Archive for February, 2009
28
Feb
Categories:Health Studies
There are clearly ‘bottom-line’ reasons why you should seriously consider the well-being of your employees, because satisfied and committed employees offer superior customer/client service and are the engine of success; however, there are there legal reasons. There are positive and negative sides of health and safety at work to be considered. On the negative side is the threat of legal action if the law is violated, and the fear that disgruntled employees will use this legislation to tarnish the image of the organization. However, there’s also a very positive side to dealing with health and safety issues head-on: if adequate policies and procedures are put in place then there is a much reduced risk of legislation, and policies/procedures take the steam out of any employee’s claim that they were put at unnecessary risk in the workplace.
In order to ensure that you comply with health and safety legislation, it is vital that all staff are educated and made aware of what is required of them – these matters do not belong only to the Health and Safety Manager!
Stress in the Workplace
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines stress as,
“An adverse reaction a person has to excessive pressure or other types of demands placed upon them.’
The HSE states that employers have a responsibility to help reduce stress which may arise in their employees as a result of their work. That is, employers have a legal duty of care to ensure that their employees are not harmed by work-related stress.
One of the major reasons why stress policies and procedures are not effective, according to HSE is,
“If the project group making the decisions do not understand stress and the issues involved”.
What are the Legal Duties?
Organisations must adhere to statutory regulation concerning health and safety in the workplace; and line managers are required to understand these requirements, especially in relation to stress and unacceptable working practices. Therefore, it is essential to have clearly formulated Health and Safety policies, as well as effective plans for their implementation.
UK employers have a statutory duty to assess the risk of workplace stress to their employees. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publish guidelines for organisations to implement, but putting these elements into practice can be difficult. (We provide summaries of HSE documents on our website, Psychology4biz.com.)
The first step is to undertake a risk assessment, which sets out the foreseen hazards. In addition to appointing competent people to implement the health and safety measures identified by the risk assessment, it is vital that clear information and training is provided to employees.
But What in Practice Must I do?
The objective of stress management is not to eliminate stress, but rather to control its damaging aspects. After all, a certain amount of stress is both inevitable and, even, desirable – in HSE terms, this is defined as normal work-related pressure. Damaging pressure (i.e., stress) consists of working conditions (e.g., high work load) that employees feel they are unable to control. Some employees can handle very high work loads because they feel in control of their work and, therefore, are not ‘stress-out’; rather, they are rather ‘highly motivated’. The central role of psychological control is fundamental subjective, and once again it depends, to a large extent, on the well-being of the individual. Low well-being leads to feels of being out of control at work levels that are much lower than individuals with high well-being.
Wellbeing and Resilence
Management have a statutory responsibility for supporting their employee in a manner that promotes resilience when work load increases. However, employees also need to know how they should handle stress — they need to be given the tools to recognize the sources of stress and how to avoid its negative consequences. Once again, it comes down to education and knowledge. All too often work pressure comes ‘out of the blue’ (which adds to people feeling they are out of control), but usually, although not always, this is because there has been inadequate planning.
Providing employees with knowledge about the causes and effects of stress is vital. When combined with good working conditions, employees are then be required to manage the degree of pressure they can tolerate and to ask for additional support when they feel their workload is exceeding their ability to cope. It’s not just about management ‘making it easy’ for employees; in the eyes of the HSE, employees too have to take responsibility, but they can only do this after they have been educated about the work-related pressure and stress.
Human Resources, Stress and Organizational Success
Research shows that, unfortunately in the UK, Human Resources is still not seen as a force for strategetic change within organizations – although, more enlighthened organsiations are starting to recognize this reality. For example, there is an impressive array of organizational-level outcomes that HR Directors strongly influence, including: delivering customer satisfaction, attraction and retention of the best talent, reduced absenteeism and organisational citizenship.
The Occupational Health, or Health and Safety, office or manager may be responsible for meeting statutory HSE guidelines on stress, but they will not normally be also responsible for customer/client service, etc. However, an integrated approach is needed to ensure that all the organisational goals are met by properly managing employees. Such research goes to underscore the fundamental importance placed on well-being in achieving a wide range of organizational goals.
Tackling Stress Before it’s too Late: How to Stop the Horse Bolting
According to Personal Today, most employers focus on helping employees who have suffered stress-related ill health to return to work rather than tackling its causes in the first place. A sobering thought is that, each year, nearly 13 million working days are lost to stress-related ill health, at a cost estimated by the Health and Safety Executive to be nearly 10 billon every year. This is a terrible waste of resources, and usually a very ineffective way to deal with workplace stress.
The fact is that much of this stress-related illness could be avoided. For example, the Employment Review suggests that early interventions designed to prevent stress-related illness can be as simple as providing information leaflets.
Some form of counselling is typically provided to employees returning to work after a stress-related absence. The reliance on techniques such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is backed by evidence of clinical effectiveness. One 2006 study by the London School of Economics claimed a £750 course of CBT was both cheaper and more effective than drug-based solutions.
Today, there are available very cost-effective online CBT programs that nip in the bud early signs of stress, and can be used to treat more advanced cases. These programs are starting to revolutionalise the CBT field for the following reasons. It can take many months before the first session with a face-to-face CBT therapist. During this time, the employee may have been off sick for many months, resulting in lost productivity. The longer the employee is off work the less chance there is that they will return to work, which incurs further costs in terms of subsequent recruitment. There’s also the real risk that the employee will commence a legal action against their employer. Even if this action is unjustified, considerable organisational resources, in terms of time and money, will need to be devoted to defend the claim.
Wellbeing is the key to so many organisational outcomes and personal health and happiness. Therefore, dealing with stress in the workplace is not only about the need for employers to meet their statutory responsibilities, but it is also about making high-performing, successful organisations that are sustainable and where talented people want to work and where they thrive.
For these reasons, we established Psychology4biz.com to help organisations apply psychology to maximise the their potential of their people for superior organisational success.
Professor Philip Corr
Dr Giles Burch
Psychology For You Limited
Psychology4biz.com
By: Professor Philip Corr
About the Author:
In order to ensure that you comply with health and safety legislation, it is vital that all staff are educated and made aware of what is required of them – these matters do not belong only to the Health and Safety Manager!
Stress in the Workplace
The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) defines stress as,
“An adverse reaction a person has to excessive pressure or other types of demands placed upon them.’
The HSE states that employers have a responsibility to help reduce stress which may arise in their employees as a result of their work. That is, employers have a legal duty of care to ensure that their employees are not harmed by work-related stress.
One of the major reasons why stress policies and procedures are not effective, according to HSE is,
“If the project group making the decisions do not understand stress and the issues involved”.
What are the Legal Duties?
Organisations must adhere to statutory regulation concerning health and safety in the workplace; and line managers are required to understand these requirements, especially in relation to stress and unacceptable working practices. Therefore, it is essential to have clearly formulated Health and Safety policies, as well as effective plans for their implementation.
UK employers have a statutory duty to assess the risk of workplace stress to their employees. The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) publish guidelines for organisations to implement, but putting these elements into practice can be difficult. (We provide summaries of HSE documents on our website, Psychology4biz.com.)
The first step is to undertake a risk assessment, which sets out the foreseen hazards. In addition to appointing competent people to implement the health and safety measures identified by the risk assessment, it is vital that clear information and training is provided to employees.
But What in Practice Must I do?
The objective of stress management is not to eliminate stress, but rather to control its damaging aspects. After all, a certain amount of stress is both inevitable and, even, desirable – in HSE terms, this is defined as normal work-related pressure. Damaging pressure (i.e., stress) consists of working conditions (e.g., high work load) that employees feel they are unable to control. Some employees can handle very high work loads because they feel in control of their work and, therefore, are not ‘stress-out’; rather, they are rather ‘highly motivated’. The central role of psychological control is fundamental subjective, and once again it depends, to a large extent, on the well-being of the individual. Low well-being leads to feels of being out of control at work levels that are much lower than individuals with high well-being.
Wellbeing and Resilence
Management have a statutory responsibility for supporting their employee in a manner that promotes resilience when work load increases. However, employees also need to know how they should handle stress — they need to be given the tools to recognize the sources of stress and how to avoid its negative consequences. Once again, it comes down to education and knowledge. All too often work pressure comes ‘out of the blue’ (which adds to people feeling they are out of control), but usually, although not always, this is because there has been inadequate planning.
Providing employees with knowledge about the causes and effects of stress is vital. When combined with good working conditions, employees are then be required to manage the degree of pressure they can tolerate and to ask for additional support when they feel their workload is exceeding their ability to cope. It’s not just about management ‘making it easy’ for employees; in the eyes of the HSE, employees too have to take responsibility, but they can only do this after they have been educated about the work-related pressure and stress.
Human Resources, Stress and Organizational Success
Research shows that, unfortunately in the UK, Human Resources is still not seen as a force for strategetic change within organizations – although, more enlighthened organsiations are starting to recognize this reality. For example, there is an impressive array of organizational-level outcomes that HR Directors strongly influence, including: delivering customer satisfaction, attraction and retention of the best talent, reduced absenteeism and organisational citizenship.
The Occupational Health, or Health and Safety, office or manager may be responsible for meeting statutory HSE guidelines on stress, but they will not normally be also responsible for customer/client service, etc. However, an integrated approach is needed to ensure that all the organisational goals are met by properly managing employees. Such research goes to underscore the fundamental importance placed on well-being in achieving a wide range of organizational goals.
Tackling Stress Before it’s too Late: How to Stop the Horse Bolting
According to Personal Today, most employers focus on helping employees who have suffered stress-related ill health to return to work rather than tackling its causes in the first place. A sobering thought is that, each year, nearly 13 million working days are lost to stress-related ill health, at a cost estimated by the Health and Safety Executive to be nearly 10 billon every year. This is a terrible waste of resources, and usually a very ineffective way to deal with workplace stress.
The fact is that much of this stress-related illness could be avoided. For example, the Employment Review suggests that early interventions designed to prevent stress-related illness can be as simple as providing information leaflets.
Some form of counselling is typically provided to employees returning to work after a stress-related absence. The reliance on techniques such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) is backed by evidence of clinical effectiveness. One 2006 study by the London School of Economics claimed a £750 course of CBT was both cheaper and more effective than drug-based solutions.
Today, there are available very cost-effective online CBT programs that nip in the bud early signs of stress, and can be used to treat more advanced cases. These programs are starting to revolutionalise the CBT field for the following reasons. It can take many months before the first session with a face-to-face CBT therapist. During this time, the employee may have been off sick for many months, resulting in lost productivity. The longer the employee is off work the less chance there is that they will return to work, which incurs further costs in terms of subsequent recruitment. There’s also the real risk that the employee will commence a legal action against their employer. Even if this action is unjustified, considerable organisational resources, in terms of time and money, will need to be devoted to defend the claim.
Wellbeing is the key to so many organisational outcomes and personal health and happiness. Therefore, dealing with stress in the workplace is not only about the need for employers to meet their statutory responsibilities, but it is also about making high-performing, successful organisations that are sustainable and where talented people want to work and where they thrive.
For these reasons, we established Psychology4biz.com to help organisations apply psychology to maximise the their potential of their people for superior organisational success.
Professor Philip Corr
Dr Giles Burch
Psychology For You Limited
Psychology4biz.com
By: Professor Philip Corr
About the Author:
Dr Philip Corr is Professor of Psychology at Swansea University, UK, and is an international authority on emotion, motivation, personality and psychopathology.
Dr Giles Burch is Senior Lecturer in business psychology at Auckland University, NZ, and an expert on the application of psychology to the workplace.
28
Feb
Categories:Health Studies
Every small business in Dallas, Houston and throughout Texas wants to attract high quality individual employees who will contribute to the growth and success of the company. In order to recruit and retain these people, many larger business owners offer health insurance coverage, specifically group health, as an employee benefit.
If your company is small, especially if has ten or fewer employees, there are still ways to offer your employees health insurance coverage. In most states, insurance companies which offer small group health insurance plans are required to accept any employer group of two to 50 employees, provided the employer agrees to insure 100% of the eligible employees.
Before you can offer any health insurance coverage, you must decide how much your employees will pay, as well as the kind of insurance that you wish to offer.
It’s expensive. So who pays?
Most businesses that offer their employees group health insurance plans contribute towards the cost of the coverage. Some pay for all of the employees’ premiums (for single coverage) and let the employees pay the premium if they need coverage for their families. Other businesses pay a percentage of the total cost.
The amount you choose to pay will depend on your own situation. First, think about how your contribution will affect your budget. Second, think about how it affects the desirability of your plan to your present and future employees.
Many businesses choose to have their employees make a contribution towards some of the cost, especially as health care costs and insurance premiums continue to increase.
Plan designs
There are three major types of health plans – managed care, preferred provider, and fee-for-service. The plan that’s best for your business is determined largely by your business location, the physicians and hospitals available through the plan, the options offered by insurance companies, and the constraints of your budget.
Managed care
Managed care plans are agreements between certain doctors, hospitals, and health care providers, and are designed to offer a range of services to members at a reduced cost. Managed care plans are typically HMOs. They may also be referred to as an Individual Practice Association (IPA) or Point of Service (POS) plan.
Most HMOs minimize the out-of-pocket expenses members pay for medical care, as long as members use the HMO’s preferred providers and facilities. If members go outside of the network, they may be responsible for paying the entire bill.
In addition, members must choose a primary care physician, and see that person first whenever they need medical attention. The primary care physician will make necessary referrals to specialists.
With HMOs, the per-visit or annual deductibles are usually lower than with other plans.
Preferred provider
Preferred provider plans, known as PPOs, negotiate price discounts with health care providers. They refer to the health care providers that they have discounts with as “network” providers. PPOs pay a higher percentage of your employees’ claims if they use network providers.
Unlike HMOs members, PPOs members can see physicians without referral and can use physicians outside the network if they are willing to pay the non-network cost sharing.
PPOs generally require more cost sharing than HMOs, even for in network care. The per-visit or annual deductibles are usually higher than with HMO plans.
There may be some managed care elements with PPOs, but not as extensive as HMOs. For example, you may need pre-authorization for a hospital stay, surgery, or an expensive diagnostic test.
Fee for Service
Fee-for-service plans, also known as indemnity plans, allow employees to choose health care providers themselves. This gives them a wide range of options that includes specialists such as cardiologists and surgeons. But because these plans do not give members incentives to use low cost providers, the plans are expensive. Some insurance companies limit the fee-for-service expense by imposing low maximum benefits and/or fee schedules. As with any insurance plan, carefully read the benefit description for a fee-for-service plan.
Check out the insurance company
Along with selecting the right group health plan, selecting an insurance company is important, because the service delivered will directly impact each of your employees. Look for an insurance company with a good network of health care providers, timely claims service, and relatively stable premiums.
In addition, check with other small business owners in the area, or with your Small Business Association. The Texas Department of Insurance will also have information about the financial stability of the insurance companies that you are considering, as well as any history of customer complaints.
Can I choose my own small business health insurance provider?
Sure. Small business group health plans are available from reputable insurance companies who are using the Internet to help reduce administrative expenses.
Do I need an agent to help me select a plan?
No. Keep in mind that many agents only represent a small number of insurance companies. If you use an agent, you should expect him/her to ask questions about your goals and objectives and to learn about your business and employees before recommending a plan.
Health insurance for your employees can be expensive. The following tips will help you ensure you’re offering the best option for employees and the most cost-effective option for you.
Do your homework:
* Survey your employees for their insurance needs. Do their families require insurance?
* Consider insurance plans that require second opinions and include built-in cost containment features.
Talk to your employees:
* Design a plan that includes employee contributions towards cost and keeps employees informed of health care costs and rate changes.
* Create a committee to investigate the group health insurance market.
* Survey your employees to make sure you understand their needs and objectives before launching a plan.
Educate your employees about the cost of appropriate health care:
* Encourage employees to request second opinions and alternative, less invasive treatments.
* Help employees understand what is and is not covered under the plan.
Create a health-conscious work environment:
* Limit smoking at work to designated areas or eliminate it entirely.
* Offer healthy choices in vending machines and alternatives to pizza and beer at employee events.
* Promote moderation in use of alcohol and establish a zero tolerance drug and alcohol abuse policy.
By: Melih Oztalay
About the Author:
If your company is small, especially if has ten or fewer employees, there are still ways to offer your employees health insurance coverage. In most states, insurance companies which offer small group health insurance plans are required to accept any employer group of two to 50 employees, provided the employer agrees to insure 100% of the eligible employees.
Before you can offer any health insurance coverage, you must decide how much your employees will pay, as well as the kind of insurance that you wish to offer.
It’s expensive. So who pays?
Most businesses that offer their employees group health insurance plans contribute towards the cost of the coverage. Some pay for all of the employees’ premiums (for single coverage) and let the employees pay the premium if they need coverage for their families. Other businesses pay a percentage of the total cost.
The amount you choose to pay will depend on your own situation. First, think about how your contribution will affect your budget. Second, think about how it affects the desirability of your plan to your present and future employees.
Many businesses choose to have their employees make a contribution towards some of the cost, especially as health care costs and insurance premiums continue to increase.
Plan designs
There are three major types of health plans – managed care, preferred provider, and fee-for-service. The plan that’s best for your business is determined largely by your business location, the physicians and hospitals available through the plan, the options offered by insurance companies, and the constraints of your budget.
Managed care
Managed care plans are agreements between certain doctors, hospitals, and health care providers, and are designed to offer a range of services to members at a reduced cost. Managed care plans are typically HMOs. They may also be referred to as an Individual Practice Association (IPA) or Point of Service (POS) plan.
Most HMOs minimize the out-of-pocket expenses members pay for medical care, as long as members use the HMO’s preferred providers and facilities. If members go outside of the network, they may be responsible for paying the entire bill.
In addition, members must choose a primary care physician, and see that person first whenever they need medical attention. The primary care physician will make necessary referrals to specialists.
With HMOs, the per-visit or annual deductibles are usually lower than with other plans.
Preferred provider
Preferred provider plans, known as PPOs, negotiate price discounts with health care providers. They refer to the health care providers that they have discounts with as “network” providers. PPOs pay a higher percentage of your employees’ claims if they use network providers.
Unlike HMOs members, PPOs members can see physicians without referral and can use physicians outside the network if they are willing to pay the non-network cost sharing.
PPOs generally require more cost sharing than HMOs, even for in network care. The per-visit or annual deductibles are usually higher than with HMO plans.
There may be some managed care elements with PPOs, but not as extensive as HMOs. For example, you may need pre-authorization for a hospital stay, surgery, or an expensive diagnostic test.
Fee for Service
Fee-for-service plans, also known as indemnity plans, allow employees to choose health care providers themselves. This gives them a wide range of options that includes specialists such as cardiologists and surgeons. But because these plans do not give members incentives to use low cost providers, the plans are expensive. Some insurance companies limit the fee-for-service expense by imposing low maximum benefits and/or fee schedules. As with any insurance plan, carefully read the benefit description for a fee-for-service plan.
Check out the insurance company
Along with selecting the right group health plan, selecting an insurance company is important, because the service delivered will directly impact each of your employees. Look for an insurance company with a good network of health care providers, timely claims service, and relatively stable premiums.
In addition, check with other small business owners in the area, or with your Small Business Association. The Texas Department of Insurance will also have information about the financial stability of the insurance companies that you are considering, as well as any history of customer complaints.
Can I choose my own small business health insurance provider?
Sure. Small business group health plans are available from reputable insurance companies who are using the Internet to help reduce administrative expenses.
Do I need an agent to help me select a plan?
No. Keep in mind that many agents only represent a small number of insurance companies. If you use an agent, you should expect him/her to ask questions about your goals and objectives and to learn about your business and employees before recommending a plan.
Health insurance for your employees can be expensive. The following tips will help you ensure you’re offering the best option for employees and the most cost-effective option for you.
Do your homework:
* Survey your employees for their insurance needs. Do their families require insurance?
* Consider insurance plans that require second opinions and include built-in cost containment features.
Talk to your employees:
* Design a plan that includes employee contributions towards cost and keeps employees informed of health care costs and rate changes.
* Create a committee to investigate the group health insurance market.
* Survey your employees to make sure you understand their needs and objectives before launching a plan.
Educate your employees about the cost of appropriate health care:
* Encourage employees to request second opinions and alternative, less invasive treatments.
* Help employees understand what is and is not covered under the plan.
Create a health-conscious work environment:
* Limit smoking at work to designated areas or eliminate it entirely.
* Offer healthy choices in vending machines and alternatives to pizza and beer at employee events.
* Promote moderation in use of alcohol and establish a zero tolerance drug and alcohol abuse policy.
By: Melih Oztalay
About the Author:
Melih (”may-lee”) Oztalay, CEO
SmartFinds Internet Marketing
Web: www.precedent.com
EMail: melih@hsfideas.com
Precedent puts a new spin on health insurance in Texas.
28
Feb
Categories:Health Studies
Introduction
Literacy is a basic human need and human right to knowledge. It has meaning only when it leads to participation in cultural and social activities. It is empowerment which means ability to make decisions and control affairs of ones own life, economically, socially and politically, it is the first step in a life-long earning process of man and women. Life without literacy is life without hope, security and freedom. It is the foundation of all skills and pre-requisite for economic development. Moreover, according to Stromquist (1995) in modern societies literacy skills are fundamental to informed decision-making, personal empowerment, active and passive participation in local and global social community.
At the same time literacy is helpful in the development of human relations, the economy, the political and social structure of nations and the culture. All these aspects are precisely described below.
Individual Development and Literacy
Literacy is useful at the individual level in inculcating humanistic etiquettes and manners. The human benefits from literature are related to factors such as the improved self-esteem, empowerment, creativity and critical reflection that participation in adult literacy programmes and the practice of literacy may produce. Human benefits are intrinsically valuable and may also be instrumental in realizing other benefits of literacy: improved health, increased political participation and so on (UNESCO, 2006).
The most apparent aspects of the human characters influenced by the literacy teaching are the awareness, empowerment and self esteem. Bown (1990) claims that with the acquisition of literacy masses become more confident and courageous. The awareness produced among them because of the newly imparted knowledge help them to demonstrate decisive and confident behavior. They become more active in their social and private activities.
Literacy can also empower learners to take individual as well as collective action in various contexts of their every day life, such as household, workplace and community. These actions can affect two main related ways. First, literacy programmes themselves may be designed and conducted so as to make participants enough able to become authors of their own learning, developers of their own knowledge and partners in dialogue about limited situations in their lives.
Second, literacy programmes can contribute to broader socio-economic processes of empowerment provided they take place in a supportive environment. Many learners of both the genders want to become able to read and write letters, deal with money only because they desire be to self-reliant and to exert control over everyday-life situations, citing, for instance, keeping secrets and not being cheated (Lind, 1996).
Economic Development and Literacy
An educated and skilled workforce is one of the pillars of the knowledge-based economy. Increasingly, comparative advantages among nations come less from natural resources or cheap labour and more from technical innovations and the competitive use of knowledge. Education is one of the most powerful instruments known for reducing poverty and inequality and for laying the basis for sustained economic growth. Literacy is a word that is usually associated with the more positive aspects of human civilization, like social and economic development. Indeed, the label illiterate has been used and is today often used to characterize the poverty and lack of education still experienced in many parts of the world. Whether in the domain of religious tradition, the invention of the printing press, or the Internet, literacy has been central to many of our most profound human and historical developments.
Literacy has a wide range of advantages and benefits for economic, social and political development of a country. The positive relationship between economic development and literacy levels and the impact of investment in education on economic growth are well established. The transiting of the world towards a knowledge based economy is adding to the importance of human resources in general, and of education in particular. Human resources are poised to commend an increasingly important role in the balance of world economics and, hence, political power. Literacy is linked to economic success as literacy levels help determines the kind of jobs people find, the salaries they make and their ability to upgrade their work skills. Literacy and adult education have been recognized as essential elements of human resource development. It is a big factor in the economic success of a society. That’s because our literacy levels help determine the kind of jobs we find, the salaries we make and whether we’re likely to experience unemployment in our lives.
Literacy is one of the major objectives of the educational system, and the number of years of education has long been found to be a good predictor of individual earnings. How much of the benefits of education can be accounted for by an individual’s level of literacy is described by Osberg, L. (2001) in the following way;
The first examination of men employed full time and full year shows that literacy accounts for about 30% of the return to education. Whatever way the literacy scores is stretched for the full-time, full-year work force, it is always statistically significant.
In the same way while discussing the benefits of the acquisition of lit skill Osberg, L. (2001) describes the impact of literacy upon the personal earnings regarding ones investment in the process of literacy acquisition is as under;
If we look at males who work full time, full year, and measure education by credentials obtained, the conclusion that literacy skills explain a significant fraction of the return to education is altered. In some cases, the impact of literacy skills appears greater. It appears that including a control for measured literacy skills reduces by 40% to 45% the estimated benefit of a university education. Although the impact of including measured literacy with very low education is less (a 16% to 26% decline), this examination still indicates that much of the measured benefit of education is due to literacy skills.
Likewise, Fiedrich &Jellene (2003) state that a substantial body of evidence indicates that literacy increases the productivity and earning potential of a population. An educated person earns more and has greater labour mobility. While analysing the impact of literacy UNESCO (2005) observes that literacy not only enhances the individuals earning, it also has positive influence upon the economic growth of a country;
Around the world, renewed emphasis is being placed by governments and employers on literacy and numeric skills for all people to enhance their employability, job satisfaction, level of remuneration and community participation. Recent OECD research has indicated that raising a country’s literacy score by 1 per cent leads to a rise in productivity of 2.5 per cent with the flow-on increase of 1.5 per cent in GDP.
Since 1980, the wage difference between adults without a high school diploma, those with a high school diploma, and those with some post-secondary education has steadily grown wider. This trend helps explain why the current income differential between the top 20 percent of earners and the bottom 20 percent is at a historic high. In 1997, high school graduates earned an average of 42 percent more than those with less than a high school education, and this wage gap continues to grow.
Education investments are also crucial for the sustained economic growth that low-income countries are seeking to stimulate, and without which long-term poverty reduction is impossible. Literacy directly contributes to worker productivity, and can promote better natural resource management and more rapid technological adaptation and innovation. The same findings are described by Hanushek & Kimko (2000) when they say;
It is fundamental to the creation of a competitive, knowledge-based economy, not only for the direct production of the critical mass of scientists and skilled workers that every country requires—no matter how small or poor—but also because broad-based education is associated with faster diffusion of information within the economy, which is crucial for enabling workers and citizens in both the traditional and modern sectors to increase productivity.
Literacy is one of the most powerful instruments societies have for reducing deprivation and vulnerability. It helps lift earnings potential and expands labour mobility. Still, literacy can be thought of as a currency in any society. It is the most powerful instruments known for reducing poverty and inequality and for laying the basis for sustained economic growth. It is fundamental for the construction of democratic societies and dynamic, globally competitive economies. For individuals and for nations, literacy is the key to creating, applying, and spreading knowledge.
In the present era, literacy is also recognized as an important tool for national development. It is also important to describe the contribution of literacy in various aspects of other development. Literacy is often understood as something that is good for the individual and society. According to Carr-Hill, R. A. et al. (2001) the education of each individual has the possibility of making others better off (in addition to the individual benefits). Specifically, a more educated society may translate into higher rates of innovation, higher overall productivity through firms’ ability to introduce new and better production methods, and faster introduction of new technology.
UNESCO (2005) discussed the relationship of literacy and development as under;
A community cannot foster development without an educated population. Businesses, large or small, are unlikely to choose to invest if skilled or trainable human resources are unavailable. Similarly, a community cannot retain educated people without an attractive economic environment.
Social Development and Literacy
Literacy may also have social consequences that are important objectives for national policy planning. Particularly in developing countries, the gender dimension of illiteracy has been raised in this regard, as the majority of illiterate or low-literate adults tend to be female in the poorest developing nations (Stromquist, 1999). Furthermore, there are numerous empirical relationships between literacy and fertility, infant mortality, and so forth. It is an admitted fact that literacy occupies an essential place in the life of the community. Beyond a reflection on citizenship, we put forward the idea of an active society in which individuals have a sense of freedom, but also one of responsibility. There will be no progress for mankind without an awareness that each one of us has for their freedom and their responsibility, whether in their community, their nation or in the world. Links between education and society are strong, and each influences the other. Education can help change society by improving and strengthening skills, values, communications, mobility, personal prosperity and freedom. UNESCO (2006) observes the influence of literacy upon the social life of an individual in the following way;
The practice of literacy can be instrumental in people’s achievement of a range of capabilities such as maintaining good health and living longer, learning throughout life, controlling reproductive behavior, raising healthy children and educating them. Improving literacy levels thus has potentially large social benefits, such as increased life expectancy, reduced child mortality and improved children’s health. The evidence has often focused on the benefits of education, as opposed to literacy per se, but evidence on the effects of adult literacy programmes is beginning to accumulate.
The changes in society have also affected our roles as parents and family members. Parents are the first and most important teachers of their children, and their role is becoming increasingly more demanding. Standards-based education reform is raising the bar for children, and higher standards may force more children out of the traditional school system before they have acquired needed skills. Children profit from the support of educated, concerned parents in meeting the learning challenges that face them. Parents need adequate literacy skills to help children prepare to enter school and to support children’s continued learning. In homes where parents have low literacy skills and do not model literacy as an important value, children’s learning can suffer. In fact, problems associated with low literacy are often intergenerational. Parents with low literacy skills are often unable to help prepare young children for school or participate fully in the academic activities of their school-age children
The services of literacy regarding social life are much obvious in four major aspects namely health, gender equality, education, and reproductive behavior. Above all literacy also has implications for the safety of the communities. Along with the traditional components of literacy, citizens may need higher order thinking and problem-solving skills, computer and other technology-related skills, literacy skills necessary for the workplace, and literacy skills appropriate for family life.
The acquisition of literacy benefits personal health. Particularly powerful for girls, it profoundly affects reproductive health, and also improves child mortality and welfare through better nutrition and higher immunization rates. A growing body of longitudinal research evaluating the health benefits of literacy programmes points to the same impact as that of education, and indeed in some cases, to a greater impact. For example, infant mortality was less among Nicaraguan mothers who had participated in an adult literacy campaign than among those who had not, and the reduction was greater for those made literate in the literacy campaign than for those made literate in primary school (Sandiford et al., 1995). Similarly, Bolivian women who attended literacy and basic education programmes displayed gains in health-related knowledge and behavior, unlike women who had not participated in such programmes (UNESCO, 2006). Moreover, it seems that in the future education may be the single most effective preventive weapon against HIV/AIDS.
But, the results of literacy programmes that directly address health related instructions had not proved much successful. Some studies indicate that literacy programmes that themselves attempt to transmit health information have not been particularly successful as the participants preferred reading and writing over receiving health knowledge (Robinson-Pant, 2005). Thus, in the countries with low literacy rates there is need of such literacy programmes that stress upon the acquisition of the reading and writing skills rather than some technical skill or training in a particular field.
As far as the impact of literacy of gender equality is concerned it had proved helpful in reducing any kind of such inequality. Education is a great leveler whereas the illiteracy being one of the strongest predictors of poverty. Primary education plays a catalytic role for those most likely to be poor, including girls, ethnic minorities, orphans, disabled people, and rural families. By enabling larger numbers to share in the growth process, literacy can be the powerful tide that lifts all boats. The gender inequality between the men and the women is being tried to reduce through giving more stress to the female literacy, limiting the ways in which gender equality can be addressed holistically and directly through the programmes themselves. The programmes have thus tended to concentrate specifically on women’s inequality rather than gender equality. Participation in adult literacy programmes does enable women to gain access to and challenge male domains by entering male-dominated areas of work, learning languages of power previously associated with men and participating in household finances. Examples of elite languages newly available to women include English in Uganda and posh Bangla in Bangladesh (Fiedrich and Jellema, 2003). Similarly, in some Bangladesh households, literacy has enabled women to become involved in the financial management of the household, previously controlled by men (Maddox, 2005). In India, an evaluation of a literacy programme showed that women learners had a strong desire to earn. Similarly, women may become aware of further education possibilities or of information about AIDS prevention through literacy.
The productive behavior is also influenced with the literacy acquisition. The negative correlation between education and fertility is well established (Cochrane, 1979). For example, studies based on demographic and health surveys find that, on average, a 10% expansion in the primary gross enrolment ratio lowers the total fertility rate by 0.1 children and a 10% increase in the secondary gross enrolment ratio by 0.2 children (Hannum and Buchmann, 2003). Moreover, the mechanisms whereby education may reduce fertility include its effects on women’s autonomy, infant mortality and child health, spouse choice, marriage age, female employment outside the home and the costs of educating children.
Another important aspect of the social advantages of literacy is that it has significant educational benefits. Literacy on one hand supports the cause of education. But, on the other hand it is itself influenced by the level of education. For example, the parents who themselves are educated, whether through schooling or adult programmes, are more likely to send their children to school and more able to help the children in the course of their schooling. It used to be thought that literacy contributes to the development of abstract reasoning (UNESCO, 2006). In general, the effects of literacy are more likely to be determined by formal schooling, socialization, and the cultural practices of a particular society than by literacy.
Cultural Development and Literacy
Literacy has an important relation with the culture. This relation is of two modes. Firstly, literacy influences the culture. It is helpful in bringing the cultural change and preservation of the present cultural values and norms. Moreover, the transformation of culture, in one way or the other, is also dependent of literacy. Secondly, literacy itself is influenced by the prevailing cultural environment as planning of a literacy programmes is usually done according to the present culture along with the future needs and requirements. That is why the literacy materials, and the strategies of literacy imparting always correspond with the cultural aspects.
At the same the cultural benefits of literacy are harder to identify clearly than benefits in terms of political participation. Adult literacy programmes may facilitate the transmission of certain values and promote transformation of other values, attitudes and behaviors through critical reflection. They also provide access to written culture, which the newly literate may choose to explore independently of the cultural orientation of the literacy programmes in which they participated. Adult literacy programmes can thus be instrumental in preserving and promoting cultural openness and diversity. However, ‘any effect that literacy may have on the culture (i.e. what people believe and how they do things) of an individual or group will be slow, will not be easily and immediately accessible, and will be difficult to identify as the outcome of a single intervention such as a literacy and adult education programme’ (Farah, 2005).
The impact of literacy in the cultural change is also very important. It brings in to action new concepts, norms and values after enabling the people to analyze their existing attitudes and behaviors as literacy programmes can help challenge attitudes and behavioral patterns. Indeed, this type of cultural transformation is central to the Foreran approach, which aims to develop skills of critical reflection (Freire, 1987). Literacy programme also try to affect other cultural aspects as stated by UNESCO (2006);
Many programmes also aim to promote values such as equity, inclusion, and respect for cultural diversity, peace and active democracy. However, such transformation typically is limited.
Adult literacy programmes can help preserve cultural diversity. In particular, literacy programmes that make use of minority languages have the potential to improve people’s ability to participate in their own culture. This has been observed in programmes whose outcomes included the writing down of folk tales (Chebanne et al., 2001).
But, new approaches to literacy suggest that literacy is always contextualized, situated within a particular socio-cultural setting. There is a growing awareness that there is no one universally applicable form of literacy. Rather, there are different literacy’s and literacy practices for different groups (occupational groupings, for example) and for different kinds of activities (religion, education, commercial activities etc) and for different social and institutional contexts.
Now if we consider above presented framework of literacy it becomes essential that the planning of literacy programmes should be done very carefully so that it can become inline with the ever changing culture.
Political Development and Literacy
Literacy is a tool for creating the political awareness among the masses. It helps them to understand the nature of government in their country and ways for effective communication with it for the solution of their problems. Literacy possesses the empowering potential that can be translated into the increased political awareness and participation. It in return contributes to the quality of public policies and the democracy.
As far as the relationship between education and political participation is concerned, it is well established (Hannum and Buchmann, 2003). Educated people are to some extent more likely to vote and voice more tolerant attitudes and democratic values. According to Carron et al. (1989) participation in adult literacy programmes is also correlated with increased participation in trade unions, community action and national political life, especially when empowerment is at the core of programme design. Evident are there that the expansion of education may contribute to the expansion of democracy and vice versa (UNESCO, 2006). In return the democratic classroom practices are the most effective means of promoting civic knowledge and engagement among students.
Likewise, literacy has the potential to benefit disadvantaged ethnic groups and the minorities of different states. But, this benefit is of literacy become doubtful because in some countries the traditional caste system is too strong that it does not permit the members of minority group or disadvantaged people even to have a meal with them or allow them to participate in their ceremonies or social .activities. The same fact is precisely advocated by Hannum and Buchmann (2003) in the following words;
A range of experiences appears to support the statement that ‘It is not safe to assume that expansion in access to education will allow disadvantaged minorities to “catch up” with initially advanced ethnic groups, at least in the short run’.
Conclusion
By keeping in view over all importance of literacy, it can easily be concluded that:
1. Literacy makes the people more consistent in their attitudes and actions, more polite and civilized in their dealings, more accurate and perfect in their decisions and reliable in their every day life. Moreover, literacy helps in building confidence among individuals by providing them the necessary knowledge and skills to combat their problems and difficulties. Finally, literacy occupies an essential place in the life of the community. Beyond a reflection on citizenship, we put forward the idea of an active society in which individuals have a sense of freedom, but also one of responsibility. There will be no progress for mankind without an awareness that each one of us has for their freedom and their responsibility, whether in their community, their nation or in the world.
2. Few countries are unconscious to the perception that a literate and skilled populace can have an important impact on the social and economic life of each nation. Numerous claims have been put forward that a given minimum rate of literacy is a prerequisite for economic growth in developing countries. In the context of global competition, adult illiteracy will lead to economic ruin.
3. Literacy or basic education is really become as effective tools to help people solve the problems they face in their daily life and also assist them to live in harmony with their rapidly changing environment. People today have to be able to realize that they can use education to seek vocational skills to improve the quality of life so as to reach happiness which is based on each individual’s personal experiences, complete happiness can be achieved when there is no physical or emotional conflict between man and his environment physically or mentally. This shows that basic education or literacy today plays the important role as the tools that will enable individual to create his own harmony between himself and today’s rapidly changing surroundings especially the world today.
4. The impact of literacy in the cultural change is also very important. It brings in to action new concepts, norms and values after enabling the people to analyze their existing attitudes and behaviors as literacy programmes can help challenge attitudes and behavioral patterns
5. The most important aspect of education is that without it all learning comes to a stop. We would literally be thrown back in time to before there was reading or writing. Literacy is important because it makes us who we are. It makes us individual, and distinct. Literacy is the key to all learning and the path to the future. Moreover, the advantages of literacy go on forever, but one more example of how literacy helps us is that without it we are nothing in today’s world. Being illiterate in today’s world often means low paying jobs, little to no respect from our peers, and the constant question of how long will I be able to work here. Being literate gives us advantages; being illiterate gives us none, it only gives us obstacles.
Bibliography
Bown, L. (1990) Preparing the Future: Women, Literacy and Development, Action Aid Development Report No. 4, London: Action Aid /ODA.
Carr-Hill, R. with Okech, A., Katahoire, A., Kakooza, T., Ndidde, A., Oxenham, J. (2001) Adult Literacy Programs in Uganda, Washington D.C.: Human Development Africa Region, The World Bank.
Carron, G., Mwiria, K.,and Righ,G. (1989) The Functioning and Effects of Kenyn Literacy Program. Research Repaort No.76. Paris: International Institue for educational Planning.
Chebanne, A., Nyati-Ramhobo, L., and Youngman, F. (2001). The Development of minority Languages for Adult Literacy in Botswana: Towards Cultural Diversity. Paper presented at International Literacy Conference held at Cap town, 13-17 Nov 2001.
Cochrane, S.H. (1979) Fertility and Education: what do we really know? Baltimore Md.: The John Hopkins University Press
Farah, I (2005).Improvment in Quality of Life Indices: Role of Women Literacy in Rural Punjab, Pakistan. InMadhu Singh(ed) Institutionalizing Life Long Learning: Creating Conducive Enviourment for Adult Learning in Asian Context.
Fiedrich, M. and Jellema, A. (2003) Literacy, Gender and Social Agency: Adventures in Empowerment, DFID Research Report 53, September 2003
Freire, P. and Macedo, D. (1987) Literacy: Reading the Word and the World. Bergin & Farvey Publishers, Farvey South Hadley, MA, USA.
Hannum, E. and Buchmann, C. (2003). “The Consequences of Global Educational Expansion: Social Science Perspectives.” New York: American Academy of Arts and Sciences. http://www.amacad.org/publications/monographs/Ubase.pdf
Hanushek, E. A., and D. Kimko. (2000). “Schooling, labor-force quality, and the growth of nations.” American Economic Review 90:1184-1208.
Lind, A. (1996). Free to Speak Up’ Overall Evaluation of the National Literacy Programme in Namibia. Namibia:Directorate of Adult basic Education.
Maddox, I. (2005). Assessing the Impact of Women’s Literacies in Bangladash: An Ethnographic Inquiry. International Journal of Educational Development No. 25 pp123-132.
Osberg, L. (2001). Needs nad Wants: What is Social Progress and how should it be measured. The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress 2001. Vol. I pp23-41
Robinson-Pant, A. (2005) ‘The Sicial Benefits of Literacy’. London: Routledge
Sandiford, P.J., Cassel, M. Sanchez, G. (1995) ‘The impact of women’s literacy on child health and its interaction with access to health services’, Population Studies 49.
Stromquist, N. (1995) ‘Romancing the State: Gender and Power in Education’ Comparative Education Review 39 (4): 423-54
Stromquist, N. (1999) ‘Women’s Education in the Twenty First Century. Balance and Prospects’, in R. Arnove and C. Torres (eds) Comparative Education. Dialectic of the Global and the Local,: Rowman & Littlefield.
UNESCO, (2005). Education For All Global Monitoring Report, 2005 Paris: UNESCO.
UNESCO, (2006). Education For All Global Monitoring Report, 2006 Paris: UNESCO.
By: Aijaz Ahmed Gujjar
About the Author:
Literacy is a basic human need and human right to knowledge. It has meaning only when it leads to participation in cultural and social activities. It is empowerment which means ability to make decisions and control affairs of ones own life, economically, socially and politically, it is the first step in a life-long earning process of man and women. Life without literacy is life without hope, security and freedom. It is the foundation of all skills and pre-requisite for economic development. Moreover, according to Stromquist (1995) in modern societies literacy skills are fundamental to informed decision-making, personal empowerment, active and passive participation in local and global social community.
At the same time literacy is helpful in the development of human relations, the economy, the political and social structure of nations and the culture. All these aspects are precisely described below.
Individual Development and Literacy
Literacy is useful at the individual level in inculcating humanistic etiquettes and manners. The human benefits from literature are related to factors such as the improved self-esteem, empowerment, creativity and critical reflection that participation in adult literacy programmes and the practice of literacy may produce. Human benefits are intrinsically valuable and may also be instrumental in realizing other benefits of literacy: improved health, increased political participation and so on (UNESCO, 2006).
The most apparent aspects of the human characters influenced by the literacy teaching are the awareness, empowerment and self esteem. Bown (1990) claims that with the acquisition of literacy masses become more confident and courageous. The awareness produced among them because of the newly imparted knowledge help them to demonstrate decisive and confident behavior. They become more active in their social and private activities.
Literacy can also empower learners to take individual as well as collective action in various contexts of their every day life, such as household, workplace and community. These actions can affect two main related ways. First, literacy programmes themselves may be designed and conducted so as to make participants enough able to become authors of their own learning, developers of their own knowledge and partners in dialogue about limited situations in their lives.
Second, literacy programmes can contribute to broader socio-economic processes of empowerment provided they take place in a supportive environment. Many learners of both the genders want to become able to read and write letters, deal with money only because they desire be to self-reliant and to exert control over everyday-life situations, citing, for instance, keeping secrets and not being cheated (Lind, 1996).
Economic Development and Literacy
An educated and skilled workforce is one of the pillars of the knowledge-based economy. Increasingly, comparative advantages among nations come less from natural resources or cheap labour and more from technical innovations and the competitive use of knowledge. Education is one of the most powerful instruments known for reducing poverty and inequality and for laying the basis for sustained economic growth. Literacy is a word that is usually associated with the more positive aspects of human civilization, like social and economic development. Indeed, the label illiterate has been used and is today often used to characterize the poverty and lack of education still experienced in many parts of the world. Whether in the domain of religious tradition, the invention of the printing press, or the Internet, literacy has been central to many of our most profound human and historical developments.
Literacy has a wide range of advantages and benefits for economic, social and political development of a country. The positive relationship between economic development and literacy levels and the impact of investment in education on economic growth are well established. The transiting of the world towards a knowledge based economy is adding to the importance of human resources in general, and of education in particular. Human resources are poised to commend an increasingly important role in the balance of world economics and, hence, political power. Literacy is linked to economic success as literacy levels help determines the kind of jobs people find, the salaries they make and their ability to upgrade their work skills. Literacy and adult education have been recognized as essential elements of human resource development. It is a big factor in the economic success of a society. That’s because our literacy levels help determine the kind of jobs we find, the salaries we make and whether we’re likely to experience unemployment in our lives.
Literacy is one of the major objectives of the educational system, and the number of years of education has long been found to be a good predictor of individual earnings. How much of the benefits of education can be accounted for by an individual’s level of literacy is described by Osberg, L. (2001) in the following way;
The first examination of men employed full time and full year shows that literacy accounts for about 30% of the return to education. Whatever way the literacy scores is stretched for the full-time, full-year work force, it is always statistically significant.
In the same way while discussing the benefits of the acquisition of lit skill Osberg, L. (2001) describes the impact of literacy upon the personal earnings regarding ones investment in the process of literacy acquisition is as under;
If we look at males who work full time, full year, and measure education by credentials obtained, the conclusion that literacy skills explain a significant fraction of the return to education is altered. In some cases, the impact of literacy skills appears greater. It appears that including a control for measured literacy skills reduces by 40% to 45% the estimated benefit of a university education. Although the impact of including measured literacy with very low education is less (a 16% to 26% decline), this examination still indicates that much of the measured benefit of education is due to literacy skills.
Likewise, Fiedrich &Jellene (2003) state that a substantial body of evidence indicates that literacy increases the productivity and earning potential of a population. An educated person earns more and has greater labour mobility. While analysing the impact of literacy UNESCO (2005) observes that literacy not only enhances the individuals earning, it also has positive influence upon the economic growth of a country;
Around the world, renewed emphasis is being placed by governments and employers on literacy and numeric skills for all people to enhance their employability, job satisfaction, level of remuneration and community participation. Recent OECD research has indicated that raising a country’s literacy score by 1 per cent leads to a rise in productivity of 2.5 per cent with the flow-on increase of 1.5 per cent in GDP.
Since 1980, the wage difference between adults without a high school diploma, those with a high school diploma, and those with some post-secondary education has steadily grown wider. This trend helps explain why the current income differential between the top 20 percent of earners and the bottom 20 percent is at a historic high. In 1997, high school graduates earned an average of 42 percent more than those with less than a high school education, and this wage gap continues to grow.
Education investments are also crucial for the sustained economic growth that low-income countries are seeking to stimulate, and without which long-term poverty reduction is impossible. Literacy directly contributes to worker productivity, and can promote better natural resource management and more rapid technological adaptation and innovation. The same findings are described by Hanushek & Kimko (2000) when they say;
It is fundamental to the creation of a competitive, knowledge-based economy, not only for the direct production of the critical mass of scientists and skilled workers that every country requires—no matter how small or poor—but also because broad-based education is associated with faster diffusion of information within the economy, which is crucial for enabling workers and citizens in both the traditional and modern sectors to increase productivity.
Literacy is one of the most powerful instruments societies have for reducing deprivation and vulnerability. It helps lift earnings potential and expands labour mobility. Still, literacy can be thought of as a currency in any society. It is the most powerful instruments known for reducing poverty and inequality and for laying the basis for sustained economic growth. It is fundamental for the construction of democratic societies and dynamic, globally competitive economies. For individuals and for nations, literacy is the key to creating, applying, and spreading knowledge.
In the present era, literacy is also recognized as an important tool for national development. It is also important to describe the contribution of literacy in various aspects of other development. Literacy is often understood as something that is good for the individual and society. According to Carr-Hill, R. A. et al. (2001) the education of each individual has the possibility of making others better off (in addition to the individual benefits). Specifically, a more educated society may translate into higher rates of innovation, higher overall productivity through firms’ ability to introduce new and better production methods, and faster introduction of new technology.
UNESCO (2005) discussed the relationship of literacy and development as under;
A community cannot foster development without an educated population. Businesses, large or small, are unlikely to choose to invest if skilled or trainable human resources are unavailable. Similarly, a community cannot retain educated people without an attractive economic environment.
Social Development and Literacy
Literacy may also have social consequences that are important objectives for national policy planning. Particularly in developing countries, the gender dimension of illiteracy has been raised in this regard, as the majority of illiterate or low-literate adults tend to be female in the poorest developing nations (Stromquist, 1999). Furthermore, there are numerous empirical relationships between literacy and fertility, infant mortality, and so forth. It is an admitted fact that literacy occupies an essential place in the life of the community. Beyond a reflection on citizenship, we put forward the idea of an active society in which individuals have a sense of freedom, but also one of responsibility. There will be no progress for mankind without an awareness that each one of us has for their freedom and their responsibility, whether in their community, their nation or in the world. Links between education and society are strong, and each influences the other. Education can help change society by improving and strengthening skills, values, communications, mobility, personal prosperity and freedom. UNESCO (2006) observes the influence of literacy upon the social life of an individual in the following way;
The practice of literacy can be instrumental in people’s achievement of a range of capabilities such as maintaining good health and living longer, learning throughout life, controlling reproductive behavior, raising healthy children and educating them. Improving literacy levels thus has potentially large social benefits, such as increased life expectancy, reduced child mortality and improved children’s health. The evidence has often focused on the benefits of education, as opposed to literacy per se, but evidence on the effects of adult literacy programmes is beginning to accumulate.
The changes in society have also affected our roles as parents and family members. Parents are the first and most important teachers of their children, and their role is becoming increasingly more demanding. Standards-based education reform is raising the bar for children, and higher standards may force more children out of the traditional school system before they have acquired needed skills. Children profit from the support of educated, concerned parents in meeting the learning challenges that face them. Parents need adequate literacy skills to help children prepare to enter school and to support children’s continued learning. In homes where parents have low literacy skills and do not model literacy as an important value, children’s learning can suffer. In fact, problems associated with low literacy are often intergenerational. Parents with low literacy skills are often unable to help prepare young children for school or participate fully in the academic activities of their school-age children
The services of literacy regarding social life are much obvious in four major aspects namely health, gender equality, education, and reproductive behavior. Above all literacy also has implications for the safety of the communities. Along with the traditional components of literacy, citizens may need higher order thinking and problem-solving skills, computer and other technology-related skills, literacy skills necessary for the workplace, and literacy skills appropriate for family life.
The acquisition of literacy benefits personal health. Particularly powerful for girls, it profoundly affects reproductive health, and also improves child mortality and welfare through better nutrition and higher immunization rates. A growing body of longitudinal research evaluating the health benefits of literacy programmes points to the same impact as that of education, and indeed in some cases, to a greater impact. For example, infant mortality was less among Nicaraguan mothers who had participated in an adult literacy campaign than among those who had not, and the reduction was greater for those made literate in the literacy campaign than for those made literate in primary school (Sandiford et al., 1995). Similarly, Bolivian women who attended literacy and basic education programmes displayed gains in health-related knowledge and behavior, unlike women who had not participated in such programmes (UNESCO, 2006). Moreover, it seems that in the future education may be the single most effective preventive weapon against HIV/AIDS.
But, the results of literacy programmes that directly address health related instructions had not proved much successful. Some studies indicate that literacy programmes that themselves attempt to transmit health information have not been particularly successful as the participants preferred reading and writing over receiving health knowledge (Robinson-Pant, 2005). Thus, in the countries with low literacy rates there is need of such literacy programmes that stress upon the acquisition of the reading and writing skills rather than some technical skill or training in a particular field.
As far as the impact of literacy of gender equality is concerned it had proved helpful in reducing any kind of such inequality. Education is a great leveler whereas the illiteracy being one of the strongest predictors of poverty. Primary education plays a catalytic role for those most likely to be poor, including girls, ethnic minorities, orphans, disabled people, and rural families. By enabling larger numbers to share in the growth process, literacy can be the powerful tide that lifts all boats. The gender inequality between the men and the women is being tried to reduce through giving more stress to the female literacy, limiting the ways in which gender equality can be addressed holistically and directly through the programmes themselves. The programmes have thus tended to concentrate specifically on women’s inequality rather than gender equality. Participation in adult literacy programmes does enable women to gain access to and challenge male domains by entering male-dominated areas of work, learning languages of power previously associated with men and participating in household finances. Examples of elite languages newly available to women include English in Uganda and posh Bangla in Bangladesh (Fiedrich and Jellema, 2003). Similarly, in some Bangladesh households, literacy has enabled women to become involved in the financial management of the household, previously controlled by men (Maddox, 2005). In India, an evaluation of a literacy programme showed that women learners had a strong desire to earn. Similarly, women may become aware of further education possibilities or of information about AIDS prevention through literacy.
The productive behavior is also influenced with the literacy acquisition. The negative correlation between education and fertility is well established (Cochrane, 1979). For example, studies based on demographic and health surveys find that, on average, a 10% expansion in the primary gross enrolment ratio lowers the total fertility rate by 0.1 children and a 10% increase in the secondary gross enrolment ratio by 0.2 children (Hannum and Buchmann, 2003). Moreover, the mechanisms whereby education may reduce fertility include its effects on women’s autonomy, infant mortality and child health, spouse choice, marriage age, female employment outside the home and the costs of educating children.
Another important aspect of the social advantages of literacy is that it has significant educational benefits. Literacy on one hand supports the cause of education. But, on the other hand it is itself influenced by the level of education. For example, the parents who themselves are educated, whether through schooling or adult programmes, are more likely to send their children to school and more able to help the children in the course of their schooling. It used to be thought that literacy contributes to the development of abstract reasoning (UNESCO, 2006). In general, the effects of literacy are more likely to be determined by formal schooling, socialization, and the cultural practices of a particular society than by literacy.
Cultural Development and Literacy
Literacy has an important relation with the culture. This relation is of two modes. Firstly, literacy influences the culture. It is helpful in bringing the cultural change and preservation of the present cultural values and norms. Moreover, the transformation of culture, in one way or the other, is also dependent of literacy. Secondly, literacy itself is influenced by the prevailing cultural environment as planning of a literacy programmes is usually done according to the present culture along with the future needs and requirements. That is why the literacy materials, and the strategies of literacy imparting always correspond with the cultural aspects.
At the same the cultural benefits of literacy are harder to identify clearly than benefits in terms of political participation. Adult literacy programmes may facilitate the transmission of certain values and promote transformation of other values, attitudes and behaviors through critical reflection. They also provide access to written culture, which the newly literate may choose to explore independently of the cultural orientation of the literacy programmes in which they participated. Adult literacy programmes can thus be instrumental in preserving and promoting cultural openness and diversity. However, ‘any effect that literacy may have on the culture (i.e. what people believe and how they do things) of an individual or group will be slow, will not be easily and immediately accessible, and will be difficult to identify as the outcome of a single intervention such as a literacy and adult education programme’ (Farah, 2005).
The impact of literacy in the cultural change is also very important. It brings in to action new concepts, norms and values after enabling the people to analyze their existing attitudes and behaviors as literacy programmes can help challenge attitudes and behavioral patterns. Indeed, this type of cultural transformation is central to the Foreran approach, which aims to develop skills of critical reflection (Freire, 1987). Literacy programme also try to affect other cultural aspects as stated by UNESCO (2006);
Many programmes also aim to promote values such as equity, inclusion, and respect for cultural diversity, peace and active democracy. However, such transformation typically is limited.
Adult literacy programmes can help preserve cultural diversity. In particular, literacy programmes that make use of minority languages have the potential to improve people’s ability to participate in their own culture. This has been observed in programmes whose outcomes included the writing down of folk tales (Chebanne et al., 2001).
But, new approaches to literacy suggest that literacy is always contextualized, situated within a particular socio-cultural setting. There is a growing awareness that there is no one universally applicable form of literacy. Rather, there are different literacy’s and literacy practices for different groups (occupational groupings, for example) and for different kinds of activities (religion, education, commercial activities etc) and for different social and institutional contexts.
Now if we consider above presented framework of literacy it becomes essential that the planning of literacy programmes should be done very carefully so that it can become inline with the ever changing culture.
Political Development and Literacy
Literacy is a tool for creating the political awareness among the masses. It helps them to understand the nature of government in their country and ways for effective communication with it for the solution of their problems. Literacy possesses the empowering potential that can be translated into the increased political awareness and participation. It in return contributes to the quality of public policies and the democracy.
As far as the relationship between education and political participation is concerned, it is well established (Hannum and Buchmann, 2003). Educated people are to some extent more likely to vote and voice more tolerant attitudes and democratic values. According to Carron et al. (1989) participation in adult literacy programmes is also correlated with increased participation in trade unions, community action and national political life, especially when empowerment is at the core of programme design. Evident are there that the expansion of education may contribute to the expansion of democracy and vice versa (UNESCO, 2006). In return the democratic classroom practices are the most effective means of promoting civic knowledge and engagement among students.
Likewise, literacy has the potential to benefit disadvantaged ethnic groups and the minorities of different states. But, this benefit is of literacy become doubtful because in some countries the traditional caste system is too strong that it does not permit the members of minority group or disadvantaged people even to have a meal with them or allow them to participate in their ceremonies or social .activities. The same fact is precisely advocated by Hannum and Buchmann (2003) in the following words;
A range of experiences appears to support the statement that ‘It is not safe to assume that expansion in access to education will allow disadvantaged minorities to “catch up” with initially advanced ethnic groups, at least in the short run’.
Conclusion
By keeping in view over all importance of literacy, it can easily be concluded that:
1. Literacy makes the people more consistent in their attitudes and actions, more polite and civilized in their dealings, more accurate and perfect in their decisions and reliable in their every day life. Moreover, literacy helps in building confidence among individuals by providing them the necessary knowledge and skills to combat their problems and difficulties. Finally, literacy occupies an essential place in the life of the community. Beyond a reflection on citizenship, we put forward the idea of an active society in which individuals have a sense of freedom, but also one of responsibility. There will be no progress for mankind without an awareness that each one of us has for their freedom and their responsibility, whether in their community, their nation or in the world.
2. Few countries are unconscious to the perception that a literate and skilled populace can have an important impact on the social and economic life of each nation. Numerous claims have been put forward that a given minimum rate of literacy is a prerequisite for economic growth in developing countries. In the context of global competition, adult illiteracy will lead to economic ruin.
3. Literacy or basic education is really become as effective tools to help people solve the problems they face in their daily life and also assist them to live in harmony with their rapidly changing environment. People today have to be able to realize that they can use education to seek vocational skills to improve the quality of life so as to reach happiness which is based on each individual’s personal experiences, complete happiness can be achieved when there is no physical or emotional conflict between man and his environment physically or mentally. This shows that basic education or literacy today plays the important role as the tools that will enable individual to create his own harmony between himself and today’s rapidly changing surroundings especially the world today.
4. The impact of literacy in the cultural change is also very important. It brings in to action new concepts, norms and values after enabling the people to analyze their existing attitudes and behaviors as literacy programmes can help challenge attitudes and behavioral patterns
5. The most important aspect of education is that without it all learning comes to a stop. We would literally be thrown back in time to before there was reading or writing. Literacy is important because it makes us who we are. It makes us individual, and distinct. Literacy is the key to all learning and the path to the future. Moreover, the advantages of literacy go on forever, but one more example of how literacy helps us is that without it we are nothing in today’s world. Being illiterate in today’s world often means low paying jobs, little to no respect from our peers, and the constant question of how long will I be able to work here. Being literate gives us advantages; being illiterate gives us none, it only gives us obstacles.
Bibliography
Bown, L. (1990) Preparing the Future: Women, Literacy and Development, Action Aid Development Report No. 4, London: Action Aid /ODA.
Carr-Hill, R. with Okech, A., Katahoire, A., Kakooza, T., Ndidde, A., Oxenham, J. (2001) Adult Literacy Programs in Uganda, Washington D.C.: Human Development Africa Region, The World Bank.
Carron, G., Mwiria, K.,and Righ,G. (1989) The Functioning and Effects of Kenyn Literacy Program. Research Repaort No.76. Paris: International Institue for educational Planning.
Chebanne, A., Nyati-Ramhobo, L., and Youngman, F. (2001). The Development of minority Languages for Adult Literacy in Botswana: Towards Cultural Diversity. Paper presented at International Literacy Conference held at Cap town, 13-17 Nov 2001.
Cochrane, S.H. (1979) Fertility and Education: what do we really know? Baltimore Md.: The John Hopkins University Press
Farah, I (2005).Improvment in Quality of Life Indices: Role of Women Literacy in Rural Punjab, Pakistan. InMadhu Singh(ed) Institutionalizing Life Long Learning: Creating Conducive Enviourment for Adult Learning in Asian Context.
Fiedrich, M. and Jellema, A. (2003) Literacy, Gender and Social Agency: Adventures in Empowerment, DFID Research Report 53, September 2003
Freire, P. and Macedo, D. (1987) Literacy: Reading the Word and the World. Bergin & Farvey Publishers, Farvey South Hadley, MA, USA.
Hannum, E. and Buchmann, C. (2003). “The Consequences of Global Educational Expansion: Social Science Perspectives.” New York: American Academy of Arts and Sciences. http://www.amacad.org/publications/monographs/Ubase.pdf
Hanushek, E. A., and D. Kimko. (2000). “Schooling, labor-force quality, and the growth of nations.” American Economic Review 90:1184-1208.
Lind, A. (1996). Free to Speak Up’ Overall Evaluation of the National Literacy Programme in Namibia. Namibia:Directorate of Adult basic Education.
Maddox, I. (2005). Assessing the Impact of Women’s Literacies in Bangladash: An Ethnographic Inquiry. International Journal of Educational Development No. 25 pp123-132.
Osberg, L. (2001). Needs nad Wants: What is Social Progress and how should it be measured. The Review of Economic Performance and Social Progress 2001. Vol. I pp23-41
Robinson-Pant, A. (2005) ‘The Sicial Benefits of Literacy’. London: Routledge
Sandiford, P.J., Cassel, M. Sanchez, G. (1995) ‘The impact of women’s literacy on child health and its interaction with access to health services’, Population Studies 49.
Stromquist, N. (1995) ‘Romancing the State: Gender and Power in Education’ Comparative Education Review 39 (4): 423-54
Stromquist, N. (1999) ‘Women’s Education in the Twenty First Century. Balance and Prospects’, in R. Arnove and C. Torres (eds) Comparative Education. Dialectic of the Global and the Local,: Rowman & Littlefield.
UNESCO, (2005). Education For All Global Monitoring Report, 2005 Paris: UNESCO.
UNESCO, (2006). Education For All Global Monitoring Report, 2006 Paris: UNESCO.
By: Aijaz Ahmed Gujjar
About the Author:
Aijaz Ahmed Gujjar, Muhammad Rashid Hafeez
Lecturers, Federal College of Education, H-9, Islamabad, Pakistan
26
Feb
Categories:Health Studies
It can be difficult to diagnose a mental health or anxiety problem in a child, simply because their changing moods and behaviour can often be attributed to a normal part of the growing up process, however, there are certain signs and symptoms that might indicate a child is suffering more than what would be considered normal and they may need some sort of help to get back to their old self again.
It is perfectly natural for a child to feel anxious at times, for example, when facing exams or particularly difficult situations, but when the anxiety is persistent and severe enough to affect the childs day to day life and normal routines then the child could be suffering from an underlying mental health problem that requires some kind of intervention.
What to look out for
Recognising the symptoms of persistent anxiety and mental distress and doing something about it is vital if the child is to get the kind of help he or she needs. Some signs and symptoms to look out for that could indicate the onset of an anxiety or depression related disorder include the following:
Feelings of sadness, despair and hopelessness
Often fearful and scared for no particular reason
Unable to think clearly or make decisions, confusion
Showing signs of extreme anger and hostility towards others
Feeling guilty and worthy of blame and punishment
Thinking they are unloved and unlovable
Appearing anxious, fidgety, and irritable a lot of the time
Seeming to be tired all the time
Sleeping too much or not sleeping at all
Holding strange beliefs or displaying unusual or compulsive behaviours
Disinterested in activities they used to enjoy
Thinking or talking about death and suicide
It is of course perfectly normal for a child to experience one or more of these symptoms in a mild form from time to time, however, in mental illness the symptoms can become so severe and so overwhelming for the child to the extent that they may feel unable to cope with their lives. If excessive anxiety and/or other symptoms appear to be interfering with your childs ability to carry out their day to day routines and other normal activities then you should speak to your doctor.
For example, as well as some of the symptoms already listed, a child may start refusing to go to school, or get up in the morning or go to bed at night. They may say they dont want to attend weekly clubs and activities they used to frequent, or they may not wish to see their friends anymore. They can fall behind with schoolwork, become violent and display other unsociable and or strange behaviours; they may also hold unusual beliefs, feel paranoid or in severe cases may suffer from hallucinations and or delusions.
These are just a few of the ways that mental illness can manifest itself in the behaviour of a child who is suffering mental distress and anxiety, the important thing is to understand that the child is really in need of proper treatment, understanding and support as they cant help their actions.
Mental illness affects how we think, feel and understand ourselves and how we fit into the world around us, as such it can alter a childs behaviour and damage their relationships and their education. It wont just go away and without help, the child can suffer needlessly for months or years as well as increasing the risk of attempted suicide or even death.
So what causes mental illness in children?
There is no single identifiable reason why a child becomes overly anxious or develops a mental health problem but there are some factors that appear to increase the risk of suffering from some form of mental health problem.
Genetics , mental illness can be handed down in the genes so if there is a history of mental illness in the family then there is an increased risk of a child suffering from mental illness too
Stress , sometimes if there are other events going on in their lives, for example, divorce, physical illness, death of a loved one, money problems, bullying at school etc. then the stress can become too much to cope with and can trigger a mental illness
Diet, research indicates that if the diet is too rich in Omega 6 and there is not enough Omega 3 in the form of oily fish or fish oil then the imbalance of fatty acids in the brain can influence brain function and increase the risk of depression, ADHD, and other mood and behaviour disorders
Environment , abuse, neglect and feeling unloved and uncared for can lead to anxiety and mental distress
Conclusion
If your child is displaying signs of anxiety or mental illness, talk to your child and encourage them to explore their feelings and of course, speak to your doctor in order to obtain a correct diagnoses and possible treatment options as it is vital that these symptoms are addressed. With proper help and support, most children will go on to make a full recovery and will be able to enjoy their lives once again.
By: Simon Jones
About the Author:
It is perfectly natural for a child to feel anxious at times, for example, when facing exams or particularly difficult situations, but when the anxiety is persistent and severe enough to affect the childs day to day life and normal routines then the child could be suffering from an underlying mental health problem that requires some kind of intervention.
What to look out for
Recognising the symptoms of persistent anxiety and mental distress and doing something about it is vital if the child is to get the kind of help he or she needs. Some signs and symptoms to look out for that could indicate the onset of an anxiety or depression related disorder include the following:
Feelings of sadness, despair and hopelessness
Often fearful and scared for no particular reason
Unable to think clearly or make decisions, confusion
Showing signs of extreme anger and hostility towards others
Feeling guilty and worthy of blame and punishment
Thinking they are unloved and unlovable
Appearing anxious, fidgety, and irritable a lot of the time
Seeming to be tired all the time
Sleeping too much or not sleeping at all
Holding strange beliefs or displaying unusual or compulsive behaviours
Disinterested in activities they used to enjoy
Thinking or talking about death and suicide
It is of course perfectly normal for a child to experience one or more of these symptoms in a mild form from time to time, however, in mental illness the symptoms can become so severe and so overwhelming for the child to the extent that they may feel unable to cope with their lives. If excessive anxiety and/or other symptoms appear to be interfering with your childs ability to carry out their day to day routines and other normal activities then you should speak to your doctor.
For example, as well as some of the symptoms already listed, a child may start refusing to go to school, or get up in the morning or go to bed at night. They may say they dont want to attend weekly clubs and activities they used to frequent, or they may not wish to see their friends anymore. They can fall behind with schoolwork, become violent and display other unsociable and or strange behaviours; they may also hold unusual beliefs, feel paranoid or in severe cases may suffer from hallucinations and or delusions.
These are just a few of the ways that mental illness can manifest itself in the behaviour of a child who is suffering mental distress and anxiety, the important thing is to understand that the child is really in need of proper treatment, understanding and support as they cant help their actions.
Mental illness affects how we think, feel and understand ourselves and how we fit into the world around us, as such it can alter a childs behaviour and damage their relationships and their education. It wont just go away and without help, the child can suffer needlessly for months or years as well as increasing the risk of attempted suicide or even death.
So what causes mental illness in children?
There is no single identifiable reason why a child becomes overly anxious or develops a mental health problem but there are some factors that appear to increase the risk of suffering from some form of mental health problem.
Genetics , mental illness can be handed down in the genes so if there is a history of mental illness in the family then there is an increased risk of a child suffering from mental illness too
Stress , sometimes if there are other events going on in their lives, for example, divorce, physical illness, death of a loved one, money problems, bullying at school etc. then the stress can become too much to cope with and can trigger a mental illness
Diet, research indicates that if the diet is too rich in Omega 6 and there is not enough Omega 3 in the form of oily fish or fish oil then the imbalance of fatty acids in the brain can influence brain function and increase the risk of depression, ADHD, and other mood and behaviour disorders
Environment , abuse, neglect and feeling unloved and uncared for can lead to anxiety and mental distress
Conclusion
If your child is displaying signs of anxiety or mental illness, talk to your child and encourage them to explore their feelings and of course, speak to your doctor in order to obtain a correct diagnoses and possible treatment options as it is vital that these symptoms are addressed. With proper help and support, most children will go on to make a full recovery and will be able to enjoy their lives once again.
By: Simon Jones
About the Author:
Simon jones is an expert in depression and related disorders. For more information about depression please come and visit our site http://www.fightingdepression.co.uk
25
Feb
Categories:Health Studies
Discover how good health lays the foundation for good living
True or False…almost all wellness deficiencies are part of the normal aging process. There’s nothing you can do about it.
True or False…all required nutrients are obtained from your average daily food intake, therefore supplementation is a big waste of money.
The answers? False and False!
There are two major problems with the current food supply, they are:
We eat too much…estimates are that 61% of the population is overweight, and
We are not getting the minimum amounts of the building blocks (nutrients) that our bodies need for good health.
Have you had your spinach today?
In 1948 you could buy spinach that had 158 milligrams of iron per hundred grams. By 1965, the maximum had dropped to 27 milligrams. In 1973 it was averaging 2.2. That means you would have to eat 75 bowls of spinach to get the same amount of iron that one bowl might have given you back in 1948. We have to have cobalt to process vitamin B12. We need vitamin B12 for healthy red blood cells. Sadly most of the vegetables that supply cobalt in the diet now test zero.
The top soil over most of the land used to grow fruits and vegetables is very depleted. This in turn produces crops that are severely low in the necessary vitamins and mineral that our bodies need for optimum health.
The typical daily diet does not supply the necessary proteins, vitamins and minerals to properly replace the dying cells in our internal and external organs. If we fall short our immunity system is weakened leaving us vulnerable to sickness and disease.
So…are you getting the 20 essential amino acids, 14 essential minerals and 13 essential vitamins in your daily diet to insure your “good health”?
Who’s looking out for your health?
Our fast paced lifestyles have prompted the food industry to produce products that satisfy consumer demand. As a result, these quick to prepare processed foods do not contain the proper nutrients to maintain good health. The fresh food part of our diet is totally eliminated and is replaced with high calorie low nutrient substitutes that promotes weight gain. Too often the consumer purchases food based on price, taste and convenience.
Mass media advertising promotes the processed foods that the food industry is offering. This advertising over shadows conventional education which is grossly lacking. Today a person can go through the entire educational system and not have one class in nutrition.
Easy access to “sickness care” (more commonly known as health care) and employer supported health insurance has promoted a mind set that the doctor is responsible for the health of the entire family.
Governmental support of public health is dictated largely by the food and medical lobby. Their agenda is for large sales and profits which most times do not line up with prevention, wellness and sensible diets.
Pay for good health today, or pay for bad health tomorrow!
Take control and responsibility for you and your family’s health. The first step is to insure they get the basic nutrition through proper diet and exercise. It is almost impossible to get a daily balanced diet so the logical answer is to allocate a portion of your food budget to include a supplement product that supplies the recommended daily minimums. This should not be looked at as an additional expense but part of your grocery list of required items.
Veriuni Nutritionals…all the health insurance you need!
Veriuni Flagship Nutritional Products
Veriuni’s Liquid Nutrition offers you a great tasting peach-flavored liquid multivitamin that supplies 100% of your daily vitamins and minerals. The liquid, unlike many tablets, is highly absorbed by the body so that all the benefits from your investment are realized. Veriuni Liquid Nutrition consists of all natural ingredients taken from plants and the earth itself, with no fillers or binders.
Just one ounce of this unique supplement taken daily supplies 127 of the best vitamins, minerals, herbal complex and amino acid complex available.
Veriuni’s Advanced Antioxidant formula helps to combat the harmful free radicals that enter the body through the food we eat and the air that we breathe. This product is a highly concentrated natural extract derived from grape seeds. It contains a number of unique beneficial flavonoid compounds which have demonstrated many times the antioxidant activity of vitamins C and E in in-vitro studies. They act as free radical scavengers, help resist blood vessel and skin damage, inhibit inflammatory enzymes and inhibit histamine formation.
Be sure to put these two Veriuni Nutritionals on your shopping list TODAY!
Fill your shopping basket with Veriuni Nutritional Products. Have the peace of mind that you are investing wisely in you and your family’s health today and for the future.
Don’t gamble on the most precious asset you have (your good health) and place your order today.
Here
https://www.moreinfo247.com/9899250/Department.vstore?id=34
By: jon watwood
About the Author:
True or False…almost all wellness deficiencies are part of the normal aging process. There’s nothing you can do about it.
True or False…all required nutrients are obtained from your average daily food intake, therefore supplementation is a big waste of money.
The answers? False and False!
There are two major problems with the current food supply, they are:
We eat too much…estimates are that 61% of the population is overweight, and
We are not getting the minimum amounts of the building blocks (nutrients) that our bodies need for good health.
Have you had your spinach today?
In 1948 you could buy spinach that had 158 milligrams of iron per hundred grams. By 1965, the maximum had dropped to 27 milligrams. In 1973 it was averaging 2.2. That means you would have to eat 75 bowls of spinach to get the same amount of iron that one bowl might have given you back in 1948. We have to have cobalt to process vitamin B12. We need vitamin B12 for healthy red blood cells. Sadly most of the vegetables that supply cobalt in the diet now test zero.
The top soil over most of the land used to grow fruits and vegetables is very depleted. This in turn produces crops that are severely low in the necessary vitamins and mineral that our bodies need for optimum health.
The typical daily diet does not supply the necessary proteins, vitamins and minerals to properly replace the dying cells in our internal and external organs. If we fall short our immunity system is weakened leaving us vulnerable to sickness and disease.
So…are you getting the 20 essential amino acids, 14 essential minerals and 13 essential vitamins in your daily diet to insure your “good health”?
Who’s looking out for your health?
Our fast paced lifestyles have prompted the food industry to produce products that satisfy consumer demand. As a result, these quick to prepare processed foods do not contain the proper nutrients to maintain good health. The fresh food part of our diet is totally eliminated and is replaced with high calorie low nutrient substitutes that promotes weight gain. Too often the consumer purchases food based on price, taste and convenience.
Mass media advertising promotes the processed foods that the food industry is offering. This advertising over shadows conventional education which is grossly lacking. Today a person can go through the entire educational system and not have one class in nutrition.
Easy access to “sickness care” (more commonly known as health care) and employer supported health insurance has promoted a mind set that the doctor is responsible for the health of the entire family.
Governmental support of public health is dictated largely by the food and medical lobby. Their agenda is for large sales and profits which most times do not line up with prevention, wellness and sensible diets.
Pay for good health today, or pay for bad health tomorrow!
Take control and responsibility for you and your family’s health. The first step is to insure they get the basic nutrition through proper diet and exercise. It is almost impossible to get a daily balanced diet so the logical answer is to allocate a portion of your food budget to include a supplement product that supplies the recommended daily minimums. This should not be looked at as an additional expense but part of your grocery list of required items.
Veriuni Nutritionals…all the health insurance you need!
Veriuni Flagship Nutritional Products
Veriuni’s Liquid Nutrition offers you a great tasting peach-flavored liquid multivitamin that supplies 100% of your daily vitamins and minerals. The liquid, unlike many tablets, is highly absorbed by the body so that all the benefits from your investment are realized. Veriuni Liquid Nutrition consists of all natural ingredients taken from plants and the earth itself, with no fillers or binders.
Just one ounce of this unique supplement taken daily supplies 127 of the best vitamins, minerals, herbal complex and amino acid complex available.
Veriuni’s Advanced Antioxidant formula helps to combat the harmful free radicals that enter the body through the food we eat and the air that we breathe. This product is a highly concentrated natural extract derived from grape seeds. It contains a number of unique beneficial flavonoid compounds which have demonstrated many times the antioxidant activity of vitamins C and E in in-vitro studies. They act as free radical scavengers, help resist blood vessel and skin damage, inhibit inflammatory enzymes and inhibit histamine formation.
Be sure to put these two Veriuni Nutritionals on your shopping list TODAY!
Fill your shopping basket with Veriuni Nutritional Products. Have the peace of mind that you are investing wisely in you and your family’s health today and for the future.
Don’t gamble on the most precious asset you have (your good health) and place your order today.
Here
https://www.moreinfo247.com/9899250/Department.vstore?id=34
By: jon watwood
About the Author:
25
Feb
Categories:Health Studies
Health Savings Accounts allow you to set up a tax-deductible account to pay for medical expenses that are not covered by your health insurance. These include expenses to cover your deductible, and other medical expenses like dental and eyeglasses. But many don’t realize that HSA funds can be used to pay for virtually any type of medical service, as long as it pertains to the treatment or prevention of a specific health condition.
Because money withdrawn from a health savings account to pay medical expenses is tax-free, anyone who has an HSA can funnel all alternative medical expenses through their HSA and get a tax write-off. This could include biofeedback, naturopathy, Ayurvedic medicine, aromatherapy, magnetic healing, reflexology, and the list goes on.
People who use complementary therapies are often very health conscious, and go to traditional physicians less often. So it does not make sense for them to be paying a high premium for a traditional health insurance plan with a co-pay, particularly when their medical treatments are not covered anyway. Instead, many are choosing a low cost high-deductible HSA plan.
Alternative Therapies Becoming Mainstream
Many hospitals are now offering complementary treatments. The website for the Memorial Sloan-Keating Cancer Center states that complementary therapies are used to “help alleviate stress, reduce pain and anxiety, manage symptoms, and promote a feeling of well-being.”
Some group health insurance plans are beginning to cover more complementary expenses, but there is still very little coverage for these expenses in individual or family plans. Those that cover chiropractic limit coverage to 12 – 20 visits per year, and a few will cover a limited amount of acupuncture. But very few if any cover hypnotherapy, Reiki, iridology, or faith healers.
Why Complementary Medicine
The conventional medicine practiced by most MDs is called allopathic medicine. The philosophy of this system is to treat disease and injury using counteractive methods. For instance, if you have a fever you may take aspirin to make it go down, if your cholesterol is elevated you may take a statin to reduce it, if you have heartburn you may take an antacid. The thinking is mostly focused on removing the symptoms of disease, and the primary treatment modalities are surgery and prescription drugs.
But there are other ways to look at things. Naturopathic medicine is based on the belief in the body’s own healing powers, which can be strengthened through the use of certain foods, vitamins, herbs, or other “natural” treatments. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is based on ancient Chinese theories about the balance of yin and yang. Ayurvedic medicine is based on principles of movement, metabolism, and structure.
Part of the growing use of complementary therapies is a reaction to the costs, side effects, and philosophy of conventional allopathic medicine. Physicians get much of their continuing education from the pharmaceutical industry, and they work in an environment where the insurers and the patients are both looking for a quick fix. The result is that the average 60 year old is now taking 5 regular medications, yet there is little expectation that those drugs will ever cure the health problems for which they’re being used. Many consumers see this, and instead are using other methods to try to get to the root of their illness.
What is Considered a “Qualified HSA Expense”
Qualified medical expenses have been partially defined in IRS Publication 502, and through various federal court rulings. There is no definitive list, but there are really very few restrictions as long as the procedure is for the treatment or prevention of a specific health condition. For instance, you could not use your HSA funds to pay for a relaxing massage for your own personal pleasure. But if your doctor recommends you get a massage for specific medical reasons, this is considered a qualified expense. Yoga would not normally be considered a qualified medical expense, but it would be if it was recommended as a physical therapy following some sort of accident.
Some may question why the government would give a tax deduction for someone to use some crazy energy vibration machine to cure their cancer. But this is as it should be. No one but you should be able to decide what type of treatment you will use for your own illnesses. By empowering individuals to manage their health as they see fit, HSAs encourage personal responsibility and help loosen the monopoly on healthcare that conventional medicine has had for the past few decades.
By: Wiley Long
About the Author:
Because money withdrawn from a health savings account to pay medical expenses is tax-free, anyone who has an HSA can funnel all alternative medical expenses through their HSA and get a tax write-off. This could include biofeedback, naturopathy, Ayurvedic medicine, aromatherapy, magnetic healing, reflexology, and the list goes on.
People who use complementary therapies are often very health conscious, and go to traditional physicians less often. So it does not make sense for them to be paying a high premium for a traditional health insurance plan with a co-pay, particularly when their medical treatments are not covered anyway. Instead, many are choosing a low cost high-deductible HSA plan.
Alternative Therapies Becoming Mainstream
Many hospitals are now offering complementary treatments. The website for the Memorial Sloan-Keating Cancer Center states that complementary therapies are used to “help alleviate stress, reduce pain and anxiety, manage symptoms, and promote a feeling of well-being.”
Some group health insurance plans are beginning to cover more complementary expenses, but there is still very little coverage for these expenses in individual or family plans. Those that cover chiropractic limit coverage to 12 – 20 visits per year, and a few will cover a limited amount of acupuncture. But very few if any cover hypnotherapy, Reiki, iridology, or faith healers.
Why Complementary Medicine
The conventional medicine practiced by most MDs is called allopathic medicine. The philosophy of this system is to treat disease and injury using counteractive methods. For instance, if you have a fever you may take aspirin to make it go down, if your cholesterol is elevated you may take a statin to reduce it, if you have heartburn you may take an antacid. The thinking is mostly focused on removing the symptoms of disease, and the primary treatment modalities are surgery and prescription drugs.
But there are other ways to look at things. Naturopathic medicine is based on the belief in the body’s own healing powers, which can be strengthened through the use of certain foods, vitamins, herbs, or other “natural” treatments. Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is based on ancient Chinese theories about the balance of yin and yang. Ayurvedic medicine is based on principles of movement, metabolism, and structure.
Part of the growing use of complementary therapies is a reaction to the costs, side effects, and philosophy of conventional allopathic medicine. Physicians get much of their continuing education from the pharmaceutical industry, and they work in an environment where the insurers and the patients are both looking for a quick fix. The result is that the average 60 year old is now taking 5 regular medications, yet there is little expectation that those drugs will ever cure the health problems for which they’re being used. Many consumers see this, and instead are using other methods to try to get to the root of their illness.
What is Considered a “Qualified HSA Expense”
Qualified medical expenses have been partially defined in IRS Publication 502, and through various federal court rulings. There is no definitive list, but there are really very few restrictions as long as the procedure is for the treatment or prevention of a specific health condition. For instance, you could not use your HSA funds to pay for a relaxing massage for your own personal pleasure. But if your doctor recommends you get a massage for specific medical reasons, this is considered a qualified expense. Yoga would not normally be considered a qualified medical expense, but it would be if it was recommended as a physical therapy following some sort of accident.
Some may question why the government would give a tax deduction for someone to use some crazy energy vibration machine to cure their cancer. But this is as it should be. No one but you should be able to decide what type of treatment you will use for your own illnesses. By empowering individuals to manage their health as they see fit, HSAs encourage personal responsibility and help loosen the monopoly on healthcare that conventional medicine has had for the past few decades.
By: Wiley Long
About the Author:
By Wiley Long – President, HSA for America (http://www.health–savings–accounts.com) – The nation’s leading independent health insurance firm specializing in Health Savings Plans that work with a Health Savings Account. Please link to this site when using this article.
24
Feb
Categories:Health Studies
PEO services are one of the most important factors for the success of businesses in the heat of intense competition. PEOs or professional employer organizations offer cost efficient outsourcing of HR administration. PEOs offer services in all departments of HR management – payroll and tax administration, employee benefits administration, workers compensation administration, human resources management, risk management, regulatory and government compliance, recruitment and selection of staff, employer liability management, and immigration compliance.
Of all the PEO services, employee benefits administration is one of the most significant as it determines the inflow of qualified and experienced professionals to contribute to the effective functioning and increased earnings of the business. The more comprehensive the benefits package of a company, the more its buying power in the labor market. Small or medium-sized businesses that may not be able to offer much in terms of benefits on their own could do so in partnership with a PEO. It would tremendously boost the presence of the company in the job market. It also increases the company’s chances of retaining its employees.
A comprehensive employee benefits plan offered by a PEO generally includes:
• Employee health benefits & insurance plans (PPOs, HSAs)
• IRA solutions (Individual Retirement Accounts)
• Retirement planning
• Dental and vision care
• Long term and short term disability insurance
• Cancer, accident, hospital and other supplemental plans
• Education saving plans
• Adoption assistance
• Cafeteria plan
• Flexible spending accounts
• Individual coverage
• Employee voluntary benefits programs
• Prescription drug plans
PEO services that include a great employee benefits administration plan could make the vital difference in a company’s performance.
By: Christopher S Walton
About the Author:
Of all the PEO services, employee benefits administration is one of the most significant as it determines the inflow of qualified and experienced professionals to contribute to the effective functioning and increased earnings of the business. The more comprehensive the benefits package of a company, the more its buying power in the labor market. Small or medium-sized businesses that may not be able to offer much in terms of benefits on their own could do so in partnership with a PEO. It would tremendously boost the presence of the company in the job market. It also increases the company’s chances of retaining its employees.
A comprehensive employee benefits plan offered by a PEO generally includes:
• Employee health benefits & insurance plans (PPOs, HSAs)
• IRA solutions (Individual Retirement Accounts)
• Retirement planning
• Dental and vision care
• Long term and short term disability insurance
• Cancer, accident, hospital and other supplemental plans
• Education saving plans
• Adoption assistance
• Cafeteria plan
• Flexible spending accounts
• Individual coverage
• Employee voluntary benefits programs
• Prescription drug plans
PEO services that include a great employee benefits administration plan could make the vital difference in a company’s performance.
By: Christopher S Walton
About the Author:
Let Kruse PEO handle your employee benefits administration – We are full-service Professional Employer Organization (PEO) providing best-in-class human resources administration, employee benefits, payroll services, workers’ compensation and risk management services and support.
24
Feb
Categories:Health Studies
Child custody cases have become much more scrutinized over recent years as the court system has put more consideration into each parent’s ability to provide for their child. No longer is the mother virtually guaranteed to win child custody simply because they are the societal favorite. Now there are indicators and behavior patterns that the court system uses to determine the eligibility of a parent for both custody and visitation privileges. Because of this, there certain things a mother should keep in mind before attending their hearing.
Get Organized
At the forefront of any legal battle is the importance of detailed record keeping. Judges will rarely accept accusations or statements of fact without the proper documentation. Prior to the custody hearing, mothers should organize all paperwork related to the child’s health, education and finances. In addition to this, other important records to have include bank statements, parental salary information, and bills related to running the household. All of these documents should be organized in such a way that the courts can easily determine the financial needs of the child and the lifestyle of which they are accustomed to.
Improve Your Situation
The environment that each custodial candidate provides for the child is one of the most important determining factors in a custody case. Some of the things a judge will look for include the safety, size, and condition of the home, and whether or not the child will have to change neighborhoods and schools. This makes it vital for mothers to do everything in their power to improve the perception of their residence. It may even be necessary in some cases to consider moving to a location that better provides the child an opportunity to excel in both school and social growth. The key is to offer a standard of living that is either the same or better than what the child is accustomed to.
Build a Strong Case
Beyond external factors such as housing and finances, it is also important to focus on building a strong argument for obtaining custody. This becomes a matter of putting all of the facts and circumstances together in such a way that will influence the judge to side with the mother. This can include things like time spent with the child, care giving tendencies, and emotional support. While not all of these factors can be measured on paper, they still hold significant weight in the eyes of the court. This is an area where a devoted mother can excel by proving that she is the most prominent parental figure in the child’s life.
Mothers who are trying to win custody of their children need to recognize that the legal system is much more balanced than it was even five years ago. While many believe that the mother holds a distinct advantage in custody cases, this is simply not true. The biggest advantage that any parent can have is the ability to provide their child with a safe and healthy environment that will allow them to grow and develop both socially and intellectually. Thus, all mothers should focus their pre-hearing efforts on stabilizing their home and adjusting their lifestyle to better fit the needs of a growing child. If they can prove to the court that they provide the best environment, then they will ultimately win child custody.
By: Brandon Brewer
About the Author:
Get Organized
At the forefront of any legal battle is the importance of detailed record keeping. Judges will rarely accept accusations or statements of fact without the proper documentation. Prior to the custody hearing, mothers should organize all paperwork related to the child’s health, education and finances. In addition to this, other important records to have include bank statements, parental salary information, and bills related to running the household. All of these documents should be organized in such a way that the courts can easily determine the financial needs of the child and the lifestyle of which they are accustomed to.
Improve Your Situation
The environment that each custodial candidate provides for the child is one of the most important determining factors in a custody case. Some of the things a judge will look for include the safety, size, and condition of the home, and whether or not the child will have to change neighborhoods and schools. This makes it vital for mothers to do everything in their power to improve the perception of their residence. It may even be necessary in some cases to consider moving to a location that better provides the child an opportunity to excel in both school and social growth. The key is to offer a standard of living that is either the same or better than what the child is accustomed to.
Build a Strong Case
Beyond external factors such as housing and finances, it is also important to focus on building a strong argument for obtaining custody. This becomes a matter of putting all of the facts and circumstances together in such a way that will influence the judge to side with the mother. This can include things like time spent with the child, care giving tendencies, and emotional support. While not all of these factors can be measured on paper, they still hold significant weight in the eyes of the court. This is an area where a devoted mother can excel by proving that she is the most prominent parental figure in the child’s life.
Mothers who are trying to win custody of their children need to recognize that the legal system is much more balanced than it was even five years ago. While many believe that the mother holds a distinct advantage in custody cases, this is simply not true. The biggest advantage that any parent can have is the ability to provide their child with a safe and healthy environment that will allow them to grow and develop both socially and intellectually. Thus, all mothers should focus their pre-hearing efforts on stabilizing their home and adjusting their lifestyle to better fit the needs of a growing child. If they can prove to the court that they provide the best environment, then they will ultimately win child custody.
By: Brandon Brewer
About the Author:
Parents should never rely solely on a lawyer to win their custody dispute. Visit ObtainCustody.com for more ways to win child custody.
23
Feb
Categories:Health Studies
Whether you prefer your Whole Health Education (R) in-person or through distance learning platform, get ready to be wowed by the experience and education that National Institute of Whole Health (NIWH) can provide you and others in the healthcare industry. Attracting professional candidates like massage therapists, physical therapists and other allied healthcare practitioners, the Whole Health programs take a five-element approach, says Dr. Georgianna Donadio, academic program director at the National Institute of Whole Health. “Subject matter such as digestion, the immune system, nutrition, cardiac health, endocrine glands, stress, and adrenal functions are integrated through the evidence based curriculum to include aspects that are physical, emotional, nutritional, environmental, and spiritual.”
The whole picture of health (R) from a 360-degree perspective, Donadio explains, exemplifies the uniqueness of the programs offered through the Institute. “Our curriculum stands out because we’re the only school that offers Whole Health education. We are the pioneers in the Whole Health movement, and we saw the vision of this 30 years ago.”
If you want to become a professional educator in nutrition, the Nutrition Educator Training program at NIWH is comprised of 20 courses, (19 of which are on DVD). In-person classes are optional, and are given by renowned physicians, health and nutrition experts, and are conducted at leading area hospitals and at Harvard.
If your interest lies in Whole Health Education, the Whole Health Educator program presents a great opportunity to those in the healthcare sector wanting to enhance client services. “Every time you watch a DVD, you can apply that to your practice, “says Donadio. This practical training program combines evidence-based science with natural health concepts, with spiritual foundations. “Our mission is to facilitate the transformation of healthcare in all settings, to include whole person care and shared decision making,” says Donadio.
While these are just a sampling of the many innovative career education opportunities at National Institute of Whole Health, rest assured that your educational goals can be met through various financial assistance programs, and career assistance services, among other professional enrichment amenities.
Licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Education, National Institute of Whole Health is also accredited and/or endorsed by several renowned organizations including the National Academy of Sports Medicine, American Holistic Nurses Association, and the National Commission on Health Education Credentialing, among several others. “We have applied for accreditation to provide degrees in Whole Health Coaching, Whole Health Educators and Whole Health Nutrition,” Donadio adds.
Recent NIWH graduate, Debi Silber says she’s doing many exciting things as a result of her education. “The program changed my entire outlook on life and what I am capable of being and doing in the world!”
If you’re serious about making an exciting transformation to your professional routine, and would like to integrate natural and Whole Health principles in your current practice, now is the time to explore your educational opportunities awaiting you at National Institute of Whole Health.
Featured School the Week: National Institute of Whole Health
Copyright 2007
The CollegeBound Network
All Rights Reserved
NOTICE: Article(s) may be republished free of charge to relevant websites, as long as Copyright and Author Resource Box are included; and ALL Hyperlinks REMAIN intact and active.
By: CarolAnn Bailey-Lloyd
About the Author:
The whole picture of health (R) from a 360-degree perspective, Donadio explains, exemplifies the uniqueness of the programs offered through the Institute. “Our curriculum stands out because we’re the only school that offers Whole Health education. We are the pioneers in the Whole Health movement, and we saw the vision of this 30 years ago.”
If you want to become a professional educator in nutrition, the Nutrition Educator Training program at NIWH is comprised of 20 courses, (19 of which are on DVD). In-person classes are optional, and are given by renowned physicians, health and nutrition experts, and are conducted at leading area hospitals and at Harvard.
If your interest lies in Whole Health Education, the Whole Health Educator program presents a great opportunity to those in the healthcare sector wanting to enhance client services. “Every time you watch a DVD, you can apply that to your practice, “says Donadio. This practical training program combines evidence-based science with natural health concepts, with spiritual foundations. “Our mission is to facilitate the transformation of healthcare in all settings, to include whole person care and shared decision making,” says Donadio.
While these are just a sampling of the many innovative career education opportunities at National Institute of Whole Health, rest assured that your educational goals can be met through various financial assistance programs, and career assistance services, among other professional enrichment amenities.
Licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Education, National Institute of Whole Health is also accredited and/or endorsed by several renowned organizations including the National Academy of Sports Medicine, American Holistic Nurses Association, and the National Commission on Health Education Credentialing, among several others. “We have applied for accreditation to provide degrees in Whole Health Coaching, Whole Health Educators and Whole Health Nutrition,” Donadio adds.
Recent NIWH graduate, Debi Silber says she’s doing many exciting things as a result of her education. “The program changed my entire outlook on life and what I am capable of being and doing in the world!”
If you’re serious about making an exciting transformation to your professional routine, and would like to integrate natural and Whole Health principles in your current practice, now is the time to explore your educational opportunities awaiting you at National Institute of Whole Health.
Featured School the Week: National Institute of Whole Health
Copyright 2007
The CollegeBound Network
All Rights Reserved
NOTICE: Article(s) may be republished free of charge to relevant websites, as long as Copyright and Author Resource Box are included; and ALL Hyperlinks REMAIN intact and active.
By: CarolAnn Bailey-Lloyd
About the Author:
Resource Box: CarolAnn Bailey-Lloyd – Freelance Writer and Web Consultant for SpaBeautySchools.com -part of The CollegeBound Network, an interactive media company that specializes in recruitment lead generation solutions for colleges, universities, and career schools.
23
Feb
Categories:Health Studies
Taking care of your teeth is one thing that many people know they should do, but don’t for fear of their dentist. Maintaining a beautiful smile is easy to do and doesn’t have to instill fear. Cleanings, fillings, and even crowns are all easy procedures that your general dentist can take care of for you. It is important to visit your dentist regularly, about every six months, not only to keep your teeth clean, but to keep your whole mouth in good health.
The website, http://www.boldersmiles.com/, is your tool for learning more about general dentistry and Dr. Birnbach’s practice. He performs and includes information about fillings, bridges, crowns, gum disease, and dental implants. His blog keeps you updated on new procedures and Dr. Birnbach’s most recent successes. His patient care page teaches you more about the dental/oral conditions you may be suffering form, and how he is able to treat them. The frequently asked questions page will answer any questions you may have, but if you’re still pondering you can contact him and set up an appointment to further discuss your dental health.
Dr. Mark J. Birnbach received his bachelor’s degree from Queens College and his DMD from Tufts University in Massachusetts. He then spent a year in Switzerland practicing dentistry. He has been awarded “Clinician of the Year” three times by the Boulder Dental Study Club. He has been recognized as an expert in the field of TMD. He has taken many hours of continuing education at the Las Vegas Institute for Dental Studies. Dr. Birnbach is more than happy to answer any questions you may have about dentistry. He treats all of his patients with respect and is dedicated to providing quality dental care to everyone.
By: Patricia Woloch
About the Author:
The website, http://www.boldersmiles.com/, is your tool for learning more about general dentistry and Dr. Birnbach’s practice. He performs and includes information about fillings, bridges, crowns, gum disease, and dental implants. His blog keeps you updated on new procedures and Dr. Birnbach’s most recent successes. His patient care page teaches you more about the dental/oral conditions you may be suffering form, and how he is able to treat them. The frequently asked questions page will answer any questions you may have, but if you’re still pondering you can contact him and set up an appointment to further discuss your dental health.
Dr. Mark J. Birnbach received his bachelor’s degree from Queens College and his DMD from Tufts University in Massachusetts. He then spent a year in Switzerland practicing dentistry. He has been awarded “Clinician of the Year” three times by the Boulder Dental Study Club. He has been recognized as an expert in the field of TMD. He has taken many hours of continuing education at the Las Vegas Institute for Dental Studies. Dr. Birnbach is more than happy to answer any questions you may have about dentistry. He treats all of his patients with respect and is dedicated to providing quality dental care to everyone.
By: Patricia Woloch
About the Author: