Collective Capacity Research Articles

How Can Psychologists and Psychiatrists Help COVID-19 Bereaved Persons: Five propositions to Understanding Contextual Challenges

The COVID-19 pandemic is causing unprecedented cumulative deaths and leaving behind millions of bereaved families and individuals. Moreover, the pandemic is disrupting social fabrics in the conventional way we mourn our deads. In this context therefore, how can psychologists, psychiatrists and other health care professionals help bereaved families and individuals more effectively? This opinion paper proposed five recommendations that cover mental health care needs and challenges which may emerge from the management of these traumatic deaths. In all, efforts to comply with either DSM-5 or ICD-11 PGD guidelines could help COVID-19 bereaved persons with overwhelming distress, as they ensure therapists' use of appropriate terminologies in therapeutic alliances. However, clinicians need to have a global perspective of COVID-19 bereavement courses, political and public health measures due to the pandemic, and flexible attitudes about the ICD-11 and of DSM-5 time-criterion for diagnosis. This paper emphasizes the importance of social and collective recognition of COVID-19 deaths through various symbolic and materialized forms to free up collective and individual capacities for resilience. The necessity of individual and group interventions through online platforms is underscored, however these modes of therapies may not reinforce social inequalities by excluding bereaved individuals who really need them.

“Signs that herald the future”

The response addresses Lévy-Bruhl's 1926 essay, “Primitive mentality and games of chance,” focusing on the gambler's role as an interpreter of the present for the sake of the future. Through a discussion of Lévy-Bruhl's articulation of the gambler's mentality, the gambling game fafi, and the invisible forces that dictate chance, the piece offers a reading that emphasizes the significance of interpretation and a collective capacity to read the “signs that herald the future.”

Fostering successful and sustainable collaborations to advance implementation science: the adolescent HIV prevention and treatment implementation science alliance.

IntroductionHIV continues to devastate the adolescent population in sub‐Saharan Africa (SSA). The complex array of interpersonal, social, structural and system‐level obstacles specific to adolescents have slowed progress in prevention and treatment of HIV in this population. The field of implementation science holds promise for addressing these challenges.DiscussionThere is growing consensus that enhanced interactions between researchers and users of scientific evidence are important and necessary to tackle enduring barriers to implementation. In 2017, the Fogarty International Center launched the Adolescent HIV Prevention and Treatment Implementation Science Alliance (AHISA) to promote communication and catalyse collaboration among implementation scientists and implementers to enhance the cross‐fertilization of insights as research advances and the implementation environment evolves. This network has identified key implementation science questions for adolescent HIV, assessed how members’ research is addressing them, and is currently conducting a concept mapping exercise to more systematically identify implementation research priorities. In addition, AHSA pinpointed common challenges to addressing these questions and discussed their collective capacity to conduct implementation science using the shared learning approach of the network. Specifically, AHISA addresses challenges related to capacity building, developing mentorship, engaging stakeholders, and involving adolescents through support for training efforts and funding region‐/country‐specific networks that respond to local issues and increase implementation science capacity across SSA.ConclusionsInnovative platforms, like AHISA, that foster collaborations between implementation science researchers, policymakers and community participants to prioritizes research needs and identify and address implementation challenges can speed the translation of effective HIV interventions to benefit adolescent health.

Blood and Borders: Geographies of Social Reproduction in Ciudad Juárez–El Paso

Each week, thousands of Mexican nationals living in northern Mexican border cities cross the border into the United States with nonimmigrant visas to “donate” blood plasma at commercial collection centers in exchange for a prepaid Visa gift card (valued at up to US$50). For these individuals, many of whom work on maquiladora assembly lines, a single donation can nearly double their weekly wages. If the ability to keep wages low remains a key means of leveraging the border’s competitiveness in the global economy, we argue that the devaluation of maquiladora labor in fact relies on the capacity of communities and households to increasingly absorb the hidden costs of social reproduction. Grounded in two years of ethnographic research in Ciudad Juárez–El Paso, this article argues that plasma donation is an increasingly vital strategy through which Mexican households meet the costs of social reproduction. Further, participation in the cross-border plasma economy is inseparable from institutions and frameworks that govern border crossing. By following the movement of Mexican blood plasma across the border, it becomes possible to understand how the border itself—as a material barrier and geopolitical project—shapes collective capacities for social reproduction.

Pragmatic Leadership Practices in Dangerous Contexts: High-Reliability Organizations (HRO) for Pandemic COVID-19

The threat of COVID-19 to professionals has become personal. Professionals in neonatal healthcare can acquire infection and unknowingly become a vector, infecting babies, and their colleagues. A pragmatic stance of leadership, derived from leadership in extremis, communicates to subordinates that leaders have their immediate well-being in mind while engaging in demanding situations. Effective leadership for ill-structured problems embedded in the environment has distinct characteristics such as modeling cognitive and affective skills (attitudes and the contingent value of information) and the ability to modulate emotional states. Pragmatic leaders effectively increase subordinates' collective stress capacity for, and leverage individual capabilities during, in extremis circumstances. This paper describes pragmatic leadership characteristics and practices derived from experience, primary sciences, and High Reliability Organizations (HRO).

The evolution of social health research topics: A data-driven analysis

The realm of social health has not yet been properly established in terms of fixed definitions, concepts, and research areas. This study attempts to define social health using macro and micro perspectives and explores trends in social health research by mapping their topics and fields. We used Latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling, which allows the extraction of key terms and topics derived from a large volume of literature. We traced the evolution of research topics from past (the literature that "present" articles cited), present (existing journal articles on social health), to future (the literature which cited the articles) studies based on connections between citations. The datasets were collected by the query terms "social health" in the Scopus database, including title, abstract, and keywords of journal articles. We collected a total of 443 articles from recent social health literature, 6588 articles from past literature that the recent articles on social health cited, and 2680 articles from future literature in which recent social health articles were cited. We defined social health as positive interaction that increases individual engagement in social life at the micro level, and the high degree of social integration that deals with collective problems in society at the macro level. The results of LDA showed that social health research has developed into seven fields: Health Care Delivery; Vulnerable Groups; Measurement; Health Inequality; Social Network and Empowerment; Clinical/Physical Health; and Mental/Behavioral Health. Based on citation relationships, topics grounded in an individual/micro perspective have grown increasingly specialized and productive, while topics grounded in a social/macro perspective have stagnated or was underexplored. Our findings imply that social health studies should follow a more interdisciplinary approach to integrate current health models of individual-centered treatments with social science concerns on building collective capacity for social well-being.

Collective heat capacity for quantum thermometry and quantum engine enhancements

The performances of quantum thermometry in thermal equilibrium together with the output power of certain class of quantum engines share a common characteristic: both are determined by the heat capacity of the probe or working medium. After noticing that the heat capacity of spin ensembles can be significantly modified by collective coupling with a thermal bath, we build on the above observation to investigate the respective impact of such collective effect on quantum thermometry and quantum engines. We find that the precision of the temperature estimation is largely increased at high temperatures, reaching even the Heisenberg scaling—inversely proportional to the number of spins. For Otto engines operating close to the Carnot efficiency, collective coupling always enhances the output power. Some tangible experimental platforms are suggested.

Broadening our Sight? Evaluating Social Issues in Management Contributions to Grand Challenges

To what extent is Social Issues in Management (SIM) scholarship achieving its mission to encourage social change through undertaking research regarding the biggest problems facing global society? This year’s conference theme - 20/20: Broadening our Sight – calls upon management researchers to examine ways of working together and with other stakeholders to enhance our collective capacity to address the 21st century’s most pressing challenges. While social issues in management researchers seem ideally placed to contribute significantly to this agenda, we know very little of the extent and character of contributions by social issues in management scholars to “Grand Challenges”. In this paper, we provide the first comprehensive evaluation of grand challenges as they are examined in social issues in management research. To do this, we systematically review research concerned with grand challenges in 5 leading social issues in management journals, subjecting the full text of the articles identified in our search to content analysis using a structured analytical template. In so doing, we provide a comprehensive overview of social issues in management contributions to grand challenges, reflect on the factors that have inhibited greater engagement with grand challenges, and highlight practical approaches that SIM scholarship could adopt in attempts to broaden our sight.

Collaborative Governance of Coral Reef Management and Rehabilitation in Tsunami Disaster Mitigation Efforts

The tsunami is the biggest threat to countries around the world tectonic plates and the ring of fire, including Indonesia. The impact of economic losses and heavy casualties made the tsunami worth watching out. Ecosystem-based tsunami disaster mitigation efforts are deemed necessary, considering that 2/3 of Indonesia consists of the sea. The coral reef is one of the coastal ecosystems that can reduce tsunami waves by up to 50% before it hits coastal areas. However, the current condition of coral reefs is very alarming due to the actions of irresponsible humans. Collaboration between stakeholders is needed to carry out ecosystem-based tsunami disaster mitigation efforts. Collaborative governance becomes an essential issue in efforts to build and improve services in the public sector by involving all relevant stakeholders. The sectoral ego of the stakeholders is no longer relevant to be maintained because each actor has their strengths and weaknesses. Collaboration between actors framed in a collaboration platform by having a principled engagement, shared motivation, and collective capacity will produce better results.

Refugees, Energiewende and NATO deterrence: limits of German leadership in Central Europe

ABSTRACT During the last decade, more than before, Germany has been pushed to take increasing responsibility for international affairs, including security, and move into a leadership position. Visegrad countries – the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia – seem to be proper partners to follow German leadership as they are economically and in most cases politically tied to Germany. However, in recent years several discrepancies in the fields of soft as well as hard security have appeared between Germany and the Visegrad countries – most prominently the refugee crisis, Energiewende and the strengthening of collective defence military capacities on NATO’s eastern flank – substantially affecting the Visegrad countries’ readiness to be led by Germany. Having explored three policy areas where contestation appeared – migration policy, energy policy and the policy of NATO’s deterrence in Eastern Europe – we conclude that rather than as aleader, Germany is perceived as a source of unilateral pressure in Central Europe.

Pandemia e Antiguerra: da lógica da acumulação à lógica do cuidado

A pandemia do novo coronavírus oferece um desafio ao pensamento: pensar a disrupção nos assuntos humanos causado por um agente inumano. Nossa capacidade coletiva de lidar com o problema dependerá dos enquadramentos conceituais que seremos capazes de mobilizar. Esse breve ensaio, busca analisar a metáfora da guerra e sua pertinência epistêmica, abordando tanto os discursos a mobilizam quanto as críticas que a rejeitam. Concluímos que a metáfora carrega um momento de verdade em sua forma, apesar do sinal trocado quanto ao conteúdo. Se a guerra é uma suspensão temporária da lógica de acumulação pela lógica da destruição, sugerimos uma substituição (permanente?) da lógica da acumulação pela lógica do cuidado.

Moving from government to governance: addressing housing pressures during rapid industrial development in Kitimat, BC, Canada

In resource-based communities, housing can be a contributing asset or challenge to attracting and retaining workers and families. In Kitimat, BC, Canada, a housing crisis threatened vulnerable, low income, and middle income residents during a period of rapid growth associated with renewed industrial investments. Even though housing policy and public housing provision falls under provincial government jurisdiction, the crisis response was largely mobilized by local stakeholders. Drawing upon a five year tracking study, this paper traces the rise of new governance arrangements to address local housing pressures. These governance arrangements fostered greater community awareness of housing issues; strengthened relationships across community, industry, and some senior government stakeholders; and renewed local housing assets. This collective capacity to manage housing pressures, however, remains vulnerable due to public policy incoherence that undermines or fails to adequately support local governance initiatives.

Strengthening public health nutrition: findings from a situational assessment to inform system-wide capacity building in Ontario, Canada.

To assess public health nutrition practice within the public health system in Ontario, Canada to identify provincial-wide needs for scientific and technical support. A qualitative descriptive study was conducted to identify activities, strengths, challenges and opportunities in public health nutrition practice using semi-structured key informant interviews (n 21) and focus groups (n 10). Recorded notes were analysed concurrently with data generation using content analysis. System needs were prioritised through a survey. Public health units. Eighty-nine practitioners, managers, directors, medical officers of health, researchers and other stakeholders were purposively recruited through snowball and extreme case sampling. Five themes were generated: (i) current public health nutrition practice was broad, complex, in transition and collaborative; (ii) data/evidence/research relevant to public health needs were insufficiently available and accessible; (iii) the amount and specificity of guidance/leadership was perceived to be mismatched with strong evidence that diet is a risk factor for poor health; (iv) resources/capacity were varied but insufficient and (v) understanding of nutrition expertise in public health among colleagues, leadership and other organisations can be improved. Top ranked needs were increased understanding, visibility and prioritisation of healthy eating and food environments; improved access to data and evidence; improved collaboration and coordination; and increased alignment of activities and goals. Collective capacity in the public health nutrition can be improved through strategic system-wide capacity-building interventions. Research is needed to explore how improvements in data, evidence and local contexts can bridge research and practice to effectively and efficiently improve population diets and health.

A supportive tool for principals in guiding professional group discussions

ABSTRACT Background Developing collective professional capacities in schools is important for school improvement, and principals can initiate such developments. That is, by initiating and leading professional group discussions on teaching and learning, principals can influence teaching practices and, thereby, indirectly affect student outcomes and school improvement. However, research indicates that leading such discussions in communities of professionals can be a challenge for principals. Purpose The aim of this article is to explore and yield insight into how a conceptual model (the LPGD model) can support principals in guiding professional group discussions on school development and change. Method The study adopts a qualitative observational approach. Data were collected through observations of a pilot use of the model by principals who participated in the National School Leadership Programme in Norway. The data analysis was guided by cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT). Findings The analysis shows how the conceptual model can help school leaders to guide group discussions, especially when creating a shared understanding of the problems at hand and building collective commitments that are essential to improving teaching and learning practices. Conclusion This article highlights the need for school leaders to be supported to develop certain skills to lead professional discussions on school development – in particular, skills to help leaders in building a shared understanding of problems and collective commitments that are essential when improving teaching and learning practices.

Maximization, regret and social comparison as predictors of fear of missing out

Contemporary lifestyles have given rise to many forms of entertainment. People are highly social and engage in various different activities to entertain themselves. They have increased access to social media where they can get a glimpse into the lives of their peers. Young adults especially, tend to partake in these activities. With such a lifestyle also come the negative emotions associated with missing out on events and comparing oneself to others. The objective of this study is to explore the relationship between FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and Tendency to Maximize among Indian college students. This paper further investigates the individual and collective predictive capacity of Tendency to Maximize, Tendency to Regret and Social Comparison on FOMO. The study employed a survey method. Standardized questionnaires were administered to students from some of the metropolitan cities of India. The results indicate that there exists a significant positive correlation between Fear of missing out and Social comparison, Fear of Missing Out and Tendency to Maximize, as well as Fear of Missing Out and tendency to Regret. Furthermore, the study also found that there exists a significant difference in the experience of FOMO between Maximizers and Satisficers. Theoretical and quantitative findings are discussed in detail.

Postscript: How We Learn Is How We SEE

The Problem Workplace learning is even more important today as organizations face complex, rapid, and unprecedented change. Reflection is critical to learning; yet, it is too often rote, haphazard, or assumed to happen, limiting an organization’s ability to adapt. The Solution HRD scholar-practitioners need to (re)examine how they and their organizations reflect. By engaging in an ongoing practice of reflexivity, they can become more aware of how their perspectives affect not only what they see, but also what they learn and vice versa. The Stakeholders HRD scholar-practitioners, including researchers, faculty, consultants, managers, students, and all who care about workplace learning and reflective practice, will benefit by reflecting on how they can develop individual and collective capacity.

Developing Collective Leadership Capacity to Drive Sustainable Practices: Destination Case of Leadership Development in Australia

Previous research had already established that sustainable destination outcomes can be realized when stakeholders engage in tourism destination management, yet the state of the needed engagement is still seen as problematic. It is evident that some change is required to enable behavioral change that will awaken a progress. Thus, new knowledge is needed to help advance this important destination management field. The aim of this exploratory case study was to present a new perspective which is underpinned by theories in the leadership and leadership development fields. The case study findings show that tourism-based leadership programs have the capacity to foster development of collective leadership capacity, which is needed to build the effective stakeholder networks that drive change at workplace, tourism destination, and community levels. The study suggests that sustainable development goals and sustained competitive advantage are developed through the bundle of collective leadership capacity and stakeholder causal scope.

Management of the dead during COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia.

The emergence of a novel human coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, causing severe respiratory tract infections in humans, is affecting all countries of the world and has become a global health concern. Since the virus was first identified in December 2019, the number of deaths have been propagating exponentially, causing countries across the world, including Malaysia, to increase emergency measures to combat the virus. Due to the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic does not discriminate its victims, it is of paramount importance to construct a plan for management of the dead for all suspected or confirmed COVID-19 cases, including the unidentified deceased, as an essential portion of the humanitarian forensic action approach. This document provides an overview on ways to maximize the local collective capacity from various government agencies to manage the dead based on the prevailing regulations and legislation in the country, in preparation for possible large scale deaths from this pandemic. The National Institute of Forensic Medicine Malaysia has improvised procedures and guidelines for management of the dead within the existing regulations in order to achieve a balance between medicolegal requirements and the safety of personnel managing the bodies of the deceased with suspected or confirmed COVID-19 infection; at the site of death, during transport, during postmortem procedures, storage and preparation before and during burial or cremation as well as environmental cleaning and disinfection, involving various agencies in the country. A form of temporary controlled burial is as an option to allow the reinvestigation of a decedent to help formally identify victims of the pandemic such as undocumented migrants or refugees who were previously not identified. Due to the different legal requirements and mortality rates between countries, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to the management of the dead. Whenever possible, every opportunity and assistance must be given to families to mourn their loved ones, even in times of crisis or an outbreak, in order to sustain an appropriate level of dignity and respect.

Feasibility of eLearning Nutrition Education and Supplemental Locally-Grown Produce Dissemination Model: Perspectives from Key Stakeholders

ABSTRACT Adults with low-income often lack access to nutrition education and experience food insecurity, which compromises nutrition-related chronic disease management. Through qualitative interviews, we examined the feasibility of a safety-net clinic based, eLearning nutrition education and supplemental produce program from the perspectives of community-based stakeholders (n = 8). Findings suggest the importance of building collective capacity among existing community resources, balancing resource utilization and workload among the key stakeholder organizations, and considering participant’s motivation to engage in the program. Stakeholder interviewees suggested the program is feasible and could serve as a community-based solution to improve the health and food security of limited-income adults.

Voices of the poor: demystifying the nexus between rights and agency of Bangladesh’s tea workers

ABSTRACT This article aims to investigate the true situation of rights and agency of the Bangladeshi teagarden workers, drawing insights from James Scott’s theory of ‘public’ and ‘hidden’ transcripts and employing multi-sited ethnography. We collected data through qualitative in-depth interviews, case studies, focus group discussions, and direct observation for this study. Rights, in Scottian terms, are the public transcript to produce agency of the workers but they are, of course, facades. Agency does not truly exist for tea workers. The tea companies strategically dominate the workers for their profit maximisation and industrial sustainability, which constrains workers’ individual and collective bargaining capacity. Tea companies’ shrewd manipulation of public transcripts like managerial prerogatives, worker benefits like registration and free education and even use of alcohol addiction and corruption of the police and courts allow them to pursue a hidden transcript of domination and control. Co-opted trade union leaders, supported by the ruling Party, do little to protect workers’ rights and interests but join with the companies to squelch any attempt to create truly representative trade unions.