Wellbeing

Distribution by Scientific Domains
Distribution within Medical Sciences

Kinds of Wellbeing

  • emotional wellbeing
  • patient wellbeing
  • psychological wellbeing


  • Selected Abstracts


    The association of alcohol dependence with general practice attendance

    DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, Issue 2 2009
    HEATHER PROUDFOOT
    Abstract Introduction and Aims. This study was designed to examine the relationship between alcohol dependence and general practitioner (GP) service attendance in Australia. Design and Methods. Data were analysed from the 1997 Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing. In this survey, a representative sample of the Australian population was interviewed to ascertain past 12 month psychiatric diagnoses for all major mental disorders as well as the use of primary and other health services (n = 10 641, 79% response rate). Results. People with alcohol dependence comorbid with other psychiatric disorders have higher rates of service usage than those without such disorders. Discussion and Conclusions. Alcohol dependence comorbid with mental disorders has a significant impact on GP service in Australia. High rates of service use by individuals with such comorbidities were a considerable burden for GP services.[Proudfoot H, Teesson M. The association of alcohol dependence with general practice attendance. Drug Alcohol Rev 2009] [source]


    Wellbeing and Education: Issues of Culture and Authority

    JOURNAL OF PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION, Issue 1 2007
    JOHN WHITE
    The idea that education should equip people to lead flourishing lives and help others to do so is now becoming salient in policy-making circles. Philosophy of education can help here by clarifying what flourishing consists in. This essay examines one aspect of this. It rejects the view that wellbeing goods are derivable from human nature, as in the theories of Howard Gardner and Edmond Holmes. It locates them, rather, as cultural products, but not culturally-relative ones, drawing attention to the proliferating forms they have taken over the past three or four centuries. It looks to aesthetics and art criticism as a guide to a philosophical treatment of wellbeing goods more generally. It also takes off from aesthetics and art criticism in seeking to identify reliable authorities on the flourishing life. On this, it rejects elitist conceptions in favour of a more democratic model, emphasising its importance in education for citizenship. [source]


    Mental Health and Wellbeing and Unemployment

    THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 2 2000
    Paul Flatau
    This article examines the relationship between mental health and wellbeing and unemployment utilising the 1995 National Health Survey (1995 NHS) and the 1997 National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing of Adults (1997 SMHWB) data sets. Three indicators of mental health and wellbeing are adopted. The first is a psychological wellbeing measure derived from responses to questions included in the 1995 NHS on time felt down, happy, peaceful, and nervous (the SF-36 mental health scale). The second indicator relates to diagnoses of mental disorders including substance use disorders, affective disorders and anxiety disorders. Our final indicator relates to suicidal thoughts and plans and (unsuccessful) suicide attempts. On the basis of these measures, unemployed persons exhibit poorer mental health and wellbeing outcomes than the full-time employed. [source]


    Youth Health and Welfare: The Cultural Politics of Education and Wellbeing

    AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 6 2009
    Article first published online: 8 DEC 200
    No abstract is available for this article. [source]


    Stopping petrol sniffing in remote Aboriginal Australia: key elements of the Mt Theo Program

    DRUG AND ALCOHOL REVIEW, Issue 3 2006
    KARISSA PREUSS Manager
    Abstract Petrol sniffing is a major form of substance misuse in Aboriginal communities across Australia. This practice has detrimental effects on the health and wellbeing of individual sniffers, their families, communities and wider society. There are few examples of programmes that have successfully stopped petrol sniffing. This paper looks at the Mt Theo Program, regularly cited as ,the success story' in petrol sniffing interventions. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate key elements that have contributed towards Mt Theo Program's rare achievement: (1) initially, a multi-faceted approach including an outstation and youth programme, (2) community-initiated, operated, owned basis of the organisation, which incorporates (3) strong partnership between Indigenous and non-Indigenous team members and (4) an ability to operate beyond crisis intervention. [source]


    Mechanisms of behavior change in alcoholics anonymous: does Alcoholics Anonymous lead to better alcohol use outcomes by reducing depression symptoms?

    ADDICTION, Issue 4 2010
    John F. Kelly
    ABSTRACT Rationale Indices of negative affect, such as depression, have been implicated in stress-induced pathways to alcohol relapse. Empirically supported continuing care resources, such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), emphasize reducing negative affect to reduce relapse risk, but little research has been conducted to examine putative affective mechanisms of AA's effects. Methods Using lagged, controlled, hierarchical linear modeling and mediational analyses this study investigated whether AA participation mobilized changes in depression symptoms and whether such changes explained subsequent reductions in alcohol use. Alcohol-dependent adults (n = 1706), receiving treatment as part of a clinical trial, were assessed at intake, 3, 6, 9, 12 and 15 months. Results Findings revealed elevated levels of depression compared to the general population, which decreased during treatment and then remained stable over follow-up. Greater AA attendance was associated with better subsequent alcohol use outcomes and decreased depression. Greater depression was associated with heavier and more frequent drinking. Lagged mediation analyses revealed that the effects of AA on alcohol use was mediated partially by reductions in depression symptoms. However, this salutary effect on depression itself appeared to be explained by AA's proximal effect on reducing concurrent drinking. Conclusions AA attendance was associated both concurrently and predictively with improved alcohol outcomes. Although AA attendance was associated additionally with subsequent improvements in depression, it did not predict such improvements over and above concurrent alcohol use. AA appears to lead both to improvements in alcohol use and psychological and emotional wellbeing which, in turn, may reinforce further abstinence and recovery-related change. [source]


    Ticket to trade: Belgian labour and globalization before 19141

    ECONOMIC HISTORY REVIEW, Issue 2 2008
    MICHAEL HUBERMAN
    Standard trade theory, as invoked by political scientists and economists, would anticipate that workers in Belgium, a small Old World country, rich in labour relative to land, were in a good position to benefit from the wave of globalization before 1914. However, wage increases remained modest and ,labour' moved slowly towards adopting a free-trade position. Beginning in 1885, the Belgian labour party backed free trade, but its support was conditional on more and better social legislation. Belgian workers' wellbeing improved in the wave of globalization, but the vehicle was labour and social legislation and not rising wages. [source]


    Is Volunteering Rewarding in Itself?

    ECONOMICA, Issue 297 2008
    STEPHAN MEIER
    Volunteering constitutes one of the most important pro-social activities. Following Aristotle, helping others is the way to higher individual wellbeing. This view contrasts with the selfish utility maximizer, who avoids helping others. The two rival views are studied empirically. We find robust evidence that volunteers are more satisfied with their life than non-volunteers. The issue of causality is studied from the basis of the collapse of East Germany and its infrastructure of volunteering. People who lost their opportunities for volunteering are compared with people who experienced no change in their volunteer status. [source]


    Consequences of chronic ketamine self-administration upon neurocognitive function and psychological wellbeing: a 1-year longitudinal study

    ADDICTION, Issue 1 2010
    Celia J. A. Morgan
    ABSTRACT Background ,Recreational' use of ketamine is spreading rapidly among young people. In healthy individuals an acute dose of the N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist ketamine induces marked psychosis-like effects and cognitive impairments, but little is known about the long-term effects of the drug. Aims To evaluate the long-term neuropsychiatric or cognitive consequences. Methods A total of 150 individuals were assessed, 30 in each of five groups: frequent ketamine users, infrequent ketamine users, abstinent users, polydrug controls and non-users of illicit drugs. Twelve months later, 80% of these individuals were re-tested. Results Cognitive deficits were mainly observed only in frequent users. In this group, increasing ketamine use over the year was correlated with decreasing performance on spatial working memory and pattern recognition memory tasks. Assessments of psychological wellbeing showed greater dissociative symptoms in frequent users and a dose,response effect on delusional symptoms, with frequent users scoring higher than infrequent, abstinent users and non-users, respectively. Both frequent and abstinent using groups showed increased depression scores over the 12 months. Conclusions These findings imply that heavy use of ketamine is harmful to aspects of both cognitive function and psychological wellbeing. Health education campaigns need to raise awareness among young people and clinicians about these negative consequences of ketamine use. [source]


    Ketamine use, cognition and psychological wellbeing: a comparison of frequent, infrequent and ex-users with polydrug and non-using controls

    ADDICTION, Issue 1 2009
    Celia J. A. Morgan
    ABSTRACT Introduction Preliminary research has indicated that recreational ketamine use may be associated with marked cognitive impairments and elevated psychopathological symptoms, although no study to date has determined how these are affected by differing frequencies of use or whether they are reversible on cessation of use. In this study we aimed to determine how variations in ketamine use and abstention from prior use affect neurocognitive function and psychological wellbeing. Method We assessed a total of 150 individuals: 30 frequent ketamine users, 30 infrequent ketamine users, 30 ex-ketamine users, 30 polydrug users and 30 controls who did not use illicit drugs. Cognitive tasks included spatial working memory, pattern recognition memory, the Stockings of Cambridge (a variant of the Tower of London task), simple vigilance and verbal and category fluency. Standardized questionnaires were used to assess psychological wellbeing. Hair analysis was used to verify group membership. Results Frequent ketamine users were impaired on spatial working memory, pattern recognition memory, Stockings of Cambridge and category fluency but exhibited preserved verbal fluency and prose recall. There were no differences in the performance of the infrequent ketamine users or ex-users compared to the other groups. Frequent users showed increased delusional, dissociative and schizotypal symptoms which were also evident to a lesser extent in infrequent and ex-users. Delusional symptoms correlated positively with the amount of ketamine used currently by the frequent users. Conclusions Frequent ketamine use is associated with impairments in working memory, episodic memory and aspects of executive function as well as reduced psychological wellbeing. ,Recreational' ketamine use does not appear to be associated with distinct cognitive impairments although increased levels of delusional and dissociative symptoms were observed. As no performance decrements were observed in the ex-ketamine users, it is possible that the cognitive impairments observed in the frequent ketamine group are reversible upon cessation of ketamine use, although delusional symptoms persist. [source]


    Patient-friendly hospital environments: exploring the patients' perspective

    HEALTH EXPECTATIONS, Issue 1 2004
    Calbert H. Douglas BSc MSc PhD
    Abstract Objective, To investigate the perceptions and attitudes of patients to the built environments of NHS Trust hospitals, in order to inform design excellence so as to make future hospitals places and spaces responsive to patient needs. Design, An exploratory study of patients perceptions based on qualitative semi-structured personal interviews. Setting and participants, Fifty one-to-one interviews held with hospital in-patients across the four directorates of surgery, medicine, care of the elderly and maternity at Salford Royal Hospitals NHS Trust, Salford, UK. Results, The research found that there was much similarity in the priorities, issues and concerns raised by patients in each of the four directorates. Patients perceived the built environment of the hospital as a supportive environment. Their accounts in each area pointed to the significance of the factors that immediately impacted on them and their families. Patients identified having a need for personal space, a homely welcoming atmosphere, a supportive environment, good physical design, access to external areas and provision of facilities for recreation and leisure. Responses suggest that patient attitudes and perceptions to the built environment of hospital facilities relates to whether the hospital provides a welcoming homely space for themselves and their visitors that promotes health and wellbeing. Conclusions, The findings have important implications for capital development teams, clinical staff, managers and NHS Estates personnel. Although the study has immediate relevance for Salford Royal Hospitals Trust, findings and recommendations reported provide NHS Estates and other relevant stakeholders with evidence-based knowledge and understanding of patients' perceptions and expectations of and preferences for particular facilities and estates provision in NHS hospitals. [source]


    The Northern Ireland Reminiscence Network: promoting social wellbeing by valuing memories

    HEALTH INFORMATION & LIBRARIES JOURNAL, Issue 2004
    Faith Gibson
    First page of article [source]


    Correction of facial lipoatrophy using autologous fat transplants in HIV-infected adolescents

    HIV MEDICINE, Issue 5 2009
    C Dollfus
    Objectives Antiretroviral therapy has dramatically improved the survival of HIV-infected children. Nevertheless, side effects comparable to those found in adults have been encountered, such as facial lipoatrophy, which can have a negative impact on the self-esteem of otherwise healthy adolescents. Cosmetic surgical procedures in adolescents raise psychological issues which need to be specifically addressed and which have never been previously reported in this population. We evaluated the patient satisfaction, safety and cosmetic results of HIV-infected adolescents who experienced autologous fat transplants for the correction of facial lipoatrophy. Methods We report the results of plastic surgery using autologous fat transplants (Coleman's LipostructureÔ) in six HIV-infected adolescents with facial lipoatrophy: three boys and three girls, aged 14,19 years. Results The quantity of reinjected fat on each side of the face varied from 5 to 12 mL within a single procedure. All the patients reported being satisfied or very satisfied with the cosmetic results and reported a positive impact on their daily life. Conclusions With well-trained surgeons and carefully selected indications, corrective surgery of facial lipoatrophy in HIV-infected adolescents can provide immediate and long-lasting benefits in terms of physical appearance and psychological wellbeing, and should be considered as a component of comprehensive care. [source]


    Employee wellbeing in call centres

    HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT JOURNAL, Issue 4 2002
    David Holman
    Call centres are often perceived to have a negative impact on employee wellbeing, mainly attributed to four factors: job design, performance monitoring, HR practices and team leader support. This article reports on a survey of 557 customer service representatives that examined the relationship of these factors to four measures of wellbeing: anxiety, depression and intrinsic and extrinsic job satisfaction. One distinctive feature of this article is its focus on anxiety and depression, two major dimensions of wellbeing not addressed in call centre research to date. Results demonstrated that the factors most highly associated with wellbeing were high control over work methods and procedures, a low level of monitoring and a supportive team leader. Evidence also indicates that the level of wellbeing in some call centres is similar to that in other comparable forms of work. [source]


    The Global Marketplace and the Privatisation of Security

    IDS BULLETIN, Issue 2 2009
    Jeffrey Isima
    The privatisation of security in the age of globalisation raises crucial concerns for global governance and development. Key among these are the impacts on the structures of poverty and inequality, and how these twin development issues shape global security privatisation. Equally important are the structural limits on public policy imposed by the promotion of the market as a powerful alternative mechanism for security provisioning. These concerns have become more urgent as the dominant neoliberal security governance paradigm has tended to avoid questions relating to poverty, social inequality and the dire condition of those who live on the margins of state protection. This calls for innovative policy changes for transforming security institutions and practices in a way that promotes security, not just for state officials and the wealthy, but most importantly, for the poor. This article attempts to explore these core development concerns in relation to the increasing outsourcing of security to non-state actors and how state actors, as leading agents of development, can protect and promote the wellbeing of vulnerable populations within the global market order. [source]


    Colonic sarcoidosis, infliximab, and tuberculosis: A cautionary tale

    INFLAMMATORY BOWEL DISEASES, Issue 4 2004
    Prof. Dario Sorrentino MD
    Abstract The antitumor necrosis factor, infliximab, has been recently shown to be effective in refractory sarcoidosis including the intestinal form of this disease. We have tried this therapy in a 55-year-old woman under immunosuppressive therapy for longstanding sarcoidosis presenting with abdominal pain apparently caused by a colonic localization of the disease. The latter diagnosis was based, as recommended, on the presence of nonnecrotizing granulomas in mucosal biopsies, the presence of systemic disease, and the careful exclusion of other granulomatous diseases, including tuberculosis. After the first IV infusion (10 mg/kg BW), she quickly improved, but the wellbeing lasted approximately 4 weeks. She then received another dose of infliximab, but she soon developed low-grade fever and weakness and shortly succumbed of miliary tuberculosis. Likely, infliximab precipitated a pre-existing mycobacterial infection of the intestine. Given the likelihood of underdiagnosing intestinal tuberculosis,and the risks associated with infliximab treatment,this case suggests that this drug should be used with extreme caution, if at all, when a diagnosis of colonic sarcoidosis is suspected. [source]


    Churches that enhance spirituality and wellbeing,

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF APPLIED PSYCHOANALYTIC STUDIES, Issue 2 2010
    Robert B. Ellsworth
    Abstract From examining thousands of surveys from 174 congregations, we earlier identified 29 aspects of ministry with strong links to spiritual and emotional wellbeing and increased the number of people coming (Ellsworth & Ellsworth, International Journal of Applied Psychoanalytic Studies, 6(1), 46,60, 2009). This paper explores what happened when church leaders strengthened these aspects. In examining over 12,000 surveys from 37 congregations that surveyed twice, we discovered that 20 of the 29 aspects had a major impact on changing more lives and attracting more people. This paper identifies and discusses the 20 ministry essentials that actually helped congregations experience higher levels of emotional wellbeing, spiritual growth, and/or attracted more people. We also explore the question; can congregant's emotional wellbeing impact people in the larger community? Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    Structure analysis of Antonovsky's sense of coherence from an epidemiological mental health survey with a brief nine-item sense of coherence scale

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF METHODS IN PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH, Issue 1 2007
    Olav Martin Klepp
    Abstract Antonovsky has proposed the sense of coherence (SOC) as a crucial factor that protects against symptoms of mental disease. A central issue in research on the SOC construct is whether this is most appropriately considered as one-dimensional or three-dimensional with comprehensibility (C), manageability (Ma) and meaningfulness (Me) as separate dimensions. In this paper we address this issue by means of confirmatory factor analysis of a shortened nine-item version of Antonovsky's original 29- and 13-items Sense of Coherence Scale (SOCS-29), using epidemiological data from a mental health survey of adults in local communities (N = 1,062). In addition to analysing the internal structure of the SOC items, we examine the association between estimated factor scores and variables expected to be statistically related to SOC. Goodness-of-fit indices were very good for the three-factor model but acceptable even for the one-factor model. In the three-factor model, however, the factors were found to be very highly or, with regard to Ma and C, even perfectly correlated. Moreover, the factor scores had very similar correlations with measures of psychological wellbeing, depression and anxiety and they are also very similarly related to age (and none of them are related to gender). We therefore conclude in favour of a one-factor model. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    The construct validity of the client questionnaire of the Wisconsin Quality of Life Index , a cross-validation study

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF METHODS IN PSYCHIATRIC RESEARCH, Issue 3 2003
    Jean Caron
    Abstract The Wisconsin Quality of Life Index (W-QLI, Becker, Diamond and Sainfort, 1993) consists of eight scales: satisfaction with life domains, occupational activities, symptoms, physical health, social relations/support, finances, psychological wellbeing, and activities of daily living. The W-QLI has been modified to fit the characteristics of the Canadian population, the universal Canadian health system, and community and social services in Canada and the modified form was named CaW-QLI (Diaz, Mercier, Hachey, Caron, and Boyer, 1999). This study will verify the empirical basis of these theoretical dimensions by applying a cross-validation procedure on two samples, most of whose subjects have a serious mental illness. Confirmatory factor analyses and exploratory factor analyses using the principal component extraction technique with varimax rotation were applied. With the exception of the occupational activities domain, the remaining scales were correctly identified by the factor analyses on each sample. The occupational activities scale should be developed by additional items for representing this scale, which is too brief, and two other items should be revised in order to improve the quality of the instrument. Copyright © 2003 Whurr Publishers Ltd. [source]


    Controlled and dependent: experiences of living on social assistance in Sweden

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 2 2010
    Anneli Marttila
    Marttila A, Whitehead M, Canvin K, Burström B. Controlled and dependent: experiences of living on social assistance in Sweden Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 142,151 © 2009 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This study explored experiences of people receiving social assistance in 21st-century Sweden, based on 33 in-depth interviews conducted in 2005 and 2006. Two overarching themes emerged from the accounts, encompassing both a material and a psychosocial dimension of living on social assistance. Recipients reported that social assistance was generally sufficient for their basic material needs but allowed for no extras. It was possible to live on social assistance for a short time, but became difficult in the longer term. Perceptions of powerlessness, hopelessness and dependency were common and had the most damaging consequences for the recipients' perceived wellbeing. Some recipients believed that society at large had negative perceptions of people living on social assistance; it was something to be ashamed of but, at the same time, it was the recipients' only possible source of income. Findings of this study are partly similar to previous studies conducted in Sweden, suggesting that improvement in services should take into account the experiences of social assistance recipients. [source]


    Laws and policies to support the wellbeing of children: an international comparative analysis

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 1 2010
    Emily J. Nicklett
    Nicklett EJ, Perron BE. Laws and policies to support the wellbeing of children: an international comparative analysis Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 3,7 © 2009 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. The international community has raised concerns regarding the extent to which countries have implemented laws and policies to support the rights and wellbeing of children. This study evaluates the progress of least-developed countries (LDCs) and middle-income countries (MICs) in developing such legislation. Surveys were sent to 131 UNICEF country offices. Items included efforts to promote family preservation and family ties, family-based care over institutionalization, and child participation in placement decisions. A total of 68 surveys were returned, reflecting a 52 percent response rate (LDC, n= 25; MIC, n= 43). Legislation that addressed abuse and neglect of children, maternity leave, removal of children from the family, family care, adoption, and guardianship was widespread. Chi-square tests indicated that MICs had a substantially higher number of laws and policies related to child allowances, school feeding programs, maternity leave, and day care. [source]


    Poverty and deprivation among children in Eastern Europe and Central Asia

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 3 2009
    Leonardo Menchini
    Although there is now a large body of literature on poverty in the countries of Eastern Europe and Central Asia, there remains a dearth of comparative analysis of child poverty and wellbeing. This article uses household survey microdata for the period 2001,2003 to compare absolute poverty, relative poverty, material deprivation and participation in schooling among children in five countries: Albania, Bulgaria, Moldova, Russia and Tajikistan. The analysis shows that low absolute levels of household consumption are associated with other deprivation indicators and with children's participation in schooling. The article also highlights the usefulness of relative poverty measures that effectively identify children at risk of exclusion in even the poorest countries in the region. The article concludes by arguing that household consumption is a good indicator of child poverty and deprivation in the region, and that relative poverty measures should be more widely used in monitoring global targets for poverty reduction. [source]


    Social capital and children's wellbeing: a critical synthesis of the international social capital literature

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 1 2006
    Kristin M. FergusonArticle first published online: 13 JAN 200
    Drawing on social capital literature from the international realm, this article presents a critical synthesis of this social resource in relation to children's and youth's wellbeing. Although considerable evidence indicates that social capital can have a positive impact on future outcomes for children and youth, no prior comprehensive review exists of the literature on social capital and children's wellbeing. Adopting the systematic review method (SR), the author explores how social capital has been conceptualised and operationalised as an explanatory variable in research on individual and collective wellbeing with children and youth. Oft-cited indicators of family social capital and community social capital are identified, together with common control variables, such as human and financial capital. The author concludes by examining several social capital trends in relation to children's wellbeing and offering recommendations for future research using a social capital theoretical framework to explore additional outcomes related to children's and youth's wellbeing. [source]


    The perceived effects of holiday-taking upon the health and wellbeing of patients treated for cancer

    INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF TOURISM RESEARCH, Issue 3 2003
    Philippa Hunter-Jones
    Abstract The role that holidays play within health and wellbeing has been addressed infrequently within academic research. Much of the work that does exist has tended to focus upon illnesses or health complaints arising as a consequence of travel. Any beneficial health effects of travel largely have been neglected. This paper reports the empirical findings of a qualitative study conducted to determine the perceived effects of holiday-taking upon the health and wellbeing of a group of cancer patients, a population ignored by the tourism community. Four perceived effects are identified relating to personal health, social effectiveness, personal identity and regaining independence, and the implications of these findings discussed. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]


    The new Quest for Healing: when Therapy and Spirituality Intermingle,

    INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF MISSION, Issue 380-381 2007
    Bernard Ugeux
    For some decades one has noted an increased interest in spirituality outside the traditional religions of the West, viz. the three monotheisms. New spiritual quests often develop on the fringes of the churches, and sometimes even as a reaction to the churches' vision of what it means to be human. In this regard, those interested in spirituality often see their spiritual search as something linked to a general care for wellbeing or health, and reproach Christianity for being too disembodied. The association of the spiritual with the therapeutical leads to a certain permeability between the spiritual and therapeutical in terms of the claims each makes. It also leads to the creation of new alternative proposals. This porousness runs the risk of bringing confusion to everything, and using the spiritual and religious to serve therapeutic needs. However, the way in which the claims of the spiritual and therapeutical realms evolve presents a challenge to Christianity. This can be put in terms of, ,What place does Christianity attribute to the body, affectivity, pleasure, and legitimate personal development?' Some individuals and groups in the Christian churches, rather than trying to justify existing approaches, propose more "incarnated" ones that will respond to the new audience in a Christian way. From a theological, pastoral and missiological viewpoint, Christian communities are thus intended to become communities of healing and reconciliation, although not at any price. If Christian spirituality also has to favour the empowering and development of a person , for Christ has assumed everything of humanity, except sin , one should not reduce salvation to healing or ignore the paschal mystery as a way of avoiding the element of pain that this mystery contains. In short, Christianity is invited to do a work of inculturation that not only keeps in mind contemporary developments but also is accompanied by an authentic interdisciplinary discernment. [source]


    Agricultural Land, Gender and Kinship in Rural China and Vietnam: A Comparison of Two Villages

    JOURNAL OF AGRARIAN CHANGE, Issue 2 2009
    DANIÈLE BÉLANGER
    This study examines the impact of current land policies in China and Vietnam on women's entitlement to land, women's wellbeing and gender power relations. The ethnographic study of one village in each of the two countries contextualizes women's lives in the kinship and marriage system in which power and gender relations are embedded. Current land policies, when implemented in the existing kinship and marriage system, make women's entitlement to land more vulnerable than men's, limit women's choices and weaken their power position. Variations in kinship rules in the two countries lead to different outcomes. In the Chinese village the dominance of patrilocal marriage and exogamous marriages limits women's access to land, whereas in the Vietnamese village the rigid concentration of inheritance to males puts women in a difficult position. The comparison between communities of rural China and Vietnam reveals the importance of considering gender and kinship when studying the implementation and impact of land policies. [source]


    Why ,Health' is not a Central Category for Public Health Policy

    JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHILOSOPHY, Issue 2 2009
    STEPHEN JOHN
    abstract We normally think that public health policy is an important political activity. In turn, we normally understand the value of public health policy in terms of the promotion of health or some health-related good (such as opportunity for health), on the basis of the assumption that health is an important constituent or determinant of wellbeing. In this paper, I argue that the assumption that the value of public health policy should be understood in terms of health leads us to overlook important benefits generated by such policy. To capture these benefits we need to understand the ends of public health policy in terms of the promotion of ,physical safety'. I then go on to argue that the idea that ,health' is an important category for evaluating or estimating individuals' wellbeing in the normative context of social policy is confused. I then clarify the relationship between my arguments and QALY-based accounts of health assessment. In the final section of the paper, I defend this surprising conclusion against various attacks. [source]


    Equality, Justice, and Paternalism: Recentreing Debate about Physician-Assisted Suicide

    JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHILOSOPHY, Issue 4 2006
    ANDREW SNEDDON
    abstract Debate about physician-assisted suicide has typically focused on the values of autonomy and patient wellbeing. This is understandable, even reasonable, given the import-ance of these values in bioethics. However, these are not the only moral values there are. The purpose of this paper is to examine physician-assisted suicide on the basis of the values of equality and justice. In particular, I will evaluate two arguments that invoke equality, one in favour of physician-assisted suicide, one against it, and I will eventually argue that a convincing equality-based argument in support of physician-assisted suicide is available. I will conclude by showing how an equality-based perspective transforms some secondary features of debate about this issue. [source]


    Rapid saliva processing techniques for near real-time analysis of salivary steroids and protein

    JOURNAL OF CLINICAL LABORATORY ANALYSIS, Issue 6 2008
    Kelly R. Atkinson
    Abstract Introduction: Point-of-care (POC) measurements using saliva samples have immense potential to assess systemic health and wellbeing, but sample viscosity and contaminants can affect analyses. We sought a portable clean-up method for whole saliva appropriate for use with POC measurement techniques such as biosensors. Methods: Whole saliva from each of 13 male subjects was split into 5 fractions. Each fraction was treated with a different clean-up process: a freeze,thaw,centrifuge (FTC) step; centrifugation alone; or passage through a Mini-UniPrep polyethersulfone filter, cotton Salivette®, or foam Oracol device. Following clean-up, each subject's treated saliva fractions were assayed for cortisol, testosterone, dehydroepiandrosterone (DHEA), and proteinconcentrations. The effects of clean-upmethods on nonspecific binding (NSB) in a biosensor were also assessed. Results: Compared with FTC, no analytes were affected by centrifugation alone. Cotton Salivettes significantly altered all analytes, with increases in cortisol (+64%), testosterone (+126%), and DHEA (off-scale) levels, and decreased protein (,21%) and biosensor NSB (,75%). Oracol foam devices decreased DHEA levels by 28%. Mini-UniPrep filtration decreased testosterone (,45%) and DHEA (,66%) concentrations while increasing cortisol (+40%). Conclusion: No method was optimal for all analytes, highlighting the need for validation of saliva treatment methods before their adoption in rapid POC analyses. J. Clin. Lab. Anal. 22:395,402, 2008. © 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]


    Division of domestic work and psychological distress 1 year after childbirth: a comparison between France, Quebec and Italy,

    JOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2002
    Catherine des Rivières-Pigeon
    Abstract Background. The participation of men in domestic work should have a positive impact on the wellbeing and mental health of women who are mothers of young children. However, cultural factors, which largely determine the expectations and desires of men and women, are likely to modify this impact. The purpose of this study was to explore differences between countries in the division of child care and housework between couples 1 year after childbirth, and to look at possible differences in the relationship between this division and the psychological health of new mothers. Methods. Similar studies were carried out in three countries: France, Italy and Canada (province of Quebec), making it possible to compare the situation of 1598 women. Results. The results revealed major differences between countries in the division of domestic work. For nearly all the child care and housework tasks studied, answers indicating an unequal division were more frequent in Italy than in France, and more frequent in France than in Quebec. Despite these differences, we found very similar pattern of associations, in the three countries, between the division of domestic work and the mental health of women. An unequal division of child care was linked with psychological distress, but this association was not found for the division of housework. Conclusion. These results raise questions concerning the mechanisms by which the division of domestic work affects the psychological health of new mothers. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]