Who Says Climate Change Is Real?

Who Says Climate Change Is Real?

The most authoritative word on climate change and its consequences is the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), an international body established in 1988 by the World Meteorological Organization and the United Nations Environment Programme.  Under the advocacy of the United Nations, the IPCC strives to inform policymakers about the impacts of climate change, future risks, and options for adaptation and mitigation.

The IPCC recently published its Fifth Assessment Report (AR5), Climate Change 2014: Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability. With contributions from a total of 837 coordinating lead authors and 1,729 reviews by experts and government officials, the latest report indicates that when it comes to climate change, the worst is yet to come. According to the AR5, “Throughout the 21^st century, climate-change impacts are projected to slow down economic growth, make poverty reduction more difficult, further erode food security, and prolong existing and create new poverty traps, the latter particularly in urban areas and emerging hot spots of hunger.”

Still, while greenhouse gas emissions are rising faster than ever, there is time, albeit little, to prevent the worst from arriving. With sustained global efforts to utilize renewable energy, which is becoming more and more affordable, and a continued pattern of countries prioritizing the effects of climate change, perhaps we can avert a potential crisis.

However, there cannot be any passengers. Gas emissions in rising economic countries such as China have been counterproductive to efforts by other nations to decrease their own gas emissions. A new White House report released this month confirms that the rapid warming of the past half-century is due primarily to human activities. We aren’t simply passengers when we harm our planet; so how can we be as we attempt to heal it? Are we being melodramatic, or are climate change and the human contribution to global warming alarming enough for us to act?  

EHR Manners

Electronic Health Records (EHRs) and How Doctors Use Them:

“Human Ways to Make the New Technologies Work”

In a recent email, we addressed the need to be cognizant of how technology can ride roughshod over the “human ways” of relating to one another.  A recent article we became aware of was addressed to physicians as they apply a relatively new technology, i.e., Electronic Health Records (EHRs), to patient sessions.  The article is entitled, “Do Your EHR Manners Turn Patients Off?”

The article speaks to an AMA policy to “make physicians aware of tips and resources for effectively using computers and…EHRs in patient-physician interactions.”  The issue is that physicians are so engaged with the computer that they don’t make eye contact with the patient, which leaves patients feeling disconnected.  In fact, the original AMA report specifically urges physicians to set up the examination room so that one can make eye contact with patients while working on the computer.  The article goes so far as to encourage physicians “to put questions about EHRs into patient satisfaction surveys.”

When CEC Associates Incorporated began more than 30 years ago, we were determined from the outset to create our professional services within a strict framework of concern for our injured worker clients, and we have demanded that same level of concern from all of our associates in their work.  We have worked hard to subordinate all of our uses of technology (i.e., computer applications) with our primary responsibility of developing injured worker assessments and forensic testimony in a manner that assured our understanding of the, almost always, difficult realities of our examinee’s lives.

We are heartened to find the AMA validating our insistence on care and understanding for clients by urging the same care and understanding on their professionals. Human Ways to Make the New Technologies Work!

• What is your perspective on how electronic record taking/keeping has affected your relationship with clients?
• How do you ensure that your clients receive the personal service they were accustomed to before the new technologies evolved? 
• How would you rate the effectiveness of your communication when simultaneously taking electronic notes and conversing with your client?

The “Culture” that Defines Your Company

Essentially any group that has been cohesive and active for some time, say more that two years, has developed a uniqueness, which can be identified as a “culture” – a company culture.  Even by doing nothing overtly to create and nurture a company culture, it evolves on its own.  The foremost values of the dominant personalities prevail.  And in doing so, these values define that specific culture.

The culture assumes the composite values of the people who make up the company.  In the long-run, everything in a given culture boils down to the values the group believes in, sometimes referred to as “shared values.”  These can include:

• interest in the work-life balance of the employees,
• commitment to the health and wellness of the employees,
• active, ongoing interest in community betterment (especially ecology),
• firm commitment to employee involvement in the functioning of the group, and
• consistent fostering of trust and autonomy.

It is possible to shape the behaviors of individuals in a company, thereby changing the culture.  Some practices employers and employees can engage in to add to the existing culture include:

• fostering individual resilience,
• practicing participation in the ongoing shaping of the culture,
• encouraging self-expression,
• having the passion for staying engaged, and
• contributing something.

What else should be considered in terms of creating an effective work culture?  Has your company articulated or documented what it understands to be its unique culture?  If so, would you consider sharing that document?