Addressing Religion and Spirituality in Psychotherapy: Clients\u27 Perspectives

Twelve adult clients described the role of religion and spirituality in their lives and in therapy as a whole, as well as their specific experiences of discussing religious-spiritual topics in individual outpatient psychotherapy with nonreligiously affiliated therapists. Data were analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research (CQR; Hill, Thompson, & Williams, 1997). Results indicated that clients were regularly involved in religious-spiritual activities, usually did not know the religious-spiritual orientation of their therapists, but often found them open to such discussions. Specific helpful discussions of religion-spirituality were often begun by clients in the 1st year of therapy, were related to clients\u27 presenting concerns, were facilitated by therapists\u27 openness, and yielded positive effects. Specific unhelpful discussions were raised equally by clients and therapists early in therapy, made clients feel judged, and evoked negative effects. Implications for practice and research are addressed

Understanding Why Older Adults With Type 2 Diabetes Join Diabetes Online Communities: Semantic Network Analyses.

BackgroundAs individuals age, chronic health difficulties may disrupt physical and social well-being. Individuals can turn to online communities to interact with similar peers, which may help buffer negative effects resulting from health difficulties.ObjectiveThis study investigated the reasons that older adults join a diabetes online community to better understand the specific resources that are being sought.MethodsWe used semantic network analyses to categorize the reasons participants provided for joining a community during the sign-up process.ResultsThe most frequent reasons for joining were to seek information about their health condition, to help with self-management of health difficulties, for feelings of informational and social support, and for having a community with whom to share. Women were more likely to go online for sharing and companionship as well as for information and social support reasons, whereas men were more likely to go online for general information and self-management reasons.ConclusionsThis study shows the reasons older adults seek to join a diabetes online community: for increased information and support regarding chronic health difficulties. Practitioners may want to consider ways to promote access to online communities among their older patients as a source of health information and a resource to provide a sense of community

Christian communication in the twenty-first century: patterns and principles relative to the effective use of internet-based communications

https://place.asburyseminary.edu/ecommonsatsdissertations/1445/thumbnail.jp

The Influence of External Factors in the Overrepresentation of African American Males in Minnesota Special Education Programs

Nationally African American males are disproportionately represented in special education programs. The city of Minneapolis closely mirrors the national trend in this regard. According to the Minneapolis Board of Education black males represent 40 percent of the enrollees in the learning disability, and educational behavior disorder classrooms, even though they are only 21 percent of the total school population. Research in this area is important because if black males are inappropriately assessed for special education placements, it may lead to the following: 1) academic and social segregation from their mainstream peers; 2) inappropriate labeling and education of African American males; and the perpetuation of life choice inequality and limitation of vocational opportunity. In order to assess the perceived causes and possible solutions to this concern interviews were conducted involving educational professionals, social workers, and parents who are/were involved with the Minnesota public school system. A guided interview format was used and the themes investigated were the perceptions of the influences of race, parenting, teacher expectation, and gender on the referrals of African American males to special education. The participants share their evaluations of the current system, and suggestions for future improvements. The findings of the literature review and the qualitative research revealed the following: 1) In most instances once African American boys are labeled EBD they are placed in a closed and segregated system until they drop-out or graduate, 2) There are more factors involved in labeling an African American boy EBD besides his observable behaviors 3) African American parents and teachers often have behaviors that place black boys at risk for special education placement

Exploring Neonatal Intensive Care Nurses’ Affective Responses to Providing End-of-Life Care

Significance. The Joint Commission established standards to evaluate comprehensive end-of-life infant care and the positive outcomes of such care are well documented. However, findings from multiple studies conducted over the last decade indicate that end-of-life care in the neonatal intensive care unit is not provided consistently or holistically to all dying infants. Because nurses are the healthcare professionals most often responsible for providing this care, anything that detracts from their ability to provide it, including their own affective responses, needs to be addressed. Aim. The purpose of this study was to explore—through lived and told stories—the affective, interactional, and meaning-related responses that NICU nurses have while caring for dying infants and their families. Sample, Design, and Methods. Neonatal intensive care nurses were recruited through the online membership discussion boards of the National Association of Neonatal Nurses. Participants were asked to access an online survey link and provide a written narrative describing an end-of-life care situation in which they experienced strong emotions. Demographic data also were collected. Findings. Narrative analysis revealed many affective responses, but three were the most frequent: responsibility, moral distress, and identification. Feelings of responsibility included (a) a commitment to deliver the best end-of-life care possible, (b) professional inadequacy, (c) disbelief, and d) advocacy. Feelings associated with moral distress were quite common and often related to conflicts between nurses, physicians, and families. Nurses reported feelings of identification with families of dying infants through (a) sharing their grief, (b) forming excess attachments, and (c) experiencing survivor-like guilt. Implications. Nurse educators are encouraged to discuss more extensively and perhaps through the use of simulation, the positive and negative emotions that may be experienced by nurses who are involved in end-of-life care situations. Nurse leaders are encouraged to promote supportive environments in NICUs and ensure debriefing opportunities for nurses who have recently cared for a dying infant. Significant associations, such as NICU nurses not perceiving their EOLC education as being helpful in providing that care clinically and the percentage of NICU nurses reporting the presence of an end-of-life care policy in their units of employment, also merit further examination

Climatology and atmospheric chemistry of the non-methane hydrocarbons ethane and propane over the North Atlantic

A record spanning ten years of non-methane hydrocarbon (NMHC) data from the Pico Mountain Observatory (PMO), Pico Island, Azores, Portugal, was analyzed for seasonal NMHC behavior, atmospheric processing, and trends, focusing on ethane and propane. The location of this site in the central North Atlantic, at an elevation of 2225 m asl, allows these data to be used to investigate the background conditions and pollution transport events occurring in the lower free North Atlantic troposphere. The quantity ln([propane]/[ethane]) was used as an indicator of both photochemical processing and a marker for the occurrence of pollution transport events detected at the station. The Pico data were compared with three other continuous NMHC data sets from sites bordering the North Atlantic, i.e. the Global Atmospheric Watch (GAW) stations at Summit, Greenland, Hohenpeisssenberg, Germany, and Cape Verde, using ln([propane]/[ethane]) results as an indicator for the degree of photochemical processing (aging) seen in the data. Comparisons of these three data sets showed some significant differences in the seasonal background and range of observed values. The statistical distribution of binned monthly data was determined, and individual sample events were then scaled to the monthly median observed value. Back trajectories, determined by the HYSPLIT model were used to investigate the geographic origin of the observed trace gases as a function of the degree of photochemical processing. Results show that PMO samples have been subjected to a diversity of air transport and aging, from highly processed air to freshly emitted air throughout the year, and in particular during summer months. The predominant air transport is from North America, with only occasional influence from continental areas located east and southeast (Europe and Africa). The available record was found to be too variable and still too short to allow deciphering NMHC trends from the data. Ethane and propane measurements at the PMO were compared with the MOZART-4 atmospheric chemistry and transport model at the appropriate time and location. The model was found to yield good agreement in the description of the lower range of atmospheric mole fractions observed, of the seasonal cycle, and the regional oxidation chemistry. However, ethane and propane enhancements in transport events were underestimated, indicating that after the 3 days of synoptic transport to PMO the spatial extent of plumes frequently is smaller than the 2.8x2.8 (300 km) model grid resolution

Association of Cumulative Lead Exposure with Parkinson’s Disease

Background: Research using reconstructed exposure histories has suggested an association between heavy metal exposures, including lead, and Parkinson’s disease (PD), but the only study that used bone lead, a biomarker of cumulative lead exposure, found a nonsignificant increase in risk of PD with increasing bone lead. Objectives: We sought to assess the association between bone lead and PD. Methods: Bone lead concentrations were measured using 109Cd excited K-shell X-ray fluorescence from 330 PD patients (216 men, 114 women) and 308 controls (172 men, 136 women) recruited from four clinics for movement disorders and general-community cohorts. Adjusted odds ratios (ORs) for PD were calculated using logistic regression. Results: The average age of cases and controls at bone lead measurement was 67 (SD = 10) and 69 (SD = 9) years of age, respectively. In primary analyses of cases and controls recruited from the same groups, compared with the lowest quartile of tibia lead, the OR for PD in the highest quartile was 3.21 [95% confidence interval (CI), 1.17–8.83]. Results were similar but slightly weaker in analyses restricted to cases and controls recruited from the movement disorders clinics only (fourth-quartile OR = 2.57; 95% CI, 1.11–5.93) or when we included controls recruited from sites that did not also contribute cases (fourth-quartile OR = 1.91; 95% CI, 1.01–3.60). We found no association with patella bone lead. Conclusions: These findings, using an objective biological marker of cumulative lead exposure among typical PD patients seen in our movement disorders clinics, strengthen the evidence that cumulative exposure to lead increases the risk of PD

From the floodplain to the woodland (and back): baboon movement in the highly seasonal and heterogeneous ecosystem of Gorongosa National Park

Movement ecology, or the study of how organisms move within their environments, has long been studied in multiple taxa, including primates. Within primates, the wide-ranging, terrestrial, group-living baboon has been studied both for insight into the primate clade, as well as a proxy for early hominins, with their behaviour and decisions presumed analogous to those of our human ancestors. Previous studies on these baboons have established the role of topographic mental maps, group decision making, habitat structure, and episodic memory on the movement ecology. However, Papio clade is made up of multiple species and subspecies across sub-Saharan Africa, inhabiting a diverse range of ecosystems and environments, and shows a wide range of behavioural plasticity. Here, I study how baboons inhabiting a low predator-density, high baboon-density, highly seasonal area compare in their movement decisions between adjacent but structurally different habitats, and to other study sites. Focusing on GPS collar data from four monkeys from two baboon troops in Gorongosa National Park, Mozambique, I answer questions of where, how, and why these baboons move through their environments. I compare baboons ranging in a stable, densely wooded area to baboons in the low-density, seasonally inundated alluvial floodplain, and compare their movements across the year from the rainless dry season, through the flooded wet season and back into the beginning of the next dry season. I begin by establishing the ranging data of the baboons, and use machine learning to group each home range into basic habitat types. I use step-selection analysis to determine predictors of movement and habitat choice amongst both troops, and find that they vary not only between seasons and troops, but also between monkeys within the same troop; however, all monkeys’ movements are predicted by the angle to their sleep site in all seasons. I then use hierarchical clustering to establish the location of resources used by each baboon, and apply the Travelling Salesperson Problem to the movement paths between resources, showing that the baboons perform better than the nearest neighbour route, and on occasion use the optimal route. Next, I examine the use of sleep sites relative to these resources, and find that the baboons prefer to sleep in the centre of their home ranges, and reuse sleep sites throughout the year, including sites that are periodically inaccessible due to flooding. I further find that the baboons use sleep sites closer to their last resource of the day, rather than the first resource. Finally, I apply nearest neighbour analysis to the baboon GPS tracks, and identify reused routes within the home ranges. I find that while these routes are used throughout the year, routes in areas vacated during seasonal changes are not reused within the study period, providing inconclusive results on the baboons’ long-term memory. Overall, I present the first study of the drivers and mechanisms of movement behaviour in Gorongosa baboons, showing how they compare to other long-term study sites and helping to further disentangle the role environment plays in movement decisions.