Experience Of Well-being Research Articles

The influence of spirituality and religion on health and well-being for older Pacific People

ABSTRACT The influence of spirituality and religion on the health and well-being of older adults has gained considerable attention as older adults worldwide continue to live long, active lives. This study explores the influence of spirituality and religion on the health and well-being of older Pacific people living in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Using the principles of a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach and talanoa with 39 Tongan, 42 Cook Island Māori and 23 Samoan elders revealed spirituality is essential to Pacific elders’ health and well-being. Participants faith in an omnipotent Christian God and the subsequent influence on their relationships with family and community significantly impacted their experiences of health and well-being. Strong relationships with God, extended family and community enabled Pacific elders to live a harmonious life. Religion and spirituality should be embraced as an integral component of health and social care plans.

Quality of life beyond measure: Advanced cancer patients, wellbeing and medicinal cannabis.

Experiences of advanced cancer are assembled and (re)positioned with reference to illness, symptoms and maintaining 'wellbeing'. Medical cannabis is situated at a borderline in this and the broader social domain: between stigmatised and normalised; recreational and pharmaceutical; between perception, experience, discourse and scientific proof of benefit. Yet, in the hyper-medicalised context of randomised clinical trials (RCTs), cancer, wellbeing and medical cannabis are narrowly assessed using individualistic numerical scores. This article attends to patients' perceptions and experiences at this borderline, presenting novel findings from a sociological sub-study embedded within RCTs focused on the use of medical cannabis for symptom relief in advanced cancer. Through a Deleuzo-Guattarian-informed framework, we highlight the fragmentation and reassembling of bodies and propose body-situated experiences of wellbeing in the realm of advanced cancer. Problematising 'biopsychosocial' approaches that centre an individualised disconnected patient body in understandings of wellbeing, experiences of cancer and potential treatments, our findings foreground relational affect and embodied experience, and the role of desire in understanding what wellbeing is and can be. This also underpins and enables exploration of the affective reassembling ascribed to medical cannabis, with particular focus on how it is positioned within RCTs.

Beyond Life Satisfaction: Wellbeing Correlates of Adolescents’ Academic Attainment

Academic attainment is a core education policy priority. Wellbeing is recognized as critical for adolescent development, and is linked to academic attainment. Yet research with adolescents primarily focuses on life satisfaction or overall wellbeing, despite differentiating conceptually between two wellbeing components feeling good (life satisfaction) and functioning well (eudaimonia). This study examined whether operationalizing wellbeing as overall, life satisfaction, or eudaimonia, derived different associations with academic attainment. Potentially cooccurring motivational states were also accounted for. Participants were 607 adolescents (354 male, Mage = 15.03; 253 female, Mage = 15.10) from seven English schools (UK). Adolescents’ wellbeing questionnaire responses were matched to prior and current academic attainment in English and Mathematics. Structural equation models demonstrated adolescents reporting higher eudaimonia and overall wellbeing had significantly higher academic attainment in school-based examinations (General Certificate in Secondary Education, England). Life satisfaction was not significantly related to academic attainment. Findings suggest eudaimonia has developmental significance during adolescence, requiring greater attention. Impact Statement This study found adolescents’ overall wellbeing at school was positively associated with their academic attainment in English and Mathematics. Further analyses demonstrated eudaimonia (feeling competent, successful and good about themselves) was the most important wellbeing experience for adolescents’ academic attainment. At the policy-level, implications include ensuring whole-school wellbeing approaches and curricula avoid solely focusing on happiness while overlooking eudaimonia. At the practice-level, findings suggest schools should pay attention to adolescents’ eudaimonia, creating space for adolescents to actively cultivate their personhoods. For example, supporting adolescents to identify their unique talents, set personal goals and contemplate their lives temporary. Overall, our findings suggest teachers can support positive adolescent development by helping pupils make meaningful connections between their personal strengths and academic work, tailored to their life goals and interests.

Ethnic identity and wellbeing in the lives of third-generation British Bangladeshi adults

This study investigated third generation Bangladeshi adults’ experiences of ethnic identity (EI) and sense of wellbeing. British citizens from racially minoritised backgrounds, such as British Bangladeshis, face numerous challenges related to cultural adjustment, discrimination, and exclusion that can impact wellbeing. Strong EI has been shown to increase psychological wellbeing in minority ethnic populations. Fifteen participants who identified as third-generation British Bangladeshi adults were engaged in semi-structured interviews to explore their experiences of EI and wellbeing. Thematic analysis of the data conceptualised three main themes, namely, ‘Oh my God, I’m different’: Being made to feel like an outsider in Britain; ‘You’re a coconut’: Being made to feel like an outsider within the British Bangladeshi community; and ‘A proper sense of belonging’ through ethnic identity. The findings point towards the role that EI can play in later generation immigrants’ sense of self and wellbeing. Implications are discussed.

The relationship between ethical leadership and nurse well-being: The mediating role of workplace mindfulness.

The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between nurses' well-being and their ethical leadership, and the mediating role of workplace mindfulness in this relationship. This was a quantitative cross-sectional study. This cross-sectional study was conducted in three tertiary hospitals in central China from May 2022 to July 2022, and the Nurses' Workplace Mindfulness, Ethical Leadership and Well-Being Scale were distributed and collected via the Internet. A total of 1579 nurses volunteered to participate in this study. SPSS 26.0 statistical software was used to analyse the data by Z-test and Spearman's rank correlation; the internal mechanism of workplace mindfulness and ethical leadership on nurses' well-being was completed by AMOS 23.0 statistical software. The scores of nurses' well-being, workplace mindfulness and ethical leadership were 93.00 (81.00, 108.00), 96.00 (80.00, 112.00) and 73.00 (67.00, 81.00) respectively. The professional title, age and department atmosphere affect their well-being. Spearman's analysis showed that nurses' well-being was positively correlated with ethical leadership (r = .507, p < .01) and workplace mindfulness (r = .600, p < .01); workplace mindfulness partially mediated the relationship between ethical leadership and nurses' well-being accounting for 38.5% of the total effect ratio [p < .001, 95% CI = (0.215, 0.316)]. Nurses' well-being was at a medium level, and had a higher score in ethical leadership and workplace mindfulness, and workplace mindfulness played a partial mediating role between ethical leadership and nurses' well-being. This suggests that nursing managers need to pay attention to clinical nurses' well-being experience, actively focus on the relationship among ethical leadership, workplace mindfulness and well-being and integrate core values such as positivity and morality into nurses' daily routines, so as to improve the work enthusiasm and well-being experience of clinical nurses, enhancing the nursing quality and stabilizing the nursing team.

‘Muchness’ as the subjective experience of wellbeing: sharing the findings of a participatory inquiry with nurses

Background: I discovered the concept of muchness when reading a blog that considered quotes from Alice in Wonderland to identify what meaning they could offer healthcare. One was from the Mad Hatter: ‘You used to be much more “muchier”. You’ve lost your muchness.’ Reflecting on my experiences of working with nurses who reported feeling overworked, undervalued and undermined, I questioned whether some nursing staff had lost their muchness – their subjective experience of wellbeing. Aims: The research aimed to work with nurses to explore two research questions: What is muchness? How can muchness be nurtured? Methods: An innovative research method was developed – Virtual Picture Voice. This enabled nurses to create and share ‘stories of muchness’ and then participate in their analysis and synthesis, contributing to the creation of the Muchness Model Version 1. A metasynthesis process followed, drawing on wider theoretical understandings and resulting in the development of the Muchness Model Version 2. Findings: Version 2 advocates for a ‘full-life’ understanding of wellbeing – a balance between the pursuit of feeling fulfilled and feeling good, facilitated by reflection and action. Conclusions: A holistic approach to the facilitation of wellbeing can enable nurses to identify what is important/matters to them, personally and professionally. Critical reflection on self, our relationships and the contexts in which we work can generate knowledge to inform actions towards experiencing subjective wellbeing in the workplace. Implications for practice: Creative approaches to self-inquiry can facilitate access to experiential and embodied knowledge, informing actions that facilitate wellbeing The Muchness Model Version 2: – can stimulate critical reflection and dialogue with self and others, helping identify factors that enable or limit muchness and potentially informing action at individual, team and organisational levels – offers a person-centred approach to the facilitation of wellbeing in nurses across the career trajectory and within leadership and culture-change programmes

Fostering existential well-being: mobility, dwelling, and Undocumented Student Resource Centers in California

In recent years, scholars have taken increased interest in the existential dimensions of human im/mobility largely to trace how growing numbers of persons across the globe are pressed to navigate increasingly restrictive mobility regimes. The focus on restrictive contexts has, however, deterred researchers from considering experiences of well-being in precarious conditions. This paper shows how a place-based approach to the study of im/mobility can address this gap by directing scholarly attention to supportive places that promote the well-being of various groups facing limited social conditions. Drawing upon phenomenological healthcare studies, I theorize existential well-being as a dialectic of dwelling-mobility, and study how an increasingly visible supportive place on college campuses in California—namely, the Undocumented Student Resource Center (USRC)—impacts the existential experiences of undocumented students involved in its operations. I theorize ‘place’ from a sociocultural psychological perspective, viewing USRCs as dynamic, psycho-social-material realities produced by USRC staff and students involved in distinct meaning-making practices. I then discuss research conducted with an USRC in Northern California to show how its distinct socio-material design and psychosocial practices contributed to the development of existential well-being in undocumented students. I conclude that a place-based approach to the study of existential im/mobility can shed light on well-being experiences that are not dependent on the eradication of restrictive mobility regimes and (as such) can contribute to social change.

Understanding the importance of connection: an indigenous exploration of the social and emotional well-being and resilience of a rural cohort of Aboriginal young people

ABSTRACT Our story began in the pursuit of understanding Aboriginal young persons’ experiences of resilience and well-being. This was achieved by adopting an Aboriginal story method, combined with thematic analysis using winanga-li (to listen, to hear, to know and to remember) to hear and listen to the young people’s stories, a method presented by Kovach ([2010]. Indigenous Methodologies: Characteristics, Conversations, and Contexts. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.) to honour the talk. This paper presents Aboriginal young people’s views and experiences of resilience and well-being. Using a qualitative approach, we conducted yarning interviews with 15 Aboriginal young people. Our analysis revealed the overarching themes of belonging, experiencing distress, being strong, recognising risk and maintaining positivity, which is comprised of a set of subthemes to exemplify multiple layers of well being and resilience for the young people in this study. These findings confirm the absolute importance of connections, culture and community to young Aboriginal people and expose the distress that results from the loss of these relationships and connections. Given the known link between connections to culture, health and well being implications, the findings of this study have relevance for clinicians, researchers, and policy-makers.

Analysing teachers’ figurative language to shed new light on teacher resilience

This paper analyses practising schoolteachers' use of figurative language, drawn from a set of semi-structured interviews with 42 Australian teachers, part of a wider, five-nation study of teachers' emotional experiences. The analysis is clustered around the teachers' talk about commitment (as manifesting motivation), agency (as a consequence of professional competence), relationships (as expressing social competence) and self-awareness (as a primer of emotional competence) that framed the teachers' experiences of effectiveness and wellbeing. More broadly, teachers’ intuitive use of figurative language to communicate their experiences sheds new light on the phenomenon of teacher resilience.

Understanding the Role of Leisure in Portuguese Adolescent Wellbeing Experience

Because adolescent leisure is important to development, we consider its role in Portuguese adolescent wellbeing. Data for this study came from 303 adolescents in grades 10, 11, and 12 living in a large urban area in northern Portugal. Self-report data were collected in classrooms using a cross-sectional design in two urban high schools. Hypothesis testing used seven hierarchical linear regression models. Except for subjective happiness, experiencing boredom in leisure and/or the ability to make a boring situation more interesting were strong predictors of each wellbeing experience in the predicted direction. Perceptions of healthy leisure were associated with higher levels of life satisfaction, subjective happiness, self-esteem, and positive affect. Active leisure was important to adolescent self efficacy and positive affect. Those who could restructure a boring situation into something more interesting exhibited higher levels of wellbeing experience. Adolescents who perceived parental autonomy control were more likely to experience boredom in leisure.

‘Healing through culture’: Aboriginal young people's experiences of social and emotional wellbeing impacts of cultural strengthening programs

BackgroundCultural connection for Aboriginal young people promotes wellbeing, resilience and healing. There is little research on the social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) impacts of cultural strengthening programs for Aboriginal young people, especially research that includes the perspectives of young people. There is even less research that includes the experiences of Aboriginal young people who have been in out-of-home care. ObjectiveThe current study sought to address these research gaps by exploring the SEWB impacts of cultural strengthening programs by amplifying the voice of Aboriginal young people, including those who have been in out-of-home care. Participants and settingAboriginal young people involved in an innovative cultural strengthening program, the Narrun Yana art collective, established by the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA). Also participating was VACCA's Team Leader of Children and Youth Programs, thus providing both experiences of participating in and of organising cultural programs. MethodA qualitative phenomenological approach was taken. Data consisted of semi-structured interviews with the team leader and two young people and written responses to the interview questions from one young person. ResultsLived experience provided evidence that cultural strengthening programs; help strengthen SEWB, including connection to self, relationships, community and culture; contribute to building resilience in the context of intergenerational trauma, cultural loss and racism; and encourage help-seeking, both informal support and accessing mental health services. Young people also viewed participating in the research as worthwhile. ConclusionsFindings highlighted the importance of Aboriginal young people having opportunities to; connect to culture through participation in cultural strengthening programs, and engage in the design of these programs.

A Decade of Waiting: Experiences of Women Living With Vulvar Crohn's Disease and Interactions With Healthcare Professionals Related to Their Sexual Well-Being: A Qualitative Study.

Vulvar Crohn's disease is a rare cutaneous manifestation of inflammatory bowel disease and to date, studies have reported on under 300 cases worldwide. The condition has an increased risk of malignancy, and diagnosis is often difficult. Treatment protocols are yet to be developed. This paper aimed to provide the first account of patients' experience of living with vulvar Crohn's. A previous qualitative study exploring experiences of sexual well-being in inflammatory bowel disease and experiences of discussing sexual well-being with healthcare professionals found 3 participants who self-reported vulvar Crohn's disease. Data from the whole cohort (n = 43) were previously reported. Telephone semi-structured interviews were used for data collection. van Manen's phenomenology of practice framework informed analysis. Due to significant differences in experiences, this subgroup of 3 women with vulvar Crohn's warranted separate attention. The common theme of the group was A decade of waiting, describing the major delays experienced in being diagnosed. The symptoms reported appeared to be very severe, and sexual well-being was very negatively affected. Women with vulvar Crohn's trust in healthcare professionals was eroded as a result of a decade delay in diagnosis, while the quality of life and relationships suffered.

ПЕРЕЖИВАННЯ ОСОБИСТІСНОГО БЛАГОПОЛУЧЧЯ В УМОВАХ ВОЄННОГО СТАНУ

The article analyses the peculiarities of experiencing personal well-being in the conditions of martial law. The indicators of personal well-being in 2018 (N=96) are compared – the control level, with the indicators in 2022 (N=100) and in 2023 (N=84). The respondents were residents of the Chernihiv and Kyiv regions, on the territory of which hostilities took place and which were temporarily under occupation. Scale of subjective social well-being, Scale of satisfaction with life, Scale of psychological well-being were used. No statistically significant changes in the experience of life satisfaction (subjective well-being) were recorded. In both men and women, in the second year of the war, an increase in orientation towards social visibility and social approval was found. The general indicators of subjective social well-being in 2023 exceeded the pre-war level for men and did not change for women. The article showed that men’s experience of personal well-being is more dynamic: it decreased in the first six months of the large-scale invasion and exceeded the pre-war level in the second year of military operations. During the first half-year of martial law, their evaluations of emotional acceptance in the immediate circle decreased, the feeling of social distance increased, and the positivity of perceptions of other people fluctuated. For women, certain parameters as – autonomy, competence, positive relationships, self-acceptance – did not change. In men, in 2022, there is a decrease in indicators of autonomy, personal growth, life goals, self-acceptance, in 2023, these parameters of personal well-being exceed the pre-war level. Post-traumatic growth was recorded in respondents of both sexes, which was manifested in an increase in the desire for social influence, awareness of life goals and a sense of personal growth. The results can be used in psychocorrective work with traumatized persons. Key words: personal well-being, psychological well-being, subjective social well-being, subjective well-being, martial law.

The well-being of young leaders: demands and resources from a lifespan perspective.

Building on the job demand resources (JD-R) model, we examined the experience of work environment and well-being among young leaders in a two-wave survey study of 1,033 leaders within the private sector in Sweden. Our results reveal that young leaders report higher levels of burnout and lower rates of vigor compared to older colleagues. Further, they appraise demand and resources differently, perceiving higher emotional demands and less organizational support, and they seem to struggle with the leader role, seeing it as unclear and conflicting. Our findings underline the necessity of viewing the leader role from a lifespan perspective as well as considering age-specific aspects in the JD-R model. In practice, we urge organizations to improve prerequisites for young leaders by providing support and role clarifications to prevent impaired well-being and improve retention. By bringing leadership and lifespan studies together, we aim for a better understanding of what specific prerequisites young leaders need to thrive in the leader role thus showing how age matters and bring the field of research forward.

Occupational Experiences of Medication Management Among Adults Living With Multiple Chronic Conditions.

Adults with multiple chronic conditions (MCCs) often face difficulties with medication management, affecting their experiences of well-being and illness. The objective of this study was to identify and describe the occupational experiences of medication management and their impact on well-being and illness in adults living with MCCs. We used document analysis methods to analyze 134 illness narrative blog posts authored by 52 adults aged 18 and older with MCCs. Content and thematic analysis of their textual content was based on the Pan Occupational Paradigm. Medication management is enacted through the dimensions of doing, belonging, becoming, being, and knowing, in an interconnected, nonlinear manner, with a more notable impact on illness than well-being due to the complexities associated with medication management for MCCs. Occupational therapy practices for medication management should consider all occupational dimensions and their impact on health rather than focusing primarily on the performance of medication tasks and routines.

Male graduates transitioning into the workplace: managing stress through the sense of coherence components.

Male graduates are faced with many challenges when transitioning into work life after graduation. This transition from university to the workplace is one of the most important developmental stages in a young adult's life. It has an important impact on their careers and causes increased stress levels. Often, young men are suffering from mental health challenges and feel as though they cannot seek the appropriate help. Thus, it is necessary to determine how young male graduates cope with the changes experienced in this period, especially relating to their sense of coherence and salutogenesis. The aim of the study is to investigate the transition from university to the workplace and to understand their stress and well-being experiences in terms of activating the three sense of coherence components for coping. A qualitative approach is employed through the use of semi-structured interviews with 10 male South African university graduates. A content analysis technique was used to analyse the qualitative data. The findings indicate that most of the young male graduates understand the transition from university to the workplace and the challenges that come with it (comprehensibility). They also have the necessary personal resources to cope with the stress (manageability) while experiencing this life phase as meaningful (meaningfulness). To understand the transition into the workforce was the most important aspect to stay health during the transition. However, male graduates mainly coped by applying their personal coping strategies and mechanisms and thereby managed their transition mainly by themselves, not based on organizational structures or integrative processes. Meaning applied to the transitional process mainly derived from their personal concepts of creating a meaningful life, not as such from the meaning applied to the work or position they held. The findings provide insights which can be used by higher education institutions to prepare graduates for the transition into the workforce and for organizations to develop programmes for graduates to improve their transition into the organization.

Dimensions of wellbeing and recognitional justice of migrant workers during the COVID-19 lockdown in Kerala, India

The lockdown of March 2020 in India witnessed one of the largest movements of migrants in the country. The state of Kerala was quick and efficient in responding to the challenges posed by the lockdown on its migrant population and in supporting its ‘guest workers’. While many studies have researched the material resources of migrants during the pandemic, such as income and food, few have investigated the subjective measures and emphasised the lived experiences of migrant workers. Drawing on the Wellbeing in Developing Countries (WeD) approach which examines three dimensions of wellbeing, namely, (a) material, (b) relational and (c) subjective wellbeing, this article focuses on the mental health and wellbeing experiences of migrant workers during the first lockdown in Kerala. By deploying these wellbeing dimensions, the study looks at how migrant workers perceived and experienced the various interventions put in place by state and local governments, as well as voluntary initiatives aimed at supporting them. The study elaborates around migrants’ relations of love, care, and trust, and their reasons to remain in Kerala or return home during the lockdown. The study found that a paradigm shift, where ‘migrant workers’ are becoming ‘guest workers’, was at the forefront of the captured narratives. The key findings in this way contribute to the understanding of migrants’ lived experiences, wellbeing, and perceptions of the different lockdown interventions. We argue that an increased attention to subjective factors helps us understand migrant needs at times of crisis through their lived experiences and thereby enhances policy planning for disaster preparedness.

Across the Pacific Divide: Latin American Experiences of Integration and Well-Being in Canada and Australia

ABSTRACT There has been a paucity of comparative research regarding social inclusion for the Latin American diaspora worldwide, and this is particularly the case for scholarly work that connects countries in the Americas with nations across the Pacific. Rather than recognise the growing number of Latin Americans who travel throughout the regions of the Pacific Rim, scholarship has remained heavily dominated by works relating to the Latin American population in the United States of America and Europe. In this paper, we shift the attention to Canada and Australia, where both countries increasingly interrogate what have historically been comparable models of multiculturalism and interculturalism. Drawing on data from more a survey of 1600 respondents, we argue that personal and social ties are key to cultivating positive post-migration subjective well-being. In so doing, we highlight the effects of subjective well-being and barriers to integration and belonging. We further illustrate the implications of the intersections of gender, class, and ethnicity in relation to migrants’ well-being and inclusion. Such research demonstrates the need for a better contextualised understanding of migrant inclusion, and for detailed analysis of the situated relationships that constitute Latin American migrant identities across the Pacific Rim.

Exploring the Experience and Well-being of Female Evacuees in Coastal Bangladesh through a Phenomenological Lens

Introduction:Women in coastal Bangladesh face greater challenges while staying at evacuation centers during cyclone emergencies. This study explores the lived experience of women and their well-being as evacuees.Method:The research undertook a phenomenological approach to conduct in-depth interviews of nineteen women from three extremely vulnerable districts of coastal Bangladesh.Results:The interviews revealed that women experienced obstacles to maintaining hygiene, using the toilets and accessing privacy, and suffered distress as pregnant women, lactating mothers, and through menstruation, which affected them physically and hampered their mental health. Coming from a male-dominated socio-cultural background, female evacuees unaccompanied by male guardians experienced fear and uncertainty. Some participants recollected facing social pressure and overwhelming emotions as carers of children and elderlies, whereas some reconciled traumatizing incidents such as witnessing death. Such experiences led to anxiety, stress, and depression with either temporary or permanent trauma. Participants frequently mentioned panic attacks and stress-related physical issues such as heart palpitations, dizziness and light-headedness. However, spiritual beliefs and social bonds within the community enabled peace and optimism among the women. Findings highlight that certain factors determined women evacuees' experience of wellbeing. Social context of the women imposed burdens of responsibility and caused inaccessibility of resources to restore physical-mental wellbeing. The settings, infrastructures and environment of the evacuation centers were not women-friendly, which resulted in many negative experiences among the evacuees, greatly affecting their sense of wellness. However, participants could channel positive mindsets through prayers and spiritual faith. Women were able to access some resources and use these for their well-being through social bonding and connecting with the women within the shelters.Conclusion:Unconditional trust in a deity and sisterhood within communities have been two quintessential features of women, which played major roles in women’s experiences and molded their understandings of well-being in the cyclone shelters.

Time-related aspects of commute well-being

Commute well-being is a multidimensional concept. However, existing research on commuting has focused mainly on hedonic well-being, whereas eudaimonic well-being has been given very little consideration. Furthermore, even though the time-related aspects of commute well-being have been acknowledged in conceptual studies, empirical studies have not yet explored them. The aim of this study is to understand both hedonic and eudaimonic dimensions of commute well-being and how these are shaped by time-related aspects relating to the past, present and future. An exploratory qualitative study was conducted using semi-structured interviews with 108 individuals representing commuters from three different working environments. Data was coded inductively, and the analysis revealed reflections on past commuting, rewards from present-day commuting and long-term justifications of commuting decisions. The study shows how issues related to eudaimonic well-being establish the long-term base of commuting behaviour and how past hedonic commute well-being impacts commuting behaviour. Acknowledging the temporal dimension is important, because inducing long-lasting behavioural changes requires an understanding of the past and present hedonic commute well-being experiences that impact commuting behaviour in the future. Eudaimonic well-being affects commuters over a longer timescale and enables them to live contently with their choices in the long term.