Itinerario terapéutico de las personas con discapacidad y mediaciones en el cuidado de la salud: la mirada de los familiares

Las familias son agentes cualificados de las prácticas en salud y contribuyen en la búsqueda del cuidado de las personas con discapacidad. Este artículo presenta los itinerarios que recorren los adultos con discapacidad motriz en torno de su rehabilitación y la participación de sus familiares en este proceso. A tal fin se analizan las entrevistas semi-estructuradas a familiares que viven con personas con discapacidad motriz de 50 años o más en el Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires (AMBA). Para el relevamiento de la información de carácter cualitativo, se utilizó una muestra de tipo intencional (18 casos) por cuotas según sexo, nivel socioeconómico y tipo de vínculo (hijo/a o cónyuge). Los hallazgos muestran que los itinerarios terapéuticos en vistas del cuidado y la rehabilitación de las personas con discapacidad se dividen en dos etapas centrales: la búsqueda de un diagnóstico y la búsqueda del tratamiento. Ambas instancias se configuran de acuerdo a los factores sociales, económicos y culturales de sus familias. Según las evidencias se concluyó que los servicios de salud pueden funcionar, por momentos, como obstaculizadores de los itinerarios terapéuticos de sus usuarios si desatienden el vínculo entre sus acciones y la red familiar, en la cual se toman decisiones sobre el tratamiento a seguir y se gestiona cotidianamente el cuidado

Reclamation status of a degraded pasture based on soil health indicators

Pasture degradation is a concern, especially in susceptible sandy soils for which strategies to recover them must be developed. Microbiological and biochemical soil health indicators are useful in the guindace of soil management practices and sustainable soil use. We assessed the success of threePanicum maximum Jacq. cultivars in the reclamation of a pasture in a sandy Typic Acrudox in the northwest of the state of Paraná, Brazil, based on soil health indicators. On a formerly degraded pasture withUrochloa brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) R.D. Webster, a trial with threeP. maximum (cv. Massai, Tanzânia, or Mombaça) was conducted. Lime and phosphate were applied at set-up, and mineral N and K as topdressing. A remnant of degraded pasture adjacent to the trial was used as control. Twenty-three chemical, physical, microbiological and biochemical attributes were assessed for the 0-10 cm topsoil. The procedures for reclamation improved most of the indicators of soil health in relation to the degraded pasture, such as soil P, mineral N, microbial biomass C, ammonification rate, dehydrogenase activity and acid phosphatase. CO2 evolution decreased, whereas microbial biomass C increased in the pasture under reclamation, resulting in a lower metabolic quotient (qCO2) that points to a decrease in metabolic stress of the microbial community. The reclamation of the pasture withP. maximum, especially cv. Mombaça, were evidenced by improvements in the microbiological and biochemical soil health indicators, showing a recovery of processes related to C, N and P cycling in the soil

Representational predicaments for employees: Their impact on perceptions of supervisors\u27 individualized consideration and on employee job satisfaction

A representational predicament for a subordinate vis-à-vis his or her immediate superior involves perceptual incongruence with the superior about the subordinate\u27s work or work context, with unfavourable implications for the employee. An instrument to measure the incidence of two types of representational predicament, being neglected and negative slanting, was developed and then validated through an initial survey of 327 employees. A subsequent substantive survey with a fresh sample of 330 employees largely supported a conceptual model linking being neglected and negative slanting to perceptions of low individualized consideration by superiors and to low overall job satisfaction. The respondents in both surveys were all Hong Kong Chinese. Two case examples drawn from qualitative interviews illustrate and support the conceptual model. Based on the research findings, we recommend some practical exercises to use in training interventions with leaders and subordinates. © 2013 Copyright Taylor and Francis Group, LLC