Search Results (184)

The study of historical monuments within both architectural and literary frameworks reveals a dynamic interplay between scientific observation and artistic interpretation—a vital characteristic of travel writing/the travelogue. This approach, exemplified by British traveler and writer Henry Finnis Blosse Lynch (1862–1913), reflects how factual detail and creative representation are seamlessly integrated in depictions of sites, landscapes, and cultural scenes. This case study highlights Lynch as a pioneering explorer who authored the first comprehensive volume on Armenian architecture and as a writer who vividly portrayed Armenian monuments through both verbal description and photographic imagery, becoming the first traveler to document such sites using photography. Additionally, this paper emphasizes the significance of Lynch’s detailed accounts of architectural monuments, churches, monasteries, cities, villages, populations, religious communities, and educational institutions in vivid language. The careful study of his work can contribute meaningfully to the investigation of the travelogue as a literary genre and to the preservation and protection of the architectural heritage of historical and contemporary Armenia, particularly in regions facing cultural or political threats. Full article

Music therapy in paediatric palliative care offers a unique opportunity for emotional support, legacy creation, and therapeutic connection for children and their families. This paper describes the Heartbeats Intervention, as delivered by a paediatric palliative care music therapist at Sydney Children’s Hospital Australia. This intervention involves recording and creatively integrating the heartbeats of children and family members into personalised musical compositions. Originally inspired by music therapist Brian Schreck’s work, the intervention has evolved to meet diverse therapeutic goals, from soothing children with serious illnesses (including cancer) with recordings of their families’ heartbeats to creating legacy song tracks that support families through bereavement. Despite some logistical and resource challenges, the intervention has been well-received and continues to expand, including the integration of environmental soundscapes and broader community involvement, which allows the intervention to be experienced by a greater number of families. This paper contributes to the limited but growing literature on music therapy in paediatric palliative care, highlighting the Heartbeats Intervention as a flexible and meaningful way to enhance psychosocial support and connection for children and their families. Further research to evaluate its long-term impact and to explore children’s direct experiences of the intervention is needed. Full article

Many meals are consumed in public settings such as schools, hospitals, and elderly care. These meals have the potential to impact public health as well as promote sustainable lifestyles. However, gastronomic values can be important for loading the meals with other dimensions. The aim of this article is to explore how the concept of gastronomy is understood, used, and described in the scientific literature in the context of public meals. For this scoping review, a systematic approach was adopted, including articles that use the concept of gastronomy in the context of public meals, as defined in this paper. A total of 3676 articles were initially identified, of which eight were finally included for assessment in this review. Three main themes emerged in the analysis, illustrating how the concept of gastronomy was used: gastronomy as local food and national cuisine; gastronomy as ideas of ‘the good’; and gastronomy as a framework. The concept of gastronomy is seldom clearly defined but is often used to emphasize ideas of ‘the good’, local food, and culinary traditions. Through gastronomy, healthy and sustainable public meals can be loaded with additional value, creativity, and innovation, enhancing the overall meal experience. Full article

When nurses encounter people in institutional settings who are living with dementia and self-neglecting their hygiene, they are challenged to provide care that respects autonomy while upholding the ethical principles of beneficence and non-maleficence. This study aimed to understand how nurses respond when confronted with patients who decline assistance with personal hygiene and then became physically aggressive. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study employing think-aloud interviewing to explore nurses’ clinical reasoning about how they would proceed with the care of a patient living with dementia who self-neglects their hygiene. Results: Nurses describe many creative ways that they would work with patients to accomplish personal hygiene care in an ideal world. Participants also share the many barriers they experience to providing desired care and instances where they would force care with people who self-neglect their hygiene. Thematic analysis revealed six key themes: non-preferred approaches to care; preferred approaches to care; barriers to actualizing preferred approaches; responding to continued resistance to care; justified use of force; and efforts to minimize harm. Conclusions: This study highlights that ethical nursing practice in dementia care is not simply a matter of following through with best practices. It is an ongoing negotiation, carried out in environments that are often misaligned with nurses’ values. Full article

In recent years, the concept of the commons has gained relevance across academic, legal and civic spheres as an alternative framework for managing shared resources. Rooted in Elinor Ostrom’s seminal work on collective governance, contemporary debates on the commons increasingly challenge the traditional binary of private versus public ownership by foregrounding the social function of these resources and the role of their communities in their administration. Urban commons, in particular, have emerged as dynamic spaces of experimentation, where local actors reclaim underutilised or abandoned assets and activate them through bottom-up processes of care, cultural production, and civic innovation. While international literature provides a robust conceptual foundation for understanding commoning practices, their practical implementation mostly depends on local specificities, such as legal and social contexts. Despite the important milestone of the Rodotà Commission’s proposal (2007) and Law 168/2017 on collective domains, the Italian regulatory framework remains highly fragmented, with regional and municipal regulations pioneering policies and practices frequently driven by community-led efforts to redefine the use and governance of public assets. This paper contributes to the growing debate on urban commons by investigating how, since 2011, experiences of collaborative care of the commons in Southern Italy have rekindled interest in the issue raised in 2007, highlighting a strong connection between the regulatory and social dimensions of these processes. The study develops a methodological framework—the COMmons Places ASSessment (COMPASS)—to evaluate the enabling conditions and governance dynamics of these processes. The research specifically focuses on five case studies in the Campania region, where diverse actors have mobilised to reclaim and transform public heritage through cultural, social, and creative activities. From the results, insights on collective management practices emerge potentials and criticalities of the analysed governance, as well as of the designed decision-making process and their effectiveness for the open, participatory, and sustainable management of urban commons. Full article

Background: Rising rates of opioid use disorder (OUD), usually via injection, has resulted in younger patients being diagnosed with infective endocarditis (IE), with unique treatment challenges. Methods: This retrospective ecological study analyzed hospital discharge and home health records from 2016 to 2022 in South Carolina (SC). Cases of IE with concurrent coding for OUD were identified. Differences in patient demographics, hospital characteristics, length of care days, and charges by OUD status were determined using chi-square or t-tests. IE hospitalization rates by OUD status, year, and age group were calculated, and linear regression was used to determine differences by year. Results: There were 8601 acute-care hospitalization records for IE from 2016 to 2022 in the SC dataset, of which 1180 (13.7%) had concurrent OUD coding. Statistically significant differences between patients with and without OUD were identified for sex, age group, race, resident rurality, average number of comorbidities, disposition status, and year (all p < 0.01). The incidence rate of IE increased from 2.5/100,000 in 2016 to 6.9/100,000 in 2022 in patients aged 36 to 49 years with OUD (p = 0.02). Patients with IE and OUD who were discharged home had significantly longer lengths of stay in acute care hospitals (32.9 vs. 15.3 days; p < 0.01) and excessive hospital charges ($308,874 vs. $188,862) compared to those without OUD. Conclusions: Major changes have occurred in the demographics of IE in SC. The increasing incidence rate of IE in younger adults with OUD coupled with prolonged stays at acute care hospitals pose challenges to the healthcare system that require creative solutions. Full article

In the face of the growing challenges of the Anthropocene—marked by climate change, biodiversity loss, and increasing rates of disease and despair—this paper explores the need for holistic solutions that integrate cultural and spiritual transformation as essential dimensions of change. Recognizing that the interconnected challenges to planetary health stem from destructive socio-political agendas and unhealthy economic structures, we underscore the importance of worldviews and value systems as root causes of social and ecological injustices. Solutions require an understanding of the complex interdependence of systems, fostering mutualistic mindsets, and healing the ‘relationship crisis’ between humans and the natural world by cultivating a deeper level of consciousness. In response to these urgent needs, we describe Earthrise—a community of engaged contemplative practice led by the Nova Institute for Health in collaboration with the Planetary Health Alliance—dedicated to spiritual and cultural transformation in the face of today’s complex crises. Through intentional spiritual relationships—with ourselves, each other, and the natural world—our community emphasizes the power of narrative co-creation in building social cohesion and collective action for environmental stewardship. Our work is not solely contemplative, but also relational and integrative—embodying values through lived practice, community, and ecological engagement. Our activities focus on developing cultural capacities and self-awareness as essential foundations for fair and sustainable social transformation. By integrating diverse perspectives, including ancestral wisdom and Indigenous knowledge systems, we enrich worldviews and deepen our connection to the planet. The Earthrise community seeks to cultivate a sense of belonging, nurturing the meaningful relationships that foster compassion and care. Central to our approach is the use of creative emergence, leveraging the arts to inspire change and catalyze new paradigms. Through this exploration of interconnected themes, we contend that spiritual and cultural transformation is vital to advancing a thriving future, where human flourishing and planetary health are understood as inseparable and interconnected goals. Full article

Background/Objectives: Art-based community projects positively impact mental health recovery by fostering creativity, self-expression, and social engagement. Despite growing evidence on participatory art interventions, limited studies have used a mixed-methods approach to examine their effects. The present study examines how participation in the Artistic Couples project influences individuals’ subjective perceptions of recovery, psychological well-being, and self-stigma. Methods: This exploratory multi-center study employed an embedded mixed-methods design, integrating qualitative Photovoice methodology with a quantitative pre–post survey. Participants (N = 30) from five mental health institutions across Catalonia engaged in collaborative art creation with local artists. Qualitative data from Photovoice discussions and semi-structured interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis, while quantitative data from standardized measures were examined using paired t-tests and correlation analysis. Results: Qualitative findings revealed the following three key themes: (1) artmaking as an artistic couple, emphasizing the collaborative process and art as a means of self-expression; (2) social connections, highlighting increased belonging, emotional support, and reduced loneliness; and (3) understanding mental health recovery, showcasing art’s role in identity reconstruction and personal growth. Quantitative results indicated a significant improvement in the “Connecting and Belonging” subscale of the RAS-DS (t = −2.51; p = 0.023), particularly among women (t = −2.85; p = 0.019), suggesting enhanced social integration. However, no statistically significant changes were observed in overall recovery, well-being, or self-stigma scores. Conclusions: This study provides evidence that participatory community art projects enhance social connections and self-expression, which are key elements of mental health recovery. The findings suggest that creative collaborations facilitate emotional processing and challenge stigma. The improvement in social belonging supports integrating arts-based interventions in recovery-oriented care. Future research should examine long-term effects and gender-sensitive approaches. Full article

Genesis 2:15 has been widely used to support both a vocational dimension of work and an earth-caring attitude that goes beyond the dominion narrative of Genesis 1:28. However, this verse has not been interpreted to ground the connection between theology of work and ecotheology. Based on the concept of Christian materialism proposed by Saint Josemaría Escrivá, we give a new interpretation to this biblical passage in order to ground the human vocation to work by linking it to the need to care for or preserve the earth. Therefore, the transformation of creation that most professional activities carry out is qualified by the duty to do it with “care”, that is, to transform the natural world with due respect for God’s original creative plan. In this way, work can become co-creative, and the transformation of nature that work entails is linked to a divine call to develop it with respect for the inner meaning of all creatures. Full article

Research about the lived experiences of asylum-seeking and refugee youth can evoke powerful emotions for those involved. Young people who escaped perilous situations often bear strong emotions linked to their experiences of migration and displacement, as well as their encounters with disorientation, insecurity, isolation, discrimination and racism in unfamiliar contexts in the host society. Such emotions and emotionally charged places can be challenging to work with as researchers and require reflexive and situated methodological and ethical judgements. This paper investigates the emotional complexities of fieldwork with vulnerable young people by reflecting on (dis)comfort and discusses how to negotiate these issues with care and consideration. It draws from qualitative participatory and creative fieldwork experiences using story mapping, photovoice, walk-along and community theatre approaches in Amsterdam, Brussels, Leipzig and Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. It reports on a range of critical ethical and methodological issues that arose in our work that address meaningful relationships, reciprocity and trust, understanding the field, positionality and reflexivity, and challenges around the co-production of knowledge and leaving the field. Throughout, the paper flags various complex and, at times, ambiguous ethical and methodological issues that emerged throughout the research process and argues for research approaches that are sensitive to the contextual and multi-faceted nature of investigating young refugees and asylum seekers in European cities. Full article

Background: Even while technology is advancing quickly in many areas, the healthcare industry, particularly emergency departments, is slow to incorporate new technologies. The majority of research is on healthcare in general, with few studies examining medical officers’ adoption of technology in emergency departments. Methods: This study used a comprehensive review design and examined a total of 30 peer-reviewed articles that were published between 2019 and 2024. The articles were reviewed by using keywords such as “technology adoption”, “influence factors”, “medical technology”, “barriers”, “healthcare”, “emergency departments”, “ED”, and so on. This review aimed to identify barriers and facilitators to provide insights to improve technology adoption in emergency departments. Results: The studies were conducted using different techniques, including surveys, interviews, and systematic reviews, to examine technology adoption in emergency departments across different geographic locations. The technologies studied include clinical decision support systems, telemedicine, electronic health records, and AI-based innovations. Several barriers were discovered in this study, including high employee turnover, accessibility issues, insufficient technology availability, resistance to change, and excessive workload. Key enabling facilitators were also identified, namely, good collaboration and communication, a supportive and engaged management team, and rigorous education and training. Conclusions: This study highlights that tailored strategies and collaboration are essential to overcoming barriers in emergency departments, which will lead to faster adoption of technologies that improve patient outcomes and efficiency. Further research will involve performing a deeper study of these findings and investigating more creative techniques to improve technology integration and further establish higher standards of care inside emergency departments. Full article

This article explores the transformative potential of Artful Ageing as a conceptual framework for enriching experiences in later life. By synthesising Manning’s theory of minor gestures with Basting’s creative care approach, the article demonstrates how Artful Ageing fundamentally reconfigures our understanding of the ageing experience. The findings indicate that this framework transforms ageing from a narrative of decline into a dynamic process of becoming, where physical and existential spaces intertwine to create opportunities for emancipatory experiences. The transformative power emerges through what Manning terms “art-as-practice” and Basting describes as “moments of awe”—small, ephemeral encounters that carry profound potential for connection and meaning-making. This study reveals how Artful Ageing transforms conventional care environments into cultural spaces where creativity becomes embedded in everyday interactions rather than isolated to scheduled activities. The author identifies how this approach enables a shift from outcome-oriented interventions focused primarily on physical health to process-oriented engagements that honour the non-rational and in-between elements of ageing lives. The research demonstrates that when implemented, Artful Ageing transforms not only individual experiences but also relational dynamics and institutional structures, challenging biopolitical agendas embedded in current regimes of active ageing. This transformative framework ultimately offers new pathways for understanding and supporting meaningful engagement throughout later life. Full article

Over the past two decades, surgical techniques in colorectal cancer (CRC) have improved patient outcomes through precision and reduced invasiveness. Open colectomy, laparoscopic surgery, robotic-assisted procedures, and advanced rectal cancer treatments such as total mesorectal excision (TME) and transanal TME are discussed in this article. Traditional open colectomy offers reliable resection but takes longer to recover. Laparoscopic surgery transformed CRC care by improving oncological outcomes, postoperative pain, and recovery. Automated surgery improves laparoscopy’s dexterity, precision, and 3D visualisation, making it ideal for rectal cancer pelvic dissections. TME is the gold standard treatment for rectal cancer, minimising local recurrence, while TaTME improves access for low-lying tumours, preserving the sphincter. In metastatic CRC, palliative procedures help manage blockage, perforation, and bleeding. Clinical examples and landmark trials show each technique’s efficacy in personalised care. Advanced surgical techniques and multidisciplinary approaches have improved CRC survival and quality of life. Advances in CRC treatment require creativity and customised surgery. Full article

Pastoral supervision and spiritual direction are inherently personal in nature. They reveal a transformative life of spiritual and soul care demanding the formation of theological reflection, healing, guidance, and discernment. Whilst pastoral supervision serves to guide theological reflection on service and mission, spiritual direction facilitates the moments of awakening to the presence and narrative of God’s grace and work in the depths of the soul. Under the light of Catholic Social Teaching, the notions of solidarity and subsidiarity will be pressed into service to unveil a common spiritual–theological foundation animating the roots of both these ministries. To understand the common dynamics of pastoral supervision and spiritual direction, the article develops a spiritual theology to reveal that both ministries, however distinct in practice, share the same incarnational (creative) and redemptive (re-creative) qualities. In other words, they both share the same source, root, origin, or existence in God’s word and grace. This comes to light by learning to pronounce love in truth, a prophetical work of solidarity and subsidiarity, of friendship and sharing orienting integral human development to listen and respond to God’s movement. The actions of solidarity and subsidiarity are rooted in the beatitude of righteousness revealing the little goodness, a work of possibility and responsibility. Such actions serve to transform the time of ministry into spaces of blessing and mystery, of appreciating the sacredness and unknowability of the other with boldness, curiosity and gentleness. The article concludes by showing how both ministries of pastoral supervision and spiritual direction share the spiritual-pastoral appeal to form communities witnessing the little goodness of love in truth. Full article

Increasingly, growing older is something we do alongside technologies. Often, through mobile media, our everyday practices of informal caring are being digitally mediated and mediatised. From apps such as Whatsapp to iOS Health, how digital technology is used to provide informal care in later life is poorly understood. Care operates intergenerationally and bilaterally—older adults often caring for young children as well as adult children caring for older adults with declining capacity. Mobile media technology has become an integral part of these informal care practices. Understanding what older people do with technology is important to map different media literacies, possibilities, and limitations in practice. In this paper, which draws on a larger study, we explore older adults’ informal digital practices through creative practice workshops in Victoria, Australia. In what we called ‘playshops’, we deployed playful and creative methods such as postcard prompts and mapping exercises to explore informal care practices used by older adults, many of which are so mundane that they remain invisible and are potentially missed in research. We performed this to map uses, barriers, and possibilities of mobile technologies in providing and receiving care. Based on these playshops, we argue that when digital media is used in everyday ways, it can lead to greater social connection and informal care for, with, and through older people. These everyday acts of care give voice and visibility to the diverse ways older people use technology to facilitate informal care practises. Full article