Many countries face challenges as they seek to sustain a social care sector that provides quality support and is financially viable. Two key areas of contention are how best to structure social care ...and who is best placed to deliver it. We draw on data from Scotland as a case study to unpack these arguments. Scotland is well placed to examine these debates as it seeks to reform social care through the establishment of a National Care Service and a human rights-based approach. Through data collected with disabled people's organisations, the third sector, social workers, and other public sector workers, we explore the tensions this has created. The data show that while the proposals are welcomed, questions remain as to what these will mean in practice and how this will differ from previous changes in social care legislation. We locate these arguments within broader international evidence to examine the implications. Keywords: social care reform, personalisation, disability policy
The Nuremberg Code 70 Years Later Moreno, Jonathan D; Schmidt, Ulf; Joffe, Steve
JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association,
09/2017, Volume:
318, Issue:
9
Journal Article
Workers in specific settings and activities are at increased risk for certain infectious diseases. When an infectious disease case occurs in a worker, investigators need to understand the mechanisms ...of disease propagation in the workplace. Few publications have explored these factors in the United States; a literature search yielded 66 investigations of infectious disease occurring in US workplaces during 2006-2015. Reported cases appear to be concentrated in specific industries and occupations, especially the healthcare industry, laboratory workers, animal workers, and public service workers. A hierarchy-of-controls approach can help determine how to implement effective preventive measures in workplaces. Consideration of occupational risk factors and control of occupational exposures will help prevent disease transmission in the workplace and protect workers' health.
Scientific progress and discovery of preventions and cures for life-threatening diseases depend on the vitality of the biomedical research workforce. We analyzed the workforce of cancer researchers ...applying for and receiving R01 awards from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) from fiscal years 1990 to 2016, the last year prior to implementation of the Next Generation Researchers Initiative. Here we report that the NCI R01 Principal Investigator (PI) workforce expanded 1.4-fold and aged over this time frame. We tracked 9 age groups and found that the number of PIs in the 3 oldest groups increased dramatically, in contrast with the younger groups. Sustained increases in the number of funded older PIs stemmed from increases in the number of older PIs submitting applications, rather than higher funding rates for older PIs. The decline in the number of funded younger PIs was driven in part by (a) a marked increase in time from PhD degree to first R01 application and award, as well as (b) a decrease in retention of PIs in the funded R01 workforce beyond their first R01 award. The NCI is using these and other analyses to inform strategies and policies for attracting, supporting, and retaining meritorious early-career researchers.
Although the growth of social media has changed the way employees communicate at work, our understanding of the related workplace dynamics, particularly in public organizations, is still embryonic. ...This study fills these research gaps by testing hypotheses, drawn from social cognitive theory and social capital theory, using two sets of data on social media usage patterns and workplace practices among public employees. Our survey data (n = 1,360) analysis revealed that most respondents (more than 72%) spent at least an hour per day on social media while at work, for both work- and non-work-related purposes. Furthermore, public employees with higher levels of social media competence (technical understanding and impact assessment) were more likely to report effective collaboration and seek assistance when needed. The results of scenario-based randomized survey experiment (n = 600) show that the perceived fairness of social media-related termination decisions (or “get dooced”) was influenced by the presence of an explicit workplace social media policy.
The research was conducted with the new public management paradigm; the community as the recipient of services is considered a customer. The study aims to reveal the relationship between training and ...employee performance in the public sector with knowledge sharing indicators as a mediator for both. This research uses a quantitative approach to SEM-Amos analysis tools. The sample was selected using a purposive sampling technique to the Civil Servants (CS) in an online questionnaire to participate in this study. The results showed that as many as 149 samples answered the questionnaire and had attended leadership training and other training. The results showed that the role of leadership training and additional training for training assessment tools to increase knowledge sharing was very influential compared to functional training, technical training, and other training. Although leadership training and further training significantly impact increasing knowledge sharing, they have not improved work-life and CS Performance quality. On the other hand, knowledge sharing shows an indirect effect on CS performance compared to its direct impact.
This article, based on intermittent anthropological fieldwork between 1978 and 2001, focuses on a Syrian waterscape through the establishment, expansion and contraction of the country's largest ...irrigation and land reclamation project in the Euphrates valley. It briefly describes regional agricultural history before discussing the different positions of three regional categories - employees in the project, Raqqa townspeople and inhabitants in a village - in this waterscape. The irrigation project was undoubtedly set in motion to increase the influence of the state and the ruling party. But, as discussed, this process has not been at all straightforward. The article points to the importance of studying water, land and politics, not only from above, on the part of the state, but also from below on the part of regional inhabitants.
Canada mirrors developments in most countries with the growth of government agencies created to deliver public goods--whether it is service delivery, adjudication of disputes, regulatory oversight, ...enforcement activities--purported to benefit from an arms-length relationship to cabinet. There is a robust comparative literature documenting the "agencification" of the state, yet Canadian studies remain mostly absent. This article draws on the Government of Canada's Public Service Employee Survey (PSES) microdata from 2017, 2011, 2005, and 1999 to test key hypotheses advanced by proponents of agencification, specifically that agencies are more innovative, autonomous, and efficient public organizations. We find that those working in enforcement agencies exhibit few of the purported advantages of agencification. We also observe that in recent years regulatory, adjudicative, and parliamentary agencies consistently surpass conventional department organizations on these metrics. Future research avenues are proposed to explore how governance and oversight reforms may explain this shift.
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