Gender Roles in Intimate Relationships: Who Initiates and Why?

The gender roles of men and women are continuously changing in heterosexual relationships alongside the ever-increasing flexibility and variation of preferences, choice, agency, and individual needs. This paper delves into the role tradition plays between men and women in intimate relationships regarding marriage proposals and surname changes, as well as which sex initiates more when it comes to physical intimacy, emotional intimacy, and long-term commitment.

Sociodemographic and clinical factors, visit expectations and driving factors for emergency department attendance for uncomplicated upper respiratory tract infection

BackgroundUpper respiratory tract infections (URTIs) account for substantial non-urgent ED attendances. Hence, we explored the reasons for such attendances using a mixed-methods approach.MethodsWe interviewed adult patients with URTI who visited the second busiest adult ED in Singapore from June 2016 to November 2018 on their expectations and reasons for attendance. A structured questionnaire, with one open-ended question was used. Using the Andersen’s Behavioural Model for Healthcare Utilisation, the topmost reasons for ED attendances were categorised into (1) contextual predisposing factors (referral by primary care physician, family, friends or coworkers), (2) contextual enabling factors (convenience, accessibility, employment requirements), (3) individual enablers (personal preference and trust in hospital-perceived care quality and efficiency) and (4) individual needs (perceived illness severity and non-improvement). Multivariable multinomial logistic regression was used to assess associations between sociodemographic and clinical factors, patient expectations for ED visits and the drivers for ED attendance.ResultsThere were 717 patients in the cohort. The mean age of participants was 40.5 (SD 14.7) years, 61.2% were males, 66.5% without comorbidities and 40.7% were tertiary educated. Half had sought prior medical consultation (52.4%) and expected laboratory tests (55.7%) and radiological investigations (46.9%). Individual needs (32.8%) and enablers (25.1%) were the main drivers for ED attendance. Compared with ED attendances due to contextual enabling factors, attendances due to other drivers were more likely to be aged ≥45 years, had prior medical consultation and expected radiological investigations. Having a pre-existing medical condition (adjusted OR (aOR) 1.78, 95% CI 1.05 to 3.04) and an expectation for laboratory tests (aOR 1.64, 95% CI 1.01 to 2.64) were associated with individual needs while being non-tertiary educated (aOR 2.04, 95% CI 1.22 to 3.45) and having pre-existing comorbidities (aOR 1.79, 95% CI 1.04 to 3.10) were associated with individual enablers.ConclusionsMeeting individual needs of perceived illness severity or non-improvement was the topmost driver of ED visits for URTI, while contextual enabling factors such as convenience was the lowest. Patients’ sociodemographic and clinical factors and visit expectations influence their motivations for ED attendances. Addressing these factors and expectations can alleviate the overutilisation of ED services.

Identity and Purity

Chapter 4 examines the interrelationship between religion and society for followers of the non-dual Tantric Śaiva tradition. It explores the new Tantric identities created through initiation and asks how these new identities impact the larger social experience of practitioners. It then reflects on the origin of Tantric practice and maps how Tantra seeks to subvert the social caste paradigm. The chapter examines the theories about the historical spread of Tantric practice by consulting textual descriptions of practices that are prescribed for members of different castes. This offers a humanizing look at the individual needs and actions of practitioners. It makes the argument that caste erasure was limited to the ritual sphere and was therefore symbolic. The philosophical ideal of the vanquishment of caste distinction is compared with the social necessity for hierarchy. The chapter also explores the nature of auspicious and inauspicious symbols related to initiation.

Individuals

This chapter argues against constraining education by considering society’s needs for particular types of workers. Ever since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, individual development has been confined (and distorted) by the demands of the labor market. Although standard economic defenses of liberal education fail, contemporary shifts in that market offer opportunities for attuning education to individual needs. Specifically, with increasing automation, a revaluation of service work can offer young people far greater chances for leading fulfilling lives. This theme is developed by arguing for widespread involvement of adults in the education of younger generations.

Gender-specific nursing needs of people with multiple sclerosis: A scoping review

Women and men with multiple sclerosis (MS) experience different disease courses and occurring symptoms. These lead to different gender-specific needs. However, gender-specific needs are often elusive for nurses and therefore difficult to address in daily care. Thus, our aim is to describe gender-specific needs of people with MS. A scoping review was conducted, covering papers published between 1999 and 2019. Overall, 26 studies were identified, and a deductive coding process was applied based on Henderson's Nursing Need Theory. The PRISMA-ScR checklist was used to write the scoping review. Different needs of female and male patients with MS are described in eight categories of Henderson’s Nursing Need Theory, occurring in mobility and elimination. The analysis shows differences in communication about the disease, individual needs, and the acceptance of support. To address these differences, training on gender-sensitive care should be offered in nursing education and for nurses.

Adapt

<p>This paper presents a system for digitally manufacturing hyper personalised sets of cutlery for stroke patients. Stroke produces a wide variety of physical, cognitive, emotional and social effects that vary widely among individuals and may include weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, contractures and inability to rotate joints. This design addresses the factors including weakened grip strength, contracted wrist and fingers, limited range of motion in the wrist, hand tremors and lack of control. Becoming independent again is an essential stage for patients and difficulty performing standard eating tasks is a commonly reported effect after stroke, which is challenging physically and emotionally. There are existing ergonomic eating aids on the market, but none that offer personalisation for the widely different physiological effects of stroke, or that effectively integrate a sense of progression and achievement, which is the key to keeping patients motivated and confident throughout the rehabilitation process. This study investigates the way design can help reduce product related and social stigma for upper limb stroke rehabilitation patients in the use of cutlery. This research explores the way that a parametric system can be implemented to aid clinicians in identifying the individual needs of patients against a list of criteria. This design study has developed a set of cutlery that assists patients, making them feel confident and comfortable using cutlery in situations outside of their homes, as well as assisting as a therapy device. This research presents a parametric system that allows for controlling the variables relative to the design criteria based on the patient’s physiological abilities. The variables include the ability to change the diameter and size of the handle, the curve of the utensil in the (x,y) plane, the angle of the handle in the (x,z) plane and the depth of the finger groove which accommodates the index finger. The paper presents the main findings from how participants experienced stigma, clinicians feedback on the appropriateness of the cutlery designs, and how personalisation contributes to motivation within therapy. These main findings conclude that cutlery designed for stroke patients needs to be personalised, as each patient has very individual needs according to their very individual impairments. Current cutlery does not address them all and even less address them through personalisation. The specific variables in the system need to be controlled and restricted to ensure that all 40,000 of the possible outcomes are effective.</p>

Adapt

<p>This paper presents a system for digitally manufacturing hyper personalised sets of cutlery for stroke patients. Stroke produces a wide variety of physical, cognitive, emotional and social effects that vary widely among individuals and may include weakness or paralysis on one side of the body, contractures and inability to rotate joints. This design addresses the factors including weakened grip strength, contracted wrist and fingers, limited range of motion in the wrist, hand tremors and lack of control. Becoming independent again is an essential stage for patients and difficulty performing standard eating tasks is a commonly reported effect after stroke, which is challenging physically and emotionally. There are existing ergonomic eating aids on the market, but none that offer personalisation for the widely different physiological effects of stroke, or that effectively integrate a sense of progression and achievement, which is the key to keeping patients motivated and confident throughout the rehabilitation process. This study investigates the way design can help reduce product related and social stigma for upper limb stroke rehabilitation patients in the use of cutlery. This research explores the way that a parametric system can be implemented to aid clinicians in identifying the individual needs of patients against a list of criteria. This design study has developed a set of cutlery that assists patients, making them feel confident and comfortable using cutlery in situations outside of their homes, as well as assisting as a therapy device. This research presents a parametric system that allows for controlling the variables relative to the design criteria based on the patient’s physiological abilities. The variables include the ability to change the diameter and size of the handle, the curve of the utensil in the (x,y) plane, the angle of the handle in the (x,z) plane and the depth of the finger groove which accommodates the index finger. The paper presents the main findings from how participants experienced stigma, clinicians feedback on the appropriateness of the cutlery designs, and how personalisation contributes to motivation within therapy. These main findings conclude that cutlery designed for stroke patients needs to be personalised, as each patient has very individual needs according to their very individual impairments. Current cutlery does not address them all and even less address them through personalisation. The specific variables in the system need to be controlled and restricted to ensure that all 40,000 of the possible outcomes are effective.</p>

Outsiders Looking in. The Re-enrolment Struggles of Early School Leavers in Norway

Despite a vast literature on the causes and consequences of leaving school prematurely, little scholarly and policy attention has been paid to those who re-enter education after a temporary withdrawal. Re-enrolment is often portrayed in the literature as an active act of agency requiring inner drive. Based on 18 interviews with young early school leavers and re-enrolees in Norway, we construct two empirically founded re-enrolment narratives: ‘opposing otherness through dreams of ordinariness’ and ‘accepting the rules of the game—re-enrolment as a fragile opportunity’. Although embracing and reproducing the discourse about educational credentials as being the key to a happy life, the narratives do not support the idea of a re-enrolment drive as being vital to succeed within educational institutions. While they aspire for normality and believe normality is achieved through educational credentials, they are in need of a support system that either accommodates their individual needs, or nudges them back ‘on right track’.