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There are various kinds of home-based business options that can work without even requiring a commercial setup. Some examples of typical home-based businesses are – gift basket sales, computerized accounting services, direct sales, staging and decorating. You have to be disciplined, a good planner, hardworking, and resourceful in order to succeed in a home based business. Here are some areas for conducting home based businesses:Computerized AccountingRunning computerized accounting business from home is now becoming very lucrative and popular since most growing small businesses are unable to afford hiring a book keeper or an accountant either on a part time or a full time basis.Computerized accounting business ventures also help clients with their tax formalities and usually got to clients at least once a week to gather documents and to deliver reports and other documents.Direct SalesFor starting a direct sales business from home, make sure that you have the relevant product brochures, demonstration kits and samples to give out to potential customers. Direct sales companies generally offer a well planned and effective support system including training manuals that give information about the products and the superlative way to sell them. A home-based business with a great deal of potential is selling products or services on eBay.Home StagingHome seller and Real estate agents hire home staging experts to clean up and remove clutter from a home that is put up for sale on the market. This is a relatively new kind of home based business that makes use of real estate sales techniques interior design skills. A home staging consultant basically develops a design concept for each and every home that includes cleaning and interior design. The objective is making a house appear presentable to a prospective buyer.Gift BasketsGift baskets that can be customized for a particular client and there is no end to the number of products that can be sold in gift baskets. A corporate gift basket can include special office supplies, travel accessories or personalized stationary. You can organize gift baskets for weddings, corporate parties, baby shower and birthdays apart from personal gift baskets can include cosmetics, home appliances and edible items like chocolates/confectionery or fruit or baked goods like cakes and cookies.Online marketingThis is one of the most lucrative and popular home-based businesses possible on the internet today. You should be quite knowledgeable about computers and setting up websites. You also have the option of becoming an affiliate with a company as this barely requires any starting fee and can be quite a profitable business.Decorating AssistantA decorating assistant helps a homeowner to hang paint, put up wall paper and do other interior design tasks. By hiring a decorating assistant instead of a painter or wallpaper hanger, the homeowner can cut costs.Multi level marketingA very advantageous home based business is to become a representative for companies such Amway, Oriflame, Avon, Mary Kay Cosmetics, Tupperware, Pampered Chef, etc. The investment required is minimal and you are offered a commission on the products that you sell at your own pace.For more, please consult an experienced mentor/trainer and he can add a great value to your efforts in becoming financially independent.

Introduction

Implementation of Information Management solutions necessarily brings change to any organization. Business practices, role and relationships all affect the way in which people work and interact on a day-to-day basis. Whether the driver for implementation is for productivity, compliance or risk reduction there is always the need to consider what impact there will be on user communities.

Document and records management practices in organizations are not often front-of-mind for most managers and employees and asking them to think about information in a different way or even at all, as a corporate asset requires a fundamental mindset change. This will take many employees out of their comfort zone, impact on their confidence and competence to perform the work and creates a situation where individuals can sense a loss of control in their work context.

It is natural that most people initially react with caution with concerns about their future, security and where they will fit in to a new order of things. In any group there will be 10% who are excited by the prospect of change and at the other end 10% who will resist change regardless. This means that there are 80% who can be influenced one way or the other.

The successful implementation of an information management system extends far beyond the design and implementation. It extends beyond the support and operation. Effective information management requires a fundamental mind-shift by stakeholders and everyone in the organization that relies on information in their work activities. This shift needs to be carefully executed to create a requisite culture in which information is appropriately and thoroughly managed as a key organizational asset.

What is Change Management?

Change management is the art of influencing the majority to positively accept and commit emotionally to the change. Many of the issues arising as a response to change can be real or perceived and are closely related in a cause and effect network. Either way, they need to be addressed to avoid resistance or rejection of the change. This requires a combination of communication, understanding, mentoring, coaching and general support with the aim of building trust. It is from this position of trust that the task of building the work culture required for successful information management begins. The ’4 Cs’ of change management help us think about the change from an effected user point of view.

Comfort People are creatures of habit and develop patterns of working within a comfort zone of daily activities.

Control Changed practices may cause a loss of control over daily routines and activities. This may come through changed reporting lines or responsibilities which can evoke a level of discomfort.

Confidence The introduction of new practices may undermine employee confidence in their ability to perform. Some may see this as challenge, for others it can be stressful. Often the introduction of computer equipment is something that can be discomforting. Some people, particularly older workers may have no experience with computers and can cause self doubt over their abilities to learn the new skills required.

Competence To be able to operate in a changed work environment there is always an element of re-skilling required. This necessarily means that current skills, often developed over an extended period of time will need updating or may become redundant. This uncertainty can impact on an employee’s competence and ability to perform.

The management of the complex web of responses, issues and perceptions requires focused attention. The skills of a change manager are built on an understanding of human behavior and the change manager’s role is to assist people to understand the change and what it means in personal terms and has been proven to be a significant success factor in building Information Management capability.

Why is Change Management important?

As volumes of information inevitably grow and our regulatory obligations increase amid the ongoing business pursuit of productivity, we cannot afford to waste the opportunity to exploit the benefits of information management solutions.

Studies repeatedly show that a key risk in the success or failure of information management solutions is stakeholder resistance to change. Through an investment of time and effort in preparing the user community for the coming change the chances of resistance are lowered. In short without a disciplined approach to managing stakeholders through the change then realization of anticipated benefits is put at risk. This has impact on business productivity, staff moral and the bottom-line. So it would seem logical for us to deploy our information management solutions in the most effective manner.

Some common Change Management pitfalls of an IM solution implementation

We are seeing an ongoing consolidation of the information management vendor community and a subsequent convergence of the underlying technology. There is a growing recognition by organizations that an information management capability is needed. Further, audit activity frequently highlights any shortfalls in performance and organizations react accordingly.

The selection of an information management solution is an important corporate investment and common pitfalls addressed by change management include:

Focus on Technology

Ignoring the emotional needs of users in the rush to get the technology in place can create a real project risk. Many organizations with an information management solution already in place experience a negativity of opinion towards the system. Often the cause of this perception can be traced to an initial technical implementation focus that neglected the needs of those who consequently struggled to apply new functionality in their work activities. An effective change management approach including awareness building and communication can turn this perception around.

Recognition of the Business importance of Information

The low profile that information management has in most employees’ minds can be an issue. We are all busy and in the scheme of things ‘filing’ is not front-of-mind for the majority of employee’s striving to keep pace with everyday work pressures. Document management and filing, can fall down the priority list partly because of work pressures and partly because of limited awareness and can be seen one of the things that ‘should’ be done’ rather than something that ‘must’ be done.

Organizations recognising the business value of information as an asset can then raise awareness of its importance and manage it accordingly. An increased awareness of this importance should also influence the planning of information management system deployments.

Business Case and Budget

The business case for information management is focused on risk, mitigation, and productivity. However; many benefits are intangible and have an indirect impact on the bottom line. Unfortunately associated costs are very tangible and visible.

Consequently, there are challenges in the development of the business case as it can fail to excite the financial fundamentalists who view the whole undertaking in terms of an unavoidable cost that must be minimized. For the uninformed, change management activities can be seen as non-essential and result in budgets being set to minimise cost adding to the risk of failure.

Although not unique to Information management implementations these above factors can create significant project risk. Change Management techniques are designed to address the human behavioral issues that can adversely impact on project success and as such, are a necessary inclusion in any deployment activity.

What are some Change Management best practices for an IM solution implementation?

When it is apparent users are not participating in Information Management practices an objective assessment can identify a way forward that is usually cost effective and will meet organizational needs within a much shorter timeframe. This assessment must take an independent and holistic view of the situation from multiple perspectives.

This assessment must identify the root causes of any associated issues and develop a clear strategy to build the information management capability required. There are a number of common elements that have emerged as issues with information management implementations that have nothing to do with the incumbent technological tool and the strategy developed must consider how these are to be addressed.

The capability assessment framework enables organizations to holistically assess information management practices and to identify improvement opportunities that will build capability. This is achieved by benchmarking current organizational practice against best practice in each of the dimensions of the framework. The best practice benchmark criteria in the framework have been identified through experience with multiple organizations across industry sectors and geographies, and are augmented through industry collaboration and global academic research outcomes.

The dimensions of information management identified in the framework are defined as follows.

Strategy

Best practice organization’s should have a clear strategy relating to its management and use of information The strategy clearly defines the content and structure of the information, how it is to be governed and applied to support the primary business strategy.

Content

We can assume that most organizations have the information content that is required to manage their business. If this is not the case then it is difficult to envisage the organization operating successfully or at all. However, most organizations suffer from an ad-hoc approach to the management of this important asset. Best practices relating to managing this content start by having an inventory of the content, a consistent architecture governing naming conventions, taxonomy, where content is held, how content is held, i.e. hard copy soft copy formats and who can access what categories of information.

Process

Due process governing how information is created, stored, accessed and communicated is fundamental to the governance of enterprise information.

Governance is the combination of processes and structures implemented at management level to inform, direct, manage, and monitor the information management activities of the organization. This consists of clear policy, procedure and business rules guiding information management practices. These must be developed in context of the organization’s business activity and be clearly communicated to stakeholders.

Information management governance also includes the development of business classification schemes, taxonomy, naming conventions and rules governing the creation, storage, protection, communication, sensitivities, use and appropriate destruction of information.

Culture

The manner in which information is treated and perceived in an organization is reflective of organizational culture. Best practice organizations have clear understandings and norms recognising the importance of information as an asset. This mindset needs to be pervasive across the organizational culture and is fundamental to induction and staff development initiatives.

Change management during information systems implementations is a clear best practice aimed at creating the cultural awareness and mindset required.

Relationships

Organizations operate within a network of relationships with stakeholders. These stakeholders include customers, suppliers, regulators and industry bodies. Best practice organizations have clear understanding and service level agreements with other stakeholders in order that corporate record keeping obligations are met and to ensure information is shared appropriately and to the level required to maximize efficiency.

Services

The application of Information as an asset is fundamental to the services or products offered to the market place. Best practice organizations embed value-adding knowledge and information into services to maximize attractiveness and utility. Corporate discipline ensuring the validity of information shared is necessary to mitigate risk of non-compliance and avoid potential litigation.

Technology

Information technology is fundamental to the management of the information asset. Clear and consistent architectures, data and information structures, security and operational tools indicate a mature approach to information management. Best practice organizations have clearly defined architectures.

Change Management Best Practice

The capability assessment framework facilitates benchmarking against specific best practice indicators. The absence of any of these indicators provides an opportunity for the organization to improve. Over and above these specific indicators the following themes have emerged as overarching best practice in change management as information management capability is developed.

Governance

As discussed above governance is the combination of processes and structures to inform, direct, manage, and monitor information management activities. This includes effective record keeping practices. It is important that organizations develop governance practices as early as possible in implementation projects. This often means putting governance in place prior to specification, selection and deployment of a technology solution. This has a double benefit. Firstly: stakeholder’s become familiar with information management expectations and the requisite culture begins to develop; and secondly; the organization gains the opportunity to refine its governance structures prior to full deployment.

Information Management System

The selection of an enabling information management technology to meet performance and functional requirements should follow a diligent approach. It is best practice for selection criteria to consider wider information management architectural needs. The functional richness of available solutions can allow the retirement of duplicative products providing islands of functionality. Workflow or WebPages are common examples of these islands where products have been acquired for a single one-off purpose and are unable to integrate with core applications. Once configured and deployed the new infrastructure can provide the opportunity to create an integrated technology architecture thereby reducing support cost.

Pilots

There are many examples of high cost, high-profile failures in the information technology industry. Often this can be traced to over-ambition and a big-bang approach to deployment.

Implementation of Information Management capability within well defined scope delivered in incremental steps provides many benefits. Primarily incremental implementation through a series of pilot deployments allows adaptation of the solution based on real experience before attempting to conquer the world. Many organizations are benefiting from the adoption of this approach.

User Focus

The inclusion of change management activities focused on preparing stakeholders to take on the reformed work practices mitigate against risk of stakeholder resistance. This involves considering the emotional needs of all stakeholders to ensure that they feel in control, are comfortable and have the confidence and competence to execute new work practices. For many stakeholders the learning of new skills and changed role and responsibility provides enhanced career opportunity.

Architecture

Most of the solutions available in the marketplace offer rich functionality to manage documents and content in a web-based environment. Full use of the functionality on offer can simplify the technical architecture and realize savings in licence and administrative cost further justifying investment.

Change Management Roles and Responsibilities

The change manager works very closely with stakeholders and it is important that relationships based on trust are established. The personal attributes of a successful change manager are empathy and patience. The role and responsibility of the change manager is focused on understanding stakeholder needs, building an awareness of the need for change and supporting these stakeholders as they transition to new work practices.

Some key responsibilities for the change manager include communications, setting up reporting and communication channels, participating in business process reform, workshop facilitation, staff training, mentoring and awareness building. In short, any activity that interacts and prepares the user community to participate in reformed work practices.

Regardless of the scale of undertaking information management projects require a change management capability. In large scale projects there may be dedicated change management resources. For smaller scale projects this role may be a part-time or shared responsibility. The change management role can in many instances be a shared role across the development. Sometimes this can be provided through a corporate change management function. Regardless of how the role is resourced it is essential that it is included.

Many routinely conducted project activities such as workshops, interviews, training and presentations are in fact change management opportunities as these events they are interactions with stakeholders. They therefore present the ideal opportunity to develop the relationship of trust between the project team members and stakeholders.

It is important to avoid the situation where contributing stakeholders feel as though they have been sucked dry for information by technical people. This can be avoided through the development of awareness of the importance of the project team/stakeholder relationship thereby maximizing the value of this contact time.

Further, ‘champions’ can be identified from within the stakeholder community. This provides a critical change management input. As these champions are representatives drawn from the stakeholder community their roles can be a very influential and positive contributor to project success.

Summary

Research shows proves that higher levels of user acceptance and greater use of installed solutions are achieved when deliberate change management activities are included in the implementation work plan and life cycle. Best practice in change management is focused on the early involvement of stakeholders and on building a trusting relationship. Accordingly, leading organizations have recognized its importance and routinely allocate resources as projects are planned

For most organizations there is the opportunity improve information management performance. A place to start is through a benchmarking assessment of information management capability against best practice to identify how to realize available benefits by learning from the success of others.

This paper has emphasized change management and the resultant outcomes and opportunities as best practice. The selection of an information management solution is an important corporate investment. For those organizations considering implementation and for those that have current infrastructure in place, there is the real opportunity to maximize return on investment and to create a work culture that displays the requisite information management behaviours.

Dr. Rod Dilnutt

Rod is the Managing Director of William Bethwey & Associates and a Senior Research Fellow of The University of Melbourne. He has wide experience as a consultant in the private sector and at all levels of the public sector gained in Australia, Europe and the Asia Pacific region. This experience includes ten years in a ‘Big Six’ consultancy firm where he led the Knowledge Based Business Service Line for Asia Pacific.

Why do many consumers take dietary supplements to grow taller? The reasons are varied-many times medically valid, sometimes not. In low or appropriate dosages, some supplements offer health benefits under some circumstances. Some people use supplements with good intention: perhaps in search of protection from or a remedy for health problems such as depression, aging skin, cancer, or arthritis. Still others seek added benefits: perhaps better athletic performance or sexual prowess. Too often, supplement use is based on scientifically unfounded marketing promises. But, some people still claim to undeniable scientific proofs.

It would be great, but boosting your nutrient intake won’t cause your cells to produce extra energy or more brain power. Only three nutrients carbohydrates, fats, and proteins supply energy or calories to grow taller. Vitamins don’t. Although B vitamins do help body cells produce energy from the three energy nutrients, they don’t produce energy themselves. Many powerful drugs and toxic chemicals are plant-based. Varieties of mushrooms can be classified as “culinary delicious” or “deadly dangerous.” In the same vein, herbal supplements should be used with caution! Any healthy natural supplements to grow taller, without proper doctor acknowledgement and governement authority approbation sounds really fishy to me.

Athletes and other physically active people need about the same amount of nutrients as others do to grow taller just more energy, or calories, for the increased demands of exercise. The extra amount of food that active people eat supplies the very small amount of extra vitamins needed to grow taller and have more energy production, too.

Although protein needs are somewhat higher for some athletes, especially for those in strength-training sports, food can easily provide the extra. On another note, physical activity, not extra amino acids (protein), builds muscle. For more on nutrition for athletes and ergogenic aids.

Dietary supplements to grow taller won’t protect you from the harmful effects of smoking or alcohol abuse. Here’s the real scoop: Smoking does increase the body’s need for vitamin C; drinking excessive amounts of alcoholic beverages can interfere with the body’s use of most nutrients. If soil can grow crops, the food produced is nutritious. When soil lacks minerals, plants don’t grow properly and may not produce their potential yield. Growing area does affect a food’s iodine and selenium contents.

Supplements won’t give you instant grow taller results, it would take at least a 2-3 months training for instance. For vitamins and minerals to do their work, they need several hours or several days to interact and do their work in your body. For any benefits from other dietary supplements to grow taller, you likely need to take them even longer. Supplements to grow taller are easy to spot. By law, they must be labeled “dietary supplements.” About eighty thousand dietary supplements are marketed in the United States with multivitamin/mineral supplements being the biggest product category-and with an average of 500 new products launched each year. They’re sold in many forms-for example, tablets, capsules, softgels, gelcaps, liquids, powders, and bars.

Do you consume a varied, balanced diet to grow taller? With some exceptions, supplements usually aren’t necessary. If you’re healthy and if you’re able and willing to eat a balanced, varied diet. You probably can get the vitamins and minerals you need from smart food choices. According to national studies, most Americans have enough healthful foods available to do that, yet they may not. Under some circumstances, vitamin/mineral supplements offer benefits and are advised; like those for growing taller.

A woman with heavy menstrual bleeding? You may need an iron supplement to replace iron from blood loss. To enhance absorption, take iron supplements with water or juice on an empty stomach. If nausea or constipation are problems, take iron supplements with food. Absorption may be decreased by as much as 50 percent when taken with a meal or a snack. A woman who’s pregnant or breast-feeding? You need more of some nutrients, especially folate and iron-and perhaps calcium if you don’t consume enough calcium-rich foods. Check the label’s Supplement Facts to make sure you get enough for a healthy pregnancy. Ask about a prenatal vitamin/mineral supplement.

Someone unable or unwilling to regularly consume a healthful diet to grow taller? You likely need a dietary supplement to fill in the nutrient gaps. However, eating smarter would be better if you don’t have food-related health problems! Take a supplement with the advice of a doctor or a registered dietitian. For example, pre-menopausal women who don’t consume enough calcium to grow taller and stronger bones from food likely need a calcium supplement-unless they’re willing to improve their diet. Some babies after age six months, children, and teens may need a fluoride supplement to grow taller and perhaps iron or vitamin D.

If you are not able to meet your calcium and vitamin D recommendations with foods to grow taller, you may need calcium or vitamin D supplements to grow taller. Ask a dietitian or your doctor about the right dosage and type. And enhance their absorption by taking them with food. Only food can provide the mixture of vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and other substances for a health quality that can’t be duplicated with dietary supplements to grow taller alone. Fortunately for most Americans growing taller, there’s plenty of quality, quantity, and variety in the food marketplace.

Enjoy plenty of calcium and vitamin D-rich foods. They provide more for bone health calcium, phosphorus, vitamin D and overall health than supplements do. And a varied, well-balanced eating plan offers other nutrients that appear to promote bone density, including magnesium, potassium, and vitamin K

Supplements to grow taller carry labeling, showing the amounts of vitamins and minerals in a single dosage. If you already eat a healthful diet, you probably don’t need any more than a low-dose supplement. Taking a multivitamin/mineral supplement, with no more than 100 percent of the Daily Values (DVs) as a safety net, is generally considered safe. Most nutrient supplements are produced in low dosages.

Supplements with water-soluble vitamins or minerals can be risky if taken in excess, over time. For example, taking extra vitamin B6 has been suggested to help relieve premenstrual tension. Yet there’s limited evidence to support large vitamin B6 doses for relief of premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Many women have viewed large vitamin B6 doses as harmless, since they are water-soluble. Instead, they may cause irreversible nerve damage when taken in very large doses above the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL): 500 to 5,000 mg vitamin B6 per day.

That said, can you overdose on vitamins or minerals naturally as you grow taller with food? That’s highly unlikely. As we mentioned, taking very high doses of dietary supplements or taking too many, too often can be dangerous. The vitamin and mineral content of food is much more balanced fortunately. In amounts normally consumed, even if you enjoy extra helpings, you won’t consume toxic levels of nutrients. So eat a variety of foods-and enjoy! Note: Nutrient amounts to grow taller can add up if you consume a lot of highly fortified foods.

You may take dietary supplements to grow taller for potential health benefits. It’s not uncommon for people diagnosed with cancer, AIDS, or other life-threatening health problems, who are desperate for a cure, to put their hopes and healthcare dollars in alternative treatments, including dietary supplements. However, supplements may offer a false sense of security-and a serious problem if you neglect well-proven approaches to health or delay medical attention.

Drink plenty of fluids with calcium supplements to avoid constipation. The lactose and vitamin D in the milk help to enhance calcium absorption. If you don’t drink milk and want an alternative to calcium pills, consider calcium-fortified juice or soy beverage. One cup of calcium-fortified juice or soy beverage can contain about 300 milligrams of calcium, the same amount as in a cup of milk, and provides vitamin C, folate, and other nutrients. Still, you need a vitamin D source to aid absorption; some calcium-fortified juices and soy beverages are also fortified with vitamin D.

Calcium supplements help to protect against osteoporosis (brittle-bone disease) It can’t make up for your lifestyle choices or poor health habits. Regular weight-bearing physical activity is important to grow taller and obtain healthy bones. For healthy bones, avoid smoking, too.

Vitamin nasal sprays or patches are effective to grow taller? No research evidence says so, even though they’re promoted for faster, more efficient absorption. In fact, they may not be absorbed at all. Here’s the reality check: Fat-soluble vitamins need fat from food to aid absorption. Vitamin C in your intestine aids iron absorption-a problem if vitamin C comes from a spray. Vitamin B12 binds with intrinsic factor made in the stomach during digestion. That cannot happen with a spray or a patch! So that means all the place that try to claim that you could grow taller with that are just scam.

Indeed, herbals and other botanicals have known medicinal qualities helping us grow taller; 30 percent of today’s drugs come from plants. Yet, herbals and other botanical supplements also are sold as dietary supplements rather than regulated as drugs. Like many plant-derived pharmaceuticals, these supplements can offer both positive health benefits and harmful side effects.

On the up side, enough scientific evidence has been collected on a handful of botanical supplements to support their limited use. For example, under a doctor’s guidance, gingko biloba may be used to help treat the symptoms of age-related memory loss and dementia (including Alzheimer’s disease); green tea extract may help reduce cancer risk. A growing body of research evidence is being gathered about their safety and effectiveness, as well as their limitations and dangers.

On the down side, like other supplements to grow taller, herbal and other botanical supplements are regulated differently from pharmaceuticals, which are meant to cure or prevent disease. You aren’t as protected from misleading claims as you might think. When you think about the quality and effectiveness of these grow taller methods; you can see that the marketer’s are absolutely in control of the quality…

According to current law and regulations, herbal and botanical remedies to grow taller and other dietary supplements to grow taller can enter the marketplace without FDA approval. The burden is on the FDA to remove a dangerous dietary supplements to grow taller from the marketplace. Currently dosages of herbal remedies aren’t standardized, so dosages vary among products. Some are even copies of the actual real-product that is made by legitimate herbal company; they put the same product name change what is inside and put the same label. Be very careful, you can look up grow taller 4 smarts free scam alerts to be ahead of scammers.

Although packaging claims can’t say that a supplement to grow taller cures or prevents disease, it may carry claims for its purported health role. Many claims have only limited scientific evidence. Are herbal supplements or botanicals are safe during pregnancy and nursing? There’s not enough scientific evidence yet to recommend safe levels for herbal supplements for pregnant or nursing moms. However, some are known to be harmful to a baby.

The effects of substance abuse in teens are not only individual; they can also be seen on the society. They may face problems at school or college and may involve in criminal activities. It is therefore very important to detect drug abusing teenagers. Drug testing should be conducted on a regular basis at schools and homes to identify and save them from harmful drugs of abuse.

Signs of drug abuse
Identifying certain signs helps you to detect if the kid is addicted to the drugs. Some of the common physical and emotional signs are:

• Change in sleep patterns
• Poor motor coordination
• Poor hygiene and illness including nausea and excessive sweating
• Irregular heartbeat
• Impaired thinking
• Mood swings
• Hyperactivity or overtired
• Depression

Drug abusing teens lose their interest in family activities, often abuse verbally and physically at home or school, and disrespect the family or school. In addition, abrupt decrease in grades, memory and attention loss, and lack of interest and concentration on studies are some of the signs at school. The moment you observe any of the above mentioned signs, you need to immediately check if the kid is abusing drugs. Drug testing is one of the safest and easiest ways to detect the drug abuse among teens.

Types of drug tests
There are different types of methods to detect the teens who are using drugs. Some of the common ones are urine, saliva, hair, and blood tests.

Urine drug test
Of all the types, urine testing is used most commonly as it is inexpensive method used to detect a drug user. You can use urine test kits at home or school to check if the child is addicted to illegal drugs. Quick and accurate results are obtained by these test kits.

Saliva drug test
It is more advantageous as it is relatively non-intrusive. Saliva from the mouth is taken through a swab and is checked for the presence of drugs. Most recent drug abuse can be detected by saliva tests. Conducting saliva test is very easy and also provides accurate and immediate results.

Hair drug test
This method is also non-intrusive. A hair sample of 1.5 inches in length is enough for conducting the test. Drug or its metabolites deposited at the hair shaft are detected by hair tests. You can get very reliable and accurate results by this method.

Blood drug test
You can also use a blood sample of the teen to detect illegal drug usage. It is however expensive and you need to approach laboratory as you cannot conduct it at your home.

Detection periods
The detection period depends on the method of test conducted. These detection periods vary from the type, dosage, and frequency of drug used.

Urine drug test can detect drug or its metabolites for 30 days in frequent users and for 2-3 days in occasional users. The test detects Cocaine for 4-5 days, Heroin for 2-4 days, Methamphetamine for 3-5 days, PCP for 3-7 days, and Codeine for 2-4 days.

A saliva test is mostly used to detect recent drug usage. However, it can also detect drugs consumed 3 days back. Of all the methods, hair drug test has a longer detection period. It detects illegal drug consumption for about 90 days.

What if results are positive?
Once the kid is tested positive by drug test kit, talk to him/her about the result. You can get a confirmatory result through laboratory tests. Communicate with him regularly regarding the effects of drug abuse. Ask him to leave companions or friends who are habituated to drugs. If necessary, send him/her to substance abuse treatment program.

Importance of intervention
Detection and intervention of drug abuse at primitive stages can prevent further damage. Drug intervention is an attempt made by family members or school authorities to help the teen get out of drug abuse or addiction. The main objective of intervention is to make the teen understand the physical and mental destruction caused by drug abuse. If you are not able to speak to the kid on this, you can take help of your friends or relatives. You can also consult specialists who counsel drug abusers and help them get back to their normal life.

Parents and school authorities should always keep an eye on the behavior and activities of the teens. Necessary measures have to be taken in order to prevent them from taking drugs.

Teen drug abuse became a serious health problem in United States. It is hurting the healthcare system, burdening the economy, and causing millions of deaths every year. Of the many causes that promote drug abuse among teens, lack of parental supervision is a major one. Teens should be guarded properly by their parents as they are still immature.

Since, early intervention leads to effective prevention of this unhealthy habit, parents should identify drug abusing habits in teens and take preventive measures. Parents can take help of home drug testing kits which are effective and easy to use.

In this article, we will discuss about teens and their vulnerability to drug abuse; how to identify teen drug abuse and how important are drug testing programs at home to prevent teen drug abuse.

Teens – vulnerable to drugs abuse: Many scientific studies have already proved that teenagers are more prone to risk taking and are vulnerable to drug abuse when compared to adults. This typical behavior of teens during adolescence is because of the major changes in parts of the brain that are responsible for functions such as self-control, judgment, planning, organization, and emotions. Since teen brains are not yet fully developed, they cannot take proper decisions and fall victims to unhealthy habits like drug and alcohol abuse.

Signs and symptoms of drug abuse: The primary step towards prevention of drug abuse in teens is to identify their unhealthy habits. Prominent changes, both in their behavior and in physical appearance can be noticed even at the early stages of abuse. Following are the warning signs:

Physical and emotional changes:
• Red eyes
• Finding difficulty to speak
• Sudden fall or rise in weight
• Lack of hygiene and showing less interest in personal grooming
• Aggression and arrogance
• Depression and irritation

Social and behavioral changes:
• Dissociation from old friends and acquiring new social group
• Sudden anger or depression
• Poor attendance and academics at school
• Spending time lonely
• Abnormal odor in breath or clothing
• Pipes, needles and other suspicious substances in their room

Importance of home drug test kits: The moment you see the signs that indicate drug abuse in your teen, it is the time to confirm drug abusing habits using reliable methods. They are useful devices for the parents to confirm these unhealthy habits in teens. They are simple, easy to use, provide instant and accurate results, cost-effective and above all ensure privacy. Some multi-panel drug testing kits can detect multiple drugs of abuse at a shot.

Best drug test methods to implement: When it comes to home drug testing, urine and saliva tests are considered to be the best methods. There are two other methods – blood and hair tests also, but they need special devices and expert supervision, hence are not recommended for home testing.

Urine test can detect the drugs in your teen’s system up to three days after use. If you believe that your teen has taken drugs during the last few days, then this method is effective in offering accurate results. However, it is necessary to check that your teen is not providing fake urine sample which can lead to false results.

Saliva drug testing is an ideal drug test if you suspect that your teen abused drugs on that particular day. These kits can detect drug use up to 48 hours.

Need for random drug testing: If you are conducting drug tests on your teens at regular intervals, following a regular pattern, your teen may notice the pattern and either try to manipulate the sample before the test or stop abusing drugs few days before the test. Hence, practicing random drug tests is always an ideal way to identify the drug use which effectively helps in detecting the drug abuse among your teens. Random testing makes teens say ‘NO’ to drugs as they know that you can conduct drug testing any time at home.

Home drug testing kits can be considered as effective solutions in controlling and preventing drug abuse in your teens. So, make sure that you have some of them at home to test your teen to help him stay away from drugs.

Even businesspeople that have been running their own enterprises for decades may not know everything they need to know about employer law. They could have a good basic knowledge of state and federal employment laws, but still be unaware of recent changes in these laws. After all, if they’re preoccupied with keeping their companies afloat during these perilous economic times, they might not have time to stay current with all issues related to employment law. That’s why even the most ethical, experienced, and canny business owners need to retain quality legal counsel with experience in employer law. One way to do this is to keep a lawyer on retainer, but that can get prohibitively expensive. A better alternative for small to medium-sized businesses is to work with a legal service that does nothing else but provide counsel and legal assistance for employment law problems.

There is an old saying that forewarned is forearmed. Running a business with multiple employees can be a complex and difficult undertaking, fraught with many perils to that company’s continued profitability, and even its very existence. Many well-meaning, basically honest employers have unwittingly fallen foul of employment law issues because they did not have good legal counsel. Don’t let that happen to you! Protect your personal assets, including your business, from anyone who might try to sue you over perceived violations of employer law. Being the boss means you sometimes have to make tough calls that some of your employees might not be happy with. These days people are so litigious that they will sue at the drop of a hat, so you need to be armed against potentially damaging lawsuits with the best legal advice that you can afford.

The good news is that you don’t have to keep an expensive law firm on permanent retainer to get the advice of experienced, ethical lawyers with experience in employer law cases. The best alternative is to retain the services of a firm that handles nothing but employer law cases and keeps abreast of the rapidly changing network of laws governing how employees must be treated in the workplace. The right employment law firm for you will provide 24-hour-a-day access to a real lawyer to address all of your legal questions and deal with any legal problems that can spring up for a business owner with frightening speed. You should also seek out an employer law service that can either tailor its legal services to your precise needs or offers a variety of service packages at reasonable prices. Your business is too important for it not to be protected against the possibility of a lawsuit that could wipe it out. Having good legal advisors will also help you protect your company’s reputation against efforts to besmirch it. After all, any company’s reputation is one of its most valuable assets.

So, whatever the size of your business, whether you employ 20 employees or 20,000, you need the benefits of the best advice about employer law that you can get. In the case of small or medium-sized businesses, the best thing you can do is partner with an employer law service that can call on experienced, knowledgeable lawyers to defend your interests. In tough economic times like these when employers must make hard decisions regarding their employees, it’s good to know that you have top-shelf legal advisors to back you up. Face it, some of your employees may not be happy with what you have to do in terms of layoffs, scheduling or changes in working conditions, so if they decide to sue you, you’ll be prepared. Don’t be caught off guard. Be sure that you have already retained the services of a firm that specializes in employment law and can go to bat for you in court if necessary.

It is possible to improve eye vision in a way that is natural. In this way, you will be able to return to a life without glasses or contacts, and give yourself excellent vision without needing to undergo expensive and dangerous surgery. This is accomplished through the use of eye exercises. These can be used in order to combat the effects of nearsightedness and other vision issues.

By finding a way to naturally improve vision, you will feel better about yourself and your independence. By reclaiming your 20/20 vision, you will also reduce your risk of experiencing eye diseases in the future.

Eye exercises work by getting to the root of the problem that is causing the vision issues in the first place. The eye muscles that cause the problem are trained in such a way that they become more relaxed, and more precise. In this way, the lens of the eye returns to its proper shape, which will naturally improve vision.

When you wear glasses, they may improve eye vision in the short term, but they actually put strain on your eyes. There have been several studies demonstrating that, over time, glasses actually cause your vision to become worse. This is why it is important to improve eye vision the right way. Not only do eyeglasses and contacts come to a common inconvenience, but they are also damaging to the eye.

Briefly testing these simple exercises are a lot healthier and successful. Studies conducted on monkeys showed that a monkey who wore nearsighted glasses became nearsighted within a short period of time. The reverse was true for farsighted glasses.

The first simple exercise is to find a period or comma on a page and focus on it, making it as clear as possible. Stare at the period until it comes into focus. Chances are after a few seconds the period will actually became less clear and blurry. Perform eye exercises on a regular basis. This gives your muscles the full control over your eyes that they are supposed to have. Try relaxing your eyes. Close them for a minute and let them relax. Now look at the period without straining. Don’t stare; instead, let your eyes slowly move around the page, over and around the period. Don’t focus only on the period, the eyes need movement. Make sure to blink a bit. Try closing your eyes and picturing the dot and then look at it again. Once the eyes are relaxed it should be easier to see the period. This also allows your eyes to relax so that they are not placed under strain.

The second exercise is the Word exercise. Find a word on the page that is five or more letters long. Stare at the word so that all the letters are in view, but don’t move the eyes. Focus entirely on the whole word trying to get the best image in your head. Again, staring and concentrating hard is going to cause the word to blur. These methods used to naturally improve vision are much safer than LASIK eye surgery as well.

These exercises can be used to fight problems associated with nearsightedness, farsightedness, blurred vision, and aging vision.

The former FDA chief, Morris Waxler, admitted that he thinks they made a mistake when they approved the surgery. It may improve eye vision, but there are several risks associated with it that aren’t worth it. The possibility that you will have vision problems after getting LASIK surgery is surprisingly high. One in every thirty-three people who undergo the surgery will experience vision problems afterward.

Some big, unfounded rumors are circulating about nutritional supplements.

And they’re circulating under the guise of science and experience. But instead of helping you make wiser choices for your health, they do the opposite. They make it harder.

Because these false tales ignore volumes of research and several thousands of years of human healing practices using food, herbs and minerals.

What fallacies am I talking about?

A December 2013 editorial published in The Annals Of Internal Medicine, titled “Enough Is Enough: Stop Wasting Money on Vitamin and Mineral Supplements” concluded:

“We believe that the case is closed- supplementing the diet of well-nourished adults with (most) mineral or vitamin supplements has no clear benefit and might even be harmful. These vitamins should not be used for chronic disease prevention. Enough is enough.”[1]

Now here’s the thing… I agree we need to pay attention to results of the studies the authors referred to when they came to this conclusion. This editorial refers to several recent studies. Each of these studies underscores some important reasons why nutritional supplements don’t work in specific situations.

But other than that, they’re dead wrong.

Because if anything these studies only highlight the mistakes people and doctors make when it comes to using supplements. Simply put, when people choose poor quality supplements and use the wrong supplement for the wrong reasons, supplements don’t do much good.

In contrast, as hundreds of people who have consulted with me as a doctor have discovered, when you choose the right, high quality supplement for the right health concern, you’ll see the benefits.

The key is to make knowledgeable choices.

A single article is too limited to cover 40 plus years of knowledge I draw from in recommending supplements to my patients. But I can offer some basic guidelines that will help you make better choices when you use supplements.

Here’s what you need to look out for in order to ensure the nutritional supplements you use work.

Get The Right Dose Of Nutrition

Three of the studies the editorial team used to make their case showed multivitamins did little to change the risk of brain problems, cardiovascular issues after a heart attack or overall health risks for older people.

I wasn’t surprised by this.

In trying to cover the whole spectrum of nutrition without overdoing it in any one area, multivitamins usually only offer a small percentage of the nutrients you need to take care of a specific health concern. And often enough they include nutrients you don’t even need depending on how you eat.

For example, most multivitamins contain 400 IU or less of vitamin D. While this is the official recommended daily allowance for vitamin D, most holistic doctors would consider this a drop in the bucket when it comes to raising your blood vitamin D levels.

I have my patients get blood tests to assess vitamin D levels and then recommend supplements accordingly. Often enough, I recommend at least 1000 IU – sometimes as much as 5000 IU – to get them to healthy vitamin D levels in the blood.

Multivitamins provide a baseline for nutrition. Not strategic intervention that can really make a difference.

And this brings me to the next issue…

Choose The Best Nutritional Supplements For Your Specific Needs

Just because vitamin A supplementation worked for your neighbor, doesn’t mean it will work for you.

Perhaps you eat lots of winter squash and chlorella, rich in this vitamin. You don’t need a supplement.

Not everyone needs the same amount of supplementation.

Supplementation works best when it’s tailored to your individual health concerns, eating habits, lifestyle and genetic makeup. When adding supplements to your diet, start with you – with what you’re struggling with and what you know are your weak points.

This is why studies involving people without any nutritional deficiencies to assess the effectiveness of supplements may have had less significant results.

It’s also why multivitamins have limited effectiveness. The higher quality ones may give you a nice nutritional base. But they do little to offer you the strategic nutrition that thousands of studies have shown can make a difference with specific health concerns.

But it doesn’t matter what dose of supplement you choose, if you don’t pay attention to this next issue, you won’t get what you need…

Choose Natural Supplements

Synthetic versions of vitamins can not only be less effective, they can be dangerous. As the Annals of Internal Medicine editorial team correctly pointed out, some research has shown that vitamin A supplementation can in fact increase your risk of lung cancer.

However, if you get the precursor for vitamin A that’s found in chlorella and other whole foods – beta carotene – you don’t have to worry. Unlike with vitamin A, your body only converts the beta-carotene it needs and gets rid of the rest.

Natural substances are hard to mimic in a chemistry lab. We may do a pretty good job, but several different vitamin studies have shown that synthetic forms of vitamins – like the ones used in several vitamin A and E studies – can disrupt the way your body uses nutrition.

But even if you go natural, you still need to pay keen attention to the next criterion…

Make Quality A Priority

Listen, do you think some wilted spinach that’s been sitting in your fridge for 2 weeks will give you the same nourishment as that spinach picked from your garden minutes ago? Of course not!

So why would you assume all supplement ingredients are of the same quality?

Sure they may be natural ingredients. But natural doesn’t necessarily mean quality.

Plenty of manufacturers scoot by with ingredients your body can’t use – or contain little concentration of the active compounds you’re seeking. Multivitamins are particularly notorious in this area. If you pick one up at random from the local pharmacy, I can just about guarantee that many of the nutrients in the multivitamin you selected will be hard for your body to use and offer limited benefits.

For example, calcium carbonate – found in many multivitamins as well as calcium supplements – is much harder for your body to breakdown and absorb than calcium citrate.[2]

When it comes to botanical supplements, their quality depends heavily on how they were sourced and processed. For example, if eleuthero root is harvested in the winter months, when much of the plant’s energy is stored in its roots, you’ll get a much higher concentration of active ingredients, eleutherosides. However, not every eleuthero producer takes care to harvest at this time, leading to a range of potency when it comes to eleuthero supplements on the market.

However, as good as a high quality extract or isolated ingredient is, rarely can they compete with the best form of supplementation.

The Best Nutritional Supplements Are Made With Whole Foods

While we’ve discovered some applications for isolated vitamins and plant compounds… and while I sometimes suggest my patients use certain extracts or isolated vitamins… when it comes down to it, nothing beats the complex chemistry of food for giving your body the best nutrition.

Nutrients found in food work together to nourish you in incredibly complex ways. It’s like a symphony with hundreds of players. And often enough, when we try to isolate nutrients, we miss out on powerful health benefits.

For example, when it comes to the supplement, eleuthero, scientists have found that some of the isolated compounds, eleutherosides, seem to increase immune health. But they also found that none of the isolated eleutherosides worked as well for strengthening your immune health as taking whole eleuthero.[3]

3 Tips For Finding Nutritional Supplements That Work

As a doctor who’s witnessed hundreds of people recovering excellent health thanks to the use of nutritional supplements, I know this widely publicized editorial from the Annals of Internal Medicine has the potential to cause tremendous damage. By referring to a few non-representative and poorly designed studies to condemn nutritional supplements as a whole, the authors have robbed people of health options that can make all the difference.

But I also understand the need, highlighted by the studies referred to in the editorial, for better understanding of how to choose and use supplements more effectively.

Here are a few suggestions:

Do your research. Go beyond the headlines and ask questions. Get information that addresses all the questions I raised in this post. Learn more about the health concern you have, the nutrient you’re considering using and the company that produces supplements that provide this nutrition.
When in doubt, consult with a professional like a holistic doctor. As part of our professional work, we keep up with the research. In addition, we have our years of practice to draw on in seeing how supplements work on a case by case basis. A holistic doctor can help you determine the quality of a supplement. And they can help you decide if it’s the right one for your needs.
Consider using supplements that have already gone through rigorous quality assessments. For example, supplement distribution companies like Emerson Ecologics set high standards for the supplements they carry in order to help practitioners like me make good choices more easily. While you will need an official practitioner recommendation for purchasing from them, you will know that the supplements they carry are well vetted.
Become The Expert: Know The Best Supplements For You

The most important thing you can do to use supplements effectively is to know yourself. Get to know your body and note how supplements work for you.

And keep this in mind: Studies are important. But they also only capture a snapshot of the reality. Your unique biochemistry may not fit into this.

Because of this, you can know better than any doctor or researcher what supplement works for you. When it comes down to it, no one else can do as good a job as you in making the final decision about which are the best nutritional supplements for you.