Leveraging Japanese Sado Island Farmers’ GIAHS Inclusivity by Understanding Their Perceived Involvement

Sado Island in the Niigata prefecture is among the first Globally Important Agriculture Heritage Systems (GIAHSs) in Japan and among developed countries worldwide. Recent studies have pointed out the need to incorporate culture and farmer opinions to further strengthen GIAHS inclusivity in rural farming. In connection to this, this study explored whether farmer visibility, which is highlighted by GIAHS designation, actually translates to farmers’ actual perceptions of GIAHS involvement. A survey was conducted among Sado Island farmers to determine their knowledge and perception of their GIAHS involvement, in connection to their perspectives on youth involvement, Sado Island branding, and tourism management. Results showed that 56.3% of Sado Island farmers feel uninvolved or unsure towards the GIAHS, which is in stark contrast with the prevalent farming method in the area, special farming (which complies with GIAHS regulations) (77.3%). Further analyses revealed that farmers who feel that the GIAHS does not promote youth involvement, Sado Island branding, and tourism management have a higher predisposition to perceive themselves as uninvolved towards the GIAHS. This study highlights the need for careful reevaluation and integration of farmer insights and needs into the current GIAHS implementation in Sado Island and in other GIAHSs as well.

Leveraging Japanese Sado Island Farmers’ GIAHS Inclusivity by Understanding Their Perceived Involvement

Sado island in Niigata prefecture is among the first GIAHS designated sites in Japan and among developed countries worldwide. Recent studies have pointed out the need to incorporate culture and farmer opinions to further strengthen GIAHS inclusivity in rural farming. In connection to this, the study explored whether farmer visibility, which is highlighted by GIAHS designation, actually translates to farmers’ actual perception of GIAHS involvement. A survey was conducted among Sado island farmers to determine their knowledge and perception of their GIAHS involvement, in connection to their perspectives on youth involvement, Sado island branding, and tourism management. Results showed that 56.3% of Sado island farmers feel uninvolved or unsure towards GIAHS, which is in stark contrast with the prevalent farming method in the area which is special farming (complies with GIAHS regulations). Further analyses revealed that farmers who feel that GIAHS does not promote youth involvement, Sado island branding, and tourism management have higher predisposition to perceive themselves as uninvolved towards GIAHS. This study highlights the need for careful reevaluation and integration of farmer insights and needs to the current GIAHS implementation in Sado island and in other GIAHS as well.

Challenging the “‘Mean Kid”’ Perception: Boys’ and Girls’ Profiles of Peer Victimization and Aggression from 4th to 10th Grades

Student involvement in peer aggression is assumed to include the uninvolved, victims, aggressors, and victim-aggressor groups. Yet, evidence supporting this four-group configuration is equivocal. Although most studies report the four groups, several of the aggressor groups could have been labeled as moderate victim-aggressors. This study first reviews studies identifying subgroups of students involved in verbal, relational, and physical aggression. The study then assesses students’ perceived involvement in elementary ( n = 2,071; Grades 4–6) and secondary school ( n = 1,832; Grades 7–10), as well as the associations with outcomes (school belonging, depressive thoughts, and perceived school violence). Latent profile analysis identified three profiles (uninvolved, victim-only, and victim-aggressor) across all grades and genders. In primary school, the uninvolved, victim, and victim-aggressor respectively included 54.56%, 37.51%, and 7.83% of the girls, and 44.23%, 31.92%, and 23.85% of the boys. In secondary school, the uninvolved, victim, and victim-aggressor respectively included 80.16%, 14.93% and 4.91% of the girls, and 64.31%, 22.95% and 12.74% of the boys. Victims and victim-aggressors reported poorer adjustment than uninvolved students. Victims and victim-aggressors reported lower levels of school belonging and higher levels of depressive thoughts than uninvolved students. Also, victim-aggressors perceived more violence in their school than victims and uninvolved students, and victims perceived more violence than uninvolved students. These findings question the existence of an aggressor-only profile, at least, according to student perception, suggesting the need for a new perspective when intervening with students involved in peer aggression.

Family Contributions to School Performance of Adolescents: The Role of Fathers’ Perceived Involvement

Parental involvement is a valuable contribution to early adolescent behavior, particularly in educational contexts. This study analyzes the role of father’s socioeconomic status (SES) and perceived involvement (PI) when understanding school performance (SP) of adolescents, considering that involvement could be expressed as home-based and school-based. In a cross-sectional design, a sample from Colombia (South America) composed of 419 fathers (mean age = 42.2 years; SD = 7.37) and their adolescents (mean age = 12.63 years; SD = 0.86) completed self-administered questionnaires to measure SES, PI, and SP, and structural equation modeling was used to evaluate relations. Results indicate that the contribution of fathers to adolescent SP implies PI, considering that the direct effect of SES on SP is significant but small in comparison to the mediated path through PI. This article addresses the relevance of father’s contribution through involvement to understand the SP of adolescents, suggesting issues for studying the role of fathers in the adolescent’s outcomes.

Improving Caregivers’ Perceived Involvement in Care Through Facilitating Communication with Hospital Providers

Practice Problem: Involvement of family in care-planning for prevention of delirium in acute care settings is crucial, yet remains underutilized in those who are cognitively impaired. Despite the incidence of delirium in acute care worsening during COVID-19, many factors have led to it being placed on the back burner. PICOT: In caregivers of cognitively impaired individuals, can implementation of an evidence-based, best practice tool that advocates for evidence-based delirium prevention strategies tailored to their loved-one and facilitates family involvement in care planning for these strategies during a healthcare experience as compared to no other intervention improve confidence in, and involvement in, care-planning within 2 months? Evidence: Overwhelming evidence exists supporting the effectiveness of a non-pharmacological, multicomponent strategy for prevention of delirium in the healthcare setting, to include family involvement. Intervention: To support family involvement in delirium prevention should a hospitalization occur, the American Geriatrics Society CoCare: Help Program Delirium Prevention Amidst COVID-19 Toolkit was offered to caregivers at an organization that provides support services to families living with Alzheimer’s. Outcome: There was a statistically significant improvement in caregivers’ perceptions of, and confidence in, involvement in care after having received the Toolkit, as measured by 3 pre/post survey M-PICS/I-PICS questions (n=2, p=.010; p=.017; p=.35). Caregiver intent to use the toolkit to become more involved in care to prevent delirium in acute care situations was very often to always (76%). Anecdotal feedback suggested that hospitals should look at policies and practices that ensure patients and families feel free to advocate, and work to eliminate fear of repercussion. Conclusion: In the age of COVID-19, it is vital that more of these such efforts by healthcare professionals ensue to protect this population from a worsening crisis, despite the many challenges they themselves face.

Adhärenz bei Asthmapatienten: Medizinische und psychologische Merkmale identifizieren

Medication non-adherence is associated with sub-optimal asthma control. Identification of medical and psychological characteristics associated with non-adherence is important to enable a targeted and personalized approach when working with patients and for the development of interventions to improve patient outcomes by improving medication adherence. We enrolled adults who had diagnosed asthma and who were prescribed daily inhaled corticosteroid medication. We used published and validated instruments to measure medical characteristics including asthma features, practical asthma knowledge and perceived involvement in care and psychological characteristics including anxiety, depression, optimism, and personality traits, to assess the relationship with medication non-adherence. A total of 126 participants provided data, with 64 (50.8%) of the participants identified as non-adherent. Multivariate analyses showed that younger age, high neuroticism scores and a previous asthma hospital admission were associated with non-adherence. Interestingly, depression was associated with a lower risk of non-adherence. This study showed that a personalized medicine approach would include interventions targeting those who are younger, who have been in hospital for asthma and who rate high on the neuroticism personality trait. Given the availability of effective medications for asthma, better understanding of the characteristics associated with non-adherence is important to enhance optimal self-management.