Higher Purpose Research Articles

Reducing burnout, vicarious trauma, and secondary traumatic stress through investigating purpose in life in social workers

Summary Social workers fulfill vital roles, servicing clients from vulnerable populations and maintaining their welfare. As a result of frequent interaction with clients who have often experienced trauma, these workers are susceptible to experiencing burnout, secondary traumatic stress, and vicarious trauma. This study aimed to identify if purpose in life is a protective factor for adult/elder protective services (AEPS) and child protective services (CPS) workers. A comprehensive search of AEPS and CPS agencies resulted in more than 500 agencies throughout the United States. Three multiple regressions were run, with purpose in life as the independent variable, controlling for social workers’ years of experience, ethnicity, average of number of hours worked per week. Findings A sample of 292 participants ranging in age from 18 to 58 years of age, with a mean age of 42.03(12.34), participated in this study. Of the 292 social workers, 126 reported being CPS workers and 166 reported being AEPS workers. In all three linear regressions, higher purpose in life resulted in lower rates of vicarious trauma ( F(3, 263)=10.364, p<.001), secondary traumatic stress ( F(3, 263)=16.548, p<.001), and burnout ( F(3, 263)= 23.912, p<.001) when controlling for number of hours worked per week and years of experience. The amount of variance explained by these models ranged from 11 to 21%. Post hoc correlations between study variables were conducted, including the association between purpose in life and CS. Applications This study provides evidence necessary to warrant an intervention for protective services workers, specifically targeted toward increasing purpose in life.

Edmund Burke, The Funeral Monument and the Making of a Providential Elite

This article concerns Edmund's Burke's role in the creation of funerary monuments. The aim has been to analyse Burke's vision of his place in national history through this vehicle. It is because monuments were directed at communicating with posterity that they form an excellent means of gauging where their commissioners felt they stood in the grand sweep of national history. Burke, I argue, revealed much about his vision of how Britain ought to develop through his involvement in making funerary monuments. More specifically, the article concerns Burke's belief that some of his friends were agents of providence, whose higher purpose was to enact God's will that Britain should become a prime imperial power. He imagined that the monuments he helped to create would endure in order to vindicate his sense that his circle were at once blessed and a blessing to the nation. The text traces Burke's involvement in commissioning important tombs, and writing inscriptions, form the early 1780s to his death in 1797. One function is to set in context the story of his involvement in the commemoration of David Garrick in the period between 1793 and 1797. The article contains a description of the part taken by Burke in the conspicuous commemoration of the so called Literary Club, of which Garrick was a member. It sets out to show how Burke regarded this circle of men as a 'providential elite'.

3355 The CTSA Institutional website: A higher purpose - Researcher use of institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) website content to assess or promote NCATS CTSA Program Goals.

3355 The CTSA Institutional website: A higher purpose - Researcher use of institutional Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) website content to assess or promote NCATS CTSA Program Goals.

Unraveling the Wonder of the Ordinary: A Narrative Analysis of Meaning Construction in Memories of Familiar Routines

Familiar routines may be a source of meaning, but just as well become habitual and lose meaning. To understand this paradox, a narrative approach was used to explore how meaning is constructed in memories of familiar routines. Two types were distinguished: routines of transition and routines of harmony. Results show how meaning construction may relate to the contrast between instrumental acts in the memories and their higher purpose. In routines of transition, meaning may emerge through a temporal transformation, while routines of harmony may become meaningful through the awareness of contrasting evaluations within the routine or a contrasting wider context.

HEALTH AND PHYSICAL FUNCTIONING AS DETERMINANTS OF PURPOSE IN LIFE IN OLD AGE

AbstractPurpose in life reflects the feeling of having goals and meaning in life. Higher purpose in life has been shown to predict better health outcomes in old age and even buffer against mortality. However, it is not known how current health and functional status reflect on the possibilities of older people to live a meaningful life. Therefore, this study aimed to explore associations of health and physical functioning with purpose in life. The participants were 273 community-dwelling 75-year-old men and women from the AGNES study. Purpose in life was assessed with the subscale of the Scales of Psychological well-being (range 7–42). Current health situation and walking ability were self-reported (range 1–5). Physical performance was measured with the Short Physical Performance Battery (range 0–12). Linear regression models adjusted for sex, years of education and marital status were used in the analyses. Better self-rated health (β=1.49, p<.001) and self-reported walking ability (β=0.69, p=.016) were associated with higher purpose in life. Physical performance was not associated with purpose in life (β=0.19, p=.187). Based on the results, it seems that self-reports of health and functioning may be more relevant when considering older people’s possibilities to live a meaningful life than objective measures of functioning.

What to Read Now: Rereading Demons and The Brothers Karamazov

WHAT DO TWO LATE masterpieces by Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoyevsky, Demons (1872) and The Brothers Karamazov (1880), have in common, apart from the technical fact that the action of both novels takes place in Russia in the late 1860s and early 1870s? Although their main common trait is quite evident, it goes unnoticed not only by ordinary readers but by the great majority of literary experts as well, even though it is indispensable in interpreting each of the novels. They are both narrated from the same perspective: from the point of view of a more (The Brothers Karamazov) or less (Demons) marginal character. That perspective , however, is not as simple as it usually is—and this is where the problems begin. Both Anton Lavrentyevich G. (Demons) and an anonymous narrator (Brothers) inform us—mostly firsthand—about the events they have personally witnessed. Then they provide us with secondhand accounts from various reliable sources. Thereafter the narration becomes less and less trustworthy: alleged happenings, gossip , suppositions based on general beliefs about somebody or something, etc.—all the way to the total impossibility of the two narrators having been able to learn what they are telling us. Curiously enough, both ordinary readers and literary experts very rarely, if ever, ask themselves the fundamental question: how our storytellers could have learned about events that, by their very nature, remained a total secret from everybody but the participants, who were either unable to disclose them (because, for example , they had died) or had no reason whatever to do so? The explanation for the absence of this elementary question is, of course, the literary genius of Dostoyevsky. He made the transitions from the possible to the impossible narrations so smooth, so imperceptible, that they remain invisible to all but the most attentive reader. For the rest, the mechanism of doubt that should always be triggered by an impossibility remains inactive. If you are not at the highest pitch of reading alertness, you accept what you are told by the two narrators at face value. This opens up a very important question: why did Fyodor Mikhailovich choose such a complex and ambiguous point of view in the first place, when he had at his disposal an old and straightforward narrative perspective in which there are no impossibilities of this kind—why didn’t he simply narrate his two great novels from the point of view of the omniscient narrator? Was he just experimenting with narrative perspectives for the sake of it, or did a more profound literary strategy and ambition lie behind it all? If the latter is the case, then for what higher purpose did Dostoyevsky introduce one of the greatest literary inventions of the nineteenth century: the unreliable narrator? I believe I know the answer to this question , but I wouldn’t be able to provide it here, in the very limited space that remains available to me after my long introduction . All I can give you is a hint in the form of a crucial question for each novel that hopefully should serve as an inspiration for you to reread, more attentively than before, Demons and The Brothers Karamazov, and to try to decode for yourself why it was necessary —inevitable, in fact—for Dostoyevsky to tell his two great novels from the point of view of the unreliable narrator. Demons: What is the profoundly hidden motivation of Pyotr Stepanovich Verkhovensky for everything he has done? The Brothers Karamazov: Why did Pavel Fyodorovich Smerdyakov commit suicide? Zoran Živković (b. 1948, Belgrade, Serbia) is the author of twenty-two books of fiction published in twenty-three countries, in twenty languages. With more than one hundred foreign editions, he is one of the most translated contemporary Serbian writers. Živković’s writing was featured in the November 2011 issue of WLT. Notebook what to read now Rereading Demons and The Brothers Karamazov by Zoran Živković 8 WLT NOVEMBER–DECEMBER 2018 ...

The Influence of Individual Spirituality Toward Spirit at Work in Enhancing Organizational Commitment and Job Satisfaction

The low spirit, lack of higher purpose and meaning in the workplace has an impact towards employees’ morale. Eventually, the commitment to moral will decrease employees’ productivity and organizational commitment at work. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the inluence of individual spirituality toward spirit at work and how it enhances job satisfaction and organizational commitment. The quantitative research through questionnaires was conducted in the branch ofice of PT. Telkom with the highest revenue in the Central of Jakarta. The indings show the importance of workplace spirituality in enhancing job satisfaction and organizational commitments as important factors in increasing company’s performance. Despite the growing belief that workplace spirituality signiicantly relates to performance, the evidence is still needed based on academically proven empirical research that great spirituality is part of the strategic management approach toward better performance. Furthermore, this study supported the hypotheses that individual spirituality is positively impacting spiritat work and in turn positively enhancing job satisfaction and organizational commitment. Further quantitative explanatory approach and/or qualitative exploratory approach will be needed to reach a more solid conclusion.

Profiles of recovery from alcohol use disorder at three years following treatment: can the definition of recovery be extended to include high functioning heavy drinkers?

Recovery from alcohol use disorder (AUD) is often narrowly defined by abstinence from alcohol and improvements in functioning (e.g. mental health, social functioning, employment). This study used latent profile analysis to examine variability in recovery outcomes, defined by alcohol use, alcohol-related problems and psychosocial functioning at 3years following treatment. Secondary analysis investigated pre-treatment, post-treatment and 1- and 3-year post-treatment covariate predictors of the latent profiles. Secondary analysis of data from a randomized clinical trial. United States. We used data from the out-patient arm of Project MATCH (n=806; 29.7% female, 22.2% non-white). Recovery was defined by latent profile analyses including measures of psychosocial functioning and life satisfaction (Psychosocial Functioning Inventory), unemployment and mental health (Addiction Severity Index), alcohol and other drug use (Form 90) and alcohol-related consequences (Drinker Inventory of Consequences) 3 years following treatment. Mixture modeling was used to examine correlates of profiles. We identified four profiles at 3years following treatment: (1) poor functioning frequent heavy drinkers, (2) poor functioning infrequent heavy drinkers, (3) high functioning occasional heavy drinkers and (4) high-functioning infrequent non-heavy drinkers. There were relatively few differences on indicators of functioning and treatment-related variables between the high functioning infrequent non-heavy drinkers and the high-functioning occasional heavy drinkers, other than high-functioning occasional heavy drinkers having lower alcohol dependence severity [odds ratio (OR)=0.94, 95% confidence interval (CI)=0.90, 0.98], fewer post-treatment coping skills (OR=0.54, 95% CI=0.32, 0.90) and lower 3-year post-treatment abstinence self-efficacy (OR=0.37, 95% CI=0.28, 0.49) and Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) involvement (OR=0.87, 95% CI=0.85, 0.99). The two high-functioning profiles showed the greatest improvements in functioning from baseline through the 3-year follow-up, whereas the low-functioning profiles showed the least amount of improvement. High-functioning occasional heavy drinkers had higher purpose in life than the poor-functioning profiles. Some individuals who engage in heavy drinking following treatment for alcohol use disorder may function as well as those who are mostly abstinent with respect to psychosocial functioning, employment, life satisfaction and mental health.

Purpose in Life Among Family Care Partners Managing Dementia: Links to Caregiving Gains.

Purpose in life is associated with better health and has been found to minimize caregiving stress. Greater purpose may also promote caregiving gains (i.e., rewards or uplifts from providing care), yet the implications of purpose for positive aspects of the care role are largely unknown. The present study determined how perceptions of purpose in life among persons with dementia (PWDs) and their family caregivers are linked to caregiving gains. This cross-sectional study examined 153 co-resident family caregivers drawn from the 2011 National Health and Aging Trends Study and National Study of Caregiving. Linear regressions were estimated to evaluate associations between caregivers' and PWDs' reports of their own purpose in life and caregivers' perceived caregiving gains, along with whether these associations vary by caregiver gender. Models controlled for caregivers' sociodemographic characteristics, relationship to the PWD, care tasks, role overload, negative caregiving relationship quality, and both care partners' chronic health conditions. Caregivers' higher purpose in life was significantly linked to greater caregiving gains. Beyond this association, PWDs' higher purpose in life was significantly associated with greater caregiving gains for women but not for men. Purpose in life is a psychological resource that contributes to positive caregiving outcomes. Interventions to improve caregiver well-being could benefit from strategies that strengthen and maintain feelings of purpose among caregivers and PWDs.

Relevansi Penerapan ‘Iddah di Era Teknologi Modern

The development of science and technology today is not a reason to remove the provisions about ‘iddah that has been set in the Qur'an and Sunnah. 'Illat law and the purpose of enactment of ‘iddah which has been discussed needs to be reviewed. ‘iddah not only to know the empty uterus of the fetus, self-introspection, condition and period of mourning, but there is a higher purpose, that is belief in Allah and honor the noble covenant at the marriage ceremony. The noble agreement is realized in the ijâb and qabûl between men and women guardians. Consequently, if the marriage breaks up either because of death or divorce, both sides must respect the agreement. They must be equally restricted with the ‘iddah way until the time set by Syar'i, especially for women whose existence is more glorified and also the aim of the law' ‘iddah is for the common good.

Values-Based Network Leadership in an Interconnected World

This paper describes values-based network leadership conceptually aligned to systems science, principles of networks, moral and ethical development, and connectivism. Values-based network leadership places importance on a leader's repertoire of skills for stewarding a culture of purpose and calling among distributed teams in a globally interconnected world. Values-based network leadership is applicable for any leader needing to align interdependent effort by networks of teams operating across virtual and physical environments to achieve a collective purpose. An open-learning ecosystem is also described to help leaders address the development of strengths associated with building trust and relationships across networks of teams, aligned under a higher purpose and calling, possessing moral fiber, resilient in the face of complexity, reflectively competent to adapt as interconnected efforts evolve and change within multicultural environments, and able to figure out new ways to do something never done before.

"A Constant Sacrament of Praise": Metaphysics and the Liturgy of the Imagination in Stevens's "Peter Quince at the Clavier"

"A Constant Sacrament of Praise":Metaphysics and the Liturgy of the Imagination in Stevens's "Peter Quince at the Clavier" Kelly C. Macphail All men by nature desire to know. —Aristotle, Metaphysics 1.1.980a1, opening line Regarding the nature of truth, we must maintain that not everything which appears is true. . .. —Aristotle, Metaphysics 4.5.1010b1 ACHIEF TASK of the poetry of Wallace Stevens is to reassert an intimate connection between metaphysical belief and the role of the poet. Stevens's spiritual concerns are represented with depth and complexity, and, although their declaration is perhaps more explicit in his later poetry, earlier poems such as "Peter Quince at the Clavier" best express the liturgical role of poetry and of the poet. Stevens must be reckoned as a modernist poet whose central concerns are metaphysical, which is itself a placeholder term for concepts that are themselves placeholders: religion, spirituality, truth, beauty, the sacred, faith, prayer, God. Much as other modernists sought to reinterpret Christian themes or symbols, Stevens repositioned liturgy to rethink the roles and the possibilities of poetry, the poet, and the imagination in a manner appropriate for the modernist era and aesthetic, thereby manipulating the gaps of language and epistemology to allow readers a privileged view "through the bushes" of the poet working to uncover metaphysical truths. Poetry, Metaphysics, and Liturgy Stevens's frequent statements about how his poetry coincided with a quest for metaphysical truth reveal his desire to recognize and assuage the trouble caused by society's loss of belief in God. As he wrote to Hi Simons in 1940, "thinking of some substitute for religion" had become "a habit of mind" for him. He clarifies that he does not mean to replace the church, for "no one believes in the church as an institution more than I [End Page 227] do," but to encourage belief in something beyond ourselves, for, he says, "My trouble, and the trouble of a great many people, is the loss of belief in the sort of God in Whom we were all brought up to believe" (L 348).1 Stevens seems sincerely to mourn the loss of the comfort and purpose represented by belief in a personal god, but he acknowledges his search for something more intellectually satisfying and dependent upon the centrality of the imagination. A telling example of this search is a 1902 journal entry about a walking journey in the countryside that led Stevens to a new understanding of the differences between the truths of organized religion and the truths of nature that could join the conceptions of priest and poet. After visiting St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York, he wrote of his belief that "the true religious force in the world is not the church but the world itself: the mysterious callings of Nature and our responses"; he found this contrast to be such that "Two different deities presented themselves. . . . The priest in me worshipped one God at one shrine; the poet another God at another shrine. . . . as I went tramping through the fields and woods I beheld every leaf and blade of grass revealing or rather betokening the Invisible" (L 58–59). Two years earlier, as revealed by Stevens's first discussions with George Santayana, he had already indicated what he saw as the spiritual superiority of nature over the Church. Though Stevens's long relationship with Santayana is well known, Paul Mariani emphasizes the religious and poetic dimensions of their first meeting while Stevens was a student at Harvard (21–23). At Santayana's apartment, Stevens shared his sonnet "Cathedrals are not built along the sea," the import being that nature's beauty embodied a spirituality inherently superior to the human piety of the Church. Santayana replied with his own sonnet employing Stevens's exact imagery but insisting that the Church reforms nature into something with a higher purpose, as stones become a "cross-shaped temple to the Crucified" and the wild wind becomes worshipful organ music (qtd. on 22). Clearly, Stevens's early fascination with nature and its role as a positive force continued throughout his life. Holly Stevens records that in the weeks before his death, her father...

Odnos mladih prema korištenju informaciono-komunikacionih tehnologija u slobodno vrijeme

This paper presents the findings of empirical research on how information and communication technologies affect the leisure of high school students in Republika Srpska. Through interviews with respondents in focus groups, the goal was to answer to main research questions: How is the existence of leisure time interpreted within a new lifestyle and how young people perceive it? Do youth control virtual world or it controls them? Why „digital generations“, who make a special subculture in postmodernism, resort to social interactions through social media? How do new information and communication technologies affect young people’s leisure time? Which, if any, characteristics of information and communication technologies attracted younger users and increased the share in their leisure time? The research aimed at determining whether information and communication technologies provide young people with that what they expect from them when it comes leisure usage, first of all, what leisure means to them and how they spend it – in their opinion, is it worthwhile or less purposeful. It has been found that young people show mixed feelings towards digital technologies. Although they often have negative attitudes, especially towards social networking sites, the general tendency is that they massively use them, often for reasons that do not have a higher purpose. Highschool students in Republika Srpska generally do not see information and communication technologies as means to reach another goal, but as a way to spend their leisure time. The general conclusion of the paper is that young people do not really control their leisure, but they give it away to digital technologies.

Workplace Spirituality and Competitive Advantage-A Conceptual Model

The advent of globalization, privatization and liberalization has led to an increase in workplace stress. The market environment is increasingly moving more and more competitive and lesser collaborative. To achieve higher profits and further higher market share the employers are setting very high and unrealistic targets for employees which in turn pressurises the employees to work extended hours with fewer breaks and no time left for rejuvenation at work. The result is a demotivated, highly stressed and anxious employee and the resultant poor performance alongside poor work-life balance and declining bottom line for the employer. Therefore to overcome the above unique challenges posed by the advent of the new era, there is a need for a fresh paradigm to address the challenges of the workplace in the 21st century. Workplace Spirituality can act as a precursor to positive work attitude of employees. A workforce positively charged is an asset for the employer with unlimited potential to unleash and excel in the competitive market. Workplace spirituality is acknowledging the employees as spiritual beings alongside them being a summation of body mind and spirit. Workplace spirituality is a contemporary management paradigm postulating the existence of a higher purpose or higher meaning in life that individuals seek at work and that they are willing to realize their full potential at work through an interconnected approach As workplace spirituality is envisioned to be a prelude to the positive attitude at work therefore the relationship between the two needs to be addressed in the current business environment. This paper will review the existing research and have a relook into the relationship between workplace spirituality and employee work attitude leading to sustained competitive advantage for the organization. Further an attempt will be made to develop a conceptual model of the relationship between the variables based on existing literature which can be empirically tested in further studies.

Saved from the Scrapheap

The ecological turn of the last decade has led to a renewed interest in exploring found objects and reclaimed materials in the performing arts. For many scenographers, inspiration for repurposing these ‘leftovers’ comes from the serendipitous relationships that arise from them – a way of rethinking our connection with materials and challenging preconceptions about that which we throw away. This paper investigates key conceptual thinking and theoretical ideas around contemporary notions of materialism, value and upcycling through the scenographer's relationship with material vestiges and societal debris. Using examples from my practice-led research, I explore my own serendipitous and often uncanny relationship with ‘leftover’ things, including how their unique materiality and context informs my work. From the journey of ‘the find’ (recycle centres, tip shops, car boot sales, dumpster diving and road side pickups) to processes of making and transformation, I reveal how these discarded objects or ‘leftovers’ have inspired intimate and thrilling performance spaces. Through the process of becoming alert to the material's capacities and sensitivities, I examine how the once deemed ‘mundane’ and ‘undesirable’ can be saved from obscurity and transformed into objects and experiences of ‘higher purpose’. The paper demonstrates that we can renew our notions of debris and waste, and argues that ingenuity and creativity are fundamental components of sustainability. The notion of ‘leftovers’ challenges us to embrace the potential of ecological practice; to think about what is possible in a world of increasingly limited resources, rather than what is not.

Association Between Purpose in Life and Objective Measures of Physical Function in Older Adults

ImportanceHigher purpose in life is hypothesized to reduce the likelihood of developing weak grip strength and slow walking speed because purpose has been linked with a range of positive health behaviors and biological processes that are potentially protective against declining physical function. However, the association between purpose in life and objective physical function has not been examined.ObjectiveTo assess whether higher purpose in life among adequately functioning older adults is associated with lower risk of developing weak grip strength and slow walking speed over time.Design, Setting, and ParticipantsData for a longitudinal cohort study were collected in 2006 and again in 2010 from the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative study of US adults older than 50 years. Data analysis was conducted from November 23, 2016, to June 2, 2017.Main Outcomes and MeasuresThe risk of developing weak grip strength (assessed as a binary yes or no outcome) or slow walking speed (yes or no) during the 4-year follow-up period. Grip strength was assessed using Smedley spring-type hand dynamometers, and walking speed was assessed by asking respondents to walk 2.5 m at their normal walking pace.ResultsIn this study, 4486 adults had grip scores at baseline indicating adequate function (2665 women and 1821 men; mean [SD] age, 63.0 [8.2] years) and 1461 adults had walking scores at baseline indicating adequate function (801 women and 660 men; mean [SD] age, 70.8 [6.5] years). After controlling for sociodemographic factors, each 1-SD increase in purpose was associated with a 13% decreased risk (95% CI, 1%-23%) of developing weak grip strength and a 14% decreased risk (95% CI, 8%-20%) of developing slow walking speed. Associations with walking speed were maintained in all covariate models (fully adjusted model: risk ratio, 0.89; 95% CI, 0.83-0.95), but associations with grip strength did not reach conventional levels of statistical significance after additionally adjusting for relevant baseline health factors, depressive symptoms, and health behaviors (fully adjusted model: risk ratio, 0.91; 95% CI, 0.80-1.04).Conclusions and RelevancePurpose in life was prospectively associated with a decreased risk of developing weak grip strength and slow walking speed, although the findings were more robust for walking speed than for grip strength. These findings suggest that a sense of purpose in life, a modifiable factor, may play an important role in maintaining physical function among older adults.

Plasma sprayed coatings on crankshaft used steels

Plasma spray coatings may be an alternative to conventional heat treatment of main journals and crankpins of the crankshaft. The applications of plasma coatings are various and present multiple advantages compared to electric arc wire spraying or flame spraying. The study examines the layers sprayed with the following powders: Cr3C2- 25(Ni 20Cr), Al2O3- 13TiO2, Cr2O3-SiO2- TiO2 on the surface of steels used in the construction of a crankshaft (C45). The plasma spray coatings were made with the Spray wizard 9MCE facility at atmospheric pressure. The samples were analyzed in terms of micro and morphological using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Wear tests on samples that have undergone simulates extreme working conditions of the crankshafts. In order to emphasize adherence to the base material sprayed layer, were carried out tests of microscratches and micro-indentation. Results have showed a relatively compact morphological aspect given by the successive coatings with splat-like specific structures. Following the microscratch analysis it can be concluded that Al2O3-13TiO2 coating has a higher purpose in terms of hardness compared to Cr3C2-(Ni 20Cr) and Cr2O3-SiO2- TiO2 powders. Thermal coatings of the deposited powders have increased the mechanical properties of the material. The results stand to confirm that plasma sprayed Al2O3-13TiO2 powder is in fact a efficient solution for preventing mechanical wear, even with a faulty lubrication system.

Purpose in Life and Hospitalization for Ambulatory Care-Sensitive Conditions in Old Age

To test the hypothesis that higher level of purpose in life is associated with lower subsequent odds of hospitalization. Longitudinal cohort study. Participants' residences in the Chicago metropolitan area. A total of 805 older persons who completed uniform annual clinical evaluations. Participants annually completed a standard self-report measure of purpose in life, a component of well-being. Hospitalization data were obtained from Part A Medicare claims records. Based on previous research, ICD-9 codes were used to identify ambulatory care-sensitive conditions (ACSCs) for which hospitalization is potentially preventable. The relation of purpose (baseline and follow-up) to hospitalization was assessed in proportional odds mixed models. During a mean of 4.5 years of observation, there was a total of 2,043 hospitalizations (442 with a primary ACSC diagnosis; 1,322 with a secondary ACSC diagnosis; 279 with no ACSCs). In initial analyses, higher purpose at baseline and follow-up were each associated with lower odds of more hospitalizations involving ACSCs but not hospitalizations for non-ACSCs. Results were comparable when those with low cognitive function at baseline were excluded. Adjustment for chronic medical conditions and socioeconomic status reduced but did not eliminate the association of purpose with hospitalizations involving ACSCs. In old age, higher level of purpose in life is associated with lower odds of subsequent hospitalizations for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions.

Workplace Spirituality and Employee Well-being: An Empirical Exploration

The popularity of concept of spirituality is increasing exponentially in the field of human resource management. Both academicians and practitioners are looking at spirituality to solve modern day human resource challenges. Spirituality at work is about search for meaning or higher purpose, connectedness and transcendence. The present research article addresses conceptual and empirical gap using the concept of workplace spirituality and empirically examines relationship between workplace spirituality and employee commitment, job satisfaction and work–life balance satisfaction. The article successfully augments literature by suggesting one more dimension (Karma Capital) of Indian spiritual values. This is one of the pioneer studies that used necessary condition analysis (NCA) to explore workplace spirituality. Workplace spirituality was reported as a necessary determinant of employee commitment, job satisfaction and work–life balance satisfaction. Relationship between these variables is further investigated through correlation matrix and regression analysis.

Dr Radhakrishnan as a Philosopher

Dr Radhakrishnan’s thinking was Upanishadic. He also firmly believed in the birth of a new order based on ancient Indian wisdom. Drawing his inspiration from the Vedas, the Upanisads and the Gita, Radhakrishnan believed that humanity must become one. What kind of religion did Radhakrishnan advocate? Not a credal or dogmatic one, not an intellectual theology disputing over dogmas and contemplations. Radhakrishnan takes pride in the fact that Hinduism is not bound up with a creed or a dogma, with a founder – prophet or a historical personality, with a book like the Bible or the Quran, but a “persistent search for truth on the basis of a continuously renewed experience”. Radhakrishnan, as an ardent Hindu, could not transcend Hinduism itself. He was respectful of all religions, but it is ultimately Hindu standards by which he judged other religions. Hinduism was always for him the ideal religion, of course, a Hinduism re-interpreted, purged of all that he found distasteful in it. That President Radhakrishnan was a dhvajasthambalam in the temple of our nation’s consciousness: upright and resplendent in rough weather and fair, inspiring us to a higher purpose. K R Srinivas Iyengar noted that without the reserves of the spirit, the inner poise, the hidden fire, all other endowments cannot count for much. And the spirit that moved and sustained our ancient Indian Rishis and Acharyas is not foreign to Professor Radhakrishnan