Announcement: ADVANCED ACADEMIC UPDATE: LESS DEPENDENCY - MORE PARTICIPATION? RECENT INNOVATIONS IN SICKNESS AND DISABILITY PROGRAMMES

              ADVANCED ACADEMIC UPDATE: LESS DEPENDENCY -
          MORE PARTICIPATION? RECENT INNOVATIONS IN SICKNESS
                       AND DISABILITY PROGRAMMES

              Maastricht Graduate School of Governance
                      (Maastricht University)

                         May 22 - 23, 2008
                    Maastricht, The Netherlands


      The Maastricht Graduate School of Governance in cooperation
      with the AStri Research and Consultancy Group offers with
      this Advanced Academic Update state-of-the-art knowledge
      for academics and professionals working in the area of
      sickness and disability policies.

      In many countries that recently entered the EU, the social
      security system is facing challenges in the field of
      sickness and disability programmes. Sickness absence levels
      are rising, and growing numbers of people claim disability
      pension. This leads to increased public expenditures and
      lower labour market participation. However, these problems
      are not new, and definitely not limited to the new EU
      members; many "old" EU countries faced similar problems in
      recent years. This led to a shift in focus to a more
      client-focused administration, introduction of antifraud
      policies, increased responsibilities for social partners
      and more strategies for prevention and early intervention
      to prevent benefit claiming.

      It is the aim of this AAU to make the body of knowledge
      gained from reforms in sickness benefit and disability
      programmes as well as return to work policies available to
      academics, policy makers, supervisory bodies, social
      security managers and other professionals working in the
      field.


      SPEAKERS (selection of):

      Dr. Michael Forster, OECD, France
      Dr. Rienk Prins, AStri Research and Consultancy Group, the
      Netherlands
      Dr. Peter Wright, Department for Work and Pensions, United
      Kingdom
      Prof. dr. Philip de Jong, APE and University of Amsterdam,
      the Netherlands
      Dr. Ad Bockting, Institute for Employee benefits, the
      Netherlands


      UPCOMING EVENT:

      9-20 June: Summer School Governance & Social Protection


      FURTHER INFORMATION:

      More information available at:

                    http://www.governance.unimaas.nl

      For questions and enquiries, please contact:

      CONTACT:      Ms. Marjolein Koeman
      Email:        MAILTO:Marjolein.koeman@governance.unimaas.nl
Posted 3/26/08