Free Listing Research Articles

Availability and Affordability of Essential Palliative Care Medicines in Nepal: A Cross-Sectional Study

ContextThe government of Nepal adopted the 2017 Nepalese National Strategy for Palliative Care (NSPC), which proposed that Essential Palliative Care Medicines (EPCMs) listed by the International Association for Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) should be available at each healthcare institution. In 2017 after the issuing of NSPC, the Lancet Commission developed an EPCM list. ObjectivesTo evaluate the inclusion of EPCMs recommended by both IAHPC and Lancet in national medicinal programmes, their availability, and affordability in Nepal. MethodsA cross-sectional descriptive study of the availability of EPCMs in Nepal, and their inclusion in the national essential medicines list, government health insurance medicines list, government fixed rate medicines list, and free medicines list. Affordability was assessed using the World Health Organization Daily-Define-Dose and the Nepal Government-defined minimum daily wage. ResultsA total of 27 of 33 (82%) of the IAHPC-EPCMs and 41 of 60 (68%) of the recommended formulations were available in Nepal. All the Lancet Commission recommended EPCMs were available in Nepal. Morphine was available in all formulations used in palliative care. 22%, 18%, and 10% of IAHPC-EPCMs were available cost-free via district hospitals, primary healthcare centers, and health posts, respectively. The government had not included opioids on both free and fixed price lists. A total of 24 of 33 (73%) IAHPC-EPCMs were available on the Government Health Insurance Medicines List. A total of 19 of 41 (46%) available EPCMs were affordable. ConclusionMany EPCM formulations included in NSPC of Nepal are not available, and most available EPCMs are unaffordable if purchased out-of-pocket. While the availability is better with the government health insurance scheme, many people are not registered for this. Further improvements should follow the development of a Nepalese palliative care formulary.

IJCM_163A: A qualitative analysis of awareness regarding type-2 diabetes mellitus among diabetic patients in selected field practice areas of a tertiary care hospital in Mangaluru

Background: The prevalence of diabetes is high and growing worldwide, especially in developing countries like India. Over 25 million Indians are prediabetics while an estimated 77 million Indians over the age of 18 have the illness. More than half of the population will have health issues if diabetes is not detected and treated right away. Diabetes awareness, assessment, and practice on an individual basis are essential for early identification and efficient care. Objective: To assess the knowledge regarding diabetes among type 2 Diabetes mellitus patients in the field practice areas of a tertiary care hospital in Mangaluru and to explore their socio-demographic characteristics. Methodology: This is a facility-based, cross-sectional study among a minimum of 40 Type-2 Diabetes mellitus patients from the field practice areas of a tertiary care hospital in Mangaluru. Systematic qualitative method of free listing and pile sorting using interview guide is employed to assess the knowledge while a questionnaire is used to assess socio-demographic profile. Free listing analysis of transcribed data is done using Smith’s S or Salience Index while descriptive statistics is used to calculate the mean, standard deviation and the frequencies. Results: In this study, we found out that the majority of participants think the general reasons leading on to diagnosis of Diabetes mellitus are either tiredness/body ache or by blood/ doctor check-up and the reason for being diagnosed were mostly perceived to be unknown or due to tension or consumption of sugar/cool drinks. Significant proportion of participants were observed to show adherence to frequent follow-up of monthly once. Conclusion: In conclusion, though the considerable portion of Type-2 Diabetes mellitus patients adhere to regular follow-up, the knowledge regarding the reasons leading on to the diagnosis or perceived reason for being diagnosed is still lacking. Prompt initiatives are therefore needed to promote awareness towards diabetes among patients.

As Proficient as Adults: Distribution of Children’s Knowledge of Wild Edible Plants in an Arid Environment in Madagascar

In drylands, where resources are scarce, wild edible plant (WEP) knowledge is crucial to overcome food scarcity. Understanding the distribution pattern of local ecological knowledge (LEK) about WEP and identifying knowledge holders are key steps to assessing the resilience and vulnerability of knowledge systems. However, little is known about how WEP knowledge is distributed across life stages and gender of people living in arid regions. Here, we study the distribution of WEP knowledge within a small-scale society from southwestern Madagascar, a region known for its dry climate and related food crises. We worked with Tanalana male and female children and adults using semi-structured interviews and free listings. Tanalana people display a sophisticated LEK adapted to the extreme environment in which they live, with a distinct distribution pattern regarding theoretical and practical knowledge across life stages and gender. While women and men cited similar WEP, children and adults cited different sets of WEP, suggesting they hold differentiated bodies of theoretical knowledge, however our results suggest similarity in practical knowledge across life-stage and gender. We argue that resource limitation and food scarcity might be so pervasive in the area that extensive sharing of knowledge on WEP could be an adaptation to the extremely dry environment.

Combining Machine Learning and Lifetime-Based Resource Management for Memory Allocation and Beyond

Memory management is fundamental to the performance of all applications. On modern server architectures, an application's memory allocator needs to balance memory utilization against the ability to use 2MB huge pages, which are crucial for achieving high performance. This paper shows that prior C++ memory allocators are fundamentally limited because optimizing this trade-off depends on the knowledge of object lifetimes, which is information allocators lack. We introduce a two-step approach to attain high memory utilization in huge pages. We first introduce a novel machine-learning approach that predicts the lifetime of freshly allocated objects using the stack trace at the time of allocation and treats stack traces as natural language. We then present a fundamentally new type of memory allocator that exploits (potentially incorrect) object lifetime predictions to achieve high memory utilization at full huge page usage. In contrast to prior memory allocators that organize their heap around size classes and free lists, our allocator organizes the heap based on predicted lifetime classes and adjusts to mispredictions on the fly. We demonstrate experimentally that this learned lifetime-aware memory allocator (LLAMA) reduces fragmentation with huge pages by up to 78%. Our approach gives rise to a new methodology for applying ML in computer systems. In addition, similar space-time bin packing problems abound in computer science and we discuss how this approach has applications beyond memory allocation to a wide range of problems.

Harmony in nature: understanding the cultural and ecological aspects of plant use in Ladakh

BackgroundTraditional knowledge (TK) in Ladakh encapsulates a repository of experimental wisdom cultivated over millennia. Despite this cultural wealth, dwindling interest among the younger generations in the region’s age-old practices underscores the urgency to document TK. The current study investigates the diverse usage of plants in Surru, Wakha and Lower Indus valleys of Western Ladakh exploring the influence of socioeconomic and ecological factors.MethodsA stratified random sample approach was adopted to select 540 respondents for gathering information of useful plants through interviews and questionnaires. Participant observation, questionnaires, open-ended and semi-structured interviews were conducted for data collection. Free listing was done to create an extensive list of plants and their uses. Ethnobotanical metrics such as relative frequency of citation (RFC), relative importance index (RI), cultural value (CV) index and cultural importance (CI) index were computed to assess species applicability. Additionally, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was utilized to discern significant differences in knowledge levels based on valleys, gender, education and religion using TK as a response variable.ResultsAltogether, we recorded 246 plant species under various ethnobotanical uses from Western Ladakh. These include medicinal (126), fodder (124), wild ornamentals (86), food (81), fuel wood (54), dye (20), religious (31) and others (34). Novel plant reports include Berberis brandisiana Ahrendt and Dactylorhiza kafiriana Renz. The dominant plant family is Asteraceae with 35 species. Suru valley exhibits the highest number of cited plants followed by Wakha-chu and Lower Indus valleys (192, 168 and 152 species, respectively).ConclusionDisparities in plant use understanding are evident among different groups, prompting further investigation through intercultural comparisons. Plants such as Arnebia euchroma, Juniperus semiglobosa, and Artemisia species emerge with cultural importance. Gender, valley affiliation, religious background and the remoteness of a village all influence local plant knowledge. These variations are linked to socioeconomic disparities among communities.

A perspective on how to improve the quality of life of elderly people living in rural areas

Introduction: We are going to witness the demographic shift with the predictable trends of population ageing and thus need to understand healthy ageing. This study was aimed to understand factors that influence the quality of life (QOL) of the elderly. Methods: This was a qualitative study conducted in 4 selected villages including males and females of age group > 60 years of age. 20 elderly individuals and 10 elderly individuals were chosen for a free listing and pile sorting exercise respectively. Smith's index was calculated for a free listing. Multidimensional scaling and cluster analysis were conducted to do pile sorting of data. Data were analyzed using Flame v1.2 and Anthropac. Result: During free-listing, 54 salient items were identified. Financial stability, healthy living, self-sufficiency, and work engagement were the most frequent responses that came from the study subjects. 25 salient items that were repeated in the free-listing exercise were included for the pile-sorting. The piles generated ranged from 3-12. Later, 25 perceived items (factors) for improving quality of life were clustered into 5 groups (Role of harmonious family, healthy ageing, daily schedule activity, leisure time and external support). Conclusion: The elderly recognized that a harmonious family, healthy ageing, daily schedule with leisure activity, and Government support can all improve their quality of life.

The influence of exotic and native plants on illnesses with physical and spiritual causes in the semiarid region of Piauí, Northeast of Brazil

BackgroundLocal medical systems (LMS) include native and exotic plants used for the treatment of diseases of physical and spiritual nature. The incorporation of exotic plants into these systems has been the subject of many studies. In this context, an analysis was conducted on the influence of the origin of plants on diseases of physical and spiritual nature in order to evaluate the therapeutic versatility of native and exotic species in these therapeutic targets, to investigate whether exotic plants mainly fill gaps not met by native plants (diversification hypothesis), and identify which species are prioritized in the redundant targets in these two therapeutic groups in the rural community of Morrinhos, Monsenhor Hipólito, Piauí.MethodsData collection took place in 2 stages. First, free lists and semi-structured interviews with local residents (n = 134) were conducted to survey plants used for therapeutic purposes and the associated illnesses. Then, another phase of interviews was carried out to evaluate the prioritization between native and exotic plants in redundant therapeutic targets. To test the diversification hypothesis (DH) in each group of illnesses, data were analyzed using generalized linear models (Poisson and Binomial GLMs); versatility was measured by the number of therapeutic indications and compared between resources using the Mann–Whitney test, and prioritization in each group was verified by comparing the proportions of native and exotic plants with the χ2 test.ResultsOne hundred and thirty-two species of plants were surveyed, being 71 exotic and 61 native, with indications for physical and spiritual illnesses. The results revealed that the diversification hypothesis did not explain the inclusion of exotic plants in the local medical system to treat physical or spiritual illnesses and that the therapeutic versatility of exotic and native resources in the two groups was also similar (p > 0.05). However, exotic plants were prioritized in illnesses with physical causes and native plants in illnesses with spiritual causes.ConclusionsThe local medical system presents similar and distinct patterns in the therapeutic targets, depending on the perspective evaluated. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the patterns of use of medicinal plants in different sociocultural contexts in order to broaden the debate about the role of plant origin in the selection of treatments for illnesses with different causes.

Indian immigrants' constructions of mental health and mental illness in the perinatal period: A qualitative study.

The aim of this study is to explore how immigrant women and men from India construct mental health and mental illness in the perinatal period. Qualitative interpretive design. Data were collected by conducting in-depth interviews with 19 participants. Photo elicitation, free listing and pile sorting were used during the interviews. Purposive sampling was used, and data were collected in 2018 and 2019. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. One major theme and three subthemes were identified. 'We do not talk about it' was the major theme and the subthemes: (1) 'living peacefully and feeling happy' described the views on mental health; (2) 'that's the elephant in the room still' captures how participants felt when talking about mental illness; and (3) 'why don't we talk about it' offers reasons why the Indian community does not talk about mental health and illness. The findings of this study have highlighted the importance of understanding the impact of immigration and being culturally sensitive when assessing mental health in the perinatal period. The findings of this study identify some of the reasons for non-disclosure of mental health issues by immigrants. Incorporating these findings during psychosocial assessment by health professionals in the perinatal period will help translate the cultural aspects into more effective communication. Patient and public contribution to the study was provided by the Community Stakeholders Group; these were members of the immigrant community from India who had expertise in mental health. They contributed to the study design and the key terms and phrases for the free list used in interviews.

Study on medicinal food plants in the Gaoligongshan Biosphere Reserve, the richest biocultural diversity center in China

BackgroundTraditional knowledge associated with medicinal food plants (MFPs) plays a vital role in fighting hidden hunger and safeguarding the health of local people. MFPs resources are abundant in the Gaoligongshan area, a biosphere reserve with the richest biocultural diversity in China. Local people of different linguistic groups also have rich traditional botanical knowledge. However, there are still few comprehensive and systematic studies on MFPs there.MethodsEthnobotanical investigation including market survey, semi-structured interviews, free listing and key informant interviews was conducted in the Gaoligongshan area, Western Yunnan, Southwest China. A total of 13 local farmers’ markets were selected and information about medicinal food plants, including food categories, medicinal and edible parts, modes of consumption, medicinal effects, and distribution were collected. The relative occurrence frequency (RFO) and cultural food significance index (CFSI) were calculated to identify the culturally significant MFPs.ResultsA total of 184 species of MFPs, belonging to 83 families, were collected in the Gaoligongshan area, including vegetables (77), medicinal diets (26), fruits (25), spices (18), herbal tea (13), tea substitutes (11), substitutes for staple food (8), nuts (5), oils and fats (4), and dye material (1). The most frequently used families were Fabaceae, Asteraceae and Apiaceae, with 11, 10, and 9 species, respectively. The most frequently used plant parts were the stems, followed by fruits and leaves. Based on the evaluation results of the CFSI and RFO indices, 18 species of MFPs with magnificent local cultural importance have been screened out, such as Houttuynia cordata, Eryngium foetidum, Sechium edule, Centella asiatica and Pseudocydonia sinensis.ConclusionThese findings have guiding significance for conservation of traditional knowledge associated with MFPs and facilitation of scientific utilization of MFPs to meet local people’s needs for a healthy life.

Why Acute Undernutrition? A Qualitative Exploration of Food Preferences, Perceptions and Factors Underlying Diet in Adolescent Girls in Rural Communities in Nigeria.

Adolescent girls are nutritionally vulnerable due to their rapid growth and increased nutrient requirements. Nigeria has the sixth-largest population in the world. This study qualitatively explored the food preferences, perceptions of nutritive value and factors underlying food consumption of adolescent girls in rural communities in Nigeria. The data were collected via the free listing of foods and focus group sessions conducted in the Hausa language with 48 unmarried adolescent girls. The discussions were audio-recorded, transcribed, translated into English, and analyzed using a deductive thematic framework. The mean age of the respondents was 13.0 ± 2.7, and almost half (48%) had a primary school education. A total of 19 and 23 foods were identified as preferred, and perceived as nourishing, respectively. The top 10 foods present on both free lists overlapped considerably in terms of cognitive salience. The focus group themes included nutrition knowledge, food preferences, autonomy, household food allocation, courtship practices, and agricultural landscapes and economic access. The participants had minimal knowledge of nutrients and food groups, and their preferred foods were limited in diversity. The key factors in food preferences were desirable health effects, sensory attributes, and the contribution of foods to a desirable body image for marriage. Household food choices depended on parents. Thus, a desire for independence was an incentive for early marriage, mostly at 13 to 17 years. Gender inequities in household food distribution (quantity) and animal protein intake were reported. The participants believed that boys need more food for strength to impregnate girls. As part of a courtship practice, the girls received gifts of animal source foods from potential suitors. The food options were limited by financial challenges and low agricultural diversity. To interrupt the cycle of inadequate food consumption and undernutrition in these adolescent girls, policy makers need to promote nutrition education and address the underlying determinants of inequitable access to nutritious foods.

Opportunities and challenges for small-scale fisheries co-management: A case study of the unofficial landing records system in a Brazilian fishing community

The scarcity of information on small-scale fisheries (SSF) prevents the dimensioning of production and the assessment of fish stocks and, consequently, impairs the feasibility of adequate management decisions. This study aimed to analyze the challenges and opportunities of landing records in SSF based on a case study in a fishing community in northeastern Brazil. In addition, the temporal trends of the main exploited fish species were analyzed using the local ecological knowledge of artisanal fishers. Due to the wide data gap, this analysis included the records provided by the fisher Colony Z-19 only from 2017 and 2018 and a comparison from October to January for 2006–2007, 2012–2013, and 2017–2018. The free listing technique was applied to 30 local fishers. The total catch recorded in 2017 was 50.7 tons, and 43.79 tons in 2018, while the average catch per unit effort was 12.32 ± 6.18 and 10.33 ± 5.66 kg/fisher.day, respectively in each year. Landing records encompassed eight multi-specific categories, which strongly restricts the potential use of this information for fisheries management. Despite the relevance of the Colony’s intention to monitor the landings without external support, this is strictly aimed at the commercial control of fishing production. This scenario presents an opportunity, with the cooperation of other stakeholders, to develop standardized methods of fishery statistics that shed light on the conditions surrounding stocks that are fished in SSF. Some recommendations are provided for a national well-established fishing landing monitoring.

Addressing challenges faced by young refugees in the Netherlands: Adapting problem management plus (PM+) with an emotional processing module.

Young refugees face numerous challenges before, during, and after their journey, leading to higher rates of mental health issues such as depression, anxiety, and posttraumatic stress disorder. These problems often remain untreated due to barriers like limited services, stigma, and varied distress expressions. One effective scalable intervention that bridges this treatment gap is problem management plus (PM+), a transdiagnostic program delivered by trained nonspecialists. However, PM+ lacks a module directly targeting posttraumatic stress, which is a common problem in young refugees. This study presents the cultural and contextual adaptation process of PM+ for young refugees in the Netherlands that includes a newly developed emotional processing module. Qualitative data collection included free list interviews with youngsters (n = 33), key informant interviews with professionals (n = 9), policymakers (n = 5), key people from communities (n = 10), focus group discussions (n = 11) and one focused interview. A new module targeting distressing memories was developed and reviewed by experts (n = 14). Results supported protocol adaptations, including culturally and age-appropriate language, examples, illustrations and length. This research aims to develop feasible, culturally sensitive mental health interventions tailored to the unique needs of young refugees.

Intercultural characterization of the empathetic physician: Experiences of chronic patients of the chilean public health system

Empathy is a fundamental element of the physician-patient relationship for treatment and therapeutic adherence that has had to face significant changes due to the migrations of the health system in Chile. Characterize the empathetic physicians according to the perceptions of chronic patients during the encounter with national and foreign doctors in the public health system in the Maule Region. Qualitative study of exploratory-descriptive type. Twenty chronic patients from public health services in the Maule region were interviewed remotely using the free listing technique. A thematic processual qualitative analysis of the content and a descriptive quantitative analysis were carried out where the frequency and salience of the Smith index assisted by the Anthropac 4.98 software were obtained. Seven categories of empathetic care were identified in the physicians-patient relationship: Affectivity (37%), Communication (19%), Attention (13%), Respect (12%), Research (9%), Knowledge (5%) and Efficiency (5%). The affective and psychoemotional aspects were more valued than the cognitive aspects of empathetic care. No differences were observed in assessing the empathetic care of patients seen by Chilean physicians and those treated by foreign physicians.

Qualitative exploration for the under-foot fall in utilization of health services at Primary Health Center of Shahdol, Madhya Pradesh.

Despite efforts to improve healthcare infrastructure and service delivery, significant disparities in healthcare utilization persist, leading to suboptimal health outcomes and hindering progress toward achieving universal health coverage. This research article aims to conduct a qualitative exploration of the under-foot fall in utilization of health services, shedding light on the barriers and challenges faced by individuals in accessing and utilizing health care to inform targeted interventions and improve health service utilization. This qualitative study employed free listing, pile sorting, and focus group discussions (FGDs) as data collection methods. Representatives from various stakeholders involved in the primary healthcare delivery system were selected based on their vocalness, knowledge, willingness to participate, and heterogeneity of responses. Subsequently, FGDs and key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted to further explore the identified barriers. The collected transcripts underwent manual thematic analysis using coding rules and theme generation procedures. A total of 30 participants, including healthcare providers, community leaders, and individuals from the local community, took part in the qualitative exploration. The themes encompassed limited awareness and knowledge, geographical and infrastructural barriers, socioeconomic constraints, trust and perceptions of the healthcare system, and cultural and social factors. These findings provide valuable insights into the multifaceted barriers hindering healthcare utilization and can guide the development of targeted interventions and policies to improve healthcare access and delivery in the study area. The identified barriers, including limited awareness and knowledge, geographical and infrastructural challenges, socioeconomic constraints, trust and perceptions of the healthcare system, cultural and social factors, and gender disparities, are consistent with the existing literature.

A Comparative Analysis of Maternal Nutrition Decision-Making Autonomy During Pregnancy-An Application of the Food Choice Process Model in Burkina Faso and Madagascar.

Adequate nutrition has been cited as one of the most critical components for optimal health outcomes during pregnancy. Women in Burkina Faso and Madagascar experience high rates of undernutrition due to lack of knowledge, finances, cultural norms, and autonomy. Therefore, this study aimed (1) to describe typical maternal diets during pregnancy in Burkina Faso and Madagascar, (2) to understand the multilevel factors that influence women's nutrition decision-making, and (3) to explore the extent to which women have nutrition decision-making autonomy during pregnancy. This study was conducted between October 2020 and February 2021 in Burkina Faso and Madagascar. Semi-structured interviews, focus group interviews, and free lists were conducted among women of reproductive age and pregnant and lactating women. Textual data from interviews were recorded and translated verbatim from local languages into French. The Food Choice Process Model guided textual content analysis using Dedoose software. Free list data were analyzed using cultural domain analysis approaches. In Burkina Faso and Madagascar, women primarily consumed staple foods such as rice and tô during pregnancy. Participants cited eating fruits and vegetables when available, while the animal source foods were rarely consumed. Across both contexts, nutrition during pregnancy was influenced by factors that impact food choices, such as social factors, resources, ideals, and personal factors. While women and men in Madagascar had more shared decision-making on critical domains such as finances, men were the primary decision-makers in most areas of inquiry (eg, finances) in Burkina Faso. The lack of adequate diverse diet consumed during pregnancy is primarily due to important factors including social factors and resources. Understanding the ability for women to consume optimal diets during pregnancy is needed to target behavioral change in maternal nutrition programming.

Evidence for optimal semantic search throughout adulthood

As people age, they learn and store new knowledge in their semantic memory. Despite learning a tremendous amount of information, people can still recall information relevant to the current situation with ease. To accomplish this, the mind must efficiently organize and search a vast store of information. It also must continue to retrieve information effectively despite changes in cognitive mechanisms due to healthy aging, including a general slowing in information processing and a decline in executive functioning. How effectively does the mind of an individual adjust its search to account for changes due to aging? We tested 746 people ages 25 through 69 on a semantic fluency task (free listing animals) and found that, on average, retrieval follows an optimal path through semantic memory. Participants tended to list a sequence of semantically related animals (e.g., lion, tiger, puma) before switching to a semantically unrelated animal (e.g., whale). We found that the timing of these transitions to semantically unrelated animals was remarkably consistent with an optimal strategy for maximizing the overall rate of retrieval (i.e., the number of animals listed per unit time). Age did not affect an individual’s deviation from the optimal strategy given their general performance, suggesting that people adapt and continue to search memory optimally throughout their lives. We argue that this result is more likely due to compensating for a general slowing than a decline in executive functioning.

Assessment of Occupational Burnout And Its Determinants, Causes of Occupational Stress, And Its Coping Strategies Among Nurses Working In The Psychiatric Wards: A mixed-method study

Aims: This study assessed occupational burnout and its determinants, causes of occupational stress, and its coping strategies amongst 13 nurses working in the psychiatry wards in India. Methods: This was a longitudinal mixed-method study. The qualitative component comprised interviewing each participant under the steps of “free listing” and “pile sorting” to assess the causes of occupational stress and its coping strategies. The occupational burnout experiences were assessed using the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Results: Low-level depersonalization scores were present among six (46.1%) participants. Scores under this component of burnout were negatively correlated with years of work experience in providing nursing care for admitted psychiatric patients (rs = -0.548, p=0.05). Median scores of the emotional exhaustion scale (p=0.047) and of the depersonalization scale (p=0.016) were significantly higher among participants working at the government hospital. The major cause of occupational stress was poor infrastructure and treatment facilities with a salience score of 0.154. The most adopted strategies to tide over occupational stress were reading books and meditation with a salience score of 0.128 and 0.109 respectively. Conclusion: Extended work experience of participants was associated with their better ability to understand and empathize more with the patients as reflected by the low depersonalization scores. Two components of occupational burnout were found to be higher among nurses working in the government hospital. Organizational relationships were a more common cause of occupational stress than client-related matters among the participants. Recreational activities were the most common coping strategies adopted by the participants to deal with stress.

Engaging school children in sustainable lifestyle: Opportunities and challenges

IntroductionSustainable Development Goal 12.8 aims to capacitate people with relevant information and awareness for sustainable development and lifestyles in harmony with nature. This study documents unique opportunities and challenges associated with engaging school children in Sustainable lifestyle for health. ObjectiveTo identify opportunities and challenges in engaging school children in Sustainable Lifestyle. MethodsParticipatory action research was designed through “Sustainable lifestyle Campaign” for 134 students (11–14 years) of 8 schools in Kolar city, Karnataka, India. The project was divided into Induction, Interaction and Reinforcement phases. Induction phase included Inter-school competitions (on themes of climate change and health). In Interaction phase, participants individually named various impacts of climate change and the climate change risk they perceived. In groups of 6–8, they then Free Listed and Pile sorted Climate change actions. In Reinforcement phase, interactive games and symposium on Climate Change and Sustainable Lifestyle were organized for the participants. At the end of Reinforcement phase, participants repeated the free listing and pile sorting exercise. Free lists were analyzed for frequencies and Smith's Salience Index, and the pile sorts using non-metric multi-dimensional scaling (non-metric MDS) using Anthropac ver 4.98. ResultsThe participants named “Cancer” (65%) and “Asthma” (50%) as health impacts of climate change while other impacts were largely unknown. Major themes, such as “Perceived risk”, “Eagerness to engage in climate action”, “Incompleteness of information” and “Lack of autonomy” were identified. Reinforcement phase improved frequency and Smith's salience (>0.8) of individual level climate change actions across groups. Non-metric MDS showed that rationale of pile sorting shifted from “Source-based” sorting to “Level of Action” based sorting after the Reinforcement. ConclusionsExisting knowledge of participants regarding sustainable lifestyle is theoretical with insufficient emphasis on health. Sustainable lifestyle awareness campaigns focusing children must have provisions for family and peer involvement to sustain the individual or family level actions.

Doing research with busy people: Enacting rapid walking methodologies with teachers in a primary school

Teachers are busy people. How do we, as researchers, address the challenges of doing research with busy people—especially if we wish to enact ethical, more radical futures? How do we adhere to the pressures of fast-paced urban life when research, especially interviews, takes away people's time? This paper presents a novel method for doing research with busy people, combining the ‘walking interview’ method with a ‘free listing technique.’ The interviews were carried out with teachers at a north Queensland primary school in a rapidly urbanising neighbourhood, and formed part of a larger project exploring the barriers and opportunities of incorporating community gardens (as important green spaces) into schools. The method itself yielded important findings and this paper is a reflective analysis of how simple factors such as the weather, noise, and interruptions shaped 20 min of a teacher's day. We extend these ideas to explore how conditioned and situational temporalities, along with more-than-human influences, affect the knowledge produced in rapid walking interviews. Keeping track of these affections can yield important data relevant to the project. The research will be invaluable for other researchers struggling with ethical and other issues shaping access to stakeholders in a diverse range of urban environments.

Representations of Ecuadorian cuisine in the coast and the highlands regions through the free listing technique

AbstractCodification of country-of-origin cuisines serves as a powerful tool for the international promotion of a country and the reinforcement of its national identity. Even though there have been efforts in that direction, Ecuadorian gastronomy is not consensually codified. This study aims to compare the perceptions of Ecuadorian gastronomy among inhabitants of coastal and highland cities —where most of the population of the country lives— using free listing as a study technique, to distinguish consumers’ demographics through their representations, to define a list of the most culturally salient preparations, and to compare these perceptions with the traditional Ecuadorian dishes set forth by the Ministry of Tourism for the promotion of Ecuadorian cuisine. Data were acquired through face-to-face surveys in the main coastal and highland cities of Ecuador (n = 294) in which participants were asked to list the main dishes of Ecuadorian cuisine. The study identifies 25 preparations that exhibit the highest cultural consensus as determined by B'score. The four most salient dishes are encebollado (tuna, onion, and cassava soup), ceviche (lime-cured fish or shrimp cold soup), hornado, and fritada (roast and fried pork dishes, respectively). The representations of The Coast and Highlands show weak correlation (0.286 in Spearman’s test) despite having 60% consensus in the most salient dishes, and other groups show much higher consensus. There is agreement with most provincial dishes selected for the promotion programs of Ecuadorian cuisine, although there is room for improvement. This study is valuable to help codify Ecuadorian gastronomy from a grassroots perspective, to point out promotion and local development practical implications for both domestic and international tourism, and to lay the groundwork for further research.