How independence helps caregivers on the job and Indigenous people in Colombia
The collaborative experience of owning their company raises home health care workers’ job satisfaction
More older Americans are depending on home care workers, but at the same time, studies suggest that poor working conditions in most of the industry exacerbate staffing shortages.
In contrast to traditionally run care companies, co-ops are owned and run by the workers and generally have lower turnover. The new study said that the model can lead to more respectful and supportive work environments, as well as higher wages – incentives for workers to remain in their positions.
Why We Wrote This
In our progress roundup we have two stories of autonomy and how it empowers. For home care workers in the United States, running their own co-op businesses led to greater worker satisfaction. And in Colombia, Indigenous groups with no contact to the outside world were granted 2.7 million acres of land.
In a small study, the authors interviewed 23 home care workers and nine staff members across five co-ops. They say more research is needed to evaluate the effect of factors such as agency size, but that the work could “ultimately inform industry-wide efforts to attract and retain [workers] and address the workforce crisis.”
Sources: UCLA Health, JAMA
More commonly linked with the shrinking of Greenland’s ice sheet, an atmospheric river storm actually added mass
These “rivers in the sky” are narrow bands of water vapor that move heat from oceans to colder regions, and with climate change are increasing in intensity and frequency. In 2023, Greenland’s ice sheet, the world’s second-largest body of ice, lost to the ocean nearly 80 gigatons of melted glacial ice.
Finnish researchers examined a 49-foot firn core, a length of densely packed snow turning to ice that can act as a natural recordkeeper of snow accumulation. Using local weather data and a section of the firn, they determined that a 2022 atmospheric river had pelted Greenland with 11.6 billion tons of snow over three days. Delaying summer melting, the snow offset the ice sheet’s yearly melting by 8%.
“Contrary to prevailing opinions,” said glaciologist Alun Hubbard, “under the right conditions, atmospheric rivers might not be all bad news.”
Source: Gizmodo
Colombia recognized 2.7 million acres as exclusive to isolated Indigenous groups
In 85% of this first-of-its-kind territory, development and forced human contact are prohibited for the Yuri-Passé people living in the southern department of Amazonas.
According to one nonprofit advocate, the Amazon Conservation Team, neighboring Indigenous communities knew about the isolated groups, which were increasingly at risk from mining and organized crime. In 2010, these less-isolated neighbors overcame a lack of trust to approach the government for help.
The unique recognition also protects the land, home to 600 recorded Amazonian species, and clears the way for future studies to confirm the existence of other Indigenous groups.
Sources: Mongabay, Andes Amazon Fund
Drivers will slow down when they are both paid and given a socially acceptable reason to change
About 10 people die on Uganda’s roads each day. Motorbike taxis are responsible for nearly two-thirds of accidents in the capital, Kampala, but fines and awareness campaigns on the dangers of speeding have had little effect.
According to behavioral economist Claude Raisaro, drivers feel pressure to speed to complete more trips, but also to maintain prestige with other drivers. An experiment offered 360 drivers 6,000 Ugandan shillings a day ($1.64) – about a third of their daily income – to slow down. For some participants, the contracts were publicly disclosed.
The public safe-driving contract was twice as effective at reducing speeding as the private one, and it especially reduced speeding in excess of 80 kilometers (50 miles) per hour. Twice as many drivers selected the private contract, demonstrating that visibility can increase the effectiveness of monetary incentives.
Helping “drivers escape the social pressure of adopting risky behaviours may shift norms – creating lasting improvements in road safety, economic efficiency and environmental impact,” wrote Professor Raisaro.
Source: The Conversation
In a win-win for mangrove forests and residents, education and tourism reduced deforestation and raised incomes
On Siargao, a Philippine island famous among surfers, the Del Carmen Mangrove Reserve was once the site of illegal wood harvesting and destructive fishing methods, including the use of dynamite. But in 2014, the municipality began encouraging residents to appreciate the forests and to grow the tourist industry. Average family income since 2010 has grown 750% to 17,000 pesos ($297) a month. Volunteers patrol the coast for illegal fishing, and locals have replanted to increase mangrove cover by 14%.
Last year, the Philippine government named the reserve its 10th site to follow the Ramsar Convention on Wetlands, an international conservation framework. Globally, mangroves prevent more than $65 billion in property damage from storms and reduce flood risk to some 15 million people a year, according to a 2020 report published in the journal Nature.
Source: Context
