Prévention des risques psychosociaux au sein d’établissements publics d’enseignement agricole : quand le diagnostic organisationnel participe d’une amélioration de la qualité de vie au travail

The aim of this article is to show that a diagnosis of psychosocial risks based on a mixed and participative methodology contributes to improving the quality of life at work. It is based on a “Quality of life at work” approach set up within a public educational institution for agricultural studies. The quantitative part includes the Job Content Questionnaire by Karasek, Siegrist's Effort/Reward Imbalance Questionnaire, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, the Negative Acts Questionnaire (revised) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale from Zigmond and Snaith. The qualitative part is based on focus group discussions. Results have brought to light the groups of employees which are most exposed to risks, especially those in the “school life” sector. They also show that lack of recognition, support and communication are problems experienced by all the staff members of the school. In order to enhance employees’ quality of life within the working environment, a multitude of co-constructed “tailor-made” ways and means of improvement have been suggested. The study shows how the selected methodology contributes to the quality of the diagnosis.     

An Investigation of Quality of Life of the Elderly in South Africa, with Specific Reference to Mpumalanga Province

This paper is based on a research study that investigated the quality of life of elderly persons (aged 60 years and over) in South Africa in the wake of population aging, HIV/AIDS, the process of modernization which ushered in new challenges and the legacy of apartheid. A combination of all these factors among others has played a major role in lowering the quality of life of senior citizens in South Africa. For effective measurement purposes, a conceptual framework of broad categories of quality of life indicators for this proportion of the population are identified as: household structure, social inclusion, care of older persons and care burden on the elderly. Under these broad categories we investigate such specific indicators as: general health; satisfaction with basic needs of food, clothing and housing; emotional well-being; and their environmental harmony regarding access to amenities of transport, sanitation, safe water and security. The influence of socio-demographic factors on the above indicators is also examined. The long term goal of the study is to provide guidance for more creative policies including strategies of poverty reduction, housing older people in a dignified way and providing a wide range of options that facilitate healthy aging, in so doing, catering for the best interests and needs of senior citizens in South Africa. A representative sample of size 900 randomly selected elderly persons in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa is used. Structured interviews and direct observation are used to collect data, and bivariate statistical analyses performed.     

Effectiveness of therapy group in women with localized breast cancer

Background/ObjectiveBreast cancer causes high levels of anxiety and depression, deteriorating quality of life of patients. Several studies have found that group therapy reduces depression and anxiety also improves the quality of life. The aim of this study is to analyze group therapy effectiveness in emotional state and quality of life in women with breast cancer after finalized medical treatments.MethodParticipants in this study were 100 adult women diagnosed of breast cancer non-mestastasic and were divided into two types of intervention groups (Self-esteem-Social Skills and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy). Evaluation instruments were questionnaire Functional Assessment of Breast-cancer Therapy (FACT-B) and Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).ResultsA statistically significant effect of group therapy in reducing anxiety and depression were observed. Quality of life and emotional well-being significantly improved. These effects remain three months after intervention.ConclusionsThe results show that the psychological intervention group is efficient to improve emotional state and quality of life of women with breast cancer.     

Facebook use and sleep quality: Light interacts with socially induced alertness

It has been demonstrated that the use of social networking sites late at night can lead to sleep‐related problems that extend into the next day. A common explanation is that the light emitted from screens is disrupting the users’ circadian rhythms. An alternative explanation is that the social cognition inherent in the use of social networking sites is responsible. Here, the two factors were looked at together. Participants used Facebook on iPad tablets before sleep. This was done on different nights with two lighting conditions and with two levels of content. In the ‘light’ condition, blue wavelength light was manipulated so that it was either full wavelength or blue light filtered. In the ‘alertness’ condition, the personal significance of the content was changed from personally relevant to irrelevant. A modified version of the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index was used to measure sleep‐related problems. No evidence was found that simply filtering blue light or simply removing relevant content improved sleep quality. However, the two factors interacted. The results suggest that the light emitted from screens can affect sleep quality under some conditions but this is behaviourally irrelevant in the context of normal Facebook usage.     

Life experiences of people who stutter, and the perceived impact of stuttering on quality of life: personal accounts of South African individuals

The purpose of the study was to investigate the life experiences of a group of South African adults who stutter and the impact of stuttering on their quality of life. Participants were 16 adults with a mean age of 28.9 and ranging from 20 to 59 years. Methods involved individual interviews designed to explore the life domains of education; social life; employment; speech therapy; family and marital life; and identity, beliefs and emotional issues. Main findings of the study indicated that the majority of participants perceived their stuttering to have impacted on their academic performance at school, and relationships with teachers and classmates. Although their stuttering was not perceived to adversely influence their ability to establish friendships, people generally reacted negatively to their stuttering. Many felt that their stuttering did not have an adverse effect on their choice of occupation, ability to obtain work, and relationships with managers and co-workers, although it was perceived to influence their work performance and hamper their chances for promotion. Although the majority viewed their speech therapy experiences as being negative; more than half the sample believed that speech therapy had, nevertheless exerted a positive effect on their quality of life. Overall, stuttering did not appear to have influenced participants’ family and marital life. Most participants felt that stuttering had affected their self-esteem and self-image, and had evoked strong emotions within them. Findings are taken to suggest the need to incorporate subjective feelings about stuttering into the clinical practice of speech-language therapy; to provide information and coping strategies for teachers and employers; and for further research.

Educational objectives: After completing this activity, the reader will be able to: (1) describe and explain the perceived impact of stuttering on quality of life in terms of education; social life; employment; speech therapy; family and marital life; and identity, beliefs and emotional issues; (2) to interpret and utilize the subjective meanings that individuals attach to their stuttering to improve stuttering treatment, counseling and research.     

Technologies émergentes et transformations digitales de l’activité : enjeux pour l’activité et la santé au travail

The question of the introduction of emerging technologies and their incessant renewal in organizations basically refers to the place and role that these devices play in activity, as well as how they can affect activity and health at work … Thought as a prospective reflection trying to grasp the logic and the modalities of the digital transformations in progress, the ambition of this paper is: (i) first, identify and characterize the emerging technologies that are deployed in the company; (ii) discuss their impact on the activity and well-being of employees, showing the uses and paradoxical effects that these devices can have on work; and (iii) finally think about the psychosocial function of these devices as potential health and business development operators.     

Quality of life and depression in haemodialysis patients

Chronic kidney disease is associated with a high prevalence of depression, which increases inversely with the glomerular filtration rate. This paper aims to evaluate the factors associated with a low quality of life and depression in patients on haemodialysis. Two hundred patients undergoing haemodialysis answered the Medical Outcomes Study 36 – Item Short – Form Health Survey (SF-36) and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). Clinical and laboratory variables were analysed and correlated with these two tools. The prevalence of depression was 29%. Anaemia and hypoalbuminemia were independent risk factors for depression. All SF-36 domains showed worse results in patients with depression, and the pain domain presented the highest correlation. Our findings provide evidence that patients on haemodialysis have a low quality of life and a high prevalence of depression. A greater number of comorbidities, an excessive number of medications, diabetes mellitus, anaemia and hypoalbuminemia were associated with a reduced quality of life.     

Cognitive exercise through body movement: Using a fun and short neuropsychological tool to adapt physical activity and enhance pleasure in individuals suffering from mental illnesses

Mental illness is associated to both metabolic and cognitive deficits. The idea here is to use adapted physical activity (APA) to help both aspects of pathology within a personal-targeted cognitive intervention program in order to enhance self-efficacy and intrinsic motivation. Using a multi-experience neuropsychological tool set (comprising touch pad exercises, wood puzzles and one-on-one semi-structured interviews), the different domains of action, timing, executive functions and social cognition were evaluated in a short 30-minute session. These computerized neuropsychological data were then used to adapt the difficulty of the proposed physical activity. Results obtained in a small group of ten patients revealed that the battery was well accepted. Both quantitative and qualitative results were collected and suggested that after 4 sessions of 2 h activity, the scores were improved for motor planning, motivation and the subjective report of quality of life. These preliminary data are important as they show that new technology can now be used to adapt automatically physical activities to the motor, cognitive and emotional capacities of the targeted individuals. Touch pads may also afford an innovating way to evaluate efficiently cognitive abilities while preserving the pleasure of the moment.     

Effects of Participation in Decision Making on Performance and Employee Attitudes: A Quality Circles Meta-analysis

This study explores the effects of a participative technique, quality circles (QCs), on several employee attitudes and performance. The sample included 36 studies with 42 independent samples. Mean effect sizes were small for employee attitudes and moderate for job performance suggesting QCs affected job performance to a greater degree than employee attitudes. For organizations involved in quality management these results seem to suggest that quality interventions have a stronger impact on job performance than on employee attitudes. The study conclusions provide a positive outlook on the effects of total quality management interventions on productivity.