Review of the occupational health and safety of Britain’s ethnic minorities

This report sets out an evidence-based review on work-related health and safety issues relating to black and minority ethnic groups. Data included available statistical materials and a systematic review of published research and practice-based reports. UK South Asians are generally under-represented within the most hazardous occupational groups. They have lower accident rates overall, while Black Caribbean workers rates are similar to the general population; Bangladeshi and Chinese workers report lowest workplace injury rates UK South Asian people exhibit higher levels of limiting long-term illness (LLI) and self reported poor health than the general population while Black Africans and Chinese report lower levels. Ethnic minority workers with LLI are more likely than whites to withdraw from the workforce, or to experience lower wage rates. Some of these findings conflict with evidence of differentials from USA, Europe and Australasia, but there is a dearth of effective primary research or reliable monitoring data from UK sources. There remains a need to improve monitoring and data collection relating to black and ethnic minority populations and migrant workers. Suggestions are made relating to workshops on occupational health promotion programmes for ethnic minorities, and ethnic minority health and safety 'Beacon' sites

From Brideprice to Dowry in Mediterranean Europe

Se traza, en este estudio, la evolución a largo plazo de los sistemas de dote que puede ir, desde el precio de la novia, a la dote (idea de compra, precio del intercambio, riqueza de la novia y de la dote) y se argumenta sobre la existencia y desarrollo de los dos tipos de dote: la que dan sus padres a la novia y la que regala en novio a cambio de la novia (donación proter nupcias). Considera la dote medieval como una vuelta al sistema de Grecia y de Roma y un alejamiento del sistema del "precio de la novia" por la dote que era símbolo del estatus patrimonial patrilineal. Considera la ofrenda marital como expresión de los principios conyugales bilaterales. Piensa también que la dote fue un sistema de desheredamiento por la exclusión de la mujer en la herencia, que en Europa mediterránea fue progresivamente concentrada mediante el sistema de bienes vinculados y por la renuncia de ellos por parte de las mujeres. Así, donde la dote floreció, fue desplazando a las otras asignaciones matrimoniales. Contra J Goody, afirma que la dote fue una forma de desheredamiento dentro del grupo social cuya organización se habría vuelto significativamente menos bilateral.This study traces the long term evolution of dowry systems, which can go from brideprice to dowry (the idea of purchase, exchange price, or the value of the bride for that of the dowry). The author discusses the existence and development of two types of dowry: that which is given by the bride's parents and that which is given by the groom in exchange for the bride (propter wedding donation). She considers the medieval dowry to be a return to the Greek and Roman system and a move away from the "brideprice'' system toward dowry, which was a symbol of the patrimonial status of the paternal family line. She argues that the marital offering was an expression of bilateral conjugal principies. She further argues that the dowry was a system of disinheritance, or the exclusion of women from the inheritance, which in Mediterranean Europe was concentrated progressively through the system of entailed property and the renunciation of family property by women. Thus, where dowry flourished, it ended up supplanting other forms of marital assignment. In contrast to J. Goody, Hughes asserts that dowry was a form of disinheritance within the social group, the organisation of which had become significantly less bilateral

Ethnicity : UK colorectal cancer screening pilot : final report

27. In summary, the overall evaluation of the UK Pilot has demonstrated that key parameters of test and programme performance observed in randomised studies of FOBt screening can be repeated in population-based pilot programmes. However, our study provides strong evidence of very low CRC screening uptake for ethnic groups in the Pilot area. This is coupled with a very low uptake of colonoscopy for individuals from ethnic groups with a positive FOBt result. 28. It has long been acknowledged that a diverse population may require diverse responses. Following the implementation of the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000, there has been a statutory duty laid upon all NHS agencies to ‘have due regard to the need to eliminate unlawful discrimination’, and to make explicit consideration of the implications for racial equality of every action or policy. 29. Because the observed overall outcomes in the UK Pilot generally compare favourably with the results of previous randomised trials of FOBt screening, the main Evaluation Group has concluded that benefits observed in the trials should be repeatable in a national roll-out. 30. However, our study indicates that any national colorectal cancer screening programme would need to very carefully consider the implications of ethnicity for roll-out, and develop a strategic plan on how best to accommodate this at both a national and local level. Based on our findings, consideration will clearly need to be given to improved access and screening service provision for ethnic minorities. 31. In order to ensure adequate CRC screening provision for a diverse UK population, and to address the explicit implications for racial equality highlighted by our findings, interventions now urgently need to be evaluated to improve access for ethnic minorities. This work should be undertaken as part of the second round of CRC screening currently underway in the English Pilot

The structure and financing of South African health services: future options

The current period of fundamental political change in South Africa offers a window of opportunity for the implementation of transformative health policies. The South African health system is presently characterised by considerable fragmentation of health service provision and administration, with associated inefficiencies. There is a wide degree of consensus amongst different political and health-related organisations that this can best be addressed by unifying the myriad of public sector health departments into a single National Health Service. While there would be overall policy formation, strategic planning and health service coordination at the national level, there would also be significant decentralisation of responsibility to the provincial and district levels. The major challenge for a future “Government of National Unity” will be to redress the gross inequalities in the current health system. It will need to investigate possible ways of resolving the maldistribution of resources between the public and private sectors, to reduce geographical and “racial” disparities in health service provision, and to address the financial barriers to obtaining health care for lower income groups. As there will be competing claims on the limited resources that will be available to the newly elected democratic government, alternative source of finance for health services are currently being investigated. These include increased excise on tobacco and alcohol products, increased user fees at public sector hospitals for patients who have medical insurance cover, and the possible implementation of a National Health Insurance system. The latter option is supported by many groups in South Africa, and is seen as an important mechanism for addressing the current cost spiral in the private health sector. There are unlikely to be any easy or short-term solutions to the many problems confronting the South African health system. However, if the political will to achieve a just and equitable health system is sustained, significant gains can be made during this transitional period.inequality, reform

A golden age of independence?: Service user partnership in a housing organisation.

This report describes the story of a voluntary organisation involved in the delivery of housing with care to, for and most importantly, with adults with learning difficulties. As a single case study based in a shire county, a ten year period is explored via documentary analysis and group interviews. The interviews were conducted with board members, including service users as members of the board and other key staff in order to illuminate epiphanies that have defined Involve Housing Association and to report the lessons learned from their collective journey over the given period. The report considers the development of community care for adults with learning difficulties post 1971 and the move away from institutionalisation. Themes are identified that both particularise the elements of Involve and also offer ideas for service user involvement in the future. In telling the story, it would appear that the period 1997 to 2007 represented a golden era in terms of both investment and service user engagement within health, social care and housing in England. Although the age of austerity has replaced the vision and direction offered by the recent Valuing People agenda the report offers a glimpse of a possible future which Mulally (1993) extols for a prototype organisation such as Involve. Based on a sound value base and social work approach which is in turn grounded in the social model of disability and mutual respect between the participants, it is hoped that history can indeed repeat itself and that the contribution and real difference that service users can bring to the debate will be recognised and celebrated

CyberKnife Boost for Patients with Cervical Cancer Unable to Undergo Brachytherapy

Standard radiation therapy for patients undergoing primary chemosensitized radiation for carcinomas of the cervix usually consists of external beam radiation followed by an intracavitary brachytherapy boost. On occasion, the brachytherapy boost cannot be performed due to unfavorable anatomy or because of coexisting medical conditions. We examined the safety and efficacy of using CyberKnife stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) as a boost to the cervix after external beam radiation in those patients unable to have brachytherapy to give a more effective dose to the cervix than with conventional external beam radiation alone. Six consecutive patients with anatomic or medical conditions precluding a tandem and ovoid boost were treated with combined external beam radiation and CyberKnife boost to the cervix. Five patients received 45 Gy to the pelvis with serial intensity-modulated radiation therapy boost to the uterus and cervix to a dose of 61.2 Gy. These five patients received an SBRT boost to the cervix to a dose of 20 Gy in five fractions of 4 Gy each. One patient was treated to the pelvis to a dose of 45 Gy with an external beam boost to the uterus and cervix to a dose of 50.4 Gy. This patient received an SBRT boost to the cervix to a dose of 19.5 Gy in three fractions of 6.5 Gy. Five percent volumes of the bladder and rectum were kept to ≤75 Gy in all patients (i.e., V75 Gy ≤ 5%). All of the patients remain locally controlled with no evidence of disease following treatment. Grade 1 diarrhea occurred in 4/6 patients during the conventional external beam radiation. There has been no grade 3 or 4 rectal or bladder toxicity. There were no toxicities observed following SBRT boost. At a median follow-up of 14 months, CyberKnife radiosurgical boost is well tolerated and efficacious in providing a boost to patients with cervix cancer who are unable to undergo brachytherapy boost. Further follow-up is required to see if these results remain durable

The Curriculum Design and Approval Process at the University of Strathclyde : Baseline of Processes and Curriculum Design Activities

The objectives of the Principles in Patterns (www.principlesinpatterns.ac.uk) project are to: * Document current practice in faculty curriculum design and approval processes with an emphasis on identifying gaps and blockages in planning processes, in information sharing, in the way guidance is provided and in alignment with strategic objectives. * Develop a new approach to curriculum design and approval that reduces blockages, more appropriately supports staff and reflects the principles and strategic objectives embodied in University policy. * Test out ways of representing effective learning designs at task, module and course (programme) level to support teachers in design activities and to support staff members responsible for planning, managing and sharing of curriculum design information. * Represent these outputs in ways that are useful to other institutions engaged in curriculum design and to the wider HE and FE sector. (project plan p5) This baseline document provides a review of current institutional processes and practices in relation to curriculum design within the University of Strathclyde. It provides baseline information about the module and programme decision-making process and the associated documentation flow. Issues, bottlenecks and challenges raised by current practices are highlighted. This document also reviews current support for learning design and for the representation and sharing of good designs at the University of Strathclyde and discusses how design might be improved. We did not attempt to baseline design practice per se, as that would be a major research project in its own right

Perceiving discrimination against one's gender group has different implications for well-being in women and men

Using structural equation modeling, the authors tested theoretical predictions concerning the effects of perceived discrimination against ones gender on psychological well-being in women and men. Results were highly supportive of the Rejection-Identification Model, with perceptions of discrimination harming psychological well-being among women but not among men. The results also support the Rejection-Identification Model's prediction that women partially cope with the negative well-being consequences of perceived discrimination by increasing identification with women as a group, In contrast, perceived discrimination was unrelated to group identification among men. The authors found no support for the hypothesis that perceptions of discrimination have self-protective properties among the disadvantaged. Results are consistent with the contention that the differential effects of perceived discrimination among women and men are due to differences in the groups' relative positions within the social structure.This research was supported by a General Research Fund grant from the University of Kansas to the second author. We thank Carol Miller and several anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments and suggestions

How academics face the world: a study of 5829 homepage pictures

It is now standard practice, at Universities around the world, for academics to place pictures of themselves on a personal profile page maintained as part of their University's web-site. Here we investigated what these pictures reveal about the way academics see themselves. Since there is an asymmetry in the degree to which emotional information is conveyed by the face, with the left side being more expressive than the right, we hypothesised that academics in the sciences would seek to pose as non-emotional rationalists and put their right cheek forward, while academics in the arts would express their emotionality and pose with the left cheek forward. We sourced 5829 pictures of academics from their University websites and found that, consistent with the hypotheses, there was a significant difference in the direction of face posing between science academics and English academics with English academics showing a more leftward orientation. Academics in the Fine Arts and Performing Arts however, did not show the expected left cheek forward bias. We also analysed profile pictures of psychology academics and found a greater bias toward presenting the left check compared to science academics which makes psychologists appear more like arts academics than scientists. These findings indicate that the personal website pictures of academics mirror the cultural perceptions of emotional expressiveness across discipline