Why do educated mothers matter? A model of parental help

The paper investigates the role of mothers in affecting childrens' performance at school. It develops a theoretical model in which household is treated as an individual, whose utility depends on the performance at school of the student and on consumption. The model focuses on the possibilities through which mother’s help may affect pupil's performance in terms of time devoted to supervision and spillover effects. Empirical evidence, using Italian PISA 2006, shows that highly educated mothers have a positive impact on students' score only when they are highly qualified in the job market.

Birth records from Swiss married couples analyzed over of the past 35 years reveal an aging of first-time mothers by 5.1 years while the interpregnancy interval has shortened

RésuméIntroduction : Le travail de thèse est un article publié dans le journal « Fertility & Sterility » s'intitulant « Birth records from Swiss married couples analyzed over the past 35 years reveal an aging of first-time mothers by 5.1 years while the interpregnancy interval has shortened ».Méthodes : Les données concernant l'âge auquel les femmes mariées donnaient naissance ont été obtenues de l'Office fédéral de la statistique. Nous avons examiné la période allant de 1969 à 2006. Cet intervalle de temps choisi nous a permis de prendre en considération un total de 2'716'370 naissances. L'âge moyen des parturientes à la naissance de leur 1er, 2ème et 3ème enfant a été calculé pour chaque année à l'aide du logiciel Excel. Grâce à ces données on a pu obtenir les intervalles inter-gestationnels théoriques entre le 1er et 2ème enfant, ainsi qu'entre le 2ème et 3ème enfant.Résultats : Nous pouvons constater que l'intervalle inter-gestationnel théorique entre la première et la deuxième grossesse était de 23.2 mois en 1969 et passait à 13.0 mois en 2006. L'intervalle compris entre la deuxième et la troisième grossesse passait de 22.4 mois en 1969 à 7.9 mois en 2006. Notre analyse suggère donc que c'est le facteur social qui exerce un effet plus important que le facteur biologique sur les intervalles inter-gestationnels, car ces intervalles diminuaient malgré l'augmentation de l'âge des mères à la naissance.

Mothers' and Fathers' Early Relationship With Their Infant: Similar Yet Temporally Discordant Themes [La relation initiale des parents avec leur nourrisson: Thèmes similaires quoique temporellement discordants]

Objective: To examine first-time mothers' and fathers' themes in their relationship with their infant, how these themes change during the first four months postpartum, and similarities and differences in mothers' and fathers' themes. Participants: Eighteen first-time mother-father couples were separately interviewed at one; six and 16 weeks postpartum. Data Analysis: Audio-taped, transcribed interviews were analysed using a Grounded Theory approach. Results: Our findings reveal a common set of themes for mothers and fathers in relation to the infant : 1: Discovery, 2: Physical Proximity, 3: Emotional Closeness, 4: Initiation of Complementary Interactions and 5: Commitment to Love and Care. However, there was a striking lack of concordance between mothers and fathers for these themes at each point in time. Conclusions: Mothers' and fathers' experience of the early relationship with their infant is unique. Focussing on maternal as well as paternal ways of experiencing the early relationship with their infant sets the way to understanding early developing relationships in the family context.

Cardiology and Cardiac Surgery Reviews - Seeking Your Views

This consultation pack has been prepared to provide the public, relevant interest groups and health service staff with information on the outcome of the cardiology and cardiac surgery reviews and to invite comments on the reviews and their recommendation. åÊ

Your Views about Health - Consultation report for the Health Strategy

Your Views about Health – Consultation report for the Health Strategy The purpose of the Health Strategy is to improve the health of people living in Ireland and to develop, reform and modernise health and personal social services over the next 7 to 10 years. It builds on Shaping a Healthier Future, which was published in 1994 as a strategy for effective healthcare in the 1990s. Click here to download PDF 719kb

Parents and primary care physicians have different views about copying medical letters to parents after paediatric outpatient visits.

AIM: We assessed how satisfied parents were when they received a copy of the letter sent to their primary care physician after their child attended a hospital outpatient clinic and compared their views with those of the primary care physician. METHODS: Anonymised questionnaires were sent to parents, and their primary care physician, after their child had visited a paediatric nephrology unit. RESULTS: We received responses from 112 parents (46%) and 69 primary care physicians (93%). Most parents (97%) were satisfied with the process, 94% thought that the letter was a true reflection of the outpatient consultation and easy to understand, and 55% read it to their child. However, 21% would have preferred a simpler letter. More than a third (37%) of the primary care physicians did not approve of the parents being sent the letter, and 30% felt that the letter was difficult for the parents to understand and should be replaced with a simpler letter. CONCLUSION: Most parents (97%) appreciated receiving a copy of the letter following their child's outpatient clinic visit, and 95% understood its contents. More than half (55%) read the letter to their child. However, 37% of primary care physicians did not approve of the practice.

Report of the Maternity and Infant Care Scheme Review Group

The Irish service was last reviewed in 1980.  Much of the valuable recommendations made at that time have been given effect.  The present Review Group examined that report and, to the extend that recommendations then made have not been acted upon, incorporated them in this report. The views and rights of mothers were of course paramount in the consideration of the members of the Group and issues of choice, privacy, consent and information were considered and appropriate recommendations made. Download the Report here

Survey Of Views And Perceptions Of Women Who Attended Symptomatic Breast Clinics

The Department of Health and Children, through the National Cancer Forum, requested the Women's Health Council to conduct research on the views and perceptions of women who attended symptomatic breast care clinics. The aim of this research was to identify how well the current service meets the needs of women, and whether it could be improved. Download the Report here

Manipulating sleep spindles - expanding views on sleep, memory, and disease.

Sleep spindles are distinctive electroencephalographic (EEG) oscillations emerging during non-rapid-eye-movement sleep (NREMS) that have been implicated in multiple brain functions, including sleep quality, sensory gating, learning, and memory. Despite considerable knowledge about the mechanisms underlying these neuronal rhythms, their function remains poorly understood and current views are largely based on correlational evidence. Here, we review recent studies in humans and rodents that have begun to broaden our understanding of the role of spindles in the normal and disordered brain. We show that newly identified molecular substrates of spindle oscillations, in combination with evolving technological progress, offer novel targets and tools to selectively manipulate spindles and dissect their role in sleep-dependent processes.

Promoting breastfeeding for mothers returning to work: a guide for employers

This booklet is the third in a series of Work Well guides aimed at promoting health in the workplace. It outlines to employers the business benefits of encouraging mothers to continue breastfeeding on return to work, the health benefits of breastfeeding for mums, the legislation affecting mothers at work, and some easy steps that employers can take to support breastfeeding mothers.

Consultation launched on Community Development Strategy - your views matter

Issued jointly by the Health and Social Care Board and Public Health AgencyThe Health and Social Care Board and the Public Health Agency have today launched, for public consultation, a new Community Development Strategy.The consultation period will run for 12 weeks from Friday 10 June until Friday 2 September 2011.The Board and Agency want to see strong, resilient communities where everyone has good health and wellbeing, places where people look out for each other and have community pride in where they live.Residents from deprived areas in Northern Ireland experience;lower life expectancy;higher rates of emergency admission to hospital;higher rates of lung cancer;higher rates of suicide; andhigher rates of smoking and alcohol related deaths.The kinds of health and social care issues which can be improved by community development approaches include depression; isolation; falls amongst elderly people; child protection; teenage pregnancy; childhood asthma; postnatal depression; drug and alcohol abuse; and ultimately also long term conditions such as obesity, diabetes and cancer.The Board and Agency seek a number of benefits from implementing this strategy such as; a reduction in health and wellbeing inequalities, which also means addressing the social factors that affect health; strengthening partnership working with service users, the community and voluntary sectors and other organisations; strengthening families and communities; supporting volunteering and making best use of our resources.John Compton, Chief Executive of the Health and Social Care Board said: "Community development is an important way to improving health and wellbeing - driving a message that 'prevention is better than cure' between different groups and communities, and helping to ensure the most effective use of the health and social care budget."Now more than ever we need to work in partnership with families and communities to achieve better health and wellbeing for those living in Northern Ireland.No one organisation can meet this challenge on its own and strong partnerships are needed. "Chief Executive of the Public Health Agency, Eddie Rooney added: "Every health and social care organisation should incorporate a community development approach into their programmes, and this strategy assists them to do so."The Board and Agency have jointly held pre-consultation workshops over the past few months across Northern Ireland on their Community Development Strategy and have engaged widely with the community and voluntary sectors. We are now keen to receive feedback from individuals, families and the wider community as your views are very important to us - they will help shape the future of community development across the province," he said.The draft Community Development Strategy, as well as information on how you can respond, can be found in the attachments below.

A Mind of their Own. A Qualitative Study of Drug Education from a Young Person's Perspective: Exploring their Experiences, Views and Opinions

The main aims of the research are to explore young people's experiences and opinions of drug education and to discover whether it is, in their opinion, meeting their needs. The study was conducted with twenty young people aged fifteen to nineteen years in two towns in North County Dublin. The principal school teachers from three secondary schools in the area were also interviewed. The findings reveal there is a lack of planned drug education in the schools mainly, according to principal school teachers, due to timetable constraints. Another key finding is the need expressed by the young people for accurate and balanced drug education. The study also shows that there is a conflict between young people's negative opinion of teachers as drug educators and that of the literature and research, which identifies teachers as the most appropriate drug educators. In view of these findings the following recommendations are recommendations are suggested. Firstly, the role of teachers as drug educators needs further research. Secondly, the Substance Abuse Prevention Programme needs to be extended to include the over fifteen year's age group with a harm reduction/safety module as part of the programme. Thirdly, the Social, Personal and Health Education as a core subject needs to be fully implemented in the schools. Finally, the inclusion of young peoples' views in the form of a 'reference' or 'representative' group in each school would be a positive recommendation. This would give young consumers of drug education programmes some input into drug policy within the schools they attend.This resource was contributed by The National Documentation Centre on Drug Use.