Side-by-Side on Stage - Music and Drama Form a Bridge between Acting Students and People with Dementia in an Intergenerational Group Work

ABSTRACT

This article presents an intergenerational music and drama therapy groups comprised of twelve people with dementia residing in a nursing home and twelve acting students from the community.

The qualitative research aimed to explore the students’ attitudes towards elderly people, and to understand the role of creative arts therapies in facilitating intergenerational relationships. Qualitative content analysis of students’ weekly reports and questionnaires revealed the gradual process of connection between the students and people with dementia. Engaging in a creative act helped the students to discover the strengths and abilities of people with dementia and to see beyond the disease.     

Predicting Maternal Resolution of Preterm Birth at One Month Corrected Age

Early maternal resolution with preterm birth was assessed at one month corrected age (CA), and potential maternal and infant characteristics that may be associated with early resolution were examined. Fifty‐five mothers of preterm infants (≤34 weeks) participated. Data regarding pregnancy, prenatal risk, delivery, infant's medical risk, maternal well‐being status, and infant's early developmental status were collected. Resolution was examined using the Reaction to Diagnosis Interview (RDI). A total of 38.2% of the mothers were classified as resolved. Only completion of antenatal corticosteroids (ACS) treatment and high prenatal risk significantly predicted maternal resolution. Early maternal resolution of preterm birth is associated with early knowledge regarding the preterm birth.     

The Structure of Mental Health: Higher-Order Confirmatory Factor Analyses of Psychological Distress and Well-Being Measures

Social Indicators Research - This paper addresses the question of whether psychological distress and subjective well-being are the opposite poles of the same axis of mental health or independent...     

Social Workers’ Conflict of Loyalty in the Context of Social Activism: The Case of the 2011 Social Protests in Israel

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study examined the experiences of social workers who participated in the 2011 Israeli social protests. Data were collected through 1 focus group interview. The sample included 11 social workers employed in 11 social welfare departments throughout the country. Findings highlight the complexities and dilemmas experienced by social workers who protested against the system that employs them. Research findings contribute to the discourse regarding the conflict of loyalty experienced by public social workers engaged in social activism that targets the system that employs them.     

Level of physical activity and anthropometric characteristics in old age—results from a national health survey

Advanced age is associated with degenerative changes in body composition. There is evidence suggesting that changes may vary upon differences in lifestyle, environment, or gender. Physical activity engagement is considered an important component of lifestyle definition. There are suggestions that engaging in physical activity might alleviate degenerative body compositional changes. The objective is to assess the relationship between adherence to recommended guidelines of physical activity and anthropometric parameters in Israeli older adults. Anthropometric measures, including height, weight, and waist circumference, were taken, and BMI was calculated, from a random sample of 1,663 elderly adults (799 men and 864 women), aged 74.31 (±6.05) years old. Participants reported their physical activity habits and, based on official guidelines recommendations, they were divided into sufficiently active, insufficiently active, and inactive groups. One-way ANOVA (level of physical activity) for both genders was conducted for each anthropometric variable. In both genders, an association between level of physical activity and weight, waist circumference, and BMI was found, with lower values among the sufficiently active. In addition, a relationship between level of physical activity and height was indicated among women, implying that the more active women were taller than the less active. In addition to the already known health benefits of physical activity in old age, it is possible that adherence to recommended guidelines of physical activity is associated with favorable anthropometric characteristics.     

Paying for Sex While Traveling As Tourists: The Experiences of Israeli Men

This qualitative study explored the experiences of 15 Israeli men who paid for sex while traveling as tourists abroad, based on in-depth, semistructured interviews with them. The findings focus on three major aspects of the participants’ experiences: the meaning of sex for them and their reasons for wanting to pay for it; the problems involved in paying for sex; and paying for sex while traveling abroad as a preferable option to paying for sex in Israel. The discussion offers sociological and psychological intersubjective explanations for the men’s preference to pay for sex as tourists overseas.     

Mainland Chinese Adolescents' Judgments and Reasoning about Self-determination and Nurturance Rights

Younger (13 years) and older (17 years) adolescents (N  =  160) from urban and rural China responded to written scenarios in which children's rights to self-determination and nurturance conflicted with the desires of authorities. They also evaluated scenarios in which children's desire to exercise self-determination was in conflict with their own welfare interests (nurturance). Older participants and those from urban settings were more likely than younger participants and those from rural settings to endorse self-determination, both when in conflict with authority and nurturance. When supporting self-determination, participants appealed to individual rights, autonomy, and personal choice in their justifications. The findings indicate that concepts of diverse types of rights are maintained by adolescents from both modern and traditional settings in China.     

The supportive community: a new concept for enhancing the quality of life of elderly living in the community

This study examines supportive community programs in Israel, which aim to improve the quality of life of the elderly. These innovative programs pool existing resources to provide a benefits package that includes medical services, an emergency call switchboard, a "neighborhood facilitator," and social activities. Data were collected in 2000-2001 using qualitative and quantitative methods. The program provides specific services to meet needs that otherwise are not adequately addressed. The major contributions of the program reported by the members was increasing their personal security (two-thirds), easing the burden on their children (one-third), and enabling them to remain at home (one-quarter). The supportive community program enriches the variety of services available, thus providing the elderly with the choice of staying within their familiar surroundings of their homes and neighborhoods. This model appears to be both a cost-effective way to facilitate aging in place and a way to meet many of the elderly's essential needs, thereby maintaining their quality of life.     

Between the maternal and the professional: the impact of being a child welfare officer on motherhood

Child welfare officers experience stress from exposure to child neglect and abuse and the burden of responsibility for children's well‐being. This qualitative study addresses the question: How do social workers who are child welfare officers perceive and cope with the influence of their professional occupation on their relationships with their own children? The research is based on in‐depth interviews with a purposive sample of 10 child welfare workers who are mothers (of 2–4 children aged 2–23 years). The data analysis illustrates how the professional identity and the maternal identity of the child welfare officer fluctuate between two positions. The first is ‘anxious motherhood’ in which anxiety is the prism through which the welfare officer views the world as dangerous for her children, stimulating protective, control‐enhancing actions. The second position is reflective motherhood in which the welfare worker struggles with her own stresses and conflicts as a mother and searches for an experience of meaningful, positive motherhood. The findings reinforce the need to raise the consciousness of child welfare officers regarding the impact of encountering distress and trauma on their own well‐being as parents. In this way, they can prevent secondary traumatization and enhance professional and maternal growth.