Spousal support and satisfaction with healthcare services as moderators between psychological morbidity and adherence to diet in Type 2 Diabetes patients

Objectives: This study analyzed the moderating role of partners’ support and satisfaction with healthcare services in the relationship between psychological morbidity and adherence to diet in patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). Methods: Participants were 387 recently diagnosed T2DM patients that answered the following instruments: Revised Summary of Diabetes Self- Care Activities Measure, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scales, Multidimensional Diabetes Questionnaire and Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire. Results: Partners’ positive and negative support moderated the relationship between psychological morbidity and adherence to diet. Satisfaction with healthcare services also moderated the relationship between psychological morbidity and adherence to diet. Conclusions: Intervention programs to promote adherence to diet in patients with type 2 diabetes should focus on partners’ support and patient satisfaction with healthcare services.

Meeting the Health, Social Care and Welfare Services Information Needs of Older People

As Chairperson of the National Council on Ageing and Older People, it gives me great pleasure to introduce this report, Meeting the Health, Social Care and Welfare Services Information Needs of Older People in Ireland. The Council has asserted, in previous reports in the past, the need to improve information provision for older people in order to enable them to make informed decisions in relation to their health, social care and welfare services needs and preferences so that they can become partners in their own care. This is consistent with current policy initiatives intended to re-orientate services more towards the older person and to place him/her at the heart of service planning, delivery and evaluation. Download document here

The potential of digital interactive television for the provision of healthcare and wellness services

The potential of digital interactive television (iDTV) to promote original services, formats and contents that can be relevant to support personal health care and wellness of individuals, namely elderly people, has not been yet fully explored in the past. Therefore, in a context of rapid change of the technological resources, in which the distribution and presentation of content comes associated with new platforms (such as digital terrestrial TV and IPTV), it is important to perceive the configurations that are being developed for interactive digital TV (iDTV) that may result in relevant outcomes within the field of healthcare and wellness, with the aim of offering complementarity to the existing services and contents made available today via the traditional means and media. This article describes and discusses the preliminary results of the first part of the research project iDTV-HEALTH: Inclusive services to promote health and wellness via digital interactive television. These first results suggest that iDTV solutions may represent a real contribution to delivery healthcare and wellness to the target population, namely as a supplement to health services provision.

Social support, health status and health services utilization among the noninstitutionalized elderly: An analysis of the Supplement on Aging to the 1984 national health interview survey

The association between Social Support, Health Status, and Health Services Utilization of the elderly, was explored based on the analysis of data from the Supplement on Aging to the National Health Interview Survey, 1984 (N = 11,497) using a modified framework of Aday and Andersen's Expanded Behavioral Model. The results suggested that Social Support as operationalized in this study was an independent determinant of the use of health services. The quantity of social activities and the use of community services were the two most consistent determinants across different types of health services use.^ The effects of social support on the use of health services were broken down into three components to facilitate explanations of the mechanisms through which social support operated. The Predisposing and Enabling component of Social Support had independent, although not uniform, effects on the use of health services. Only slight substitute effects of social support were detected. These included the substitution of the use of senior centers for longer stay in the hospital and the substitution of help with IADL problems for the use of formal home care services.^ The effect of financial support on the use of health services was found to be different for middle and low income populations. This differential effect was also found for the presence of intimate networks, the frequencies of interaction with children and the perceived availability of support among urban/rural, male/female and white/non-white subgroups.^ The study also suggested that the selection of appropriate Health Status measures should be based on the type of Health Services Utilization in which a researcher is interested. The level of physical function limitation and role activity limitation were the two most consistent predictors of the volume of physician visits, number of hospital days, and average length of stay in the hospital during the past year.^ Some alternative hypotheses were also raised and evaluated, when possible. The impacts of the complex sample design, the reliability and validity of the measures and other limitations of this analysis were also discussed. Finally, a revised framework was proposed and discussed based on the analysis. Some policy implications and suggestions for future study were also presented. ^

Profile in occupational counselling and placement and employment services: social policies axis

This paper presents the gestation of a new model of Occupational Counselling, centred in the joint action of State, Third Sector and Private Organizations. Different programmes are identified which involve the treatment of issues related to Labour, Employment and Education within the framework of objectives of social development, community participation and respect for diversity. The data of the investigation make it possible to establish connections between the tasks, professional profiles and professional training of the counsellors who participate in the different programmes.

Profile in occupational counselling and placement and employment services: social policies axis

This paper presents the gestation of a new model of Occupational Counselling, centred in the joint action of State, Third Sector and Private Organizations. Different programmes are identified which involve the treatment of issues related to Labour, Employment and Education within the framework of objectives of social development, community participation and respect for diversity. The data of the investigation make it possible to establish connections between the tasks, professional profiles and professional training of the counsellors who participate in the different programmes.

Profile in occupational counselling and placement and employment services: social policies axis

This paper presents the gestation of a new model of Occupational Counselling, centred in the joint action of State, Third Sector and Private Organizations. Different programmes are identified which involve the treatment of issues related to Labour, Employment and Education within the framework of objectives of social development, community participation and respect for diversity. The data of the investigation make it possible to establish connections between the tasks, professional profiles and professional training of the counsellors who participate in the different programmes.

GATS and the Social Regulation of Services. IES WORKING PAPER 3/2010

Many service transactions are highly complex, and their quality is difficult to ascertain for consumers. In order to have properly functioning service markets, the services thus often require regulation. However, with the advent of the WTO, international trade in services has become increasingly rule-bound. GATS has considerable, intricate effects on social regulation due to the characteristics of services. The allocation of regulatory jurisdiction between home and host country, for example, is rendered difficult by the process-based nature of a lot of services. The WTO US – Gambling dispute settlement report is the first to address GATS disciplines on social regulation in a detailed manner. This working paper submits that the US - Gambling report has increased interference with domestic social regulation and created regulatory uncertainty for WTO members. However, it is also argued that the real impact of the GATS on social regulation can only be understood by looking beyond the text of the GATS. GATS disciplines may become amplified through their interaction with domestic and other international law. The GATS also contains some “political” counterbalancing mechanisms that allow members to renegotiate their commitments. It is argued that these political mechanisms strengthen subsidiarity in the GATS, and make WTO dispute settlement bodies accountable to WTO members.

Medical social work in tax-supported health and welfare services; a report of the Joint Committee of the American Association of Medical Social Workers and the American Public Welfare Association,

Mode of access: Internet.

Performance audit [of] the Department of Healthcare and Family Services Prompt Payment Act Compliance and Medicaid Payment Process /

Contains performance audit of state moneys provided by or through Illinois state agencies to the Illinois Dept. of Healthcare and Family Services Prompt Payment Act Compliance and Medicaid Payment Process, under contracts or grant agreements in year 2007.

Globalisation, markets and healthcare policy:redrawing the patient as consumer

Although the last two decades have seen the healthcare systems of most developed countries face pressure for major reform, the impact of this reform on the relationship between empowerment, consumerism and citizen’s rights has received limited research attention. Globalisation, Markets and Healthcare Policy sets out to redress this imbalance. This book explores the extent to which globalisation and commercialisation relate to current and emerging health policies. It also looks at the implications for citizens, patients and social rights, as well as how policy making interacts with the interests of global and European trade and economic policies. Topics discussed include: •How the impact of globalisation on health systems is apparent in the influence of international actors and European policies. •How the impact of globalisation is mediated by national priorities and policies and is therefore reflected in diverse influences. •How commercialisation of health is presented as benefiting citizens and patients but has the potential to undermine the aims and values inherent in health systems. •How the role of citizens' interests, social rights, patient’s rights and priorities of patient and public involvement need to be separated from commercialisation, choice and consumerism in health care. Essential reading for policy makers and students of public policy, politics, law and health services, Globalisation, Markets and Healthcare Policy will also appeal to those interested in patient involvement international healthcare, international relations, trans-national organisations and the EU.

Women’s Entrepreneurship: closing the gender gap in access to financial and other services and in social entrepreneurship

This study explores differences between men and women entrepreneurs and social entrepreneurs. It explores the barriers and discriminatory effects that hinder women’s entrepreneurship, including access to finance in the European Union. The study includes four case studies covering the situation in the Czech Republic, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.