Decreasing Caregiver Stress

Stress is both critical and personal experience and has significant effects on caregivers’ physical, mental, and social well-being. The nature of caregiving and the responsibility to work and serve individuals at their illness conditions are very personal encounters that often result in adverse effects on the health and well-being of caregivers (Frederick, 2016). A decrease in stress experience can lead to the satisfaction of caregiver roles and improvement of patient’s quality of life (Choi, Jisun & Boyle, Diane, 2013; Yada, Nagata, & Inagaki, 2014). This scholarly project determined that evidence-based stress management interventions have decreased the perceived stress in caregivers. The scholarly project identified low levels of stress among research participants, and how evidence-based interventions decreased caregiver stress by increasing their knowledge and awareness of evidence-based stress management interventions. The results of this scholarly project agree with the literature that caregiver stress experience can be decreased through the implementation of evidence-based stress management interventions (Blom, Zarit, Groot Zwaaftink, Cuijpers, & Pot, 2013). It is significant to implement evidence-based stress management interventions to decrease perceived stress among caregivers

Subject: Psychology and Sociology

Compiled by Susan LaCette.PsychologyandSociology.pdf: 3180 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

Islamic education: The philosophy, aim, and main features

Islam has put greater emphasis on the importance of acquisition and dissemination of knowledge (‘ilm) than any other human activities. In fact, it makes it compulsory (farḍ) upon its adherents, regardless of gender, to learn and disseminate knowledge. The obligation of seeking out knowledge is binding upon every Muslim by the command of the Qur’an and Sunnah of the Prophet (PBUH). Education from Islamic perspective is often defined by Muslim scholars from three different dimensions which are reflected in different concepts introduced, important among them are; tarbiyyah – the process of education that gives emphasis on physical and intellectual development of an individual; ta’dīb – the process of education that gives emphasis on nurturing good human beings with noble codes of conduct/ethics approved by Islam, so that he may conduct and position himself in society with justice; and taʿlīm – the process of education that is based on teaching and learning. The concept of education in Islam must take into consideration of all the dimensions stated above. No matter which one of the above concepts is preferable to scholars, it should not be used as a pretext for controversy and intellectual acrimony among scholars, because what does it matter is not the concept, but the practice, methodology and its objectives. Education occupies a significant position in Islamic civilization. The first revelation to Prophet Muḥammad (PBUH) in Sūrah al-‘Alaq (verses 1-4) is about the divine instruction to “reading by the name of God”, thus underscores the tawḥīd philosophy that education in its essence is not purely a mundane activity, but an integral part of faith. Recently, the concept of education in Islam has been influenced by secularism since the time of colonization and the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, which consequently resulted in the failure of the Muslim Ummah in its quest for nation building and development according to Islamic perspective. The purpose of education in Islam is to produce a good human being (al-insān al-ṣāliḥ), who is capable of delivering his/her duties as a servant of Allāh (ʿabdullāh) and His vicegerent (khalīfah) on earth. This paper is aimed at highlighting the main features of Islamic education, its methodology and objectives in comparison with the current system of education, which is predominantly secular in its philosophy and methodology. (Keywords: Education, secularism, philosophy

Students' experience with online simulation games: From computer anxiety to satisfaction

It is currently of great importance to analyse the experience of the application of new technologies in teaching. This research paper examines the personality traits of students and their environment, which may influence the experience of college students using online simulation games. Previous literature suggests that individuals may feel anxiety when using the computer, which may vary according to their perception of being able to control the situation, their perceived importance of the activities and any prior knowledge that they have. Therefore, the first objective of this research is to analyse the relationship between computer anxiety, locus of control and perceived importance of the computer activities. The second objective is to examine whether this relationship is moderated by knowledge. The third objective is to identify user clusters to examine which factors are most important to explain user satisfaction with online simulation games. Results showed that students experience greater computer anxiety when the situation is perceived as important and the locus of control is high, being these effects moderated by their previous knowledge. Moreover, a cluster analysis threw light on the existence of cluster of users whose satisfaction mainly depends on their game score. These results have implications for both academic and research purposes

21st Century End-User Attitudes Toward Information Technology

This research is a study of 21st Century end-user attitudes toward information technology within a large service organization in South Florida. Myriad of literature on computerphobia and negative end-user attitudes toward computers and information technology dominated the discipline of information technology from approximately 1980 to 1997. The purpose of the study is to examine if end-user attitude have changed.  Demographic variables are used as moderators to examine if there is any correlation between the demographics and the end-user attitudes of the respondents

Ecological Momentary Intervention [EMI]: Incorporating Mobile Technology into a Disordered Eating Treatment Program for College Women

Psychosocial and health behavior treatments can be extended beyond research and clinical settings by using mobile technology to provide Ecological Momentary Interventions [EMI] to individuals as they go about their daily lives. This study integrates the assessment (i.e., Ecological Momentary Assessment; EMA) and intervention (i.e., EMI) capacities of palmtop computers to provide individually tailored EMI to participants in real time. The feasibility and efficacy of using EMI to augment a disordered eating treatment intervention for college women was evaluated. Participants were randomized to view psychoeducational videos on a computer (attention control), complete an interactive CD-ROM-based intervention aimed at reducing body dissatisfaction and disordered eating behaviors (CD), or receive the CD-ROM supplemented with EMI (CD+EMI). The content and timing of EMI was individually tailored in real time and provided on palmtop computers for one week following the CD intervention. Very high compliance rates with the EMA/EMI protocol were demonstrated and women were generally satisfied with the intervention, suggesting it is feasible to implement tailored EMI. An evaluation of treatment efficacy revealed the computerized CD-ROM intervention did not reliably produce significant improvements in body-related constructs and there was no unique or added benefit of EMI. This study was innovative in that it used palmtop computers to combine ambulatory assessment and intervention strategies to provide tailored and contextually sensitive EMI. As such, it adds to the relatively young, but growing EMI literature by identifying challenges and opportunities for ambulatory assessment and intervention methods in psychosocial and health behavior treatments

Do you Get Tired of Shopping Online? Exploring the Influence of Information Overload on Subjective States towards Purchase Decision

The increase and development of shopping websites make customers confront with too much information, this may influence subjective states towards purchase decision. The main purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of information overload on subjective states towards purchase decision. Based on the framework of stressor-strain-outcome, we regard information overload as the antecedent of website fatigue and website anxiety, which could further influence subjective states towards purchase decision. Besides, customer involvement should be considered. The results show that information overload leads to the low level of subjective states towards purchase decision through website fatigue and website anxiety and customer involvement plays as a moderator. Implications and limitations are also raised

How does Covid-19 disrupt traditional success models: The case of e-learning

This paper questions the prevalent approach in assessing the value of e-learning through the information system model. A recall is made of the evolution of DeLone and McCain model and other theory at the basis of such assessment, namely TAM derived models and performance models. In these years of covid which imposed e-learning on schools, without adequate preparation this examination is more than ever important since it changes the logic of the assessment. The covid19 caused an unvoluntary use of e-learning that questions the validity of prevalent models. An integrated model, which take this aspect into consideration, is proposed in this article, to be validated empirically in a soon future