Should social enterprises complement or supplement public health provision?

Purpose This paper explores how stable employment, company culture, and tailored health, digital, and core skills training provided by a social enterprise (SE) in the Philippines affect survivors of exploitation. Research shows survivors experience adverse social conditions and physical and mental health outcomes caused by their exploitative experience. Stable, decent employment has been identified as critical to their recovery and reintegration. This paper discusses the SE’s impact on the employees’ physical, mental, and social health and behaviour. Based on our findings, we discuss the contribution of SE in improving health outcomes and providing health services, and conclude that SEs should not replace but complement public health government programmes. Design/methodology/approach This paper uses mixed methods, presenting data from a longitudinal survey (household income, mental health, and social wellbeing, among others), and a follow-up qualitative study, which uses in-depth interviews and participatory videos to explore survey findings. Findings The quantitative analysis demonstrates positive, but gradual, changes in sexual and reproductive health behaviour; personal empowerment; and trauma, anxiety, and depressive symptoms. The qualitative findings show how improvements in executive functioning, self-regulation, and self-esteem occur incrementally over time. As their self-efficacy improves, employees need to avoid being overly dependent on the SE, to support their autonomy, therefore access to complementary public health services is fundamental. Originality/value This paper focuses, to our knowledge, on a unique SE, which hires survivors of exploitation, without losing their competitiveness in the market

Contestable adulthood: variability and disparity in markers for negotiating the transition to adulthood

Recent research has identified a discreet set of subjective markers that are seen as characterizing the transition to adulthood. The current study challenges this coherence by examining the disparity and variability in young people’s selection of such criteria. Four sentence-completion cues corresponding to four differentcontexts in which adult status might be contested were given to 156 British 16- to 17-year-olds. Their qualitative responses were analyzed to explore patterns whilst capturing some of their richness and diversity. An astonishing amount of variability emerged, both within and between cued contexts.The implications of this variability for how the transition to adulthood is experienced are explored. The argument is made that markers of the transition to adulthood are not merely reflective of the bio–psycho–social development of young people. Rather, adulthood here is seen as an essentially contested concept,located within the discursive interactional environment in which young people participate

Is the European Union ready for foreign direct investment from emerging markets?

This chapter asks whether the European Union Member States are ready for inward Foreign Direct Investment from the Emerging Markets. It concludes that European Union Member States have relatively open Foreign Direct Investment regimes in the international context, and yet instances of protectionism have been apparent in the recent period. However, protectionism has occurred both vis-a-vis Foreign Direct Investment from the Global South as well as from within the European Union, particularly in the so-called 'strategic' industries

Global overview of the management of acute cholecystitis during the COVID-19 pandemic (CHOLECOVID study)

Background: This study provides a global overview of the management of patients with acute cholecystitis during the initial phase of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: CHOLECOVID is an international, multicentre, observational comparative study of patients admitted to hospital with acute cholecystitis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data on management were collected for a 2-month study interval coincident with the WHO declaration of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and compared with an equivalent pre-pandemic time interval. Mediation analysis examined the influence of SARS-COV-2 infection on 30-day mortality. Results: This study collected data on 9783 patients with acute cholecystitis admitted to 247 hospitals across the world. The pandemic was associated with reduced availability of surgical workforce and operating facilities globally, a significant shift to worse severity of disease, and increased use of conservative management. There was a reduction (both absolute and proportionate) in the number of patients undergoing cholecystectomy from 3095 patients (56.2 per cent) pre-pandemic to 1998 patients (46.2 per cent) during the pandemic but there was no difference in 30-day all-cause mortality after cholecystectomy comparing the pre-pandemic interval with the pandemic (13 patients (0.4 per cent) pre-pandemic to 13 patients (0.6 per cent) pandemic; P = 0.355). In mediation analysis, an admission with acute cholecystitis during the pandemic was associated with a non-significant increased risk of death (OR 1.29, 95 per cent c.i. 0.93 to 1.79, P = 0.121). Conclusion: CHOLECOVID provides a unique overview of the treatment of patients with cholecystitis across the globe during the first months of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. The study highlights the need for system resilience in retention of elective surgical activity. Cholecystectomy was associated with a low risk of mortality and deferral of treatment results in an increase in avoidable morbidity that represents the non-COVID cost of this pandemic

20 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE WITH SCRAP PREHEATING TECHNOLOGY

More and more countries worldwide implement new rules and regulations to improve energy efficiency and cut CO2 and hazardous off-gas emissions. Thus electric steelmakers need technology that keeps costs low, increases productivity and helps them adhere to environmental regulations. Decades of knowledge in preheating technology, and several different innovative applications which had been solution for many unique cases have been brought together and announced in 2010. EAF Quantum was designed as a pragmatic solution that meets requirements for high energy and cost efficiency, increased productivity and lowest emissions. Whether scrap, partly hot metal or direct-reduced iron (DRI) is charged, EAF Quantum is the solution for highly productive electric steelmaking at extra low conversion costs

Promoting children's interest in health: an evaluation of the child health profile

The child health profile was developed as an extension for older children of the personal child health record, which has normally been kept by mothers. The profile was introduced in three health board areas in Scotland. A questionnaire survey of young people revealed a mixed response concerning the usage and value of the profile. A small number had used it fully as a means of recording or communicating about personal health-related matters, but a majority had not actively used the profile and two fifths said they had lost their copy. Children reported that doctors and nurses rarely asked to see the profile. Many respondents wanted more extensive and detailed health information

Teenagers’ perceptions of communication and ‘good communication’ with peers, young adults, and older adults

Taking an intergroup communication perspective, this study extends previous research into intergenerational communication. Firstly, we widen the respondent base, insofar as much previous research has tended to use college/university student respondents. Here, we asked young teenagers aged 12–16 years about their communication experiences with young adults aged 20–25 years and older adults aged 65–85 years as well as with their own peers. Secondly, we extend previous research on what constitutes ‘good communication’ from teenagers’ perspectives with these particular target groups. Results revealed that against expectations, the teenagers were less likely to differentiate between these age groups in terms of how accommodative, overbearing, and non-communicative the groups were towards them. On these dimensions, the teenagers’ evaluations were quite positive. Regarding how the teenagers themselves communicated with these groups, the teenagers reported that they made efforts to accommodate in various ways, although they did also report some discomfort in their communication with age outgroups. The teenagers reported that they were conscious of age along intergroup dimensions, but this affected their reported satisfaction with conversations with older people rather than with young adults. These findings are discussed in relation to previous research into teenagers’ communication and into young adults’ experiences with teenagers