Thursday, November 26, 2009

Health

On Women Blog - U.S. News & World Report

Swine Flu Poses Work Dilemma for Working Moms

April 30, 2009 01:11 PM ET | Deborah Kotz | Permanent Link | Print

Reader Comments

Virtual Solutions for Working Moms

Why stop what you’re doing? If folks are worried about getting sick or are being forced to stay at home because of a school or work policy, it certainly doesn’t have to affect their progress. They can coordinate with their respective organizations to use a web conferencing solution to continue class and keep active with meetings. There are free solutions that people can tap into like www.dimdim.com. Their service is free for up to 20 person meetings. It's not new, many organizations have Business Continuity / Telework policies, why not incorporate this on an individual level?

Swine Flu Hysteria

I find a lot of people are buying into the swine flu hysteria being perpetuated by the media. While previous flu outbreaks over the years did reach epidemic proportions, it seems highly improbably here in the U.S. that it would happen again given the standards of today's modern medicine. Things have come a long way since even the 1970s, so why is everyone freaking out? If you had never heard of swine flu and youu got sick, you would just assume you had the flu and stay home and get better (at least I hope you would stay home - it's common sense. But, not that this pandemic is swirling thoughout the media, Facebook, Twitter and etc...people are being irrational, or so it seems.

Heck, my kids are in school and daycare and nobody has been sickened in the county we live in, yet people are keeping their kids home from school. How long can you logically do that before rational though prevails and you realize this too shall pass, as these things do. It's the flu people, not the black death!

Plan ahead

As discussed here (http://www.savingtoinvest.com/2009/04/swine-flu-virus-and-cost-of-staying.html ) you also need to plan ahead before working from home, and this includes talking to your management

Working Moms?

Why wouldn't working dads also consider taking off time? This is the 21st century after all....

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About On Women

Deborah Kotz, senior writer for U.S. News & World Report, covers everything women care about when it comes to their health. She's often tapping out "Oprah-esque" confessions about how the latest news relates to her personally—whether it's on breast cancer, contraception or easing work-family stress. She'd love to hear your confessions too at onwomen@usnews.com. Also, you can follow Deborah on Twitter at twitter.com/debkotz2.

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