Background Nonbinary individuals grapple with societal and individual pressures from a pervasive lack of comprehension, acknowledgment, and affirmative social representation. This dearth of a societal conversation recognizing the validity of nonbinary identities leads to instances of discrimination. Social support is recognized as a buffer to these experiences and is positively related to better physical and psychological health. Aims To explore the processes nonbinary people experienced with their most significant relationships, be it romantic, friendships, and/or family members, before and after disclosure of nonbinary identification. Additionally, we sought to contextualize their participation, or nonparticipation, in activist groups and virtual communities. Methods The present study adopts a qualitative methodology to build an initial understanding of the perceived social support of non-binary people in Portugal. We conducted non-structured life story interviews with thirty-three Portuguese nonbinary people and analyzed the collected data using thematic analysis. Results The findings are illustrated by two main themes: the Flow of Relational Support, where we explored the support perceived or not by the most significant relationships; and The Search and Find of Community Support, where we characterized the search and find of support through the participation in activist and virtual communities/groups. Discussion The current findings illustrate the positive influence of perceived social support on the experiences of nonbinary individuals. Of note, these experiences were highly diverse, with no participants reporting comprehensive support from all the sources explored. Additionally, the detrimental impact of perceiving a lack of support in some critical areas remained prominent. Individuals struggled to gain recognition and validation, resulting from a lack of relational support and a reluctance to seek out and find community support. Nonbinary individuals confront intense scrutiny and prejudice from the broader social sphere, compromising their ability to live openly.

ABSTRACT This paper examines how the renewed critical emphasis on reflexive professionalisation in the field of social work can take into account the challenges regarding the politics of democratic participation of service users as citizens while working towards social justice. Our contribution is based on the findings of a collaborative European research project involving researchers, students, public service organisations, service user organisations, and educators from various European countries. The aim of the project was to gain a differentiated and in-depth understanding of how reflexive professionalisation in social work may function as a concept and practice that stimulates social care that integrates a commitment to democratic citizen participation. Based on a qualitative content analysis of 21 transnational empirical case studies, we identify four vital dimensions of developing reflexive and democratic participatory approaches in social service contexts: (1) cultivating a historical awareness of how the professional identity and mandate of social workers has been and is currently (nationally) defined; (2) articulating the professional positions and normative value orientations that underpin (participatory) practice development; (3) reflecting on the constructions of problems, service user identities and related actions; and (4) creating space for ambiguity, risks and mistakes.

ABSTRACT This study explores the relationship between spirituality and successful aging in older adults in Portugal. The sample includes 58 participants aged 65 to 89. The findings reveal high levels of spirituality and psychological well-being. There is a significant correlation between spiritual beliefs and hope/optimism, indicating the positive influence of spirituality on emotional well-being. Additionally, spirituality is positively associated with autonomy, highlighting its role in fostering independence in later life. The thematic analysis identifies key themes, including participants´ connection to a higher power, personal well-being, and the lifelong importance of spirituality. These findings emphasize spirituality as a coping mechanism and a source of purpose and meaning in the later stages of life.

Introduction and objectivesStudies on younger frail and pre-frail subjects suffering from heart failure (HF) are scarce, except for those focusing on the critically ill. This work aims to describe differences between younger (<65 years) and older (≥65 years) pre-frail and frail HF outpatients regarding their nutritional, functional and clinical statuses. MethodsIn this cross-sectional study, a sample of 99 HF frail and pre-frail patients (aged 24–81 years, 38.4% women, 21.2% frail, 59.6% <65 years) was recruited from an HF outpatients’ clinic in northern Portugal. Muscle mass was estimated from mid-upper arm muscle circumference. Weight status was assessed using body mass index. Hand grip strength and gait speed were measured. Medical records were reviewed. Associations between participants’ characteristics and age were calculated using binary logistic regression. ResultsAge was associated with hand grip strength (OR=0.90), gait speed (OR=0.01) and diabetes (OR=4.95). Obesity, muscle mass or heart failure functional classes were not associated with age categories. ConclusionThere is an overall lack of differentiation between younger and older HF patients with the frailty phenotype. Therefore, frailty phenotype should be assessed in all patients, regardless of age. Hand grip strength seems to be a good predictor for older age and more studies are needed to define age-specific hand grip strength cut-offs for HF populations.

ABSTRACT The quality of dyad interaction seems crucial to the client’s decision to drop out of psychotherapy. To characterize the client’s lack of change and the patterns of therapeutic collaboration in a dropout of psychodynamic therapy for Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD), we used the Therapeutic Collaboration Coding System (TCCS) to assess collaborative work and the Assimilation of Problematic Experiences Scale (APES) to rate client change. The software GridWare was used to characterize patterns of therapeutic collaboration and the R software to describe the client’s change. The dyad worked in a comfort zone for the client, with the therapist supporting the client’s problematic perspective and the client responding with Safety. The APES results showed that the client did not change, remaining in control through avoidance of thinking and discussing his problematic experience. Our results challenge the potential impact of therapists’ interventions on BPD clients’ comfort zones, suggesting that too much focus on their Therapeutic Zone of Proximal Development’s actual level might not be productive.

Abstract Centrality measures are used in network science to assess the centrality of vertices or the position they occupy in a network. There are a large number of centrality measures according to some criterion. However, the generalizations of the most well-known centrality measures for weighted networks, degree centrality, closeness centrality and betweenness centrality have solely assumed the edge weights to be constants. This article proposes a methodology to generalize degree, closeness and betweenness centralities taking into account the variability of edge weights in the form of closed intervals (interval-weighted networks, IWN). We apply our centrality measures approach to two real-world IWN. The first is a commuter network in mainland Portugal, between the 23 NUTS 3 Regions. The second focuses on annual merchandise trade between 28 European countries, from 2003 to 2015.

Legacies are key components of the aging experience. Three types of legacies have been described: biological, material, and values. This paper focuses on biological legacy, centering on the experience of receiving and transmitting the genes associated with transthyretin-related amyloid familial polyneuropathy (TTR-FAP). This study adopts the self-confrontation method (SCM) to explore narratives about biological legacies on individuals affected by TTR-FAP. The study included four participants, who are both in the receiver (affected by the condition, meaning they have inherited the disease-causing mutation) and in the transmitter (potentially passing on the mutation to their children) positions. The participants are two men and two women, aged 45–65 years old; all have children. Data analysis was performed by following the SCM, identifying life themes and determining affective meanings. The main findings suggested include: (1) in the receiver position, participants focus on treatment and adaptation regarding the disease attached to both negative and positive affective meanings; (2) in the transmitter position, they focus on awareness of the disease in children and grandchildren attached to negative affective meanings. Results are relevant for informing genetic counseling services and professionals about these patients’ feelings toward their condition.

ABSTRACT Loneliness is a subjective experience escalating worldwide and affecting older adults. Digital solutions can play a major role in addressing loneliness, although its use has been facing resistance due to scarce involvement of older adults in its design. MOAI LABS is an ongoing European project that adopts a co-design process to develop digital solutions to address loneliness in older adults. This study reports the experience of loneliness shared by a group of eight community-dwelling older Portuguese adults (aged 64 to 86 years old), who are “experts by experience” (who feel alone). Findings were obtained from two co-creation sessions that were audio-recorded, and transcribed. The data analysis was performed involving the research team and the “experts by experience.” Three themes emerged: 1) loneliness as a detrimental “state of the soul”; 2) loneliness reinforced by features of the aging process; and 3) loneliness builds more loneliness. MOAI LABS co-design process of digital solutions will embrace these experiences and involve frontline gerontological social workers who have experience with older adults’ loneliness.

AbstractThe acceptance of happiness studies within economics was a surprising event. The materialistic and theoretical conception of utility in modern economics deemed any attempt to measure and analyze the subjective dimension of utility unscientific. Nevertheless, some economists were unsatisfied with such preconceptions. In this paper we argue that ordinalism, being an incomplete and inconsistent form of economic analysis of welfare, opened the floor for alternative definitions of welfare and utility. In particular, some economists prone to interdisciplinarity and specialized on topics where welfare issues were more relevant (such as labor or welfare economics), saw in the cardinality of subjective well‐being data an opportunity to remedy those problems. The data availability and scientific analysis of happiness from the 1990s onwards, gave credit to the utilization of subjective well‐being in economics and paved the way for happiness in economics, which is now a dynamic research topic with empirical findings that challenge standard welfare analysis and policy advice. We conclude this paper with some policy implications and with what happiness has yet to contribute to economics.