Impact of osteoarthritis on individuals and society: how much disability? Social consequences and health economic implications

Osteoarthritis is a major cause of disability in both the developed and developing world. With the population aging, the prevalence of osteoarthritis is increasing and its consequences are impacting significantly on society. This is one of the reasons why osteoarthritis has been adopted as a major focus (along with osteoporosis, rheumatoid arthritis, back pain, and musculoskeletal trauma) by the global initiative-the Decade of Bone and Joint Disease. Adequate studies on the costs of osteoarthritis are urgently required so that cogent arguments can be made to governments to appropriately fund prevention and treatment programs for this condition. Its recognition as a major cause of disability, particularly in the aging population, should increase community focus on this important condition. (C) 2002 Lippincott Williams Wilkins, Inc.

Putting the group back into unions: A social psychological contribution to understanding union support

Industrial relations research that attempts to grapple with individuals' union-related sentiments and activities often draws on one of two traditions of psychological research—the individual-level factors tradition (for example, personality and attitude-behaviour relations) and the social context tradition (for example, frustration-aggression and relative deprivation). This paper provides an overview of research conducted from within these traditions to explain union-related phenomena and identifies some of the limitations that arise as a consequence of a shared tendency to treat people in an atomistic fashion. The paper argues for an understanding of the psychological processes that underpin group-based action. To this end, it elaborates a theoretical framework based on social identity theory and self-categorisation theory that would allow us to examine the dynamic interplay between the individual, their cognitions and their environment. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of a specific case of union mobilisation, to indicate how this theoretical framework might aid empirical analysis.

Emergence of joint attention: Relationships between gaze following, social referencing, imitation, and naming in infancy

The authors investigated the extent to which the joint-attention behaviors of gaze following, social referencing, and object-directed imitation were related to each other and to infants vocabulary development in a sample of 60 infants between the ages of 8 and 14 months. Joint-attention skills and vocabulary development were assessed in a laboratory setting. Split-half reliability analyses on the joint-attention measures indicated that the tasks reliably assessed infants' capabilities. In the main analysis, no significant correlations were found among the joint-attention behaviors except for a significant relationship between gaze following and the number of names in infants' productive vocabularies. The overall pattern of results did not replicate results of previous studies (e.g., M. Carpenter, K. Nagell, & M. Tomasello, 1998) that found relationships between various emerging joint-attention behaviors.

Compromisso nacional para aperfei??oar as condi????es de trabalho na cana-de-a????car

O Compromisso Nacional para Aperfei??oar as Condi????es de Trabalho na Cana-de-A????car, firmado pelo Governo Federal e entidades de trabalhadores e empres??rios do setor sucroenerg??tico, ?? resultado de uma experi??ncia in??dita no pa??s de negocia????o tripartite para enfrentar o desafio de melhorar as condi????es de vida e trabalho no cultivo manual da cana-de-a????car. Por meio de uma Mesa de Di??logo, sob a coordena????o da Secretaria-Geral da Presid??ncia da Rep??blica, foi constru??do um acordo hist??rico para valorizar e disseminar as melhores pr??ticas trabalhistas na lavoura da cana, evidenciando a import??ncia do di??logo social na elabora????o das Pol??ticas P??blicas. Atrav??s da ades??o volunt??ria das empresas ao Compromisso, da divulga????o das boas pr??ticas empresariais e do cadastro positivo formado pelo selo ???Empresa Compromissada???, conferido ap??s verifica????o in loco de auditoria independente, a iniciativa induz os demais atores do setor a aderir ao Compromisso e adotar as boas pr??ticas trabalhistas

Agenda social registro civil de nascimento e documenta????o b??sica: comit??s gestores da agenda social

Esta ?? uma iniciativa de gest??o para implementa????o da Agenda Social Registro Civil de Nascimento e Documenta????o B??sica, envolvendo uma rede de ??rg??os e institui????es de diversos poderes da Rep??blica nos tr??s n??veis administrativos do estado brasileiro, bem como institui????es da sociedade civil e organismos internacionais, a partir da atua????o de comit??s gestores em n??vel central e descentralizados. A agenda possibilitou intervir na forma????o de uma cultura de inclus??o a partir da documenta????o civil, com base na realiza????o das campanhas em n??vel nacional. Um dos resultados da implementa????o da agenda ?? a queda do ??ndice de sub-registro de nascidos vivos, que era de 20,9% em 2002, e passou para 12,2% em 2007

Atendimento programado do Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social

Em agosto de 2005, foi criada a Diretoria de Atendimento do Instituto Nacional do Seguro Social (Dirat/INSS), com a incumb??ncia de priorizar a redu????o do atendimento presencial, ampliando os mecanismos de atendimento remoto da popula????o. Entre as a????es para a melhoria do atendimento est??o a implanta????o do agendamento eletr??nico programado, a amplia????o dos servi??os de teleatendimento e a gest??o das vagas disponibilizadas pelas Ag??ncias da Previd??ncia Social. Esse trabalho resultou em um atendimento resolutivo, utiliza????o mais racional da for??a de trabalho nas Ag??ncias e redu????o do tempo de espera por atendimento nas filas das Ag??ncias da Previd??ncia Social

Progressos recentes no financiamento da Previd??ncia Social na Am??rica Latina

Texto que compreende uma vis??o geral da hist??ria e das caracter??sticas dos sistemas de previd??ncia social da Am??rica Latina, e estudos de caso de cinco pa??ses (Chile, Peru, Col??mbia, Costa Rica e Brasil), relatando as suas respectivas experi??ncias e situa????o atual das reformas previdenci??rias