More than 256,000 Texas workers suffered injuries or illnesses in 2015 that were covered by insurers at a cost of more than $328 million.
On Nov. 7 Texas Mutual Insurance, the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurer, will offer a free seminar for big and small employers interested in learning more about the state’s workers’ compensation program and how to avoid risks and costs.
It’s called the Work Safe, Texas Summit, and it will run from 8 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. at the Wyndham El Paso Airport Hotel.
Doors open at 7:45 a.m. with a free breakfast.
And it’s not just for Texas Mutual policyholders, said Jeremiah Bentley, Texas Mutual’s vice president of marketing and customer engagement.
The company provides workers’ comp insurance for 48,000 businesses, or about 40 percent of the market in Texas.
“We just do workers’ compensation insurance, and we just do it in Texas,” he said.
Texas is the only state in the U.S. that doesn’t require employers to carry workers’ compensation coverage, but more than 80 percent of workers are covered by a policy.
There’s also the taking-care-of-the-employee thing because we cover all the medical related to an injury, and if they’re off work, we have wage-replacement benefits for them.” Businesses without workers’ compensation insurance tend to be small office operations or mom-and-pop businesses that don’t think they can afford insurance or don’t see themselves as needing it.
“But one injury can put those people out of business – that’s the risk they take,” Bentley said.
The IOC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the United States Coalition for the Prevention of Illness and Injury in Sport bringing to ten the number of research centres from across the world that have been named as IOC Research Centres for Prevention of Injury and Protection of Athlete Health.
The United States Coalition for the Prevention of Illness and Injury in Sport is a joint research venture between the University of Utah, the Steadman Philippon Research Institute and the United States Olympic Committee’s (USOC) Sports Medicine Division. All members of the Coalition have a proven record of sports medicine education and cutting edge work with elite athletes from a variety of sports, including Paralympic sport.
Protecting athletes’ health and preventing injuries and illnesses in sport are top priorities for the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Since 2009, the IOC, under the leadership of its Medical and Scientific Commission, has supported and partnered with established research centres from around the world which have demonstrated clinical, educational, and research expertise in the fields of sports medicine and elite sports to promote the athletes’ health through the prevention of injury and illness.
The Coalition joins nine research centres from across the world that are already part of this programme.
These centres, which receive financial support from the IOC, have been mandated to research, develop and implement effective preventive and treatment methods for sports-related injuries and illnesses.
However, it seems that more students have been affected by illness recently, and the Wellness Center is working to accommodate those who are sick.
According to Vicki Schober, medical director of Student Health Services, it is not unusual to see the number of appointments increase during the beginning of the fall semester. As a result, appointment slots are reserved for just this reason.
“Luckily, we reserve eight to 10 appointments spots throughout each day for ‘same day’ appointments.
Even thought there seems to be a minor illness affecting students and faculty, Schober explained that there has not been one strand of virus identified.
We are seeing several students who have reacted to the smoke in the air blowing from fires in other nearby western states,” said Schober.
Viral respiratory infections along with sore throats are the most common illnesses the Wellness Center treats.
Many different viruses can cause the common cold, but rhinoviruses are the most common.
Heating pads and blankets work well if you are at home or near an outlet, while hot water bottles or other portable heating products work well if you’re on the go.
GI symptoms are my worst symptoms. Bags have saved my car, stores and my clothes.
Whether you’re going through a health crisis or not, it’s good practice to always have a bottle of water on hand.
Teresa Whitehead said she uses over-ear headphones and white noise for sensory issues.
While both invisible and silent would seem to imply stealthy, secretive diseases, hypertension is referred to as a silent disease because individuals affected by it often have no symptoms. Even so, when an individual learns he or she has high blood pressure, there is little shame in acknowledging it — even if that individual’s lifestyle choices may have contributed to it.
And it may only be “invisible” to the extent an individual does not recognize his or her unusual thoughts, feelings or emotions are symptoms of mental illness — and many don’t.
But a more profound reason mental illness might remain invisible is stigma. The fact is, not all that long ago we as a society tried very hard to make mental illness invisible.
If you know someone with diabetes — which affects just under one in 10 people — you are twice as likely to know someone with mental illness.
If it seems such a large number couldn’t possibly be accurate, or that mental illness would be much more visible if it affected 20 percent of the population, there’s a very good reason for that: people with mental illness can recover.
With the right services and supports, individuals with temporary or chronic mental health conditions can recover, learn to manage their symptoms and enjoy productive, independent lives in their community.
Individuals simply can’t work toward recovery if they or their family members are ashamed to acknowledge mental illness and seek treatment.
Because acknowledging that mental illness is not uncommon, that almost everyone is impacted by it in one way or another, and that people can recover, is the most important way we can help put individuals with mental illness on the path to recovery.
