Excess work incapacity during and after the COVID-19 pandemic in Poland: evidence from population-level social insurance data.

While existing studies have identified various internal and external factors influencing policy adoption and diffusion, the impact of these factors on social policies with complex and hybrid attributes remains unclear. In China, public housing policies serve dual functions: both redistributive and developmental, aiming to enhance social welfare while also driving economic development. This study conducts an event-history analysis of 264 prefecture-level cities between 2010 and 2020 to examine the internal and external factors shaping the adoption of inclusive public rental housing (PRH) policies for urban migrants. The findings indicate that economic interests linked to industrial development tend to promote the inclusion of non-local residents, while those associated with land and housing commodification significantly hinder such inclusion. While rising housing prices raise social welfare concerns that could encourage migrant inclusion, particularly in inland regions, these concerns are often overshadowed by local governments' land-based economic interests. Externally, both vertical and horizontal diffusion mechanisms contribute to the adoption of inclusive PRH policies. Vertical influences at the provincial level manifest primarily through performance-based assessment directives, while horizontal influences are predominantly driven by general competition rather than purely economic performance competition. This study provides insights into housing welfare expansion in a developing and transitional economy, moving beyond the context of high-income Western countries. • We examine internal and external factors shaping inclusive PRH policy adoption in Chinese cities. • Internally, social welfare interests are secondary to industrial and land-based economic interests in shaping policy adoption. • Externally, horizontal competition operates alongside provincial directives in driving policy adoption. • Vertical influence at the provincial level functions predominantly through performance-based assessment directives.

Better than Nothing? A scoping review on tiny homes and sleeping cabins as a response to homelessness in high-income countries

An update on the monogenic causes of Parkinson's disease: Impact on patient stratification and personalised medicine.

Sustainability in the energy sector: A systematic literature review of energy transitions, technologies, and policy instruments

Liquidity shock mitigation and mental health: Evidence from pension withdrawals during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chile.

Women bear the brunt of human rights violations faced by persons with albinism, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to insufficient access to skin and eye care, increased rates of skin cancer, stigma and discrimination, and threats of mutilation and murder as they are reportedly trafficked for economic gain, they face heightened gender-based violence linked to misbeliefs about albinism. This study explored through a human rights lens the resilience of mothers affected by albinism, at the intersection of gender, colorism, and religion in Tanzania and South Africa. The critical ethnography involved participant observation, interviews, and sharing circles with 97 participants, including mothers and key informants such as albinism advocates, health and social workers, community leaders, and policy makers. In Tanzania, we conducted fieldwork in Mwanza and Dar es Salaam; in South Africa, in the provinces of Northern Cape and Gauteng. We present a comparative analysis of the two countries. The study shows that critical resilience comes about through social relationships, collective practices, and identities present in communities (local and national). We identified six promising practices that created conditions to strengthen gender equity: In Tanzania, peer support groups build capacity as human rights defenders; international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) fill gaps and advocate; and faith leaders act as advocates. In South Africa, progressive health system and policy frameworks, genetic counseling and health education equip families, and traditional healers act as advocates. The promising practices distilled from the Tanzanian and South African cases should be considered for broader uptake, importantly with local adaptations.

Institutional practices for cancer: Comparison of social and health care along disease trajectory in five countries with high survival rates.

Feature selection for relative poverty classification in Morocco using supervised machine learning algorithms

• The article informs how family relationships form one of the primary levels and bases for health and wellbeing of migrant families of children with special care needs. • The article contributes knowledge on the intersection between special needs, family dynamics, welfare needs and wellbeing among migrant families. • The article emphasizes co-production and user-participation in research. Migrant families of children with special care needs face more challenges in managing their caring responsibilities, family relationships and individual lives. The overall aim of this article is to explore the experiences of migrants with caring responsibilities (MCRs) and the strategies they use in managing these responsibilities at the family level. Three coresearchers were actively involved in qualitative participatory research based on coproduction approaches in qualitative research. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 15 participants. The discussions and conclusions are elevated by the Family Theories, which view the family as an interdependent system, where the strength and/or limitations of its individual members are related to the family situation. Family relationships and individual sacrifices proved to be a sustainable adaptive strategy to manage care and individual wellbeing for a majority of MCRs. These findings underscore the coexistence of strain and resilience in managing care responsibilities and well-being among MCRs and their families. We conclude that a deeper understanding of family dynamics involving MCRs is crucial for social policy and professional practice in identifying and maximizing family resources to ensure family-oriented health and social care. This may form the basis for better health and well-being among MCRs and the foundation for strengthening how they interact with society and welfare services outside the family setting.

You don't need criminal law to make cops: Reading carceral care work into reproductive healthcare policies in Vancouver.

ABSTRACT Educational outcomes for children in care in England are significantly below national averages and addressing this is a high social justice and policy priority. One facet is this group’s higher-than-average school absence rates and this paper begins by exploring data between geographical areas, highlighting important correlations with special educational needs and disabilities, exclusions and housing arrangements. We then draw on focus group discussions among 26 Virtual School Headteachers; senior leaders in local authorities with statutory responsibility for supporting the education of children in care through advocacy and engagement with local schools. These illuminate the reasons why children in care are disproportionately absent from school. First, there is widespread resistance to admitting children in care, with some schools also being quick to exclude. Second, limited capacity leads to administrative delays in resourcing support for special educational needs and disabilities. Third, there are shortages in high-quality specialist provision for young people with complex needs. We discuss these empirical findings as an issue of procedural justice in the wider policy context, highlighting the tensions between government discourses around inclusive education and a high-stakes accountability environment, where the majority of schools now have significant autonomy over admissions and behaviour policies with little democratic oversight.

Sick leave with stress-related disorders has increased substantially in Sweden and other OECD countries, posing a significant challenge to public health and workforce participation. whilst employer support has been shown to contribute to return to work (RTW), there is limited evidence regarding which specific workplace adjustments facilitate this process. This study aims to investigate the types of workplace adjustments individuals with stress-related disorders receive to facilitate RTW and whether such adjustments are associated with a reduced number of sick leave days. This study combined data from a national survey of 1,412 individuals on long-term sick leave due to stress-related disorders (ICD-10 F43 codes) with register data on sick leave from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency. Workplace adjustments were self-reported via a multiple-choice questionnaire. Sick leave outcomes were measured as gross and net sick leave days at 6 and 18months. Multivariable quantile regression was used to examine associations between reported adjustments and the distribution of sick leave days, adjusting for age, sex, and education. Eighty per cent of participants reported having received at least one workplace adjustment, with changes in work tasks being most common. Quantile regression analyses revealed that workplace adjustments were associated with fewer net sick leave days, particularly among individuals with longer durations of sick leave. At 18months, individuals who had received workplace adjustments had significantly fewer net sick leave days across the 40th to 90th percentiles, with the largest difference at the 90th percentile (153 fewer net sick leave days; p < 0.001). Workplace adjustments were associated with shorter durations of sick leave among individuals with stress-related disorders, particularly among those with prolonged sick leave. These findings highlight the potential relevance of individualised workplace adjustments in the rehabilitation process.

The rapid expansion of healthcare infrastructure may exert increasing pressure on the sustainability of social health insurance. China's concurrent pursuit of universal coverage, coupled with extensive hospital construction, offers a valuable context for examining whether the patterns observed in China align with Roemer's Law (1961), which is often summarized as 'a hospital bed built is a bed filled' within an insured population. This study investigates the relationship between hospital bed density and insurance expenditure to deepen our understanding of the factors associated with the growth of healthcare costs. We compiled a panel dataset encompassing 31 Chinese provinces covering the period from 2011 to 2024. To strengthen identification and address potential endogeneity concerns, we employed two-way fixed effects models alongside instrumental variable (IV-2SLS) estimation. Mediation analysis was employed to investigate potential pathways, while panel threshold regression was utilized to examine nonlinear patterns in the relationship between supply and expenditure. The baseline estimates indicated a positive association, suggesting that higher provincial bed density correlates with increased province-level insurance spending. Mediation analysis revealed that the Average Length of Stay may serve as a potential aggregate pathway, accounting for 17.8% of the estimated relationship. Furthermore, threshold regression analysis indicated a possible nonlinear pattern, with an estimated threshold of 7.271 beds per 1,000 population. Below this threshold, hospital bed density is positively related to insurance spending (β = 0.217); however, above this threshold, the association loses statistical significance. Regional analysis demonstrated that the positive association was most pronounced in the western region, while no statistically significant association was observed in the northeastern region. Our findings support a conditional, province-level interpretation of Roemer's Law within the Chinese context, indicating that the association between bed density and insurance expenditure varies across institutional and capacity settings. Specifically, higher provincial bed density is more strongly associated with a longer average length of stay at the provincial level than with increased admission volumes. Beyond the exploratory threshold estimate, the marginal association between additional bed supply and insurance expenditure appears to weaken. These results suggest that payment reform, length-of-stay management, and regulatory oversight should be prioritized alongside careful capacity planning.

ABSTRACT With global migration increasing, understanding aging perceptions (APs) among immigrant older adults (IOAs) is essential for informing healthcare and social policies. This scoping review synthesized evidence on IOAs’ aging perceptions, influencing factors, and research gaps. Following the Arksey and O’Malley framework, four databases were searched for studies published between 1996 and 2025. Fifty-four studies, mostly qualitative, were included. Four themes emerged: successful aging outside the homeland, conflicting aging perceptions, challenges and barriers, and adaptive coping strategies. Aging out of place reflected interactions between individual, social, and environmental factors, with IOAs experiencing the “double jeopardy” of aging and immigration.

Family caregivers of adults with cognitive impairment, including dementia, often face complex challenges. However, social exclusion among caregivers aged 50years and older particularly within the distinctive Central and Eastern European context, remains critically underexplored. This study uses Poland, a country where strong family care norms coexist with limited formal support, as a crucial case study to examine how social exclusion manifests in the caregiving experiences of older family caregivers. Using photovoice, a novel participatory action research method for this context, the study engaged six family caregivers aged 50 and above from a single city in Poland. Participants photographed aspects of their caregiving experiences and took part in reflective group discussions. Data from these discussions were analyzed thematically to identify key domains of social exclusion. No statistical tests were applied due to the qualitative and exploratory nature of the study. Thematic analysis revealed four interconnected domains of social exclusion: (1) Relational exclusion-including the erosion of social networks and experiences of stigma; (2) Institutional exclusion-such as difficulties accessing care services, transportation, and public infrastructure; (3) Material exclusion-highlighting financial strain and unmet resource needs; and (4) Paradoxical caregiving roles-reflecting the simultaneous marginalization and moral elevation of caregivers. These findings illustrate the layered and dynamic nature of exclusion in the caregiving trajectory. A key contribution of this work is the methodological approach. Despite the study's small and localized sample, it demonstrates the pioneering value of photovoice in capturing the context-specific dimensions of social inequality in caregiving acting as a critical tool to amplify caregiver voices. By centering older caregivers in Poland, the study offers novel insights into how familial care responsibilities intersect with systemic gaps in formal support. Despite limitations in generalizability, these context-specific findings demonstrate the impact of Polish systemic gaps and can enrich cross-national discussions on caregiver vulnerability and resilience, emphasizing the need for targeted social protection policies and inclusive service design.

ABSTRACT Due to their growth dependency, developed welfare states frequently exceed planetary boundaries and transgress sustainable consumption and production corridors that scholars deem crucial for mitigating climate change. Recognizing that international organizations (IOs) often act as policy entrepreneurs and innovators of new ideas, the article asks whether and how concepts of limits to welfare, which are crucial in recent academic debates on social policy in times of ecological crises, are translated and discussed by IOs. Empirically, it focuses on three key IOs: the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the World Bank. The article maps how IOs frame limits in global eco-social policy and use them strategically. It finds that limits have important implications for social policy: socially, they shift responsibilities to private actors; temporally, they allow a focus on innovation and future change; spatially, they expand policy opportunities into the periphery. These implications are also translated into specific policy proposals: promoting self-limitations rather than regulation, fostering technological and economic change, and exporting economic and social policy models from the Global North worldwide. These results give rise to doubts whether IOs sufficiently acknowledge ecological limits that could orient a transformative agenda of sustainable welfare.

Microplastics (MPs), synthetic polymer particles <5 mm, are emerging environmental contaminants with potential cardiometabolic relevance. We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 709 coastal census tracts ( < 200 meters from shoreline) by linking NOAA marine microplastic measurements with chronic disease prevalence estimates from the CDC PLACES database. A total of 154 demographic, socioeconomic, and environmental variables including age, sex, race, median household income, Social Vulnerability Index, insurance coverage, and PM2.5 were incorporated to adjust for confounding. Adjusted Poisson regression models showed that tracts with the highest microplastic exposure had higher prevalence of stroke (PR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.13-1.29), diabetes (PR = 1.17, 95% CI: 1.10-1.24), and hypertension (PR = 1.10, 95% CI: 1.06-1.14) compared with low-exposure areas. Among all covariates, XGBoost models with SHAP interpretation identified microplastic concentration as an important environmental predictor of stroke prevalence. These ecological findings suggest microplastics were associated with chronic disease patterns and warrant further investigation.

Cerebral palsy (CP) is one of the most common childhood neurodisability globally and disproportionately affects children in low- and middle-income countries. In Cameroon, limited epidemiological data, weak rehabilitation infrastructure, and entrenched sociocultural beliefs shape how CP is understood and managed. Children with CP often require lifelong support, placing substantial physical, emotional, and economic demands on family-caregivers, most commonly mothers. Understanding caregivers' lived experiences within specific cultural and resource-limited contexts is critical for informing inclusive and effective interventions. This study explored the lived experiences and challenges of family-caregivers of children with CP in Magba Subdivision, West Region of Cameroon. This study employed a qualitative exploratory design using in-depth interviews and inductive content analysis. Participants were family caregivers of children with CP, purposively recruited through community-based rehabilitation (CBR) services. In-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted in English or local languages, audio-recorded, transcribed, and translated. Data were analysed using inductive content analysis following Elo and Kyngäs' approach. Findings were interpreted using Raina et al.'s multidimensional caregiving model. All participants, aged 15-49 years, were family caregivers of children with CP, aged 4-15 years. Six interrelated themes emerged: (1) sociocultural challenges, including stigma, discrimination, and harmful spiritual beliefs framing CP as witchcraft, ancestral punishment, 'snake', or 'marine spirit'; (2) economic constraints arising from inability to engage in paid work and the absence of social protections; (3) physical caregiving burden characterised by exhaustion, chronic pain, and musculoskeletal strain; (4) inadequate specialized services and health information; (5) limited social/family support; and (6) limited access rehabilitation services. These challenges intensified caregiver isolation and emotional distress. Caregiving for children with CP in Magba is shaped by intersecting sociocultural, economic, and systemic factors that extend beyond individual coping capacity. Strengthening culturally sensitive community-based rehabilitation, improving access to early diagnosis and rehabilitation, and implementing disability- and gender-responsive social protection policies are essential to reduce caregiver burden and promote inclusive child and family wellbeing in Cameroon.

ABSTRACT Albinism caused by a deficiency of melanin in the body is a non-contagious genetic condition. Because of the paleness of the skin and eyes, persons with albinism experience sensitivity to the sun’s ultraviolet radiation and visual impairment. Recently, albinism has received more global attention by human rights advocates and researchers and nationally in South Africa by democratic inclusive policies because of the social and physical stigmatisation that people with albinism suffer. Studies of mothers with albinism and/or who have a child with albinism have also been a recent focus. While this work importantly documents the gender inequality they experience as a social determinant of health and useful implications for social and health policy, we take a different approach. Expanding this research, we draw on qualitative interviews conducted in South Africa with women and mothers impacted by albinism and healthcare and social work professionals to understand how albinism can inform social readings of gender. Applying a feminist theoretical framing to our analysis of participant experiences of albinism, we critically discuss gender as it relates to parenting, other intersecting social structures such as patriarchy and belief systems, and how inequality brought about by gender and albinism can be collectively challenged.