Understanding Of Well-being Research Articles

‘The Little Things’: The Temporality of Young People’s Strategies for Existential, Grounded, and Expansive Wellbeing in Rural Australia

AbstractThis paper is based on research in rural southeast Australia with young people from recent migrant and refugee backgrounds. While existing research on the wellbeing of this group often emphasises successful settlement through education, employment, and belonging as pathways to future wellbeing, this paper asks what we can learn from young people’s own experiences and understandings of wellbeing. Guided by the words, images, and reflections of young people involved in this research, the paper explores everyday wellbeing as an existential, relational, and situated happening that takes both time and place. Young people in the study highlighted the importance of finding beauty, joy, and connection in ‘the little things’ of daily life to bring a sense of meaning into monotonous temporal rhythms and weekly routines structured by work and study. Drawing from Todres and Galvin’s ‘dwelling-mobility’ wellbeing framework, this paper conceptualises young people’s ability to be well as intricately intertwined with their ability to experience their lives over time as grounded and secure, while also having a sense of greater meaning and possibility. Ultimately, the paper illustrates how young people understand their ability to be well as temporally complex, informed by ongoing, non-linear interactions between past, present, and future experiences as they look forward and back over their lives, seeking to transform the passage of time from meaningless to meaningful.

Exploring the Well-being Experiences of Patients Following Heart Valve Replacement Surgery through the Biopsychosocial-spiritual Model: A Qualitative Content Analysis.

Heart valve replacement (HVR) surgery represents a significant life event that can potentially impact the well-being (WB) of patients; however, there is a shortage of research on the understanding of WB in HVR patients. This study aims to elucidate the WB experiences of patients who have undergone HVR surgery. A qualitative directed content analysis approach was employed, focusing on patients who had undergone HVR surgery at hospitals affiliated with Mashhad University of Medical Sciences in Iran from March 2021 to June 2022. Data collection involved conducting 23 face-to-face, semi-structured, in-depth interviews with HVR patients until data saturation was reached. Data analysis was performed using the Elo and Kyngäs approach in MAXQDA software version 10. The analysis revealed 11 generic categories based on the Biopsychosocial-Spiritual (BPSS) model, encompassing the WB experiences of HVR patients. These categories included physical improvements, facilitated treatment compliance, personal and environmental mastery, optimism in life, resilience, healing therapeutic communication of medical staff, a positive supportive atmosphere, job and financial assurance, faith in a higher power, optimism regarding a purposeful future, and gratitude mixed with generosity. The findings of the current study revealed that the experience of WB in HVR patients was influenced by various conditions. By recognizing these conditions, healthcare providers can develop targeted interventions to improve the WB experience in these patients. Also, the findings provide a foundation for future research on WB in medical contexts.

The Typology of Well-Being and Imagination on Global Organization Leaders and The Wisdom of Classical Period Philosophers

The understanding of well-being and imagination reflected from classical period philosophers to the present day is now the focus of today’s leaders and managers. In the modern management concept there is a continuous constructive and reformative process. While organizations concentrate on organizational subjects such as work/life balance, the positive culture of the organization, emotional welfare, happiness and ideal working environment, there is also a need to reach a stage of awareness for an integrated understanding and responsibility on social equality, social responsibility, ecological order and biodiversity. The aim of our research is to discover how the wisdom and teachings of classical period philosophers are reflected by today’s global organization leaders. In our research, interviews and statements of the leaders of Fortune 500 listed, global companies such as Samsung, Apple, UPS, Airbus, Amazon, Johnson& Johnson and Walmart were collected and used as secondary data. The data analysis was done using Nvivo (version 2020). The results showed that leaders of global organizations adopted the teachings on well-being and imagination of classical period philosophers such as Plato, Aristotle and Socrates and carried the dimensions such as leader’s well-being, imagination, hedonic approach, subjective well-being, emotional well-being (happiness), positive affection, negative affection, cognitive well-being, life satisfaction, eudaimonic approach and psychological well-being.

Development and preliminary validation of the South Wales Social Well-being Scale (SWSWBS)

BackgroundPhysical, mental and social components of well-being are known to be important to health. However, research on well-being often focuses on physical and mental well-being with little attention paid to social well-being. This research aims to develop and preliminarily validate the South Wales Social Well-being Scale (SWSWBS) to measure social well-being.MethodsA non-experimental and cross-sectional design was applied with two phases: scale development and preliminary validation. Initially, 24 items were drawn from a Group Concept Mapping study exploring the concept of social well-being. These items were reviewed and reduced to 14 for preliminary validation among 103 university students and staff in health and social care disciplines. Construct validity (exploratory factor analysis and convergent validity) were tested. Reliability was demonstrated by internal consistency. Floor and ceiling effects were also evaluated.ResultsA 3-factor structure was identified and explored, which highlight the most important features of the social world a person inhabits: “Safe and inclusive interaction with others” (6 items), “Learning, helping, and feeling useful” (4 items), and “Security, worthwhile activities, family and friends” (4 items). The SWSWBS was correlated to the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale and the Four measures of Personal Well-being Scale to some extent. The Cronbach alpha coefficient was 0.85 for the sum score and 0.83–0.86 for individual items. The item-total correlation coefficients ranged between 0.08 and 0.65. The split half reliability coefficient was 0.78. There is absence of a floor effect, but most items had a ceiling effect.ConclusionsPreliminary validation of the SWSWBS shows the scale has satisfactory psychometric properties with good validity, reliability, and reasonable variability. This study needs to be replicated with larger and representative populations to explore how the scale can be used alongside the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Well-being Scale to capture a holistic/multi-dimensional understanding of well-being.

Wellbeing in the higher education sector: A qualitative study of staff perceptions in UK universities

The Higher Education (HE) sector is beset with mental ill-health, stress and burnout, negatively impacting staff productivity and retention. These challenges are due to a reduction in financial support for HE coupled with a growing number of students and increased workloads, as evidenced by recent strike actions in the UK. While research on mental ill-health in HE is extensive, our understanding of wellbeing in higher education is limited. Yet understanding wellbeing in the workplace can foster positive experiences and resilience, counteracting more negative experiences. This paper presents findings from 21 in-depth semi-structured interviews with employees (academic and professional staff) in UK universities to understand staff perceptions of wellbeing and the impact of the HE context. Five themes were identified: (1) factors contributing to staff wellbeing, such as colleague support; (2) fragility and duality of staff wellbeing, on how wellbeing can be damaged as well as its changing nature; (3) the dichotomy of collegial peer and organizational support, on university and staff actions toward wellbeing; (4) outsider from within, on an experienced lack of belonging; and (5) creativity and growth, on opportunities for staff development. Gaps in our understanding of Black, Asian, Minority, and Ethnic staff experiences were also identified. Implications for bolstering wellbeing in practice and future research are discussed.

What do we really know about age-related stereotypes and well-being of older adults? A commentary on the state of the art.

There is a considerable body of literature on harmful consequences of age-related stereotypes-including consequences on physical and mental health. However, this commentary critically argues that the current state of the art disregards consequences of these stereotypes specifically for the well-being of older adults (i.e., outcome that is not to be confounded with mental health). To this end, the content of age-related stereotypes and the mechanisms through which they operate on physical and mental health are first outlined. The commentary then focuses on the very scarce evidence documenting how and when the well-being of older adults (as assessed directly and not as inferred from other indicators) is influenced by self-directed stereotypes. After setting out possible ways well-being may be involved in the relationship between self-directed stereotypes and physical and mental health of older adults, the present commentary argues that a better understanding of well-being would benefit strategies targeting the reduction of age-related stereotypes. Overall, this commentary on the state of the art highlights that future research is still needed to better understand both the direct and indirect relationships between age-related stereotypes and well-being that is not reducible to positive experiences of life (or hedonic well-being) but also comprises an eudaimonic component.

Exploring the relationship between trout fishing and wellbeing: insights from Aotearoa New Zealand trout anglers

ABSTRACT Internationally, there is growing interest in understanding the potential for recreational fishing to enhance the wellbeing of participants. To date, no studies have investigated the potential for recreational trout fishing to influence wellbeing in the Aotearoa New Zealand context. To address this gap, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with anglers in the local community and explored their understanding of wellbeing and how they percieve trout fishing contributes to their wellbeing. The interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed, analysed thematically, and examined using the Te Whare Tapa Whā model of holistic wellbeing. For trout anglers, wellbeing incorporated mental, physical, spiritual, and relational health. Trout fishing was perceived as enhancing these elements of wellbeing by fostering positive states of being; cultivating connection with self, others, place and nature; allowing for disconnection from stressors; and providing physical exercise. These exploratory findings highlight the potential for trout fishing to enhance all dimensions of holistic wellbeing within the Te Whare Tapa Whā model and a need for further research in this area.

Family resilience and caregiver's well-being across different age groups of children with ADHD in the United States: a cross-sectional study.

This study aimed to investigate the impact of family resilience on caregiver well-being across various age groups of children diagnosed with ADHD (attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder) groups (0-5, 6-11, and 12-17 years). Utilizing secondary data from the 2022 US National Survey of Child Health, this cross-sectional study involved 2,752 children who were formally diagnosed with ADHD. Statistical analysis included descriptive analysis, Spearman's rank correlation, chi-square tests, and linear regression, conducted using SPSS version 27. The study revealed a moderate positive correlation (r=.35, p<.001) between family resilience and caregiver well-being. Controlling for covariates, family resilience accounted for 25.2%, 21.1%, and 22.1% of caregiver well-being variance in age groups 0-5, 6-11, and 12-17 years, respectively. Additionally, factors like employment status, family structure, and caregiver age showed varying influences on caregiver well-being across these developmental stages. A consistent pattern emerged across these age groups: unemployment and non-traditional family structures were associated with negative impacts on caregiver well-being, whereas older caregiver age positively influenced well-being. This research underscores the importance of age-specific family resilience strategies to improve caregiver well-being and family interactions in ADHD contexts. Investigating these aspects through qualitative studies across various cultures could deepen our understanding of well-being and inform culturally sensitive interventions.

Principals’ well-being: understanding its multidimensional nature

ABSTRACT While well-being of school principals is becoming an increasing concern in public education, the understanding of well-being and its manifestation is still lacking in research. This research tackles the nuances and complexities surrounding the notion of well-being and sheds light on its conceptualisation, manifestation, and contributing factors. Data for this research come from an online survey among public school principals in the province of British Columbia, Canada. This survey research utilised reliability, factor, correlation analysis, and structural equation modelling (SEM) and examined how well-being of school principals is manifested along different well-being dimensions and what underlying relationships exist between each dimension in relation to principals’ overall well-being and their demographics. The results reaffirm that well-being is a multidimensional construct, encompassing dimensions that speak to different but interrelated aspects of a principal’s well-being state, among which emotional and psychological well-being has been revealed as a vital component in principals’ overall well-being. The findings have significant implications on health and well-being related support for school principals in order to prepare them for the increasingly demanding job.

Centring localised indigenous concepts of wellbeing in urban nature-based solutions for climate change adaptation: case-studies from Aotearoa New Zealand and the Cook Islands

Nature-based solutions (NbS) offer significant potential for climate change adaptation and resilience. NbS strengthen biodiversity and ecosystems, and premise approaches that centre human wellbeing. But understandings and models of wellbeing differ and continue to evolve. This paper reviews wellbeing models and thinking from Aotearoa New Zealand, with focus on Te Ao Māori (the Māori world and worldview) as well as other Indigenous models of wellbeing from wider Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Oceania. We highlight how holistic understandings of human-ecology-climate connections are fundamental for the wellbeing of Indigenous peoples of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa Oceania and that they should underpin NbS approaches in the region. We profile case study experience from Aotearoa New Zealand and the Cook Islands emerging out of the Nature-based Urban design for Wellbeing and Adaptation in Oceania (NUWAO) research project, that aims to develop nature-based urban design solutions, rooted in Indigenous knowledges that support climate change adaptation and wellbeing. We show that there is great potential for nature-based urban adaptation agendas to be more effective if linked closely to Indigenous ecological knowledge and understandings of wellbeing.

Maternal multimorbidity - experiences of women seeking asylum during pregnancy and after childbirth: a qualitative study

BackgroundMany women seeking asylum during pregnancy and after childbirth have ill-health but detection and assessment of all physical, psychological, and social health needs (maternal multimorbidity) are often difficult as part of routine maternity care. Healthcare providers are key for the early identification and management of vulnerable pregnant women who have additional physical, psychological, and social health needs. We sought to explore the impact of the asylum-seeking process, understanding of wellbeing, expressed health needs (in terms of maternal multimorbidity), and the experiences of maternity care of women seeking asylum during pregnancy and after childbirth in Liverpool, United Kingdom. Enabling factors and barriers to access woman-centred care were also explored.MethodsKey informant interviews (n = 10) and one focus group discussion (n = 4) were conducted with women attending a non-profit charitable pregnancy support group. Transcribed interviews were coded by topic and then grouped into categories. Thematic framework analysis was undertaken to identify emerging themes.ResultsThe asylum-seeking process negatively impacted women making them feel anxious and depressed with little control or choice over their future. Women reported feeling stressed regarding poor standard of accommodation, low income, dispersal and the uncertainty of their asylum application outcome. Wellbeing during pregnancy and after childbirth was understood to be multifactorial and women understood that their physical health needs were interlinked and negatively impacted by complex psychological and social factors. Women reported that their expectations of maternity services were often exceeded, but information giving, and the use of language interpreters needed to be improved. Women expressed the need for more psychological and social support throughout pregnancy and after childbirth.ConclusionsA multidisciplinary team, with links and effective referral pathways to maternal mental health and social services, are necessary for women seeking asylum, to ensure a more integrated, comprehensive assessment of maternal multimorbidity and to provide maternity care in a way that meets all health needs.

Instruments/ Questionnaire Tools Used for Assessing Quality of Life Among Oral Cancer Affected Patients

QOL is largely affected by lot of overlapping facts and domains. Though enormous health care research is going all over the world to improve the survival as well as improve the quality of life in all the cancers of human body. Human being s individual perception for quality of life is one of the most important parameters to enhance the overall wellbeing of cancer patients. During the last decades, this idea of QOL has developed enormously and so are the various available treatment options in health care research to assess the individual’s understanding of well-being.

Garihma (to Care for)

Garihma (to Care for)

Wellbeing

Wellbeing

Affective geographies in pandemic times: An intersectional analysis of women's wellbeing in Aotearoa New Zealand

This article builds upon and extends a growing body of literature focused on how the pandemic has shifted human relations with space, place, and wellbeing. Working at the intersection of pandemic and feminist geographies, we focus on how the reconceptualizing of familiar spaces and places during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted women's embodied, affective, and subjective experiences of wellbeing. Drawing upon interviews with 38 women from diverse socio-cultural backgrounds living in Aotearoa New Zealand during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, we detail the emergence of different spatial arrangements and affective relations with familiar spaces and places (i.e., domestic, nature, and digital spaces). We then explain how these emergent affective and spatial relations prompted new understandings of wellbeing. The article also highlights the multiplicities of women's subjective experiences of wellbeing as shaped by their varied socio-cultural positionings in relation to pandemic geographies.

Introduction to the Special Issue on the Covid-19 Pandemic and Children’s Understandings of Well-being: International Perspectives on Social Contexts and Inequality

Introduction to the Special Issue on the Covid-19 Pandemic and Children’s Understandings of Well-being: International Perspectives on Social Contexts and Inequality

Understanding I-Kiribati wellbeing and its implications for health and social services

INTRODUCTION: Pacific people in Aotearoa New Zealand are a fast-growing population, and research shows that they do not experience the same health benefits others do. While effort has been made to better understand the needs of this population, the results remain largely unchanged. Additionally, practice methods and research to better understand the needs of this group tend to accommodate the more dominant Pacific populations, while less research has gone into understanding the smaller Pacific ethnic populations such as I-Kiribati. This research sought to explore I-Kiribati meanings of wellbeing and how these understandings contribute to creating more culturally appropriate social services. METHODS: The research employed semi-structured interviews to explore the perspectives and experiences of five I-Kiribati professionals working in health and social services. Recruitment was through purposive sampling. FINDINGS: The findings outline important aspects that contribute to the wellbeing of both Kiribati and other Pacific groups, factors preventing Pacific minority groups from accessing social services, such as language barriers, acculturation issues, and lack of cultural knowledge and understanding within health, and social services. The findings also suggested the importance of utilising cultural knowledge to inform social work practice, as well as the need for service providers to expand their understanding of the Kiribati culture through more collaboration with Kiribati communities throughout Aotearoa New Zealand. CONCLUSION: The findings aid further understanding of wellbeing, knowledge on the Kiribati culture and needs of this group, while also informing practice methods for enhanced engagement to best meet the needs of ethnic minority groups.

Quality of life beyond measure: Advanced cancer patients, wellbeing and medicinal cannabis.

Experiences of advanced cancer are assembled and (re)positioned with reference to illness, symptoms and maintaining 'wellbeing'. Medical cannabis is situated at a borderline in this and the broader social domain: between stigmatised and normalised; recreational and pharmaceutical; between perception, experience, discourse and scientific proof of benefit. Yet, in the hyper-medicalised context of randomised clinical trials (RCTs), cancer, wellbeing and medical cannabis are narrowly assessed using individualistic numerical scores. This article attends to patients' perceptions and experiences at this borderline, presenting novel findings from a sociological sub-study embedded within RCTs focused on the use of medical cannabis for symptom relief in advanced cancer. Through a Deleuzo-Guattarian-informed framework, we highlight the fragmentation and reassembling of bodies and propose body-situated experiences of wellbeing in the realm of advanced cancer. Problematising 'biopsychosocial' approaches that centre an individualised disconnected patient body in understandings of wellbeing, experiences of cancer and potential treatments, our findings foreground relational affect and embodied experience, and the role of desire in understanding what wellbeing is and can be. This also underpins and enables exploration of the affective reassembling ascribed to medical cannabis, with particular focus on how it is positioned within RCTs.

‘Muchness’ as the subjective experience of wellbeing: sharing the findings of a participatory inquiry with nurses

Background: I discovered the concept of muchness when reading a blog that considered quotes from Alice in Wonderland to identify what meaning they could offer healthcare. One was from the Mad Hatter: ‘You used to be much more “muchier”. You’ve lost your muchness.’ Reflecting on my experiences of working with nurses who reported feeling overworked, undervalued and undermined, I questioned whether some nursing staff had lost their muchness – their subjective experience of wellbeing. Aims: The research aimed to work with nurses to explore two research questions: What is muchness? How can muchness be nurtured? Methods: An innovative research method was developed – Virtual Picture Voice. This enabled nurses to create and share ‘stories of muchness’ and then participate in their analysis and synthesis, contributing to the creation of the Muchness Model Version 1. A metasynthesis process followed, drawing on wider theoretical understandings and resulting in the development of the Muchness Model Version 2. Findings: Version 2 advocates for a ‘full-life’ understanding of wellbeing – a balance between the pursuit of feeling fulfilled and feeling good, facilitated by reflection and action. Conclusions: A holistic approach to the facilitation of wellbeing can enable nurses to identify what is important/matters to them, personally and professionally. Critical reflection on self, our relationships and the contexts in which we work can generate knowledge to inform actions towards experiencing subjective wellbeing in the workplace. Implications for practice: Creative approaches to self-inquiry can facilitate access to experiential and embodied knowledge, informing actions that facilitate wellbeing The Muchness Model Version 2: – can stimulate critical reflection and dialogue with self and others, helping identify factors that enable or limit muchness and potentially informing action at individual, team and organisational levels – offers a person-centred approach to the facilitation of wellbeing in nurses across the career trajectory and within leadership and culture-change programmes

Swahili translation and validation of the Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) in adolescents and adults taking part in the girls’ education challenge fund project in Tanzania

BackgroundThe Warwick Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale (WEMWBS) is validated for measuring mental wellbeing in populations aged 11 + and has been translated into 30 + languages. The aims of this study were a) to translate and validate WEMWBS for use in Swahili-speaking populations to facilitate measurement and understanding of wellbeing, evaluation of policy and practice, and enable international comparisons; and b) to examine sociodemographic characteristics associated with higher and lower mental wellbeing in participants in the Girls’ Education Challenge (GEC) project in Tanzania.MethodsA short questionnaire including WEMWBS and similar scales for comparison, socio-demographic information, and self-reported health was translated into Swahili using gold standard methodology. This questionnaire was used to collect data from secondary school students, learner guides, teacher mentors and teachers taking part in the GEC project in Tanzania. Focus groups were used to assess acceptability and comprehensibility of WEMWBS and conceptual understanding of mental wellbeing. These were audio-taped, transcribed and analysed thematically. Internal consistency of WEMWBS, correlation with comparator scales and confirmatory factor analysis were completed as quantitative validation. Finally, multivariable logistic regression was used to explore associations between individual characteristics and ‘high’ and ‘low’ mental wellbeing, defined as the highest and lowest quartile of WEMWBS scores.Results3052 students and 574 adults were recruited into the study. Participants reported that WEMWBS was understandable and relevant to their lives. Both WEMWBS and its short form met quantitative standards of reliability and validity, were correlated with comparator scales and met the criteria to determine a single factor structure. For students in the GEC supported government schools: mental wellbeing was higher in students in the final two ‘forms’ of school compared with the first two. In addition: being male, urban residence, the absence of markers of social marginality and better self-reported health were all significantly associated with better mental wellbeing. For adults, urban residence and better self-reported health were associated with better mental wellbeing.ConclusionsThe Swahili translation of WEMWBS is available for use. Further work to explore how to intervene to increase mental wellbeing in vulnerable GEC participants is needed.