The Good Temp

[Excerpt] The story of the explosion of temporary employment and the challenge to the permanent employment contract in the last half of the twentieth century has been told many times. Researchers from\u27\u27a variety of academic disciplines have written about it, as have activists who organize to help American workers maintain a decent standard of living and a modicum of dignity, and policy analysts who fear the degradation of the employment relationship that seems to be a foregone implication of temporary work. They have focused on different units of analysis: workers who desire permanent jobs but can\u27t find them, workers who have lost out as companies have downsized and restructured, businesses and their myriad reasons for using temporary workers as a solution to their profitability and competition problems, and the temporary help service industry (THS) itself. The Good Temp takes a different tack to explain these developments in labor market institutions and behaviors. Specifically, we look at how the THS industry in the United States reinvented temporary work in the second half of the twentieth century and examine how individual THS agencies continue to manufacture and market this reinvented product—the good temporary worker—today. It is a customized, historically specific make and model whose marketability rested on two selling points: that temporary employment could be a viable alternative to permanent employment and that the workers on whom the system of temporary employment relations depends could be as good as permanent workers and sometimes better. The historical and social construction of the good temp, we show, was embedded in THS-industry profitmaking strategies and relied on the diffusion of new norms about what constituted acceptable employment practice. Now entrenched, these norms underpin our current employment relations in the United States which many, if not most, of us experience as precarious and contingent, even when we have so-called permanent jobs

Medicaid and CHIP Strategies for Improving Child Health

Explains state programs' need for child health measures that focus on outcomes; are standardized across programs, agencies, and states; and reward performance through provider reimbursement. Points out opportunities for foundation and government support

Tachistoscope studies of word perception abilities in the second grade

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University, 1938. This item was digitized by the Internet Archive

Complementary medicine use and health literacy in older Australians

Objectives: To investigate whether complementary medicine (CAM) use is associated with health literacy levels and decision self-efficacy. Design: A cross-sectional survey was distributed to men and women aged 65 years and older who participated in a randomised control trial (N = 153) in Sydney, Australia. Results: One hundred and fifty-three people completed the survey of those 66% were females and the mean age was 76 years. Most participants used or were currently using CAM in the past 12 months (75%). The most common source of CAM information were GPs. Participants with higher levels of social support were found more likely to use CAM accessed over the counter (OTC). Participants reporting lower health literacy skills with appraising health information were more likely to use CAM delivered by CAM practitioners. Participants with higher levels of health literacy relating to the domain - “ability to actively engage with health care providers” - were found to use OTC CAM. No relationship was found between participants’ decision-making self-efficacy and use of CAM accessed from a CAM practitioner or OTC. Conclusions: CAM is used by older Australians to maintain their health. Use of CAM was not associated with decision self-efficacy and health literacy. However, CAM users who have less skills with appraising information are possibly more likely to access their CAM from trusted sources such as a CAM practitioners

Estrogenic activity, race/ethnicity, and Indigenous American ancestry among San Francisco Bay Area women.

Estrogens play a significant role in breast cancer development and are not only produced endogenously, but are also mimicked by estrogen-like compounds from environmental exposures. We evaluated associations between estrogenic (E) activity, demographic factors and breast cancer risk factors in Non-Latina Black (NLB), Non-Latina White (NLW), and Latina women. We examined the association between E activity and Indigenous American (IA) ancestry in Latina women. Total E activity was measured with a bioassay in plasma samples of 503 women who served as controls in the San Francisco Bay Area Breast Cancer Study. In the univariate model that included all women with race/ethnicity as the independent predictor, Latinas had 13% lower E activity (p = 0.239) and NLBs had 35% higher activity (p = 0.04) compared to NLWs. In the multivariable model that adjusted for demographic factors, Latinas continued to show lower E activity levels (26%, p = 0.026), but the difference between NLBs and NLWs was no longer statistically significant (p = 0.431). An inverse association was observed between E activity and IA ancestry among Latina women (50% lower in 0% vs. 100% European ancestry, p = 0.027) consistent with our previously reported association between IA ancestry and breast cancer risk. These findings suggest that endogenous estrogens and exogenous estrogen-like compounds that act on the estrogen receptor and modulate E activity may partially explain racial/ethnic differences in breast cancer risk

Management of conflict for preliminary engineering design tasks

Much of preliminary engineering design is a constraint-driven non-monotonic exploration process. Initial decisions are made when information is incomplete and many goals are contradictory. Such conditions are present regardless of whether one or several designers contribute to designs. This paper presents an approach for supporting decisions in situations of incomplete and conflicting knowledge. In particular, we use assumptions and conflict management to achieve efficient search in contexts where little reliable information exists. A knowledge representation, containing a semantic differentiation between two types of assumptions, is used within a computational model based on the dynamic constraint satisfaction paradigm. Conflict management strategies consist of three generic mechanisms adapted to the type of constraints involved. These strategies may be refined through consideration of variable importance, context, and design inerti

Learning through an Aboriginal language: The impact on students’ English and Aboriginal language skills

Aboriginal communities across Canada are implementing Aboriginal language programs in their schools. In the present research, we explore the impact of learning through an Aboriginal language on students’ English and Aboriginal language skills by contrasting a Mi’kmaq language immersion program with a Mi’kmaq as a second language program. The results revealed that students in the immersion program not only had stronger Mi’kmaq language skills compared to students in the second language program, but students within both programs ultimately had the same level of English. Immersion programs can simultaneously revitalize a threatened language and prepare students for success in mainstream society.Keywords: Aboriginal language, bilingual education, immersion, language of instructionDes communautés autochtones partout au Canada mettent en œuvre des programmes de langue autochtone dans leurs écoles. Dans la présente recherche, nous explorons l'impact de l'apprentissage à travers une langue autochtone, sur les compétences des élèves en langue anglaise et autochtone, en comparant un programme d'immersion en langue Mi'kmaq, avec un programme en langue Mi'kmaq comme langue seconde. Les résultats ont révélé que non seulement les étudiants du programme d'immersion avaient des compétences plus solides en langue Mi'kmaq que les étudiants du programme de langue seconde, mais aussi que les étudiants au sein des deux programmes avaient le même niveau d'anglais. Les programmes d'immersion peuvent simultanément revitaliser une langue menacée et préparer les élèves à réussir dans la société.Mots-clés: langue autochtone, éducation bilingue, immersion, langue d'enseignemen

Association between musculoskeletal pain with social isolation and loneliness: analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing

Introduction: Musculoskeletal pain is a prevalent health challenge for all age groups worldwide, but most notably in older adults. Social isolation is the consequence of a decrease in social network size with a reduction in the number of social contacts. Loneliness is the psychological embodiment of social isolation and represents an individual’s perception of dissatisfaction in the quality or quantity of their social contacts. This study aims to determine whether a relationship exists between musculoskeletal pain and social isolation and loneliness. Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA) cohort was undertaken. ELSA is a nationally representative sample of the non-institutionalised population of individuals aged 50 years and over based in England. Data were gathered on social isolation through the ELSA Social Isolation Index, loneliness through the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Loneliness Scale and musculoskeletal pain. Data for covariates included physical activity, depression score, socioeconomic status, access to transport and demographic characteristics. Logistic regression analyses were undertaken to determine the relationship between social isolation and loneliness with pain and the additional covariates. Results: A total of 9299 participants were included in the analysis. This included 4125 (44.4%) males, with a mean age of 65.8 years. There was a significant association where social isolation was lower for those in pain (odd ratio (OR): 0.87; 95% confidence intervals (CI): 0.75 to 0.99), whereas the converse occurred for loneliness where this was higher for those in pain (OR: 1.15; 95% CI: 1.01 to 1.31). Age, occupation, physical activity and depression were all associated with increased social isolation and loneliness. Conclusion: People who experience chronic musculoskeletal pain are at greater risk of being lonely, but at less risk of being socially isolated. Health professionals should consider the wider implications of musculoskeletal pain on individuals, to reduce the risk of negative health implications associated with loneliness from impacting on individual’s health and well-being