Fan the Flames: Encouraging Local Expressions of Christian Worship in a La Paz Church Community

When the members of a church in La Paz participated in a songwriting and arranging workshop, along with corresponding research into perspectives on local music used in worship, the results were mixed. An analysis of the songs used in the church’s worship shows a predominance of imported, predominantly Western or Western-styled songs. Similarly, observations of worship events in the church do not incorporate any local rhythms or instruments, even though there are musicians in the church who are skilled in Bolivian styles of music. While there is an interest by musicians and leadership in the church for locally written worship songs, many members in the church relate local styles of Bolivian music to activities and lifestyles that are considered “sinful.” Some also see imported worship music as more worshipful, because it does not have the social lifestyle and indigenous associations. The songwriting and arranging workshop, which took place over several days, demonstrated a few things. First, it showed that there is little to no interest in arranging existing worship songs in local Bolivian styles of music, or with local instruments. Second, there needed to be more thorough and lengthy instruction for the entire congregation on the theology of worship and how it can be applied to cultural music expressions, without the association of the music being considered “sinful.” Finally, the participants in the songwriting workshop needed to be instructed on the characteristics own local music styles, as well as time to explore those styles in their worship songwriting. Even though one of the songs written was in the tinku rhythm and was performed using local instruments, such as the charango and zampoña, a combination of the workshop results, surveys, and interviews suggest that the issue of incorporating local music styles into this church in La Paz is complex and requires continued research and conversations with local church members. An analysis of worship observations, a survey, interviews, and the results of the songwriting workshops indicates that while some leaders and congregation members have a desire to see local music incorporated into their church worship, there is also a hesitancy by others to do so because Bolivian music is perceived to be less worshipful than imported worship songs. Ultimately, this project demonstrates a need for further encouragement and equipping for locally composed songs in Bolivia, as a demonstration of God’s love not only for the world in general, but specifically for Bolivians

Emergence of Orderliness in Mind: A Probabilistic Causal Approach

The current study concentrates to figure out how orderliness emerges possibly in the\ud mind. A research emulation with random data was usable for generation of the hypothesis. The\ud resulted hypothesis assumed that in a novel situation, quality of a stimulus evokes what kinds of\ud flip-flop dynamic persons generate, and the flip-flop dynamic results in what kind of overt\ud orderliness the persons produce. The variables between were the imaginary word, the concrete\ud word, and the abstract word; planning, organizing, and arranging; the sentence without a regular\ud arrangement, the deficient sentence, and the proper sentence. Structured observation was the\ud method to obtain data. The number of the participants was 100 (53 men, 47 women). Matrix\ud calculus was applicable to research causation with probabilities. Reliability was assed with\ud Cronbach’s α-coefficient, and validity with χ2-test. The hypothesis corroborated, and the causal\ud flip-flop dynamic referred to the direction that the same causal system dynamic deals with\ud dissimilar referents in the mind, and results in different outputs. The essential result of the\ud research was the causal flip-flop where after the inputs the process causes the process, and back\ud again to the modified absorption before the outputs

Using Parks to Facilitate Health and Communication among the Elderly: A Case Study on Irifune Park in Yokohama City and Its Health-care Equipments

With the declining birthrate and growing population of the elderly in Japan, the function of the parks in residential districts has been changing from playgrounds for children to places where the elderly exercise and communicate. Equipment intended for the elderly has also been increasing in parks together with equipment for children. The authors observed visitors to Irifune Park in Yokohama, where 15 kinds of health-care equipment are installed, and analyzed how the elderly spent their leisure time there. We also conducted two types of questionnaire surveys asking elderly park-users detailed questions about how they use the park, and especially how they use the health-care equipment. Our observation and the questionnaire surveys revealed the following:1)The elderly come to the park even on hot summer days. About 80 percent of them are men. Almost half of them come every day and they stay there for approximately one hour. Coming to the park is part of their daily schedule.2)Their main purpose for coming to the park is to exercise, and half of them enjoy communicating with others. The ideal park for the elderly is "a large park equipped with all kinds of facilities."3)The elderly want three things from equipment in parks; to be able to exercise, to communicate with others and that it is safe. Ninety percent of the elderly think health-care equipment is necessary. 4)The elderly like health-care equipment which allows them to sit better than types where they must stand because the former can be used with less physical strength. And in most cases they use the equipment solo rather than with others.5)Among the elderly who answered that they do not exercise using the equipments in the park, more than 60 percent answered that they do not use them because they do not understand how to handle them. Considering that the elderly want health, communication and relaxation, Irifune Park possesses elements which should satisfy elderly users: the promenade for walking, health-care equipment for exercise and communication, benches for relaxation and communication, and abundant nature for relaxation. When the equipment is arranged in such a way as to facilitate better communication-arranging them in circles, for example-or when the directions have been made clear enough that everyone can understand how to use the equipment, the park will be an even more attractive and comfortable place for the elderly

Supported accommodation evaluation framework (SAEF) guide

High hopes for the NDIS are that people with disability will be able to live as independently as they choose, with the housing of their choice, and with the paid support that suits their preferences and life goals. Research conducted by the Social Policy Research Centre for the NSW government about disability housing support that is like the NDIS found that most people did achieve some positive outcomes. Least change was evident in people’s interpersonal relationships and employment, and some people did not live in housing that met their needs.&nbsp

Living apart together: uncoupling intimacy and co-residence

Over a fifth of those normally classified as “single” are actually in a relationship but not living with their partner – which is 9% of adults in Britain. This sizeable minority has only recently been recognized by social researchers, even though people have long been having relationships without moving in together. In the context of increasing attention to the diversity of ways in which people live and love outside the conventional family, understanding “living apart together” (LAT) relationships is vital for policy-makers, practitioners and researchers who are concerned with couples, families, and individual well-being today. This briefing paper presents the findings of the most comprehensive study of living apart together in Britain to date

Calls to a home birth helpline: empowerment in childbirth

In the UK a woman has the right to decide to give birth at home, irrespective of whether she is expecting her first or a subsequent child and of any perceived ‘risk’ factors. However, the rate of home births in the UK is very low (around 2%), varies widely across the country and many women do not know how to arrange midwifery cover. The Home Birth helpline is a UK-based voluntary organisation offering support and information for women planning a home birth. In order to gain direct access to the issues that are of concern to women when planning a home birth, 80 calls to the helpline were recorded. The aims of this paper are to document the problems that callers to this helpline report having when trying to arrange home births and to explore the strategies the call-taker uses in helping women to exercise their right to birth at home. The paper concludes that women are not easily able to exercise their right to choose the place of birth and suggests a number of recommendations for action

Cancer symptom awareness and barriers to symptomatic presentation in England – Are we clear on cancer?

Background: Low cancer awareness may contribute to delayed diagnosis and poor cancer survival. We aimed to quantify socio-demographic differences in cancer symptom awareness and barriers to symptomatic presentation in the English population. Methods: Using a uniquely large data set (n=49?270), we examined the association of cancer symptom awareness and barriers to presentation with age, gender, marital status and socio-economic position (SEP), using logistic regression models to control for confounders. Results: The youngest and oldest, the single and participants with the lowest SEP recognised the fewest cancer symptoms, and reported most barriers to presentation. Recognition of nine common cancer symptoms was significantly lower, and embarrassment, fear and difficulties in arranging transport to the doctor’s surgery were significantly more common in participants living in the most deprived areas than in the most affluent areas. Women were significantly more likely than men to both recognise common cancer symptoms and to report barriers. Women were much more likely compared with men to report that fear would put them off from going to the doctor. Conclusions: Large and robust socio-demographic differences in recognition of some cancer symptoms, and perception of some barriers to presentation, highlight the need for targeted campaigns to encourage early presentation and improve cancer outcomes

`It's your body, your baby, your birth': planning and achieving a home birth

No abstract available