scholarly journals The Digital Competences and Agency of Older People Living in Rural Villages in Finnish Lapland

Seminar.net ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Päivi Rasi ◽  
Arja Kilpeläinen
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Informal Networks ◽  
Digital Competence ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Rural Villages ◽  
Finnish Lapland ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Digital Competencies ◽  
Group Interviews

Older people’s digital competencies are a means to minimise their possible risks for being excluded from society. Therefore, the research in this field needs to be strengthened. This paper examines the digital competences and agency of older people who live in remote rural villages in Finnish Lapland. We argue that older people’s agency is the key factor that keeps them included in contemporary society. Hence, our theoretical viewpoint rests on the theory of the modalities of agency. Our data consist of three focus group interviews that were conducted in small, remote villages during the spring of 2015. We analysed our data deductively, and the results showed that elderly villagers interpret their digital competencies through their personal needs and desires. History, the present and the future are intertwined in the villagers’ conceptions. Our respondents’ digital competencies are diverse; older people living in villages are not a homogenous group. Based on our results, we argue that digital competence is very much a distributed competence of elderly dyads, families with three generations and informal networks of villagers and that it should not, therefore, be assessed solely as an individual characteristic.

scholarly journals A community arts programme for older people: an evaluation

2016 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore Stickley ◽  
Ada Hui ◽  
Gary Souter ◽  
Danielle Mills
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Older People ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Community Arts ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Community Based ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Stereotypes ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Group Interviews

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an evaluation of a community-based arts programme for older people in Nottinghamshire. Design/methodology/approach – The evaluation was conducted using a combination of pre- and post-initiative quantitative questionnaires and qualitative focus group interviews. This paper focuses upon the findings from the focus groups. Findings – Participants reported feeling more positively about ageing and being more motivated to pursue new opportunities at the end of the programme. Five themes emerged from the focus group interviews, namely age and ageing, the finished product, new opportunities, aspirations and the future and personal benefits. These related to increased confidence, having greater creative expression, meaningful occupation and opportunities for socialisation. Social implications – The programme was found to be successful in helping individuals feel more positive about their age, to feel more confident and motivated, to engage with others through mutual creativity, as well as to challenge negative social stereotypes of older people. Originality/value – The paper will be of relevance and value to those working with older people and those with an interest in the arts. This evaluation demonstrates the diversity of the older population with older citizen’s voices being at the heart of the programme.

scholarly journals Äldre, alkohol och omsorgsbehov: Biståndshandläggare om arbetet med äldre personer med missbruksproblem

2017 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evy Gunnarsson ◽  
Lis-Bodil Karlsson
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Abuse ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Older People ◽  
Addiction Treatment ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Care Managers ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
People Today

Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate how care managers went about in their work with older people living at home and having alcohol abuse problems. Method: Six focus group interviews and one interview with two participants were carried out. In total, 23 care managers from five different municipalities participated. Results: The care managers all stressed the fact that within home care, no addiction treatment was conducted. The role of home care was to provide good care helping older people in their everyday lives irrespective of their problems. The care managers had to push the limits for the available services to be able to help older people with alcohol abuse problems. The services offered are however strictly regulated in guidelines. Many older people with alcohol abuse problems were not interested in receiving home care, and they were seldom interested in having contact with the addiction unit. The self-determination of older people in need of home care is strongly stressed in legislation. If the older person did not want any help, there was not much the care managers could do. Conclusions: Since older people today drink more alcohol than earlier generations, there is a need for services and addiction treatment specifically directed at older people with alcohol abuse problems suitable for their needs.

scholarly journals Personal Networks’ Influence on Student Entrepreneurs: A Qualitative Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (05) ◽  
pp. 2050037
Author(s):  
Sancheeta Pugalia ◽  
L. Prakash Sai ◽  
Dilek Kozanoglu Cetindamar
Keyword(s):  
Higher Learning ◽  
Personal Networks ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Start Up ◽  
Motivational Support ◽  
Student Entrepreneurs ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Business Networking ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Founding Team

This study focuses on students who have conceptualized the business idea during their academic studies and created the business venture during or within two years after graduation. The extant literature identifies social networks as a key factor not only for opportunity recognition but also for start-up survival. This study expands the knowledge about the roles of personal networks within the context of student entrepreneurs. By conducting focus group, interviews, and a survey at a top-ranked technological institute of higher learning in India, this study analyzed the role played by the personal networks in facilitating and enabling the creation of a venture by student entrepreneurs. Our study findings indicate that (1) student entrepreneurs expect ten potential roles from their personal networks, (2) the hierarchy of these roles indicates the triggering impact of business networking with a final outcome of motivational support, and (3) business networking, venture financing and the founding team formation are the most important roles in the actual start-up phase.

Focus group interviews with older Australians to explore their awareness of the national age-adjusted dietary recommendations and their suggestions for assisting them to meet these dietary targets

2014 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 182 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonya Brownie ◽  
Rosanne Coutts
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Food Choices ◽  
Dietary Guidelines ◽  
Nutrient Requirements ◽  
Food Groups ◽  
Dietary Recommendations ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Media Campaigns ◽  
Group Interviews

Promoting a healthy, nutritious diet is central to the goal of assisting individuals to age well. This study used focus groups to explore older people’s awareness of the current age-adjusted nutrient recommendations and age-adjusted core food groups, and to capture their views about these dietary guidelines. Thematic analysis was applied to aggregate data into categories of frequently occurring responses. Data were collected from five focus groups: a total of 29 participants, aged 60–98 years of age. Analysis of responses revealed that participants were generally unaware of government-endorsed dietary guidelines or nutrient recommendations for older people. Their suggestions for assisting older people to meet these age-adjusted dietary targets included: targeted media campaigns to raise awareness about older people’s nutrient requirements; the need for practical meal plans that do meet their dietary needs; and the removal of barriers to supermarket food choices, such as problems with opening jars and excessive packaging.

‘My children tell me it’s so simple’: A mixed-methods approach to understand older non-users’ perceptions of Social Networking Sites

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 181-198 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marika Lüders ◽  
Petter Bae Brandtzæg
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Older People ◽  
Social Networking ◽  
Technology Acceptance ◽  
Social Networking Sites ◽  
Mixed Methods Design ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Privacy And Security ◽  
Culture Gap ◽  
Group Interviews

While there has been a great deal of research on younger people using Social Networking Sites (SNSs), there has been less work on older people and non-users. We present a mixed-methods design with a technology-acceptance survey and focus-group interviews to study older Norwegian non-users’ perceptions of SNSs. Our study reveals that most non-users in our sample deliberately do not use SNSs. They perceive SNS communication as cold and narcissistic and view the usefulness of SNSs to be low. This finding indicates a generational culture gap in how young versus older people experience SNSs. Privacy and security concerns are also prevalent. Non-users, expressing an interest in SNSs, believe SNSs could increase contact with family and friends, but perceive lack of competence to be a barrier.

scholarly journals Enhancing Adolescent Girls’ Well-Being in the Arctic—Finding What Motivates Spending Time in Nature

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (4) ◽  
pp. 2052
Author(s):  
Varpu Wiens ◽  
Kari Soronen ◽  
Helvi Kyngäs ◽  
Tarja Pölkki
Keyword(s):  
Adolescent Girls ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Secondary Analysis ◽  
Well Being ◽  
The Arctic ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Main Category ◽  
Finnish Lapland ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Published Research

Background: According to previous studies, the natural environment positively influences well-being, including that of adolescent girls. However, knowledge is lacking on what motivates adolescent girls to spend time in nature. A secondary analysis of qualitative data was conducted employing three preexisting sets of interview data that had formed the basis of previously published research reports. A novel perspective on what motivates adolescent girls in the Arctic to spend time in nature was uncovered—a finding that previous articles have not reported. Aim: The aim was to describe what motivates adolescent girls in the Arctic to spend time in nature. Methods: The participants were adolescent girls aged 13 to 16 living in the province of Finnish Lapland. The girls wrote about well-being (n = 117) and were interviewed (n = 19) about the meaning of seasonal changes, nature and animals’ influence on well-being. Also, five focus group interviews (n = 17) were held. The materials were analyzed by inductive content analysis. Results: After the secondary analysis, three generic categories were found: (1) wanting to have pleasant emotions, (2) the possibility of participating in activities and (3) a desire to feel better. The main category of “need to experience positive sensations” was formed. Conclusion: Based on these results, through personalized guidance and advice, it is possible to strengthen adolescent girls’ willingness to spend time in nature.

scholarly journals Complaints about technology as a resource for identity-work

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 209-231 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jessica S. Robles ◽  
Elizabeth S. Parks
Keyword(s):  
Discourse Analysis ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Identity Work ◽  
Word Choice ◽  
Contemporary Society ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Social Actions ◽  
Micro Level ◽  
Group Interviews

AbstractThis article examines how people complain about technology. Using discourse analysis, we inspect sixteen hours of video-recorded focus-group interviews and focused one-on-one discussions where technology was topicalized. We investigate these conversations paying attention to (i) features of language and its situated delivery, including emphasis, word choice, metaphor, and categorizations; and (ii) how these accomplish social actions. We show how interactants use narratives of complaint-like activities about hypothetical categories of people and confessions of their own complainable participation to accomplish a ‘bemoaning’ speech act that manages competing affiliations, demands, and disagreements to construct reasonable moral identities in the situated interaction. By engaging in specific micro-level discursive practices in interaction, participants produce and reproduce what new technologies ‘mean’ to them and for contemporary society. This shows how important it is to examine opinions as situated actions rather than as simple facts about what people believe. (Complaints, accounts, stance, technology, discourse analysis, identity)*

scholarly journals Language Situation in Ripky (Chernihiv): Results of Focus Group Research

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 201-216
Author(s):  
Salvatore Del Gaudio
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Language Attitudes ◽  
Extensive Study ◽  
Northwestern Part ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Administrative District ◽  
Rural Villages ◽  
Focus Group Research ◽  
Language Varieties ◽  
Group Interviews

This article highlights the results of recent focus group interviews about language use carried out in the small town of Ripky and in nearby rural villages. Ripky and environs are situated in the northwestern part of the region of Chernihiv in central northern Ukraine. This research complements a more extensive study devoted to the analysis of the language situation of this area that attempted to obtain a deeper understanding of the language attitudes (including covert ideology) of this administrative district. This territory is interesting from dialectal and sociolinguistic viewpoints, as several language varieties coexist. This is also a consequence of the geographic proximity of the three main east Slavic countries: Ukraine, Belarus, and the Russian Federation. The qualitative data obtained from four focus groups in the local secondary school of Ripky are of particular significance because they clarify the language/dialect selection of the speaker, thus adding information to the previously outlined framework of the peculiar language situation in this district.

scholarly journals Luontosuhteen katkokset ja jatkuvuudet: maahanmuuttajien kokemuksia pohjoisessa

Terra ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 133 (4) ◽  
pp. 189-201
Author(s):  
Seija Tuulentie ◽  
Esa Huhta ◽  
Laura Jokela ◽  
Leena Seppälä ◽  
Marja Uusitalo
Keyword(s):  
Refugee Camp ◽  
Review Article ◽  
Photo Elicitation ◽  
Life Stages ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Finnish Lapland ◽  
Close Relationship ◽  
Formal Integration ◽  
Environmental Relationship ◽  
Group Interviews

A close relationship with nature and the exploitation of products provided by nature are an integral part of Finnish identity. In this review article, we study the nature relationships of immigrants in Finnish Lapland, both in the context of their previous life stages and current integration. We apply the ideas of geobiography and lifelong environmental relationship. We ask how the migrants’ nature relationship has taken shape in the course of life, and what kind of discontinuities and continuities exist. We have approached the issue with focus group interviews conducted among immigrants who have residence permits in Finland and live in Lapland. In interviews, photo-elicitation has had an important role. It seems that northern nature has not become familiar during the “formal” integration process. Nature experiences in Finland relate in many ways to experiences in the nature of the country of origin. Refugee camp is the biggest discontinuity in nature relationship. The nature of the original homeland is therefore very distant in time, but still important.

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