Personal Life Situation Research Articles

A Cross-Sectional Study of the Perception of Individualized Nursing Care Among Nurses in Acute Medical and Perioperative Settings.

Background/Objectives: Individualized nursing care allows for systematic assessment and intervention; considers a patient's preferences, values, and context; and contributes to a positive care trajectory. However, its operationalization has proven to be challenging. This research aimed to evaluate nurses' perceptions of individualized care and analyze their relationship with sociodemographic variables. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted on 122 eligible and registered nurses at a Hospital Center, in the Ophthalmology (operating room and inpatient ward) service, the Cardiology service, the Internal Medicine service, and the Medical Emergency Unit, for adults/older adults in Portugal. The nursing version of the Individualized Care Scale (ICS-Nurse) was used for the assessment, including three sub-dimensions: clinical situation, personal life situation, and decisional control over care-related decisions. Cronbach's alpha and principal component analysis were used for the data analysis. The STROBE checklist was used to report this study. Results: No statistically significant differences were found based on the age, gender, level of education, or years of professional experience of the nurses within the sub-dimensions of individualization. The nurses overall had a good perception of the importance of individualized care (4.06 ± 0.46 ICS-A-NURSE) but faced difficulties in its implementation during the last shift they worked (3.97 ± 0.49 ICS-B-NURSE). Conclusions: The items considered to be of greatest importance were the response to the physical and emotional needs arising from illness and assistance in decision-making through educational instructions. Aspects related to the personal lives of patients, such as family inclusion in an individual's care plan, everyday habits, and previous experiences of hospitalization, received the lowest scores. Recognizing priority areas for improvement in the individualization of nursing care can contribute to developing training programs and policies that promote a holistic approach. Future studies should consider patient outcomes related to their needs for individualization.

The Question of Beauty and the Aesthetic Value of the Image of the Mother of God in Pastoral Care and Catechesis

Ancient philosophers attached great importance to the ideals of unity, truth, goodness, and beauty as the path to the greatest good. Beauty expressed through works of art can open the eyes of the mind and heart and direct the human spirit to transcendence. The beauty of art awakens inner emotionality, evokes elation in silence, and leads to “coming out of oneself”. The concept of beauty is inextricably linked to Catholic theology and preaching. Beautiful sacred images were a source of theological messages, intercession, and entry into the transcendental world. Medieval Gothic cathedrals had images on the walls as a basic tool of catechesis. Even in today’s teaching of young people, images play a crucial role. The world of symbols enables Christians to connect everyday life experiences with theological messages. The image of the Virgin Mary is the best example of recognizing personal life situations, with the story of a mother who loved her child, accepted the suffering and death of her own son, and together with St. Joseph formed a holy family, which is the image of an imperfect family in which each person recognizes himself. All these aspects of the life of the Virgin Mary could form the basic concepts of the Christian understanding of beauty. In modern thought, the concept of beauty is understood quite narrowly (we are talking about narrowing the meaning of the concept of beauty). In the first part of this paper, we focus on the philosophical concept of beauty with a brief historical overview, then we point out the difference between transcendental beauty and aesthetic beauty. Beauty appeals to the human being and opens the heart to the transcendent, to God, who is the source and fullness of beauty, beauty itself. The originality of the article is in its presentation of the understanding of the Christian concept of beauty through the figure and image of Mary, the Mother of God. The experience of the beauty of Mary and Mary’s life story enables the believer to have a different perspective on the perception of his own life and thereby opens him to the transcendent, to a personal relationship with God, who is eternal Beauty.

Validation of Persian Version of Suhanen et al.'s Individualized Care Scale

Background: Individualized care is a concept that describes personal characteristics of patients in clinical conditions, their personal life situation, and their preferences in order to promote participation in decision-making. The purpose of this study was to validate the Persian version of the Suhanen et al.'s (2005) individualized care scale.
 Methods: This cross-sectional study was conducted in 2019. Initially, the individualized care scale of Suhanen et al (2005) was translated in forward-backward way with 19 items and on a 5-point Likert scale (1 = completely disagree, 2 = disagree, 3 = no opinion, 4 = agree, 5 = completely agree). Content and face validity were then assessed using the opinions of 10 health management professionals (majors of health care management, health policy and health economics) Internal reliability of the questionnaire was assessed using the opinions of 20 patients admitted to gynecology, internal medicine and surgery wards of Yazd 3 teaching hospitals, and Cronbach's alpha coefficient (0.93) was calculated using SPSS 20 software.
 Results: The results of content validity calculation showed that all items of the current questionnaire had acceptable Content Validity Ratio, and the Content Validity Index was 0.73 for this questionnaire. Face validity analysis also demonstrated that all experts approved the questionnaire items. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the whole questionnaire was 0.93, and for "clinical status", "personal life situation" and "decision-making control over care," was 0.90, 0.87 and 0.90 respectively; the values were acceptable, and the reliability of the questionnaire was confirmed; none of the items were removed.
 Conclusion: The questionnaire can be used as a credible and valuable tool for assessing individualized patient care.

Hemşirelik Öğrencilerinin Temel Değerleri ve Bireyselleştirilmiş Bakım Algılarının İncelenmesi

Background/Aims:This study was conducted to determine the relationship between nursing students' individual values and perceptions of individualized care. Methods: The population of this descriptive and correlational study consisted of all nursing students (n=205) at Bezmialem Foundation University, Faculty of Health Sciences, Department of Nursing in the 2021-2022 academic year, and the sample included 194 students selected by using the simple random sampling method. Data were collected using a Student Information Form, the Portrait Values Questionnaire (PVQ), and the Individualized Care Scale-Nurse Version and analyzed on the SPSS 24 software package. Results: Participants’ mean age was 20.37± 1.23, 91.8% were female, and 28.3% were second-year students. Participants’ mean scores on the PVQ were 4.97±0.43 on the total scale, 5.37±0.56 on the universality sub-dimension, 5.26±0.55 on the self-direction sub-dimension, and 5.25±0.57 on the security sub-dimension. Their mean scores on the ICS (Nurse Version) were 4.33±0.74 on the total scale, 4.40±0.78 on the decisional control over care sub-dimension, 4.32±0.78 on the clinical situation sub-dimension, and 4.23±0.81 on the personal life situation sub-dimension. A significant positive correlation was found between the sub-dimensions of the ICS and those of the PVQ (p<0.05). Conclusion: It was found that participants got the highest scores on the universality sub-dimension of the PVQ. This value emphasizes equality and justice in the provision and maintenance of care. Justice and equitable distribution of resources to all individuals is the basic principle in individualized care. These results are important in terms of showing that nursing students, future nurses, can provide individualized nursing care. Keywords: Individual values, Individualized Nursing Care, Nursing Student

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF BLENDED LEARNING IN ENGLISH TEACHER TRAINING

This research paper presents a study that was carried out with future teachers of foreign languages from three different departments of Vinnytsia Mykhailo Kotsiubynskyi State Pedagogical University, Ukraine. The pandemic has had an impact on teaching. The education sector reacted quickly to this situation and implemented e-learning in institutional facilities. The course “Digital technologies in foreign languages teaching: theories, methods, application”, which is the subject of the study presented here, was implemented. In the conception of blended learning, the course provides future teachers with the necessary skills for the teaching practice of digital tools by learning to use these technologies in a didactically sensible way. The course concept provides a hybrid learning arrangement in which the effectiveness and flexibility of e-forms of learning are combined with the social aspects of face-to-face communication. The purpose of the study was to identify the effectiveness of the integration of digital technologies in the process of learning foreign languages, the benefits of digital teaching and changes in the level of digital literacy of students. In addition, the influence of individual digital competencies, personal life situations and previous experience with similar types of courses were analyzed in terms of the effectiveness and acceptance of the Blended learning concept. The course lasted half a year; 120 students chose it. The participants are students of foreign language (English) of the three cooperating departments (Department of Methods of teaching foreign languages, Department of English Philology, Department of Translation and multicultural communication). The potential of communication technologies and teachers’ digital competence is highlighted. The research design is based on the triangulation of quantitative and qualitative methods. The results of the survey of 120 respondents from three groups revealed, firstly, the level of their motivation to register for the course; secondly, the level of their educational success, taking into account the acquired professional and digital competencies; thirdly, the level of difficulty of their cooperation in the digital based communication.

The Pandemic as a Soundtrack for the Dissertation Journey: Obtaining Flow During Unprecedented Times

The purpose of this mixed methods study was to investigate the experiences of practitioner-scholars as they conducted their dissertations amidst the COVID-19 pandemic; the methodology utilized surveys at four time points across a 1-year span. Findings indicated increased impacts as the pandemic progressed, as well as both negative and positive pandemic impacts related to flow, as measured by the Work-Related Flow Inventory (WOLF). These impacts largely depended on the doctoral students’ personal and work life situations, indicating a need for doctoral programs to provide individualized support as students progress through their dissertation journeys, particularly during times of crisis.

Evaluation of perceived stress and its correlation with personality traits in undergraduate students

Background: Stress is a normal psychological, physiological, and behavioral response of any individual. It is the struggle of an individual to cope up with the situation doing more than one’s ability. It can lead to ill health over a period of time, if ignored. Personality refers to one’s behavior toward the environment and oneself. Stress can regulate personality of an individual. It may create great impact on their educational and emotional behavior in student’s life. It is essential to identify and counsel the students undergoing excessive stress and having negative personality. Aims and Objectives: The aim of this study is to evaluate perceived stress and correlate it with personality traits in undergraduate students. (i) To evaluate perceived stress in undergraduate students using Perceived Stress Scale (ii) To evaluate personality traits using Eysenck Personality Inventory Scale (iii) To classify students having different personality traits (iv) To correlate perceived stress levels with different personality traits. Materials and Methods: This study evaluates perceived stress and personality in 130 nursing and paramedical students attending a corporate college. Two scales – EPI scale proposed and PSS were used. Mean, standard deviation, and Pearson’s correlation were calculated to determine the relationship between personality traits and perceived stress. Results: Mean values of neuroticism, extraversion, and lie score are greater in males than in females. Females had statistically significant higher mean stress values than males. Majority of the students were under moderate stress with 72.6% and 81.1% among male and female subjects, respectively. On comparison, percentage of neuroticism cases was higher in females (49.1%) than males (35.6%). More introvert percentages were found in male subjects compared to females. More ambivert percentages were noted in females than in males. Percentage reliability was greater in females compared to males. Conclusion: This study reveals that higher the neurotic factor greater is the perceived stress and higher the values of extraversion lower are the perceived stress values. Gender differences were noticeable in perceived stress. Hence, the aspect of counseling can be adopted accordingly to understand the psychology of the fresher’s and modulate their mind set to help them cope with academic and personal life situations in an efficient way.

FORGIVENESS: CONCEPT, ITS APPLICATION IN PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL LIFE

Recent focus on Positive Psychology directs attention to study the Forgiveness in dealing with personal and professional life situations. In educational set-up, teacher needs to face divergent problems; teamwork with the associates of dissimilar opinions, empathy to the students of eccentric character and forgo friends/family-related conflicts are challenging tasks. This study aims to explore (1) how teachers define forgiveness (2) different influencing factors that lead to forgiveness at work and family, and (3) analyze the effectiveness of forgiveness in coping with professional and personal lives situations. Based on snowball sampling technique, the data from twenty one primary school teachers was collected through open ended interviews. Using Content Analysis Approach was used the study determines the values and application of forgiveness in the unique educational and cultural context of Pakistan. The findings show that religion, sense of accomplishment, need for affiliation/preserving relations and family background are significant drivers of forgiveness. Simultaneously, it reveals that forgiveness play essential role to manage officials, colleagues and student related conflicts such as work load, scarce resources, favoritism, criticism, egocentrism. In addition the findings reveals the positive effects of forgiveness in repairing broken relationships, encouraging positive emotions and influencing physical and mental wellbeing. This original study highlights the worth of forgiveness strategy and its practical implications would energize teachers to tackle personal and professional lives issues.

COVID-19, lockdown, elderly. Experiences of the follow up research among active older adults 2020- 2021.

Introduction, aims:The COVID-19 pandemic caused invaluable harms on the World during last two years. Among all economic and societal consequences the negative effects for elderly people was also apparent. Researches - among others - focused on the age related inequalities for accessing and using services, economic disadvantages, the decline of psychical, physical and mental conditions, reduced quality of life, increased level of loneliness, stress and depression, such as the increase and new faces of ageism.This research focused on the individual and organizational consequences of COVID – 19 pandemic and the effects of the state interventions followed by. The target group were identified as active seniors who have leading positions in different local and regional senior’s associations. These people were affected individually as a member of the age group and as an experts with organizational responsibilities as well.
 Research method:We chose a qualitative follow up (longitudinal) research method that was committed by semi structured phone interviews, recorded and anonymised. The time of the two data record focused and followed the main Hungarian waves of the pandemic: May – June in 2020 and June – July in 2021. Sample were collected from all districts of Hungary (n=42).
 Main research topics were:- The situation of the older adults (experiences about the local older people, daily life, problems, issues, social connections)- The life in the organization (activities, new initiatives, problems, issues)- Individual experiences (fears, daily life, social connections, shopping habits, use of ICT, vaccination).
 Results:We found significant differences on the personal life situation and the perception of pandemic and related interventions during the two waves. Pandemic situation may influenced these results. The age related “stay at home campaign” made more difficulties for the older people during the first wave, meanwhile related interventions weren’t so strict during the second wave by introducing shopping timeline for older people and night curfew for all in the late nights. Even first wave did not cause such harm like the second one in Hungary.During the first wave we found older people as a rule following citizens. They followed all the restrictions and regulations strictly. Life situations mainly were determined by the living conditions, that is means the ones who lived in the countryside mainly a house with garden experienced less negative effects than those, who lived in the housing estate area (first wave mainly fall on March – May).Older people reported increased importance of the local authorities. With the lack of central supporting interventions, local authorities played main role for local support, care and security. If the local government took care of older people they felt safety. Less interventions and coordination made older people insecured.The second wave made new situations for people. Older adults became one of the first target groups in vaccination and people started to cope with the pandemic.Older adults became more critical with governmental interventions.Critics focussed on the- pandemic related communication, the vaccination (older people mainly got Shinofarm vaccine that was not accepted in the EU at that time),- difficulties with the availability of health services, and- they experienced increased economic problems.The life in the organization: during the first wave we found frozen life of the seniors organization, cancelled and delayed programmes. Some initiatives were also reported. People preferred to keep contact via phone instead of using another ICT tools. Some of the answerer worried about the community life, how they can restart after the pandemic, others preferred the forthcoming chance for personal meetings.Seniors organisations may play an important role of the senior’s life by organizing free time and social activities, advocacy, and many other aspects of active ageing. As we made a first extract of this research further analyse will focus more on the good examples and new initiatives on the social, community and organizational levels.

Organizational citizenship behavior and job flexibility in Family-Responsible Companies: a study from the perspective of employee family situation

PurposeThe aim of this article is to analyze the relationship between the personal life situation and marital status of the worker and how this relates to organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and job flexibility. The study has been carried out with a group of Mexican employees from a commercial company located in the northeast of the México.Design/methodology/approachThe research is a nonexperimental empirical study using t-test, Levene’s test and Cohen’s test to analyze the significant relationship between the variables under study for 419 employees. The questionnaire was applied only once without a control group against which to compare. The study was carried out in a commercial company located in a city in northeastern Mexico, covering four municipalities in the conurbation area.FindingsThe research reveals that those workers who participated in the study and who have direct family responsibilities show greater OCB and value job flexibility more highly. The tests also found that a flexible working policy is valued by all those with direct family responsibilities, regardless of their marital status. It is also shown that there is a positive relationship between job flexibility and OCB, although not a strong one.Practical implicationsDecent work implies labor policies that support women and men to have an adequate work–life balance. Companies seeking work–family balance through the implementation of policies such as flexible working arrangements should consider the domestic background of their employees, as this has a direct impact on competitive advantage and is of importance when recruiting and retaining human talent. These findings may also be useful for companies interested in implementing flexible working policies to retain employees with family responsibilities who value the ability to reconcile work and family life.Originality/valueThis research demonstrates the relevance of OCB and job flexibility for employees. If the company wants to enhance OCB, they must consider that personal situation as well as the employee's marital status influences OCB. They should also consider that work flexibility is highly valued by those employees who have children or family dependents.

Listening to patients' voices: Applying the design-thinking method for teaching person-centered care to nursing students.

Providing a person-centered care (PCC) education program to nursing students is necessary. This study aims to determine the impact of a design-thinking based education program on how nursing students perceive PCC. Five 2-h lessons were offered to 105 fourth-year nursing students in South Korea. Each randomly assigned group of eight or nine students was instructed to develop a plan to address the problems/dissatisfaction experienced by patients during hospitalization. The Individualized Care Scale-nurse's version was used to measure student's perception of PCC before and after the education program. After the program the students exhibited significant improvements in how they viewed supporting patient individuality, with that score increasing by 0.44 (from 3.64 to 4.08; p < 0.0001), and maintaining patient individuality while providing care, with that score increasing by 0.34 (from 3.71 to 4.05; p < 0.0001). Among subdomains, the most notable change was in how the students viewed the personal life situation of patients, and its impact on patients' healthcare outcomes. This education program, based on the design-thinking approach, was effective in improving the perceptions of nursing students about PCC. Expanding such PCC education programs for nursing school students should therefore be considered.

Individualized Health Care for Older Diabetes Patients from the Perspective of Health Professionals and Service Consumers.

Background: Individualized nursing care as a form of person-centered care delivery is a well-known approach in the health care context and is accepted as best practice by organizations and professionals, yet its implementation in everyday practice creates serious challenges. The aim was to assess and compare the perceptions of health professionals and older diabetes patients on their individual care in regard to the patient’s clinical situation, personal life situation, and decisional control. Methods: The quantitative study with a cross-sectional survey design was conducted from March 2019 until January 2021. The Individualized Care Scale was applied for the data collection. Health professionals (nurses and physicians, n = 70) and older diabetes patients (n = 145) participated in the study. The average duration of diabetes was 15.8 years (SD = 10.0) and type 2 diabetes was the most common (89.0%). The current glucose-lowering therapy for 51.0% of the patients was oral medications, 37.9% used injected insulin, and 11.1% were treated by combined therapy. Results: The highest-rated aspects of individualized care on both dimensions of the scale from the health professionals’ perspective related to the clinical situation, and the scores for provision were significantly higher than those for support. The highest means of patients’ ratings on the support dimension related to the clinical situation and the decisions over care sub-scale; for the care provision dimension, the highest individuality in care was assigned to the decisions over care sub-scale. The lowest ratings of individualized care, both in the health professionals’ and patients’ samples, related to the personal life situation sub-scale. Conclusions: Health professionals are more positive in regard to individualized care support and provisions for older diabetes patients than the patients themselves. Patient characteristics, such as the type of glucose-lowering therapy, education, and nutritional status, make a difference in patients’ understanding and experience of individuality in care.

Implementing Personalized Genetic Medicine

Implementing Personalized Genetic Medicine

A Persuasive Study on Burnout and Psychological Disorders among Medical Practitioners and Health Care Staff During Pandemic and Overload Work Environment

: Burnout syndrome in recent days has creeped among the medical practitioners and supportive staffs in hospitals and health care units from around the globe, due to the pandemic situation that provoked because of COVID-19. Incessant flow of patients round the clock shattered the energy level of physicians and nurses who are in this life saving exercise without even caring about their own lives. But treating patients continuously in critical care unit leads to emotional fatigue and in a long run leads to futility among the health care workers. Analysing the root cause among the medical practitioners by means of their lifestyle, socio-psychological status and their inbuilt aptitudes will let the hidden reasons behind this burnout. By means of continuous monitoring, motivation and training they can overcome this syndrome and make their lives more meaningful for this society as well as their self. This paper reveals the common and psychological problems obsessed by the physicians during at their work place, their personal and social life situations with reference to studies carried out in different parts of the world.

Social Isolation and Loneliness during COVID-19 Lockdown: Associations with Depressive Symptoms in the German Old-Age Population.

Lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic increase the risk of social isolation and loneliness, which may affect mental wellbeing. Therefore, we aimed to investigate associations between social isolation and loneliness with depressive symptoms in the German old-age population during the first COVID-19 lockdown. A representative sample of randomly selected individuals at least 65 years old (n = 1005) participated in a computer-assisted standardized telephone interview in April 2020. Sociodemographic data, aspects of the personal life situation, attitudes towards COVID-19 and standardized screening measures on loneliness (UCLA 3-item loneliness scale), depression (Brief Symptom Inventory/BSI-18), and resilience (Brief Resilience Scale/BRS) were assessed. Associations were inspected using multivariate regression models. Being lonely, but not isolated (β = 0.276; p < 0.001) and being both isolated and lonely (β = 0.136; p < 0.001) were associated with higher depressive symptoms. Being isolated, but not lonely was not associated with depressive symptoms. Thus, the subjective emotional evaluation, i.e., feeling lonely, of the social situation during lockdown seems more relevant than the objective state, i.e., being isolated. Normal (β = −0.203; p < 0.001) and high resilience (β = −0.308; p < 0.001) were associated with lower depressive symptoms across groups. Therefore, strengthening coping skills may be a support strategy during lockdowns, especially for lonely older individuals.

The Mandala Model of Transformative Learning

Transformative learning theory has provided a sound theoretical base for adult education’s Western and Eastern academic field. This article aims to introduce the mandala model of transformative learning by transferring Mezirow’s theory of perspective transformation onto a mandala map. In the mandala model, the learning agent exercises two capabilities—knowledgeability and reflexivity—to solve and pose problems in learning contexts. The learners accomplish the circle of transformative learning through the four phases of acquiring knowledge, taking actions to praxes, and generating wisdom; they are on the way to fulfill transformative learning. The theoretical model of transformative learning postulates to implement learners’ capabilities and manifest the dynamics of generative mechanisms. Moreover, it postulates to integrate knowledge into personal life and societal situations through actions and praxes and elucidate wisdom and beneficial outcomes in the intrapersonal and interpersonal contexts.

МОТИВЫ СОЦИАЛЬНОГО ПРЕДПРИНИМАТЕЛЬСТВА В СФЕРЕ ОБРАЗОВАНИЯ И ПРОСВЕЩЕНИЯ ЕВРОПЕЙСКОГО СОЮЗА

This study examines the motives (reasons) of social entrepreneurship in the field of education and enlightenment of the European Union. We used the methodology of collective case study to answer the research questions. Our final sample includes seven social enterprises which work at different levels (from European to local) and in different EU countries. We identified the following motives of social entrepreneurship in the field of education in the EU: 1) the desire to change society; 2) self-realization; 3) networking; 4) personal life situation; 5) access to funding and grant support. These motives in general (without details) are identical to the well-known motives of social entrepreneurship. A detailed analysis of the motives of social entrepreneurship in the field of education and enlightenment of the EU allowed us to identify its distinctive features (that are determined by the field of activity), namely: the motive to change society by means of education and art; the motive of self-realization by means of the acquisition or implementation of professional experience in the field of education and enlightenment; the motive of networking by means of the inclusion of educational institutions, students, pupils, teachers; the motive of networking by means of the involvement of children and youth as key participants and volunteers; personal life situation as a motive was often associated with obtaining education and new knowledge in difficult socioeconomic circumstances in the past. The studied social enterprises belong to the EU that has an influence on the studied motives: the desire to change society by means of education and introduction of the European Union’s fundamental values; the motive of state funding and grant support by means of access to the European funds. This study has its limitations being a collective case of seven non-profit organizations engaged in social and entrepreneurial activities in the field of education and enlightenment. These organizations operate at different levels (from European to local), but the case does not cover all the EU countries and at the same time does not show the specifics of particular countries that may become directions for future research. This study also has limitations imposed by the qualitative approach methodology. The obtained results can be used to conduct a quantitative study in the future with a survey of social entrepreneurs in the field of education and enlightenment in the EU.

Mental wellbeing in the German old age population largely unaltered during COVID-19 lockdown: results of a representative survey

BackgroundOlder individuals are at increased risk of a severe and lethal course of COVID-19. They have typically been advised to practice particularly restrictive social distancing (‘cocooning’), which has sparked much debate on the consequences for their mental wellbeing. We aimed to provide evidence by conducting a representative survey among the German old population during COVID-19 lockdown.MethodsA computer-assisted standardized telephone interview was conducted in a randomly selected and representative sample of the German old age population (n = 1005; age ≥ 65 years) during the first lockdown in April 2020. Assessments included sociodemographic factors, aspects of the personal life situation during lockdown, attitudes towards COVID-19, and standardized screening measures on depression, anxiety, somatization, overall psychological distress (Brief Symptom Inventory/BSI-18) and loneliness (UCLA 3-item loneliness scale). Sampling-weighted descriptive statistics and multiple multivariable regression analyses were conducted.ResultsParticipants were M = 75.5 (SD = 7.1) years old; 56.3% were women. At data collection, COVID-19 lockdown had been in force for M = 28.0 (SD = 4.8) days. Overall, older individuals were worried about COVID-19, but supportive of the lockdown. Mean BSI-18 scores were 1.4 for depression, 1.6 for anxiety and 2.2 for somatization as well as 5.1 for global psychological distress. These figures did not indicate worse mental wellbeing, given normative values established by studies before the pandemic (2.0, 1.6, 2.4, 6.0, respectively). The prevalence of loneliness was 13.1%, which also fell within a range of estimates reported by studies before the pandemic. There were only few significant associations of aspects of the personal life situation during lockdown and attitudes towards COVID-19 with mental wellbeing. Resilience explained a large amount of variance.ConclusionsIn the short-term, the mental wellbeing of the German old age population was largely unaltered during COVID-19 lockdown, suggesting resilience against the challenging pandemic situation. Our results refute common ageist stereotypes of “the weak and vulnerable older adults” that were present during the pandemic. Long-term observations are needed to provide robust evidence.

Images of Learning through Music: The Sounds of Cognition

This innovative practice uses classical string instruments as the tools, and music as the medium for exploring learning new and complex tasks. In a face-to-face setting people experience playing violins, violas, and cellos as their learning is guided by visual and aural imagery, enabling engagement with complex cognitive and affective concepts through what appears to be play. By accessing concept knowledge directly through representation and then experience, the need for translation of technical or theoretical material is bypassed. The progressive introduction of mental and physical skills actively illustrates the cumulative impact of the cognitive, the coordination, and the interactive demands of playing the instruments. Active reflection in and on the experience of playing a musical instrument, working collaboratively, and allowing and enjoying public learning (and failure) is contextualised in terms of people’s self-efficacy beliefs, their attitudes toward learning and skill development, and the relevant transferability of these realised and learned ideas to their personal work and life situations.

Analysis of selected factors affecting the life situation of persons with moderate intellectual disability

Abstract Introduction: The aim of this work was to assess the situation of people with moderate intellectual disability (MID), considering the legal, political, economic, social and technological determinants (PEST factors). Materials and methods: This work consisted of an in-depth legal analysis based on the Community Action Board (CAB) model, which is a part of the Rapid Policy Assessment and Response (RPAR) methodology. Having analyzed the PEST factors, as part of the analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT), the CAB identified the strengths and weaknesses of the situations of persons with MID. Results: The following deficiencies were identified in the provisioning of legal and political assistance to persons with MID: disability definitions were incompatible with international law, lack of legal provisions comprehensively regulating the situation of persons with intellectual disability (ID), two-instance disability evaluation system, lack of sufficient coordination of state bodies, lack of supervision over decisions on the need for special education, poor employment opportunities after completing education. Optimal conditions for education in a special school have a positive impact on the situation of persons with MID, but their lack in a public school setting proves to have adverse effects. The most important forms of support include: places of daily stay, sheltered employment, supported employment on the open labor market, protected flats, support from an assistant. Conclusions: 1. The deficiencies in legal and political regulations in Poland make it difficult or impossible for persons with MID to receive adequate assistance. 2. Investing in special schools and ensuring their formal cooperation with public schools offers adequate education to persons with MID. 3. Poor access to special forms of support for people with MID causes their social exclusion.