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Summary Social workers' occupational health has become a central theme in the psychosocial literature. This study aimed at exploring how specific job demands and psychological well-being are related to work engagement. A sample of 140 Italian social workers was analyzed in accordance with the job demands–resources model. Participants were asked to complete a written questionnaire containing several measurement scales. Findings Multiple regression analyses showed that social workers' psychological well-being was positively related to work engagement. Moderation analyses also indicated that, when psychological well-being was high (vs. low), job demands were associated to higher levels of work engagement, thus highlighting the buffering role of psychological well-being as a specific personal resource. When job demands were high (vs. low), the psychological well-being appeared to be strongly related to lowest levels of work engagement, showing that high job demands could reduce the fostering role of psychological well-being on social workers' work engagement. Applications While administration of job demands may often be difficult in social work contexts, managers should be encouraged, as part of a systemic approach to training, to promote specific measures for improving social workers' psychological well-being as a personal resource for promoting work engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Type - Therapy (decision analysis) Level of Evidence 2b What's known on the subject? and What does the study add? The benefits of the multidisciplinary approach in oncology are widely recognised. In particular, managing patients with prostate cancer within a multidisciplinarity and multiprofessional context is of paramount importance, to address the complexity of a disease where patients may be offered multiple therapeutic and observational options handled by different specialists and having severe therapy-induced side-effects. The present study describes the establishing of a multidisciplinary clinic at the Prostate Cancer Programme of Milan Istituto Nazionale dei Tumori, its effects on the quality of care provided, and strategies implemented to meet upcoming needs and improve quality standards. Having analysed the data of the 2260 multidisciplinary clinics held from March 2005 to March 2011, our dynamic and modifiable organisational model was evaluated for ways to optimise the human resources, offer high-quality standards, meet new needs and ultimately reduce costs. The study is focused on the organisational aspects and adds a perspective from one of the major oncological centres of reference in Italy and in Europe. OBJECTIVES To describe the establishing of a multidisciplinary clinic for men with prostate cancer at the Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan., To evaluate the quality of care provided and to describe the management changes implemented to improve standards and meet new needs., MATERIALS AND METHODS In March 2005, we established a multidisciplinary clinic comprising weekly clinics and case-discussion sessions., We have altered the organisational model periodically to meet new needs and improve quality., RESULTS We held 2260 multidisciplinary clinics up to March 2011., For stage distribution, patients with low-risk prostate cancer increased to a peak of 61% in 2009, probably because of the anticipation of diagnosis and the active surveillance expertise of the Prostate Cancer Programme at Istituto Nazionale Tumori, Milan. The slight decrease in 2010 might be due to the availability of robot-assisted prostatectomy in several hospitals in Milan, and the start of a multicentre active surveillance protocol in December 2009., In terms of the efficacy of our multidisciplinary strategy, 11% of drug therapies (mostly hormones) prescribed outside our institute were terminated in the multidisciplinary clinic, and 6% of indications formulated in the multidisciplinary clinics were altered during the case-discussion sessions., CONCLUSIONS The multidisciplinary approach needs to be adaptable to meet new needs and improve quality., Our experience has proved successful for both physicians and patients. The team agrees on strategies; complex cases are managed by a multidisciplinary team; dedicated psychologists contribute their knowledge and perspectives; and patients report the feeling of being cared for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on a new database, this article deals with the transformation of ownership, strategies and structures of the top 50 Italian and Spanish business groups and with the relationships between these three dimensions in the period extending from the mid-1970s to 2003. Despite the deep changes in the macro-economic framework during the period considered, the ownership and organisational structures of big business present relevant continuities in both countries. However, the database individuates a metamorphosis in the diversification and internationalisation patterns in both nations. Among the many relevant factors in the interpretation of this trend, the impact of the process of European integration and the high level of turbulence which characterised the largest companies during this period are not negligible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]