Exploration Of People Research Articles

“It’s just politics”: an exploration of people’s frames of the politics of mobility in Germany and their consequences

BackgroundThe decarbonization of the mobility sector is one of the main challenges in the context of climate mitigation. In Germany, as in many other countries, policy measures aiming to make the mobility system greener frequently fail to produce substantial results, not least due to a lack of support by large sections of the general public. Policy measures directed at reducing car traffic in particular are often met with indifference and resistance. The question thus arises: what basis do citizens use to form their (often negative) opinions about sustainable mobility policies? As a conceptual starting point for our empirical analysis, we draw on the frame concept and focus on people’s frames of the politics of mobility. With “politics of mobility” we refer to everything people could consider as political with regard to mobility. We understand frames as culturally mediated patterns of interpretation that ultimately motivate and guide actions.ResultsBased on interviews and focus group data gathered in the region of the city of Stuttgart (Germany), we identify two dominant frames as well as combinations of these frames by which people make sense of the activities of political actors in the field of mobility. In one frame, which we labeled “politics-as-actor”, mobility politics are interpreted with reference to politics as some kind of monolithic abstract actor. In the other, which we labeled as “politics-as-staged-process”, mobility politics are portrayed as an interest-driven, opaque process that only purport to being democratic.ConclusionsIn terms of policy recommendations, we use our findings to derive suggestions for how to increase support for green mobility policies: transparent implementation of policy measures, pragmatic policy styles and the involvement of intermediaries.

탄소중립을 위한 녹색생활 서비스의 사용자 기대경험

The purpose of this study is to provide basic data for future service development by examining app services for green life and identifying users' expected experiences. To this end, expected experience items were derived through a survey of challenge app service cases and carbon neutral-related user research documents, and interview verification by group was conducted according to the presence or absence of experience in using the app service. As a result, the two groups showed differences in education, communication, exploration of people's practice through entertainment, empathy and communication, and fun factors, and commonly denied carbon footprint calculations. This study is meaningful in that it investigated user expectation experiences in carbon neutral fields that lack existing user research, and the results can be used as basic data for the development of better green living services in the future.

Using traditional healers to treat child malnutrition: a qualitative study of health-seeking behaviour in eastern Ethiopia

BackgroundMalnutrition among children under five years of age is a major public health issue in many low and middle-income constrained countries. According to WHO, 5.3 million under-five children die every year and about 45% of these deaths are linked to malnutrition. While it is clear that poverty and lack of food are important factors in children’s malnutrition, less is known about the ways in which local conceptions of malnutrition affect parents’ treatment choices. In Ethiopia, child malnutrition is a severe public health problem and a common cause of child death, and this paper explores the local views of malnutrition and how these shape people’s health-seeking behaviour.MethodsThe study was conducted in eastern Ethiopia from December 2017 to January 2019, conducting interviews and focus group discussions to explore different views and treatment options malnutrition. The study used grounded theory because it allows new and unexpected themes to arise from the data. Researchers’ assumptions on local terminologies of child malnutrition are also controlled as a principle of ground theory.ResultsChild malnutrition was not only perceived to be related to lack of food but was understood in a wider local conceptualization of health and illness. Parents often relied on healers because they are long-standing members of the community, possess indigenous knowledge, and cost less than other options. Because health professionals and the community perceive and speak of health very differently, people often do not seek support from health services. The misalignments between how health professionals and healers diagnose and treat malnourished children have implications on the possibilities to implement change to reduce malnutrition.ConclusionsThrough an exploration of people’s own terminology and understandings of what a malnourished child is, as well as the underlying reasons for their illness, this paper explores how people understand malnutrition symptoms and why many tend to rely on healers rather than seeking care from health centres.

Revisiting Candidacy: What Might It Offer Cancer Prevention?

The notion of candidacy emerged three decades ago through Davison and colleagues’ exploration of people’s understanding of the causes of coronary heart disease. Candidacy was a mechanism to estimate one’s own or others risk of disease informed by their lay epidemiology. It could predict who would develop illness or explain why someone succumbed to it. Candidacy’s predictive ability, however, was fallible, and it was from this perspective that the public’s reticence to adhere to prevention messages could be explained, as ultimately anybody could be ‘at-risk’. This work continues to resonate in health research, with over 700 citations of Davison’s Candidacy paper. Less explored however, is the candidacy framework in its entirety in other illness spheres, where prevention efforts could potentially impact health outcomes. This paper revisits the candidacy framework to reconsider it use within prevention. In doing so, candidacy within coronary heart disease, suicide prevention, diabetes, and cancer will be examined, and key components of candidacy and how people negotiate their candidacy within differing disease contexts will be uncovered. The applicability of candidacy to address modifiable breast cancer risk factors or cancer prevention more broadly will be considered, as will the implications for public health policy.

Person-Centered Healthcare Practice in a Pandemic Context: An Exploration of People's Experience of Seeking Healthcare Support.

Background: The recent COVID-19 pandemic increased pressure upon healthcare resources resulting in compromised health services. Enforced national lockdown led to people being unable to access essential services in addition to limiting contact with social support networks. The novel coronavirus, and subsequent condition known as long covid were not well-understood and clinicians were not supported by existing guidelines or pathways. Our study explored people's experiences of healthcare during this period with a person-centered “lens.”Methods: Ninety-seven people participated in our online survey about their experiences of the pandemic, particularly while socially isolated and their experiences of healthcare. Following completion of the survey, 11 of these participants agreed to further semi-structured interviews to explore this further in their own words. Interview conversations were transcribed, checked; together with the responses to open questions in the survey. The data were then analyzed thematically by members of the research team. We conducted framework analysis from a post-positivist perspective, using the Person-centered Practice Framework to explore participants' experiences.Results: There were few examples of people describing person-centered care. People experienced barriers to accessing support, and negative experiences of care that represented complexities enacting person-centered care at each level of the framework (processes, practice environment, prerequisites, and macro context). These barriers were influenced greatly by the pandemic, for example, with health professionals being harder to access. Some experiences related to the ways in which health professionals responded to the context, for example, positive examples included active listening, recognition of people's experiences, seeking to find out more, and engaging in collaborative problem-solving.Discussion: People want to feel heard, supported to navigate healthcare systems, source trustworthy information, find appropriate services, and collaborate in learning and problem-solving with healthcare professionals. There have been enormous challenges to the provision of healthcare throughout the pandemic. Moving forward is crucial with emphasis on overcoming barriers to person-centered healthcare. This should focus on steps now and also in planning for the possibility of further rapid changes in the demand for and provision of healthcare.

When the body is defective: An object relations informed narrative analysis of the illness experience of people affected by pulmonary hypertension

Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) can be considered as a paradigmat-ic disease for the understanding of repairing processes enacted to re-store internal regulation when the body is defective. The present study aims at providing an object relations informed narrative analy-sis of the illness experience of people affected by PH through a qualitative phenomenological analysis of the illness narratives of 12 adult Italian patients with PH. Four thematic areas (each consisting of three subthemes) were identified that respectively deal with pro-gressive stages of illness story: coping with early symptoms (mean-inglessness, minimization, self-blame), searching for a diagnosis (helplessness, burden, refusal of medical advice), reacting to diagno-sis (shock, resignation, acceptance of limitations) and facing the fu-ture (medical benefits, faith in God, support from patients' associa-tions). Findings make a significant contribution to the exploration of people with PH's several subjective challenges in coping with a de-fective body from symptom onset to after diagnosis.

Estudio sobre el nivel de salud en los estudiantes de ciencias de la Universidad de Extremadura (España)

Dentro de la psicología positiva uno de los temas de investigación es la exploración en el bienestar de las personas y para ello se han realizado estudios sobre las fortalezas y las variables predictoras de lafelicidad, entre ellas la salud percibida. Los estudiantes universitarios se enfrentan a cambios en sus vidas y cambios en nuevos roles dirigidos hacia su futuro, así como a nuevas expectativas y horizontes.El presente trabajo tiene como objetivo conocer la salud percibida en los estudiantes de ciencias de la Universidad de Extremadura. La salud percibida se considera un indicador de la salud general, se identifica con una parte del bienestar psicológico, posible indicador de una adaptación psicológica positiva a los grandes cambios. El estudio de dichas variables no va a permitir conocer la calidad de vida relacionada con el desempeño de sus funciones como estudiantes y de sus relaciones tanto con la universidad como con su entorno estudiantil. Se ha analizado la variable salud y su relación con el género, edad y titulación. La muestra está compuesta por 503 alumnos de ciencias de la Universidad de Extremadura. El instrumento empleado ha sido el Cuestionario de Salud General de Goldberg (GHQ12) Esta escala refleja preguntas relacionadas con la ausencia o presencia de síntomas de malestar psicológico como falta de sueño, alteraciones en el estado de ánimo, etc. Los resultados indican que los varones presentan mayor percepción de salud que las mujeres, que no existe una relación indirecta entre edad del alumnado y su nivel de salud ni tampoco diferencias de salud del alumnado dependiendo de su titulación.

Death, dying and bereavement: considering compassion and empowerment

ABSTRACTHow to create compassionate schools able to engage constructively with death, dying and bereavement in a rural Western educational context was the focus of this research. Grounded theory and a social constructionist lens were used to gain an in-depth exploration of people’s experiences of bereavement, death and dying in the context of their school community. Reflexivity combined with critical social theory deepened participants’ reflections on how their perceptions are influenced by their social and specific school experience and how they and others may influence these in turn. Twenty-three participants including principals, teachers, parents and students were interviewed. All participants resided in a primary school community setting at the time of the bereavement and had been bereaved of a close friend or a family member (post six months and up to six years). Interviews were semi-structured and included questions about the participants’ experiences, unearthing their assumptions and ideas about engaging constructively with death, dying and bereavement. In accordance with grounded theory, analysis and interviews ran simultaneously so that as interviews were being conducted, analysis was occurring, and categories were emerging. New questions were prepared to further investigate participants’ main concerns, ways of thinking and how society and culture may influence the understanding of death, dying and bereavement in a school community. Finally, we argue that school communities need to explicitly discuss community members’ experiences and preferences for changes in attitudes as well as practical strategies. Empowered schools could then actively navigate the taboo nature of death, dying and bereavement.

Current practices and the potential for individuals with criminal records to gain qualifications or employment within social work: a scoping review

ABSTRACT Social work has long-standing, well-recognized problems of recruitment and retention in England and many other jurisdictions. Policymakers and employers are exploring if there are untapped sources of potential employees. We conducted a scoping review in 2018 to explore current practices and the potential to employ people with criminal records in the social work profession in England. Eighteen studies were located and two themes were identified within these: 1) the potential for people with criminal records to gain qualifications in social work and 2) the potential for people with criminal records to gain employment within social work. More research is needed to establish evidence about current responses to applications from people with criminal records seeking to access training and employment. More evidence is also needed about current practices in decision-making by all parties, together with exploration of people with criminal records’ experiences of gaining qualifications in social work and then seeking employment, changing employers and pursuing career progression.

Old tastes, old stories: Gourmet magazine’s representations of Southeast Asia after the Vietnam War

This article examines how Gourmet, the nation’s most influential food magazine, covered Southeast Asia after the Vietnam War. Between its first article in 1969 and its last issue in 2009, Gourmet published 56 pieces on the region’s nine countries over 40 years. The tone and scope of this coverage changed very little, demonstrating how Gourmet failed to evolve in its stated purpose of using food as a lens for the thoughtful inquiry and exploration of people and culture. This article examines three important characteristics of Gourmet’s Southeast Asian coverage. First, it focused on a romanticized history of French, Dutch, British, and American empires that ignored the region’s modern development, particularly its booming economies and detestable dictatorships. Second, it embraced tourism as a means for these dictatorships to rebrand themselves by removing the stench of questionable human rights and environmental records. Third, it homogenized the entire region into a collection of a few hotels and resorts that left little voice or agency for Southeast Asian people. Gourmet thus made Southeast Asia into a safe, anodyne, and ultimately bland space that relied on representations of historical and contemporary selectivity, the destructive amnesia of colonial hagiography, complicity with dictators to rebrand through state-funded tourism, and the danger of transforming diverse regions and peoples into interchangeable parts of a repetitive trope. Rather than use food as a lens for a better engagement with society and culture, Gourmet perpetuated the racial hierarchies and exploitative relationships of the past through the seemingly innocuous genre of contemporary food writing.

Leisure as a human right: an exploration of people with disabilities’ perceptions of leisure, arts and recreation participation through Australian Community Access Services

ABSTRACTCommunity Access Services (CAS) are defined as ‘Services designed to provide opportunities for people with disability to gain and use their abilities to enjoy their full potential for social independence’ [Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. 2015. Disability Services National Minimum Data Set Collection: Data Transmission and Technical Guide. Canberra: AIHW]. A notable absence of international research regarding leisure, arts and recreation through CAS exists. This study explores perceptions of people with disabilities on their participation in leisure, arts and recreation through Australian CAS. A constructivist grounded theory approach was used involving: memoing, observations, focus groups, interviews and questionnaires from people with disabilities and their families (n = 114); and a critical discourse analysis of texts (n = 42). Results revealed seven major themes including: transition to leisure, arts and recreation; individualized services; local accessible services; positive organizational culture; community inclusion; innovation and co-production. These findings may contribute to the transformation of CAS as people with disabilities actively engage as equal partners within leisure, arts and recreation as a human right.

The Mobile Territorial Lab: a multilayered and dynamic view on parents’ daily lives

The exploration of people’s everyday life has long been of interest to social scientists. Recent years have witnessed a growing interest in analyzing human behavioral data generated by technology (e.g. mobile phones). To date, a few large-scale studies have been designed to measure human behaviors and interactions using multiple sources of data. A common characteristic of these studies is the population under investigation: students having similar daily routines and needs. This choice constraints the range of behaviors, of places and the generalization of the results. In order to widen this line of studies, we focus on a different target group: parents with young children aged 0 through 10 years. Children influence multiple aspects of their parents’ lives, from the satisfaction of basic human needs and the fulfillment of social roles to their financial status and sleep quality. In this paper, we describe the Mobile Territorial Lab (MTL) project, a longitudinal living lab which has been sensing by means of technology (mobile phones) the lives of more than 100 parents in different areas of the Trentino region in Northern Italy. We present the preliminary results after two years of experimentation of, to the best of our knowledge, the most complete picture of parents’ daily lives. Through the collection and analysis of the collected data, we created a multi-layered view of the participants’ lives, tracking social interactions, mobility routines, spending patterns, and personality characteristics. Overall, our results prove the relevance of living lab approaches to measure human behaviors and interactions, which can pave the way to new studies exploiting a richer number of behavioral indicators. Moreover, we believe that the proposed methodology and the collected data could be very valuable for researchers from different disciplines such as social psychology, sociology, computer science, economy, etc., which are interested in understanding human behaviour.

Mapping the connections between wildlife, learning, and emotion

Among the overriding themes of the seminal American environmental texts of the last two centuries is that humans and animals in close proximity have unique significance for people; on a basic level, being in the presence of wildlife is important for many people. Presently, human- wildlife encounters are increasing and are expected to continue to increase as human and animal populations grow and habitats intersect. As numbers of encounters grow, so too will the potential for emotional responses to wildlife. By chronicling the nuances of personal experiences with wildlife, we might develop a more thorough understanding of how people learn about wildlife through their interactions with animals. By emphasizing the beneficial nature of human-wildlife interaction, and infusing emotion into our understanding of learning processes, the exploration of people's encounters with wildlife will become nuanced and linked to educational strategies.

Contemporary Perspectives in Nonverbal Behavior: Then and Now

Since its formal introduction in the research literature in the 1950s and 60s, nonverbal behavior research has witnessed a number of theoretical and methodological developments, described in Patterson’s (2014) reflections on historical trends in the field in this special issue on contemporary perspectives in nonverbal behavior. The empirical works also featured in this issue highlight the diverse interests and approaches of current researchers in the field, and reinforce several key qualities (e.g., function, context, pattern, intersection, interaction) in Patterson’s view for the need of a more systems-oriented nonverbal framework. More specifically, in their exploration of people’s ability to use a deliberate Duchenne smile to persuade another person, Gunnery and Hall (2014) demonstrate how considering the broader functions of nonverbal behaviors can offer instructive opportunities for understanding how particular behaviors operate. Moreover, the importance of the interaction context or setting noted by Patterson is emphasized by their finding that people use a deliberate Duchenne smile only when they are attempting to persuade someone to do something consistent with the actual nature of the persuasion object (e.g., drinking a good tasting beverage) as opposed to persuading someone to do something more contrary (e.g., drinking a bad tasting beverage). Patterson (2014) further challenges contemporary researchers to focus greater attention on patterns of behavior, as in the real world where interactions are characterized more by the simultaneous initiation of multiple, coordinated behaviors rather than the production of single actions in isolated channels. Farley’s (2014) work exploring the role of mimicry, smiling, laughter, body posture, and vocal pleasantness in communicating romantic attraction, relationship-maintenance, and affiliation convincingly supports the value of this invitation. Meadors and Murray’s (2014) investigation of implicit racial bias in the reactive nonverbal behaviors of viewers watching videos of Black or White criminal suspects supports Patterson’s additional challenge to consider in new ways how nonverbal behavior intersects with culture. As well, the importance of tracking how behavior intersect with

An Exploration of People's Experiences of Compassion‐focused Therapy for Trauma, Using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis

Self-compassion enhances psychological well-being, and compassion-focused therapy aims to alleviate psychological distress by fostering its development. The experience of becoming self-compassionate for people with complex mental health difficulties has not been analysed in the literature, despite clinical observations that this process is difficult. This study explored the process of becoming self-compassionate for people with posttraumatic stress disorder, using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven participants. Five superordinate themes emerged from the data including: (1) the battle to give up the inner critic: who am I if I am not self-critical?; (2) an aversive and alien experience: how it feels to develop self-compassion; (3) the emotional experience of therapy; (4) self-compassion as a positive emotional experience; and (5) a more positive outlook in the present and for the future. Self-criticism formed an important part of the participants' self-identity, and they experienced an initially aversive emotional response to self-compassion, describing it as a completely new experience and one to be feared. Despite this, they were able to persist with therapy and subsequently experience positive emotional responses to self-compassion. They reported the therapeutic relationship as an important factor making this possible. Participants reflected on several reasons for the aversive nature of developing self-compassion, which are discussed. A process model of the journey from self-criticism to self-compassion is proposed. It is suggested that the obstacles frequently experienced when developing self-compassion can be overcome, instilling hope for both therapists and clients.

Relationship of Intestinal Bacterial Biotransformation and Active Components of Traditional Chinese Medicine

Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) has a long history in China. Its effect on many diseases has been recognized and has made great contribution to human health. As the further exploration of people for microorganism and development of medical microbiology in the 21st century, the effect of microbes for TCM has attracted people’s attention, especially the biotransformation by microorganisms in gut.

Increasing physical activity, but persisting social gaps among middle-aged people: trends in Northern Sweden from 1990 to 2007

Background: Physical activity is identified as one important protective factor for chronic diseases. Physical activity surveillance is important in assessing healthy population behaviour over time. Many countries lack population trends on physical activity.Objective: To present trends in physical activity levels in Västerbotten County, Sweden and to evaluate physical activity among women and men with various educational levels.Methods: Population-based cross-sectional and panel data from the Västerbotten Intervention Programme (VIP) during 1990–2007 were used. All individuals in Västerbotten County who turned 40, 50, or 60 years old were invited to their local primary health care for a health screening. Physical activity during commuting, recreational activities, physical exercise, and socio-demographic data were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Respondents were categorised as sedentary, moderate physically active, or physically active.Results: The prevalences of physically active behaviours increased from 16 to 24.2% among men and from 12.6 to 30.4% among women. Increases are observed in all educational groups, but gaps between educational groups widened recently. The level of sedentary behaviour was stable over the time period studied. The 10-year follow-up data show that the prevalences of physically active behaviours increased from 15.8 to 21.4% among men and 12.7 to 23.3% among women. However, 10.2% of men and 3.8% of women remained sedentary.Conclusion: Despite the promising evidence of increasing physical activity levels among the population in Västerbotten County, challenges remain for how to reduce the stable levels of sedentary behaviours in some subgroups. Persisting social gaps in physical activity levels should be addressed further. An exploration of people's views on engaging in physical activity and barriers to doing so will allow better formulation of targeted interventions within this population.