Contemplating, Caring, Coping, Conversing: A Model for Promoting Mental Wellness in Later Life

This article is based on the premise that mental wellness for older adults can be promoted through communication and presents a model drawing on the constructs of contemplating, caring, coping, and conversing. The importance of interpersonal communication processes in the care of older adults and some barriers to communication and mental wellness are briefly reviewed. This article challenges nurses to develop awareness of their own caregiving styles and communication processes, and to assist others (e.g., family caregivers, care receivers) to communicate and interact more effectively to advance mental wellness for older adults. Populations throughout the world are continuing to grow as life expectancy increases. The aging of the population has driven both governments and health professionals in many countries to recognize the need for care practices focusing on maintaining and promoting the health of older adults. Although cure and healing measures extend age, there is no cure for aging. However, various components of health, such as quality of life, personal growth, and healthy relationships, can and should be promoted and maintained throughout the aging process. These components of health are largely subjective and reflect an individual's mental wellness or mental health. In this article, mental wellness is understood to be a state of mind promoting a balanced, active, and social life through effective adjustment to life's physical, social, emotional, and spiritual challenges. Driven by the premise that mental wellness for older adults can be promoted through communication, this article presents four dimensions of a model for a communication style promoting mental wellness in later life. The dimensions of the model comprise the constructs contemplating, caring, coping, and conversing. Brief dialogues are used to highlight the constructs and how they inform communication that advances mental wellness for older adults. Before examining the four constructs in terms of their relationship to communication, the importance of interpersonal communication processes in elder care and some current barriers are briefly reviewed

A model-driven method for the systematic literature review of qualitative empirical research

This paper explores a model-driven method for systematic literature reviews (SLRs), for use where the empirical studies found in the literature search are based on qualitative research. SLRs are an important component of the evidence-based practice (EBP) paradigm, which is receiving increasing attention in information systems (IS) but has not yet been widely-adopted. We illustrate the model-driven approach to SLRs via an example focused on the use of BPMN (Business Process Modelling Notation) in organizations. We discuss in detail the process followed in using the model-driven SLR method, and show how it is based on a hermeneutic cycle of reading and interpreting, in order to develop and refine a model which synthesizes the research findings of previous qualitative studies. This study can serve as an exemplar for other researchers wishing to carry out model-driven SLRs. We conclude with our reflections on the method and some suggestions for further researc

Children's Health: Evaluating the Impact of Digital Technology. Final Report for Sunderland City Council.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Children’s Health project sponsored by the City of Sunderland Digital Challenge project examined the impact of providing health-focused digital technologies to children aged 11-15 years, in terms of their usage and requirements of such technologies, and their subsequent behavioural changes. The empirical study ran with three groups of six children over a period of seven weeks for each group. A console-based exercise game and an exercise-focused social website were used in the study and the focus was on opportunistic (unstructured/unplanned) exercise. The emergent findings are: • Data collected about physical activity must be more extensive than simple step counts. • Data collection technologies for activities must be ubiquitous but invisible. • Social interaction via technology is expected; positive messages reinforcing attainments of goals are valued; negative feedback is seen as demotivating. • participants were very open to sharing information (privacy was not a concern). • Authority figures have a significant impact on restricting adolescents’ use of technologies. This document reports the how the study was conducted, analyses the findings and draws conclusions from these regarding how to use digital technologies to improve and/or maintain the physical activity levels of children throughout their adolescence and on into adulthood. The appendices provide the detailed (anonymised) data collected during the study and the background literature review

Study of Supportive Housing in Illinois: Interim Report on Publicly-Funded Service Usage by Residents Prior to Entry into Supportive Housing

This study was launched to document and analyze supportive housing residents' use of public services prior to entering housing and afterwards, in order to determine the cost savings of supportive housing to other systems. The hypothesis of the study is that supportive housing reduces a person's usage of expensive, primarily public-funded services.The study tracks individuals' amount of service usage for 2 years before they entered supportive housing, comparing it to their usage of services 2 years after, as well as the change in types of services utilized over time. The study included supportive housing residents across Illinois living in developments that had been in operation for at least one year, and that served individuals who are homeless or at risk of homelessness, and individuals who have a mental illness and/or who are formerly incarcerated

The relevance of specific csfs for stakeholders during ERP implementation: an empirical study from Oman

The success of ERP systems implementation is affected by the extent to which stakeholders have been prepared for the project activities and its outcomes. Stakeholders’ preparation needs change as the ERP implementation lifecycle progresses and varies across stakeholder groups. Therefore a dynamic model is needed for such preparation. However such a model needs to reflect the relevance of different CSFs to different stakeholder groups at different stages of the ERP implementation life-cycle. This study examines empirical evidence from a survey conducted in Omani organisations to determine what these individual CSFs are and how they are distributed across the ERP implementation life-cycle for different stakeholder groups. The CSFs included in the survey were derived from a structured review of literature. Purposive sampling was used to select respondents representing different ERP stakeholders groups, all respondents had both experience and knowledge of ERP implementations. The survey data are analysed and the distribution of relevant CSFs across the ERP lifecycle for the different stakeholder groups are presente

Maori family culture: a context of youth development in Counties/Manukau

This paper reports on a study designed to bring the voices of young people directly into the social science literature on environmental influences on wellbeing. We analyse accounts from young Maori about their families and the roles they play in their lives in order to focus on strengths and positive resources for the promotion of youth wellbeing. Interview data were gathered from 12 females and 15 males, aged between 12 and 25 years, resident in the Counties/Manukau region. Participants who were managing satisfactorily in their lives were purposively selected for diversity of background and circumstances. Our “lifestory” approach sought narrative accounts of both everyday experience and the highs and lows of life; data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using discursive methods. Clusters of themes relating to family environments including relationships with parents, siblings and extended kin groups emerged. Participants provided detailed and nuanced accounts of family cultures, reporting on conflict, caring, gender issues, sensitivity, discipline, levels of guidance and forms of support

Challenges Associated with Implementing an Education Program in a Residential Aged Care Setting

The link between independence and well-being of older people in residential care is well established. This paper reports some challenges encountered during implementation of an education program designed to assist nursing staff to adopt an independence-supporting model of residential care. The education program was part of a larger project aimed at developing an example of best practice in supported care which promotes independence, well-being and community linkages. Implementation of the program created many interesting challenges which were overcome by strategies and facilitating forces such as support from management and some staff, and the collaborative nature of the project. Positive outcomes of the education program included increased awareness of, and change in, practice; increased staff-resident interaction; and increased encouragement for residents to be independent and to engage with the wider community. Moreover, a facilitator manual - Promoting Independence: A Learning Resource for Aged Care Workers was subsequently developed so that the program can be implemented in aged care facilities elsewhere

A Model-Driven Method for the Systematic Literature Review of Qualitative Empirical Research

This paper explores a new model-driven method for systematic literature reviews (SLRs), for use where the empirical studies found in the literature search are based on qualitative research. SLRs are an important component of the evidence-based practice (EBP) paradigm, which is receiving increasing attention in information systems (IS) but has not yet been widely-adopted. We illustrate the model-driven approach to SLRs via an example focused on the use of BPMN (Business Process Modelling Notation) in organizations. We discuss in detail the process followed in using the model-driven SLR method, and show how it is based on a hermeneutic cycle of reading and interpreting, in order to develop and refine a model which synthesizes the research findings of qualitative studies. This study can serve as an exemplar for other researchers wishing to carry out model-driven SLRs. We conclude with our reflections on the method and some suggestions for further research

Supportive Housing in Illinois: A Wise Investment

This study reports on 177 supportive housing residents around Illinois, comparing their use of publicly-funded services two years before entering supportive housing to two years after entry. Data were collected from Medicaid-reimbursed services, state mental health hospitals, substance use treatment, state prisons, and various county jails and hospitals. The study found an overall cost savings of over $850,000 in the two years after entry into supportive housing, a little over$2,400 per person annually. There was a drastic reduction in state prison, county jail, and state mental health hospital overnight stays. There was a shift from using expensive inpatient services before housing (nursing homes, inpatient care, state mental health hospitals) to less expensive outpatient services after entry into housing (outpatient medical and psychiatric care, case management). Supportive Housing in Illinois: A Wise Investment was researched and written by the Heartland Alliance Mid-America Institute on Poverty with support from the Illinois Supportive Housing Providers Association and the Corporation for Supportive Housing

Mobslinger: The Fastest Mobile in the West.

Whilst there is a number of location sensing games emerging for mobile phones, from both commercial and academic sectors, there are few examples of social proximity based games that are effectively position independent. Bluetooth would seem an obvious choice for proximity based games, although the majority of games produced to-date simply uses it to provide a quasi peer to peer connection between users of multiplayer games. This is no-doubt due to the fact that proximity can often be implied from other location sensing technologies and that Bluetooth is often perceived as difficult to employ. In this paper we will show that Bluetooth can provide exciting game scenarios that can enable spontaneous stimulated social interaction using only proximity information. We illustrate this through the design rationale and subsequent implementation of ‘mobslinger’ which is a wild west, quick draw, ‘shoot-em-up’ game using mobile phones