Well-being Issues Research Articles

How primary trainee teachers’ intersectionality exacerbates issues of wellbeing

ABSTRACT This research, conducted in the north-west of England, examined what primary trainee teachers believe affects their wellbeing, while studying on a 1-year post-graduate course. The research adopted a phenomenological case study using semi-structured self-directed interviews. Our thematic analysis illuminates that trainee teachers’ intersectionality (being both a student and a primary trainee teacher) places them in a vulnerable position, whereby their dual set status exacerbates any wellbeing issues. These issues include financial anxiety; difficulties managing workloads; poor relationships with school staff and perceived negative school cultures. As many of these issues are systemic, trainee teachers are often powerless to ameliorate these problems, and therefore this piece of relevance to policy makers and ITE curriculum creators.

Leveraging Ubuntu values and principles as cultural strength to overcome mental health and emotional wellbeing issues

There is a need for African people living in Australia to consider leveraging Ubuntu values as a cultural strength to address mental health and emotional wellbeing issues. for African people living in Australia. This paper is a systematic review research which employed key terms such as mental health, emotional wellbeing, African Australian, Young people. There were no participants involved, however the research articles that were reviewed in the study only focused on the African Australian community. Mental health issues among African Australian youth need to be better understood, as studies have shown they are at a higher risk for mental health, yet there has been insufficient research on the topic. In this study, most articles we employed highlighted that the extensive research on that reported migrants to be at ten times higher risk of experiencing mental health issues compared to the general population. Many studies carried out in the African Australian community have drawn more attention to the African Australian culture. This raises the need for research to be conducted on African Australian young people aged 15-29 years which is the Australian age range of a young person, to sensitize the African Australian community on mental health issues, and factors leading to young people's mental health problems in African Australian society. The aim of the study was to raise awareness about mental health issues facing the African, Australian young people and suggesting ways forward to support young people. The finding of the study demonstrates significance and values to address mental health issues in African-Australian Community groups. Research asserted that young immigrants are at greater risk of developing mental illness due to resettlement, cultural transition, and separation from extended family members. Young people lacking a secure base for emotional support from their families are more likely to face mental health issues in their lives. Mental health issues in the African context may not be categorized as a vast problem, but instead identified as life circumstances that every individual encounter. Since mental health subject is a taboo in the African culture, the study encouraged young people to pair up with other African youths to create awareness and advocate to access mental health services should need arise. This study encourages young people and their families from African heritage to leverage Ubuntu values and principles as their cultural strengths in dealing with challenging issues such as mental health and emotional wellbeing issues. How to reference using ASWNet style: Kagola F. & Abur W. (2023). Leverage Ubuntu values and principles as cultural strength to overcome mental health and emotional well-being issues. African Journal of Social Work, 13(6), 312-324. https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/ajsw.v13i6.5 Visit journal website: https://ajsw.africasocialwork.net

Deep Learning Models to Predict Finishing Pig Weight Using Point Clouds.

The selection of animals to be marketed is largely completed by their visual assessment, solely relying on the skill level of the animal caretaker. Real-time monitoring of the weight of farm animals would provide important information for not only marketing, but also for the assessment of health and well-being issues. The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a method based on 3D Convolutional Neural Network to predict weight from point clouds. Intel Real Sense D435 stereo depth camera placed at 2.7 m height was used to capture the 3D videos of a single finishing pig freely walking in a holding pen ranging in weight between 20-120 kg. The animal weight and 3D videos were collected from 249 Landrace × Large White pigs in farm facilities of the FZEA-USP (Faculty of Animal Science and Food Engineering, University of Sao Paulo) between 5 August and 9 November 2021. Point clouds were manually extracted from the recorded 3D video and applied for modeling. A total of 1186 point clouds were used for model training and validating using PointNet framework in Python with a 9:1 split and 112 randomly selected point clouds were reserved for testing. The volume between the body surface points and a constant plane resembling the ground was calculated and correlated with weight to make a comparison with results from the PointNet method. The coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.94) was achieved with PointNet regression model on test point clouds compared to the coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.76) achieved from the volume of the same animal. The validation RMSE of the model was 6.79 kg with a test RMSE of 6.88 kg. Further, to analyze model performance based on weight range the pigs were divided into three different weight ranges: below 55 kg, between 55 and 90 kg, and above 90 kg. For different weight groups, pigs weighing below 55 kg were best predicted with the model. The results clearly showed that 3D deep learning on point sets has a good potential for accurate weight prediction even with a limited training dataset. Therefore, this study confirms the usability of 3D deep learning on point sets for farm animals' weight prediction, while a larger data set needs to be used to ensure the most accurate predictions.

‘It’s like two different worlds’: the multifaceted nature of social support in students’ transition from high school to a problem-based learning undergraduate programme

ABSTRACT The transition from high school to university often amounts to a muddled process, making it both an exciting and challenging time for many undergraduate students. Integrating both academically and socially is key in this respect. Social support from peers and teaching staff, but also from family and friends, can have a decisive impact. A learning environment in which one would expect social support to be more evident, is Problem-Based Learning (PBL). Here, learning revolves around small, collaborative groups, with closer ties between students and teaching staff. We explore the role of social support in a PBL environment by looking at students’ experiences in- and outside the classroom. Based on fourteen in-depth student interviews, we find that the requirements of a PBL environment – particularly in terms of self-regulated learning, workload, and pace – can be a source of stress. As such, students encounter familiar transition problems concerning the inter-related issues of independence, structure, and well-being, and family and friends play a key role in dealing with these issues. However, PBL can also stimulate social support and help students integrate, especially through its emphasis on work in smaller groups and the structure offered by regular meetings.

Twelve tips for implementing trigger or content warnings in healthcare professions education

Trigger warnings are statements offering prior notification of sensitive content, allowing recipients to prepare for and avoid ensuing distress. Students are increasingly reporting expectations for warnings in classrooms and learning contexts. Discussions regarding use of warnings have clear relevance to healthcare education, which regularly explores sensitive content. Their use has been positioned as a measure for inclusive education and as a means to enhance trauma awareness and empathy. Expectations for warnings need to be considered in the context of preparedness for professional practice. This Twelve Tips paper explores the evidence in relation to warnings and its applicability to social learning contexts. These tips highlight considerations and strategies for the use of warnings in the context of healthcare education, balancing issues of inclusivity, learner and educator wellbeing, and professional preparedness. These discussions are situated within the context of current classroom-based healthcare education.

Empowerment and silence: A grounded theory exploration among new teachers.

Despite the importance of understanding teacher empowerment and silence to help address issues of teacher shortage and well-being and improve school-based consultation, research on the topic has been understudied and undertheorized, particularly for new teachers. To fill this research gap, we carried out a constructivist grounded theory-based qualitative exploration of factors that contribute to new teachers' empowerment and silence during the COVID-19 pandemic among a sample of 24 first-year new teachers from a large and diverse urban school district in northern California. The findings identified different sets of psychological and social-structural factors contributing to new teachers' empowerment and silence, respectively. Factors contributing to empowerment included autonomy and a sense of accomplishment in the psychological domain and support, appreciation or being acknowledged, and shared beliefs in the social-structural domain. Factors contributing to silence included a lack of self-efficacy in the psychological domain and being limited in the decision-making process, a lack of connected and safe space, and a lack of knowledge of unwritten school norms and procedures in the social-structural domain. Findings suggest that empowerment and silence might be dual-factor constructs driven by different sets of factors that do not fully mirror each other. Findings provided important theoretical and practical implications for creating psychological and social-structural supports to promote new teachers' well-being, increasing school psychologists' effectiveness in providing consultation services with new teachers as their consultees, and creating safe and connected spaces for sharing voices among new teachers with diverse backgrounds. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

Health and Wellbeing Implications of Urban Green Exposure on Young Adults in a European City

Urbanization has caused a disconnect between people and nature. There has also been a rise in health and well-being issues in urban dwellers. In recent years, many cities, especially in Europe, have consciously developed urban parks and green spaces to allow the urban population to experience nature without having to travel out of the city. This study explores the health and well-being benefits of exposure to urban green spaces on urban young adults. A sample of young adults living in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia, were studied using Restorative Outcome Scale (ROS) and Subjective Vitality Scale (SVS) to discover psychological benefits. Blood pressure and heart rate monitoring were also employed to examine the physiological benefits of urban green exposure. It was found that there was a direct relationship between urban green exposure and health and well-being. There was a significant increase in restorative benefits and an increase in the overall vitality level.

A cross-sectional survey study exploring provision and delivery of expanded community tier 2 behavioural weight management services in England.

Guidelines recommend provision of local behavioural weight management (tier 2) programmes for adults living with overweight and obesity. Following the publication of the UK Government's publication 'Tackling Obesity: empowering adults and children to live healthier lives' in July 2021, Government invested around £30 million of additional funding to support the expansion of local authority commissioned tier 2 provision for adults living with excess weight. We conducted a cross-sectional survey study to scope the types of services available, to whom they were made available, and barriers and facilitators to service delivery. An e-survey was disseminated to local authority commissioned tier 2 service providers in England from September to October 2022. Through a combination of closed and open (qualitative) questions, the survey collected data on referral routes, participant eligibility criteria, service content and format, and challenges and enablers to service delivery. Quantitative data were analysed descriptively whilst thematic content analysis was applied to qualitative data. We received 52 responses (estimated response rate = 59%) representing all nine England regions and 89 unique local authorities. Most services were multi-component (84.3%), were 12 weeks duration (78.0%), were group-based (90.0%), were primarily delivered in-person (86.0%), and were free to participants (90.2%). Five responses indicated provision of support for other health and wellbeing issues, for example, mental health, assistance with debt. To improve future WMS service commissioning and delivery, WMS providers need to be allowed adequate time and resource to properly prepare for service delivery. Referral systems and criteria should be made clear and straightforward to both referrers and service users, and strategies to manage surplus referrals should be explored.

Optimizing Social Support: Building Resilience to Work-Related Stress in Women through Managing Conflict Between Work and Personal Life

Job stress, as a major well-being issue in the contemporary world of work, is attracting increasing attention from researchers, especially in the context of its effects on women. Women often fulfill dual roles as professional workers and household leaders, presenting unique challenges in managing multiple demands both at work and within the family sphere. This research discusses how the imbalance between work life and personal life, especially work-life conflict, influences work stress levels in career women. This research involved 200 women who had worked for at least 6 months. Using the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) data analysis method with the help of the SmartPLS application, this research discusses the influence of Work-Life Conflict (WLC) on women's work stress levels. The findings highlight the importance of conflict management between work and personal life, with implications for organizational policies in supporting such balance. Although Perceived Social Support (PSS) was not proven to be a significant mediator, this research contributes to the understanding of the complexity of the dynamics between these variables, providing a basis for further research and practical implementation. These findings also emphasize the important role of leadership in creating an organizational culture that supports work-life balance.

Nature-based interventions to support mental health and well-being of young women in pregnancy: exploratory work for future feasibility RCT.

The prevalence of mental health and well-being issues among young women is increasing. Pregnancy is a time when new mental health challenges may arise, or existing conditions can be exacerbated. This project presents preparatory work on how nature-based interventions may help to support the mental health and well-being of young pregnant women (aged 16-24 years) in a future study. This project was formed of three main phases conducted from March to August 2022: (1) mapping nature activities available across the East Midlands region and two focus groups with providers of nature activities (n = 6); (2) public participation and involvement work to inform future research. This included four focus groups with young women (n = 11), leading to the formation of a new young women's panel (Research Influencers Group). Networking and stakeholder engagement to support future research. The mapping survey identified 68 nature-based organisations/projects operating in the region, many of whom expressed interest in being involved in future research. The young women's focus groups confirmed the importance of the topic and generated a wealth of information to support the intervention design. A Research Influencer Group of five young women was established from the focus group participants. The Research Influencer Group chose the nature-based intervention and had input into all aspects of the study design. This group will continue into future projects. Focus groups with providers of nature activities have further advanced the study design. The project team have developed relationships with relevant stakeholders and networks that will inform the future trial. This preparatory co-design work suggested that a nature-based intervention may be acceptable to young women, and providers of such interventions felt it was feasible to offer these activities to young pregnant women. This preparatory work has led to an outline research plan which has been co-produced with public contributors and stakeholders throughout. This preparatory work is limited by small focus group samples, and the possibility that not all providers were reached through the snowballing approach to the mapping survey. Future research is needed to test the nature-based intervention; this would be in the form of a feasibility randomised controlled trial of nature-based interventions to promote the mental health and well-being of young pregnant women. This article presents independent research funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) Public Health Research programme as award number NIHR135167.

College Teacher Performance: A Literature Review

The purpose of this study is to review academic research on the performance of university teachers. The paper provides an overview of the main research topics on the performance of university teachers and summarizes the gaps in previous research. This article reviews and analyzes the empirical research topics published in the past five years, and summarizes five themes in total. These five themes are divided as follows. Topic 1: The impact of teaching methods on student academic performance. Topic 2: Teacher training and career development. Topic 3: Effective utilization of educational resources and academic performance. Topic 4: Teacher performance management and salary. Topic 5: The issue of teacher well-being and turnover. In the future, attention can be paid to the relationship between teacher performance, salary, and training.

APA/APAGS Award for Distinguished Graduate Student in Professional Psychology: Sergio Domínguez Jr.

This award honors a graduate student who has demonstrated outstanding practice and application of psychology. "Sergio Domínguez Jr. is a PhD candidate in counseling psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a pre-doctoral intern in health service psychology at the University of Illinois Chicago Counseling Center. As a practitioner-scholar-advocate, their work focuses on facilitators and inhibitors to pleasure, particularly by using a racial-gender justice perspective as a vehicle toward achieving widespread freedom and liberation. Specifically, they are deeply invested in Black and Brown trans people's well-being, ethical and legal professional issues in psychology, and the transformative power of relationships in psychotherapy and in community-engaged psychological practice. Their connection to community and involvement in multilevel advocacy has enabled them to be a trusted collaborator for community-oriented individual, social, and systemic justice efforts. Sergio's dissertation involves a qualitative exploration of the ways trans people's gender euphoria defies systems of power that deprive all people from experiencing racialized gendered pleasure. After graduation, Sergio aspires to continue being a community-rooted psychological practitioner who intervenes individually, socially, and systemically to create pleasure-centric futures. While this award bears their name, this award was not earned by Sergio alone; instead, this award is shared with the many people who have done and will continue to do and support racial-gender justice advocacy." (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2024 APA, all rights reserved).

STRATEGIC PLANNING IN UNIVERSITIES OF KAZAKHSTAN IN THE POST-PANDEMIC PERIOD

The purpose of the research – This research aims to study the practices of strategy development in public and private universities in Kazakhstan and develop recommendations for their improvement. Particular attention is paid to the strategy development process, stakeholder engagement, the impact of the pandemic, as well as issues of well-being and digitalization.Methodology – Semi-structured face-to-face and online interviews were used as a collection method. The researchers conducted 7 semi-structured interviews with senior or middle managers who participated or are involved in the development of the strategy (rector, vice-rector, head of the department), as well as an analysis of strategic documents.Originality / value of the research – There are many studies in the scientific literature on the impact of the pandemic on various processes in higher education, but the impact on the strategic planning process, taking into account digitalization and the well-being of students and staff, is poorly studied. This study fills this gap, and also shows practices and difficulties in strategic planning at universities in Kazakhstan.Findings – In the process of strategic planning, there is a top-down approach, with low involvement of stakeholders. In public universities, the dominant role is played by key performance indicators (KPIs), released by the EOM, turning strategies into a plan to achieve these KPIs. The pandemic has prompted universities to take a strategic approach to digitalization, but well-being issues are not taken into account in the planning process.

Are smart tourism destinations developing sustainably?

<p>This paper attempts to clarify our understanding of the ability of smart tourism to underpin sustainable destination development and the theoretical and practical challenges that must be faced in this process. Several challenges must be overcome if smart tourism is to associate with progress in achieving sustainable development at the destination level. One challenge involves formulating a clear and consistent conception of what sustainability entails. Another challenge is to reject the growth ethic that drives much of the research effort in smart tourism with its implicit assumption of the role played by technological progress in ‘decoupling’ environmental effects from tourism growth. A third challenge involves accounting for resident well-being and ‘quality of life’ issues that are essential elements of the sustainability concept. A further challenge is to integrate the ideas proposed in a way that progresses smart tourism research providing guidance to researchers and destination managers wishing to take sustainability and well-being issues more seriously. The anticipated outcome is smart tourism development that is much more suitable to deliver valued economic, socio-cultural and environmental outcomes to destinations locally and globally.</p>

The Relationships between Stress, Burnout, Mental Health and Well-Being in Social Workers

Abstract Stress and burnout can have several negative effects on the individual social worker’s work performance, along with their mental health and well-being. We are still unclear on how these negative effects play out, as no studies have examined what the relationships are between stress, burnout, anxiety, depression and well-being in social workers. This cross-sectional study attempted to identify the rates and correlates of stress, burnout, anxiety, depression and mental well-being of 121 social workers, using bivariate and multiple regression analyses. This study highlighted a significant proportion of social workers who reported mild to severe issues in anxiety, depression and mental well-being. This study highlighted that perceived stress is likely to be a universal risk factor for anxiety, depression, and mental well-being in social workers. Emotional exhaustion was also identified as a potential risk factor for anxiety, with personal accomplishment being a potential protective factor against depression and for positive mental well-being. This study provides promising preliminary evidence that if social workers who are experiencing issues with anxiety, depression and mental well-being are supported to reduce feelings of stress, emotional exhaustion, and increase feelings of personal accomplishment, they are likely to experience improvements in their mental health and job performance.

Doing what matters in times of stress: No-nonsense meditation and occupational well-being in COVID-19.

While the COVID-19 pandemic challenged the general public's health and well-being, it exacerbated the pre-existing well-being issues in the educational sector in many countries. Mindfulness-based interventions are often applied to protect and promote occupational well-being. To investigate how the well-being benefits of these interventions arise, we selected one accessible technique that is used in most of them: focused attention meditation. In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic, 199 teachers voluntarily practiced five to ten minutes of meditation together with their pupils, every morning for six months. We employed a three-wave longitudinal design to follow any changes in the meditating teachers' well-being and compared these changes to a waitlist control condition of 42 teachers. Three dimensions of well-being were measured at baseline, half-time, and post-intervention: emotional, cognitive, and physical well-being. Latent growth curve models revealed that the meditation technique not only improves well-being but also prevents the development of well-being problems. The practice of focused attention meditation resulted in improvements in emotional and physical well-being and prevented the development of cognitive well-being problems that were observed within the control condition. The effects were strongest for emotional and cognitive well-being and followed a linear trend. This paper shows that the well-being effects of mindfulness-based interventions are at least in part due to the focused attention meditation that is practiced in them. Occupational groups that experience emotional, cognitive, or physical well-being issues can benefit from a few minutes of focused attention meditation per day. Trial registration: ISRCTN ISRCTN61170784 (https://doi.org/10.1186/ISRCTN61170784).

Exploring English Teachers’ Pedagogical Wellbeing and Classroom Issues: A Narrative Inquiry

This paper deals with the classroom issues of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teaching in the context of Nepal and the EFL teachers' ways of addressing them. More specifically, it connects how pedagogical strengths help teachers address the issues that appear in language classrooms. The research has been carried out outlining the qualitative approach grounded in an interpretive research paradigm. The data were collected from three university teachers. Methodologically, the study adopts the three-dimensional narrative spaces as the prior procedures of research methods for theoretical insight. It concludes that teachers' profound knowledge and skills about their well-being are useful to integrate various cultures and content in the classrooms. Pedagogically inbuilt potentials of teachers maximally enhance learners' learning opportunities. Thus, the conclusion obtained in this study is assessed considering teachers' understanding, of classroom issues and their ways of addressing those problems but they may not be generalizable. However, it contributes to teachers' education in general and ELT practice in Nepal in particular.

The effect of personality on occupational stress among employees in Universiti Teknologi MARA Perlis

The education sector has significant well-being issues, with high levels of occupational stress and burnout. Previous research has focused on environmental factors in isolation, overlooking the influence of personality. Universiti Teknologi Mara Perlis (UiTM Perlis) (n=100) completed an online survey composed of three questionnaires; the NEO Five-Factor Inventory, the Maslach Burnout Inventory, and the Job Stress Survey. Multiple regression analysis revealed that personality is a better predictor of occupational stress than environment (p<.001). Neuroticism is the trait that significantly predicts occupational stress (p<.001), and the components of neuroticism that contribute the most to stress are depression (p=.002) and anger hostility (p=.005). Overall findings suggest that newly employees are at greater risk of suffering from high levels of occupational stress than those well established in the profession, and with higher levels of depression and anger hostility are likely to experience greater levels of occupational stress. Implications highlight the need for greater awareness of potentially susceptible personality traits in the employee’s admissions process. This would allow for the identification of those at risk and the implementation of interventions.

Psychohygienic evaluation of depression level among Ukrainian youth forced to emigrate to Canada due to the war in Ukraine

the ongoing war in Ukraine since 2014 has led to the forced migration of thousands ofpeople, resulting in a range of social and psychological problems, including depression. In light of this,the purpose of the research was to investigate the level of depression among youth who were forced toemigrate abroad due to the war. The study was conducted in Canada in 2023 using the Patient HealthQuestionnaire-9 of young people aged 16 to 30 years old who emigrated from Ukraine due to the war
 escalation on the 24th of February 2022. The PHQ-9 is a questionnaire used to assess the level of de-pression symptoms in the last two weeks based on 9 questions which show the level of the depression
 disorder or indicate the risks of its development. The research aims to raise awareness of the psycholog-ical well-being issue among war-displaced people between Russia and Ukraine to determine the level of
 depression, which allows providing practical recommendations for managing depression in the contextof migration and developing psychological support and rehabilitation programs for this population.The study’s findings suggest that a moderate level of depression, with increased levels of the moderateoption, was observed among Ukrainian refugees aged 16 to 30 years old who migrated to Canada. Theresults also showed that the number of respondents who did not have signs of depression decreased dueto the war. The average value of the sample slightly increased from 9.4 in 2022 to 10.9 in the currentstudy. However, values of 9 and 10 are borderline for distinguishing «mild» and «moderate» levels ofdepression, so it can be assumed that this year was transitional between these conditions. The resultsof studying the most popular answers to some survey questions show that problems with falling asleep,poor sleep quality or too much concern more than half of the respondents almost every day. It can beargued that the stress associated with migration and war significantly affected the quality of sleep amongyoung people. One-third of respondents reported poor appetite or overeating, which can be resolvedwith simple recommendations and advice. These findings highlight the potential need for mental healthsupport for this population. The data obtained can be useful for government agencies in Canada andUkraine, social services, psychological counsellors, and all those working with military and civilianrefugees in the territories of North America and Europe.

Work-life balance and remote working in the pandemic and beyond: the lived experiences of university academics in The Netherlands and UK

ABSTRACT Poor work-life balance (WLB) has been linked to negative outcomes such as increased stress, anxiety, depression, and a perceived reduction in the overall quality of life. At an institutional level, these may include lowered employee commitment and decreased productivity at work. The advent of COVID-19 has necessitated fundamental alterations to work experience and the ways in which WLB may be perceived. This phenomenological study employed qualitative, in-depth interviews to explore higher education academics’ lived experiences of remote working and how they perceived this had impacted their well-being (WB) and WLB. Using purposive samplings, respondents were drawn from HE sectors in the Netherlands, and the UK. The findings offered an understanding of how remote and hybrid teaching delivery during the pandemic affected academics’ actual experiences of WB and WLB. These findings serve to enhance policymakers’ understandings of significant occupational health and WB issues within a post-pandemic education service paradigm.