The development of a common understanding regarding terms used in social insurance, disability and insurance medicine ac
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SS/UEMASS offers a platform to exchange experiences within the field of insurance medicine between various insurance-related organisations in Europe who’s main focus is on public social security. The aim of EUMASS/UEMASS is to facilitate spreading and sharing scientific knowledge and good practice in the field of insurance medicine. Independent Consultant Occupational Physician, Solihull, United Kingdom
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Swedish Social Insurance Agency, Gothenburg, Sweden
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Author for correspondence: [email protected]
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The group consists of specialist disability, social security and insurance physicians from countries across Europe who recognised the importance of better understanding of each system. EUMASS/UEMASS physicians decided to set up the ‘Babylon Project’ with the aim to address this deficiency by first developing, in English, a list of commonly used terms in social security, disability and insurance medicine and then translating those terms into the languages of the other European partners. The purpose of this project was five-fold: 1. To develop a shared understanding of the meaning of commonly used terms across countries represented in EUMASS/UEMASS. 2. To assist new members of EUMASS/UEMASS in understanding the social security systems and disability assessment schemes of other countries. 3. To allow appreciation of differences in the use of terms in member countries. 4. To allow researchers to evaluate similarities and dif ferences when comparing the social security systems and disability assessment schemes. 5. To facilitate the writing of abstracts in English on the topic of social security, disability and insurance medicine. Method Due to the ambitious nature of the project, the group decided that the work needed several distinct phases. Phase 1 was the selection of a list of commonly used terms in social security, disability and insurance medicine. EUMASS has both French and English as its common languages and either could have been used, but due to the need to find readily accessible definitions, English
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was chosen as the ‘base’ language. After an initial list of definitions used in the UK system was drawn up, stored on a spreadsheet and then circulated, all other countries represented in EUMASS supplied additional terms from their own systems. Phase 2 involved finding readily accessible definitions for the list. The researchers decided to use terms used in legislation or in the Oxford English dictionary (OED). Fortunately, the publishers of the OED, the Oxford University Press (OUP), were happy to collaborate by advising on the dictionary to use and assisting in sourcing the definitions. Phase 3 involved French EUMASS delegates supplying comparable terms used in the French social security system. At this stage the project team recognised that some English terms (such as ‘Med 3’, which is the reference for the form used for the certification of sickness absence within the UK system) had no immediate translatable equivalent
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