Individual and Organizational Well-being when Workplace Conflicts are on the Agenda: A Mixed-methods Study

Previous studies have shown that direct involvement in workplace conflicts may have a significant impact on individual well-being. We used survey and interview data from a large nongovernmental organization (NGO) to analyze both the relationships between direct and indirect involvement in workplace conflicts and individual and organizational well-being. Results show that unaddressed conflicts and nonresponsive or conflict-involved managers are problematic because they fuel already existing conflicts, and also pave the way for new ones. If conflicts are not handled at an early enough stage, they seem to “paralyze” the organization and serve as an interlocking mechanism that contributes to hindering the necessary action from management. In our case, one-fifth of the employees were directly involved in the conflicts, and two-thirds felt that their local working environment had been influenced negatively by the conflicts. The prevalence of mental health problems in the NGO was almost twice as high as in the general Norwegian population, and slightly more than one out of 10 reported reduced work ability. We conclude that individuals directly involved in the conflicts experience negative health consequences, and that this fact, in combination with organizational issues and a very high share of employees indirectly involved in the conflicts, affected the well-being of the whole organization

Inkludering i Russland - moteord eller realitet : En kvalitativ studie av hvordan foreldre til førskolebarn med Downs syndrom opplever at deres barn er inkludert i barnehage

Tittel: Inkludering i Russland – moteord eller realitet Bakgrunn og formål: Denne oppgaven er en kvalitativ studie om inkludering av førskolebarn med Downs syndrom i dagens Russland. I Russland er inkluderingsbegrepet relativt nytt. Debattene om skolen skal gi likeverdige muligheter i en inkluderende prosess, foregår fortsatt i det russiske samfunn på alle nivåer, fra de øverste utdanningsinstanser til de enkelte foreldre. Hensikten med denne studien er å få mer innsikt i og kunnskap om hvordan inkludering oppfattes av foreldre til førskolebarn med Downs syndrom, i samspillet mellom dem og utdanningsinstitusjoner i dagens Russland, samt hvordan foreldrene til barn med Downs syndrom opplever at deres barn blir møtt som likeverdige i barnehagen. Problemstilling: På hvilken måte opplever foreldre/foresatte til førskolebarn med Downs syndrom at deres barn er inkludert? Vektlegging på foreldres/foresattes samspill med utdanningsinstitusjoner. Metode: I denne oppgaven er det benyttet et kvalitativt forskningsdesign. Oppgaven er basert på 5 kvalitative intervjuer med foreldre/foresatte til førskolebarn med Downs syndrom i Murmansk. Utvalget består av fem informanter. Fire av dem er mødre til barn med Downs syndrom, og en er bestemor og også foresatt. Jeg benyttet semistrukturerte intervjuer som ble tatt opp på diktafon. Alle intervjuene foregikk på russisk som var morsmål for begge partene. Senere ble alle intervjuene transkribert på russisk og oversatt til norsk. Resultater og konklusjon: Denne oppgaven viser at det å bli foreldre til et barn med Downs syndrom i dagens Russland innebærer en stor omstilling, forandring og tilpasning på alle utdannings – og sosiale arenaer som fortsatt er forankret i det gamle systemet. Foreldrene som ble spurt opplevde lite optimisme helt fra starten etter barnas fødsel. Svarene fra foreldre indikerer mangel på tilstrekkelig informasjon og rådgivning. Denne oppgaven viser hvordan foreldre til barn med Downs syndrom opplever inkludering av sine barn i samspill med utdanningssystemet. Ifølge Salamancas erklæring betyr inkludering at barn med spesielle behov får sitt tilbud i vanlige skoler som skal imøtekomme barnas behov (UNESCO, 1994). Samfunnet skal tilpasse opplæringen gjennom barnehage eller skole, slik at den blir meningsfylt for alle barn, (Skjørten, 2001). Barna til alle som deltok i intervjuer, gikk på ordinære barnehager i Murmansk. Imidlertid opplevde foreldrene til barn med Downs syndrom imøtekommenhet i ulik grad. God spesialpedagogisk tilrettelegging er en forutsetting for at barn med spesielle behov får utbytte i sin utvikling. Imidlertid opplevde alle foreldrene at veiledningssystemet mellom spesialpedagogiske fagområder og barnehagepersonell ikke var tilstrekkelig utviklet. Samarbeid mellom foreldre og barnehagepersonell forutsetter at partene får vite noe mer om hverandre, og igjennom gjensidig kontakt ser sine felles gjøremål for barnas beste (Bø, 1996). Noen foreldre opplevde at samarbeid ikke var tilstrekkelig nok, men understreker personlige faktorer som gjør at samspill mellom barnehage og foreldre er mer eller mindre tilsvarende begges interesser. Oppgaven viser også kvinners eller mors rolle i mobilisering av alle muligheter og potensialer ved det sosiale nettverket som bidrar til inkluderingsprosesser. Bronfenbrenner (1978) mente at det russiske (sovjetiske) samfunn var meget mors-sentrert og matriarkalsk med asymmetrisk familiestruktur og et preg av fars-fravær. Resultatene av denne studien viser at russiske mødre fortsatt er initiativrike og offensive

Covid-19 could generate a baby ‘bust’ in the Nordic countries

Previous epidemics have been associated with a fall in births. Trude Lappegård, Axel Peter Kristensen and Svenn-Erik Mamelund assess what the Covid-19 pandemic could mean for birth rates in the Nordic countries, which were already declining prior to the virus. They argue that financial insecurity generated by the outbreak could encourage young adults to put off starting a family, producing a baby ‘bust’

Disparities in the offer of COVID-19 vaccination to migrants and non-migrants in Norway: a cross sectional survey study

Background Vaccination is key to reducing the spread and impacts of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Migrants, compared to majority populations, tend to have lower vaccination rates, as well as higher infection disease burdens. Previous studies have tried to understand these disparities based on factors such as misinformation, vaccine hesitancy or medical mistrust. However, the necessary precondition of receiving, or recognizing receipt, of an offer to get a vaccine must also be considered. Methods We conducted a web-based survey in six parishes in Oslo that have a high proportion of migrant residents and were hard-hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. Logistic regression analyses were conducted to investigate differences in reporting being offered the COVID-19 vaccine based on migrant status. Different models controlling for vaccination prioritization variables (age, underlying health conditions, and health-related jobs), socioeconomic and demographic variables, and variables specific to migrant status (language spoken at home and years lived in Norway) were conducted. Results Responses from 5,442 participants (response rate of 9.1%) were included in analyses. The sample included 1,284 (23.6%) migrants. Fewer migrants than non-migrants reported receiving a vaccine offer (68.1% vs. 81.1%), and this difference was significant after controlling for prioritization variables (OR 0.65, 95% CI: 0.52–0.82). Subsequent models showed higher odds ratios for reporting having been offered the vaccine for females, and lower odds ratios for those with university education. There were few to no significant differences based on language spoken at home, or among birth countries compared to each other. Duration of residence emerged as an important explanatory variable, as migrants who had lived in Norway for fewer than 15 years were less likely to report offer of a vaccine. Conclusion Results were consistent with studies that show disparities between non-migrants and migrants in actual vaccine uptake. While differences in receiving an offer cannot fully explain disparities in vaccination rates, our analyses suggest that receiving, or recognizing and understanding, an offer does play a role. Issues related to duration of residence, such as inclusion in population and health registries and health and digital literacy, should be addressed by policymakers and health services organizers.publishedVersio

Usefulness of health registries when estimating vaccine effectiveness during the influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 pandemic in Norway

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>During the 2009-2010 pandemic in Norway, 12 513 laboratory-confirmed cases of pandemic influenza A(H1N1)pdm09, were reported to the Norwegian Surveillance System for Communicable Diseases (MSIS). 2.2 million persons (45% of the population) were vaccinated with an AS03-adjuvanted monovalent vaccine during the pandemic. Most of them were registered in the Norwegian Immunisation Registry (SYSVAK). Based on these registries, we aimed at estimating the vaccine effectiveness (VE) and describing vaccine failures during the pandemic in Norway, in order to evaluate the role of the vaccine as a preventive measure during the pandemic.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We conducted a population-based retrospective cohort study, linking MSIS and SYSVAK with pandemic influenza vaccination as exposure and laboratory-confirmed pandemic influenza as outcome. We measured VE by week and defined two thresholds for immunity; eight and 15 days after vaccination.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The weekly VE ranged from 77% to 96% when considering 15 days or more after vaccination as the threshold of immunity and from 73% to 94% when considering eight days or more. Overall, 157 individuals contracted pandemic influenza eight or more days after vaccination (8.4/100,000 vaccinated), of these 58 had onset 15 days or more after vaccination (3.0/100,000 vaccinated). Most of the vaccine failures occurred during the first weeks of the vaccination campaign. More than 30% of the vaccine failures were found in people below 10 years of age.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Having available health registries with data regarding cases of specific disease and vaccination makes it feasible to estimate VE in a simple and rapid way. VE was high regardless the immunity threshold chosen. We encourage public health authorities in other countries to set up such registries. It is also important to consider including information on underlying diseases in registries already existing, in order to make it feasible to conduct more complete VE estimations.</p

Influenza and Pneumonia Mortality in 66 Large Cities in the United States in Years Surrounding the 1918 Pandemic

The 1918 influenza pandemic was a major epidemiological event of the twentieth century resulting in at least twenty million deaths worldwide; however, despite its historical, epidemiological, and biological relevance, it remains poorly understood. Here we examine the relationship between annual pneumonia and influenza death rates in the pre-pandemic (1910–17) and pandemic (1918–20) periods and the scaling of mortality with latitude, longitude and population size, using data from 66 large cities of the United States. The mean pre-pandemic pneumonia death rates were highly associated with pneumonia death rates during the pandemic period (Spearman r = 0.64–0.72; P,0.001). By contrast, there was a weak correlation between pre-pandemic and pandemic influenza mortality rates. Pneumonia mortality rates partially explained influenza mortality rates in 1918 (r = 0.34, P = 0.005) but not during any other year. Pneumonia death counts followed a linear relationship with population size in all study years, suggesting that pneumonia death rates were homogeneous across the range of population sizes studied. By contrast, influenza death counts followed a power law relationship with a scaling exponent of ,0.81 (95%CI: 0.71, 0.91) in 1918, suggesting that smaller cities experienced worst outcomes during the pandemic. A linear relationship was observed for all other years. Our study suggests that mortality associated with the 1918–20 influenza pandemic was in part predetermined by pre-pandemic pneumonia death rates in 66 large US cities, perhaps through the impact of the physical and social structure of each city. Smaller cities suffered a disproportionately high per capita influenza mortality burden than larger ones in 1918, while city size did not affect pneumonia mortality rates in the pre-pandemic and pandemic periods

Influenza Infectious Dose May Explain the High Mortality of the Second and Third Wave of 1918–1919 Influenza Pandemic

BACKGROUND: It is widely accepted that the shift in case-fatality rate between waves during the 1918 influenza pandemic was due to a genetic change in the virus. In animal models, the infectious dose of influenza A virus was associated to the severity of disease which lead us to propose a new hypothesis. We propose that the increase in the case-fatality rate can be explained by the dynamics of disease and by a dose-dependent response mediated by the number of simultaneous contacts a susceptible person has with infectious ones. METHODS: We used a compartment model with seasonality, waning of immunity and a Holling type II function, to model simultaneous contacts between a susceptible person and infectious ones. In the model, infected persons having mild or severe illness depend both on the proportion of infectious persons in the population and on the level of simultaneous contacts between a susceptible and infectious persons. We further allowed for a high or low rate of waning immunity and volunteer isolation at different times of the epidemic. RESULTS: In all scenarios, case-fatality rate was low during the first wave (Spring) due to a decrease in the effective reproduction number. The case-fatality rate in the second wave (Autumn) depended on the ratio between the number of severe cases to the number of mild cases since, for each 1000 mild infections only 4 deaths occurred whereas for 1000 severe infections there were 20 deaths. A third wave (late Winter) was dependent on the rate for waning immunity or on the introduction of new susceptible persons in the community. If a group of persons became voluntarily isolated and returned to the community some days latter, new waves occurred. For a fixed number of infected persons the overall case-fatality rate decreased as the number of waves increased. This is explained by the lower proportion of infectious individuals in each wave that prevented an increase in the number of severe infections and thus of the case-fatality rate. CONCLUSION: The increase on the proportion of infectious persons as a proxy for the increase of the infectious dose a susceptible person is exposed, as the epidemic develops, can explain the shift in case-fatality rate between waves during the 1918 influenza pandemic.TD acknowledges the support of the Faculdade de Ciencias e Tecnologia through grant PPCDT/AMB/55701/2004. The funders had no role in the study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript