On Putting an End to the Backlash Against Electrophysical Agents

Electrophysical agents (EPAs) are core therapeutic interventions in academic physical therapy curricula around the world. They are used concomitantly with several other therapeutic interventions such as exercise, manual therapy techniques, medications, and surgery for the management of a wide variety of soft tissue disorders. Over the past decade, the practice of EPAs has been the subject of intense scrutiny in the U.S. This has been colored by some physical therapists publicly engaging in bashing rhetoric that has yet to be officially and publicly addressed by the guiding organizations which, together, regulate the practice of physical therapy in this country. Published in world renowned public media are unsubstantiated mocking remarks against the practice of EPAs and unethical allegations against its stakeholders. This rhetoric suggests that EPA interventions are "magical" treatments and that those practitioners who include them in their plans of care may be committing fraud. Such bashing rhetoric is in striking contradiction to the APTA's Guide to Physical Therapist Practice 4.0, which lists EPAs as one of its categories of interventions, the CAPTE's program accreditation policy, and the FSBPT's national licensing exam. The purpose of this commentary is to expose the extent of this discourse and to call to action the APTA, CAPTE, and FSBPT organizations, as well as physical therapists, with the aim at putting an end to this rhetoric

Projecting the net fiscal impact of immigration in the EU

This report provides an analysis of the fiscal impact of migration in the European Union in the past and the future. It highlights that currently natives generally show a higher net fiscal contribution than extra-EU migrants and a similar contribution to intra-EU migrants. However, due to ageing of the native population, this relationship is bound to reverse in the near future. The report calculates that by 2035 an average extra-EU migrant would be a net beneficiary of public transfers, but to a lesser extent than the average native would, while intra-EU mobile citizens would continue being net contributors. The report also analyses six possible policy scenarios and their implications for the fiscal contributions of extra-EU migrants. These simulations highlight how acting on the size of the flows of new migrants without removing the obstacles to their full labour market integration would yield small fiscal benefits for the hosting country. Labour market policies targeted at increasing labour participation of migrants could generate large fiscal gains. To evaluate the static net fiscal impact of migration based on micro-data the analysis uses EUROMOD, a tax-benefit microsimulation model for the European Union enriched with data on in-kind benefits. This is based on OECD data for apportioning the cost of education social housing and health care provision. For projecting the long-run fiscal effect of migration, the simulations use CEPAM-Mic, a dynamic microsimulation projection model.JRC.E.6-Demography, Migration and Governanc

Projecting the fiscal impact of immigration in the European Union

The increasing flow of immigrants into Europe over the last decade has generated a range of considerations in the policy agenda of many receiving countries. One of the main considerations for policymakers and public opinion alike is whether immigrants contribute their ‘fair’ share to their host country's tax and welfare system. In this paper, we assess the net fiscal impact of intra-EU and extra-EU migration in 27 European Union (EU) Member States. We find that migrants in the EU, on average, contribute more than natives to welfare states. However, when we take an age-specific life-cycle perspective, we find that natives generally show a higher net fiscal contribution than both groups of migrants. Among migrants, extra-EU migrants contribute less than intra-EU migrants. We then use a demographic microsimulation model to project the potential net fiscal impact of migration in the EU into the future. We show that despite the fact that intra-EU migration contributes to reduce the strong negative impact of population ageing, its contribution is not sufficient to offset the negative fiscal consequences

Evaluation of a training program for medicines-oriented policymakers to use a database of systematic reviews

Suboptimal prescribing and medications use is a problem for health systems globally. Systematic reviews are a comprehensive resource that can help guide evidence-informed decision-making and implementation of interventions addressing such issues; however, a barrier to the use of systematic reviews is their inaccessibility (due to both dispersion across journals and inaccessibility of content). Publicly available databases, such as Rx for Change, provide quick access to summaries of appraised systematic reviews of professional and consumer-oriented interventions to improve prescribing behaviour and appropriate medication use, and may help maximise the use of evidence to inform decisions. The present study aims to evaluate a training program to improve attitudes towards, confidence in skills, intentions to use, and use of systematic review evidence contained within Rx for Change

Urinary And Breast Milk Biomarkers To Assess Exposure Ro Naphthalene In Pregnant Women: An Investigation Of Personal And Indoor Air Sources

Naphthalene exposures for most non-occupationally exposed individuals occur primarily indoors at home. Residential indoor sources include pest control products (specifically moth balls), incomplete combustion such as cigarette smoke, woodstoves and cooking, some consumer and building products, and emissions from gasoline sources found in attached garages. The study aim was to assess naphthalene exposure in pregnant women from Canada, using air measurements and biomarkers of exposure

Demographic Scenarios for the EU

Over the recent decades, the EU has been shaped by population growth, but now its population is ageing. Together with North America and East Asia, the EU is moving towards longer-living, lower-fertility, and higher-educated societies. Facing this new demographic frontier naturally prompts the questions: Who will live and work in Europe in the coming decades? How many, and with what skills? To answer these, this report examines the key factors that will shape European demographics over the coming decades. By examining not only the role of migration, fertility and mortality, but also education levels and labour force participation rates, a more comprehensive view of possible futures can be outlined than the conventional demographic projections allow for. The first five sections of this report focus on demographic challenges inside the EU, such as population ageing, a shrinking labour force, more non-working people being dependent on working people, and showing the impact of high levels of emigration in some EU Member States. With these challenges in mind and with a view towards 2060, the report builds scenarios to understand the long-term effects of changes in key trends, and whether undesirable consequences can be limited or counteracted. As the EU and its demographics do not exist in isolation, the following sections explore the relevant trends for world demographics and for migration flows.JRC.A.5-Scientific Developmen