Impact of Globalization on Aggregate and Agricultural Employment in Pakistan

This study has empirically investigated impact of globalization on aggregate and agricultural employment in Pakistan for the data period 1986-2017. Globalization is proxied by variables trade openness, foreign direct investment, workers’ remittances and exchange rate. Other explanatory variables are real GDP, gender based wage gap and labor force. The study has applied Johansen’ cointegration technique and Error Correction Model to estimate the long run and short run relationships. The findings of the study indicate that in the long run trade openness has negative whereas FDI has positive effect on aggregate as well as agricultural employment in Pakistan during the data period. Interestingly, exchange rate and workers’ remittances affect aggregate and agricultural employment differently. Other important finding is that real GDP and gender based wage gap also deteriorate aggregate and agricultural employment in Pakistan. The study concluded that globalization in the form of trade openness has not supported employment whereas FDI enhanced employment in Pakistan. Policy makers need to consider sector specific effects of globalization while designing policies to achieve inclusive growth in Pakistan.

The Challenges of Vocational Training for Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder

Employment is considered to have a great impact on people's quality of life. However, it is thought to be one of the major problems adolescents and young adults have to face during their transition to the adulthood. Given their impairments, individuals with ASD face several barriers to their vocational rehabilitation. Yet many of them are capable of being independent and working effectively when they are well supported. Since they deal with several challenges due to their condition, high rates of unemployment or underemployment are very common among them. This chapter provides a view of the barriers that can affect the employment outcomes of this population and strategies (e.g., supported employment programs and technology-based interventions) for overcoming those barriers. In particular, the social deficits that characterize ASD may result in difficulty in developing and maintaining high-quality social skills and competence in communication, which are important for finding employment and staying in a work position.

Caregivers’ experiences and perspectives of factors associated with relapse in Iranian people living with schizophrenia: A qualitative study

Background: Relapse in People Living with Schizophrenia (PLS) has several reasons and recognizing these can increase the effectiveness of treatment interventions. Formal and informal caregivers are an informed source to reduce relapse in PLS. Aim: This study explores the caregivers’ perspective in Iran on the factors affecting relapse in PLS. Method: A total of 28 caregivers (16 formal caregivers and 12 informal caregivers) of PLS were enrolled in our qualitative study. A content analysis was conducted using individual and group, semi-structured in-depth interviews with informal and formal caregivers of PLS. This study was conducted in a hospital, three universities, and a non-governmental organization in Tehran, Iran. Results: The majority (69%) of the participants were females. About half of the informal caregivers were over 60 years old and about 40% of the formal caregivers were in the age range of 30 to 40 years. The average number of years of work for informal caregivers was 17.6 years and the average of work experience among the formal caregivers was 14.1 years. Seven key dual themes were identified from data: ‘awareness-stigma’, ‘social support-social exclusion’, ‘treatment adherence-treatment discontinuation’, ‘holistic approach – one-dimensional approach’, ‘supported employment-social dysfunction’, ‘emotional management in family – family with high emotional expression’, and ‘access to treatment-treatment gap’. Conclusion: The results of this research can help practitioners and policymakers to enable evidence-based practices to reduce relapse in PLS by emphasizing and acting on factors identified in our analyses.

The Street-Level Organisation in-between Employer Needs and Client Needs: Creaming Users by Motivation in the Norwegian Employment and Welfare Service (NAV)

Employer engagement is increasingly emphasised in the context of efforts to bring more disadvantaged people into work. A new approach in the Norwegian Employment and Welfare Service (NAV) combines demand-side and supply-side measures in a ‘combined workplace-oriented approach’. Through qualitative interviews with frontline staff – including job coaches following the Supported Employment (SE) method – the paper examines the intermediary role of the street-level organisation (SLO) through the targeted use of SE methods directed at young users and employers. The findings suggest that young users are ‘creamed by motivation’ into the SE programme, which can be explained by the importance the SLO places: on maintaining inter-organisational relationships with employers, on job coaches’ performance goals and the need to uphold an organisational structure in the SLO that seemingly works efficient to shift caseloads of young unemployed into work. Hence, creaming is not specific to outsourcing but can also occur when insourcing employer engagement services into a public SLO. Although relational work directed at both employers and young clients is seen as the benefit of a combined workplace-oriented approach, it appears a rather flimsy foundation for successful ALMPs unless supported by more structural demand-side measures.

Protocol: A mixed methods evaluation of an IPS program to increase employment and well-being for people with long-term experience of complex barriers in Vancouver’s downtown and DTES

Background Employment improves mental health and well-being by providing financial security, daily structure, a sense of identity and purpose, and social engagement. However, securing and sustaining employment is exceptionally challenging for vulnerable populations who experience persistent and multiple barriers, such as mental illness, homelessness, food and housing insecurity, and marginalization. Evidence-based supported employment programs, most notably individual placement and support (IPS) are becoming a more common approach for addressing the needs of these high-risk individuals. The aim of this paper is to outline the protocol for evaluating an IPS program in Vancouver’s downtown and Downtown Eastside (DTES). Methods and design This prospective quasi-experimental study of persons with persistent and multiple barriers to employment will use a mixed-methods approach for evaluating a novel IPS program. The evaluation will consist of survey packages and interviews that will capture outcomes related to employment and well-being, as well as the experiential process of receiving individualized and integrated supports through the IPS program. A mixed-methods approach is appropriate for this study as quantitative data will provide an objective assessment of program impacts on employment and well-being outcomes over time, while qualitative data will provide an in-depth understanding of continued barriers and experiences. Discussion The results from this evaluation will contribute evidence within a local British Columbian (BC) context that may increase access to meaningful employment for those with long-term experience of complex barriers to employment. Further, the findings will support continued improvements, and guide decision-making around practices and policy for future implementation of IPS and employment supports across BC.

An assessment of mental health programs at community health centers in north Minahasa, Indonesia

Background: The Indonesian government recognizes the importance of mental health issues as indicated by the inclusion of such issues as indicators in the national program, the Healthy Indonesian Program with Family Approach (PIS-PK). This program is enforced in community health centers (puskesmas) in every regency in the country. However, the continually increasing number of mental disorder cases and the intense stigmatization of people with these disorders indicate the need to re-evaluate the capacity and delivery of designated centers’ mental health programs.Methods: This community survey involved interviewing the program directors of four community health centers in north Minahasa using the WHO-AIMS 2.2 questionnaire.Results: Very little effort has been made to improve mental health facilities and programs. Examples of aspects of health facilities that are lacking include training for health workers, the provision of psychotropic drugs, and supported employment or occupational rehabilitation.Conclusions: Community health centers are primary healthcare facilities for society. Therefore, mental health services should be implemented as one of their main programs.

The employment information needs of people with intellectual disabilities

<p>Three dimensions of Nick Moore’s (2002) model of social information needs: agents, mechanisms and form, were used to analyse the employment information needs of people with intellectual disabilities in New Zealand. Through semi-structured interviews with people with intellectual disabilities, care givers, disability professionals and supported employment providers it was found that people with intellectual disabilities have great difficulty looking for employment information and that information alone is not enough to encourage people with intellectual disabilities into pursuing employment opportunities. Previous experiences and expectations played a strong role in discouraging information seeking. Many participants were nervous about beginning to look for employment information as they had very little previous experience in doing so, and held reservations about their chances of being successful. Printed information is not very relevant and tailored or personalised information is the most effective, preferably delivered verbally, in person. Trust and authority were important aspects of information for all of the participants. Structural barriers around minimum wage exemptions and employment subsidies were mentioned as significant by the employers and supported employment agencies. A lack of promotion, due to resource constraints of these services was also sighted as a major barrier and employers believed there was a lack of awareness of the extent of the support available in workplaces. The confidence derived from achieving educational and vocational qualifications is often denied to people with intellectual disabilities through educational structures and the ways in which knowledge is tested and demonstrated. This study has shown this to be a major factor influencing the employment information seeking process of people with intellectual disabilities.</p>

The employment information needs of people with intellectual disabilities

<p>Three dimensions of Nick Moore’s (2002) model of social information needs: agents, mechanisms and form, were used to analyse the employment information needs of people with intellectual disabilities in New Zealand. Through semi-structured interviews with people with intellectual disabilities, care givers, disability professionals and supported employment providers it was found that people with intellectual disabilities have great difficulty looking for employment information and that information alone is not enough to encourage people with intellectual disabilities into pursuing employment opportunities. Previous experiences and expectations played a strong role in discouraging information seeking. Many participants were nervous about beginning to look for employment information as they had very little previous experience in doing so, and held reservations about their chances of being successful. Printed information is not very relevant and tailored or personalised information is the most effective, preferably delivered verbally, in person. Trust and authority were important aspects of information for all of the participants. Structural barriers around minimum wage exemptions and employment subsidies were mentioned as significant by the employers and supported employment agencies. A lack of promotion, due to resource constraints of these services was also sighted as a major barrier and employers believed there was a lack of awareness of the extent of the support available in workplaces. The confidence derived from achieving educational and vocational qualifications is often denied to people with intellectual disabilities through educational structures and the ways in which knowledge is tested and demonstrated. This study has shown this to be a major factor influencing the employment information seeking process of people with intellectual disabilities.</p>