[Work design measures and solutions for dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic analysis of work in the primary, secondary, and tertiary sectors in Germany]. / Maßnahmen und Lösungen zur Arbeitsgestaltung für den Umgang mit der COVID-19 Pandemie: Eine systematische Analyse der Arbeit im Primär­, Sekundär- und Tertiärsektor in Deutschland.

The demand to adapt the work processes to hygiene- and contact reduction requirements in order to curtail the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany has led to short-term and sometimes radical changes in companies and organizations. Based on 52 expert interviews with company and organization representatives, this research project analyzed which pandemic-related changes in the context of work occur on a supraregional and cross-sectoral level, how they are to be evaluated, and which new ways of working might also prove beneficial to companies after the pandemic. In line with existing studies, an increasing flexibilization of work location and working hours, an acceleration of the digitalization of work processes, and effects on leadership culture were identified. Other key experiences relate to the adaptation of internal and external communication processes and the operational handling of crisis-related challenges. Based on the results, good practices were derived in form of normative-narrative use-case based scenarios.Practical Relevance: Dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic has been the central challenge for many companies over the past year and a half. The presented results show measures that have been successfully implemented in practice to overcome the challenges posed by the crisis, as well as approaches for the future development of forms of work. The measures are contextualized by outlining necessary framework conditions and success factors, thus promoting transfer to other companies and sectors of the economy.

Understanding exclusionary mechanisms at the individual level: a theoretical proposal.

On the basis of the social exclusion framework put forth by the Social Exclusion Knowledge Network (SEKN), we propose a framework that conceives social exclusion as a mechanism that limits access to rights, resources and capabilities needed for a healthy life. While it is widely accepted that drivers of social exclusion are structural, the consequences are experienced by individuals in their everyday lives. This article proposes an adaptation of the SEKN framework, illustrating additional basic elements that should be considered in the study of exclusionary mechanisms. We argue that studying access to rights, resources and capabilities is one way to capture the relational aspect of exclusion mechanisms. In doing so, we shift the focus away from the individual and direct the analysis towards contextual conditions that cause the emergence of certain individual attributes. We use the example of food insecurity experienced by individuals to illustrate how a specific problem can be the manifestation of different structural exclusion mechanisms that limit access to the rights, resources and capabilities required for a healthy life.

Food capacities and satisfaction in participants in food security community interventions in Montreal, Canada.

Food insecurity is steadily increasing in Canada. The objective of this paper is to determine if food capacities and satisfaction of recently enrolled participants in food security interventions are associated with the intervention having either a traditional or an alternative type of approach. Participants having recently accessed traditional (n = 711) or alternative community interventions (n = 113) in the Montreal metropolitan area, Canada, were interviewed with a questionnaire. The categorizing variable was participation in a community organization providing either traditional interventions, aimed to help people cope with the urgent need of food, or alternative interventions, aimed at first assistance, in addition to the creation of long-term solutions such as social integration and skills development. Participants' food and nutrition-related capacities and food satisfaction are studied. Multilevel regression models were used to assess whether participants took part in a traditional or alternative interventions. These interventions do not reach the same population. Relative to participants in alternative food security interventions, participants in traditional interventions demonstrated less capacity for accessing information about food safety and healthiness, and perceived their diet as less healthy. Traditional food security participants also paid less attention to the nutritional properties of food and reported less satisfaction with quantity, variety and taste of the food they accessed. The reasons why individuals who may benefit the most from alternative interventions were unlikely to participate should be investigated. The potential that food security interventions may inadvertently reinforce social inequalities in health should be considered in future intervention research.

Student life--Acting out scenarios.

The University of the West of Scotland's school of health nursing and midwifery has been recognised in the Scottish Clinical Skills Strategy as a higher education institution that provides effective clinical skills training to pre-registration nursing students.

Traditional and alternative community food security interventions in Montréal, Québec: different practices, different people.

Food insecurity is steadily increasing in developed countries. Traditional interventions adopted to tackle food insecurity, like food banks, address the urgent need for food. By contrast, alternative interventions, such as community gardens and kitchens, are oriented towards social integration and the development of mutual aid networks. The objective of this paper is to examine whether the populations served by traditional and alternative interventions in food security differ according to measures of vulnerability. We studied newly registered participants to food security interventions. Participants were selected from a random sample of food security community organizations in a two-stage cluster sampling frame. The categorizing variable was participation in a community organization providing either traditional interventions or alternative interventions. Seven measures of vulnerability were used: food security; perceived health; civic participation; perceived social support of the primary network, social isolation, income and education. Regression multilevel models were used to assess associations. 711 participants in traditional interventions and 113 in alternative interventions were enrolled in the study. Between group differences were found with respect to food insecurity, health status perception, civic participation, education and income, but not with respect to social isolation or perceived social support from primary social network. Traditional and alternative food security interventions seem to reach different populations. Participants in traditional interventions were found to have less access to resources, compared to those in alternative interventions. Thus, new participants in traditional interventions may have higher levers of vulnerability than those in alternative interventions.

Pharmacovigilance systems in developing countries: an evaluative case study in Burkina Faso.

BACKGROUND: Burkina Faso, like other Sub-Saharan African countries, has recently experienced a large-scale deployment of new medicines for the prevention and treatment of notable diseases of public health interest, including malaria, HIV/AIDS and meningitis. This new context rendered the implementation of pharmacovigilance necessary in order to monitor and establish the safety and effectiveness of these medicines. In 2008, the Ministry of Health of Burkina Faso, West Africa, launched a formal pharmacovigilance system to respond to this need. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the early-stage pharmacovigilance system of Burkina Faso through a comprehensive and system-based approach with the prospect of identifying areas for improvements. METHODS: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study in Burkina Faso. Sixteen key informants from the National Drug Authority (NDA), public health programmes (PHPs) and hospitals were interviewed. Study participants were selected based on a convenience sampling in the NDA, three teaching hospitals, two regional hospitals and six PHPs. Data were collected using the Indicator-based Pharmacovigilance Assessment Tool (IPAT), a metric instrument recently designed and validated by 'Management Sciences for Health', a US non-profit organization. The evaluation also involved the collection and review of relevant pharmacovigilance-related documentation in the institutions assessed. A scoring system was used for the quantification of assessment results. RESULTS: The NDA of Burkina Faso, the institution statutorily in charge of pharmacovigilance, achieved a performance score of 70 %. The basic structures for pharmacovigilance activities were in place; however, the lack of specific laws dedicated to pharmacovigilance, the lack of national guidelines and standard operating procedures on pharmacovigilance, and the insufficient coordination of pharmacovigilance stakeholders in the country were identified as the main weaknesses. Safety data collected thus far have not led to the identification of local drug-related risks; yet, relevant external safety alerts are monitored and acted upon. In 2010, 31 marketing authorizations were modified to include new safety information; seven others were suspended and the corresponding medicines were withdrawn from the national market. In PHPs, pharmacovigilance activities were not formalized, and in hospitals, pharmacovigilance structures were still under development. CONCLUSION: Relevant interventions aimed at strengthening the legal framework and structures for pharmacovigilance activities, and improving the coordination of stakeholders countrywide, should be undertaken as soon as possible. Such an investment is necessary before the national pharmacovigilance system is able to collect its own data, generate signals, evaluate and manage local medicine-related risks and then become a genuine tool for public health.