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“Honoring their stories”: care providers’ understanding of psychosocial concerns among Bhutanese American older adults with refugee life experience

Purpose This paper aims to explore the barriers and facilitators to psychosocial well-being among ethnic Nepali Bhutanese American older adults from the perspective of health care and service providers working with this population. Specifically, the authors aimed to understand health-care and service providers’ perceptions of the psychosocial well-being in this community and appropriate interventions. Design/methodology/approach Qualitative research methods were used to collect and analyze data in collaboration with a community-based organization. A total of ten participants were interviewed. Interviews were conducted in either English or Nepali, based on participant preference. An inductive thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data. Findings Three major themes were generated from the analysis. The first two were in reference to perceived barriers to mental well-being among Bhutanese American older adults: isolation that older adults faced in the USA and shifting responsibilities and lifestyles that arose from the cultural and structural barriers in the USA. Throughout these themes, there was an understanding that acculturation threatened families’ connections to each other and impacted older adults’ connections with younger generations. The third theme, a perceived facilitator of well-being, was the power of storytelling to counteract feelings of isolation and disempowerment caused by shifting lifestyles felt by older adults, especially amid community events. Originality/value Bhutanese American older adults, many of whom have limited English proficiency, face numerous challenges, psychosocial stressors and factors contributing to well-being. Care for this population should prioritize dignity, empowerment and the incorporation of strengths within their narratives. Interventions and services tailored for older Bhutanese American adults need to be adapted to integrate multiple care systems.

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“Sweeten the (i)-deal”: unveiling power and influence dynamics in family small and medium-sized enterprises

PurposeFamily small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) represent a substantial part of many economies. In these organizations, close and informal relationships between employers and employees often foster a mutual understanding of each other’s needs, facilitating the negotiation of idiosyncratic deals (i-deals), special employment conditions tailored for individual employees. However, research on how i-deals are negotiated in family SMEs, especially regarding power dynamics and influence, remains limited. This study aims to identify the types of i-deals negotiated in family SMEs and explore the role of power and influence in these negotiations.Design/methodology/approachSemi-structured interviews were conducted with 45 employees and 15 employers from Spanish family SMEs. Data were analyzed using ATLAS.ti 8, and thematic analysis was performed.FindingsThe study concludes that task, flexibility, financial and development i-deals are particularly negotiated in family SMEs. It identifies that referent and expert power play an important role in initiating these negotiations. Furthermore, rational tactics are generally employed for negotiating work performance, soft tactics for employment-related aspects and hard tactics for work flexibility. Additionally, the study identified gender differences in the negotiation of i-deals.Research limitations/implicationsThis study enhances i-deal literature by highlighting the distinct characteristics of family SMEs and their impact on i-deal negotiations. The findings suggest that power dynamics and influence tactics in family SMEs differ from those in larger firms. Moreover, certain i-deals may encounter resistance due to concerns about organizational performance and economic implications. Understanding these factors is essential for developing effective negotiation strategies in family SMEs.Originality/valueThis study offers a dual perspective, analyzing the power and influence tactics used by both employees and employers in family SME i-deal negotiations and highlighting gendered dynamics in these processes.

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AAFS (Victorian branch) Symposium: Science and Medicine in the Courts—Learning from the wrongful conviction of Kathleen Folbigg

ABSTRACT Kathleen Folbigg spent 20 years in jail, wrongly convicted for smothering her four infant children. An unprecedented second judicial Inquiry found they died naturally. New genetic and psychiatric evidence unlocked the wrongful conviction, but it was always questionable. A Symposium held by the AAFS (Victorian Branch) detailed the timeline of the numerous events, then identified and discussed the issues. What were the failings and why were they missed? What part did expert witnesses, judges and lawyers play in this wrongful conviction? Did the prosecution appeal to misogyny? How did the first Inquiry get it so wrong? How did it fail to correctly understand the genetics? Was Ms Folbigg treated disrespectfully, and if so, what did that mean about fact finding? How did the failures of disclosure affect the original conviction and its various appeals? What explains the NSW Court of Appeal’s decision to reject an appeal based on jury misbehaviour during Ms Folbigg’s trial? Should we be more careful about the language we use in criminal trials? There was general agreement that the frailties of Kathleen Folbigg’s convictions were readily visible from the beginning. Will the criminal justice system learn the lessons that emerge from this case?

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