Moving Together: Developing and Testing the Impact of a Technology-Driven Intergenerational Intervention. A Pragmatic Evaluation

The phenomenon of intergenerational contact and the ability it may have to facilitate benefits for both older adults and children, often attracts attention. However, it is an underexplored concept, primarily underpinned by anecdotal evidence. This thesis aimed to develop and investigate the potential impact of a familial intergenerational technology-driven intervention on physical activity levels, sedentary behaviour, health-related quality of life, and stereotypes of ageing in older adults, aged ≥ 60 years old, in a real-world setting. Through the rigorous application of the stages of an individualised, iterative, multi-stage process model, justification of approach was confirmed, a unique intervention designed and refined, the incorporated behaviour change techniques mapped out, and, the feasibility, acceptability, functionality, and useability of the intervention and approach established. The developed intervention interlinked several discrete elements to allow intergenerational dyads, comprised of older adults (aged ≥ 60 years), and children (aged 7-11 years), to work collaboratively, using activity trackers (Mi Band 2) to complete virtual walk route challenges via the World Walking platform. Despite the limitations imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic, it was clearly established that: i) Age stereotype-based interventions provide an encouraging approach to challenging the health-related behaviour of older adults; ii) Through the components of Contact Theory (Allport, 1954), intergenerational contact and technology already available within the public domain, can be innovatively entwined to formulate health behaviour change intervention strategies; iii) Intergenerational contact provides mutual benefits for older adults and children, and, iv) The intervention developed was acceptable, useable, and potentially a highly feasible way of empirically exploring the impact of intergenerational contact, challenging age stereotypes, and positively affecting physical activity levels, sedentary behaviour, and health-related quality of life. Indeed, where depictions of later life have historically been negative, intergenerational contact provides an avenue to challenge such beliefs and behaviours

The Chosen Ones Who Cry Out Day and Night: The Applicability of Staurology to Woman Victims of Violence

No small amount of feminist theological scholarship has been dedicated to questioning whether a male savior can save women. Some scholars have further asserted that the crucifixion is inherently tainted by its intrinsic theme of violence. This paper argues for the relevance of the cross to women victims of violence. There are many factors that point to the possibility of an inclusive theology of the cross that does not glamorize violence. These include but are not limited to Biblical accounts of the “many women” who walked in solidarity with the battered Christ; female disciples who mourned together after His murder; the necessity that a being who suffers all manner of afflictions be, in some sense, bigender; the alleviation of suffering which many find in the Christian faith; and the systemic and worldly, rather than organic or genuine ways in which the Christian God was masculinized. This paper utilizes liberation theology, especially in regard to the feminicide in Ciudad Juárez, to argue that the crucified Christ is neither an entirely male symbol, nor one which advocates for violence. On the contrary, the cross is a symbol of Christ’s alliance with women. It demonstrates that he was persecuted, as the victims of feminicide are today. The pink crosses in Ciudad Juárez communicate—to women, to perpetrators of violence, and to the world—who’s experience Jesus Christ most identifies with, and therefore, who’s side Christ is on. This perspective on staurology has significant implications for Christian and ex-Christian women today

Home

I wrote this poem as a way of reflecting on my feelings about being “home” due to COVID-19. The accompanying photograph is my desk in my bedroom at “home” as it was a few weeks ago (it’s messier now)

Even the Parrot and World War II: How Wartime Britain Influenced Dorothy L. Sayers’s 1944 Book for “Enlightened Children”

“‘Even the Parrot,’ said my Nurse, severely, ‘knows better than to eat the peel.’” In this slim volume, Dorothy L. Sayers uses the structure of instructional children’s literature to satirically discuss World War II. Nurse Nature’s lessons to her two charges about the canary, the cat, the bee-hive, the boa-constrictor, and the rabbit are filled to the brim with references to wartime life. From mentions of Hitler to a discussion on post-war construction, Sayers uses Even the Parrot to examine wartime in a different way than her previous World War II writings

Centering Children's Voices and Cultural Worlds in an Online Writing Club

For 10 weeks, an online writing club was a place where seven children, ages 5 to 8, came together to co-construct a space for sharing favorite texts and composing practices. This study documents the ways that the writing club offered a space for children to construct shared literacy practices that allowed for new meaning-making, social relationships, and literate identities. As the researcher and facilitator of the writing club, I took up an inquiry as stance position, which provided a generative space for exploring the tensions between practice and theory. Additionally, literacy dig analysis provided an opportunity to understand the discursive elements of the popular culture texts that young children bring into their literacy practices. Taking up sociocultural and critical childhood frameworks as well as multiliteracies and multimodal models of literacy, I explored the following questions: How do young children narrate their identities and social worlds through text? What stories (narratives) and resources do young children value and take up when writing? How do young children take up the space of an informal, online writing group to pursue intellectual, social, cultural, and composing lives? Over the 10 weeks, the writing club developed into a space where telling jokes, grabbing a notebook to learn how to draw like Dav Pilkey, and creating a plan for surviving “infinity holes” signaled belonging. Children shared interests often deemed inappropriate for school spaces (e.g., consumer culture, violence, and video games) and took up ideas from popular culture (e.g., Minecraft, LOL and Calico dolls, and Captain Cage) in their composing practices. The literacies of the children in this study were mobilized by family participation, the shared and private spaces in homes, and opportunities to experiment outside of the constraints of school curricular goals and expectations. As the children engaged in transmedia and multimodal composing practices, new literate identities were revealed and established expertise in knowledge of popular culture and digital composing practices helped reposition how children were seen by their peers in the writing club. The social and composing practices of the young children in this online writing club have important implications for the ways we design writing spaces and curriculum for young children that center children’s culture, composing practices, and ways of knowing and being as important resources for teaching and learning

Dietary Prebiotics and Bioactive Milk Fractions Improve NREM Sleep, Enhance REM Sleep Rebound and Attenuate the Stress-Induced Decrease in Diurnal Temperature and Gut Microbial Alpha Diversity.

Severe, repeated or chronic stress produces negative health outcomes including disruptions of the sleep/wake cycle and gut microbial dysbiosis. Diets rich in prebiotics and glycoproteins impact the gut microbiota and may increase gut microbial species that reduce the impact of stress. This experiment tested the hypothesis that consumption of dietary prebiotics, lactoferrin (Lf) and milk fat globule membrane (MFGM) will reduce the negative physiological impacts of stress. Male F344 rats, postnatal day (PND) 24, received a diet with prebiotics, Lf and MFGM (test) or a calorically matched control diet. Fecal samples were collected on PND 35/70/91 for 16S rRNA sequencing to examine microbial composition and, in a subset of rats; Lactobacillus rhamnosus was measured using selective culture. On PND 59, biotelemetry devices were implanted to record sleep/wake electroencephalographic (EEG). Rats were exposed to an acute stressor (100, 1.5 mA, tail shocks) on PND 87 and recordings continued until PND 94. Test diet, compared to control diet, increased fecal Lactobacillus rhamnosus colony forming units (CFU), facilitated non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep consolidation (PND 71/72) and enhanced rapid eye movement (REM) sleep rebound after stressor exposure (PND 87). Rats fed control diet had stress-induced reductions in alpha diversity and diurnal amplitude of temperature, which were attenuated by the test diet (PND 91). Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed a significant linear relationship between early-life Deferribacteres (PND 35) and longer NREM sleep episodes (PND 71/72). A diet containing prebiotics, Lf and MFGM enhanced sleep quality, which was related to changes in gut bacteria and modulated the impact of stress on sleep, diurnal rhythms and the gut microbiota

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Sedentary Time and Behaviour in Children and Adults: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

The aim of this meta-analysis was to quantify the change in sedentary time during the COVID-19 pandemic and its effect on health outcomes in the general population. One thousand six hundred and one articles published after 2019 were retrieved from five databases, of which 64 and 40 were included in the systematic review and meta-analysis, respectively. Studies were grouped according to population: children (65 years). Average sedentary time was calculated, with sub-analyses performed by country, behaviour type and health outcomes. Children were most affected, increasing their sedentary time by 159.5 ± 142.6 min day−1, followed by adults (+126.9 ± 42.2 min day−1) and older adults (+46.9 ± 22.0 min day−1). There were no sex differences in any age group. Screen time was the only consistently measured behaviour and accounted for 46.8% and 57.2% of total sedentary time in children and adults, respectively. Increases in sedentary time were negatively correlated with global mental health, depression, anxiety and quality of life, irrespective of age. Whilst lockdown negatively affected all age groups, children were more negatively affected than adults or older adults, highlighting this population as a key intervention target. As lockdowns ease worldwide, strategies should be employed to reduce time spent sedentary. Trial registration: PROSPERO (CRD42020208909

Moving Forward: Understanding Correlates of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behaviour during COVID-19—An Integrative Review and Socioecological Approach

Population-level physical activity (PA) and sedentary time/behaviour estimates represent a significant public health issue exacerbated by restrictions enforced to control COVID-19. This integrative review interrogated available literature to explore the pandemic's impact on correlates of such behaviours in adults (≥18 years). Five electronic databases were systematically searched in January 2021. Data extracted from 64 articles were assessed for risk-of-bias using the Mixed Methods Assessment Tool, with correlates identified, coded, and themed via thematic analysis. A socioecological model of during-pandemic PA was conceptualized and mapped to the Capability, Opportunity, Motivation, and Behaviour (COM-B) model of behaviour change mechanisms, which illustrates influences over five levels: Individual (biological)-general health; Individual (psychological)-mental health, cognition, motivation, and behaviour; Social-domestic situation, sociodemographic factors, support, and lifestyle choices; Environmental-resources and area of residence; and Policy-COVID-19-related rules. For sedentary time/behaviour, individual level factors, namely general and mental health, may be important correlates. Neither age or sex were clearly correlated with either behaviour. As we transition into a new normal, understanding which behaviour mechanisms could effectively challenge physical inactivity is essential. Targeting capability on a psychological level may facilitate PA and limit sedentary time/behaviour, whereas, on a physical level, maximizing PA opportunities could be crucial

SUPPORT for ME: Substance Use Disorder Prevalence and Treatment Capacity Assessment

The aim of this report was to understand the sociodemographic and geographic distribution of substance use disorder (SUD) prevalence in Maine, through a claims-based analysis which assessed current statewide capacity to address SUD by examining current SUD treatment and recovery infrastructure, service utilization patterns, and geographic distribution of services and usage throughout the state to identify any gaps in treatment and recovery capacity. The authors would like to note that this report was completed during the planning phase of the SUPPORT for ME project, which was funded by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) via the SUPPORT Act passed by Congress in 2018. This assessment utilized numerous data sources, one of which was Medicaid claims data from Maine’s Office of MaineCare Services. This was the first attempt to utilize claims data to estimate prevalence and capacity related to SUD in the State. In future work, the authors aim to have more engagement with clinical providers and data stakeholders which may lead to alterations or updates to the methodologies utilized to produce this report. FMI: Please contact M.Lindsey Smith, PhD at [email protected]

Reflecting on Crisis: Ethics of Dis/Engagement in Migration Research

This article offers a collective “gaze from within” the process of migration research, on the effects the pandemic has had on our interlocutors, our research fields, and our positionalities as researchers. Drawing from our experiences of researching a field in increasing crisis, and following the methodological reflections of the article written by our colleagues in this issue, we discuss a number of dilemmas and repositionings stemming from—and extending beyond—the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on issues of positionality, ethics of (dis)engaging from the research field, and the underlying extractivist nature of Global North academia, we propose our own vision of more egalitarian and engaged research ethics and qualitative methodologies in the post-pandemic world