Health promotion for the oldest seniors in the social sector. Examples of policies and programmes from Poland and the Czech Republic

The article identifies health promotion activities for the oldest people, who often become users of social services due to loss of capabilities, solitude and raising care needs related to worsening health status. The analysis is  based on the literature overview, experts’ consultations and interviews on the role of the social sector institutions in health promotion in selected countries. Examples of best practices in health promotion for older people in the social sector are presented. These include programmes of health information and campaigns on health risks avoidance, stimulation of physical activity, healthy eating for the oldest seniors, promotion of mental health and support of cognitive abilities, primary prevention activities and stimulation of social and cultural participation. The article concludes that health promotion activities for the oldest population, although on the side of main activities of the social sector, are an important element of activities of public and non-public institutions in providing care to dependent populations. Good practices identified typically involve numerous health promotion activities and require cooperation at the national – policy setting – level and within community. The article identifies health promotion activities for the oldest people, who often become users of social services due to loss of capabilities, solitude and raising care needs related to worsening health status. The analysis is  based on the literature overview, experts’ consultations and interviews on the role of the social sector institutions in health promotion in selected countries. Examples of best practices in health promotion for older people in the social sector are presented. These include programmes of health information and campaigns on health risks avoidance, stimulation of physical activity, healthy eating for the oldest seniors, promotion of mental health and support of cognitive abilities, primary prevention activities and stimulation of social and cultural participation. The article concludes that health promotion activities for the oldest population, although on the side of main activities of the social sector, are an important element of activities of public and non-public institutions in providing care to dependent populations. Good practices identified typically involve numerous health promotion activities and require cooperation at the national – policy setting – level and within community.&nbsp

Одговорот на Kовид-19 во резиденцијалната долгорочна нега во Полска: што е направено за подобрување на безбедноста на постарите лица

The outbreak of Covid-19 put a pressure on long-term care from the first weeks of the pandemic. As in most of European countries, United States and Canada particularly residential care facilities were in danger of an outbreak and its negative consequences, including deaths of cared for. The pandemic immediately and painfully depicted weaknesses of the long-term care system. The article presents information on the Covid-19 epidemic in Poland and discusses methods adopted to respond to the outbreak in residential long-term care in the first months of the pandemic.Епидемијата на Ковид-19 изврши притисок врз долгорочната нега на стари лица од првите недели на пандемијата. Како и во повеќето европски земји, особено во Соединетите Држави и Канада, установите за згрижување и нега на стари лица беа во опасност од епидемија и од нејзините негативни последици, вклучително и смрт на згрижени лица. Пандемијата веднаш и болно ги отсликува слабостите на системот за долгорочна нега. Во написот се презентирани информации за епидемијата Ковид-19 во Полска и се дискутираат методите донесени за да се одговори на епидемијата во установите за долгорочно згрижување и нега во првите месеци од пандемијата

Threats to Feminist Identity and Reactions to Gender Discrimination

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11199-013-0272-5The aim of this research was to examine conditions that modify feminists’ support for women as targets of gender discrimination. In an experimental study we tested a hypothesis that threatened feminist identity will lead to greater differentiation between feminists and conservative women as victims of discrimination and, in turn, a decrease in support for non-feminist victims. The study was conducted among 96 young Polish female professionals and graduate students from Gender Studies programs in Warsaw who self-identified as feminists (M age  = 22.23). Participants were presented with a case of workplace gender discrimination. Threat to feminist identity and worldview of the discrimination victim (feminist vs. conservative) were varied between research conditions. Results indicate that identity threat caused feminists to show conditional reactions to discrimination. Under identity threat, feminists perceived the situation as less discriminatory when the target held conservative views on gender relations than when the target was presented as feminist. This effect was not observed under conditions of no threat. Moreover, feminists showed an increase in compassion for the victim when she was portrayed as a feminist compared to when she was portrayed as conservative. Implications for the feminist movement are discussed

Repetitive thought as a moderator of the impact of control deprivation on emotional and cognitive functioning

The present research explores the role of repetitive thought (RT) in developing control deprivation deficits. The two main RT theories lead to diverging predictions. The response style theory suggests that RT in reaction to distress leads to negative effects in terms of emotional and cognitive functioning. However, the theory of Marin and Tesser and its elaboration by Watkins, suggest that the effects of RT depend on its form and that individuals who are not depression-prone usually adopt the constructive form of RT that leads to positive effects. To test which of these predictions is true for control deprivation situation, two experimental studies were conducted. Participants after control deprivation were induced RT or distraction, followed by the measurement of their emotional and cognitive functioning. The results suggest that repetitive thought reduces both emotional and cognitive helplessness deficits and has no effect in no control deprivation condition. This supports the theory of Martin and Tesser and its elaboration by Watkins

“They will not control us”: In-group positivity and belief in intergroup conspiracies.

This research examined the role of different forms of positive regard for the ingroup in predicting beliefs in intergroup conspiracies. Collective narcissism reflects a belief in ingroup greatness contingent on others’ recognition. We hypothesized that collective narcissism should be especially likely to foster outgroup conspiracy beliefs. Non-narcissistic ingroup positivity, on the other hand, should predict a weaker tendency to believe in conspiracy theories. In Study 1, the endorsement of conspiratorial explanations of outgroup actions was positively predicted by collective narcissism but negatively by non-narcissistic ingroup positivity. Study 2 showed that the opposite effects of collective narcissism and non-narcissistic ingroup positivity on conspiracy beliefs were mediated via differential perceptions of threat. Study 3 manipulated whether conspiracy theories implicated ingroup or outgroup members. Collective narcissism predicted belief in outgroup conspiracies but not in ingroup conspiracies, while non-narcissistic ingroup positivity predicted lower conspiracy beliefs, regardless of them being ascribed to the ingroup or the outgroup

Does self-love or self-hate predict conspiracy beliefs? Narcissism, self-esteem, and the endorsement of conspiracy theories

Across three studies, we examined the role of self-evaluation in predicting conspiracy beliefs. Previous research linked the endorsement of conspiracy theories to low self-esteem. We propose that conspiracy theories should rather be appealing to individuals with exaggerated feelings of self-love, such as narcissists, due to their paranoid tendencies. In Study 1, general conspiracist beliefs were predicted by high individual narcissism but low self-esteem. Study 2 demonstrated that these effects were differentially mediated by paranoid thoughts, and independent of the effects of collective narcissism. Individual narcissism predicted generalized conspiracist beliefs, regardless of the conspiracy theories implicating in-group or out-group members, while collective narcissism predicted belief in out-group but not in-group conspiracies. Study 3 replicated the effects of individual narcissism and self-esteem on the endorsement of various specific conspiracy theories and demonstrated that the negative effect of self-esteem was largely accounted for by the general negativity toward humans associated with low self-esteem

Addicted to answers: Need for cognitive closure and the endorsement of conspiracy beliefs

Conspiracy theories offer simple answers to complex problems by providing explanations for uncertain situations. Thus, they should be attractive to individuals who are intolerant of uncertainty and seek cognitive closure. We hypothesized that need for cognitive closure (NFCC) should foster conspiracy beliefs about events that lack clear official explanations, especially when conspiracy theories are temporarily salient. In Experiment 1 NFCC positively predicted the endorsement of a conspiracy theory behind the refugee crisis, especially when conspiratorial explanations were made salient. Experiment 2 showed that when conspiratorial explanations were made salient, NFCC positively predicted beliefs in conspiracies behind a mysterious plane crash. However, the link between NFCC and beliefs in conspiratorial explanations was reversed in the case of a plane crash with an official, non-conspiratorial, explanation for the accident. In conclusion, people high (vs. low) in NFCC seize on conspiratorial explanations for uncertain events when such explanations are situationally accessible

Collective Narcissism and the Growth of Conspiracy Thinking over the Course of the 2016 United States Presidential Election: A Longitudinal Analysis

Using data from a longitudinal study of American adults collected between July and November 2016, we examine the hypothesis that American collective narcissism would uniquely predict increases in conspiracy thinking during the 2016 presidential campaign. Going beyond previous findings, our results indicate that collective narcissism (but not in-group identification) predicted growth in general conspiracy thinking—i.e., a tendency to view political events in terms of group-based conspiracies—over the course of the 2016 U.S. presidential campaign. This relationship is found even after accounting for other predictors such as demographics, political knowledge, social trust, authoritarianism, and need for cognitive closure