Creation Of Hope Research Articles

Divine ‘Pastness’ and the Creation of Hope: The Significance of the Sepultus est…

This article explores Karl Barth’s exegesis of the ‘sepultus est…’ from the Apostles’ Creed, as articulated in his 1935 Credo lectures. I argue that Barth accords the sepultus a degree of theological significance that is against the grain, not only of the majority of western interpretations of Jesus’s burial, but also of his own later interpretation of it within his Kirchliche Dogmatik. Specifically, this article argues that in his 1935 lectures, Barth exegetes the sepultus in terms of a divine self-surrender to the ‘pure pastness’ that is the ‘state and fate’ of all humanity. As a consequence, the sepultus can then be used as the pivot to a different, and more hopeful, future.

The mental health issues of eunuchs in the context of social exclusion.

To study the mental health problems in eunuchs, the neglected segment that has been facing social exclusion and exploitation on behalf of social layers of the society. The study was conducted from Jan 2017 to April 2017and adopted a qualitative approach by engaging eight eunuchs' group purposefully through focussed group discussion to unearth the issues related to eunuchs in Hazara Division. The participants were informed in detail, about the purpose of the study and their consent was conferred. The discussion was recorded in local language and their views were transcribed and analysed by comparative statements for drawing results through coding of the target groups. The severe kind of economic and social pressures of poverty and social neglect resulting in depression, anxiety and suicidal tendencies were found among this group, which affected the overall mental health. This showed that, eunuchs have not been provided with basic social rights and can be classed as a neglected gender group. In addition, there is no love and care provided by the kin and relatives which results in the eunuchs facing psychological complications in daily life. Eunuchs face psychological complications in daily life. The condition necessitates encouragement and social acceptance of eunuch to lead a normal and healthy life in the society. Furthermore socio-psychosocial aid and regular counselling is mandatory for creating hope necessary for leading a normal life.

Defining Moments and Healing Emplotment: “I Have Cancer; It Doesn’t Have Me”

ABSTRACTWhereas illness, sickness, and disease are dark clouds on the horizon of our lives, the complex process of healing is our sunrise. In this essay, I introduce the concept of healing emplotment, a lived process of knowingly bringing together strategies for self-awareness, the creation of hope, and the management of risk to overcome psychosocial peril. This results in a purposeful re-authoring of the self in society, personhood, in the face of life-threatening events. Rather than only bringing threats to which the stricken must respond, serious illness can also present opportunities for narrative re-authoring of our biopsychosocial self.

Helpful Factors in the Treatment of Depression from the Patient's, Carer's and Professional's Perspective: A Concept Map Study.

ObjectiveDepression research has resulted in knowledge about neurobiology, pharmacological strategies and short-term cost-effective treatments. However, more than two-thirds of all depressed patients experience insufficient improvement. Therefore, a better understanding of what patients, carers and professionals perceive as most helpful in the treatment of depression is needed.MethodsConcept mapping, a mixed-method design, was used to identify the patients (n = 33), carers (n = 22) and professionals (n = 50) perspectives. In six brainstorm sessions, the patients, carers and professionals generated 795 ideas, which were condensed into 55 unique statements. Subsequently, 100 participants prioritized and sorted these statements, which were analysed by multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis and visualized as a two-dimensional map.ResultsThe 55 statements were clustered in 10 factors and further grouped into four main-factors (meta-clusters): ‘Professional therapist’, ‘Treatment content’, ‘Structured treatment process’ and ‘Treatment organisation’. Patients and carers prioritized ‘Treatment organisation’ higher than professionals, but overall there was considerable agreement about the factors of treatment the participants perceived as most helpful including factors related to the therapeutic relationship and the ‘creation of hope’.ConclusionsOur study identified factors of depression treatment perceived as helpful according to patients, carers and professionals. Findings suggest that in a scientific era with emphasis on biological psychiatry, not only patients and carers, but also professionals consider aspecific factors the most helpful. Further studies might show that factors we found to be helpful in the treatment for depression, can be generalized to mental health treatment in general.

Today is the Day by E. Walters

Walters, Eric. Today is the Day. Illus. Eugenie Fernandes. Toronto: Tundra Books, a division of Random House of Canada, 2015.Eric Walters, who has written a wealth of realistic fiction for Canadian children, now takes young audiences into the realm of fictionalized reality. The decision to fictionalize is warranted; the unvarnished truths with which he deals are stark enough for an adult’s comprehension, let alone that of a child. A former teacher and social worker, Walters established The Creation of Hope, a foundation which runs an orphanage in the Mbooni district in Kenya. He works with hundreds of children who have lost parents to a wide variety of causes including HIV/AIDS. Children arrive at his orphanage because any extended family members whom they might have are too impoverished or frail to provide for them. Today is the Day is set in the orphanage.Walters’ gift as a writer is the ability to create a positive, hopeful and believable moment in a harsh reality. His young protagonist, Mutanu, has awakened to a day of celebration, a day when all one hundred fifteen young residents of the orphanage would receive gifts and treats and visits from extended family. Even more exciting than these events for Mutanu and each of fifteen others, this day, July 12, was to be declared their official birthday. Such were the circumstances of their early lives that no record of their birth exists. Now, for the very first time, Mutanu’s “… coming into the world was not forgotten but was a cause for joyous celebration.”Eugenia Fernandes’ illustrations convey the expansiveness and beauty of the Kenyan landscape, the humbleness and simplicity of the orphanage. Her line drawings are generally realistic in perspective, whimsical in content. Her color palette is cheerful and sunlit. In large part, her work creates the mood of hopefulness in this book.Extensive end notes explain the purpose and setting of the Creation of Hope foundation and, as well, provide photographs of the orphanage. The background to this story is explained, and we are introduced to the real Mutanu and some of her friends. There is no direct appeal for funds in the book itself; however, the publisher’s notes indicate that “A contribution to The Creation of Hope will be made by the author and publisher based on sales of this book in Canada.” It seems a worthy cause.Highly Recommended: 4 out of 4 starsReviewer: Leslie AitkenLeslie Aitken’s long career in librarianship involved selection of literature for school, public, special and academic libraries. She was a former Curriculum Librarian at the University of Alberta.

The creation of hope in patients with lung cancer

Background. Lung cancer is associated with biomedical and psychological symptoms as well as a generally poor prognosis. When healthcare staff communicate with lung cancer patients it is essential that they consider the patients’ own views of the situation to avoid putting unnecessary strain upon the patients’ shoulders. The purpose of the present study is to better understand how a group of patients with lung cancer reflects upon their new life situation after diagnosis and primary treatment.Method. Fifteen patients with non-small cell lung cancer were consecutively included and, where possible, repeatedly interviewed during the course of the disease process. The 29 interviews were conducted in a thematically structured narrative form that facilitated a dialog between the interviewer and the patient. The interviews covered experiences with health care, living an everyday life, and thoughts about the future.Findings and reflections. By focusing on how the patients more or less preconsciously elaborated mentally with their vulnerable situation, it was possible to detect different mental manoeuvres that they used as a way of creating hope. The patients distanced themselves from their disease, relied on a feeling of a sound body, idealised treatment possibilities, relied on healthy behaviour, focused on a concrete project, found that they were better off than others, and took solace in the fact that there were patients who had successfully managed the disease.Discussion. The patients were not passive victims in the face of their diagnosis, but were actively trying to find ways of looking at their despairing situation in a positive light. A creative process for psychological survival had thus been initiated by the patients. We suggest that acknowledging this process should be the starting point from which physicians can engage in hope work with their patients.

Themes of effective coping in physical disability: an interview study of 26 persons who have learnt to live with their disability

The aim of this study was to gain a deeper understanding of effective coping in physical disability and/or chronic illness. Twenty-six well-adjusted adults with various disabilities were interviewed. The interviews focused on how they perceived they had managed to master problems encountered by their disability and their personal views about how one should act and think to manage a life with a disability. The protocols were content analysed according to grounded theory. Five categories were extracted--self-trust, problem-reducing actions, change of values, social trust and minimization. These categories clustered around two broader bipolar constructs--acknowledgement of reality vs. creation of hope and trust in oneself vs. trust in others. The different themes of coping complemented each other and tended to be used in different contexts in a flexible manner. Both the extracted categories and the core concepts have been extensively described in the coping literature, supporting their validity. The importance of understanding coping processes from the disabled's point of view is discussed.