Human rights and rehabilitation outcomes

Purpose. The aim of this article is to introduce rehabilitation professionals to the rapidly growing literature on human rights particularly as it relates to health and rehabilitation. The article aims to stimulate further discussion and debate concerning the place of human rights in rehabilitation practice.

Method. Some important milestones in the recent history of the human rights movement are briefly outlined, and some important terms in the rights literature are explained. The Ward and Birgden model of the structure of human rights is then described as an example of a rights perspective that might have particular relevance for health and social services and rehabilitation.

Results. A rehabilitation case study is presented as an example of how the Ward and Birgden model could have practical relevance when deciding on the most important outcomes for an individual in rehabilitation.

Conclusion. Human rights are playing an increasing role in the struggle to improve health and healthcare globally. They also have important implications for rehabilitation practitioners and researchers and should form the core of any ethical framework for rehabilitation. It might even be argued that rights and dignity are themselves valued outcomes for rehabilitation.

Use of the program explication method to explore the benefits of a service for homeless and marginalized young people

Maintaining the alignment between the dynamic development of health and social services and the rapidly advancing scientific evaluation literature is a central challenge facing service administrators. We describe “program explication,” a consulting method designed to assist services to identify and review implicit program logic assumptions against the evaluation literature. Program explication initially facilitates agency staff to identify and document service components and activities considered critical for improving client outcomes. Program assumptions regarding the relationship between service activities and client outcomes are then examined against available scientific evidence. We demonstrate the application of this method using an example of its use in reviewing a service for homeless young people operating in Melbourne, Australia, known as the Young People's Health Service (YPHS). The YPHS involved 21 activities organized within 4 components. The intended benefits of each of the activities were coherently articulated and logically consistent. Our literature search revealed moderate to strong evidence for around 1 quarter of the activities. The program explication method proved feasible for describing and appraising the YPHS service assumptions, thereby enhancing service evaluability.

An examination of the health and wellbeing of childless women : A cross-sectional exploratory study in Victoria, Australia

Background
Childlessness among Australian women is increasing. Despite this, little is known about the physical and mental health and wellbeing of childless women, particularly during the reproductive years. The aims of this exploratory study were to: 1) describe the physical and mental health and wellbeing and lifestyle behaviours of childless women who are currently within the latter part of their reproductive years (30 – 45 years of age); and 2) compare the physical and mental health and wellbeing and lifestyle behaviours of these childless women to Australian population norms.
Methods
A convenience sample of 50 women aged between 30 and 45 years were recruited to participate in a computer assisted telephone interview. The SF-36 Health Survey v2 and lifestyle indicators were collected in regards to women’s health and wellbeing. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, t-tests for independent sample means and 95% confidence intervals for the difference between two independent proportions.
Results
Childless women in this study reported statistically significant poorer general health, vitality, social functioning and mental health when compared to the adult female population of Australia. With the exception of vegetable consumption, lifestyle behaviours were similar for the childless sample compared to the adult female population in Australia.
Conclusions
Childless women may be at a greater risk of experiencing poor physical and mental health when compared to the Australian population. A woman’s health and wellbeing during her reproductive years may have longer term health consequences and as such the health and wellbeing of childless women requires further investigation to identify and address implications for the provision of health (and other social) services for this growing population group.

Migrants as Homo economicus : explaining the emerging phenomenon of a shortage of migrant labor in China's coastal provinces

The problem of a shortage of migrant labor is a new development in China's coastal provinces. We discuss the reasons for this emerging phenomenon using a conceptual framework that extends the traditional Lewis dualistic labor market model to incorporate a migrant labor market. We emphasize that migrant labor shortage in China not only reflects a declining wage gap between what peasants receive and what migrants can earn in the cities, but also the institutional legacies of the planning era such as the hukou (household registration) system which discriminates against migrants vis-a-vis urban residents in terms of access to social insurance and other social services. We proceed to draw on a unique survey of migrants and urban residents collected in Jiangsu to show that migrants receive lower incomes, and they have poorer access to social insurance than those with an urban registration in China's cities. Our findings have important implications for the alleviation of the migrant labor shortage problem.

I was running away from death - the pre-flight experiences of unaccompanied asylum seeking children in the UK

OBJECTIVE: To collect information about the pre-flight experiences of unaccompanied asylum seeking children (UASC) in the UK to increase the understanding of support needed on arrival in the UK. METHODS: Retrospective social services case file and legal statement review and semi-structured in-depth interviews with 100 UASC. RESULTS: Nearly half of all UASC have experienced separation from or loss of parents and/or family members (47%), and a further 41% had personally experienced or witnessed violence. Sexual violence (such as rape) was reported by 24% of African girls. Many children reported complex journeys to the UK. CONCLUSIONS: UASC arrive in the UK with a variety of potentially traumatic experiences. Whilst research is starting to identify some of the experiences of UASC, further culturally appropriate research is needed to identify their health and social needs after arrival. Further research will help to identify the specific experiences of UASC, indicating where services should be improved to deal with their complex and diverse needs.

Place-based initiatives to tackle mature-age workers’ long-term unemployment in Australia, drawing on successful Nordic precedents

In order to tackle unemployment for the at-risk group of mature-age workers displaced by industry sector restructuring, exemplary place-based initiatives are needed focusing on a selected area of high disadvantage identified by Professor Tony Vinson’s 2015 Jesuit Social Services report Dropping off the Edge, with an Australian state government committed to supporting the initiative, as that report recommends. In order to make such a place-based initiative exemplary in its outcomes, so that it leads to uptake in other areas of high disadvantage, it needs to be thoroughly informed by successful Nordic precedents. In particular, the new Australian place-based initiative needs to be informed by Danish regionally-focused large-scale job skills programs involving transition into a proximate sector of employment growth; and by Norwegian measures for more even population distribution outside capital cities or in particular hard-hit regions within capital cities. An advantage of the proposed initiative is that it will also produce measurable results for children in families in which neither parent works, whose needs are normally tackled (if at all) by separate policy actions in separate tiers or departments of government. Australian children are disproportionately disadvantaged by the internationally extreme concentration of joblessness. Denmark’s Løntilskud and Virksomhedspraktik job training programs subsidised by municipalities and the national government, and supported by Danish trade unions, will be discussed in this paper for the positive effects they have for participants, including establishing or re-establishing unemployed people’s structured work habits and routines, improving their networks along with their social skills, and boosting their confidence. This paper will outline in detail the types of features the proposed new Australian place-based initiative will require, drawing on and drilling down further into data and analysis presented in the author’s recent book: Northern Lights: The Positive Policy Example of Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Norway.