Danish and British Protection from Disability Discrimination at Work - Past, Present and Future.

Denmark and the United Kingdom both became members of what is now the European Union (EU) in 1973 and are thus equally matched in terms of opportunity to bring their anti-discrimination laws into line with those of the EU and other supra-national bodies such as the United Nations (UN) and the Council of Europe. Our investigation, based on existing reports, academic analysis and case law rulings involving alleged discrimination on grounds of disability, has revealed some major differences in the level of protection provided by each country’s legislature and judicature, but also by other mechanisms that extend beyond these traditional measures, such as workplace collective agreements.While the UK has a long history of supporting people with disabilities by legislating in all aspects of society, Denmark has been at the forefront with social mechanisms, but has been reluctant to ensure equality in the labour market. However, both countries have been equally unsuccessful in ensuring opportunities for disabled workers, and consideration is given here as to whether one system of dealing with this is better than another. We conclude that neither strict regulation imposed by the EU or national governments, nor the laissez-faire method of leaving the level of protection to be decided by collective agreement is entirely satisfactory. A different perspective altogether would be to adopt the substantive diversity theory which would focus on a person’s abilities and what they are able to do, and to gear society to embrace diversities, as the Danish employment agency Specialisterne has done so successfully in the case of adults with autism. Countries such as Denmark and the UK have much to learn from each other to tackle successfully this last bastion of workplace inequality

Beyond Regression: An Investigation of Art Material Choice for Children with Trauma

Choice in art materials and the artistic process are arguably two of the primary facets of how art making can be therapeutic. The purpose of the present inquiry was to investigate the impacts of art material choice in children who have experienced trauma. Using the expressive therapies continuum (ETC) as a foundation for choosing art materials in a therapeutic context, this inquiry sought to introduce art materials in the kinesthetic/sensory component of the ETC (e.g., clay, paint, large paint brushes, etc.). As a mediating consideration, this inquiry articulated the responsibilities and obligations that the art therapist possesses in working with art therapy clients—specifically, in working with children with trauma. An individual therapeutic intervention was implemented to observe these variables in action at a therapeutic day school located in the metro-Boston area of Massachusetts. The intervention was implemented by recruiting an eight-year-old boy who has a history of traumatic experiences and a trauma-related psychological diagnosis. The results for this intervention indicated that the choice of kinesthetic/sensory art materials in working with children with trauma had a positive influence on the therapeutic nature of the art therapy session. In essence, the present inquiry noted an example of how kinesthetic/sensory art materials have the potential to yield healing therapeutic experiences

Talking with Children About Potentially Sensitive Topics: Birth, Sex, Death, and Santa

Our study looks at conversations between parents/caregivers and their children about potentially sensitive topics including birth, sex, death, and fantastical beings (i.e. Santa Claus, the tooth fairy, the Easter bunny). Our paper covers information on what children know, Parent conversations, and cultural differences between all these topics. Our methods Are broken up into two parts: a parent survey and an informative website. The survey was distributed locally and included questions about parents’ beliefs towards how much their children knew about these topics and their attitudes about having the conversations. The website was created to be a tool for parents and combines the key findings of our literature review with our own survey-based research

Poking Holes in Discharge Time Series with Photographic Evidence

River discharge is a key variable for hydrological studies and water resource management, but acquiring high-quality measurement remains challenging in mountain environments and in particular for mountain torrents. Extreme discharge variations between summer and winter, negative temperatures and intense sediment transport are the main issues for sensors (that get easily clogged, frozen or stucked out of the water) as well as for cross-section stability (a pre-condition for using a rating curve approach). In this presentation, we discuss what we learned from streamflow observations in the experimental Vallon de Nant catchment (13,4 km²), located in the Swiss Alps, which serves as a field laboratory for environmental research, ranging from plant ecology to snow hydrology and sediment transport to stream-C02 exchange with the atmosphere. We discuss here 4 years of optical height gauge records at the outlet (1200 m a.s.l.), obtained from a single VEGA-PULS WL-61 sensor measuring the water height above a concrete trapezoidal shaped cross-section (base width 5.3 m), designed primarily for sediment transport observations (with 10 geophones mounted flush on the concrete weir). There was no low flow channel within the cross-section. At least four other similar gauging stations are currently in use for hydrologic research in Switzerland, with or without low flow channels. The relevance of a discharge quality study at this site is twofold: i) to understand the reliability of flow measurements during low flow and during sediment-influenced high flow events and ii) to compile recommendations for similar discharge observation settings. At the Vallon de Nant study site, the absence of a low-flow channel in the weir, combined with the limitation of having a single river stage measuring point resulted in significant over- and under-estimation of the river stage at low-flows, caused by the fluctuation of the river bed position relative to that of the measuring point. Even if the flow covers the entire width of the weir crest, single clast deposits near to the crest can significantly disturb stage observations. We performed a validation of the data using hourly pictures taken during daytime with a low-cost camera at the outlet, and used the photographic evidence to identify periods when the river was partially or totally frozen, sediments were distorting the river stage measurements, and river channelization was occurring below or next to the river height sensor. Concurrent monitoring of temperature, conductivity or turbidity failed to identify these distortions. Consequently, significant error in discharge calculation would arise without a concurrent photographic observation. The key conclusion is that despite the growth of automation in measurements at gauging stations, there remains a need for observation of those stations, and if humans are no longer doing these, other digital technologies such as imaging need to be used instead. Our approach could be extended to night-time situations and locations that will go for extremely long periods without access

Fear of falling in claudicants and its relationship to physical ability, balance, and quality of Life

Objectives: Intermittent claudication is associated with poor physical function, quality of life (QoL), and balance impairment. Fear of falling (FoF) is a recognized contributing factor to poor physical ability. Any link between claudication and FoF is yet to be determined. This study aimed to explore the prevalence of FoF in claudicants and its relationship with physical function and QoL. Methods: A prospective observational study was performed. Fear of falling was determined using the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) questionnaire and the categorical question “Are you afraid of falling?” Physical ability and QoL (Short Form 36 and Vascular QoL) were determined. Results: A total of 161 claudicants (118 men, median age of 69 years) were assessed; 83 answered the categorical question “Are you afraid of falling?” By receiver–operating characteristic curve analysis, an ABC threshol

A quantitative analysis of the dimensions and content of the vertebral triangle

PURPOSE : The vertebral triangle (VT) located in the root of the neck most commonly contains the vertebral artery (VA), cervical sympathetic chain and certain roots of the brachial plexus. Although other structures have been reported, few studies have reported on the overall content of this space. Based on the current literature, there is a general paucity of anatomical information pertaining to the dimensional anatomy of the VT and specifically the structures related to it. Therefore, this study aimed to quantitatively analyze the size, position, content, and anatomical structures in relation to the vertebral triangle in a South African sample. METHODS : Forty-three VTs were dissected on bodies donated to science. Measurements taken include the dimensions of the triangle, as well as distances between prominent structures and landmarks of the VT. Observations were made on the presence/absence of the varying neurovascular structures within the VT. RESULTS : Mean height was 30.1 ± 1.51 mm (R) and 32.9 ± 1.78 mm (L). Mean width was 18.3 ± 0.74 mm (R) and 19.3 ± 0.98 mm (L). The C8 spinal nerve was found on average approximately halfway [16.4 ± 0.74 mm (R) and 15.9 ± 0.95 mm (L)] in the VT. The VA was present in the VT in 100% of the sample and the C7 spinal nerve and inferior sympathetic ganglia were present in more than 80% of the sample. CONCLUSION : Understanding the VT and the content is of the utmost importance and of great interest to neurosurgeons, to avoid these important neurovascular structures and prevent iatrogenic complications during surgery.https://link.springer.com/journal/276hj2022Anatom

Comparing patient experience survey scores between telehealth and in-person ambulatory pediatric subspecialty visits

To determine the effect of encounter methods on patient experience, we evaluated patient experience survey data comparing scores between telehealth and in-person visits and pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 time periods. Pediatric subspecialty visits were either in-person or via telehealth and received the same 16-question patient experience survey. Top box (5/5) scores were compared between in-person and telehealth visits for pre-COVID-19 and COVID-19 periods as well as between periods for in-person and telehealth visits. In addition, for both time periods and encounter methods, correlation analysis was performed to evaluate best correlation between likelihood to recommend practice and the 15 other survey questions. Comparing the COVID-19 period data, there was a statistically significant difference in the top box likelihood to recommend practice score comparing in-person to telehealth numbers (81.01% vs 87.13%, p = 0.0003). Comparing pre-COVID-19 with COVID-19, this was not true for in-person scores (79.97% vs 81.01%, p = 0.4060) or telehealth scores (82.50% vs 87.13%, p = 0.2084). The question with the highest correlation coefficient to likelihood to recommend practice was how well staff worked together in both time periods and visit methods. We conclude that Likelihood to recommend experience scores were statistically significantly higher for telehealth as compared to in-person pediatric subspecialty ambulatory visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. There were no such differences in likelihood to recommend comparing pre- vs COVID-19 time periods for either in-person or telehealth visits so the change in scoring seems to be related to the mode of care delivery. Experience Framework This article is associated with the Policy & Measurement lens of The Beryl Institute Experience Framework. (https://www.theberylinstitute.org/ExperienceFramework). Access other PXJ articles related to this lens. Access other resources related to this lens