title: Work limitations 4 years after mild traumatic brain injury: A cohort study

authors: Theadom, Alice

subjects: Science & Technology

abstract: Objective
To explore employment status, work limitations, and productivity loss after mild traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Design
Inception cohort study over 4 years.

Setting
General community.

Participants
Adults (N=245; >16y at the time of injury) who experienced a mild TBI and who were employed prior to their injury.

Interventions
Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures
Details of the injury, demographic information, and preinjury employment status were collected from medical records and self-report. Symptoms and mood were assessed 1 month postinjury using the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptom Questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Postinjury employment status and work productivity were assessed 4 years postinjury using the Work Limitations Questionnaire.

Results
Four years after mild TBI, 17.3% of participants had exited the workforce (other than for reasons of retirement or to study) or had reduced their working hours compared with preinjury. A further 15.5% reported experiencing limitations at work because of their injury. Average work productivity loss was 3.6%. The symptom of taking longer to think 1 month postinjury significantly predicted work productivity loss 4 years later (β=.47, t=3.79, P≤.001).

Conclusions
Although changes in employment status and difficulties at work are likely over time, the results indicate increased unemployment rates, work limitations, and productivity loss in the longer term after a mild TBI. Identification of cognitive difficulties 1 month after TBI in working aged adults and subsequent interventions to address these difficulties are required to facilitate work productivity.

text: Work limitations 4 years after mild traumatic brain injury: A cohort study Objective
To explore employment status, work limitations, and productivity loss after mild traumatic brain injury (TBI).

Design
Inception cohort study over 4 years.

Setting
General community.

Participants
Adults (N=245; >16y at the time of injury) who experienced a mild TBI and who were employed prior to their injury.

Interventions
Not applicable.

Main Outcome Measures
Details of the injury, demographic information, and preinjury employment status were collected from medical records and self-report. Symptoms and mood were assessed 1 month postinjury using the Rivermead Post-Concussion Symptom Questionnaire and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Postinjury employment status and work productivity were assessed 4 years postinjury using the Work Limitations Questionnaire.

Results
Four years after mild TBI, 17.3% of participants had exited the workforce (other than for reasons of retirement or to study) or had reduced their working hours compared with preinjury. A further 15.5% reported experiencing limitations at work because of their injury. Average work productivity loss was 3.6%. The symptom of taking longer to think 1 month postinjury significantly predicted work productivity loss 4 years later (β=.47, t=3.79, P≤.001).

Conclusions
Although changes in employment status and difficulties at work are likely over time, the results indicate increased unemployment rates, work limitations, and productivity loss in the longer term after a mild TBI. Identification of cognitive difficulties 1 month after TBI in working aged adults and subsequent interventions to address these difficulties are required to facilitate work productivity.

year: 2017

title: "Getting beneath the skin": A tok stori approach to reviewing the literature of leadership in Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Marshall Islands

authors: Sanga, Kabini

abstract: A literature review is generally a compendium of written material on a topic presented as research background. It functions to describe what is known in academic circles and to justify research questions that step beyond the known. A more nuanced approach involves getting “beneath the skin” of the literature itself; considering the fabric of the literature; what worldviews are evident, the questions that started inquiry, and the usefulness to communities of the knowledge gained. In this article, we discuss the place of the literature review by going beyond a compendium approach. We offer summaries of literature from the Pacific Island Countries of Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Marshall Islands as background to a research effort on leadership indigenous to the Pacific region, before getting beneath the skin of our reading. We augment our approach by imagining a conference tok stori discussion of Pacific leadership literature as a form of literature itself. This acts to re-value real-time discursive exploration and erodes the boundaries between the written and oral. Our aim is to investigate a more open and inclusive research space that honours Pacific-origin processes so that our research contribution can be increasingly permeated by Pacific values, wisdom and perspectives.

text: "Getting beneath the skin": A tok stori approach to reviewing the literature of leadership in Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Marshall Islands A literature review is generally a compendium of written material on a topic presented as research background. It functions to describe what is known in academic circles and to justify research questions that step beyond the known. A more nuanced approach involves getting “beneath the skin” of the literature itself; considering the fabric of the literature; what worldviews are evident, the questions that started inquiry, and the usefulness to communities of the knowledge gained. In this article, we discuss the place of the literature review by going beyond a compendium approach. We offer summaries of literature from the Pacific Island Countries of Solomon Islands, Tonga, and Marshall Islands as background to a research effort on leadership indigenous to the Pacific region, before getting beneath the skin of our reading. We augment our approach by imagining a conference tok stori discussion of Pacific leadership literature as a form of literature itself. This acts to re-value real-time discursive exploration and erodes the boundaries between the written and oral. Our aim is to investigate a more open and inclusive research space that honours Pacific-origin processes so that our research contribution can be increasingly permeated by Pacific values, wisdom and perspectives.

year: 2021

title: The use of Māori words in National Science Challenge online discourse

authors: Calude, Andreea S.

subjects: Maori loanwords

abstract: New Zealand English is well-known for its heavy borrowing of words from Māori. This lexical component, unique to New Zealand English alone has been studied intensely over the last 50 years, particularly in newspaper media. Current research suggests the use is still increasing today, primarily in Māori-related contexts. Here, we analyse a surprising and unexpected use of Māori loanwords in science digital discourse (neither genre being previously investigated), where we discover a strong presence of Māori borrowings in National Science Challenge website and Twitter content. Using corpus linguistics methods, we argue that the use of Māori loanwords in this genre functions as a national identity building tool, used by various authors to signal that the ‘challenges’ the country faces are uniquely New Zealand’s ‘challenges’.

text: The use of Māori words in National Science Challenge online discourse New Zealand English is well-known for its heavy borrowing of words from Māori. This lexical component, unique to New Zealand English alone has been studied intensely over the last 50 years, particularly in newspaper media. Current research suggests the use is still increasing today, primarily in Māori-related contexts. Here, we analyse a surprising and unexpected use of Māori loanwords in science digital discourse (neither genre being previously investigated), where we discover a strong presence of Māori borrowings in National Science Challenge website and Twitter content. Using corpus linguistics methods, we argue that the use of Māori loanwords in this genre functions as a national identity building tool, used by various authors to signal that the ‘challenges’ the country faces are uniquely New Zealand’s ‘challenges’.

year: 2019