Lack Of Social Engagement Research Articles

Social Determinants of Health for Alzheimer's Disease and Other Dementias

Dementia is the 7th leading cause of death in the United States and leads to significant distress, disability, and economic burden. Social determinants of health (SDoH) are the nonbiological factors that impact health outcomes, functioning, and quality of life. Cumulative effects of SDoH across a lifespan can affect the risk of Alzheimer's disease and related dementias (ADRD). While there is significant research on the biological factors of ADRD, the SDoH of ADRD are not well characterized. In this article, we review the SDoH that contribute to ADRD. Economic instability, poor education access and quality, poor health care access, unsafe neighborhoods, environmental pollution, lack of social engagement, and racial discrimination can increase the risk of ADRD. Prevention and intervention strategies to combat social isolation include technology-based interventions such as pet robots and dementia-friendly communities. [ Psychiatr Ann . 2024;54(7):e216–e222.]

Loneliness and associated factors among middle-aged and older adults: cross-sectional and longitudinal survey results from the HAALSI cohort in South Africa

Objectives Longitudinal studies on chronic loneliness and before and during the COVID-19 pandemic are lacking in Africa. The study aimed to estimate the prevalence and associated factors of loneliness and chronic loneliness using cross-sectional and longitudinal data from middle-aged and older adults from rural South Africa. Method The analysis utilized data from the South African 7-year longitudinal Health and Ageing in Africa: A Longitudinal Study of an INDEPTH Community in South Africa (HAALSI) (analytic sample: n = 3,418, aged 40 years and older). Loneliness was assessed with a single and 3-item measure. Results The proportion of loneliness was 19.5% in the 2021/2022 survey, the incidence of chronic loneliness (having loneliness in wave 2 and 3, and free of loneliness in wave 1) was 18.9%, and the 7-year incidence of loneliness was 41.0%. Comparing the 2019 (pre-COVID-19) to 2021/2022 (during COVID-19 pandemic) surveys participants experienced a significant reduction of loneliness. In cross-sectional and/or longitudinal analyses, we found that younger age, living alone, food insecurity, lack of social engagement, depressed mood, poor life satisfaction, poor sleep quality, impaired cognition, poor self-rated health, functional disability, underweight, obesity, and not living with HIV were associated with a higher prevalence, incidence and/or increases in loneliness. Conclusion One in five aging adults had acute or chronic loneliness. Several social, mental, and physical health factors were identified as associated with loneliness.

Advantages and Barriers in Online ESL Learning Environment: A Review of Literature

This article presents a detailed assessment of the literature on the benefits and drawbacks of online English as a Second Language (ESL) learning settings. The study identifies and evaluates the major benefits of online ESL learning, such as flexibility, accessibility, engagement, customization, and global connectedness, based on a thorough review of research papers, reports, and academic articles. The paper also investigates the challenges that learners and instructors may face in online ESL environments, such as the digital gap, a lack of social engagement, digital literacy discrepancies, self-regulation issues, and concerns about quality and integrity. By combining current material, the paper provides insights into the intricacies and problems of online ESL learning, emphasizing the need of overcoming hurdles in order to utilize the potential of online learning settings. The findings highlight the need of collaborative efforts among educators, policymakers, and stakeholders to create ways for supporting inclusive, successful, and equitable online ESL learning experiences. Furthermore, the study underlines the need of continuing research and assessment in determining the influence of online ESL learning on student outcomes and informing evidence-based practices. Finally, this study contributes to our understanding of online ESL learning settings and has implications for practice, policy, and future research in ESL education.

Social engagement and cognitive impairment among nursing home residents: The role of sensory impairment

Background and objectivesUsing US national nursing home data, this cross-sectional study sought to evaluate 1) the association between lack of social engagement and level of cognitive impairment; and 2) the extent to which this association differs by hearing and visual impairment. Research design and methodsOur sample included 793,846 nursing home residents aged ≥ 50 years. The Index of Social Engagement was categorized as none/lower (0, 1, 2) or higher levels (3 through 6). Cognitive Performance Scale was grouped as intact/mild (0, 1, 2), moderate (3, 4), or severe (5, 6). Multinomial models provided adjusted odds ratio (aOR) and 95 % confidence intervals (CI) between none/lower social engagement and cognitive impairment. We estimated relative excess risk due to interaction (RERI) to quantify the joint effects of social engagement and sensory impairment types. ResultsOverall, 12.6 % had lower social engagement, 30.3 % had hearing impairment, and 40.3 % had visual impairment. Compared to residents with high social engagement, those with lower social engagement were more likely to have moderate/severe cognitive impairment (aORmoderate = 2.21, 95 % CI 2.17–2.26; aORsevere = 6.49, 95 % CI 6.24–6.74). The impact of low social engagement on cognitive impairment was more profound among residents with hearing impairment and/or visual impairment (RERIhearing = 3.89, 95 % CI 3.62–4.17; RERIvisual = 25.2, 95 % CI 23.9–26.6)). Discussion and implicationsResidents with lower social engagement had higher levels of cognitive impairment. Residents with sensory impairments are potentially more susceptible to the negative impact of lower levels of social engagement on level of cognitive impairment.

Exploring experiences and changes in daily and social activities among individuals with spinal cord injury during the COVID-19 pandemic: A longitudinal study

Objectives: To explore experiences and changes in daily and social activities among individuals living with spinal cord injuries over the first 9 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Materials and methods: In this longitudinal qualitative study, data were collected by conducting semi-structured interviews with participants at four time points (June 2020, July 2020, August 2020, January 2021). Data were analyzed longitudinally using a recurrent cross-sectional approach. Results: The 22 participants had a mean age of 54 years, 13 were male. We identified three main themes: 1) ‘Dealing with the emotional impact of pandemic-related restrictions’ explored feelings of frustration, sources of anxiety, and the importance of adopting a positive mindset; 2) ‘Changing daily routines’ described aspects of normal routines that changed and ways of adapting to those changes; and 3) ‘Revisiting social engagement’ conveyed the struggles caused by a lack of social engagement and coping strategies to overcome them. Conclusion: This study explicates the changes experienced by the SCI community during various points of the COVID-19 pandemic. Participants discussed feelings of frustration, anxiety, and gratitude. They described changes, challenges, and strategies used when navigating life during the pandemic. These findings can facilitate future research to address the challenges faced by this population.

The association between social factors and COVID-19 protective behaviors and depression and stress among midwestern US college students.

The aim of this cross-sectional study was to examine the relationship between social factors and COVID-19 protective behaviors and two outcomes: depressive and perceived stress symptoms. In September 2020, 1,064 randomly selected undergraduate students from a large midwestern university completed an online survey and provided information on demographics, social activities, COVID-19 protective behaviors (i.e., avoiding social events and staying home from work and school), and mental health symptoms. Mental health symptoms were measured using the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression-10 questionnaire for depression and the Perceived Stress Scale-10 for stress symptoms. The results showed respondents who were males and also the respondents who were "hanging out" with more people while drinking alcohol reported significantly lower depressive symptoms and lower stress symptoms. On the contrary, staying home from work or school "very often" was associated with higher stress symptoms, compared with "never/rarely" staying home from work/school. Similarly, having a job with in-person interaction was also associated with increased stress. These findings suggest that lack of social engagement was associated with depression and stress symptoms among college students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Planning social activities that align with recommended safety precautions, as well as meet students' social needs, should be an important priority for higher education institutions.

Everyone’s an artist?

This article examines the endurance of traditional class labels among precarious workers in post-recession Dublin. It argues that tensions remain between creatives and non-creatives due to: (1) divergent class concepts, (2) a lack of social engagement, and (3) unequal access to economic, social, and cultural capital, which creatives mobilize to protect some highly vocational artistic labor. It is thus not a shared experience of the same kind of precarious exploitation that unites the precariat but a trap held in common, whereby self-actualization through labor is construed as a route to freedom. Drawing on Karl Marx’s theory of emancipation, I suggest that attempts to redress precarization should focus on undermining this encroachment of work into life, which I argue results in exploitation and alienation for all precarious workers.

Alzheimer's Association Project VITAL: A Florida Statewide Initiative Using Technology to Impact Social Isolation and Well-Being.

Lack of social engagement and the resulting social isolation can have negative impacts on health and well-being, especially in senior care communities and for those living with dementia. Project VITAL leverages technology and community resources to create a network for connection, engagement, education, and support of individuals with dementia and their caregivers, and explores the impact of these interventions in reducing feelings of social isolation and increasing mood among residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through two phases, 600 personalized Wi-Fi-enabled iN2L tablets were distributed to 300 senior care communities (55% assisted living communities, 37% skilled nursing communities, 6% memory care communities, and 2% adult family-care homes) to connect and engage residents and their families. Different phases also included Project ECHO, a video-based learning platform, Alzheimer's Association virtual and online education and support for family caregivers, evidence-based online professional dementia care staff training and certification, and Virtual Forums designed to explore ways to build sustainable, scalable models to ensure access to support and decrease social isolation in the future. Tablet usage was collected over an 11-month period and an interim survey was designed to assess the effectiveness of the tablets, in preventing social isolation and increasing mood among residents during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 105 care community staff (whose community used the tablets) completed the survey and overall, these staff showed a high level of agreement to statements indicating that residents struggled with loneliness and mood, and that the tablet was useful in improving loneliness and mood in residents and allowing them to stay in touch with family and friends. Additional positive results were seen through a variety of other responses around the tablets and Project ECHO. Overall, the tablets were shown to be an effective way to engage residents and connect them with friends and family, as well as being a useful tool for staff members. A third phase is currently underway in the homes of people with dementia and their family caregivers, which includes tablets and direct access to Alzheimer's Association virtual and online education and support programs.

Remote Microgrids for Energy Access in Indonesia—Part I: Scaling and Sustainability Challenges and A Technology Outlook

Although Indonesia’s electrification ratio reached 99.2% in 2020, it has shown stagnating electrification since 2018. This is because most of the remaining areas that need to be electrified are remote and have unique characteristics that hamper implementation of microgrids for providing energy access. Furthermore, not only the deployment but also the long-term sustainability of microgrids is crucial for ensuring continuity of energy access. This paper aims to investigate the scaling and sustainability challenges of remote microgrid development in Indonesia by analyzing microgrids in the Maluku and North Maluku provinces. This study is a two-part publication; the first part focuses on identifying challenges in Indonesia’s remote microgrid development, while the second part focuses on potential technology solutions. In the first part, an assessment of energy access within a multi-tier framework was conducted, which was then analyzed using a multi-dimensional (institutional, social, technical, economic, environmental, and policy) approach adapted from the literature. The framework was expanded by mapping the challenges onto specific phases of the microgrid development, which is intended to be helpful for the parties involved in specific phases. It is shown that the challenges related to unclear land status, lack of social engagement, preliminary survey, technical and practical knowledge, and O&M procedures—especially for remote microgrids with renewable energy sources—are the most prominent issues. Additionally, issues caused by electrical events and environmental conditions such as relatively humid and high-temperatures, and uncontrolled vegetation, rodents, insects, and lizards are often found. Furthermore, a high-level technological outlook to address some of these issues is presented.

Social Media Content Analysis and Classification Using Data Mining and ML

Students' natural conversations on social media such as Twitter and Whatsapp are useful to understand their learning experiences feelings. Collecting and analyzing data from such media can be a difficult task. However, the large scale of data is required for automatic data analysis techniques to classify Twitter data. The proposed new system is a combination of qualitative analysis and large-scale data mining and ML techniques. This system focuses on engineering students' Twitter posts, which are collected from engineering colleges, to understand issues and problems in their learning. The authors first conduct a qualitative analysis using ML studio on tweets collected from engineering colleges using term #DStudentsproblems, engineeringProblem, Aluminisuggestions, and ladyEngineer. Collected tweets are related to engineering students' college lives. In the proposed system, a multi-label classification algorithm to classify tweets reflecting students' problems such as soft skill issues, heavy study load, lack of social engagement, and sleep problems is used.

Technological advancements to address elderly loneliness: Practical considerations and community resilience implications for COVID-19 pandemic.

Loneliness has been a known severe public health concern among the elderly population during the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this paper is to discuss the practicalities of using emerging technologies to address elderly loneliness and its implications and adaptations to the outbreak of coronavirus disease-2019. The authors draw on examples from the literature and their own observations from working with older adults, to provide an overview of possible ways technology could help this population in the current COVID-19 pandemic. Technological advancements have offered remarkable opportunities to deliver care and maintain connections despite the need to stay physically separated. These tools can be integrated into crisis communications, public health responses, and care programs to address loneliness among the elderly. However, it must be done strategically and informed by the type of loneliness at play, environmental factors, socioeconomics, and technological literacy. Technological advancements can be a valuable tool in addressing known public health concerns, such as loneliness among the elderly populations. However, the use of this tool should be governed by the specific situation at hand, taking into consideration individual needs and environmental factors, especially the compounded effects caused by the coronavirus pandemic. Different technological programs and approaches are appropriate for different types of loneliness. For example, online therapy such as internet-based cognitive behavior therapy may mitigate loneliness caused by fear; online interaction such as videoconferencing may relieve loneliness caused by lack of social engagement. Care-providing organizations and policy makers should consider the risk of loneliness while responding to COVID-19 outbreak, particularly within elderly populations. As part of a broader plan, technological solutions as well as low-tech approaches can make a difference in mitigating loneliness. Solutions should be accessible to and usable by older adults. Provision of equipment, training, and guidance may be necessary to execute a technology-centric plan; for some communities and individuals, approaches that do not rely on advanced technology may be more effective.

Barriers to Effective Diabetes Mellitus Self-Management (DMSM) Practice for Glycemic Uncontrolled Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM): A Socio Cultural Context of Indonesian Communities in West Sulawesi.

Diabetes mellitus self-management (DMSM) is an essential strategy used to maintain blood glucose levels and to prevent severe complications. Several barriers have been documented while implementing DMSM practices. A qualitative study aimed to explore barriers to effective DMSM practice among uncontrolled glycemic type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) patients in Indonesia. We conducted in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (FGDs) among 28 key informants, including patients, family members, healthcare providers (HCPs), and village health volunteers (VHVs). The interviews and FGDs were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. The results revealed six core themes with sub-categories of themes used by all participants to describe the barriers to effective DMSM practice among uncontrolled T2DM patients. The critical barriers of DMSM practice included low perception of susceptibility to and severity of the illness; inadequate knowledge and skill of diabetes mellitus self-management; lack of motivation to perform diabetes mellitus self-management; insufficient human resources; lack of social engagement; and social exclusion and feelings of embarrassment. Our findings provide valuable information regarding the barriers while implementing the DMSM practice. Healthcare providers should negotiate with both T2DM patients and caretakers to participate in a DMSM program at a community health care level.

Working out availability, unavailability and awayness in social face-to-face encounters: The case of dementia

This article presents a study of how co-present individuals work out the nature of embodied engagement and disengagement displays by individuals with dementia in a Danish public care facility. Research has found that moderate to severe dementia may result, for example, in a lack of social engagement, apathy and problems in maintaining conversations. Research has, however, also found that co-present individuals indicate their right to unavailability for social interaction. This is accomplished through details of embodied and multimodal conduct such as gaze behavior, which includes practices of glancing and gazing at co-present individuals or practices of gazing into space. These practices may coincide with indications of ‘lack of social engagement’ and ‘apathy’. This study falls within the framework of ethnomethodology (EM) and employs multimodal conversation analytic (CA) methods to show how co-present individuals monitor residents’ displays of engagement and disengagement, primarily gaze behavior and how they respond to them. The study is based on 20 hours of video-recordings.

A game-based health program for improving functional health and social engagement in long-term care residents

After entering long-term care (LTC), many residents experience continued declines in functional status, activities of daily living (ADLs), and increased fall risk. Therefore, there is a significant need for activities capable of improving/maintaining functional status, decreasing social isolation, and increasing residents’ quality of life. Bingocize®, a strategic combination of exercise, education, and the game of bingo, is an innovative program shown to fulfill this need. The purpose of this article is to describe an on-going United States (U.S.) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Civil Money Penalty (CMP) grant-funded project to implement Bingocize® in multiple LTC facilities. As part of this project, local universities and their faculty and students from across the state help LTC staff administer the program. Over 800 trained LTC staff and students, and most importantly, over 1300 residents have successfully participated so far. Bingocize® can be a positive addition to LTC activities because the program helps improve/maintain functional status and social engagement. Applying for CMP funding either individually, or in partnership with a local university, is a pragmatic way for LTC facilities to access and sustain Bingocize® and other evidence-based programs. Key Practitioners Message A lack of social engagement and physical activity are major contributors to the continued decline in functional status and quality of life of LTC residents. Encouraging familial support is important for diabetic older adults. Avoidance of diabetes is related to the PTG for diabetic older adults.

Relationship of relative poverty and social relationship on mortality around retirement: a 10-year follow-up of the Komo-Ise cohort

BackgroundAs society is aging, retirement takes on increasing importance for individuals in the later life. This study aimed to describe mortality before and after retirement in the Japanese middle-aged/elderly with special attention to socioeconomic position and social relationships.MethodsWe conducted a 10-year follow-up study (the Komo-Ise cohort study) and assessed mortality according to socioeconomic positions (relative poverty and occupation) and social relationships (e.g., marital status, living alone, and social support) in workers and the retired. Relative poverty was defined as a household equivalent income of 12,700 US dollars (1.37 million Japanese Yen) or less in 2000. Stratified analyses were conducted according to sex in two groups of employment status: the workers and the retired. Adjusted hazard ratios (HRs) were calculated using the Cox proportional hazard model.ResultsWe included 5534 individuals. Of these, 3360 were men (working, 2499; retired, 861) and 2174 were women (working, 1306; retired, 868). We observed 610 deaths (475 in men and 135 in women) during the study period. Relative poverty was a significant risk factor for death (HR 1.52, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.07–2.14) among retired men but not among working men (HR 1.20, 95% CI 0.79–1.83). Among workers, self-employed men showed a significantly higher hazard of death (HR 1.57, 95% CI 1.09–2.25) than white-collar employees. Retired men who lacked participation in social activities were more likely to die than those who did not (HR 1.44, 95% CI 1.06–1.94). All results, except marital status, indicated non-significant associations in women.ConclusionsRelative poverty and lack of social engagement may be related to high mortality risk in retired men. Further studies are needed to assess the health status among the middle-aged/elderly population around retirement.

Diagnosing and Treating Apathy in Dementia

Diagnosing and Treating Apathy in Dementia

Mining Social Media Data for Understanding Students’ Learning Experiences using Memetic algorithm

Now a day’s most of students communicate with each other using various social media networks such as Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and what’s app. Students shares their opinions, concerns and emotions about the learning process. From these social sites there are large size of unstructured data are generated which consists students important data. To manage this unstructured data are too difficult task, so we use various techniques to solve this problem. In this paper we collect all Engineering students communication from twitter to analyse various problems like heavy study load, negative emotions, lack of social engagement and sleepy problems. Students’ comments from twitter are classified into various above problem using Naïve Bayes algorithm. Also we used various algorithms for processing data like stemming, TF-IDF algorithm and cosine similarity. This paper shows that how students share their opinions through twitter and which comments are in which category. Using Memetic algorithm we got the more accurate results.

Analyzing Social Media Data to Explore Students’ Academic Experiences

The casual conversational style used by the students on any front stage environment can educate extensively about their learning process. The collection of data from such an open environment can bring out many important and unknown factors about students‟ behaviour, their opinions, their feelings their concerns pertaining to their educational system. The inspection of such data can be said to be very provocative. The reflection of students‟ feelings over the social network, however, has to undergo the human eye to get properly interpreted, which is possible but upto a certain extent, as a result of ever-growing data. In this paper, problems of engineering students have been considered. This has been worked upon by analysing engineering students‟ tweets from the hashtag #enggproblems on Twitter. Analysis was carried out over 15,000 tweets. These problems were related to heavy study load, negative emotions, sleep problems, lack of social engagement, diversity issues etc. A multi-label classifier was executed to classify and categorize tweets. This technique can dig up into the casual conversations of students and educate about the factors that affect the learning process of students.

INSPECTING STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC REALITIES USING SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM

The informal conversation of the students used on social media has been studied vastly now-a-days to understand their experiences. Twitter has been examined in which the hashtag #EnggProblems is mined to extract tweets and to classify the problems of the students into categories: Heavy study load, sleep problems, lack of social engagement, diversity issues, negative emotion and there is one more category that is ‘others’ .many classification algorithms were applied on the tweets extracted from the said hashtag, out of which naive bayes multi label classifier gives the best results. It has been observed that most tweets get classified into others category as a result of which students’ problem cannot be identified clearly. This paper proposes an approach where SentiWordNet has been used to assign scores to each tweet and classify them as positive, negative or neutral. This helps to understand the sentiment of the student tweeting and identify at risk students

<i>Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense</i>. Michael Rivoira, Lars Larson and Peter J. Vogt, directors. John W. Comerford and Theo N. Ianuly, producers. Lars Larson, director of photography. Paradigm Studio. 2009. DVD B002RNO1BW

Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense. Michael Rivoira, Lars Larson and Peter J. Vogt, directors. John W. Comerford and Theo N. Ianuly, producers. Lars Larson, director of photography. Paradigm Studio. 2009. DVD B002RNO1BW.The documentary Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense makes a case for jazz as a living culture and growing art form in North America and Europe. Jazz artists, including Nicholas Payton, Terence Blanchard, Ravi Coltrane, Bill Frisell, Donald Harrison, Wynton Marsalis and Esperanza Spalding, provide the film's primary voices; these musicians, along with others, address how they reconcile the demands of tradition with the realities of changing audiences and markets. This is no small task because, as the documentary demonstrates, jazz is comprised of a fractured and contested set of overlapping and often conflicting values and practices. Because of this approach, Icons provides an alternative narrative to Ken Burns's Jazz (2000), which has drawn criticism for portraying jazz as a uniform expression of American democratic ideals rather than a multiplicity of stories struggling to be told.1This 93-minute documentary is presented in a traditional style with talking heads interspersed with performances and other B-roll material. This format allows the viewer to connect the featured musicians' personalities to their live performances while not getting mired in extended concert footage or thirdparty pontifications. We see the jazz musician as a working artist, struggling with their craft while negotiating shifting economic and social worlds. We are also taken into the contemporary contexts of jazz, from grimy college bars, to concert halls; from outdoor festivals to street corners and intimate clubs. Few viewers will miss the stark contrast of saxophonist Skerik's (Eric Walton) punk-laced mosh-inducing performance in a cramped and sweaty bar with clarinetist Anat Cohen's delicately crafted interpretations of American songbook standards for reserved Manhattan listeners.The central theme of the documentary emerges from a survey of musicians' attitudes towards the idea of change, a long-contested concept in jazz. The viewer quickly realizes that while the various musicians interviewed in Icons draw from a common tradition of music-making, they interpret that tradition in widely varied ways. The documentary opens with trumpeter Nicholas Payton's enigmatic statement, 'The truth never remains the same and to me a lie is anything that has nothing to do with now'. While setting a revisionist tone, this statement does little to clarify what the boundaries of change are or should be in jazz. For guitarist Bill Frisell, the boundaries of change are theoretically limitless:I just don't like it when the name of something has the effect of exclud - ing. If you say it's one thing then it can't be something else. That doesn't work for me because the words are always smaller than whatever it is you're trying to describe. For me jazz is infinite.Jazz, in Frisell's world, is a means to joyfully deconstruct the world and test cultural boundaries. His brooding interpretation of Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' in Icons is a case in point.Trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and scholar Paul de Barros counter Frisell's utopian art-scape realization of jazz with essentialist readings of the music's history. Marsalis states, 'In jazz, it's interesting in America, that we are one of the only people in the world that created an art form then tried to figure out how to make it not have a definition.' Fundamental to this statement is the idea that jazz's identity hinges on one definition rather than many overlapping and contested definitions. While Marsalis focuses on the aesthetic choices of musicians, de Barros points to contemporary musicians' lack of social engagement as the source of jazz's current disenfranchisement from audiences and markets. As he states,If you ask Lee Morgan and Sonny Rollins what their music was saying they would say, 'I'm a black person in a white society where I have something to say and I need it to be heard. …