Chronic Low Back Pain, Physical Activity and the Role of Shared Familial Factors

Low back pain (LBP) is the leading cause of global disability, with the majority of disease burden accounted for by people with chronic LBP. Current intervention and prevention strategies are failing to reduce the substantial burden of LBP and there are numerous topic areas that warrant further investigation to increase our understanding of how to improve outcomes for this population. The broad aims of this thesis were to investigate the role of shared familial factors (including genetics) in the development, recovery and management of chronic LBP; and to investigate the feasibility and clinical effects of a novel home-based exercise program. Chapter Two showed that individuals with recent chronic LBP are less likely to be active compared to those without chronic LBP, while Chapter Three showed that the relationship between LBP and physical activity is moderated by the built environment. Chapter Four identified that females with low educational attainment are at increased risk of developing chronic LBP, but a co-twin control analysis suggested that these findings (like the findings in Chapter Two) are confounded by shared familial factors. Chapters Five and Six investigated factors influencing the recovery from chronic LBP and the response to increased physical activity, and showed that shared familial factors are an important contributor. Finally, Chapters Seven and Eight outlined the design and findings of a randomised controlled trial investigating the feasibility and clinical effects of home-based video-game exercises for older people with chronic LBP. High recruitment and response rates, and adherence to the intervention showcased trial feasibility, while home-based video-game exercises led to significant improvements in pain self-efficacy, pain and function compared to usual care. Home-based video-game exercises are therefore a promising self-management strategy for older people with chronic LBP that could improve outcomes and reduce health-care costs

Feature Papers "Age-Friendly Cities & Communities: State of the Art and Future Perspectives"

The "Age-Friendly Cities & Communities: States of the Art and Future Perspectives" publication presents contemporary, innovative, and insightful narratives, debates, and frameworks based on an international collection of papers from scholars spanning the fields of gerontology, social sciences, architecture, computer science, and gerontechnology. This extensive collection of papers aims to move the narrative and debates forward in this interdisciplinary field of age-friendly cities and communities

A COMPARISON BETWEEN MOTIVATIONS AND PERSONALITY TRAITS IN RELIGIOUS TOURISTS AND CRUISE SHIP TOURISTS

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the motivations and the personality traits that characterize tourists who choose religious travels versus cruises. Participating in the research were 683 Italian tourists (345 males and 338 females, age range 18–63 years); 483 who went to a pilgrimage travel and 200 who chose a cruise ship in the Mediterranean Sea. Both groups of tourists completed the Travel Motivation Scale and the Big Five Questionnaire. Results show that different motivations and personality traits characterize the different types of tourists and, further, that motivations for traveling are predicted by specific —some similar, other divergent— personality trait

Design revolutions: IASDR 2019 Conference Proceedings. Volume 3: People

In September 2019 Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University was honoured to host the bi-annual conference of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) under the unifying theme of DESIGN REVOLUTIONS. This was the first time the conference had been held in the UK. Through key research themes across nine conference tracks – Change, Learning, Living, Making, People, Technology, Thinking, Value and Voices – the conference opened up compelling, meaningful and radical dialogue of the role of design in addressing societal and organisational challenges. This Volume 3 includes papers from People track of the conference

2015 GREAT Day Program

SUNY Geneseo’s Ninth Annual GREAT Day.https://knightscholar.geneseo.edu/program-2007/1009/thumbnail.jp

Design revolutions: IASDR 2019 Conference Proceedings. Volume 2: Living, Making, Value

In September 2019 Manchester School of Art at Manchester Metropolitan University was honoured to host the bi-annual conference of the International Association of Societies of Design Research (IASDR) under the unifying theme of DESIGN REVOLUTIONS. This was the first time the conference had been held in the UK. Through key research themes across nine conference tracks – Change, Learning, Living, Making, People, Technology, Thinking, Value and Voices – the conference opened up compelling, meaningful and radical dialogue of the role of design in addressing societal and organisational challenges. This Volume 2 includes papers from Living, Making and Value tracks of the conference