Tropical Imaginaries and Climate Crisis: Embracing Relational Climate Discourses

In this Introduction, we set the Special Issue on 'Tropical Imaginaries and Climate Crisis' within the context of a call for relational climate discourses as they arise from particular locations in the tropics. Although climate change is global, it is not experienced everywhere the same and has pronounced effects in the tropics. This is also the region that experienced the ravages – to humans and environments – of colonialism. It is the region of the planet’s greatest biodiversity; and will experience the largest extinction losses. We advocate that climate science requires climate imagination – and specifically a tropical imagination – to bring science systems into relation with the human, cultural, social and natural. In short, this Special Issue contributes to calls to humanise climate change. Yet this is not to place the human at the centre of climate stories, rather we embrace more-than-human worlds and the expansion of relational ways of knowing and being. This paper outlines notions of tropicality and rhizomatics that are pertinent to relational discourses, and introduces the twelve papers – articles, essays and speculative fiction pieces – that give voice to tropical imaginaries and climate change in the tropics.

Influence of prisoners’ mental health on the relational climate of prisons

Introduction: Entry into prison involves adapting to a prison culture that is sometimes altered by the effect of imprisonment. Prisons are overcrowded and hold large numbers of inmates suffering from mental disorders and difficulties of adaptation, who affect the delicate equilibrium of the prison environment and can worsen the relational climate. Material and method: Several bibliographical databases on the influence of the mental health of adult inmates on the prison relationship climate and existing interventions in this regard that have been published in the last 15 years were reviewed. This data was complemented by other information obtained from the online bibliographic indexes of the Ministry of the Interior. Results: There is little literature on the influence of mental health on the relational climate of prisons and existing interventions. However, what literature there is does respond to a current prison reality where inmates with mental health problems have an increased risk of victimization and also a greater predisposition to penitentiary misconduct that causes violations of rules and the consequent application of disciplinary sanctions that lead to segregation. Discussion: The dysfunctional behaviour of such inmates, as well as the stigmatized treatment they receive, negatively impact the prison social climate, generating pathological relational styles and distorting the prison environment. This creates a need for an adequate number of programs and interventions of sufficient quality to prevent and mitigate their consequences.

Supporting children who have a parent with a mental illness in Tyrol: A situational analysis for informing co-development and implementation of practice changes

Background: A research project aimed to improve the situation of children of parents with a mental illness (COPMI) is underway in the Austrian region of Tyrol. The project aims to strengthen formal and informal support structures around the child, through enhancing their village of collaborative support. Understanding the current situation in the region is vital for implementing practice change. This paper aims to gain knowledge on the Tyrolean societal and service provision context. Methods: We collected qualitative (e.g. interviews) and quantitative data (e.g. administrative data from the health insurance) on overall societal characteristics, epidemiology of mental illness in Tyrol, current services within adult mental healthcare and for supporting children, parents and families, uptake of services, and current practices and challenges of identifying and supporting COPMIs. We analysed data along several external context dimensions: 1) professional influences, 2) political support, 3) social climate, 4) local infrastructure, 5) policy and legal climate, 6) relational climate, 7) target population, and 8) funding and economic climate. Results: We identified that there is awareness of challenges related to COPMIs at professional and planning level, however there is a lack of installed support processes and standards to meet these children’s needs across Tyrol. A variety of services are available both for unwell parents, and families and individual family members. Yet, only one small service addresses COPMIs directly. Services fall into different sectors (education, health, social affairs) and are funded from different sources, making coordination difficult. Access varies from universal to rather restricted (i.e. through referral). The potential number of parents which could be reached in order to identify their children via adult mental health differs considerably by setting. Societal structures indicate that the informal and voluntary sector may be a realistic source for supporting COPMIs in Tyrol. Conclusions: Societal structures and current services provide a rich resource for improving identification and supporting of COPMIs, however considerable coordination and behaviour change effort will be required due to the fragmentation of the system and professional cultures. Insights into the context of supporting COPMIs have been of high value for developing and implementing practice changes in local organizations.

Transparency in Financial Communication

Authentic leadership is considered a foundation of other positive leadership styles. In this leadership, the leader is known for his openness and clarity. Authentic leaders are not hesitant in sharing information, and they are accurate and clear in their communication manners. Moreover, they tend to give importance to others' ideas, and when necessary, they do not avoid revealing their own values, emotions, and thoughts. They build integrity with their followers by creating an atmosphere congruent for open communication that results in a realistic relational climate nourished by followers' increased level of personal and social identification. In this chapter, it is suggested that authenticity and tranperency of authentic leadership will be important catalyzers for financial communication transperency. In this context, financial communication refers to all kinds of financial messages conveyed from the organization to its stakeholders. And financial communication transperency refers to the extent financial communication of an organization is open, accurate, clear, satisfying, and relevant.

Quality of Life in the School Context: The Relationship between Teachers’ and Students’ Wellbeing

The aim of the study is to identify relationships between levels of burnout in a sample of Italian teachers in middle school and the quality of the classroom relational climate experienced from their students. Method: analysis identified three different teachers’ burnout profiles, defined as “Enthusiastic”, “Exhausted-Indifferent” and “Exhausted-Guilty”. ANOVA showed that were significant differences in the quality of classroom relational climate perceived by students. The Enthusiastic group was associated with better levels regarding the students’ perception about teachers support and, concerning student-peers relationship, better support and mutual respect.The results are consistent with literature that underlines how burned-out teachers experience more difficult and conflictive relationship with their students. Moreover, it emerges how deficiencies in relational experience could impact not only on the student-teacher relationship, but also on the quality of student-peer interactions.

Relational Climate and Health Care Costs: Evidence From Diabetes Care

Quality of care worries and rising costs have resulted in a widespread interest in enhancing the efficiency of health care delivery. One area of increasing interest is in promoting teamwork as a way of coordinating efforts to reduce costs and improve quality, and identifying the characteristics of the work environment that support teamwork. Relational climate is a measure of the work environment that captures shared employee perceptions of teamwork, conflict resolution, and diversity acceptance. Previous research has found a positive association between relational climate and quality of care, yet its relationship with costs remains unexplored. We examined the influence of primary care relational climate on health care costs incurred by diabetic patients at the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs between 2008 and 2012. We found that better relational climate is significantly related to lower costs. Clinics with the strongest relational climate saved $334 in outpatient costs per patient compared with facilities with the weakest score in 2010. The total outpatient cost saving if all clinics achieved the top 5% relational climate score was $20 million. Relational climate may contribute to lower costs by enhancing diabetic treatment work processes, especially in outpatient settings.