Death Anxiety, Artmaking and the Facilitation of Death Discourse

Discussion about death, known as death discourse, has been historically limited to the confines of the palliative care, elderly and hospice arenas (Bradshaw, 1996; Granek, 2013; Safrai, 2013; Zimmerman, 2012). This study examined the impact of artmaking on facilitating death discourse in college-aged students from a midwestern United States campus. A mixed methods design was implemented in which participants completed the Communication Apprehension about Death Scale (CADS; Carmack & DeGroot, 2016), an artmaking directive addressing feelings about death, followed by a Post-Artmaking Reflection about their artwork. Following a 10-day time period after the artmaking session, participants were re-administered the CADS electronically, and questioned about their thoughts and patterns concerning discussion of death since the artmaking directive. Quantitative analyses of CADS scores from both sessions revealed an overall decrease in scores after making art about death. A thematic analysis of all artwork and essays created by the participants revealed themes of feeling conflicted emotions regarding death, with visual art featuring circles, human figures, and dark saturated colors most prominently. Findings suggest that apprehension levels discussing death can be decreased through artmaking and that artmaking could facilitate discussions surrounding death

Empowering users with medical artificial intelligence technologies

Medical AI technologies promise to empower their users in managing their health. We develop a research model aiming to explain the role of user empowerment and resistance on the continuous use intention of medical AI technologies. The model was tested with data from 306 users of the Left-Hand Doctor chatbot in China. Users value the emotional support, responsiveness and accessibility of the chatbot. These features provide a strong explanation of user empowerment which in turn supports continuous use intention. While resistance to medical AI technologies negatively affects continuous use intention, it does not weaken the positive effects of empowerment. The research contributes to our knowledge of what user empowerment means and how it can support sustainable engagement with medical AI technologies. It further guides developers to more comprehensively consider similar user experience elements and positive outcomes of AI technologies in other application areas

Unmet goals of tracking: within-track heterogeneity of students' expectations for

Educational systems are often characterized by some form(s) of ability grouping, like tracking. Although substantial variation in the implementation of these practices exists, it is always the aim to improve teaching efficiency by creating homogeneous groups of students in terms of capabilities and performances as well as expected pathways. If students’ expected pathways (university, graduate school, or working) are in line with the goals of tracking, one might presume that these expectations are rather homogeneous within tracks and heterogeneous between tracks. In Flanders (the northern region of Belgium), the educational system consists of four tracks. Many students start out in the most prestigious, academic track. If they fail to gain the necessary credentials, they move to the less esteemed technical and vocational tracks. Therefore, the educational system has been called a 'cascade system'. We presume that this cascade system creates homogeneous expectations in the academic track, though heterogeneous expectations in the technical and vocational tracks. We use data from the International Study of City Youth (ISCY), gathered during the 2013-2014 school year from 2354 pupils of the tenth grade across 30 secondary schools in the city of Ghent, Flanders. Preliminary results suggest that the technical and vocational tracks show more heterogeneity in student’s expectations than the academic track. If tracking does not fulfill the desired goals in some tracks, tracking practices should be questioned as tracking occurs along social and ethnic lines, causing social inequality

empirical model based on UTAUT2

Tavares, J., Goulão, A., & Oliveira, T. (2018). Electronic Health Record Portals adoption: Empirical model based on UTAUT2. Informatics for Health and Social Care, 43(2), 109-125. DOI: 10.1080/17538157.2017.1363759Background: The future of healthcare delivery is becoming more citizen centered, as today’s user is more active and better informed. Governmental institutions are promoting the deployment and use of online services such as Electronic Health Record (EHR) portals. This makes the adoption of EHR portals an important field to study and understand. Objective: The aim of this study is to understand the factors that drive individuals to adopt EHR portals. Methods: This study applies the extended unified theory of acceptance and usage technology (UTAUT2) to explain patients’ individual adoption of EHR portals. An online questionnaire was administered. We collected 386 valid responses. Results: The statistically significant drivers of behavioral intention are performance expectancy ((Formula presented.)=0.17; p < 0.01), effort expectancy ((Formula presented.)=0.17; p < 0.01), social influence ((Formula presented.)=0.10; p < 0.05), and habit ((Formula presented.)=0.37; p < 0.001). Habit ((Formula presented.)=0.28; p < 0.001) and behavioral intention ((Formula presented.)=0.24; p < 0.001) are the statistically significant drivers of technology use. The model explains 52% of the variance in behavioral intention and 31% of the variance in technology use. Conclusions: By testing an information technology acceptance model, we are able to determine what is more valued by patients when it comes to deciding whether to adopt EHR portals or not.authorsversionpublishe

Religion, Culture, and Modernity : Some Missiological Implications of the Process of Secularization in East Asia

This study investigates the outcome of the process of secularization in three modernized urban Chinese societies in East Asia and seeks to describe the resultant patterns of change and continuity. Some missiological implications are drawn from the findings of the investigations. Chapter 1 is an account of the historical development of secularization in Western societies and the effects of secularization on religion, society, and the individual. The focus in chapter 2 is on worldview and worldview change and the functions of these in the process of secularization. A five-part theoretical paradigm of the traditional Chinese worldview analyzed vis-à-vis the themes, hierarchy, antiquity, particularity, harmony, and practicality is presented in chapter 3. In chapter 4 the impact of modernization and secularization on these Chinese societies end the emergence of a new hybrid worldview in which elements of both the traditional and modern are synthesized, are examined. Some aspects of the traditional Chinese worldview, such as affinity for hierarchy and antiquity, have gone through radical and perhaps irreversible change, whereas the Chinese esteem for particularity, harmony, and practicality has largely remained intact. Chapter 5 focuses on the implications of continuity and change, and seeks to show how these dynamic patterns of change have created new conditions conducive to mission. The missiological conclusions of the study are spelled out in categories: mission, conversion, and church. 1. The process of secularization has opened up a degree of freedom from family and historical tutelage. This signals new opportunities for mission. 2. The Chinese group consciousness calls for a rethinking of the evangelistic process to include a more family and group oriented approach. 3. The sense of unease induced by change has created an atmosphere in which the church as the Body of Christ needs to function as a socially supportive and meaning reifying community

Health Promotion in Health Care - Vital Theories and Research

This Open Access textbook represents a vital contribution to global health education, offering insights into health promotion as part of patient care for bachelor’s and master’s students in health care (nurses, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, radiotherapists, social care workers etc.) as well as health care professionals, and providing an overview of the field of health science and health promotion for PhD students and researchers.  Written by leading experts from seven countries in Europe, America, Africa and Asia, it first discusses the theory of health promotion and vital concepts. It then presents updated evidence-based health promotion approaches in different populations (people with chronic diseases, cancer, heart failure, dementia, mental disorders, long-term ICU patients, elderly individuals, families with newborn babies, palliative care patients) and examines different health promotion approaches integrated into primary care services.  This edited scientific anthology provides much-needed knowledge, translating research into guidelines for practice. Today’s medical approaches are highly developed; however, patients are human beings with a wholeness of body-mind-spirit. As such, providing high-quality and effective health care requires a holistic physical-psychological-social-spiritual model of health care is required. A great number of patients, both in hospitals and in primary health care, suffer from the lack of a holistic oriented health approach: Their condition is treated, but they feel scared, helpless and lonely. Health promotion focuses on improving people’s health in spite of illnesses. Accordingly, health care that supports/promotes patients’ health by identifying their health resources will result in better patient outcomes: shorter hospital stays, less re-hospitalization, being better able to cope at home and improved well-being, which in turn lead to lower health-care costs.  This scientific anthology is the first of its kind, in that it connects health promotion with the salutogenic theory of health throughout the chapters. the authors here expand the understanding of health promotion beyond health protection and disease prevention. The book focuses on describing and explaining salutogenesis as an umbrella concept, not only as the key concept of sense of coherence. publishedVersio

Sustainable Technology and Elderly Life

The coming years will see an exponential increase in the proportion of elderly people in our society. This accelerated growth brings with it major challenges in relation to the sustainability of the system. There are different aspects where these changes will have a special incidence: health systems and their monitoring; the development of a framework in which the elderly can develop their daily lives satisfactorily; and in the design of intelligent cities adapted to the future sociodemographic profile. The discussion of the challenges faced, together with the current technological evolution, can show possible ways of meeting the challenges. There are different aspects where these changes will have a special incidence: health systems and their monitoring; the development of a framework in which the elderly can develop their daily lives satisfactorily; and in the design of intelligent cities adapted to the future sociodemographic profile. This special issue discusses various ways in which sustainable technologies can be applied to improve the lives of the elderly. Six articles on the subject are featured in this volume. From a systematic review of the literature to the development of gamification and health improvement projects. The articles present suggestive proposals for the improvement of the lives of the elderly. The volume is a resource of interest for the scientific community, since it shows different research gaps in the current state of the art. But it is also a document that can help social policy makers and people working in this domain to planning successful projects

Exploration of sleep and allostatic load as predictors of future cancer

Cancer impacts millions of people in the United States. Understanding the precursors to cancer is important for prevention efforts. The purpose of this study was to investigate potential relationships between sleep, allostatic load, and future cancer occurrence. A conceptual framework of responses to stress adapted from a model for allostatic load was used to guide this investigation. The framework depicts cognitive-behavioral responses to stress and physiologic responses to stress impacting future disease occurrence. Subjective sleep quality and sleep duration (cognitive-behavioral responses to stress) and allostatic load (physiologic response to stress) were suspected of having an impact on future cancer occurrence. Secondary data analysis of longitudinal data from the Midlife in the United States study of middle aged and older adults in the United States was employed to explore a relationship between sleep and future cancer occurrence, a relationship between allostatic load and future cancer occurrence, a relationship between sleep and allostatic load, and lastly, a possible mediating role for allostatic load in the sleep – future cancer occurrence relationship A nationally representative sample of 806 persons with oversampling for men, older adults, and African Americans was used for analysis. Sleep parameters were measured by the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), a scale with 21 items in seven domains. Overall subjective sleep quality and the seven sleep were analyzed in relation to future cancer occurrence and in relation to allostatic load. In addition to the variable for sleep duration found in the PSQI, continuous hours of sleep, categorical sleep duration based on National Sleep Foundation recommendations, and categorical sleep duration derived from the actual data were analyzed in relation to future cancer occurrence and in relation to allostatic load. Allostatic load was comprised of 23 individual measures across seven physiologic domains compiled using a validated bifactor model. Overall allostatic load and the seven physiologic domains were analyzed in relation to future cancer occurrence. Statistical models included individual differences (age, race, gender, education, and income) and other cognitive-behavioral responses to stress (smoking, alcohol use, physical activity, and depression) thought to be related to the three main concepts of interest (sleep, allostatic load, and future cancer occurrence). Of the permutations of sleep duration, categorical sleep derived from the data fit the best. Short sleep duration (7.5 hours per night) was associated with a 2.2 times increase in the odds of future cancer when compared to the referent sleep duration category (5.3-7.5 hours per night). Age was the only other measure to show a relationship with future cancer; each increasing year of age was associated with a 3% increase in the odds of future cancer occurrence. Poor subjective sleep quality was associated with increased allostatic load. Poor subjective sleep quality was associated with decreased hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis domain scores. No relationship was found between subjective sleep quality or the seven sleep domains and future cancer occurrence. No relationship was found between allostatic load or the seven physiologic domains and future cancer occurrence. No relationship was found between sleep duration and allostatic load. Finally, allostatic load did not play a mediating role in the sleep – future cancer occurrence relationship. This analysis demonstrates that sleep is an important facet of health, and should be routinely assessed by Advanced Practice Registered Nurses as a part of health maintenance and guidance about sleep should be offered to adults. In nursing education, sleep problems should be emphasized as a risk factor for health problems