Surgery and pharmaceuticals are not the only effective procedures we have to improve our health. The natural human tendency to care for fellow humans, to support them with social networks, has proven to be a powerful treatment as well. As a result, the areas of application for social support intervention have expanded dramatically during the past 20 years. As these areas have expanded, so too has the literature on the theory and measurement of social support. Yet, the literature has focussed on very particular areas. Investigators in the social sciences have mainly focused on the protection...

Much of what we know about the subject of coping is based on human behavior and cognition during times of crisis and transition. Yet the alarms and m or upheavals of life comprise only a portion of those experiences that call for adaptive efforts. There remains a vast array of life situations and conditions that pose continuing hardship and threat and do not promise resolution. These chronic stressors issue in part from persistently difficult life circumstances, roles, and burdens, and in part from the conversion of traumatic events into persisting adjustment challenges. Indeed, there is...

Dramatic changes in the composition of today s workforce combined with intense competitive pressures on employers, call for new ways of structuring where, when, and how employees accomplish their job responsibilities. This book makes the business case for flexible working in an organization, and shows how flexitime, job sharing, telecommuting, and compressed work weeks can be used as strategic management tools. Key features:
* identifies ways flexible work arrangements can be designed to enhance the personal well-being and job performance of employees, while improving the corporate...