Calibrating and adjusting expectations in life: A grounded theory on how elderly persons with somatic health problems maintain control and balance in life and optimize well-being

Aim: This study aims at exploring the main concern for elderly individuals with somatic health problems and what they do to manage this. Method: In total, 14 individuals (mean = 74.2 years; range = 68–86 years) of both gender including hospitalized and outpatient persons participated in the study. Open interviews were conducted and analyzed according to grounded theory, an inductive theory-generating method. Results: The main concern for the elderly individuals with somatic health problems was identified as their striving to maintain control and balance in life. The analysis ended up in a substantive theory explaining how elderly individuals with somatic disease were calibrating and adjusting their expectations in life in order to adapt to their reduced energy level, health problems, and aging. By adjusting the expectations to their actual abilities, the elderly can maintain a sense of that they still have the control over their lives and create stability. The ongoing adjustment process is facilitated by different strategies and result despite lower expectations in subjective well-being. The facilitating strategies are utilizing the network of important others, enjoying cultural heritage, being occupied with interests, having a mission to fulfill, improving the situation by limiting boundaries and, finally, creating meaning in everyday life. Conclusion: The main concern of the elderly with somatic health problems was to maintain control and balance in life. The emerging theory explains how elderly people with somatic health problems calibrate their expectations of life in order to adjust to reduced energy, health problems, and aging. This process is facilitated by different strategies and result despite lower expectation in subjective well-being

Examination of the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale 10 (CD-RISC-10) using the polytomous Rasch model

The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale’s (CD-RISC) 10 item variant has previously demonstrated acceptable psychometric properties of its test scores using traditional methods (e.g., confirmatory factor analysis), and concurrent validity with resilience-related outcomes, particularly in samples of younger adults. While alternative methods of examining the psychometric properties of the long-form CD-RISC exist in the literature, the short-form measure has unclear evidence of local item independence and a unidimensional structure, which are key assumptions of a polytomous Rasch model approach to examining the measure’s psychometric properties. The current study employed a sample of young adult university students (n = 708, xage = 26.43 years (s = 7.77)) on their nursing practicum placements to examine the CD-RISC-10 against the polytomous Rasch measurement model criteria. The analyses suggested a seven-item variant of the CD-RISC-10 performed acceptably, and omitted issues with local item dependence and item misfit. Effect sizes of the standardized parameters estimated for the 7-item and original 10-item versions of the CD-RISC-10, when predicting compassion fatigue and compassion satisfaction, were small (s = −0.24, s = −0.23) and moderate (s = 0.48, s = 0.47) for the respective measures, which suggested similar efficacy when examining the test scores’ concurrent validity. The shorter version of the CD-RISC-10 consequently demonstrated generally acceptable psychometric properties for its test scores, and remained a parsimonious approach to examining individual psychological resilience that will benefit from further development. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved

Pilot study of the effectiveness of a Mindful Self‐Care and Resiliency program for rural doctors in Australia

Objective Rural doctors are difficult to recruit and retain. Burnout and stress in the medical workforce fluctuates according to location. Overall, doctors have an elevated risk of depression and suicide compared to the general population and other professionals. Higher levels of occupational stress also effect patient care, levels of work satisfaction and relationships with others. This study evaluated the effectiveness, acceptability, feasibility and sustainability of the Mindful Self‐Care and Resiliency Program. Design This was a sequential mixed‐method study involving the collection of both quantitative and qualitative data. Setting The study was conducted in Emerald, Queensland. Participants Thirteen doctors took part in the program with seven providing pre and post survey responses. Qualitative data were collected via semi‐structured telephone interviews with an additional four rural doctors. 4.1 Intervention The Mindful Self‐Care and Resiliency program consisted of a 4‐hour face‐to‐face session and three 1‐hour video‐conference follow up sessions. 4.1.1 Main outcome measures Burnout, negative affect, well‐being and psychological strain were assessed using self‐report measures before and after taking part in the program. 4.1.2 Results The majority (six out of seven) of the doctors showed reductions in burnout, psychological strain and negative affect following participation in the program. The qualitative data indicated that all doctors gained new skills: self‐awareness, reflection and self‐care. They also reported improved interaction with colleagues and patients, to whom they passed on their new learning. 4.1.3 Conclusion This preliminary investigation of the effectiveness and feasibility of Mindful Self‐Care and Resiliency for rural doctors indicates that the program has promise in improving the emotional well‐being of this occupational group. Although this study captured approximately one‐third of the Emerald workforce, further research with a larger sample is required to confirm these findings

A re‐examination of the individual differences approach that explains occupational resilience and psychological adjustment among nurses

Aims This study re‐examines the validity of a model of occupational resilience for use by nursing managers, which focused on an individual differences approach that explained buffering factors against negative outcomes such as burnout for nurses. Background The International Collaboration of Workforce Resilience model (Rees et al., 2015, Frontiers in Psychology, 6, 73) provided initial evidence of its value as a parsimonious model of resilience, and resilience antecedents and outcomes (e.g., burnout). Whether this model's adequacy was largely sample dependent, or a valid explanation of occupational resilience, has been subsequently un‐examined in the literature to date. To address this question, we re‐examined the model with a larger and an entirely new sample of student nurses. Methods A sample of nursing students (n = 708, AgeM(SD) = 26.4 (7.7) years), with data examined via a rigorous latent factor structural equation model. Results The model upheld many of its relationship predictions following further testing. Conclusions The model was able to explain the individual differences, antecedents, and burnout‐related outcomes, of resilience within a nursing context