Exploring Community Attitudes to People with Learning Disabilities: Using a Micro-Neighbourhood Design

People with learning disabilities living in the community strive for meaningful social inclusion and integration. The attitudes of society to such individuals living in communities continues to be the catalyst that will enable them to achieve genuine social inclusion and integration. Identified barriers to social inclusion are a lack of change in societal attitudes towards people with learning disabilities. People with learning disabilities should live in a socially, not just functionally, integrated manner in community settings. Hence, attitudes of the community are extremely influential in achieving social integration and inclusion. It is important therefore to plan how best to capture attitudes in fact. An exemplar of a completed comparative study in Ireland, which used a micro-neighbourhood design combined with a random survey, illustrates how attitudes can be researched effectively. Study findings show that while attitudes were generally positive towards people with learning disabilities, there was no evidence of social integration, only functional integration. These findings reflect the challenges of achieving authentic social inclusion and integration and warrant further exploration by government agencies and service providers for people with learning disabilities. The study design outlined can contribute to gaining a true insight of societal attitudes

KOMUNIKATIVNA METODA UTJECAJA „VJEŽBANJA JOGE SMIJEHA“ NA PONAŠANJE STARIJIH OSOBA

Watching the entertaining facilities is one of the effective methods of promoting laughter, which in turn affects the blood pressure values and well-being. The purpose of the study was to determine how laughter yoga, which does not depend on understanding humor, effect on blood pressure and well-being. Research Methodology: In this study, we used the technique of promoting laughter, called laughter yoga which does not depend on understanding humor. It includes respiratory-laughing fun exercises that encourage laughter very quickly. The study involved fifty-two randomly selected volunteers whose average age was 52.5 years. Volunteers were based on a questionnaire on health divided into those who take medications and those who do not. Their well-being, before and after exercise, was assessed using non-standardized numerical nine-stage questionnaire with a scale of 1 to 10. Research was conducted in 2012 in the Laughter yoga club in Maribor, once a week for sixty minutes (ten weeks). Results: The results showed that laughter yoga has statistically significant effect on the level of blood pressure by volunteers who did not take any medications (N = 41; systolic: 7.73% (p <0.0001), diastolic: 5.83% (p <0.0001)). In volunteers who took medications (N = 11), we observed a drop decrease in the value, without statistically significant differences (systolic: 2.70% (p = 0.86), diastolic: 1.41% (p = 0, 25)). Statistically significant differences (p <0.05) were observed in the average change in enthusiasm, optimism, connectivity, energy levels, mood, muscle relaxation, breathing awareness, the ability to laugh for no reason. The biggest change was measured in the sense of stress after laughter yoga exercise (60%). Conclusion: From presented results we can conclude that laughter yoga may be an effective adjunctive method for the prevention of high blood pressure in those who did not take any medications. For those who took them, it will be necessary to do further research on a larger number of people and to examine the influence of drugs. By all volunteers we observed a positive and statistically significant changes (p <0.05) in well-being. Most stood out the stress reduction (60.32%).Gledanje zabavnih sadržaja je jedna od najučinkovitijih metoda promicanja smijeha, što pak utječe na vrijednosti krvnog tlaka i blagostanje. Svrha istraživanja bila je utvrditi kakav učinak na krvni tlak i blagostanje ima joga smijeha, koja ne ovisi o razumijevanju humora. Metodologija: U ovom istraživanju smo koristili tehniku promicanje smijeh, zvanu joga smijeha koja ne ovisi o razumijevanju humora. To uključuje respiratorno-smiješne zabavne vježbe koje vrlo brzo potiču smijeh. U studiji je sudjelovalo pedeset dva nasumično odabrana volontera čija je prosječna dob 52,5 godine. Volonteri su, na temelju upitnika o zdravlju, podijeljeni na one koji uzimaju lijekove i one koji to ne čine. Njihova dobrobit, prije i nakon vježbanja, procijenjena je pomoću nestandardiziranog upitnika sa devet faza i skalom od 1 do 10. Istraživanje je provedeno 2012. u Yoga klubu smijeha u Mariboru, jednom tjedno u šezdeset minuta (deset tjedana). Rezultati: Rezultati su pokazali da joga smijeha ima statistički značajan utjecaj na razinu krvnog tlaka kod volontera koji nisu uzimali nikakve lijekove (N = 41; sistolički: 7,73% (p <0,0001), dijastolički: 5,83% (p <0.0001). Kod volontera koji su uzimali lijekove (N = 11), primjetili smo pad pad vrijednosti, bez statistički značajnih razlika (sistolički: 2,70% (p = 0,86), dijastolički: 1,41% (p = 0, 25)). Statistički značajne razlike (p <0,05) zabilježene su u prosječnoj promjeni entuzijazma, optimizma, povezivosti, razini energije, raspoloženju, opuštanju mišića, svjesnosti disanja, sposobnost da se smije bez razloga. Najveća promjena je izmjerena u smislu stresa nakon vježbanja joge smijehom (60%). Zaključak: Iz dobivenih rezultata može se zaključiti da joga smijeha može biti učinkovita adjunktivna metoda za prevenciju povišenog krvnog tlaka kod onih koji nisu uzimali nikakve lijekove. Za one koji su ih uzimali, biti će potrebno napraviti daljnja istraživanja na većem broju ljudi te istražiti utjecaj lijekova. Kod svih dobrovoljaca bilježimo pozitivne i statistički značajne promjene (p <0,05) u blagostanju. Najviše se isticalo smanjenje stresa (60.32%)

Perceptions of caring between Slovene and Russian members of nursing teams

Purpose: To measure the perceptions of caring between Slovene and Russian members of nursing teams and compare the results with earlier findings in other European Union (EU) countries.Methods: A cross sectional study that included nurses and nursing assistants in Slovenia (n = 294) and Russia (n = 531). Data were collected using the 25-item Caring Dimensions Inventory.Results: The most endorsed item for Slovene and Russian members of nursing teams was an item related to medication administration. All items that were endorsed by Russian participants were also endorsed by Slovenian participants; however, they ascribed a different level of importance to individual aspects of caring. Discussion: Compared with other EU countries, such as the UK and Spain, Slovenian and Russian members of nursing teams endorsed more technical aspects of nursing duties as caring, suggesting cultural differences and previous influences of the biomedical model on nursing education and practice

Using Content Validity for the Development of Objective Structured Clinical Examination Checklists in a Slovenian Undergraduate Nursing Program

Introduction: The objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) has been adopted by many universities for the assessment of healthcare competencies and as a formative teaching tool in both undergraduate and postgraduate nursing education programs. This pilot study evaluates the validity of OSCE checklists to be used in first‐year undergraduate nurse practice education

The KIDSCREEN-27 scale: translation and validation study of the Slovenian version

Background: There are many methods available for measuring social support and quality of life (QoL) of adolescents, of these, the KIDSCREEN tools are most widely used. Thus, we aimed to translate and validate the KIDSCREEN-27 scale for the usage among adolescents aged between 10 and 19 years old in Slovenia. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted among 2852 adolescents in primary and secondary school from November 2019 to January 2020 in Slovenia. 6-steps method of validation was used to test psychometric properties of the KIDSCREEN-27 scale. We checked descriptive statistics, performed a Mokken scale analysis, parametric item response theory, factor analysis, classical test theory and total (sub)scale scores. Results: All five subscales of the KIDSCREEN-27 formed a unidimensional scale with good homogeneity and reliability. The confirmatory factor analysis showed poor fit in user model versus baseline model metrics (CFI = 0.847TLI = 0.862) and good fit in root mean square error (RMSEA = 0.072p(χ2) < 0.001). A scale reliability was calculated using Cronbach\u27s α (0.93), beta (0.86), G6 (0.95) and omega (0.93). Conclusions: The questionnaire showed average psychometric properties and can be used among adolescents in Slovenia to find out about their quality of life. Further research is needed to explore why fit in user model metrics is poor