The Association between Social Integration, Coping Mechanisms and Anxiety in Patients with Non-Communicable Diseases

Recently, mental health issue and chronic physical condition are substantially linked and this comorbidity is likely to increase.Patient focusing in the self-care activities is an important component in the mechanism of coping with chronic disease with a significant impact on clinical and psychological outcomes. In this context, the current study is conducted to assess the impact of self-care and social integration mechanisms on anxiety levels among patients with chronic non-communicable diseases.This observational study of cross-sectional design was performed in the pathology service of Fier city hospital, in Albania during August-September 2020. To assess the level of anxiety, we used the scale of 7 items of General Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) with a score of ≥10 indicating GAD. Subscales of the Health Education Impact Questionnaire (heiQ) were used in order to evaluate social integration and self-care mechanism. The data were entered into the statistical program SPSS, version 23. The regression analysis is performedto examine the relationship between variables. The findings revealed that 56% of participants had GAD, 47% of participants were unable to self-monitor the disease, while 89% of them didnot performe any type of physical activity. The scale of anxiety was significantly associated with variables of Self–monitoring (p=0.000<0.05; OR=0.10) and Social integration (p=0.000<0.05; OR=21.4). These findings address the need to support peoplewho struggle with chronic non-communicable diseases developing adaptive ways to deal with their chronic condition and improve their lifestyle for better overall health.

The Effect of Parental Social Integration on the Physical Examination Utilization for Young Migrant Children: A National Cross-Sectional Study in China

Purpose: Physical examination is a key component of child health management. Migrant children are a vulnerable group with lower healthcare service utilization, and this study aims to explore the effect of parental social integration on the physical examination service utilization for young migrant children under 6 years old in China.Method: This study conducted a secondary data analysis of the 2014 National Internal Migrant Dynamic Monitoring Survey in China. A total of 2,620 participants were included in this study. A total of 22 indicators were selected to measure social integration. Multivariate logistic regression was used to explore the association between parental social integration and physical examination use of young migrant children.Results: More than half (66.4%) of the migrant children aged 0–6 years had used free physical examination. Parental social integration, especially structural integration, was associated with the physical examination utilization of migrant children. Specifically, those migrant children's parents who had medical insurance (P &lt; 0.05; OR = 1.29), who had participated in local activities (P &lt; 0.001; OR = 1.98), who had registered local residents as neighbors (P &lt; 0.05; OR = 1.34), and who had a deep sense of self-identity (P &lt; 0.05; OR = 1.09) were more likely to take children to use physical examination.Conclusions: This study provided evidence that parental social integration was associated with migrant children's physical examination utilization, and this association was multifaceted, lying in the dimensions of economic, structural, and psychological integration. Improving the social integration of migrant parents would be effective to enhance the migrant children's healthcare service utilization.

Disengagement From Schools: Possible Solutions

This article investigated possible solutions to disengagement from schools by ethnic minority learners in Botswana. Disengagement is a concern for educationists and researchers. The study used qualitative approach to investigate the problem. The reason for disengagement include cultural misfit. The theory of social integration was used to understand the problem under study. The findings indicated that there must be consultation with farm owners and they use local languages for teaching. The article concludes that there is a need to liaise with stakeholders to review certain practices to encourage retainment in schools such as mobile schools and the use of indigenous languages.

How Do Population Flows Promote Urban–Rural Integration? Addressing Migrants’ Farmland Arrangement and Social Integration in China’s Urban Agglomeration Regions

China’s urban–rural relationships have been changed dramatically by the intensifying population flows, especially in urban agglomeration regions. This study contributes to the interpretation of urban–rural integration mechanisms in urban agglomeration by constructing a conceptual framework of migration-related resource flows. Taking the Wuhan urban agglomeration as an example, migrants’ farmland arrangement, migration pattern, and social integration have been investigated to uncover the spatial and temporal characteristics of the urban–rural interaction, based on the data from the China Migrants Dynamic Survey in 2012–2017. The findings indicate that the farmland circulation in the Wuhan urban agglomeration was generally low, but slightly higher than that of the national average. The central city, Wuhan, had a high degree of family migration and social integration, indicating stronger resource flows in developed areas. However, its farmland circulation level was lower than that of non-central cities. The unsynchronized interaction of resources in urban and rural areas should be taken seriously, especially in areas with a relatively developed urban economy. The advantages of the central city in absorbing and settling migrants confirmed the positive impact of the urban agglomeration on promoting urban–rural integration.

Patterns of Social Media Usage among Malaysians During the Covid-19 Pandemic

This paper explores the use of social media among Malaysians during the Covid-19 pandemic. Questionnaires were distributed to 424 people in Malaysia who were directly affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. The research findings revealed that the main reasons that drove people to use social media were cognitive aspects, escapism, affective factors, and social integration. The data also shows that Malaysians frequently employed social media to search for information, for diversion purposes, and due to habit. Meanwhile, the highest levels of gratifications were derived from factors of convenience, surveillance, and interpersonal discussion. This study concludes that social media plays a crucial role for Malaysians while confronting the Covid-19 pandemic, alongside other media components. It cannot be denied that technology also influenced uses and gratifications among the audiences. The uniqueness of social media, coupled with the smartphone, gives it a distinct advantage over other media forms. The audiences had at their disposal a multitude of information that could bring numerous usages and forms of gratifications.

Migrants’ Social Integration and Its Relevance for National Identification: An Empirical Comparison Across Three Social Spheres

A key element of migrants’ well-being is their emotional integration, that is, the extent to which they perceive themselves as members of society and their identification with the country they are living in. To foster this sense of belonging, many integration programs aim to increase the migrants’ social integration, for example, by organizing events for migrants to meet natives in various settings. The validity of this strategy is supported by decades of international research. It remains unclear, however, which aspects of social integration are most relevant for national identification. Multiple theories concerned with contact and group identification support the assumption that contact to natives should foster a sense of belonging and national identification. However, for a contact situation to bear this potential, a certain set of criteria, including aspects like direct personal contact, a similar social status, and the presence of egalitarian norms, needs to be fulfilled. It is expected that these characteristics are more likely to be fulfilled within family and friendship settings than in contact situations within the employment context. Hence, I expect contact to natives within the network of friends and family to be more greatly associated with migrants’ national identification. I analyzed data from a 2013 cooperation between the Institute for Employment Research (IAB) and the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP), that is, the IAB-SOEP Migration Sample, as well as the 2014 wave of the SOEP. The subsample used included 2,780 first- and second-generation migrants living in Germany. The results indicate that not all kinds of contact are equally linked to national identification. In contrast to expectations, in neither the cross-sectional models nor the lagged models was living together with native family members significantly linked to national identification. Similarly, the association between having predominantly native co-workers and national identification was insignificant when controlling for migrant-specific characteristics. Only the relation with having predominantly native friends was significant and positive across all models. This as well as a comparison of the associations lead to the conclusion that when it comes to migrants’ national identification native friends might be the most relevant form of contact to natives.

Multilingualism in Botswana: The Case of Muzi Primary School

This paper presents findings on a case study of how the language in education policy was being implemented at Muzi Primary School. To provide the context, a description of the development of the language in education policy from independence to present period is provided. The study aimed to address the following questions: 1. What factors did teachers perceive to contribute to the low performance of the school? 2. What role did language of instruction play in the learning process? 3. What attitudes were portrayed or displayed by teachers and how did these affect learning? 4. What were the implications of findings to nation-building, democracy, and social integration? The paper argues that the language policy, which promoted monolingualism, was a failure to acknowledge reality and an impediment to learning, a negation of democratic principles and a hinderance to social integration. The school context demonstrated how the education policy fostered monolingualism in a multilingual context and this negatively impacted on learning.

Representation of Autism Spectrum Disorder in Greek Cinema

The chapter examines the representation of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in Greek cinema and its possible pedagogical effect. The qualitative method of discourse analysis was applied to investigate these issues in four short Greek films, two of which were documentaries in each of which the protagonist was a child or young person with ASD. Preliminary analysis revealed space and gender as the dominant factors used by the filmmakers to depict ASD. The research findings show that this disorder, which is relatively unknown for the Greek public, is represented in the films as dissimilarity from the norm, and people with ASD are depicted as the “others” of this society, with isolation of themselves and their families. Certain positive aspects of ASD were also portrayed, but there is a need for more positive images of ASD to raise public awareness. The cinema could play a pedagogical role in this process and help in the social integration of people with ASD.