claimants regarding the EEOICPA; (2) to provide opportunities for claimants and potential claimants to express their complaints, grievances, and requests for assistance concerning this program. In achieving these goals, the Office: Engages in outreach – We sponsor town hall meetings, as well as attend other meetings, forums and workshops where we discuss the EEOICPA and its requirements. This year, with the assistance of the efforts of a task force comprised of many of the agencies involved with the EEOICPA we were able to attend 20 outreach meetings in 11 different cities. Clarifies/explains documents and procedures – The EEOICPA can be very complicated and decisions are oftentimes based on very technical medical, scientific and/or legal concepts. We are contacted by claimants who find it difficult to comprehend these concepts. In addition, there are a many nuances to this program – for example for many of the “rules” there is at least one exception. Some claimants need assistance “steering the right course” as they proceed with their claim. Receives complaints, grievances and requests for assistance – Individuals with pending claims; individuals whose claims were denied; as well as some individuals whose claims were awarded, contact the Office or attend our town hall meetings, to voice complaints and grievances with this program. We are also contacted on occasion by claimants who have complimentary comments concerning the program – usually complimenting the services provided by individuals associated with the program. Provides assistance – It is rare when we are contacted by an individual who simply wants to voice a complaint. Most individuals contact us because they are seeking assistance with their claim. In some instances, we are asked to explain a word or decision. On other occasions, we are asked to provide assistance locating necessary records, or our input is sought on how to proceed with a claim. Inasmuch as many claimants do not have access to computers, we also frequently provide public information such as copies the Site Exposure Matrices; Site Profiles; listing of the 22 cancers covered for purposes of Special Exposure Cohorts, etc. Within the limits of our authority and resources, we assist claimants however we can. The report that follows is a synthesis of the many e-mails, letters, telephone calls, faxes, and face to face conversations that members of this staff had over the past year

2012 Annual Report to Congress

[Excerpt] Public Law 108-375 not only repealed Part D and established Part E it also created the Office of the Ombudsman (the Office). The law urged the Secretary to ensure the independence of the Office within DOL, including independence from other officers and employees of DOL engaged in activities related to the administration of the provisions of EEOICPA. Public Law 108-375 also contained an express sunset date, terminating the requirement for the Office on October 28, 2007. On October 22, 2007, shortly before the sunset provision was to take effect, former Secretary Chao issued a Memorandum determining that the Department of Labor should continue to have an Office of the Ombudsman in the event that the statutory requirement expired. This Memorandum took effect on October 28, 2007. Subsequently, on January 28, 2008, Section 3116 of the FY08 Defense Authorization Act, Public Law 110-181, effectively reinstated the statutory requirement for the Office by extending the sunset date until October 28, 2012. On October 24, 2012, shortly before the October 28, 2012 sunset date, former Secretary Solis signed a Memorandum continuing the Office under the authority of the previous Memorandum signed on October 22, 2007. EEOICPA outlines three duties for the Office: Provide information about the benefits available under Part B and Part E and on the requirements and procedures applicable to the provision of such benefits; Make recommendations to the Secretary regarding the location of resource centers for the acceptance and development of claims under Part B and E; and Carry out such other duties as the Secretary specifies. See 42 U.S.C. §7385s-15(c). In addition, 42 U.S.C. §7385s-15(e) requires the Office to submit an annual report to Congress setting forth: The number and types of complaints, grievances, and requests for assistance received by the Office during the preceding year, and An assessment of the most common difficulties encountered by claimants and potential claimants during the preceding year

Communication and support from health-care professionals to families, with dependent children, following the diagnosis of parental life-limiting illness : a systematic review

Background: Communication between parents and their children about parental life-limiting illness is stressful. Parents want support from health-care professionals; however, the extent of this support is not known. Awareness of family’s needs would help ensure appropriate support. Aim: To find the current literature exploring (1) how parents with a life-limiting illness, who have dependent children, perceive health-care professionals’ communication with them about the illness, diagnosis and treatments, including how social, practical and emotional support is offered to them and (2) how this contributes to the parents’ feelings of supporting their children. Design: A systematic literature review and narrative synthesis. Data sources: Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, CINAHL and ASSIA ProQuest were searched in November 2015 for studies assessing communication between health-care professionals and parents about how to talk with their children about the parent’s illness. Results: There were 1342 records identified, five qualitative studies met the inclusion criteria (55 ill parents, 11 spouses/carers, 26 children and 16 health-care professionals). Parents wanted information from health-care professionals about how to talk to their children about the illness; this was not routinely offered. Children also want to talk with a health-care professional about their parents’ illness. Health-care professionals are concerned that conversations with parents and their children will be too difficult and time-consuming. Conclusion: Parents with a life-limiting illness want support from their health-care professionals about how to communicate with their children about the illness. Their children look to health-care professionals for information about their parent’s illness. Health-care professionals, have an important role but appear reluctant to address these concerns because of fears of insufficient time and expertise

Models of Mental Illness

Excerpt: Although the concept of mental illness is central to the field of mental health and the practice of counseling, there is continuing disagreement about its definition. Several views are widely held. Each has important implications for understanding mental illness, determining which conditions are disorders and who has them, and choosing appropriate approaches to treatment. This controversy involves several important issues

Nursing Students’ Perception of the Stigma of Mental Illness

Background: Mental health disorders are highly prevalent in the U.S. Nursing students’ perceptions regarding the stigma of mental illness will impact the quality of care delivered and the patients’ outcomes. Method: Data was collected from 64 sophomore students. Five open ended questions were distributed to the students during the first class. All the surveys were collected by a volunteer student and were placed in the instructor’s mailbox in a sealed envelope. Results: The results revealed three categories: students ‘perceptions of the causes of mental illness stigmatization, their own perception of mental illness, and their perception on how to break the cycle of stigmatization of mental illness. Conclusion: Nursing students provided insightful perceptions regarding the causes of the stigma and possible interventions. Collaborative efforts to break the stigma of mental illness include: education, acceptance, increasing awareness, and better portrayal in the media

inSCALE Baseline Cross-Sectional Survey Uganda

A data collection containing information on 6,501 children under 5 years of age in West Uganda. Data was collected during May - August 2011 as part of a baseline survey prior to implementation of the inSCALE c-RCT in the site. Dataset variables cover socioeconomic and demographic characteristics of households, symptoms of the most recent illness episode for the children during the two weeks preceding the survey, care seeking behaviour, treatments received and details of all self-reported out-of-pocket costs associated with care seeking for the episode of illness. Three datasets are made available: [1] The ‘inSCALE_baseline’ master table covers 1 child per row, and [2] a ‘inSCALE_long_baseline’ table with 1 illness condition per row (if child had more than one illness defined, one row is created for each illness) (5057 - only sick children included hence lower total), and [3] 'inSCALE_baseline_extra_cost' table containing additional data on household direct and indirect costs of care seeking collected in the baseline survey

The Effects of Social Media Use on the Perceptions of Mental Illness Among College Students

This study examined individuals’ use of and perceptions of social media networking sites (i.e. Facebook and Twitter) on their perceptions of mental illness. Previous studies have consistently found that media, by means of TV shows, movies, and news reports, depict distorted views of the mentally ill. Previous studies have also consistently found that these media depictions are related to increased stigma of mental illness and the mentally ill. This current study goes a step further by examining the role of social media networking sites on individual’s perceptions, since they are newer and more widely used forms of social media today. This study aimed to answer the research question, “does the use of social media networking sites, and the negative posts on them, perpetuate the stigma of mental illness?” Data was collected using a survey asking participants about their social media use, perceptions of, and attitudes about mental illness, as well as posts they have seen on social media about mental illness. Participants were 183 undergraduate college students at Butler University. The majority of the sample were female, upper-class, Liberal Arts and Sciences students. Using regression analyses, the results of this study showed no significant relationship between social media and mental illness perceptions as hypothesized. Social media use was found to be positively correlated with social media views, and additional analyses indicated that the more one uses social media, the more often they see posts regarding mental illness, as well as see posts involving mass shootings. Gender was found to have a significant relationship with mental illness perceptions. This finding indicated that males, on average, reported higher scores on the mental illness perceptions index, indicating that they hold more stigmatizing views of mental illness in comparison to females

2006 Annual Report to Congress

[Excerpt] The Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act (EEOICPA) was passed by Congress in 2000, and amended in 2004, to compensate American workers who put their health on the line to help fight the Cold War. Many of these workers developed cancer and other serious diseases because, in the course of doing their jobs, they were exposed to radiation and other toxic substances. They and their families have paid dearly for their role in protecting our democracy; the purpose of this program is to acknowledge their sacrifice and to compensate them in some small way for their suffering and loss. As originally enacted in 2000, EEOICPA included Part B (administered by the Department of Labor (DOL)) and Part D (administered by the Department of Energy (DOE)). When Congress repealed Part D and enacted Part E of the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Program Act in October 2004, effectively transferring responsibility for administration of contractor employee compensation from the DOE to the DOL, it also made provisions for creation of the Office of the Ombudsman for Part E. Congress directed that the Office of the Ombudsman be an independent office, located within the Department of Labor, and charged it with a three- fold mission: To conduct outreach to claimants and potential claimants; To make recommendations to the Secretary of Labor about where to locate resource centers for the acceptance and development of claims; To submit an Annual Report to Congress by February 15, setting forth the number and types of complaints, grievances and requests for assistance received by the Ombudsman, and an assessment of the most common difficulties encountered by claimants and potential claimants under Part E during the previous year. See 42 U.S.C. § 7385s-15(e). During 2006, the Office of the Ombudsman undertook outreach efforts to many claimants and potential claimants, principally focusing upon areas of the country to which we had not traveled during 2005. Throughout 2006, we also focused upon responding to the many letters, emails and telephone calls we received, requesting information or assistance, or expressing concerns about various aspects of the Part E compensation program. The concerns expressed to us ranged from issues with the statute itself, and/or the implementing regulations, policies and procedures, to general administrative issues. In responding to complaints, grievances and requests for assistance, we regularly meet with and consult the staff of the Department of Labor’s Division of Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation (DEEOIC). These meetings and consultations are fruitful. During the course of 2007, the Office of the Ombudsman expects to: Conduct additional outreach, traveling to meet with claimants and potential claimants to hear, firsthand, of their concerns and difficulties in obtaining Part E compensation. Respond to emails and telephone calls from claimants, potential claimants, and other members of the public. Continue our interactions with DEEOIC. This report is a short summary of the comments that this Office has received as a result of the personal contacts, the emails, and the telephone conversations from claimants erns about various aspects of the Part E compensation program