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Purpose: To identify facilitators of and barriers to the coordination of return-to-work between the primary care services, the employee, and the employers from the perspective of coordinators and employees on sick leave due to common mental disorders (CMDs).Material and methods:

Descriptive qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eighteen coordinators and nine employees on sick leave due to CMDs. The Consolidated Framework for implementation Research (CFIR) was used as a starting point for the interview guides and in the thematic analysis of data.

Results: The results show facilitators and barriers related to the CFIR domains“intervention characteristics,” outer setting,” inner setting,” and“characteristics of individuals.”Positive attitudes, an open dialogue in a three-party meeting, and a common ground for the sick leave process at the primary care centre facilitated coordination, while an unclear packaging, conflicts at the employee’s workplace, and a lack of team-based work were examples of barriers.

Conclusion: The results indicate a need for the detailed packaging of coordination; formalization of coordinators’ qualifications and levels of training; and acknowledgment of the role of organizational factors in the implementation of coordination. This is important to further develop and evaluate the efficacy of coordination.

Purpose:

Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) was first identified in December 2019 with millions of cases reported globally in the succeeding months. Initial hospitalisation strives to minimise multisystem organ failure and of those that survive, individuals can present with profound rehabilitation needs. The purpose of this case series is to describe occupational therapy (OT) and special technology considerations for three male Veteran patients hospitalised with suspected or confirmed COVID-19. 

Methods: 

This is a descriptive case series using a retrospective electronic health record review at a Veterans Administration hospital. The case series includes three male Veterans with confirmed or suspected COVID-19 (ages 69–78) who were referred to OT. The cases were selected to demonstrate the novel use of technology and strategies to reduce the risk of transmission. In two of three of our cases, we describe acute rehabilitation with a focus on activity tolerance, participation in occupations, and discharge planning. In all cases, we measured vital signs and activity tolerance as primary outcomes. 

Results and conclusions: 

The findings suggest that outcome measures focussing on activity tolerance to maintain stable vital signs during the recovery phase is central to the progression of activities. We observed in our cases that the Person-Environment-Occupation-Performance (PEOP) model can guide practice and complement the medical model in management of these patients. We utilised technology to engage family members in the rehabilitation care and minimise exposure risks.

Findings from this report show evidence that some persons with disabilities face multiple types of jeopardy during Covid-19: they are at an increased risk of violence and are suffering a dramatic loss in household earnings. They are also taking action: many plan to adapt their livelihood and are mobilising resources for their communities. Persons with disabilities ask government and NGOs to do more and to be more inclusive in their response to the crisis.

● Three of four respondents report increased risk of violence since the pandemic began. 77% of women and 80% of men report an increase in economic, physical, psychological and/or sexual violence after Covid-19.

● One in three women respondents report experiencing an increased risk of physical and/or sexual violence.

● Livelihood support could reduce violence risk. Three in four (76%) of respondents say livelihood support, such as start up capital for small business, would be very or extremely useful to them in order to reduce their risk of experiencing violence during Covid-19.

● Respondents report losing 64% of their monthly household income since the outbreak. After adjusting for purchase power parity, this is the equivalent of falling from 181 GBP to 65 GBP per month.

● Covid-19 support is unequal and insufficient for many. Where support has been distributed, one in two report that they do not receive the same protection support (ie PPE) as others; one in four report that they do not receive the same Covid-19 survival support (ie food); one in three report they do not receive the same Covid-19 information; and one in three say that support does not meet need.

● Most respondents will try something new. 59% indicate that they will start something new to make ends meet if the situation continues.

● OPDs are obtaining food support through lobbying, providing vital psychosocial support and information.

● Some OPDs are not able to respond because they are capacity-constrained.

● Government and NGOs can do more.


From these interviews and findings, some recommendations emerge for government and NGOs:

● Support livelihood to reduce violence risk and increase survival strategies.

● Increase access to capital.

● Meaningfully engage persons with disabilities and their respective organisations in response planning and implementation.

● Ensure distribution of support reaches persons with disabilities, more specifically the underrepresented groups.

● Change attitudes toward and increase knowledge about persons with disabilities.

Background and aim:

This study investigated the current state of wheelchair services in Bangalore Rural district, as provided by Bangalore Baptist Hospital, and identified areas for improvement.

Method:

a cross-sectional survey was held among 50 wheelchair users. Data was collected on demographics, satisfaction, wheelchair skills and level of disability using QUEST, WST-Q and CHART-SF questionnaires.

Result:

Overall satisfaction can be described as more or less satisfied, scoring 3.8 out of 5. Wheelchair users were less satisfied with the services compared to the wheelchair itself. The skills a wheelchair users had were strongly correlated with satisfaction scores (p < 0.01). Differences in satisfaction between genders were observed and related to multiple factors.

Conclusion:

Wheelchairs should be easy to use with support services being easily accessible. A wheelchair should be delivered together with a training program to provide the user with the skills to operate and maintain the wheelchair. There are gender-wise differences in satisfaction towards wheelchair services that influence satisfaction.

Aim

Technology affects almost all aspects of modern eldercare. Ensuring ethical decision-making is essential as eldercare becomes more digital; each decision affects a patient’s life, self-esteem, health and wellness.

Methods

We conducted a survey and interviews with eldercare professionals to better understand the behavioural ethics and decision making involved in the digital transition of eldercare.

Conclusion

Our qualitative analysis showed three recurrent roles among eldercare professionals in regard to digital service transformation; makers, implementers and maintainers. All three encountered challenging and stressful ethical dilemmas due to uncertainty and a lack of control. The matter of power relations, the attempts to standardize digital solutions and the conflict between cost efficiency and if digital care solutions add value for patients, all caused moral dilemmas for eldercare professionals. The findings suggest a need for organizational infrastructure that promotes ethical conduct and behaviour, ethics training and access to related resources.

This article presents a review of qualitative research on interprofessional cooperation between regular teachers and special educators published from 2005 to 2019. The aim of the review was to gain knowledge about how different forms of cooperation take shape and about factors at multiple levels that facilitate or constrain cooperation as a means of achieving inclusion. In total, 25 studies were selected. The results are discussed in relation to Thomas Skrtic’s theory of bureaucracies within the school organisation in order to compare and analyse different forms of interprofessional cooperation and schools’ organisations of special educational work. Cooperative teaching, special educational consultations and mixed forms of cooperation were found to entail different benefits and challenges related to communication and the cooperating actors’ roles. Facilitating factors included personal chemistry, an equal distribution of power and responsibilities and support from the school management through provision of professional development and adequate planning time. In several studies, a flexible cooperation was argued to be hindered by curricular constraints and standardised testing. Education policy is therefore emphasised in this review as important for understanding the conditions under which school staff are responsible for inclusion.

Due to the rising linguistic heterogeneity in schools, the inclusion of pupils with a first language other than the language of instruction is one of the major challenges of education systems all over the world. In this paper, attitudes of in-service teachers, pre-service teachers and parents towards the inclusion of pupils with a first language other than the language of instruction are examined. Additionally, as the paper focused on how the participants perceive the development of this pupils in different school settings (fully included, partly included, fully segregated).

Data from 1501 participants were investigated. Descriptive results showed that pre-service teachers’ attitudes towards the inclusive schooling of pupils with different language skills in composite classes were rather positive, while attitudes of in-service teachers and parents rather tend to be neutral. Regarding the results concerning the participants’ attitudes towards the pupils’ development in different school settings, all three sub-groups belief that pupils with German as first language would develop in a more positive way, compared to pupils without German as first language. Moreover, the migration background of pre-service teachers and parents had a positive influence on the participants’ attitudes.
 

This new report presents the findings of the first-ever global survey led by OPDs on their participation in decision making processes of governments, the UN system and funding agencies.

The IDA Global Survey is part of a strategy to hold decision-makers accountable for their commitments under Articles 4.3 and 32 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Based on testimonies collected from OPDs in 165 counties, the report assesses the quality, depth, scope and relevance of the OPDs participation in programmes and policies, and offers recommendations for governments, the UN system and funding agencies.

This paper provides the foundation for a multi-year study on inclusion and exclusion in humanitarian action being carried out by the Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) at ODI. It seeks to make sense of the concept of inclusion in humanitarian action, explore how it relates to humanitarian principles and other core concepts and outlines some of the key issues and challenges preventing more inclusive humanitarian action. Drawing on existing practice and evidence from a review of academic and grey literature, the study argues that vulnerability is a critical, but challenging, lens to inform the prioritisation of humanitarian assistance and protection, and that it has failed to lead to more inclusive humanitarian action.