“Getting Better”

2018 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-106 ◽  
Author(s):  
Suzanne Fraser ◽  
Mats Ekendahl
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Research ◽  
Addiction Treatment ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Well Being ◽  
General Purpose ◽  
The Self ◽  
Consumption Patterns ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Rule Out

The alcohol and other drug field is characterized by great diversity in kinds of treatment and treatment philosophies. Even the kinds of problems treatment is expected to address vary significantly, although agreement seems to exist that the general purpose is to help people “get better.” This article considers this diversity, drawing on a qualitative project conducted in three countries: Australia, Canada, and Sweden. Inspired by the project’s multisite approach and the questions it raises about comparative research, the article critically engages with the notion of “comparison” to think through what is at stake in making comparisons. Analyzing 80 interviews conducted with policy makers, service providers, and peer advocates, the article maps key ways treatment is conceptualized, identifying in them a central role for comparison. Participants in all sites invoked the need to consider addiction a multifaceted problem requiring a mix of responses tailored to individual differences. Related notions of “holism” were also commonly invoked, as was the need to concentrate on overall improvements in well-being rather than narrow changes in consumption patterns. In conducting this analysis, this article poses a series of critical questions. What kinds of comparisons about quality of life, the self, and well-being do treatments for addiction put into play? What categories and criteria of comparison are naturalized in these processes? What kinds of insights might these categories and criteria authorize, and what might they rule out? In short, what does it mean to understand alcohol and other drug use and our responses to it as intimately intertwined with the need to “get better,” and what happens when we scrutinize the politics of comparison at work in getting better through addiction treatment? We conclude by arguing for the need to find new, fairer, ways of constituting the problems we presently ascribe to drugs and addiction.

Bioethics, Adaptive Preferences, and Judging the Quality of a Life with Disability

2021 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 199-220
Author(s):  
Joseph A. Stramondo ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Clinical Ethics ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
The Self ◽  
Disabled People ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Adaptive Preferences ◽  
The Status

Both mainstream and disability bioethics sometimes contend that the self-assessment of disabled people about their own well-being is distorted by adaptive preferences that are only held because other, better options are unavailable. I will argue that both of the most common ways of understanding adaptive preferences—the autonomy-based account and the well-being account—would reject blanket claims that disabled people’s QOL self-assessment has been distorted, whether those claims come from mainstream bioethicists or from disability bioethicists. However, rejecting these generalizations for a more nuanced view still has dramatic implications for the status quo in both health policy and clinical ethics.

Quality of Internet Service as Experienced by Tanzanians in 2016

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 12-31
Author(s):  
Eliamani Sedoyeka
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Quality Of Experience ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Qualitative Approach ◽  
Internet Service ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Internet Users ◽  
Telecommunication Companies ◽  
Article Quality

In this article, Quality of Experience (QoE) is discussed as experienced by Tanzanian internet users for the second biannual of 2016. It presents findings of the research that aimed at among other things, finding out the QoE in internet services offered by telecommunication companies and other internet service providers in the country. A qualitative approach was used to establish practical quality of experience issues considered important by Tanzanians. Online questionnaires distributed over social media mainly WhatsApp and Facebook were used to ask users about their experiences of the services they had been receiving, in which over 2000 responses were collected from all districts of Tanzania. It was established that usability, quality of service, price and after sale support were the main issues found to influence quality of experience for many. The findings in this article are useful for academicians, QoS and QoE researchers, policy makers and ICT professionals.

Is self-esteem a resource for the parental couple? A longitudinal study on the quality of the romantic and coparental relationships

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (11-12) ◽  
pp. 3773-3795
Author(s):  
Nahema El Ghaziri ◽  
Joëlle Darwiche ◽  
Jean-Philippe Antonietti
Keyword(s):  
Relationship Quality ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
The Self ◽  
Family Unit ◽  
The Family ◽  
Parental Couple ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

The aim of this study is to investigate the longitudinal influence of self-esteem on romantic and coparental relationship quality. The data were drawn from the German Family Panel, pairfam. Parents ( n couples = 2,364) were assessed three times over 4 years. The results indicated that romantic and coparental quality decreased over time, while self-esteem remained stable. The self-esteem of both parents predicted initial romantic and coparental quality. Additionally, mothers’ self-esteem reduced the decline in romantic quality. Finally, romantic quality mediated the relationship between parents’ self-esteem and coparental quality. These results suggest that self-esteem might be a resource for the parental couple and even for the family unit, as romantic and coparental quality are key elements for the well-being of both parent and child.

Evaluation of Alzheimer's Australia Vic Memory Lane Cafés

2010 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 246-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Briony Dow ◽  
Betty Haralambous ◽  
Courtney Hempton ◽  
Susan Hunt ◽  
Diane Calleja
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Support Groups ◽  
Social Inclusion ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Family Members ◽  
Memory Loss ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Human Research Ethics ◽  
People With Dementia

ABSTRACTBackground: This paper describes the evaluation of the Memory Lane Café service in Victoria, Australia. The Alzheimer's Australia Vic Memory Lane Café model aims to provide a social and educational service to people living with dementia and their carers, family members or friends. Dementia is a serious health issue in Australia, with prevalence estimated at 6.5% of people over 65 years of age. Living with dementia has significant social and psychological ramifications, often negatively affecting quality of life. Social support groups can improve quality of life for people living with dementia.Methods: The evaluation included focus groups and surveys of people with dementia and their carers, staff consultation, service provider interviews, and researcher observation. The Melbourne Health Mental Health Human Research Ethics Committee approved the project. Participants included people with dementia (aged 60 to 93 years, previously enrolled in the Alzheimer's Australia Vic's six-week Living With Memory Loss Program), their carers, friends and/or family members, staff working in the Cafés, and service providers with links to the Cafés.Results: This evaluation found that Memory Lane Cafés promote social inclusion, prevent isolation, and improve the social and emotional well-being of attendees. However, Cafés did not meet the needs of all potential attendees.Conclusions: The evaluation recommended that existing Café services be continued and possibilities for extending the Cafés be explored. Based on evaluation outcomes, the Department of Health Victoria is funding four additional pilot programs in café style support services.

Growing Older with an Intellectual Disability

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 57-66
Author(s):  
Lindsay Gething
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Intellectual Disability ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Family Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The United States ◽  
Aged Care ◽  
Policy And Practice

Both the life expectancy and numbers of older people with intellectual disabilities are growing. Until recently, ageing with a disability had not been a major consideration for Australian policy makers and service providers. The situation was similar in countries such as the United States of America and United Kingdom where, unlike aged care, disability policy and practice had not evolved to meet needs. Ageing with long standing disability has now been specified by the Australian government as a priority area. This paper reports results of consultations held with consumers, their organisations, service providers and government in order to explore quality of life and service provision issues for people with long standing disabilities. It reports these issues and uses themes emerging from consultations to structure previously published information specifically related to ageing with an intellectual disability. Seven broad themes are discussed which relate to: life experiences; attitudes, skills and knowledge of consumers; attitudes skills and knowledge of community and service providers, the nature of service provision; the ageing of family care givers; financial security; and ageing in place. It is concluded that disadvantages and barriers experienced throughout life influence well being and quality of life in old age.

The Auspiciousness of the Performative Body – Ritual Dancing in Folk-Religious Festivals in Japan

Paragrana ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-129
Author(s):  
Klaus-Peter Köpping
Keyword(s):  
Social Relations ◽  
Comparative Research ◽  
Codes Of Conduct ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Self ◽  
Religious Practices ◽  
Body Imagery ◽  
Religious Festivals

Abstract The Hanamatsuri and Shimotsukimatsuri of the Southern Japanese Alps are investigated in regard to the diversity of resonances emerging from the performance of these rituals. While the declared aim of these dance rituals is the continuity and renewal of fertility and well-being of nature and humans, it emerges during repeated comparative research in over half of the still extant festivals that the final aim is the re-establishing of communal solidarity. While the much contested objective of these revived dance rituals is the “divine possession”, the underlying notion of well-being or auspiciousness fits very well into other Japanese religious practices to contribute to the maintenance of peaceful social relations. Nevertheless, the contingency of the emergence of divine possession seems to be dependent on lay personnel being in charge of the liturgy as much as on the synesthetic performance’s resonance to generate an affective bodily engagement among all participants. It is argued that even the often criticized increasing influx of city tourists may lead to a new orientation in the self-understanding of the performances as inducing a body imagery which stresses interpersonal “gut-relations” (hara) as a form to escape the daily conventionality of behavioral codes of conduct.

scholarly journals Challenges and Prospects for Digitizing the Social Service Providers' Activities

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.E. Gasumova
Keyword(s):  
Social Services ◽  
Social Service ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Social Institutions ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Service Users ◽  
Social Service Providers ◽  
The Social

This article presents the author’s definitions of “digitization of social service provision” and “digitization of social services” concepts and identifies the difference between them. It presents the results of an interview with 18 experts — the heads of institutions and organizations of social service provision implementing the rehabilitation of disabled people in Perm region. The research was conducted in 2019 and sought to identify problems and prospects for the digitization of the social services sphere. Interviewees rated their satisfaction regarding the convenience and time cost of automated systems that are currently being used in their organizations; characterized their needs in introducing various innovative interactive services, mobile applications, and other digital software; and expressed their attitude to various innovations. Social innovations were developed by the researchers and offered to experts by interviewers (for example, services for assessing the quality of work of specialists by service users, quick selection of the right social service, filing a complaint, referring a citizen to another organization, counseling in video mode, electronic appointment service, etc.). The research has shown how innovations can improve the performance of social service providers’ work and the quality of their interactions with citizens, which will ultimately increase the satisfaction of social service users and will positively affect the level of social well-being in society as a whole. A number of problems have been identified that currently impede the development of digitization: they are related to staff resources, the level of computerization, the lack of motivation among managers and personnel of social service organizations to implement innovative IT, and a certain distrust that such technologies can facilitate the activities of the organization and increase its effectiveness. Keywords: digitization, social service provision, social services, social institutions, social work

scholarly journals ANALYSIS OF MICRO LEVEL DISPARITIES IN URBAN FACILITY-UTILITY SERVICES: A STUDY ON BARASAT CITY, WEST BENGAL, INDIA

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Suman PAUL
Keyword(s):  
West Bengal ◽  
Principal Component ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Empirical Observation ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Economic Disparities ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Utility Services ◽  
Level Of Living

The regional disparity is a challenging issue to the urban planners, policy makers, academicians, bureaucrats and technocrats in the developing countries. In India, wide range of socio-economic disparities are commonly evident even in Class-I cities. Such an undesirable phenomena reflects on the spatial variation of quality of life, level of living as well as well-being and welfare of the inhabitants. Moreover, it is against the constitutional law of equity and social justice. The present study is based on the empirical observation focused on ward-wise variation of availability of and accessibility to socio-economic and utility services in Barasat city of West Bengal. On the basis of ‘Cronbach’s Alpha’ and ‘Principal Component Analysis’, entire set of data have been arranged into six factors of which first three factors have been considered to examine the dimension of socio-economic disparities and level of development in the city.

scholarly journals ASPEK DAN PENILAIAN KESEJAHTERAAN SUBJEKTIF: KEBAHAGIAAN, KEGEMBIRAAN, KEPUASAN DAN KUALITI HIDUP

2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 95-112
Author(s):  
Nik Shahrizan Nik Mad ◽  
Marzudi Md Yunus ◽  
Muhammad Shamsinor Abdul Azziz
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Life Satisfaction ◽  
Family Environment ◽  
Good Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Self ◽  
Subjective Well Being ◽  
Negative Effects ◽  
Self Assessment

Subjective well-being is the self-assessment of happiness, pleasure, satisfaction and quality of life, measured specifically and holistically. The assessment of subjective well-being is varied based on the area of focus of the researcher. Events that occur over some time also could affect an individual’s evaluation. Various factors assess well-being, such as character, love, wisdom, excitement and experiences leading to a good life. The evaluation of the positive and negative effects also affects the subjects’ emotions and mood during a study. Earlier studies showed that well-being is not merely related to income and ownership, but issues on health, activities, personality, emotions, mood, family, environment and various other factors. Therefore, this article aims to discuss aspects, assessment methods, theories and progress based on articles, books and research related to subjective well-being. This study utilises the literature review approach to collect data on subjective well-being. The finding shows that the level of subjective well-being is diverse and dynamic, and not limited to certain aspects and factors that could affect humans. Keywords: subjective well-being; self-assessment; happiness; life satisfaction; quality of life.

scholarly journals Measuring financial well-being in Europe using a fuzzy set approach

2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Antonella D'Agostino ◽  
Monica Rosciano ◽  
Maria Grazia Starita
Keyword(s):  
Financial Services ◽  
Well Being ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Cultural Elements ◽  
Tailored Approach ◽  
Different Dimensions ◽  
Practical Implications

PurposeThis paper aims to apply a multidimensional approach to assessing the financial well-being of European countries.Design/methodology/approachFinancial well-being is a very complex phenomenon to measure because it is composed of different dimensions. Therefore, this paper uses a multidimensional and fuzzy methodology to assess financial well-being in Europe. The financial well-being fuzzy indicator was calculated using European Quality of Life Survey data.FindingsFinancial well-being is heterogeneous across European countries. This evidence is confirmed both at the level of overall financial well-being and at the level of sub-indices. The degree of financial well-being is not directly related to wealth as traditionally measured (i.e. GDP), but shows some correspondence with socio-economic characteristics of the population and with governance and cultural elements of a country.Practical implicationsUnderstanding financial well-being could help financial institutions to transition from a one-size-fits-all approach to a more tailored approach when they provide financial services and could help policy makers to consider financial well-being when they decide how and where to allocate public spending.Originality/valueTo the best of authors’ knowledge, this study is the first to employ a fuzzy methodology for the analysis of financial well-being in Europe.

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