South Africa: the new world of disability.

Over the past 10 years, unique business imperatives in South Africa have led to innovative risk product design, some of which are still unfamiliar to the rest of the world. The main drivers are: the unique mix of first- and third-world societies in our country, and an energetic marketing force operating in an already highly saturated insurance market. As a result, new product design has become one of the most effective ways to grow new business volumes in this competitive environment.

Assessing impairment and disability for syndromes presenting with chronic fatigue.

Many disability claims are based on the subjective symptom of fatigue, which can be caused by a wide spectrum of diagnoses including fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome and cardiopulmonary diseases. Chronic pain is very often a compounding problem. It is vital for every insurer to have fair and objective criteria to distinguish between invalid claims and those with merit.

Medical problem-solving: a five stage approach in primary medical care.

A methodology for a five stage or pentagonal problem-based approach to solve individual or family health-related problems is described. The model can be applied in health worker learning, student teaching or problem solving in the real world of the patient and his/ her family within the context of community health. The model stresses interdisciplinary co-operation, the consideration of ethical factors in each case, and a logical transition from individual patient care to community diagnosis and intervention.