Health commodified, health communified: navigating digital consumptionscapes of well-being

2017 ◽  
Vol 51 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 2054-2079 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lena Cavusoglu ◽  
Melike Demirbag-Kaplan
Keyword(s):  
Digital Media ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Digital Discourse ◽  
Textual Data ◽  
Spiritual Well Being ◽  
Health And Well Being

Purpose Historically, research on perceptions of health either converged upon the meanings created and proposed by specialists in the healthcare industry or focused on people who have medical conditions. This approach has failed to capture how the meanings and notions of health have been evolving as medicine extends into non-medical spheres and has left gaps in the exploration of how the meanings surrounding health and well-being are constructed, negotiated and reproduced in lay discourse. This paper aims to fill this gap in the understanding of the perceptions surrounding health by investigating consumers’ digitized visual accounts on social media. Design/methodology/approach Textual network and visual content analyses of posts extracted from Instagram are used to derive conclusions on definitions of health and well-being as perceived by healthy lay individuals. Findings Research demonstrates that digital discourse of health is clustered around four F’s, namely, food, fitness, fashion and feelings, which can be categorized with respect to their degrees of representation on a commodification/communification versus bodily/spiritual well-being map. Originality/value Our knowledge about the meanings of health as constructed and reflected by healthy lay people is very limited and even more so about how these meaning-making processes is realized through digital media. This paper contributes to theory by integrating consumers’ meaning-making literature into health perceptions, as well as investigating the role of social networks in enabling a consumptionscape of well-being. Besides a methodological contribution of using social network analysis on textual data, this paper also provides valuable insights for policy-makers, communicators and professionals of health.

scholarly journals Transformative value and the role of involvement in gamification and serious games for well-being

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rory Francis Mulcahy ◽  
Nadia Zainuddin ◽  
Rebekah Russell-Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Serious Games ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Role Involvement ◽  
Competing Models ◽  
Moderating Role ◽  
Health And Well Being

PurposeThis study aims to investigate the use of gamification and serious games as transformative technologies that encourage health and well-being behaviors. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the transformative value that can be created by gamified apps and serious games and the role involvement plays between transformative value and desired outcomes.Design/methodology/approachFour gamified apps/serious games were examined in the study, with data collected from N = 497 participants. The data were analyzed using structural equation modeling.FindingsThe results revealed that gamified apps and serious games can create three transformative value dimensions – knowledge, distraction, and simulation – which can have direct and indirect effects on desired outcomes. Examination of competing models revealed involvement plays a mediating rather than a moderating role for gamification and serious games for well-being.Originality/valueThis research contributes greater understanding of how technology can be leveraged to deliver transformative gamification services. It demonstrates the multiple transformative value dimensions that can be created by gamified apps and serious games, which assist the performance of well-being behaviors and which have yet to be theorized or empirically examined. The study also establishes the mediating rather than the moderating role of involvement in gamification and serious games, as called for in the literature.

scholarly journals Spiritual group training for adolescences

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 62-74 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hillman Wirawan ◽  
Muhammad Jufri ◽  
Andi Anto Patak
Keyword(s):  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Group Training ◽  
Evaluation Design ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Spiritual Well Being ◽  
Post Test ◽  
Important Idea ◽  
Study Hypothesis

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the effects of spiritual group training on improving the spiritual well-being (SWB) among adolescences. The SWB is one of the factors that determines adolescences’ positive behavior. A number of previous studies have supported that spirituality and juvenile delinquency were negatively correlated. The level of SWB is mostly influenced by the peers’ group interaction and the role of others in the environment. Design/methodology/approach The authors developed a Spiritual Group Training by utilizing a number of relevant literature. The authors constructed the training using the meaning of life, values of life, life goals, life connections, and relation to God. In order to yield empirical evidence, the authors performed a pre- and post-test experimental design. The study recruited 26 randomly selected students from five high schools. The authors adapted a 13-item SWB scale to measure the participants’ SWB. Findings The results showed that Spiritual Group Training significantly improved participants’ SWB (t=9.71, p<0.001). The results confirmed the study hypothesis that spiritual group training enhanced adolescences’ SWB. Research limitations/implications Designing a proper intervention and evaluation was a challenging task for the authors. In this study, the authors evaluated the training by utilizing a simple pre- and post-test design. Future investigations should employ a different evaluation design. Originality/value Most studies support the notion that spirituality is negatively correlated with adolescence’s negative behavior. However, only a few, if any, investigations have focused on developing certain training focusing on SWB. This study contributed an important idea on the use of SWB to develop adolescence SWB.

scholarly journals Diversity and inclusion depend on effective engagement

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (5) ◽  
pp. 21-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chandana Sanyal ◽  
Doirean Wilson ◽  
Charlotte Sweeney ◽  
Jude Smith Rachele ◽  
Satwant Kaur ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Business Performance ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Business And Society ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Diversity And Inclusion ◽  
Transformational Process ◽  
Health And Well Being

Purpose – Highlights some of the things that can be done to ensure that organizations embed diversity and inclusion. Design/methodology/approach – Considers the need for effective engagement, the importance of performance indicators for diversity and inclusion and the key role of sharing stories. Discusses, too, how critical race theory could help to bring about improvements. Findings – Advances the view that a transformational process that supports employees with the knowledge and sustainable skills needed to improve business performance via ethical means will form a significant part of future-proofing organizations. Practical implications – Argues that, to achieve this organizations have to drive home the message that diversity and inclusion are everyone’s business. Social implications – Advances the view that a unified approach to diversity and inclusion, which is embedded in the business ethics of the organization, can have a sustainable positive impact on the health and well-being of individuals, business and society. Originality/value – Considers diversity and inclusion from diverse perspectives and draws conclusions that can help organizations to perform better in these areas.

scholarly journals Meaning-Based Coping and Spirituality During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Mediating Effects on Subjective Well-Being

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gökmen Arslan ◽  
Murat Yıldırım
Keyword(s):  
Young Adults ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Turkish Population ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Mediating Effects ◽  
Spiritual Well Being ◽  
Being There ◽  
Health And Well Being

The coronavirus pandemic has significantly affected the Turkish population. During the pandemic, people with high coronavirus stress are at risk of experiencing poor subjective well-being. There is no research investigating the role of meaning-based coping and spirituality in explaining the link between coronavirus stress and subjective well-being. This study examined the mediating roles of meaning-based coping and spiritual well-being in the link between coronavirus stress and subjective well-being in young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic. The sample included 427 young adults (71% female), ranging in age between 18 and 48 years (M = 21.06; SD = 2.62). Turkish young adults completed an online survey, including measures of coronavirus stress, subjective well-being, meaning-based coping, and spiritual well-being. The results indicate that greater meaning-based coping and spiritual well-being mediated decreases in the adverse impacts of coronavirus stress on subjective well-being. These results suggest that the importance of a combination of meaning-based coping and spirituality processes mitigate the adverse effects of stress on well-being during the coronavirus pandemic. Interventions focusing on meaning-based coping and spirituality in those experiencing high coronavirus stress are urgently needed to improve the mental health and well-being of young adults.

Religion, Spirituality, Well-Being, and Ill-Being in a Church-Renewal Movement: The Case of Finland

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Pietari Hannikainen
Keyword(s):  
Church Renewal ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Dimensional Approach ◽  
Beliefs And Practices ◽  
Spiritual Well Being ◽  
Renewal Movement ◽  
Health And Well Being

Abstract An expanding body of research connects religiosity/spirituality (later R/S) with human well-being and health. While psychological and medical research lacks a common theoretical or theological framework, these dimensions are measured by instruments with a wide variation in quality. As the religious landscapes in Western societies are becoming increasingly plural and complex, the need for developing our understanding and assessment of the role of R/S in human health and well-being is as important as ever. This study, based on quantitative data (N = 529) from members of a church renewal oriented network in the Lutheran majority Church in Finland, measures the role of R/S in the subjective well-being of the participants through a multi-dimensional framework. While exploring Ellison’s Spiritual Well-being Scale (1983), the study expands its scope to a more multi-dimensional approach to religion, spirituality and well-being. The results reveal that religious beliefs and practices do not contribute to the level of subjective well-being in the lives of the participants as much as the way in which these beliefs and practices are lived out and actualized in social contexts. The study identified several sources of both well-being and ill-being in the participants’ lives. The article contributes to the terms of measuring the various ways in which R/S are connected to human well-being.

Transforming the guest–host relationship: a convivial tourism approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1069-1088
Author(s):  
Xinran Lehto ◽  
Dori Davari ◽  
Soona Park
Keyword(s):  
Critical Role ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Economic Experience ◽  
Market Communication ◽  
Fresh Perspective ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose This study aims to provide a fresh perspective toward understanding the forces that exist in the guest-host dynamic and thereby contribute to the guest–host relationship literature. Design/methodology/approach This study examines guest–host relationship via the philosophical lens of convivialism. Findings This study conceptualizes conviviality in the guest–host relationship. A convivial guest–host relationship is characterized by well-being mutuality and hospitality mutuality. Such a relation can be built when the guest and the host form a tri-party of coalitions, namely, economic, experience and hospitality. While an economic coalition represents the pragmatic value in a guest–host relationship, an experience coalition represents an experiential value in a guest–host relationship. A hospitality coalition then represents the spiritual alliance in such a relationship. Practical implications This paper suggests that tourism development should be guided by a conviviality vision. Health and well-being of both the visitors and the destination community should be a goal priority. This paper suggests that the starting point of experience planning is the residents, not the visitors. The critical role of hospitality in formulating market communication strategies is emphasized. Social implications This study contributes to the larger conversation of diversity and sustainability. Originality/value This study proposes a convivial tourism model – a form of tourism that is oriented toward mutuality of hospitality and well-being of both visitors and destination communities.

scholarly journals Group attachment through art practice: a phenomenological analysis of being seen and showing

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 45-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia Sagan ◽  
Antigonos Sochos
Keyword(s):  
Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Phenomenological Analysis ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Art Practice ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Art ◽  
Group Attachment

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to explore the role of a social art practice and group attachment in the life of a mental health service user with a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Design/methodology/approach – Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used as a means by which to explore interview data and bring to bear theories of attachment and psychosocial theories of the creative process. Findings – The study found that the process of coming to be seen and showing, relating and narrating, was part of a process enabled by experiences of group attachment within specific groups. These groups appeared to share the core principles of a TC. The artist’s improving reflective capacity and art practice informed and strengthened each other within a context of attachment, containment, communication, inclusion and agency (Haigh, 2013). Research limitations/implications – Whilst phenomenological work of this kind is small scale, the nature of the involvement with the participant facilitates a first person narrative which allows unique insight into human meaning making. Practical implications – The study offers pointers regarding the role of social art practice and emphasises the importance of developing attachments as part of mental well-being, as well as the potential role and challenge of this for individuals with severe relational problems. The study stresses the importance of groups that nurture particular experiences such as belongingness and sense of agency, and suggests why these experiences may be more effective for some individuals than one-to-one therapy. Social implications – The research adds to the debate regarding the benefits of engaging with the arts and the means by which the value of publicly funded community arts projects can be assessed. It also puts forward the case for TCs as potentially offering a substantial springboard not only to recovery but to higher creative functioning. Originality/value – The paper attempts to offer a deeper understanding of the combined and interlaced therapeutic power of creative endeavour; narrative identity; group attachment and the role of the fundamental principles of TCs.

Zen room enhances the workplace for NobelTek’s women employees

2015 ◽  
Vol 23 (7) ◽  
pp. 15-17
Author(s):  
Atul Arun Pathak
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Formal Economy ◽  
Women Employees ◽  
Expectant Mothers ◽  
Hr Managers ◽  
Health And Well Being ◽  
Practical Implications

Purpose – Aims to describe the key role of human resource management (HRM) in providing a better workplace environment to women employees at NobelTek, India, thereby stemming attrition and increasing employee satisfaction. Design/methodology/approach – Describes how a few simple changes made by HR managers to the workplace layout and design can make a tremendous difference to the life of women, especially expectant mothers. Draws on interviews with the company management team and the author’s observations. Findings – Shows that, quite often, poorly designed workplaces mean that women cannot deliver to their full potential. HRM can play a key role in improving this. Practical implications – Reveals how HRM’s interventions led to employees continuing to contribute to software-development projects and managing their own health and well-being simultaneously. This means that the talent and experience of women employees remain available to the company. Social implications – Research shows that many women withdraw from the formal economy, either temporarily or permanently, when they become mothers, or are about to become mothers. HRM can play a crucial role in ensuring that women stay in employment longer and continue to contribute to the economy during their pregnancy. This not only benefits the company but also the economy and society as a whole. Originality/value – Considers the context of expectant mothers working in the software industry. Provides insights into how the challenges faced by expectant mothers can be reduced and overcome by well-designed and implemented HRM practices.

scholarly journals The role of literary festival attendance in generating attendees' health and well-being

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Giulia Rossetti
Keyword(s):  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Weather Conditions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Five Factors ◽  
Analyse Data ◽  
Health And Well Being

PurposeThis paper examines the under-investigated well-being outcomes of literary festival attendance. It is an exploratory study into how a festival contributes to attendees' overall well-being. Drawing from the literature on well-being and festival studies, this paper seeks to understand the well-being dimensions generated by festival attendance and the factors that promote attendees' health and well-being.Design/methodology/approachThis exploratory study adopts an inductive and interpretivist approach. Observations, 45 on-site interviews and 17 follow-up interviews were undertaken at one literary festival in Ireland. Thematic analysis was used to analyse data and identify key themes.FindingsThe findings reveal that attendees perceived a sense of well-being that included five interconnected dimensions: social, mental, emotional, spiritual and physical. Results also show that five factors generated attendees' overall well-being: festival programme, social environment, place, weather conditions and attendees' background.Originality/valueThis paper presents a new comprehensive model that shows that festival attendance has the potential to generate five interconnected dimensions of attendees' well-being. The model also captures the five main factors that can promote attendees' health and well-being. The model is proposed to guide further research on attendees' overall well-being is associated with festival attendance.

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