scholarly journals Physical Distancing and Social Connectedness Among Older Adults

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 37-37
Author(s):  
Julie Lutz ◽  
Emily Bower ◽  
Ellen Beckwith ◽  
Julie Choi ◽  
Kim Van Orden
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Older Adults ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Social Interactions ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Elevated Risk ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Functional Impairments ◽  
The Social

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted older adults; due to elevated risk, many older adults have followed physical distancing guidelines. These efforts, while critical to public health, have also impacted the social interactions and connectedness of older adults. In this mixed-methods study, we conducted qualitative interviews and administered questionnaires to 23 adults age 60 and older to examine how physical distancing has affected their social connectedness; what strategies and supports they have utilized to maintain or improve social connectedness despite physical distancing; and what types of supports, programs, and interventions they feel could promote and foster social connectedness among older adults during physical distancing. The results may have implications not only for the pandemic, but also for older adults who cannot leave their homes or experience barriers to typical social activities for any reason (e.g., being homebound, having functional impairments).

scholarly journals The social cure of social prescribing: a mixed-methods study on the benefits of social connectedness on quality and effectiveness of care provision

BMJ Open ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. e033137 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blerina Kellezi ◽  
Juliet Ruth Helen Wakefield ◽  
Clifford Stevenson ◽  
Niamh McNamara ◽  
Elizabeth Mair ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Chronically Ill ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Social Prescribing ◽  
The Social ◽  
Community Belonging ◽  
Group Memberships

ObjectivesThis study aimed to assess the degree to which the ‘social cure’ model of psychosocial health captures the understandings and experiences of healthcare staff and patients in a social prescribing (SP) pathway and the degree to which these psychosocial processes predict the effect of the pathway on healthcare usage.DesignMixed-methods: Study 1: semistructured interviews; study 2: longitudinal survey.SettingAn English SP pathway delivered between 2017 and 2019.ParticipantsStudy 1: general practitioners (GPs) (n=7), healthcare providers (n=9) and service users (n=19). Study 2: 630 patients engaging with SP pathway at a 4-month follow-up after initial referral assessment.InterventionChronically ill patients experiencing loneliness referred onto SP pathway and meeting with a health coach and/or link worker, with possible further referral to existing or newly created relevant third-sector groups.Main outcome measureStudy 1: health providers and users’ qualitative perspectives on the experience of the pathway and social determinants of health. Study 2: patients’ primary care usage.ResultsHealthcare providers recognised the importance of social factors in determining patient well-being, and reason for presentation at primary care. They viewed SP as a potentially effective solution to such problems. Patients valued the different social relationships they created through the SP pathway, including those with link workers, groups and community. Group memberships quantitatively predicted primary care usage, and this was mediated by increases in community belonging and reduced loneliness.ConclusionsMethodological triangulation offers robust conclusions that ‘social cure’ processes explain the efficacy of SP, which can reduce primary care usage through increasing social connectedness (group membership and community belonging) and reducing loneliness. Recommendations for integrating social cure processes into SP initiatives are discussed.

Play, Learn, Connect: Older Adults' Experience With a Multiplayer, Educational, Digital Bingo Game

2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (5) ◽  
pp. 675-700 ◽  
Author(s):  
Erik Tiong Wee Seah ◽  
David Kaufman ◽  
Louise Sauvé ◽  
Fan Zhang
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Learning Experience ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Educational Game ◽  
Second Phase ◽  
Nutrition And Health ◽  
Learning Content ◽  
The Social

This mixed-methods study examined the social gameplay and learning experience of 50 adults aged 60 years or more during 4 weeks of playing a multiplayer, educational digital Bingo game with embedded learning content about nutrition and health. The first phase consisted of 4 weeks of gameplay with quantitative data collection using pretests and posttests; the second phase used postgame interviews of selected players to collect qualitative data. The results of this study showed significant improvement in players' scores for knowledge, social connectedness, and attitudes toward digital games from the pretest to the posttest. The interview data confirmed these increases and provided insights on the importance of learning, social connectedness, coplaying, and general enjoyment from playing a digital educational game. The results of this study were also consistent with earlier research studies on older adults' needs, experiences, and preferences for digital gameplay.

scholarly journals Climate change education in public health and medical curricula in Australian and New Zealand Universities: a mixed methods study of barriers and areas for further action

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aparna Lal ◽  
Erin Walsh ◽  
Ali Wetherell ◽  
Claudia Slimings
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Climate Change ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Course Delivery ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Planetary Health ◽  
Medical Curricula

Background: The World Health Organization deemed climate change and air pollution as the top threat to global health in 2019. The importance of climate for health is recognised by healthcare professionals, who need to be equipped to deliver environmentally sustainable healthcare and promote planetary health. There is some evidence that climate change and health is not strongly embedded in accredited master-level public health training programs and medical programs globally, however, the immersion of climate-health in Australian and New Zealand programs is unclear. Objectives: To explore the extent to which climate-health education is currently embedded into public health and medical curricula in Australia and New Zealand. Methods: Educators identified by their coordination, convenorship, or delivery into programs of public health and medicine at universities in Australia and New Zealand were invited to participate in a cross-sectional, exploratory mixed methods study. Participants completed an online quantitative survey and qualitative interviews regarding their experience in program and course delivery, and the prominence of climate-health content within program and course delivery. Quantitative surveys were analysed using descriptive statistics and qualitative interview content was analysed via a modified ground theory approach. Results: The response rate of the quantitative survey was 43.7% (21/48). Ten survey respondents also completed qualitative interviews. Quantitative results showed that epidemiologists were the most common experts involved in design and delivery of this curriculum, with a reliance on guest lecturers to provide updated content. Qualitative interviews highlighted the ad-hoc role of Indigenous-led content in this field, the barriers of time and resources to develop a coherent curriculum and the important role of high-level champions to drive the inclusion of climate change and planetary health. Conclusion: There is an urgent need to strengthen current support available for pedagogical leadership in the area of climate and broader environmental change teaching at universities.

scholarly journals Well-Being without a Roof: Examining Well-Being among Unhoused Individuals Using Mixed Methods and Propensity Score Matching

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (19) ◽  
pp. 7228
Author(s):  
Naina J Ahuja ◽  
Allison Nguyen ◽  
Sandra J Winter ◽  
Mark Freeman ◽  
Robert Shi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Propensity Score ◽  
Propensity Score Matching ◽  
Social Connectedness ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Coping Mechanism ◽  
Spirituality And Religion ◽  
The Mean

The morbidity and mortality experiences of people who are unhoused have been well-described, but much less is known about the overall well-being of these individuals. In this mixed methods study, housed and unhoused participants completed a multi-faceted 10 domain measure of well-being (the Stanford WELL Survey), and a subset of unhoused participants shared their experiences during qualitative interviews. Using propensity score matching, unhoused participants (n = 51) were matched at a ratio of 1:5 with housed participants (n = 255). The mean overall well-being score of the unhoused participants was significantly lower than that of the matched housed participants (B = −5.022, p = 0.013). Additionally, the two groups differed on some of the constituent domains of well-being, with unhoused participants reporting statistically significantly lower mean scores on social connectedness (B = −1.086, p = 0.000), lifestyle and daily practices (B = −1.219, p = 0.000), stress and resilience (B = −0.493, p = 0.023), experience of emotions (B = −0.632, p = 0.009), physical health (B = −0.944, p = 0.0001), and finances (B = −3.099, p = 0.000). The unhoused participants had a statistically significantly higher mean score for spirituality and religiosity (B = 2.401, p = 0.000) than their matched housed counterparts. The qualitative interviews further highlighted spirituality and religion as a coping mechanism for the unhoused. The results of this study highlight both unexpected strengths exhibited by the unhoused individuals and areas of challenge.

scholarly journals Insights from an early stage development mixed methods study on arts-based interventions for older adults following hospitalisation

2021 ◽  
pp. 102745
Author(s):  
Amanda M. Clifford ◽  
Joanne Shanahan ◽  
Hilary Moss ◽  
Triona Cleary ◽  
Morgan Senter ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Stage Development

scholarly journals 0721 Daytime Sleepiness and Napping in Nursing-Home Eligible Community Dwelling Older Adults: A Mixed Methods Study

SLEEP ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 41 (suppl_1) ◽  
pp. A268-A268
Author(s):  
M V McPhillips ◽  
J Li ◽  
P Z Cacchione ◽  
V V Dickson ◽  
N S Gooneratne ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Nursing Home ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Daytime Sleepiness ◽  
Community Dwelling ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Community Dwelling Older Adults

scholarly journals Evaluating the motivation of Red Cross Health volunteers in the COVID-19 pandemic: a mixed-methods study protocol

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. e042579
Author(s):  
Leonardo W Heyerdahl ◽  
Muriel Vray ◽  
Vincent Leger ◽  
Lénaig Le Fouler ◽  
Julien Antouly ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Vulnerable Populations ◽  
Health Workers ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Red Cross ◽  
Volunteer Motivation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Current Crisis ◽  
French Red Cross

IntroductionVoluntary organisations provide essential support to vulnerable populations and front-line health responders to the COVID-19 pandemic. The French Red Cross (FRC) is prominent among organisations offering health and support services in the current crisis. Comprised primarily of lay volunteers and some trained health workers, FRC volunteers in the Paris (France) region have faced challenges in adapting to pandemic conditions, working with sick and vulnerable populations, managing limited resources and coping with high demand for their services. Existing studies of volunteers focus on individual, social and organisational determinants of motivation, but attend less to contextual ones. Public health incertitude about the COVID-19 pandemic is an important feature of this pandemic. Whether and how uncertainty interacts with volunteer understandings and experiences of their work and organisational relations to contribute to Red Cross worker motivation is the focus of this investigation.Methods and analysisThis mixed-methods study will investigate volunteer motivation using ethnographic methods and social network listening. Semi-structured interviews and observations will illuminate FRC volunteer work relations, experiences and concerns during the pandemic. A questionnaire targeting a sample of Paris region volunteers will allow quantification of motivation. These findings will iteratively shape and be influenced by a social media (Twitter) analysis of biomedical and public health uncertainties and debates around COVID-19. These tweets provide insight into a French lay public’s interpretations of these debates. We evaluate whether and how socio-political conditions and discourses concerning COVID-19 interact with volunteer experiences, working conditions and organisational relations to influence volunteer motivation. Data collection began on 15 June 2020 and will continue until 15 April 2021.Ethics and disseminationThe protocol has received ethical approval from the Institut Pasteur Institutional Review Board (no 2020-03). We will disseminate findings through peer-reviewed articles, conference presentations and recommendations to the FRC.

How the environment is conceptualised and represented globally in social work codes of ethics

2021 ◽  
pp. 002087282110200
Author(s):  
Kang Liu ◽  
Catherine A Flynn
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Physical Environment ◽  
Codes Of Ethics ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Sequential Mixed Methods ◽  
The Social ◽  
Holistic Understanding

While the environment is fundamental to humankind’s wellbeing, to date, social work has been largely focused on the social, rather than the physical, environment. To map how the broader environment is captured in the profession’s foundational documents, an exploratory sequential mixed methods study (QUAL → quan) analysed data from 64 social work codes of ethics. Findings indicate that although the environment is mentioned in the majority of these, there is a continued focus on the social, overlooking to some degree the physical, predominantly the built, environment. A more holistic understanding of the environment would enable social work to better fulfil its commitment to human rights and social justice.

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