Childhood Adversities and Caregiving for Older Parents: Building Capacity for a Caring Society.

OBJECTIVES: This study investigates the relationships between childhood adversities and the provision of informal care for older parents in later life in China. METHODS: The data came from 4 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study (N = 20,047). Using multilevel logistic regression models, we examined the relationships between adverse experiences in childhood and both the propensity and intensity of caregiving for older parents. Drawing on the regression results, we then estimated the total number of caregivers for older parents in China. RESULTS: Experiencing 1 additional childhood adversity was associated with a decrease of 8% in the odds of providing informal care (p < .001). The association between childhood adversity and caregiving remained significant after sociodemographic factors and later-life outcomes were controlled for. We estimated that 58.3 million middle-aged adults in China were providing care for parents in 2020. Had people experienced 1 fewer adversity in their childhood, there would have been 2.2 million more caregivers in 2020. Had they experienced 2 fewer adversities, there would have been 3.4 million more caregivers. DISCUSSION: The factors associated with informal caregiving can be traced back to early-life experiences. To address the shortage of informal care supply, it is crucial to foster a caring culture from the very beginning of human development.

[Informal caregivers in Germany: achieving work-life balance]. / Pflegende Angehörige in Deutschland: Vereinbarkeit von Pflege und Erwerbstätigkeit.

Informal caregivers are the main pillar of care provision in Germany. Almost a quarter of adults know a person who needs assistance or care. Caring for a person needing assistance is becoming an everyday task for more and more people. These demands must often be balanced with the requirements of work and/or care of underage children. Not only in this sandwich position informal caregivers neglect their own lives and endanger their health. The narrative review focuses on the challenges of reconciling care at home and work. In addition, the importance of informal caregiving as a relevant public health topic is discussed. A spotlight is placed on children in need of care and the particular demands of their caring parents. Current recommendations for a better reconciliation of care and work as well as for the recognition of relatives' valuable caregiving work provide an outlook on solution strategies that come from science and should be addressed by policymakers.

[Slow demographic change and neurological rehabilitation-Part 2: what we can do]. / Schleichender demografischer Wandel und neurologische Rehabilitation ­ Teil 2: Handlungsmöglichkeiten.

In its current state the German healthcare system will not be able to adequately care for a growing proportion of older patients with a decreasing healthcare work force. This is particularly so in the postacute care of severely ill patients. In a second of two parts we discuss the perspectives and options at hand. A major conclusion is that substantial gains could be obtained by regulatory adjustments that better align acute care and rehabilitative measures.

Automated and Continuous Fatigue Monitoring in Construction Workers Using Forearm EMG and IMU Wearable Sensors and Recurrent Neural Network.

About 40% of the US construction workforce experiences high-level fatigue, which leads to poor judgment, increased risk of injuries, a decrease in productivity, and a lower quality of work. Therefore, it is essential to monitor fatigue to reduce its adverse effects and prevent long-term health problems. However, since fatigue demonstrates itself in several complex processes, there is no single standard measurement method for fatigue detection. This study aims to develop a system for continuous workers' fatigue monitoring by predicting the aerobic fatigue threshold (AFT) using forearm muscle activity and motion data. The proposed system consists of five modules: Data acquisition, activity recognition, oxygen uptake prediction, maximum aerobic capacity (MAC) estimation, and continuous AFT monitoring. The proposed system was evaluated on the participants performing fourteen scaffold-building activities. The results show that the AFT features have achieved a higher accuracy of 92.31% in assessing the workers' fatigue level compared to heart rate (51.28%) and percentage heart rate reserve (50.43%) features. Moreover, the overall performance of the proposed system on unseen data using average two-min AFT features was 76.74%. The study validates the feasibility of using forearm muscle activity and motion data to workers' fatigue levels continuously.

Teleworking, Work Engagement, and Intention to Quit during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Same Storm, Different Boats?

The ability to retain and engage employees is now, more than ever, a major strategic issue for organizations in the context of a pandemic paired with a persistent labor shortage. To this end, teleworking is among the work organization conditions that merit consideration. The purpose of this cross-sectional study is to examine the direct and indirect effects of teleworking on work engagement and intention to quit, as well as the potential moderating effect of organizational and individual characteristics on the relationship between teleworking, work engagement, and intention to quit during the COVID-19 pandemic, based on a sample of 254 Canadian employees from 18 small and medium organizations. To address these objectives, path analyses were conducted. Overall, we found that teleworking, use of emotion, skill utilization, and recognition appear to be key considerations for organizations that wish to increase work engagement and decrease intention to quit, in the context of a pandemic paired with a labor shortage. Our results extend the literature by revealing the pathways through which teleworking, use of emotion, skill utilization, and recognition are linked to work engagement and intention to quit, and by suggesting specific interventions and formation plans that are needed.

Job Satisfaction and Performance Orientation of Paramedics in German Emergency Medical Services-A Nationwide Survey.

(1) Background: Shortage of skilled workers is a relevant global health care problem. To remain competitive with other professions, job satisfaction is a critical issue; however, to date, there are no data available on the German EMS. This study aims to perform a statistical analysis of job satisfaction and performance orientation and to identify risk factors for low job satisfaction of paramedics in the German EMS. (2) Methods: Data were collected from 2590 paramedics through a nationwide cross-sectional survey, using the job satisfaction questionnaire by Neuberger and Allerbeck and the performance orientation questionnaire by Hippler and Krüger. Descriptive and regression statistical analysis were performed. (3) Results: The participants scored significantly lower than the reference sample on job satisfaction, with "organization and management" and "payment" being the lowest rated subscales. Around 9% of employees feared losing their jobs. While work attitude toward performance and success enhancement was high, fear of failure was also common. (4) Conclusions: Job satisfaction of paramedics in the German EMS is below that of the reference sample. Discontent with payment and organizational issues is common. Performance orientation is high, but fear of failure is frequent. Current and future efforts that aim at an attractive working environment should reflect on these findings.

Resilience of food, energy, and water systems to a sudden labor shortage.

Past research studies have acknowledged the role of resilience in policies and decisions to address disruptive events and proposed frameworks to measure it. The scope and diversity of these unwanted events highlight the need to evaluate the resilience of a system to a specific disruptive circumstance. The broad scope and generic form of the previous studies limit their usefulness as a practical tool for analyzing the factors affecting system performance. To overcome this problem, we are only focusing on the behavior of systems that produce, distribute, and deliver food, energy, and water (FEW) during and after the occurrence of a sudden shortage of labor. Resilience metrics are first developed to measure the resilience of the FEW systems. Next, the performance levels of the FEW systems are clearly defined based on the FEW demands that are not served. Third, the labor intensity of FEW productions is calculated to assess the impact of a sudden labor shortage. This study recognizes the complex interdependencies among the FEW systems and, thus, aims to examine their resilience as a single system. Last, the labor shortage in the USA caused by the COVID-19 pandemic is chosen as a use case to measure the system performance and role of adjustments on the FEW systems. The results show that a labor shortage can significantly impact the FEW system performance, possibly due to the high energy dependency of food and water systems and the high cost of storing energy. Also, the current food system has shown more resilience to a sudden labor shortage compared to the energy and water systems because of the availability of various food alternatives to meet the demand for each food category.

A house divided: cooperative and competitive recruitment in vital industries.

AIM: To propose a theoretical based model approach to address the nursing shortage problem of recruiting qualified applicants. BACKGROUND: Vital industries such as nursing and trucking face a large labour shortage. METHODS: A literature review focusing on recruitment and realistic job previews examines relevant theories and an indication of the focus of similar research. Game theory illustrates cooperative and competitive recruitment strategies in vital industries. RESULTS: Proposition and model development where cooperative or competitive strategies for recruitment can either increase or decrease the employee applicant pool. Institutional theory states that firms within a population become isomorphic in nature. Firms employing cooperative or competitive strategies for recruitment can change organisational practices through isomorphic processes. CONCLUSION: Industries facing a labour market shortage using cooperative strategy will use realistic job previews accurately to disseminate information about industry jobs. Realistic job previews will increase the applicant pool through individuals self-selecting into, rather than out of, the applicant pool. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Recruitment in the nursing industry has been examined at the individual applicant and organisational level, yet the overall industry has been ignored. As nursing shortages continue, viewing recruitment at the macro level (the overall industry) is appropriate. Game theory as proposed provides opportunities for current research at the industry level.

[North-South cooperation on transfusion and hematology teaching: A Benin experience]. / Coopération Nord-Sud pour le renforcement des capacités du personnel de santé en hématologie et transfusion : expérience du Bénin.

Hematologic diseases are a significant part of health disorders in Benin. As an example, anemia is the second cause of hospitalization, measuring up to 7.9% all over the country (National Plan of Sanitary Development, 2009-2018). By contrast, there is only one active hematologist in the country. Thanks to two partnerships, on one hand between the health sciences faculty in Cotonou (Benin) and the medicine one in Tours (France), and on the other hand between the Beninese Blood Transfusion National Agency and the French Blood Establishment, a first blood transfusion and hematology formation was held in Cotonou on December 2014. Among other benefits, was created an hematology-transfusion network in order to facilitate relations between Beninese hospital doctors, with the support of the two French partner institutions. The article describes this progress.

Farmer strategies to face labor shortages in Chilean agriculture / Estratégias dos agricultores para enfrentar a escassez de mão de obra no setor agrícola chileno

This study analyzes the strategies that farmers in the south of Chile use to face current labor shortages and identify the variables that determine each of these strategies. A multinomial logit model and odds ratios plots with predicted probabilities were applied to a sample of 384 farmers. Interviews and focus groups were applied to specific producers, professionals and public officials. The main results show that only 32.3% of farmers declared that labor shortage is a problem. Of this percentage 52% chose the strategy of paying better, 13.8% chose improve the workers' working conditions, 9.5% chose to mechanize, and 24.1% did not follow a strategy. The production of labor-intensive products (e.g., exportable fruit) determines the strategy of paying better; the farmer's educational level influences the strategy of improving the working conditions, and the farmer's age affects the strategy of mechanizing. However, the production of labor-intensive products exhibits the greater effect. The main disadvantage of the "pay better" strategy is that workers do not want to commit to their job.

O objetivo deste estudo foi analisar as estratégias utilizadas pelos agricultores do sul do Chile para enfrentar a escassez de mão de obra e identificar as variáveis que determinam cada uma dessas estratégias. Foram aplicados um modelo de logística multinomial e razões de chance com probabilidades previstas a uma amostra de 384 agricultores, além de entrevistas e grupos focais para determinados produtores, profissionais e funcionários públicos. Os principais resultados mostram que 32,3% dos produtores afirmaram que a escassez de mão de obra é um problema. Desse percentual, 52% optaram pela estratégia de melhorar a remuneração, 13,8% escolheram melhorar as condições de trabalho dos trabalhadores, 9,5% escolheram usinar e 24,1% não seguem nenhuma estratégia. A produção de culturas que requer mão de obra intensiva (por exemplo, a fruta exportável) escolhe a estratégia de melhorar o salário; o nível de escolaridade dos agricultores influencia a estratégia para melhorar as condições de trabalho; e a idade dos agricultores determina a estratégia de usinagem. No entanto, a produção de culturas com mão de obra intensiva apresenta o maior efeito. A principal desvantagem da estratégia de "melhores salários" é que os trabalhadores não querem se comprometer com o seu trabalho.