People Skills Research Articles

The impact of digital addiction on social health of the youth

The article considers systematized threats to social health of the youth occurring as a result of their dependence from using digital devices and immersion into Internet space. The social health is defined as determined by internal and external factors state of readiness, opportunities and needs of the youth to implement social activities through building communications in society. One of threats undermining social health of representatives of this demographic group is digital addiction, resulting from immersion of the addict in digital environment using various digital devices. Such addiction can cause significant harm to both physical and social psychological health, starting from very young age that is confirmed by results of original empirical study. The most destructive consequence of this type of addiction is degradation of social and cognitive skills in young people, leading to problems with education, socialization, psychological affects, up to complete rejection of existing social norms and values. Such individuals are at most vulnerable to political manipulations in conditions of existing civilizational contradictions. They are, in course of information war, the first ones to be involved in processes destructive for state security. In this regard, it seems reasonable henceforth to profoundly investigate relationship between digital addiction and process of destruction of traditional values in rising generation and to substantiate technology of social immunization a tool to form and develop in the modern youth spiritual moral support, knowledge, skills and abilities to consciously resist destructive impact of digital environment.

Stigma experiences and adaptations in accessing healthcare services among hill tribes in Thailand: A qualitative study.

One of the significant barriers to accessing healthcare services is the stigma experienced from healthcare workers. Individuals can be significantly impacted by stigma owing to being classed according to particular characteristics, such as being tribal members. This study aimed to understand the experiences and adaptations of hill tribe people in Thailand, who face stigma when accessing healthcare services. A qualitative phenomenological method was used to elicit information from hill tribe members with prior experience accessing healthcare. A question guide was used to interview the participants. The interviews were conducted in private and confidential rooms in hill tribe villages in August 2021. Each interview lasted for 45 minutes. A total of 85 people participated in the study: 25 men and 60 women. The Akha and Lahu people constituted the majority of the participants. Many had no education, and the average monthly income was 2,500 baht per family. Three forms of stigma were detected among hill tribe people accessing healthcare services in different hospitals: verbal stigma, physical stigma, and contempt. Three levels of impact were found: completely not understood with no effect, little understanding with little pain, and fully understood with full impact. Two reactions to stigma were identified: nonresponse and response (proper, nonproper immediate response and assertive response). Three factors were protective against stigma: speaking fluent Thai, wearing modern clothing, and the ability to pay medical fees. Hill tribe people face several forms of stigma related to various levels of impact and different reaction approaches. Some factors can protect against encountering stigma while accessing healthcare services in hospitals. The implementation of programs to reduce stigma should focus on improving the understanding of people's different cultures and languages and effective communication skills for hill tribe people. The central government of Thailand should develop a national strategic plan to improve these socioeconomic statuses.

JOBS4ALL: Strengthening the employability and basic skills of young people with disabilities through digital transformation and the modernization of youth work

The independence of the members of a society is shaped, to a critical extent, by the structures and conditions that it provides for equal treatment and the opposite "effort" of citizens for their rights. However, the group of people with special needs in the integration into work, education, and socialization, is not a given and society must ensure the principles of equality and solidarity. The explosion of technological progress, the development of emerging technologies, cutting-edge technologies, and digital transformation enhances their employability and basic skills in the modernization of their work so that they can claim the right to work and well-being! In this paper, the role of technologies in the employed presence of people with disabilities is examined, documenting it through the work Erasmus +: ASSIGNMENTS 4 ALL.

Rancang Bangun Alat Pendeteksi Warna Pakaian dengan Output Suara Berbasis Arduino Nano untuk Kemampuan Bina Diri Tunanetra

This research aims to design and build a clothing color detection tool with Arduino Nano-based sound output to improve the self-help skills of blind people. The method used is the waterfall model, including the stages of needs analysis, design, implementation, and testing. This tool combines TCS3200 color sensor as input, Atmega328 microcontroller as processing unit, as well as DF Player and Micro SD for sound data processing which is finally displayed through the speaker. In its implementation, the program is made using Arduino IDE to control the color reading and sound output. The test results show that the device is able to accurately detect the color of clothing with a 100% success rate on 10 repeated trials. Tests were carried out on all subsystems, including color sensor input, microcontroller controller, DF Player plant, and speaker output. The resulting tool is portable, flexible, and allows blind people to choose clothes based on color without the help of a third party. Thus, this tool has the potential to support independence in self-help activities and improve the quality of life of users.

Digital participation with the help of participatively developed information and counselling concepts - A qualitative study with the elderly

With the increasing digitalization of rural care structures, teaching digital skills to senior citizens is becoming more important. Telemedicine services, for example, offer the potential to compensate for a lack of access to specialist medical care. On the other hand, there is a lack of information services that enable access and support older people's digital application skills. The aim of the study is to explore the perspectives of senior citizens on information and advice services on the topic of digitalization in health and care provision and thus to initiate a starting point for a participatory research project. Exploratory, guideline-based focus groups were conducted with senior citizens in selected rural communities. The evaluation was carried out using content analysis according to Gläser and Laudel (2010) as part of an iterative data collection process. N = 21 people took part in the focus groups. Senior citizens perceive a clear decline in the municipal infrastructure, which affects the security of health care provision. They perceive digitalization in health and care provision as problematic and are concerned about being digitally disconnected. There is a lack of practical experience in everyday life and a lack of access to information. Gaining information on care-related topics should be made possible in a directional form through personal encounters. There is a lack of tangible access to digitalization in health and care provision for senior citizens in rural regions. This means that aspects of the digital transformation are often negatively connoted due to a lack of exchange formats. Positive everyday experiences and continuous offers for digitally supported health care could broaden the general interest that exists.

PENINGKATAN EKONOMI MASYARAKAT MELALUI PEMANFAATAN POTENSI LOKAL KEMIRI

Watuneso Subdistrict has great potential in developing an economy based on local resources, especially candlenuts. Candlenut is a superior commodity and is one of the sources of livelihood for the people of Watuneso Village. However, the people of Watuneso Village do not yet know how to process candlenuts further, which can increase the selling price of these candlenuts. This service is carried out to increase community empowerment efforts through training in processing candlenuts into candlenut oil, which has many benefits and to improve the economy of the Watuneso community through optimizing the local potential of candlenuts. It is hoped that this diversification activity in processed candlenut products will improve the economy, considering that the price of candlenut oil on the market is quite high. The training process includes theory and direct practice and involves active community participation. The results show that the training is effective in increasing people's knowledge, skills and motivation. Apart from that, candlenut oil production has the potential to increase the economic income of the community in Watuneso Village.

Practice of Implementing Project-Based Learning in the EFL Classroom

This literature review focuses on the use and effectiveness of Project-Based Learning in teaching English as a foreign language and its significance in developing students’ English language skills and 21st century skills, with special focus on critical thinking, cooperation and digital skills, which are essential skills for young people entering the workforce in the 21st century. The review was based on short-term and long-term projects with upper secondary school students and university students, applying both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods and aims to identify the advantages and challenges teachers and students face during the implementation of PBL and its effectiveness in developing students’ skills. The review reveals that PBL can be an effective method in developing both students’ English language skills and 21st century skills, the main advantage being facilitating student engagement by allowing them to make their own choices. Another important finding is that using PBL in the classroom may be challenging for both teachers and students due to the amount of time preparation and implementation requires and the lack of training teachers receive.

‘When I enter the ocean, I forget about all my problems’: improving young people’s well-being and education through surf therapy

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the ‘Onda Social’ project implemented in the city of Matosinhos, located in the municipality of Porto, Portugal. ‘Onda Social’ (which translates into Social Wave) is a surf therapy project that aims to stimulate the academic, social, and emotional skills of young people at risk through the practice of surfing. The project covered 363 children and young people aged 7–14, organised in groups with an average of 15 young people per group over three years. Each group of participants attended weekly 2:30-hour sessions throughout a school semester-long intervention cycle. Psychologists and surf coaches led the sessions. A team of researchers monitored and followed up on the implementation of the project whilst gathering qualitative data on the intervention developed by the project team. The aim was to understand perceptions of the project’s impact on its participants’ mental health and well-being and their educational outcomes. The findings indicate that this surf therapy intervention was perceived as positive for participants’ social and personal development. Well-being promotion and the development of relevant competences also led to increased motivation and school engagement of children and young people at risk.

A New Philosophy for the Development of Regional Energy Planning Schemes

A pragmatic approach for Local Area Energy Planning to capture Whole System interactions and meet the dual goals of informing regulated infrastructure requirements while informing businesses and local authorities on building their business plans, is presented. Unlike existing approaches, the method presented in this paper aids market change by considering policy requirements and prioritisation, commercial relationships, place-based resources, processes and interfaces, people (skills and vulnerabilities), and energy vector interdependencies, and focuses on spatially distributed economic segments (e.g., agriculture, food logistics, etc.). The methodology promotes co-location opportunities for symbiotic clusters to avoid growth in resource-constrained regions (e.g., grid capacity), and presents a temporal visualisation method that connects policy, regulation, infrastructure, technology, place, and people. To provide a case study to design, evolve, and test the methodology, the Greater Lincolnshire Region’s Economic Zone in the UK is selected; specifically, the logistics segment. Adopting this type of Whole System approach provides business planning clarity and stakeholder confidence to drive the adoption of new technologies. It also identifies where inward investment for strategic locations is needed and develops an evidence base for policy lobbying and influencing.

13 - African Fellowships for Research in Indegenous and Alternative Knowledge (AFRIAK): CONFERENCE CALL FOR PAPERS

The Council for the Development of Social Science Research in Africa (CODESRIA) is pleased to announce a call for proposals for a new research and fellowship programme, the African Fellowships for Research in Indigenous and Alternative Knowledges (AFRIAK). This programme is o!ered with the support of the Mastercard Foundation as part of the Foundation’s commitment to advance education and skills for young people in Africa, and in recognition of the contribution of the late Ghanaian intellectual, Dr Sulley Gariba, in advocating for the place of African knowledge in Research and Evaluation. This programme seeks to implement an innovative approach to training a new generation of young people to design research projects and produce knowledge as a partnership between academic mentors on the one hand and bearers of Indigenous knowledge on the other. This approach will privilege local, Indigenous and endogenous knowledge as forms of knowledge or knowledge systems that are deeply embedded in communities and closely tied to their lived experiences. Although these forms of knowledge may be geographically proximate to the young people in Africa, they remain inaccessible to them partly because of the dominance of Western formats of learning in our school and university curriculum and partly owing to the gerontocratic nature of our communities, where such knowledge is preserved for a few, predominantly male, knowledge-bearers. The AFRIAK approach is innovative because it re- directs us to use what we have in our communities and invites us to appreciate the many ways in which what we have in our communities is used, preserved and disseminated.

Supporting the Development of Spatial Orientation Skills of Blind People Using Binaural Sounds in VSR Game

Spatial orientation skills are crucial for the comfortable everyday functioning of blind individuals and affect their physical and mental well-being. Developing spatial orientation is usually carried out through traditional training courses without the support of electronic tools. Training them in a natural city environment, even under the supervision of an instructor, is often a very stressful process for the student. This paper proposes a solution for a simplified city space simulator created as a game using 3-dimensional binaural sounds. This simulator can be used at home to develop basic spatial orientation skills for blind people. While feedback from testing by three blind users was positive, the limited scope of this initial evaluation underscores the need for developing more advanced applications supporting the teaching of spatial orientation to blind users.

The Healthy Minds, Thriving Kids Project: Educator perspectives on relevance and potential impact of a mental health skill building program.

Healthy Minds Thriving Kids (HMTK) is a free to user mental health skill building program developed by the Child Mind Institute with the aim to normalize conversations about emotional health and provide educators with wellness tools. The aim of this study was to explore the applicability of the HMTK program for universal school-based delivery from the perspective of educators, specifically to understand acceptability of program materials, perception of the quality of the program, and impressions of the program's usefulness and relevance across K-12 settings. The HMTK program was available to view by educator registrants between 01/26/2022 and 09/07/2022 in the State of California. Educator participants viewed an introductory video for the program and a minimum of two skills videos before participating in an online survey. Of 68,861 registrants to the website, 64,376 provided survey data. Post-pandemic levels of stress and anxiety were increased, and 89.5% of respondents said young people required a greater degree of support than in the past. Almost all educators (90%) endorsed a need for additional mental health skill building tools for students, and following review of HMTK, > 80% of respondents said they would use the program in their classrooms. Most (86.6%) found the program engaging, and 85.1% found the program relevant to and representative of their student cohorts. More than three quarters (79.6%) said their students would find the program engaging and beneficial. Post-exposure to HMTK, 18.8% more educators believed that the State of California was committed to supporting students' emotional learning. This survey demonstrates that from the perspective of educators the HMTK program is a valuable and complementary resource to school curricula to improve the mental health skills of young people. It provides an easy-to-implement framework that school districts and administrators can integrate within their curriculum planning.

Contesting Tourism and Youth Skills Discourse in Caribbean Resort Economies

ABSTRACTGlobal youth workforce development initiatives promote a linear vision of economic mobility that links youth skills to locally productive labor markets. Yet racialization intervenes in how young people's skills and capabilities are perceived and valued. In the Dominican Republic, educators and youth contest the grounds of education and employment initiatives aligned with tourism's dependency on their criminalization, exclusion, and exploitation. Their insights demand a shift in focus away from employer‐centered models that deepen inequality.

Communication recovery in the first three months following minor stroke

Purpose Evidence suggests that people with minor stroke can experience multiple post-stroke impairments. This study explored the communication skills of people with minor stroke one week and three months post-stroke. Method A longitudinal cohort mixed method design was used. Participants completed the Western Aphasia Battery-Revised, Boston Naming Test, La Trobe Communication Questionnaire-Self, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, and the Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale, along with semi-structured interviews and conversation samples 1 week and 3 months post-stroke. Result Fourteen participants were recruited. Five experienced aphasia according to Western Aphasia Battery-Revised scores at one week. Boston Naming Test scores improved significantly between one week and three months (p = .020). There were no significant changes in Western Aphasia Battery-Revised, La Trobe Communication Questionnaire-Self, Montreal Cognitive Assessment, or Hospital and Anxiety Depression Scale scores between one week and three months (all p > .05). Word finding difficulties were noted in most participants’ conversation samples, but rarely led to conversation breakdowns. Qualitative content analysis revealed eight categories, including communication changes and their impact, the impact of other post-stroke impairments, strategies used, and services received. Conclusion This study provides further evidence that a subset of people with minor stroke experience post-stroke communication changes. Future research should explore the optimal speech-language pathology support for this potentially under-serviced patient cohort.

Wayfinding behavioral patterns of seniors with dementia: two exploratory case studies.

While wayfinding is vital for quality of life, it is also a declining skill for people with dementia. Understanding wayfinding behavioral patterns of people with dementia helps to improve the nursing home corridor designs to facilitate autonomously conducting activities of daily life. However, a comprehensive image of these patterns is lacking. An empirical qualitative study was conducted, studying seven wayfinding behavioral patterns of people with advanced dementia (n = 8) in two nursing home corridors where they live, using fly-on-the-wall observation. The data show that the most frequent wayfinding behavioral patterns observed were "movements" followed by "looking at", "stops on the route", and "verbal navigational cues". These behaviors occurred often at crossroads; i.e., places in which participants should make a decision concerning continuing their route. Spatially, these places have high-visibility values and many things to see for people with dementia. Contradictory, these places might cause more confusion for people with dementia. Therefore, special attention should be paid to the design of these spaces.

Engaging Parents in Sexually Explicit Media Literacy Education: Expert Perspectives From Australia and New Zealand.

To explore sexual health expert's experiences engaging parents in sexually explicit media (SEM) literacy education, including parental comfort, barriers, enablers and insights to improve sexual health education for parents supporting their children to navigate SEM's influence. Research shows that young people frequently view SEM/pornography, often from young ages (9 to 13). This can potentially influence their sexual attitudes. Parents are essential sexuality education providers; however, information assessing parental perspectives, resources, and programmes for SEM literacy is scarce. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with sexual health experts providing SEM literacy education via videoconference between January and April 2023. Seven, 45-min interviews were conducted with five experts from Australia and two from New Zealand. Experts reported parents being comfortable with the content they presented, yet experienced challenges with resourcing and accessing certain population groups. Participants perceived many parents lacked awareness of SEM availability and available support and wanted to maintain their children's innocence. Effective strategies for parental engagement included offering a variety of delivery formats and creating safe, inclusive environments by maintaining a neutral position on SEM/pornography. Parental and youth engagement in content development are crucial. Experts encourage harm reduction approaches that support parents' ability to help their children develop the necessary skills to critique SEM and form attitudes conducive to respectful relationships. SO WHAT?: Findings can assist health promotion organisations to effectively engage parents in SEM literacy education and develop content supporting the development of young people's critical analysis skills.

'Come and work here!' a qualitative exploration of local community-led initiatives to recruit and retain health care staff in remote and rural areas of the UK.

The recruitment and retention of health care staff to remote and rural communities is a major challenge. This study explored the experiences of remote and rural communities in trying to attract and retain health care staff and their families in the UK. Qualitative case studies in five remote and rural communities, two in England and three in Scotland. We conducted interviews with 22 participants across the five sites, including community members actively involved in recruitment and retention, health care professionals, and their family members. Fieldwork combined remote and in-person data collection. We used thematic analysis across cases drawing on asset-based community development as our theoretical framework. Communities undertook various activities such as making promotional videos, social media campaigns, getting involved on interview panels, and informal social integration efforts. They drew on a range of local assets to encourage health care staff to come to the area, including showcasing local landscapes, outdoor activities, a safe, welcoming community for children and families, and good quality of life. They also drew on the skills of local people with backgrounds in marketing, design, communications and photography or film-making. The absence of some key assets posed challenges, particularly lack of housing, schooling provision, employment opportunities for other family members, and cultural activities. Community-led initiatives were often prompted by local dissatisfaction with health organisations' efforts to recruit health care staff, and a wish to exercise some control over recruitment initiatives. Activities were commonly driven by a small number of individuals. While this worked well in some communities, the burden of responsibility could be substantial. This also sometimes led to tension within communities. Retention efforts commonly relied on informal networks of key individuals who intentionally forged social links for incoming families. There is a key role for communities to play in recruitment and retention in remote and rural regions. There is an opportunity to actively engage community members in collaboratively crafting a campaign that highlights the area's key attractions while being mindful of limitations on reliance on an asset-based approach. Retention is a neglected topic, relying on key individuals going out of their way to help newcomers integrate. The formation of a community stakeholder group could help formalise this and reduce reliance on the goodwill and energy of individuals.

The Effects of the Persian Writing Treatment Protocol on Communication Skills in People with Aphasia following Stroke

The Effects of the Persian Writing Treatment Protocol on Communication Skills in People with Aphasia following Stroke

Application of good and correct hand washing and toothbrushing techniques to prevent infectious diseases through healthy living education

Personal health is an important factor in preventing the spread of infectious diseases, especially through daily habits such as washing hands and brushing teeth. This Community Service (PkM) activity aims to improve people's understanding and skills in applying good and correct handwashing and toothbrushing techniques through healthy living education. The methods used include counseling, direct demonstrations, and practices guided by health workers. This activity targets school children and the general public who are vulnerable to diseases due to suboptimal personal hygiene. The results of the activity showed that there was an increase in the knowledge and skills of participants in applying the correct handwashing and toothbrushing techniques, which is expected to contribute to reducing the incidence of infectious diseases such as diarrhea, respiratory infections, and dental and oral diseases. With continuous education, public awareness of the importance of personal hygiene can increase, thereby creating a healthier and disease-free environment

Assessing Pragmatic Skills in People with Intellectual Disabilities.

People with intellectual disabilities live with significant conceptual, social, and practical limitations that hinder the acquisition, development, and use of language. Pragmatic skills facilitate interpersonal relationships, allowing for the understanding and expression of oneself, as well as the planning, organization, and adaptation of speech depending on the context and interlocutor. These skills imply, therefore, complex higher functions that must be articulated harmoniously for effective communication. Identifying the weaknesses of people with intellectual disability in the pragmatic dimension of language enables the provision of individualized support resources to guarantee their participation and social inclusion. This study presents a systematic review based on the PRISMA guidelines, and it includes the most commonly used assessment tools for pragmatic competence in people with intellectual disabilities over time. Of the 172 articles found, 20 met the inclusion criteria and were finally reviewed. The results show a lack of conformity between instruments in the pragmatic aspects evaluated and a lack of adjustment of the evaluation tools to the characteristics of this population. Therefore, the design of new standardized tests that specifically evaluate the pragmatic skills of people with intellectual disability is required in the near future. A tailored assessment is crucial for defining a complete profile of their communication skills and generating individualized intervention and support programs.