Stressed Irish workers should ask for counselling
STRESSED IRISH WORKERS WOULD BENEFIT IF COUNSELLING SERVICES WERE OFFERED IN THE WORKPLACE. A THIRD OF ALL IRISH WORKERS COMPLAIN THEY ARE STRESSED BECAUSE OF THEIR JOBS.
And almost three out of four (72pc) workers think there is a need for counselling and psychotherapy in the workplace.
According to research commissioned by the Irish Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (IACP), stress in the workplace is highest among the 25 to 49 age group, affecting 59pc of workers.
A survey also showed that four in five people under 24 would support such services being available at work.
Overall, the survey found that work was the main cause of stress for 31pc of adults.
Half the adults surveyed said that they would like their employer to offer confidential counselling services and psychotherapy.
Meanwhile, a survey last year by EU research agency Eurofound showed that 46pc of Irish people said they were stressed at work or at home, while 12pc said they were stressed at both.
Work-related stress is estimated to cost the economy €200m a year.
100,000 more pupils in Irish primary school by the next decade
Irish primary school pupil enrolments will grow by up to 100,000 by 2021, according to latest projections from the Central Statistics Office (CSO).
It means a jump of 20pc on the 2011 figures, with the number of five to 12-year-olds in the population expected to rise from about 500,000 to 600,000 in the decade.
The boom in primary enrolments is expected to remain reasonably stable between 2021 and 2026, before starting to drop.
The surge at primary level will work its way through to second-level, reaching its peak there between 2021 and 2026.
The CSO projects a 31-34pc rise in enrolments at second-level, ranging between 106,00 and 117,000, in the decade to 2021.
While extra enrolments mean more schools and more teachers, in the current economic climate it also means available funds will be stretched further.
The Department of Education is adopting a “robbing Peter to pay Paul” approach to cope with extra demand.
Education Minister Ruairi Quinn has said the priority is for every school-age child to have a place in a classroom.
The five-year school building programme – which is costing €2bn – is focused on areas of population growth and this year, for instance, there is no budget for maintenance and repairs to existing schools.
The 2013 programme will deliver over 25,000 permanent school places, almost 21,000 of which will be additional, and the remainder will replace temporary or unsatisfactory accommodation.
Professor Alan Barrett, of the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), said yesterday that the school-building programme should take account of changing needs.
A department spokesman said that the focus of the five-year programme was on meeting the obvious demand at primary level and second level up to 2016.
Recruitment: She said that Prof Barrett’s proposal was an interesting one and that it was worthy of consideration.
The rising enrolments also have implications for teacher recruitment and the department predicts that about 660 extra primary teachers will be needed each year to cope with growing enrolments.
That is on top of about 870 new appointments annually to replace teachers who retire or leave for other reasons.
But the department has ways of controlling teacher numbers in order to keep within budget.
A series of cuts in recent years in areas such as resource and English language teaching has kept a lid on teacher levels – even though enrolments had started to rise.
At second-level, changes in arrangements for the allocation of career guidance teachers, has removed about 500 jobs from schools.
A change in the pupil-teacher ratio can also see hundreds of jobs disappear from the system in the the stroke of a pen.
The doctor who has harnessed children’s love of Jedward to ease their trauma in hospital.
His solution to the pain and anxiety children feel when they’re brought in to hospital is so simple you have to wonder why nobody thought of it before.
The idea by Dr Eoin Fogarty above, has found its way into one of the world’s most respected medical journals.
Dr Fogarty discovered through a scientific experiment that a Jedward-like glove puppet was the most ideal way to divert a sick child’s attention.
“It’s extraordinary how much it’s taken off,” he told the Herald. Dr Fogarty and four of his colleagues tested the famous Jedward quiff on 149 children who were being treated in the emergency department of Tallaght Hospital.
Given the option of the Jedward figure or a Mohawk-type alternative, the majority of the children said they favoured the Dublin pop duo. The doctors involved used latex gloves to create the puppets before using the fingers to create the Jedward quiff. The study found that the glove puppets was successful in distracting children from their acute injuries and meant doctors had to distribute fewer painkillers.
The study featured this week in the UK-based Emergency Medical Journal and has generated worldwide media coverage.
Speaking this evening, Dr Fogarty (32), who now serves in the Mater Hospital, said he hopes the idea is now rolled out in further hospitals.
Physical exercise still very important for people with Heart disease
PHYSICAL ACTIVITY IS ESSENTIAL FOR PEOPLE WITH CONGENITAL HEART DISEASE, DOCTORS HAVE SAID.
Congenital heart disease refers to structural problems or a defect in the heart that has existed since birth. Between 500 and 600 babies are born every year in Ireland with a heart defect. In most cases, it is unknown why they have occurred.
While some people may assume that those affected should not exert themselves, a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association appears to disagree.
According to the statement, regular physical activity among those with congenital heart defects is essential for their long-term health.
The statement acknowledges that people with some conditions involving an irregular heart beat may have to restrict their activities, however for most of those affected, ‘physical activity can be unlimited and should be strongly promoted’.
The doctors noted that many people with congenital heart disease lead relatively sedentary lives. However, they emphasised the physical, psychological and social benefits of regular physical activity.
Insect like eye lens in new tiny camera lets you look like a bug
Device imitates structure of insect eye
The new digital camera uses large arrays of tiny focusing lenses and miniaturized detectors in hemispherical layouts, just like eyes found in insects.
Researchers in the US have borrowed from insects, building a unique camera that copies the multi-facetted eye of a fly. Its bubble-shaped lens features 180 microlenses giving it a 180 degree view of the world.
Not much bigger than a fly itself, the camera could be used for wide-eyed surveillance or to provide very high quality imaging during endoscopic procedures in hospital.
“What we have, in a sense, is many small eyes on one big eye,” said Prof Yonggang Huang of Northwestern University in Illinois who collaborated with Prof John Rogers at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and others. They published their findings this evening in the journal Nature.
Each of the 180 elements is a separate imaging system with individual microlenses and microscale photodetectors. When working all together they can take a clear picture with a single snap and give a wide angle window on the world.
The hemispherical camera lens is completely flexible and can twist and bend without breaking. This makes it a promising addition to the technology used for advanced surgery, the authors believe. Two of the lenses can also be put back to back to achieve a full 360 degree view, they add.
The lens acts very much like an insect’s eye, Prof Rogers said. “Nature has developed and refined these concepts over the course of billions of years of evolution.”
The 180 lens camera is comparable to the eyes of fire ants and bark beetles, but can’t yet match a fly eye which has thousands of individual segments, the researchers write.
Building the complex camera lens was an engineering challenge involving optics, electronics, fabrication and modelling.
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