Reconceptualizing Women\u27s Work: A Focus on the Domestic and Eligibility Work of Women on Welfare

The types of work performed by women receiving public assistance are examined. Research on women\u27s work often neglects the labor of poor women, reinforcing the view that women receiving welfare do not work. This perspective is challenged with focus group and interview data from welfare recipients in New Orleans, Louisiana. We conclude that within the restrictions of public assistance, poor women are engaging in three types of work: domestic work for their families, economic work for cash-both legal and illegal work, and eligibility work. Eligibility work is defined as the labor necessary to obtain and maintain public assistance

Characteristics of Adults with Anxiety or Depression Treated at an Internet Clinic: Comparison with a National Survey and an Outpatient Clinic

Background There is concern that people seeking treatment over the Internet for anxiety or depressive disorders may not resemble the general population or have less severe disorders than patients attending outpatient clinics or cases identified in community surveys. Thus the response to treatment in Internet based trials might not generalize. Methodology We reviewed the characteristics of applicants to an Australian Internet-based treatment clinic for anxiety and depression, and compared this sample with people from a national epidemiological survey and a sample of patients at a specialist outpatient anxiety and depression clinic. Participants included 774 volunteers to an Internet clinic, 454 patients at a specialist anxiety disorders outpatient clinic, and 627 cases identified in a national epidemiological survey. Main measures included demographic characteristics, and severity of symptoms as measured by the Kessler 10-Item scale (K-10), the 12-item World Health Organisation Disability Assessment Schedule second edition (WHODAS-II), the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ), the Body Sensations Questionnaire (BSQ), the Automatic Cognitions Questionnaire (ACQ), the Social Interaction Anxiety Scale (SIAS) and the Social Phobia Scale (SPS). Principal Findings The severity of symptoms of participants attending the two clinics was similar, and both clinic samples were more severe than cases in the epidemiological survey. The Internet clinic and national samples were older and comprised more females than those attending the outpatient clinic. The Internet clinic sample were more likely to be married than the other samples. The Internet clinic and outpatient clinic samples had higher levels of educational qualifications than the national sample, but employment status was similar across groups. Conclusions The Internet clinic sample have disorders as severe as those attending an outpatient clinic, but with demographic characteristics more consistent with the national sample. These data indicate that the benefits of Internet treatment could apply to the wider population.5 page(s

Is Welfare Reform Working? A Study of the Effects of Sanctions on Families Receiving Temporary Assistance to Needy Families

This research provides a preliminary descriptive analysis of the impact of new welfare sanctions on recipients living in a southern metropolitan region. The data from this phone survey indicate that many families report considerable hardship no matter why they exited from welfare. Compared to those who left voluntarily, those who were sanctioned off welfare were significantly different in terms of having unmet medical needs, going without food, and having their utilities turned off. Given the high number of problems reported and the low income reported by these respondents, it is not surprising to find that only 10 percent of former recipients who were sanctioned off of welfare feel that they are better off now than when they received cash assistance. These problems can represent a significant disruption in the lives of children and their parents

Audit of the national meal guidelines for home‐delivered and centre‐based meal programs

Objective To evaluate the impact of the National Meal Guidelines on service providers and caterers involved in home‐delivered and centre‐based meal programs in Australia. Methods An anonymous online survey was conducted to explore the uptake of the guidelines by participants and evaluate the impact on their practice. Closed questions were analysed using χ2 and Fisher\u27s exact tests, while open‐ended questions underwent thematic analysis to identify key themes. Results A total of 101 out of 441 participants completed the survey (response rate of 23.0%). Most participants (69%) were currently referring to the guidelines, particularly for nutrition guidelines, menu planning and auditing tools. Key barriers to implementation were cost, supplier compliance issues and lack of staff education. Conclusions The National Meal Guidelines have been successfully implemented in many services around Australia. Further research should investigate their impact on customer satisfaction and external supplier compliance

Normative Data for the 12 Item WHO Disability Assessment Schedule 2.0

Background: The World Health Organization Disability Assessment Schedule (WHODAS 2.0) measures disability due to health conditions including diseases, illnesses, injuries, mental or emotional problems, and problems with alcohol or drugs. Method: The 12 Item WHODAS 2.0 was used in the second Australian Survey of Mental Health and Well-being. We report the overall factor structure and the distribution of scores and normative data (means and SDs) for people with any physical disorder, any mental disorder and for people with neither. Findings: A single second order factor justifies the use of the scale as a measure of global disability. People with mental disorders had high scores (mean 6.3, SD 7.1), people with physical disorders had lower scores (mean 4.3, SD 6.1). People with no disorder covered by the survey had low scores (mean 1.4, SD 3.6). Interpretation: The provision of normative data from a population sample of adults will facilitate use of the WHODAS 2.0 12 item scale in clinical and epidemiological research

Do professional facial image comparison training courses work?

Facial image comparison practitioners compare images of unfamiliar faces and decide whether or not they show the same person. Given the importance of these decisions for national security and criminal investigations, practitioners attend training courses to improve their face identification ability. However, these courses have not been empirically validated so it is unknown if they improve accuracy. Here, we review the content of eleven professional training courses offered to staff at national security, police, intelligence, passport issuance, immigration and border control agencies around the world. All reviewed courses include basic training in facial anatomy and prescribe facial feature (or 'morphological') comparison. Next, we evaluate the effectiveness of four representative courses by comparing face identification accuracy before and after training in novices (n = 152) and practitioners (n = 236). We find very strong evidence that short (1-hour and half-day) professional training courses do not improve identification accuracy, despite 93% of trainees believing their performance had improved. We find some evidence of improvement in a 3-day training course designed to introduce trainees to the unique feature-by-feature comparison strategy used by facial examiners in forensic settings. However, observed improvements are small, inconsistent across tests, and training did not produce the qualitative changes associated with examiners' expertise. Future research should test the benefits of longer examination-focussed training courses and incorporate longitudinal approaches to track improvements caused by mentoring and deliberate practice. In the absence of evidence that training is effective, we advise agencies to explore alternative evidence-based strategies for improving the accuracy of face identification decisions

Letting Go: Working with the Rhythm of Participants

Abstract The focus of this study is a community of families separated by prison. Some parts of this community do not engage with the support offered to it, regardless of delivery mechanism. In this study, we used a participatory design approach to community informatics to explore why some do not engage with the support offered and the potential for service design to increase engagement. This is a community where on-line service delivery is a method used to deliver information and support and so taking a community informatics lens helps to inform both on and off-line service design. This paper explores the use of four participatory design principles selected to improve the extent and quality of participation: ceding control, segmentation, situation and envisioning control. In this first phase of the study we discovered how the principle of feedback between segmented participant groups helps to develop an understanding of the service design needs for the whole community and is a potential technique for community informatics and service design in general to improve the quality of input to community service design

Cycle threshold values are inversely associated with poorer outcomes in hospitalised patients with Covid-19:a prospective, observational cohort study conducted at a UK tertiary hospital

ABSTRACT: This single-centre observational study demonstrated that lower cycle threshold (Ct) values (indicating higher viral loads) on admission to hospital were associated with poorer outcomes in unvaccinated, hospitalized patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Demographic and outcome data were collected prospectively for all adult patients who tested positive for severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 on admission to the University Hospitals North Midlands NHS Trust between 1 February and 1 July 2020. Nasopharyngeal swab samples were obtained, and a valid Ct value was determined for all patients using the Viasure reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction assay, validated by Public Health England, on admission to hospital. Multi-variable logistic regression results based on data from 618 individuals demonstrated a significant inverse relationship between the odds of death and Ct values (adjusted odds ratio 0.95, 95% confidence interval 0.92–0.98, P=0.001). The association remained highly significant after adjusting for known clinical risk factors for COVID-1

Characteristics and Treatment Preferences of People with Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder: An Internet Survey

Background: Although Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a severe and disabling anxiety disorder, relatively few people with this condition access evidence-based care. Barriers to treatment are multiple and complex, but the emerging field of Internet therapy for PTSD may improve access to evidence-based treatment. However, little is known about the characteristics of people with PTSD who seek online treatment, or whether they perceive internet treatment as an acceptable treatment option. Methodology: An online survey was used to collect information about the demographic and symptom characteristics of individuals with elevated levels of PTSD symptoms, and this was compared to data from corresponding sample from a national survey. Previous treatment experiences, perceived barriers to treatment and treatment preferences for Internet therapy and face-to-face treatment were also compared. Principal Findings: High levels of PTSD symptoms were reported by survey respondents. Psychological distress and disability was greater than reported by individuals with PTSD from a national survey. Half of the sample reported not having received treatment for PTSD; however, 88% of those who reported receiving treatment stated they received an evidence-based treatment. Primary barriers to treatment included cost, poor awareness of service availability, lack of prior treatment response and not perceiving personal distress as severe enough to warrant treatment. Most survey respondents indicated they were willing to try Internet treatment for PTSD. Conclusions: The Internet sample was symptomatically severe and multiple barriers existed to treatment. Internet therapy is an acceptable option for the treatment of PTSD in an internet sample.6 page(s