42,510 research outputs found

    Older and wiser? Men’s and women’s accounts of drinking in early mid-life

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    Most qualitative research on alcohol focuses on younger rather than older adults. To explore older people’s relationship with alcohol, we conducted eight focus groups with 36 men and women aged 35 to 50 years in Scotland, UK. Initially, respondents suggested that older drinkers consume less alcohol, no longer drink to become drunk and are sociable drinkers more interested in the taste than the effects of alcohol. However, as discussions progressed, respondents collectively recounted recent drunken escapades, challenged accounts of moderate drinking, and suggested there was still peer pressure to drink. Some described how their drinking had increased in mid-life but worked hard discursively to emphasise that it was age and stage appropriate (i.e. they still met their responsibilities as workers and parents). Women presented themselves as staying in control of their drinking while men described going out with the intention of getting drunk (although still claiming to meet their responsibilities). While women experienced peer pressure to drink, they seemed to have more options for socialising without alcohol than did men. Choosing not to drink alcohol is a behaviour that still requires explanation in early mid-life. Harm reduction strategies should pay more attention to drinking in this age group

    Migraine: Diagnosis, treatment and understanding c1960-2010

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    seminar transcriptThere are around eight million migraine sufferers in the UK today. This Witness Seminar looked at the last 50 years of research into the diagnosis and treatment of the condition and the changing attitudes of the medical profession towards this debilitating disorder. Chaired by Dr Mark Weatherall, the participants, some of whom were also migraine sufferers, included neurologists and pharmacologists, representatives from patient organizations such as Migraine Action and the Migraine Trust, and GPs and headache nurses. The discussion covered the vascular and neuronal theories of migraine, the early treatment with ergotamine, analgesics and antiemetics, and investigations into the importance of 5-HT. It then moved on to examine the scientific research behind the development of the triptans during the 1980s and impact of their introduction in the early 1990s. More recent treatments, such as the use of Botox (botulinum toxin), were also considered. Other topics included the development of headache classification and diagnostic criteria for migraine; the support for migraine sufferers such as headache clinics, specialist headache nurses, and charities; and the reason why, despite the number of sufferers and its high socio-economic cost, there is often little interest in migraine and research attracts limited fundin

    Factors Influencing Self-care Behaviors of African Americans with Heart Failure: A Photovoice Project

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    Objectives The purpose of this study was to understand the influences of heart failure (HF) self-care among low income, African Americans. Background Compared to all other racial groups, African Americans have the highest risk of developing HF, coupled with high mortality and morbidity rates. Methods Using the photovoice method, participants related important lifestyle factors through photography. The participants and researcher met for reflection and discussion 2 h per week for six weeks. Results Four themes emerged: family support gives me the push I need, social interaction lifts me up, improving my mind to lift depression can improve my heart, and it is important but challenging to follow the HF diet. Conclusion The findings from this study may assist policy makers, health care professionals, patients, and support systems in understanding the complexity of engaging in HF self-care. This understanding may lead to the development of appropriate patient-centered assessments and interventions

    Creating intoxigenic environments: Marketing alcohol to young people in Aotearoa New Zealand

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    Alcohol consumption among young people in New Zealand is on the rise. Given the broad array of acute and chronic harms that arise from this trend, it is a major cause for alarm and it is imperative that we improve our knowledge of key drivers of youth drinking. Changes wrought by the neoliberal political climate of deregulation that characterised the last two decades in many countries including Aotearoa New Zealand have transformed the availability of alcohol to young people. Commercial development of youth alcohol markets has seen the emergence of new environments, cultures and practices around drinking and intoxication but the ways in which these changes are interpreted and taken up is not well understood. This paper reports findings from a qualitative research project investigating the meaning-making practices of young people in New Zealand in response to alcohol marketing. Research data included group interviews with a range of Maori and Pakeha young people at three time periods. Thematic analyses of the youth data on usages of marketing materials indicate naturalisation of tropes of alcohol intoxication. We show how marketing is used and enjoyed in youth discourses creating and maintaining what we refer to as intoxigenic social environments. The implications are considered in light of the growing exposure of young people to alcohol marketing in a discussion of strategies to manage and mitigate its impacts on behaviour and consumption

    Peer conversation about substance use

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    What happens when a friend starts talking about her own substance use and misuse? This article provides the first investigation of how substance use is spontaneously topicalized in naturally occurring conversation. It presents a detailed analysis of a rare video-recorded interaction showing American English-speaking university students talking about their own substance (mis)use in a residential setting. During this conversation, several substance (mis)use informings are disclosed about one participant, and this study elucidates what occasions each disclosure, and how participants respond to each disclosure. This research shows how participants use casual conversation to offer important substance (mis)use information to their friends and cohabitants, tacitly recruiting their surveillance. Analysis also uncovers how an emerging adult peer group enacts informal social control, locally (re-)constituting taken-for-granted social norms and the participants’ social relationships, to on the one hand promote alcohol use while, on the other hand endeavouring to prevent one member from engaging in continued pain medication misuse. This article thus illuminates ordinary peer conversation as an important site for continued sociological research on substance (mis)use and prevention. https://youtu.be/zFRuqgtKSQ

    "'Most People Bring Their Own Spoons': THE ROOM's participatory audiences as comedy mediators"

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    THE ROOM (Tommy Wiseau, 2003) has developed the unenviable reputation as being one of the worst films ever made, yet at the same time is celebrated by ‘fans’ who take considerable pleasure from its perceived ineptitude. Considerable media attention has also been afforded to the film’s participatory theatrical screenings, which typically feature constant heckling, chants, and the throwing of plastic spoons. Through the analysis of the film’s British audiences (in the form of surveys, interviews, observation and autoethnography), this article argues that The Room demonstrates the impact of audience participation on a film’s reception, which in this case transforms an ostensible drama into a comedy experience. These audiences function as temporary communities that encourage the search for humour in ‘badness’, creating a cycle of comedy mediation and verification that affirms the interpretive competence of all attendees. The article begins to theorise the previously underdeveloped concept of ‘so bad it’s good’ by drawing a link between comedy and cult media audiences, as well as exploring the social functions of comedy as they relate to cultural texts

    Symposium on Forensic Expert Testimony, \u3ci\u3eDaubert\u3c/i\u3e, and Rule 702

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    Transformation and time-out: the role of alcohol in identity construction among Scottish women in early midlife

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    Despite the increase in drinking by women in early midlife, little alcohol research has focused on this group. We explore how alcohol is associated with the construction of gender identities among women aged 30 to 50 years in the west of Scotland, United Kingdom. We draw on qualitative data from 11 focus groups (five all-female, six mixed-sex) with pre-existing groups of friends and work colleagues in which women and men discuss their drinking behaviours. Analysis demonstrated how alcohol represented a time and space away from paid and unpaid work for women in a range of domestic circumstances, allowing them to relax and unwind. While women used alcohol to construct a range of identities, traditional notions of femininity remained salient (e.g. attention to appearance, drinking ‘girly’ drinks). Drinking enabled women to assert their identity beyond the roles and responsibilities often associated with being a woman in early midlife. For example, some respondents with young children described the transformative effects of excessive drinking which allowed them to return temporarily to a younger, carefree version of themselves. Thus, our data suggest that women's drinking in early midlife revolves around notions of ‘idealised’ femininity but simultaneously represents a way of achieving ‘time out’ from traditional female responsibilities such as caring for others. We consider these findings within a broader social and cultural context including alcohol marketing, domestic roles and motherhood and their implications for health promotion

    The Evaluation of Wellness Programs for Our Returning Veterans

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    Today we continue to experience inefficiencies in understanding the mental health and cultural needs of returning service members. I have conducted my own personal research to best comprehend the emotions and needs of returning veterans, evaluating the practices that are most beneficial for healing and reintegration. The primary focus of my independent study was to observe the current mental health treatments that are offered to the veterans outside of the traditional medical realm. In relation to this, I wanted to evaluate the role that religious and spiritual practices play in the veterans’ healing process. I spent four months observing and interviewing various personnel at the Providence Rhode Island Veterans’ Administration Hospital. I conducted interviews with a chaplain, psychologist, peer-­‐mentor specialist, anthropologist, veterans, and PTSD clinical staff members. My research also included the analysis of a documentary film, texts, research studies, and soldier’s memoirs. To demonstrate the services that returning veterans with mental health conditions would receive at the VAH, I applied the story of a recently returned veteran to my encounters. I used this veteran’s story to depict the vast amount of encounters that he could potentially experience during his treatment process, and the different types of treatment mechanisms that may be recommended. I have concluded this research with my personal recommendations, proposing changes and implementations that could be made to better treat the mental health conditions of the veterans
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