Search Results (453)

This article presents a practice-oriented methodological proposal for designing inclusive multimodal learning content with Generative AI (GAI) in migrant adult literacy. It does not report an experimental intervention or a statistical evaluation of learning outcomes. Its contribution lies in formalizing a context-sensitive design pathway for early preA1–A2 literacy and language-learning provision in Italian CPIA settings, where learner profiles are highly heterogeneous, attendance may be discontinuous, and written language is both a learning goal and a barrier to participation. Unlike generic AI-supported instructional design frameworks, the proposed approach starts from recurrent communicative needs in adult migrant education and translates them into short, modular and reusable learning artifacts that coordinate textual, visual, audio-oral and interactive layers. The framework distinguishes multimodal design, understood as the pedagogical coordination of different semiotic modes, from the mere use of multiple media. It also integrates accessibility as a set of concrete design criteria, including linguistic readability, visual clarity, audio quality, layout, font size, contrast, cognitive load and usability in print or mobile formats. The article outlines a sequence of design operations: mapping learner profiles, selecting situated communicative scenarios, generating and revising textual material, developing visual and audio scaffolds, structuring guided interaction, and applying pedagogical, cultural and ethical review. An illustrative micro-unit on asking for information at a municipal office shows how this pathway can support dialog, visual glossary, audio practice, role-play and formative assessment. The proposal is intended for CPIA educators, adult literacy professionals, instructional designers and researchers in multimedia learning and educational technology. Its educational implication is that GAI can support inclusive material design only when its outputs are treated as provisional resources to be selected, adapted and validated through human pedagogical judgment. Full article

The agricultural sector in Greece heavily relies on migrant workers, particularly from South Asian countries, such as Bangladesh, Pakistan, and India. Research has shown that these workers face numerous challenges, including unsanitary living conditions, exposure to hazardous working conditions, harmful chemicals, a lack of safety equipment, accidents, abuse, violence, and exploitative conduct from employers. Drawing on 45 in-depth interviews, this article analyzes the experiences of Bangladeshi migrant farmworkers employed as strawberry pickers in Nea Manolada, Greece. This study specifically examines how precarious and harsh working conditions in the agricultural sector affect the health, quality of life, and social integration of these unskilled workers. Evidence from the empirical sample reveals that Bangladeshi workers experience hazardous working environments, a lack of labor rights and contracts, chronic job insecurity, and exposure to harmful chemicals and are particularly vulnerable to injury, exploitation, and poverty due to the ethnic–racial division of labor, legal uncertainty, threats of deportation, overcrowded and unsanitary housing, poor nutrition, persistent job insecurity, health risks, and limited access to healthcare. These challenges and inequalities, both in employment and health, are seen as situations akin to modern slavery. This study underscores the urgent need for legislative, labor, and public health interventions to address the specific conditions faced by Bangladeshi migrant workers in the agricultural sector. While this research provides an in-depth insight into this group, it also acknowledges limitations regarding gender, sector, and wider representativeness. The results contribute to a nuanced understanding of the intersection between legal status, the ethnic–racial division of labor, working conditions, health, and quality of life among South Asian migrant agricultural workers in Southern Europe. Full article

Faith-based organizations are significant but underexplored sites of cross-cultural integration in migration contexts. While scholarship has focused on migrants’ experiences, less attention has been paid to how receiving institutions navigate their own religious identity when migration-driven diversity enters their midst. This article addresses this gap by introducing the Identity in Diversity (IDiD) framework, an instrument for assessing organizational orientations toward diversity and collective identity. Rooted in the philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas, particularly his concepts of le visage (the face of the Other) and le tiers (the third party), the framework proposes four organizational identity styles (achromatic, monochrome, rainbow, kaleidoscopic) reflecting different orientations toward difference, from functional indifference through formal tolerance to transformative encounter. The scale was validated across five studies (n > 2000) and applied in a mixed-methods study within a Catholic diocesan institution in Australia where 56.6% of staff have a migration background. Findings reveal a significant aspirational gap—staff strongly prefer the kaleidoscopic style (+0.74), while normative scores for rainbow and achromatic styles decline, indicating a demand for transformative inclusion grounded in shared vocation rather than formal tolerance. We conclude that Levinasian ethics, extended through le tiers to institutional contexts, offers a philosophically robust and empirically operationalizable foundation for rethinking how faith-based organizations respond to the ethical demands of migration. Full article

Background/Objectives: The aim of the study is to determine factors that affect informal caregivers’ ability to care for older migrants with dementia, with a broad aim of providing a framework for improving regional formal support. We used patient journey mapping as a method to identify experiences of informal caregivers. Methods: The study took place in three phases. In the first phase, the content of the patient journey was outlined, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 14 informal caregivers of people with dementia and a migrant background. In the second phase, results of the interviews were discussed in workshops with professionals. In the third phase, professionals worked together on a plan for improving care and support. Results: Besides positive experiences with care and support, informal caregivers expressed the need for knowledge and training, timely information as well as practical culturally sensitive care and support. Professionals expressed a need for more knowledge of culturally sensitive issues and conversation techniques. They also indicated the need for more integrated care and the ability to offer practical solutions for informal caregivers. As a final result, a multidisciplinary programme on improving knowledge, information for clients, informal caregivers and professionals, use of key figures, culturally sensitive support, a multidisciplinary care path and education for future professionals was launched for the region. Conclusions: A patient journey is a valuable method to pinpoint problems and needs of informal caregivers as well as professionals. It provides a foundation for multidisciplinary communication and collaboration to improve care and support. Full article

Migrant resettlement communities in large-scale development regions face persistent pressures from environmental change, livelihood disruption, and social restructuring. Evaluating resilience in such communities requires a framework that captures both external stressors and internal adaptive capacity. This study asks whether differences in resilience between resettlement communities are driven more by differences in external pressure exposure or by differences in internal development conditions. To address this question it applies a Pressure–State–Response (PSR) framework to assess community resilience in the Three Gorges Reservoir Area (TGRA) of China. A four-level indicator system of 29 variables was developed across pressure, state, and response dimensions. Weights were determined by combining the Analytic Hierarchy Process with the entropy method; standardisation and entropy weights were computed across all 25 surveyed communities. Survey data statistical records, and remote sensing information were collected from 25 migrant resettlement communities. Three of these communities—CT, SQ, and GGB—were then selected by purposive maximum-variation sampling for detailed comparison. Results show that overall resilience ranked CT (0.646) > GGB (0.600) > SQ (0.483), with state resilience contributing the largest share to composite scores in all three communities. Obstacle-factor analysis revealed distinct constraint profiles: CT was primarily limited by ecological pressure, SQ by weak livelihood development, and GGB by limited industrial diversity and incomplete social integration. These findings indicate that resilience in resettlement communities depends more on internal development quality than on exposure levels alone; a Monte Carlo analysis confirmed that this ordering held in 99.9% of simulated draws. Differentiated governance strategies are needed rather than uniform approaches. The PSR-based framework and obstacle-factor diagnosis provide a practical tool for assessing and improving resilience in communities shaped by large-scale infrastructure development. Full article

Background: This study investigates information-flow and logistics coordination challenges in Saudi Arabian construction projects within the context of ongoing national infrastructure developments, severe climatic conditions, and evolving labor regulations. Methods: Utilizing the Supply Chain Operations Reference (SCOR) framework, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 29 construction professionals spanning site-level engineers, logistics managers, project executives, and material suppliers over an extended 20-month monitoring period (March 2024–October 2025). Data were analyzed using thematic coding and mapped across the SCOR domains. Results: The findings reveal that logistics vulnerabilities stem predominantly from systemic information-sharing deficiencies, fragmented digital workflows, and weak stakeholder integration rather than standalone material constraints. Operational disruptions across Plan, Source, Make, Deliver, and Return are compounded by region-specific barriers including extreme thermal stress, migrant labor turnover, and high administrative fees for reverse logistics. Conclusions: To address these challenges, the study formulates a tiered, context-adjusted deployment framework for digital integration (BIM, IoT, and real-time tracking) tailored for both large infrastructure schemes and small-to-medium contractors. Staged implementation pathways and policy recommendations are provided to enhance supply chain resilience. Full article

Education for sustainability should connect planetary environmental change with local place, cultural meaning, and feasible collective action. Yet inclusive arts-based ocean-literacy education remains underexamined, especially for children from migrant backgrounds. This study examines Gyeongju Sea Rescue Team: Protecting the Sea through Minhwa, a five-session programme for elementary-school children from Koryoin and other migrant-background families in South Korea. A provenance-separated dual-strand design combined hybrid thematic analysis of programme documents and non-identifying artwork images with a fully synthetic 100-case corpus used only to audit a future artwork-elicitation protocol and codebook. The documentary strand identified four provisional mechanisms: the ecological reinterpretation of auspicious symbols, localisation through Gyeongju’s maritime heritage, multimodal participation across linguistic differences, and collective stewardship. The synthetic audit did not validate these mechanisms or programme outcomes. Instead, participant-correction and self-action prompts generated more clearly codable material on agency, cultural identity, multilingual meaning-making, and intercultural integration. Two designed perturbation passes yielded a quadratic-weighted kappa of 0.726 as a within-corpus stability diagnostic rather than human intercoder reliability. Diagnostic cases exposed adult projection, assimilationist interpretation, pressure to disclose private meanings, and advice without self-agency. The article proposes a provisional MIOL framework and four safeguards: child-led interpretation, reciprocal cultural exchange, appropriate consent and permissions, and continuity from symbolic expression to sustained action. Synthetic outputs concern method development only and do not represent children’s experiences or programme effectiveness. Full article

Despite the Chinese government’s efforts to promote social integration, migrants continue to face considerable obstacles in adapting to the urban life. These obstacles arise not only from the constraints of the hukou system, but also from the difficulties in sociocultural adaptation. While the literature on social integration is extensive, there remains a lack of a comprehensive and cohesive framework for assessing social integration of migrants in China. This study addresses this gap by developing the Social Integration of Migrants Scale (SIMS), an instrument designed to capture the multifaceted nature of migrant integration in urban China. Using a sample of 600 migrants from Shenzhen, China, the SIMS was tested for reliability, factorial validity, convergent validity, and discriminant validity. The results demonstrate the strong internal consistency of the scale. Factor analyses identified six key dimensions of integration: economic integration, acculturation, perceived discrimination, social relationships, civic engagement, and identity integration. The findings provided initial evidence of convergent and discriminant validity based on the scale’s internal structure. The SIMS thus offers a promising multidimensional instrument for assessing the integration of migrants within Chinese urban contexts, with external criterion validation identified as a priority for future research. Full article

Hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), and hepatitis D virus (HDV), together with HIV and bacterial sexually transmitted infections (STIs), account for a rising toll of more than one million deaths annually and overlap within shared behavioral and social networks, yet are still diagnosed through separate, pathogen-specific pathways. This narrative review synthesizes contemporary evidence on the convergence between viral hepatitis, HIV, and high-risk STI groups—men who have sex with men, pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) users, people practicing chemsex, people who inject drugs, incarcerated populations, and migrants from endemic regions—and characterizes the diagnostic technologies and linkage-to-care models available to address it. Despite effective antivirals, the diagnostic cascade remains the principal bottleneck: most people with chronic HCV are undiagnosed, and HDV—with a pooled anti-HDV seroprevalence of approximately 4.5% among HBsAg-positive individuals—is its clearest expression, as most carriers are never tested. Reflex algorithms, multiplex panels, point-of-care assays, dried blood spots, and electronic health record alerts are validated but unevenly implemented. We argue that, alongside persistent resource, political, and equity-related constraints, a substantial share of the remaining barriers is operational rather than purely technological, and propose a practical, STI-clinic-centered framework integrating reflex testing, population-specific periodicity, and explicit linkage pathways toward the WHO 2030 elimination targets. Full article

This study examines how immigrants build the everyday foundations of life in the host society through food provisioning practices. Many previous studies have explored immigrant adaptation from organizational or cultural perspectives. By contrast, this study focuses on the daily procurement of familiar food. It views food provisioning as part of the ongoing process of home in the making, through which home gradually takes shape in everyday life by linking material access, social relations, and cultural continuity. The desire for familiar food is common among immigrants and reflects the habitus embodied through everyday food practices. As migrants enter a new social and material field, this habitus is continuously negotiated and adapted, giving rise to new food provisioning practices. Against this theoretical background, this study examines how these everyday practices shape immigrants’ lives in the host society. This study takes Chinese residents in Japan as research subjects. Based on a questionnaire survey of 317 Chinese residents, this study shows that fresh vegetables and fruits are perceived as particularly difficult to obtain. Some Chinese residents therefore use diverse provisioning practices, including home gardening, sharing, exchange, and small-scale sales. The study then examines cases of Chinese residents’ home gardens and small-scale commercial gardens as sites of food provisioning. The qualitative cases reveal that crop choices, cultivation methods, circulation routes, and garden scale are flexibly adjusted according to family needs, customer demand, land access, labor capacity, and seasonality. These practices enable Chinese residents to secure familiar food, organize everyday life, and develop social relations with co-ethnic residents and members of the wider local society. The findings suggest that garden-based food provisioning represents an informal, everyday pathway of integration shaped by the material and social conditions of life in Japan. Full article

This study investigates the use of the discourse marker cioè in the Italian speech of first- and second-generation migrants living in Naples, focusing on frequency, phonetic realization, pragmatic functions, and syntactic position. While previous research on discourse markers in Italian as a second language has primarily addressed their functional development, their phonetic realization—especially in contact with regional varieties—remains largely unexplored. The analysis is based on a corpus of sociolinguistic interviews collected within the HELLO Campania! Project and includes Sri Lankan and Filipino speakers, compared with a control group of native Neapolitan speakers. Quantitative analyses reveal clear generational differences: first-generation speakers show low frequencies and limited functional range, whereas second-generation speakers display native-like frequency and distribution. Crucially, results show that migrants not only acquire cioè at a functional level but also reproduce locally salient phonetic variants, including variety-specific patterns of phonetic reduction, i.e., [tʃɛ] and [ʃɛ]. These findings suggest that linguistic integration operates across multiple levels and that discourse markers are sensitive sites of sociophonetic accommodation. The study contributes to research on Italian L2 and language contact by highlighting the role of regional phonetic patterns in shaping the acquisition of high-frequency pragmatic items. Full article

Rapid urbanization has intensified inequalities in the built environment (BE), yet their relationship with well-being in areas where vulnerable populations are concentrated remains unclear. Using Shanghai as a case, this study examines the association between BE equity and area-level happiness across five types of vulnerable areas: those with larger numbers of minors, older adults, or migrant residents; economically disadvantaged areas; and areas with limited educational resources. We integrated geotagged Weibo check-in texts collected from January to December 2023, multi-source spatial data, street-view imagery, and interpretable machine learning. ERNIE 3.0 was used to derive sentiment scores from individual posts, which were then aggregated within each spatial unit to construct an area-level happiness score. Thirty-four BE indicators were organized within the 5D framework and analyzed using Mask2Former, Moran’s I, Gini coefficients, LightGBM, and SHAP. Results reveal marked central–peripheral disparities in BE resources and happiness, together with nonlinear and group-specific spatial associations. High-Gini patterns are evident in peri-urban areas, accounting for approximately 67% of vulnerability-focused areas, while strict equity–happiness discordance accounts for 42%. These findings suggest that BE distributional imbalance, adverse high-inequality–low-happiness co-occurrence, and equity–happiness discordance should be distinguished for targeted and inclusive planning. Full article

Housing financialization has transformed residential property from a basic social necessity into a speculative asset, intensifying socio-spatial inequalities in the Global South. In Iran, a bank-dominated financial regime and high spatial inequality severely restrict access to housing finance, particularly for low-income households and climate-induced migrants in mid-sized cities. While the spatial consequences of financialization have been extensively studied in major metropolises, neighborhood-scale exclusion mechanisms in secondary cities remain significantly understudied. This study addresses this gap by employing a hybrid methodology that integrates the Bayesian Best–Worst Method (BWM) with Geographic Information Systems (GISs) and Fuzzy Overlay analysis to quantify and spatially visualize barriers to housing finance in Birjand, Iran. Eleven indicators were weighted through probabilistic expert elicitation (n = 10) using Markov Chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling, with excellent convergence confirmed by Gelman–Rubin diagnostics (R-hat ≈ 1.00). Results identify land use as the dominant barrier (posterior mean = 0.256; 95% CrI [0.244, 0.270]), followed by homeownership rate and education level (≈0.132 each). Spatial modeling reveals a pronounced north–south monetary–spatial divide: southern districts concentrate financial services and formal tenure, while northern peripheries, predominantly inhabited by low-income and climate-migrant populations, constitute financial deserts. These findings demonstrate that spatial barriers to housing finance are structurally embedded in land-use classification and asset-based gatekeeping. The study offers a replicable probabilistic–spatial framework for diagnosing financial exclusion in Global South mid-sized cities and provides evidence-based guidance for spatially targeted policy interventions aligned with SDGs 1, 10, and 11. Full article

Despite significant biomedical advances in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission (MTCT) of HIV, residual transmission and suboptimal maternal outcomes persist across Europe. The challenge is no longer primarily virological but structural: aggregated ART coverage indicators mask important discontinuities across the perinatal care pathway. This scoping review maps evidence on clinical and psychosocial dimensions of the perinatal HIV pathway among adult women living with HIV (WLHIV) in Europe, and identifies key gaps in their integration across the continuum of care. Following PRISMA-ScR guidelines, five databases were searched for studies published between 2010 and 2026. Of 1881 records identified, 109 met inclusion criteria. Findings were synthesized thematically using an inductively developed framework spanning preconception through long-term postpartum outcomes. MTCT rates declined from approximately 1–1.2% in the mid-2000s to below 0.5% in recent data, and vaginal delivery rates increased markedly with sustained viral suppression. However, persistent inequalities remain among younger women, migrants, and those with histories of injecting drug use. Stigma, migration-related vulnerability, mental health difficulties, constrained disclosure, and socioeconomic insecurity shape engagement with care, influencing treatment continuity, retention, and virological outcomes, particularly during the postpartum period. Equitable perinatal HIV outcomes require integrated care models that combine clinical HIV and obstetric services with mental health support, social needs screening, and migration-sensitive services to address the structural conditions shaping care trajectories. A substantial proportion of WLHIV in Europe originate from high-prevalence regions, making perinatal HIV in this context a direct interface between global infectious disease burden and migration health. Addressing care in European settings therefore contributes to broader global health equity goals in HIV elimination. The protocol was pre-registered on Open Science Framework with registration number: 10.17605/OSF.IO/9BZGY. Full article

Background/Objectives: The employment of migrant nurses requires structured support from local nursing staff. However, multiple challenges persist in facilitating effective collaboration. We aimed to clarify the efforts made by Japanese nurses and identify their support needs when working alongside migrant nurses in Japan. Methods: We adopted a qualitative descriptive design. Eighteen Japanese nurses with experience working alongside migrant nurses were recruited through hospitals employing migrant nurses. Semistructured interviews were conducted, and data were analyzed using qualitative descriptive analysis. We classified the codes derived from the participants’ narratives and inductively generated categories. Results: Japanese nurses’ efforts in working alongside migrant nurses were classified into five categories: “Overcoming language barriers,” “Respecting the nursing practices and cultural backgrounds of migrant nurses,” “Encouraging migrant nurses to gain self-confidence,” “Engaging Japanese staff in establishing support systems for migrant nurses,” and “Addressing the personal challenges faced by migrant nurses working abroad.” Three categories of support needs were identified: “Learning about nursing practices and cultural backgrounds of migrant nurses,” “Information exchange on how to support migrant nurses,” and “Support systems for enhancing migrant nurses’ competencies in Japan.” Conclusions: Japanese nurses demonstrated active efforts to address differences in language, culture, and nursing practices, while collaboratively establishing support systems involving other staff members. They also extended support to aspects of migrant nurses’ personal lives. However, additional institutional and external support is required. Structured opportunities should be developed to enhance their understanding of migrant nurses’ backgrounds, alongside continuing education initiatives to support migrant nurses’ integration into the Japanese healthcare system. Full article