Respite, renewal, retirement and tensions: Australian Men's Sheds and the impact on significant others

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-22
Author(s):  
Annette Foley ◽  
Barry Golding ◽  
Helen Weadon
Keyword(s):  
Significant Others ◽  
Research Attention ◽  
Carer Burden ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Broader Impacts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Significant Research ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The health and wellbeing benefits of Men's Sheds to the men who participate have had significant research attention for over a decade. However, there has been little research into the broader impacts of Men's Sheds, particularly in relation to the impacts on significant others in the lives of the men who participate. Our paper aims to redress this lack of research by focusing on the interrelated perceptions and experiences of men and those closest to them in four Men's Sheds in regional Victoria, Australia. The research shows that the partners and carers of ‘shedders’ reported that the men's participation not only benefited the men but also had benefits for their significant others. The study also showed that the partners of shedders in the study found that their individual and joint adjustment to retirement was in some cases assisted by the men enjoying the social and structured environment of the Men's Shed, while in other cases it was seen by partners as an over-commitment and impacting negatively on the marriage. The findings also shed some important light on some tensions experienced by the partners associated with carer burden and adjustments to retirement.

scholarly journals Integration or Isolation? Refugees’ Social Connections and Wellbeing

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alison B. Strang ◽  
Neil Quinn
Keyword(s):  
Social Connections ◽  
Policy And Practice ◽  
Integration Framework ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Refugee Integration ◽  
The Social ◽  
Community Solidarity ◽  
Conservation Model ◽  
The Impact

Abstract The Indicators of Integration framework—a conceptual framework defining core domains of refugee integration—has had a significant impact on the discourse surrounding refugee integration and a major role in shaping policy, practice and academic debate. Drawing on an innovative participatory mapping approach, this study examined the social connections of isolated single refugee men from Iran and Afghanistan (highlighted as particularly marginalized) and the implications for their mental health and wellbeing. Findings indicated very low levels of contact with family, local friends or local services, difficulties establishing trust and few opportunities for reciprocal relationships. The article makes an important contribution to the field of refugee integration in a number of ways. It suggests that the role of trust should be made explicit within the Indicators of Integration framework and be included as a ‘Facilitator’ of integration. It challenges Putnam’s simple binary distinction between bonding and bridging relationships and suggests a new conceptualization based on a continuum between bonds and bridges. It offers theoretical innovation by bringing together the concept of reciprocity with Hobfoll’s resource-conservation model to offer new insights into the way domains of the Framework interact. Its important contribution is in critiquing Putnam’s reliance on the idealization of community solidarity and suggesting conceptualizations of integration must be informed by the impact of intersecting but differentiated communities. Two key priorities emerge for policy and practice: enabling asylum seekers and refugees to develop sufficient close bonding relationships and finding more effective ways of building knowledge and trust of relevant resources and services.

scholarly journals “Because I’ve Got a Learning Disability, They Don’t Take Me Seriously:” Violence, Wellbeing, and Devaluing People With Learning Disabilities

2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052199082
Author(s):  
Phillippa Wiseman ◽  
Nick Watson
Keyword(s):  
Learning Disabilities ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
The Social ◽  
Holistic Understanding ◽  
Targeted Violence ◽  
Inequality In Health ◽  
Complex Forms ◽  
Forms Of Violence ◽  
The Impact

For people with learning disabilities, targeted violence has become routinized. In this article, we seek to explore the impact pervasive victimization has on their experience of community and participation and, through this, their health and wellbeing. People with learning disabilities experience significant inequality in health and wellbeing compared to their non-disabled peers, and the role of violence and victimization remains mostly neglected. By drawing on in-depth qualitative interviews with people with learning disabilities, we argue that abuse, disrespect and devaluing profoundly erode wellbeing. The complex forms of violence experienced by people with learning disabilities are critical to understanding the significant inequalities in health and wellbeing experienced by people with learning disabilities. We focus on community and misrecognition to move the focus from one that examines causation towards one that uncovers the layers of invisibility, and the complex relations that structure experiences from the perspective of people with learning disabilities themselves. By doing this, we locate violence and victimization as health and wellbeing concerns and seek to add a more comprehensive and holistic understanding of the social determinants of health. For the inequalities that structure the lives of people with learning disabilities to be holistically understood, they must be reframed as an issue of social justice, and violence must be identified as a central contributor to these inequalities.

Mobile Health Interventions to Support Caregivers of Older Adults: An Equity-Focused Systematic Review (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Garnett ◽  
Melissa Northwood ◽  
Justine Ting ◽  
Ruheena Sangrar
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Determinants Of Health ◽  
Mobile Health ◽  
Social Determinants ◽  
Determinants Of Health ◽  
Health Technologies ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND Caregivers provide crucial support to older adults so they can remain safely in their homes as they age. Over time, caregivers’ own health can be negatively impacted by their caregiving role. The social determinants of health, such as gender and socioeconomic status, can influence assuming a caregiving role as well as the impacts of caregiving on the caregiver. While programs exist to support caregivers, uptake of these services does not match the need for services expressed by caregivers. Research suggests that supportive interventions offered via mobile health technologies have the potential to increase caregiver accessibility of supportive services. However, a knowledge gap exists regarding the extent to which the social determinants of health are considered in the design, implementation, and evaluation of mobile health (mHealth) interventions intended to support caregivers of older adults. Furthermore, a comprehensive review of the impact of mHealth interventions in this population does not exist. OBJECTIVE To conduct a systematic review to: (1) determine how health inequities are considered in the design, implementation, and evaluation of mHealth interventions for caregivers of older adults using Cochrane-Equity's PROGRESS-Plus framework; and (2) synthesize evidence of the impacts of caregiver-focused mHealth interventions. METHODS A systematic review was conducted in five databases and articles published between January 2010 and June 2021 were included if they evaluated or explored the impacts of mHealth interventions on the health and wellbeing of informal caregivers of older adults. mHealth interventions were defined as those that caregivers of older adults accessed via mobile or wireless devices. RESULTS A total of 28 articles met the inclusion criteria and were included in the systematic review. The interventions evaluated by the included studies sought to help caregivers make connections with services, facilitate the caregiving process, and promote the caregivers’ health and wellbeing. The PROGRESS-Plus framework factors were mainly considered in the results, discussion, and limitations sections of included studies. Some PROGRESS-Plus factors such as sexual orientation, religion and occupation, received little to no consideration in all phases of intervention design, implementation, or evaluation. Overall, findings of this review suggest that mHealth interventions were positively received by users. Such interventions may have the potential to reduce caregiver burden and positively impact caregivers’ physical and mental health while supporting them in their caregiving role. Study findings highlight the importance of available supports to help facilitate caregivers’ use of mHealth interventions particularly early on as well as the use of appropriate language and text. CONCLUSIONS Successful uptake and spread of mHealth interventions to support caregivers of older adults will depend on creating opportunities for inclusive involvement of a broad range of stakeholders at all stages of design, implementation, and assessment. CLINICALTRIAL PROSPERO CRD42021239584; https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=239584

scholarly journals The School Environment as a Source of Somatic Problems in Adolescents

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 59
Author(s):  
Slavka Demuthova
Keyword(s):  
School Environment ◽  
Academic Motivation ◽  
Somatic Symptom ◽  
School Teacher ◽  
Linear Regression Analysis ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Somatic Symptoms ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

Somatic symptoms are a prevalent health problem in children and adolescents. The specific cause often remains unidentified in paediatrics and cases are therefore frequently assigned to psychological aetiology. The most common cause of somatic symptoms is stress which can arise from a variety of areas of adolescent life. One significant factor affecting the mental health and wellbeing of youth is their school environment. The link between somatic symptoms and school has thus far been studied mainly from the perspective of the impact of health problems on academic performance, attendance or relationships with schoolmates. However, we can assume that the school environment and its characteristics can equally be a source of stress for adolescents and thereby also the reason for the occurrence of somatic issues. The main aim of this study is to investigate the presence of somatic symptoms in adolescents and above all, to determine if they can be caused by factors such as attachment to school, school climate, feeling of safety at school, teacher support, and self-academic motivation. To examine the factors of the school environment and the presence of individual somatic symptoms, we used the scales of the Social and Health Assessment (SAHA) questionnaire. Amongst the 1,961 adolescents observed, the most frequent somatic symptom was unspecified aches or pains (65.4%) followed by headaches (59.3%) and rashes/other skin problems (46.8%). Linear regression analysis showed that all examined factors of the school environment significantly lead to the occurrence of somatic symptoms.

scholarly journals Anthropometric history and the measurement of wellbeing

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bernard Harris
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Conditions ◽  
Labour Productivity ◽  
Human Growth ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Average Height ◽  
Anthropometric Data ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

It has often been recognised that the average height of a population is influencedby the economic, social and environmental conditions in which it finds itself, andthis insight has inspired a generation of historians to use anthropometric data toinvestigate the health and wellbeing of past populations. This paper reviews someof the main developments in the field, and assesses the extent to which heightremains a viable measure of historical wellbeing. It explores a number of differentissues, including the nature of human growth; the impact of variations in diet andexposure to disease; the role of ethnicity; the relationships between height, mortalityand labour productivity; and the “social value” of human stature. It concludes that,despite certain caveats, height has retained its capacity to act as a “mirror” of theconditions of past societies, and of the wellbeing of their members.

‘It's most of my life – going to the pub or the group’: the social networks of involuntarily childless older men

2019 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin A. Hadley
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Lived Experience ◽  
Psychological Research ◽  
Social Emotional ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Individual Agency ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Agency Relationships ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe social networks of older people are a significant influence on their health and wellbeing. Adult children are an important element in their parent's network and provide the majority of informal care. The morphology of personal networks alters with age, employment, gender and relationships. Not having children automatically reduces both vertical familial structure and affects the wider formal and informal social links that children can bring. Childless men are missing from gerontological, reproduction, sociological and psychological research. These fields have all mainly focused on family and women. This paper reports on an auto/biographical qualitative study framed by biographical, feminist, gerontological and lifecourse approaches. Data were gathered from semi-structured biographical interviews with 14 self-defined involuntarily childless men aged between 49 and 82 years old. A latent thematic analysis highlighted the complex intersections between childlessness and individual agency, relationships and socio-cultural structures. The impact of major lifecourse events and non-events had significant implications for how childless people perform and view their social and self-identity. I argue that involuntary childlessness affects the social, emotional and relational aspects of men's lived experience across the lifecourse.

scholarly journals COVID-19 in Rural Nigeria: Diminishing Social Support for Older People in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
pp. 233372142098630
Author(s):  
Prince Chiagozie Ekoh ◽  
Patricia Ujunwa Agbawodikeizu ◽  
Chukwuemeka Ejimkararonye ◽  
Elizabeth Onyedikachi George ◽  
Chigozie Donatus Ezulike ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Older People ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Social Contact ◽  
Health And Wellbeing ◽  
Rural Nigeria ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Depth Interviews

Social support provided by family, friends and neighbors has been essential for the survival and wellbeing of older people in Nigeria. However, the reduced social contact between older people and their social network because of the social distancing recommendations and other non-pharmaceutical approaches to protect them from COVID-19 may threaten their social support. Our study investigated the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural older people in Nigeria using qualitative data collected from 11 older adults residing in rural Nigeria through in-depth interviews. The collected data was translated and transcribed, coded using Nvivo12 and analyzed thematically. Findings show that the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a reduction in both material support in the forms of food and money, and intangible support in the forms of assistance, communication and care, due to limited social contact. Furthermore, the economic consequence of the pandemic may have severe implications for the health and wellbeing of older people. Social workers should therefore advocate the distribution of food and care supplies to rural older people to cushion the economic impact of diminishing social support, and also creatively help them maintain social connectedness.

The Impact of Endorsing the Belief in a Just World on Social Judgments

2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (3) ◽  
pp. 209-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benoît Testé ◽  
Samantha Perrin
Keyword(s):  
Social Desirability ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Social Utility ◽  
Western Society ◽  
Social Judgments ◽  
Just World ◽  
The Social ◽  
Main Effect ◽  
The Impact

The present research examines the social value attributed to endorsing the belief in a just world for self (BJW-S) and for others (BJW-O) in a Western society. We conducted four studies in which we asked participants to assess a target who endorsed BJW-S vs. BJW-O either strongly or weakly. Results showed that endorsement of BJW-S was socially valued and had a greater effect on social utility judgments than it did on social desirability judgments. In contrast, the main effect of endorsement of BJW-O was to reduce the target’s social desirability. The results also showed that the effect of BJW-S on social utility is mediated by the target’s perceived individualism, whereas the effect of BJW-S and BJW-O on social desirability is mediated by the target’s perceived collectivism.

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