scholarly journals Socio-Economic and Environmental Implications of Gold Mining in Afro-Descendant Communities from Colombia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Alcala-Orozco ◽  
Jenny Palomares-Bolaños ◽  
Neda Alvarez-Ortega ◽  
Jesus Olivero-Verbel ◽  
Karina Caballero-Gallardo

The ethnic diversity of Colombia is one of the most attractive characteristics of the country, which includes the Afro-descendants, Raizal and Palenquero populations, who have lead an ancestral lifestyle that is an essential component of the culture and heritage of the nation. Thus, the well-being of these communities is translated into a primary need to guarantee their quality of life, in addition to generate a contribution to their struggle for the recognition, inclusion and guarantee of their fundamental rights. In this chapter, a bibliographic analysis was performed in order to evaluate both the conditions in which the Afro collective territories are found, and the different forms of organization of the populations entitled as community councils, with a particular focus on vulnerable populations located in the department of Cauca. In addition, a conceptual diagnosis of the multiple socioeconomic, environmental and health impacts derived from gold mining in Colombia was developed, with special interest in the studies that have been carried out in populations located in areas of great biodiversity, including the Colombian Amazon, biogeographic Chocó and Bolívar, departments in which Afro-descendant communities also live. Finally, a detailed analysis of the different aspects of mining that affect the quality of life and the welfare state of the communities is provided, and some aspects are proposed to be taken into account by the actors involved to achieve the least negative impacts of these activities, emphasizing the current state of the Colombian case.

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. 492-505 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ovidiu Ioan Moisescu ◽  
Oana Adriana Gică ◽  
Monica Maria Coroș ◽  
Anca C. Yallop

Purpose This paper aims to examine the negative effects of events on residents’ quality of life. Particularly, the paper analyses the specific negative effects generated via “overtourism” for the duration of large-scale music festivals. Design/methodology/approach The paper uses a case study method approach to examine the negative effects that UNTOLD, the largest music festival in Romania, has on residents’ quality of life. The case is analysed via a comprehensive desk research of secondary data from industry and academic sources. Findings Despite its success and the positive economic impact UNTOLD festival had on the host city, several issues have a negative impact on residents’ quality of life and well-being. The negative impacts are noise pollution, vandalism and crime, traffic and parking issues, waste and damages to the natural environment, pressure on and over usage of local services and infrastructure and the increased cost of living. Social implications Whilst organisers, local businesses and local authorities are the main parties benefiting from events, residents mainly feel the negative impact. Organisers, local authorities and businesses need to minimise the negative effects residents’ experience during the event by building sustainable partnerships and taking a more hands-on approach to sustainable and socially responsible practices. Current and potential initiatives are discussed in the paper. Originality/value This paper examines the negative impacts events may have on residents’ quality of life and discusses the case of a large-scale music festival, an under-researched context. The analysis and discussion may assist scholars and industry experts alike in generating new debates in sustainable event management practices, as well as festival organisers and public authorities in developing strategies for avoiding, containing or minimising the negative effects of events.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Elgloria Harrison ◽  
Lillie Monroe-Lord ◽  
Andrew D. Carson ◽  
Anne Marie Jean-Baptiste ◽  
Janet Phoenix ◽  
...  

Abstract Background COVID-19 has taken its toll on citizens in all 50 states of the United States. The United States (U.S.) leads the world with 30,291,863 confirmed reported cases and 549,664 deaths as of March 29, 2021 compared to globally confirmed cases at 127,442,926 and 2,787,915 deaths as of March 29, 2021. The U.S. federal government primarily left the response to the virus to individual states, and each implemented varying measures designed to protect health of citizens and the state’s economic well-being. Unintended consequences of the virus and measures to stop its spread may include decreased physical activity and exercise, shifting access and consumption of food, and lower quality-of-life. Therefore, our primary goal was to quantify the impact of COVID-19 on health and well-being by measuring changes in physical activity, mental health-quality of life, food security and nutrition in adults ages 40 and older. We believed shifts in health behaviors would be more prevalent in minorities, less educated, lower socio-economic status, older adults, and those with underlying health conditions, so a secondary goal was to determine the impact of COVID-19 on these sub-populations. Methods We conducted an online survey with 9969 adults 40 years and older between 9 August and 15 September 2020 in urban areas across the four U.S. census regions. The survey included questions about demographic variables, pre-existing health conditions, physical activity, access to food, quality-of-life, and nutritional food status and asked participants to respond with information from pre-pandemic and pandemic conditions. We used paired-sample t-tests to detect changes in variables after the start of the pandemic and Cohen’s d to determine effect sizes. Results Our main findings showed a decrease in physical activity since the onset of COVID-19 for minorities and non-minorities. Food security also slightly increased for minorities during the pandemic, but we found no other changes in food security, quality-of-life indicators, or nutritional status of those who responded to this survey. Conclusions It is concerning that physical activity declined. Such activity helps maintain physical and mental health, and it is also an important time to socialize for many older adults. In many ways, our data indicate that the older adult population in U.S. cities may be more resilient than expected during the pandemic. However, the pandemic could have negative impacts that we did not detect, either due to the survey instrument or the timing of our survey, so the health and well-being of older adults should continue to be monitored in order to mitigate potential negative impacts.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (02) ◽  
pp. 5-16
Author(s):  
Richard T. Hartman ◽  
Mark E. Oxley

This paper introduces the Service member Veteran Risk Profile (SVRP), a mathematical process/solution to quantitatively represent transitioning Service member (TSM) and/or Veteran quality of life risks by integrating clinical and social determinant data into an individual risk profile. The SVRP creates, for the first time, a mechanism for the Department of Defense (DoD) and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to holistically represent the challenges of military members transitioning into civilian life that can lead to negative outcomes and proactively identify transitioning Service members and Veterans at risk. More importantly, the SVRP supports clinical and non-clinical modalities to reduce the negative impacts of transition and beyond for TSM and Veterans. Lastly, the SVRP can be displayed through user-friendly visualizations so DoD/VA policymakers and decision-makers can make more informed policy and resource decisions to improve TSM/Veteran overall quality of life.


GeroPsych ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 125-134
Author(s):  
Mechthild Niemann-Mirmehdi ◽  
Andreas Häusler ◽  
Paul Gellert ◽  
Johanna Nordheim

Abstract. To date, few studies have focused on perceived overprotection from the perspective of people with dementia (PwD). In the present examination, the association of perceived overprotection in PwD is examined as an autonomy-restricting factor and thus negative for their mental well-being. Cross-sectional data from the prospective DYADEM study of 82 patient/partner dyads (mean age = 74.26) were used to investigate the association between overprotection, perceived stress, depression, and quality of life (QoL). The analyses show that an overprotective contact style with PwD has a significant positive association with stress and depression, and has a negative association with QoL. The results emphasize the importance of avoiding an overprotective care style and supporting patient autonomy.


2020 ◽  
pp. 33-38
Author(s):  
E. Yu. Gan ◽  
L. P. Evstigneeva

Purpose of the study. Assessing the association between the life quality of patients with Sjogren’s Disease and ongoing therapy with various disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs.Material and methods. The study was conducted on the basis of the regional rheumatology center of the consultative diagnostic clinic of the Sverdlovsk Regional Clinical Hospital No. 1. This work is based on the results of a simultaneous study of 74 patients with primary Sjogren’s Disease (SD), distributed in three comparison groups receiving various disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs chlorambucil, methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine. The diagnosis of SD was carried out according to European-American criteria AECGC (2002) [18]. In order to analyze the quality of life of patients with SD, the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF‑36) was used. Statistical data processing was carried out using Statistica 7.0 program.Results. Assessment of the quality of life of patients with SD, which is an integrative criterion of human health and well-being, revealed the absence of statistically significant differences (p > 0.05) on eight scales and two health components of the SF‑36 questionnaire in the analyzed groups that differ in the treatment of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs chlorambucil, methotrexate and hydroxychloroquine.Conclusions. The obtained data indicate an equivalent quality of life in SD patients treated with different disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs methotrexate, chlorambucil and hydroxychloroquine, and therefore hydroxychloroquine can be considered as an alternative basic therapy in patients with SD with certain limitations and contraindications methotrexate and chlorambucil.


1970 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aan Nuraeni ◽  
Ristina Mirwanti ◽  
Anastasia Anna ◽  
Ayu Prawesti ◽  
Etika Emaliyawati

Prevalensi Penyakit Jantung Koroner (PJK) terus mengalami peningkatan setiap tahunnya dan menjadi masalah kesehatan utama di masyarakat saat ini. PJK berdampak terhadap berbagai aspek kehidupan penderitanya baik fisik, psikososial maupun spiritual yang berpengaruh terhadap kualitas hidup pasien. Isu kualitas hidup dan faktor-faktor yang berhubungan didalamnya belum tergambar jelas di Indonesia. Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah mengidentifikasi faktor yang memengaruhi kualitas hidup pada pasien PJK yang sedang menjalani rawat jalan. Faktor-faktor yang diteliti dalam penelitian ini meliputi jenis kelamin, tingkat penghasilan, revaskularisasi jantung, rehabilitasi jantung, kecemasan, depresi dan kesejahteraan spiritual. Kecemasan diukur dengan Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale, depresi diukur dengan Beck Depression Inventory II, kesejahteraan spiritual diukur dengan kuesioner Spirituality Index of Well-Beingdan kualitas hidup diukur menggunakan Seattle Angina Questionnaire. Penelitian ini menggunakan rancangan kuantitatif deskriptif dan analitik multivariatedengan regresi logistic. Diteliti pada 100 responden yang diambil secara randomdalam kurun waktu 1 bulan di Poli Jantung. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan faktor yang memengaruhi kualitas hidup pada pasien PJK adalah cemas (p) 0,002; Odd Ratio(OR) 4,736 (95% confidence interval(CI), 1,749 – 12,827); depresi (p) 0,003; OR 5,450 ( 95% CI, 1,794 – 16,562); dan revaskularisasi (p) 0,033; OR 3,232 (95% CI, 1,096 – 9,528). Depresi menjadi faktor yang paling berpengaruh terhadap kualitas hidup pasien PJK. Faktor yang memengaruhi kualitas hidup pada pasien PJK meliputi depresi, cemas dan revaskularisasi. Dari ketiga variabel tersebut depresi merupakan variabel yang paling signifikan berpengaruh, sehingga manajemen untuk mencegah depresi perlu mendapatkan perhatian lebih baik lagi dalam discharge planningataupun rehabilitasi jantung.Kata kunci: Cemas, depresi, faktor yang memengaruhi, kualitas hidup, spiritual.Factors Influenced the Quality of Life among Patients Diagnosed with Coronary Heart Disease AbstractCoronary Heart Disease (CHD) has affected multidimensional aspects of human live nowadays. Yet, quality of life and factors associated with quality of life among people who live with heart disease has not been explored in Indonesia. This study aimed to identify factors influenced the quality of life among people with CHD received outpatient services. Those factors are gender, income, revascularization, cardiac rehabilitation, anxiety, depression and spiritual well-being. Zung Self-rating Anxiety Scale was used to measure anxiety where depression level measured using Beck Depression Inventory II. Spirituality index was used to measure spiritual well-being. The quality of life level was measured using the Seattle Angina Questionnaire. This study used quantitative descriptive with multivariate analysis using logistic regression. 100 respondents were randomly selected from the Cardiac Outpatient Unit. Findings indicated factors influenced the quality of life of CHD patients using a significance of ƿ-value < 0.005 were: anxiety (ƿ=0,002, OR = 4,736, 95% CI, 1,749 – 12,827); depression (ƿ=0,003; OR=5,450, 95% CI, 1,794 – 16,562); and revascularizations (ƿ=0,033; OR=3,232, 95% CI, 1,096 – 9,528). Depression was considered as the most significant factor; therefore, managing depression is a priority in the discharge planning or cardiac rehabilitation programme. Keywords: Anxiety, depression, quality of life, spiritual, well-being.


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