scholarly journals The contribution of cathedrals to psychological health and well-being: Assessing the impact of Cathedral Carol Services

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leslie J. Francis ◽  
Susan H. Jones ◽  
Ursula McKenna

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that events such as the Christmas Eve Carol Services at Liverpool Cathedral that include some regular churchgoers (people who attend services most weeks) and much larger numbers of occasional visitors (who may attend church only once or twice a year) make a significant impact on the psychological health and well-being of the participants. Using a repeat-measure design, participants were invited to complete a copy of the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire while they were waiting for the service to begin and then to complete a second copy during a five-minute organ improvisation just before the close of the service. Data provided by 802 participants who completed both copies of the instrument demonstrated a significantly higher score on the Oxford Happiness Questionnaire at time two than at time one, suggesting that attendance at the service had exerted a positive impact on psychological health and well-being.Contribution: Situated within the science of cathedral studies, this article demonstrates by means of a repeated-measure study that cathedrals can make a significant impact on the psychological health and well-being of the wider community served by them. The same well-being measure was completed by 802 participants at the Christmas Eve Carol Services before and after the event, with a significant increase in scores at time two.

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 192
Author(s):  
Susana León-Jiménez

Friendship has been studied along centuries, since ancient times to present-day, as the basis of the social cornerstone, present at all stages of the lifespan and belonging to the world of truthful sentiments. Benefits of friendship on health have been demonstrated. Less is known about the role of friendship on seniors. The aim of this case study has been to show how the end friendship developed in an adults’ school operating for more than 40 years in Barcelona is having a positive impact on the well-being and health of their participants. Through the communicative discussion group, we have deepened in the trajectories of some of the school participants. The results show how participation in the school and the dialogic gatherings have contributed to the emergence of a non-instrumental friendship feeling and to consider an impact on the perceived general wellness and health and an improvement of their life quality. It is discussed how this research provides more elements to the existing literature. More research on how other communitarian environments have similar effects on this population, or on the impact of these dialogical spaces in the development of end friendships in other stages of the life cycle would be of interest.


Author(s):  
Sofia Stavropoulou ◽  
Anastasia Georgaki

A growing body of interdisciplinary research suggests that children's structured engagement in musical activities may have a positive impact on social inclusion by means of offering opportunities for social bonding, developing interpersonal relationships and empowering self-expression, health and well-being. In this paper we investigate the amelioration of children's voice accuracy and quality in signing through a visual feedback software. The research took place in two public elementary schools in Athens in a total of sixty children aged 6-9 years old and with a different cultural background. The statistical analysis on the effectiveness of the software has proved the amelioration of the children's voice quality before and after its use.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 189-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Zahirul Islam ◽  
Jessika Johnston ◽  
Peter D. Sly

AbstractBackgroundThe urban environment presents significant health challenges for children, such as discouraging physical exercise and increasing exposure to air pollution, excessive noise and higher temperatures. Reducing exposures to these negative environmental factors can have great benefits on a child’s well-being and lower their risk of developing chronic diseases later in life. There is increasing evidence that suggests that the presence of urban green space can offer benefits to human health and well-being. While studies have reported the impact green space exposure has on the individual health outcomes of children, few have paid attention to the link between green space and the child’s development. This review aims to synthesise the evidence of the effect green space exposure has on early childhood development.ObjectivesTo explore the relationship between green space and early childhood development.MethodsAn online search was conducted using pre-identified keywords related to green space and early childhood development using search engines such as PubMed, MEDLINE, Web of Science, MeSH and PsycINFO. Peer-reviewed papers published in the past 10 years were included in this review. Papers were selected, extracted, analysed and interpreted based on Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines.ResultsFifty-one papers were identified, of which 28 were excluded due to duplications or irrelevance, yielding a total of 23 papers to be reviewed. Articles were categorised based on reported outcomes: perinatal health, physical health, psychological health and respiratory health. An increase in green space during pregnancy was associated with increased birth weight and a decreased risk for low birth weight (LBW). Further, higher greenness exposure during childhood was associated with increased levels of physical activity and a lower risk of obesity and neurodevelopmental issues such as inattentiveness. While green space exposure was negatively associated with wheezing and bronchitis in some cohorts, certain plant species increase asthmatic symptoms during childhood, indicating that plant species type is an important determinant.ConclusionThe extant literature on green space exposure and early childhood development is small. Regardless, the existing research provides promising insights into the benefits of green space exposure on children’s health and well-being in an ever-increasing urban world. Further research is needed on the causal relationships between both quantity and quality of green space to early childhood development.


2020 ◽  
pp. 60-65
Author(s):  
Inna Irtyshcheva ◽  
Dmytro Ryabets

Introduction. The main priorities for the development and reform of the health care system are to create conditions for improving the quality, life expectancy and efficiency of citizens by increasing the availability of medical services and medical care, improving the quality of medical services, early prevention and prevention of timely medical care. The aim of the article is to develop recommendations for ensuring the availability of medical care as a basic basis for the formation of good health and well-being of the population on the way to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Methods (methodology). The general scientific methods, in particular theoretical generalization - for research of theoretical bases of maintenance of availability of medical care are applied in research; system economic analysis - for correlation-regression analysis of the relationship between morbidity, mortality and economic affordability of medical services in Ukraine. Results. The impact of public and private sector expenditures on the level of morbidity was analyzed and compared, which showed that both factors have a positive impact on reducing the incidence rate. At the same time, there is a tendency to increase household spending on health care and the purchase of medicines much faster than at the state level, which confirms the targeted trends in health care reform to significantly reduce the number of free medical services. To a certain extent, these trends are positive, but in the event of a significant deterioration in the situation with the level of morbidity, this financial policy should be revised.


2021 ◽  
Vol 15 (2) ◽  
pp. 82-93
Author(s):  
Marta Reis ◽  
Lúcia Ramiro ◽  
Margarida Gaspar de Matos

Health promotion is defined as the process of enabling people to increase control over and to enhance their health. It focuses on individual behaviors towards a wide range of interventions on social and environmental determinants of health and other health related aspects of life (WHO, 2015; 2017). Thus, health promotion implies the need to promote and empower people with resources and skills towards health and well-being (Saboga-Nunes, et al., 2019). The literature reports a negative variation in the lifestyle of university students, and simultaneously demonstrates a significant percentage of university students with a set of emotional, relational, anxiety and stress management difficulties (WHO, 2021, 2018). The need to curb behavioral tendencies harmful to the health of young university students comes justify the need for health promotion in the context of these institutions. This study aimed at analyzing the impact of university students' training, in the area of health promotion and of personal and socio-emotional skills. Participated 286 students. The results show that in addition to the skills worked during the training, the students’ well-being and health also improved at the end of the training. The variables that evidenced to be the most important for the university students’ health promotion were that they finished the training with more self-esteem, resilience, psychological well-being, self-efficacy, happiness and less instability and alienation. Regarding the pre and post evaluation comparisons about skills, importance and usefulness of HBSC/JUnP training, it was observed that both knowledge about health aspects and personal and socio-emotional skills, namely the resilience, self-regulation and problem-solving strategies had a strong positive impact on promoting the health and well-being of students. Higher education institutions present themselves as enhancers of public health, contributing to the students make healthy choices. Keywords: health promotion, personal and socio-emotional skills, university students’ training, healthy universities, Portugal


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Joy Penman ◽  
Gulzar Malik ◽  
Eli Chu ◽  
Giselle Kett ◽  
Kerry Hampton ◽  
...  

International students report higher sociocultural and academic stress when settling into a new university compared with their local counterparts. Three disciplines in the health professions collaborated to create a transition program addressing international student health and well-being concerns. Commencing students and senior student mentors participated in a four-session program of activities to reflect on their current study/work practices, and learn self-management strategies. They developed plans for coping with cultural, language, academic and social barriers, and assisted in improving physical and mental health and well-being. Of the 26 participants who attended sessions, 15 participated in in-depth interviews to share their experiences of the program. ‘Facilitating adjustment’, ‘Establishing relationships’, ‘Gaining new skills and knowledge’, and ‘Transforming beliefs and behaviour’ were the four themes identified that captured and explicated the impact of the initiative. The program demonstrated a positive impact in creating a supportive learning environment for commencing and continuing international students.


Author(s):  
Naik Henokh Parmenas

The study used a random questionnaire that had been distributed to employees from various types of businesses, there were 157 respondents who filled in, and 134 data were processed by the author to analyze the company's strategy in maintaining employee well-being. Among them are: Demographics of respondents consisting of: Type of business entity, type of industry, size of company. In addition, we took data about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on companies. Strategies for maintaining employee well-being which include: a) implementation of strategies consisting of: types of wellbeing programs implemented by the company, description of the implementation of well-being programs before and after the Covid-19 pandemic. b) Dynamic implementation of strategies for maintaining employee wellbeing based on dimensions consisting of: application of wellbeing to improve physical health, psychological health, relationship, homework interface. Research result; an increase in the percentage of companies implementing well-being programs from 58% to 63%. The strategy applied by the company focuses more on the wellness program. Based on the dimensions of Employee well-being, companies implement more Physical Health programs by providing health care (masks, vitamins, hand sanitizers) and the lowest is Psychological Health.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Guerrini Usubini ◽  
Giorgia Varallo ◽  
Valentina Granese ◽  
Roberto Cattivelli ◽  
Simone Consoli ◽  
...  

Obesity is a global health problem that affects both physical and psychological health and well-being. Psychological flexibility is one of the key components related to psychological health. This cross-sectional study aims to investigate the impact of psychological flexibility on psychological well-being in a sample of 220 individuals with obesity. Multivariate analysis was performed to investigate the role of psychological flexibility in explaining psychological well-being, controlling for confounding factors (sex, age, and Body Mass Index). According to the results, psychological flexibility significantly explained psychological well-being. Our study provides additional evidence of the impact of psychological flexibility on psychological well-being. It also provides further support for the importance of integrating psychological flexibility in the psychological interventions for obesity.


2021 ◽  
pp. 155005942110658
Author(s):  
Alexander T. Duda ◽  
Adam R. Clarke ◽  
Frances M. De Blasio ◽  
Thomas W. Rout ◽  
Robert J. Barry

Following investigations into the benefits of meditation on psychological health and well-being, research is now seeking to understand the mechanisms underlying these outcomes. This study aimed to identify natural alpha and theta frequency components during eyes-closed resting and concentrative meditation states and examined their differences within and between two testing sessions. Novice meditators had their EEG recorded during eyes-closed resting and concentrative meditation conditions, before and after engaging in a brief daily concentrative meditation practice for approximately one-month. Separate frequency Principal Components Analyses (f-PCA) yielded four spectral components of interest, congruent between both conditions and sessions: Delta-Theta-Alpha, Low Alpha, High Alpha, and Alpha-Beta. While all four components showed some increase in the meditation condition at the second session, only Low Alpha (∼9.5-10.0 Hz) showed similar increases while resting. These findings support the use of f-PCA as a novel method of data analysis in the investigation of psychophysiological states in meditation.


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