Search Results (93)

Background: The provision of education, health, and social care for children with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) in England has long been criticised for its inequities and chronic underfunding. These systemic issues were further exacerbated by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and the accompanying restrictions, which disrupted essential services and resulted in widespread unmet needs and infringements on the rights of many children with SEND. This study aimed to use a three-phase consensus-building approach with 1353 participants across five stakeholder groups to collaboratively develop evidence-informed priorities for policy and practice. The priorities sought to help address the longstanding disparities and respond to the intensified challenges brought about by the pandemic. Methods: A total of 55 children with SEND (aged 5–16), 893 parents/carers, and 307 professionals working in SEND-related services participated in the first phase through online surveys. This was followed by semi-structured interviews with four children and young people, ten parents/carers, and 15 professionals, allowing for deeper exploration of lived experiences and priorities. The data were analysed, synthesised, and structured into five overarching areas of priority. These were subsequently discussed and refined in a series of activity-based group workshops involving 20 children with SEND, 11 parents/carers, and 38 professionals. Results and Conclusions: The consensus-building process led to the identification of key priorities for both pandemic response and longer-term recovery, highlighting the responsibilities of central Government and statutory services to consider and meet the needs of children with SEND. These priorities are framed within a children’s rights context and considered against the rights and duties set out in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989). Priorities include protecting and promoting children with SEND’s rights to (1) play, socialise, and be part of a community, (2) receive support for their social and emotional wellbeing and mental health, (3) feel safe, belong, and learn in school, (4) “access health and social care services and therapies”, and (5) receive support for their parents/carers and families. Together, they highlight the urgent need for structural reform to ensure that children with SEND receive the support they are entitled to—not only in times of crisis but as a matter of routine practice and policy. Full article

Purpose: Physical activity (PA) is vital for everyone’s health and wellbeing; however, there is, a paucity of research amongst culturally deaf adults. Especially, to understand the needs of deaf adults and how to get them involved in shaping interventions that would help deaf people to be physically active. The current study aimed to explore barriers and facilitators for engaging in PA amongst deaf adults. Method: Focus groups involving nine culturally deaf adults communicating using British sign language were conducted and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Findings: Barriers including physical barriers, lack of deaf spaces and deaf awareness, and a lack of personal motivations were identified. Enablers included group/social support, deaf-led activities and health and wellbeing awareness. The findings highlighted a strong deaf identity. Conclusions: Deaf adults face barriers due to spaces being made for hearing people, leading to feelings of social exclusion and a lack of spaces to engage in activity and socialise, despite being personally and socially motivated to engage in PA. Deaf identity should be considered when promoting PA to deaf adults. The current paper highlights research and practice implications regarding how to engage and work with deaf people to develop appropriate interventions. Full article

Grief is often seen as a personal response to losing a loved one, but it can also arise from the loss of deeply held values and identities linked to social, structural, and religious spheres. Political grief is a unique form of this, stemming from political policies, laws, and social messaging that certain groups perceive as losses. As societies face political decisions and systemic failures, grief can emerge from losing trust in institutions, shared beliefs, and a sense of belonging. An outgrowth of political grief is a strain on relationships due to polarization, heightened by threat-activating events and resulting tensions. Many people turn to religion to counter feelings of vulnerability and incoherence in today’s political climate. While this may relieve anxiety and provide stability, it can also exacerbate some sources of grief. Understanding these dimensions is crucial for addressing political grief’s broader implications, as individuals and communities seek meaning and attempt to rewrite their narratives in adversity. This discussion includes defining grief beyond death-loss and exploring the interplay between social/political structures and culture. It also considers specific threats and responses, including religious alignment, focusing on recent events in the United States. Full article

Air pollution is a major health-related environmental challenge that affects many aspects of people’s daily lives. For amateur endurance athletes/exercisers, air pollution can cause, apart from the common health issues, reduced performance capacity during training and races. The most significant inconveniences that these amateur athletes/exercisers have to deal with, are related to breathing difficulty, increased heart rate, cough or respiratory problems, and eye or nose discomfort. The aim of this study is to create a psychometric scale that estimates the nuisance/discomfort that amateur endurance athletes/exercisers (triathlon, cycling, running, swimming) feel during their training, under conditions of increased air pollution, and to see how this is linked to demographic characteristics. The main overall purpose is the identification of possible correlation between air pollution and reduced athletic performance, as well as between air pollution and the wellbeing of amateur endurance athletes/exercisers, and to thus enable recommendations on training in a polluted environment. To this aim, a questionnaire was developed, initially through a pilot stage. The fully developed scale was provided to two hundred and ninety-two (292) amateur endurance athletes/exercisers for an exploratory factor analysis to be carried out. The exploratory factor analysis indicated three (3) factors accounting for 37.11% of the overall variance. The first factor “Physical discomfort” included nine (9) questions, the second factor “Lack of discomfort” five (5) questions, and the third factor “No general discomfort” six (6) questions. The degree of reliability was satisfactory, since Cronbach’s a coefficient was 0.841 for the first factor, 0.642 for the second, and 0.766 for the third factor. Subsequently, fluctuation analysis (ANOVA), multivariate fluctuation analysis (MANOVA), and Pearson’s r coefficient were used to indicate correlations between the independent variables and the three factors identified. Correlation between discomfort due to air pollution and the place of residence, as well as the presence or absence of allergies, was indicated. On the other hand, there were no significant statistical differences between gender, type of sport, the volume of training, the presence or not of respiratory problems, and smoking. Overall, the scale can be considered both valid and reliable. Full article

Background/Objectives: Problematic online gaming and gambling tend to co-occur. The exact mechanisms underlying this phenomenon and the potential effects of gender differences remain unknown. This study aimed to identify the early clustering patterns of problematic online gaming and gambling in a community sample of young adults without a lifetime history of psychiatric treatment. Methods: Data were collected through an online survey and analyzed using partial correlations and Bayesian networks. Results: Altogether, 1441 individuals (aged 18–40 years, 51.4% females) participated in the survey. Both problematic online behaviors were weakly interrelated, suggesting that they serve as distinct constructs. Men’s networks appeared to be more complex and had significantly higher global connectivity. Moreover, men and women differed with respect to the specific nodes that bridged both constructs. In men, the bridge nodes were “being criticized because of betting or being told about gambling problems”, “loss of previous interests due to gaming”, “deceiving other people because of gaming”, and “health consequences of gambling”. Among women, the bridge nodes were “feeling guilty because of gambling”, “loss of previous interests because of gaming”, “social consequences of gaming”, and “continued gaming problems with other people”. In men, the strongest edge was found between “borrowing money/selling anything to gamble” and “financial problems because of gambling”, while in women, the strongest edge appeared between “betting more than afforded to be lost” and “tolerance symptoms of gambling”. Conclusions: The findings indicate that problematic online gaming and gambling tend to emerge in different ways among men and women. Therapeutic interventions should be planned considering gender differences. Full article

Background: The announcement of Parkinson’s disease (PD) diagnosis may provoke negative feelings that impact the ability to cope with the disease and all life changes related to this new condition. There are scarce data on how to improve communication about PD diagnosis and which factors may influence this outcome. Methods: We performed a national French survey, investigating the diagnosis announcement impact on a large population of people living with PD (PwPD), who recently received the diagnosis (≤1 year since PD diagnosis), and on related caregivers and health care professionals (HCPs), from tertiary and community-based hospitals. Results: A total of 397 PwPD (45% female and 82% > 50 years old), 192 caregivers and 120 HCPs (69% neurologists) completed the questionnaire. The diagnosis was not expected by about 60% of PwPD and induced negative feelings in the majority (82%) of them. Negative feelings that PwPD experience in the moment of the diagnosis announcement were related with male gender [OR = 2.034, CI 95% 1.09–3.78; p = 0.025] and older age [OR = 1.05, CI 95% 1.01–1.08; p = 0.004], while tremor as the first symptom had a threshold significance [OR = 1.78, CI 95% 0.994–3.187; p = 0.052]. Half of the PwPD and caregivers considered that they did not receive enough information and one third had a short-term appointment to rediscuss the diagnosis. A total of 82% of PwPD expressed the willingness to have a multidisciplinary follow-up (PD nurse, psychologists). Only 24% of the HCPs had been trained for PD announcement. Conclusions: The way a PD diagnosis is delivered represents a pivotal moment in the journey of PwPD and caregivers. This process requires improvement in addressing the gaps expressed by PwPD, caregivers, and HCPs through a participatory approach. Full article

The global decline in the number of pollinators has elicited considerable public attention. To the general public, honeybees are considered to be the primary pollinators. Also, a decline in managed honeybee stocks is alarming and could lead to declining pollination services and reduced ecosystem biodiversity, although the Apis mellifera is the least likely pollinator species on the planet to be at risk of extinction. A less-than-complete understanding of honeybees and their ecology may hinder their conservation. Ascertaining the public’s level of knowledge about, and perception of, a problem can help in solving it. This research focused mainly on honeybees because people are unlikely to be able to recognize the different species of Apoidea. Schools are ideal places for understanding the basic knowledge and attitudes regarding this insect. We aimed to understand the perception and knowledge of 12–14-year-old children towards honeybees as well as to verify the existence of a correlation between knowledge level and positive perception. Secondary school students can play a key role in the conservation of biodiversity as they are carriers of knowledge in families and will be future citizens. To this end, 231 students were given a 26-item questionnaire related to their perception and knowledge of honeybees. Results indicate that the students have a good understanding of the role that bees play in nature but do not have a completely clear idea of this insect’s interactions with the environment. Results also show that the children feel a certain fear of honeybees, although they respect them. The average score of the ecological branch test exceeded the average score of the perceptual one, indicating that the subjects had a more positive education than perception. Full article

The objective of this study is to determine how to increase green space that can overlap with areas that are primarily used for transport in commercial areas and waterfront routes in communities in Thailand, where transportation is limited, in order to provide urban populations an opportunity to access green space in various forms. In this study, the following was found: (1) Commercial routes should be considered. Specifically, green spaces should be created in various forms by considering the sizes of footpaths as well as restrictions on planting; the plants should be native plants because they are easy to care for and help convey the boundaries of an area. A “landmark” that represents the identity of a community should be used to create a meeting point for people entering the commercial area, and designers should use the principles of universal design to make all groups of people feel confident and safe when accessing the area. Finally, vacant or abandoned areas between buildings may also be used. (2) Waterside travel routes should also be considered. Green spaces should be distributed into points, or some routes should be made wider to accommodate various activities; areas along canals or river banks or degraded waterways should be developed or improved to create a recreational area designed with the community’s unique identity in mind, which may develop into a destination for tourists. Importantly, agencies who are responsible for working with the people in the community need to continuously care for these green spaces to enhance sustainability. Full article

On 26 May 2011, the Russian People’s World Council issued a document entitled The Basic Values: The Fundaments of National Unity. The document, prepared by the Synodal Department for Church–Society Cooperation, provided a catalogue of 17 traditional values whose general framework was constituted by a combination of freedom, unity, patriotism, family, and devotion. At that time, the Moscow Patriarchate considered religious faith to be the foundation of traditional values and it continues to do so. The defence and promotion of traditional Russian spiritual and moral values were also central in the Russian National Security Strategy (2015); this was the case in the updated version of this document as well, put out in July 2021. Furthermore, they have been the core of the Moscow Patriarchate’s participation in the Council of Europe and of Patriarch Kirill’s speeches about the war in Ukraine. Finally, on 9 November 2022, The Foundations Of State Policy For The Preservation Of Spiritual And Moral Values was approved. This framework permits us to understand the strict interplay between the Church and the State in the Russian Federation and to see why it is important to refer to the concept of post-secularism when talking about the role of religion in post-Soviet Russia. Proceeding from the Abstract, the present paper aims to analyse this interplay in a specific sector of visual culture: the cinema and television industries. Manuel Castells highlighted the relevance of cultural values in the age of information and the connection between the values and social mobilization that follows it. He pointed out that the Internet has become a way to render this connection predominant, inevitably leading to the development of social movements and networks that have a religious basis. This is unquestionably true; surveys conducted by the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (OJSC «VCIOM») and by Nevafilm Research confirm that a high percentage of Russians watch films not only at the cinema or on television (especially the older generations) but also on the Internet (as far as the younger generations are concerned). The importance of this market is also confirmed by the success of the cinema and TV distributor Orthodox Encyclopaedia (2005); in the words of the philosopher Sergei Kravets, who, commenting on it during an interview published in 2006 by the website Sedmits.ru, declared that the expression “orthodox cinema” can be understood as a way to express Russian culture. He asserts that “the fact that today Orthodox films have begun to appear on the central TV channels testifies that Russian film producers and viewers have apparently begun to be aware of themselves as Orthodox, to feel that they are bearers of a special Orthodox culture. [..]”. At the same time, consideration should be given to the importance of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Minister of Culture’s condemnation of films such as Matilda or Monastery. In addition, it is important to consider that, according to a survey conducted in 2022 by the Levada Center, Russian people consider television the most reliable source of information (54%). The long-term implications of this tendency may have very important effects, not only in terms of its objectives but also in terms of the consideration that, after the beginning of the war, many Western film distributors withdrew their licenses from Russia. This paper will analyse “the effect of religion on the institutional system, the regulatory environment of the media and the public sphere” by studying the features of films and TV programs distributed by Orthodox Encyclopaedia, their relations with traditional values promoted both by the Kremlin and the Church, how these have contributed to strengthening the interplay between the Minister of Culture and the Moscow Patriarchate, and the impact this process has had on Russian society and Russia’s relations with the European and Western World in the 2005–2022 period. A list of the films and TV programs being discussed will be provided, and then statements about the project and reviews of the serials and films will be analysed. The analysis will be conducted mainly through the official sites of the Russian Orthodox Church and the Kremlin and by browsing the Integrum database. Full article

Background: According to the World Health Organization, an unhealthy diet and lack of physical activity constitute the primary global health risks. The purpose of this study was to as-certain the barriers to a healthy diet (HD) and physical activity (PA) as perceived by the Polish population in order to implement public health interventions. Methods: A quantitative survey was conducted using the computer-assisted telephone interview technique on a randomly selected representative sample of 2000 Polish citizens aged 18–88 years. The research tool was a questionnaire consisting of two parts: sociodemographic characteristics and examining barriers to an HD (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.899) and regular PA (Cronbach’s alpha = 0.923). Results: Women constituted more than half of the sample (53.4%), and most of the respondents lived in urban areas (60.5%), considered their financial situation as average (56.9%), and their health as satisfactory (42.3%). Barriers to an HD include the cost of healthy food (43%), lack of motivation (26.7%), and lack of time (25.4%). Barriers to taking up PA include competing priorities (29%), a lack of motivation to exercise (27.3%), feeling of constant fatigue, and lack of energy (24.4%). Limiting factors in the adoption of both an HD and PA are gender (women > men; HD p < 0.01; PA p < 0.001), financial situation (unsatisfactory; HD and PA p < 0.001), health condition (unsatisfactory; HD and PA p < 0.001), type of work (blue-collar workers; HD p < 0.001; PA p < 0.05), and employment status (people running household; HD and PA p < 0.001). Conclusions: The results of this study provide important information about barriers to adopting healthy lifestyle principles. The practical implications of our work can be used by policymakers responsible for intervention strategies and programmes to increase the number of people adhering to recommendations for an HD and PA by removing barriers. Full article

Social media occupies an important place in people’s daily lives where users share various contents and topics such as thoughts, experiences, events and feelings. The massive use of social media has led to the generation of huge volumes of data. These data constitute a treasure trove, allowing the extraction of high volumes of relevant information particularly by involving deep learning techniques. Based on this context, various research studies have been carried out with the aim of studying the detection of mental disorders, notably depression and anxiety, through the analysis of data extracted from the Twitter platform. However, although these studies were able to achieve very satisfactory results, they nevertheless relied mainly on binary classification models by treating each mental disorder separately. Indeed, it would be better if we managed to develop systems capable of dealing with several mental disorders at the same time. To address this point, we propose a well-defined methodology involving the use of deep learning to develop effective multi-class models for detecting both depression and anxiety disorders through the analysis of tweets. The idea consists in testing a large number of deep learning models ranging from simple to hybrid variants to examine their strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, we involve the grid search technique to help find suitable values for the learning rate hyper-parameter due to its importance in training models. Our work is validated through several experiments and comparisons by considering various datasets and other binary classification models. The aim is to show the effectiveness of both the assumptions used to collect the data and the use of multi-class models rather than binary class models. Overall, the results obtained are satisfactory and very competitive compared to related works. Full article

Introduction: Sexual pleasure is a human right and a central aspect of human sexuality that contributes significantly to people’s overall well-being, making it an essential element to consider in clinical settings. This study aims to expand the understanding of sexual pleasure by examining how LGB+ people (lesbian, gay, bisexual, and other minority sexual orientations)-who perceived having a sexual problem-define solitary and partnered sexual pleasure. Methods: A cross-sectional exploratory qualitative study was conducted online. The current study included 85 people who self-identified as LGB+ and reported experiencing a sexual problem. Data analysis was performed using summative content analysis. Results: The results for solitary sexual pleasure comprised the creation of 5 categories (Enhancing the relationship with oneself, Specification of solitary pleasure, Negative experience, Unrestrained experience and A goal). For partnered sexual pleasure, 9 categories were created (The perks of being with another, Openness to experience, A result of sexual techniques, Psychophysiological experience, Misconceptions about sexual pleasure, Absence of intrapersonal constraints, Undesirable feelings, Explicit consent, and Absence of interpersonal constraints). Discussion: Despite reporting sexual problems, most participants reported having experienced sexual pleasure, and were able to define it. This study provided a deeper understanding of the perspectives on and experiences of sexuality among LGB+ people who experience sexual problems. Our findings highlight that current diagnostic criteria (e.g., DSM-5) do not seem to align with the problems reported by this sample population (the problems presented are beyond their sexual function). This reinforces the importance of viewing sexual problems from a perspective that goes beyond the categorial psychopathology model. Our study’s findings may offer valuable insights for the evaluation and treatment of sexual problems, where sexual pleasure is considered a crucial aspect of sexual well-being. Full article

A new intervention model for promoting healthy ageing grounded on integrated value-based care was developed and tested in the city of Valencia (Spain). Its implementation raised relevant barriers for older adults in their access to health, health promotion, and health self-management linked with their health and digital literacy. This new intervention model included several aspects. On the one hand, researchers together with older adults and their informal caregivers participating in the study, designed personalized care plans, based on older adults’ specific needs, to be implemented with the support of a digital solution. On the other hand, researchers and health and social professionals implemented a series of workshops in different locations of the city to encourage a sense of community among participants, reinforcing their trust in the new care model and increasing their adherence. Social activities were at the core of the workshops to understand older people’s interaction with the health and social services provided in the neighborhood. Qualitative and quantitative methods were combined to extract information from older participants on how to engage them as active actors of their health and understand their values and preferences. In the present manuscript, we focus on the qualitative results, which show that after a post-pandemic situation, they were more concerned about social isolation and desired face-to-face contact with their professional care team; however, feelings of loneliness and/or sadness were not considered among the reasons to visit health professionals. Some of the conclusions revealed that the use of technology as a supportive tool is well received but with a stress on its role as “supportive”, and not replacing the close contact with healthcare professionals. Professionals recognized the benefits of this new approach but required more time and incentives to dedicate the effort needed. The main aim of this study was to present these barriers related to health access, health promotion, and health self-management, as well as the actions developed to face them. Full article

People’s perception of the conflict they are experiencing with wildlife is a major factor in determining the extent of human-elephant conflict (HEC) occurring and needs to be considered when devising HEC management strategies. To understand perceptions and attitudes, however, it is necessary to identify factors that influence them. This study used a combination of multivariate ordered probit and generalized linear models to probe the complexities of farmer perception and attitudes and reveal underlying influential factors that shape perceived conflict levels. The study shows that the perception of HEC is complicated, influenced by an array of factors, both directly and indirectly, many of which are socio-demographic characteristics of the farmer, rather than quantifiable indicators of actual conflict. It was found that perceived human-elephant conflict (HEC) in the Okavango is affected by the ethnicity of the farmer, the raiding history of a field, the distance of fields to elephant pathways, and a farmer’s feeling towards elephants. Yet, feelings towards elephants are affected by attitudes towards wildlife, which are influenced by the benefits communities receive from living near wildlife. The perceived conflict levels of respondents were higher than the predicted actual conflict levels. Such discrepancies could be interpreted as “people over-reporting the scale of the problem”, yet results indicate that the crop-raiding history of a farmer alone is not adequate to assess the overall level of conflict being experienced because other social and environmental factors are involved in determining farmer perception of conflict. A holistic approach is needed to address the complexities of perceived and actual conflicts to ultimately reduce HEC. This involves targeting mitigation strategies for specific groups of people, considering elephant pathways and field locations in land use planning, and finding ways to improve benefits accrued to the community through wildlife-related enterprises that bring benefits back from living with elephants. Full article

This study used structural equation modelling to analyse the relationship between the attitudes of a pilgrim group and their well-being when travelling. Using market segmentation theory, the travel market of the pilgrim group was segmented, and the travel preferences of different sub-markets were separated according to each pilgrim’s subjective feelings of travel quality. The results show that travel emotional value, travel expectancy perception, and perception of fairness impact the travel well-being of pilgrims. K-means clustering was used to segment the travellers into markets and to propose strategies to improve the travel well-being of travellers. To meet the attitudes of various people, this analysis was based on different travel sub-markets. The results show that, to improve travel well-being, the preferences of female and elderly groups should become the focus to ensure better comfort and convenience, moderate safety, and reliability. For younger age groups, the emotional value of the travel process should be considered, which may help to improve their well-being. Full article