Music Improves Social and Participation Outcomes for Individuals With Communication Disorders: A Systematic Review.

There is increasing interest in exploring the benefits of music in rehabilitation settings. In the field of speech-language pathology, an ultimate goal for individuals with communication disorders is to foster participation across multiple contexts. The goal of this systematic review was to explore social and participation outcomes for individuals with communication disorders who received arts-based interventions. A systematic search of the literature yielded 86 studies, which were coded and summarized in terms of participants, arts-based intervention, social and participation variables, outcome, and quality of evidence. The majority of identified studies (N = 71) utilized music. Results indicated that music-based interventions can improve social and participation outcomes, such as frequency of responses, initiation of communication, turn-taking, joint attention, and group participation for children and adults with autism spectrum disorder and developmental and acquired communication disorders; however, future research is needed to expand the use of varied arts-based interventions targeting a larger breadth of social and participation outcomes.

"We need more things for us": Being low income and underoccupied in older age.

BACKGROUND.: Low-income older adult populations have increased vulnerability to occupational engagement barriers and poor health outcomes while aging in community settings. PURPOSE.: The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between community navigation and well-being for low-income older adults. METHOD.: Community-dwelling older adults (N = 10) were recruited for this multimethod observational cohort study, which employed GPS data, measures of well-being, and semistructured interviews across 12 months. Grounded theory processes were followed to analyze and integrate the qualitative, quantitative, and spatial data. FINDINGS.: Findings were three patterns of community navigation. In particular, patterns of being chronically underoccupied were noted for this low-income population. Specific place-based challenges are explained along with strategies used to mitigate these challenges. IMPLICATIONS.: Supporting community navigation, especially social interaction opportunities, can maximize well-being; and older residents' occupational participation may be unnecessarily curtailed by geographic, economic, and social factors beyond their control. Community navigation strategies should be considered holistically by occupational therapists as part of interventions supporting aging in place.

Evaluation design of the Social Engagement Framework for Addressing the Chronic-disease-challenge (SEFAC): a mindfulness-based intervention to promote the self-management of chronic conditions and a healthy lifestyle.

BACKGROUND: The Social Engagement Framework for Addressing the Chronic-disease-challenge (SEFAC) project intends to empower citizens at risk of or with type 2 diabetes (T2DM) and/or cardiovascular disease (CVD) to self-manage their chronic conditions through the SEFAC intervention. The intervention combines the concepts of mindfulness, social engagement and information and communication technology support, in order to reduce the burden of citizens with chronic conditions and to increase the sustainability of the health system in four European countries. METHODS: A prospective cohort study with a 6-month pre-post design will be conducted in four European countries: Croatia, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. A total of 360 community-dwelling citizens ≥50 years of age will be recruited; 200 citizens at risk of T2DM and/or CVD in the next 10 years (50 participants in each country) and 160 citizens with T2DM and/or CVD (40 participants in each country). Effects of the intervention in terms of self-management, healthy lifestyle behavior, social support, stress, depression, sleep and fatigue, adherence to medications and health-related quality of life will be assessed. In addition, a preliminary cost-effectiveness analysis will be performed from a societal and healthcare perspective. DISCUSSION: The SEFAC project will further elucidate whether the SEFAC intervention is feasible and (cost-) effective among citizens at risk of and suffering from T2DM and/or CVD in different settings. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ISRCTN registry number is ISRCTN11248135 . Date of registration is 30/08/2018 (retrospectively registered).

Beyond health care: Volunteer work, social participation, and late-life general cognitive status in Taiwan.

SIGNIFICANCE: In addition to the complexity associated with health care coverage and its utilization by older people, I hypothesize that social engagement promotes a better later-life general cognitive status beyond health care availability as is provided by Taiwan's National Health Insurance (NHI) system. The present study thus explores whether social engagement, specifically social participation and volunteer work, is independently associated with later-life general cognitive status after adjusting for health service utilization among older Taiwanese via the NHI system. METHODS: Using a population-based natural experiment study design, data from the Taiwan Longitudinal Study on Aging (TLSA, 1993-2007) was analyzed. Mixed-effects models were conducted to estimate the relative effects of volunteer work, social participation, and NHI on general cognitive status over time, while taking health status, medical care utilization, community development, and social support into consideration. RESULTS: The multivariate findings showed that a better general cognitive status is significantly associated with being actively involved in volunteer work (ß = 0.14, p < 0.01) and social participation (ß = 0.14, p < 0.01). In addition, NHI is also significantly associated with a higher level of general cognitive status (ß = 0.10, p < 0.01). DISCUSSION: This investigation suggests that social engagement has significant impacts on late-life general cognitive status, even taking into account the NHI system and its related utilization effects. The results highlight the importance of volunteer work and social participation among older Taiwanese because such social involvement produces a positive effect on their general cognitive status beyond health care itself. Furthermore, the contribution of productive activities to enhance late-life cognitive health is underscored.

Tunisian documentation of «Public Health¼ in post revolution, with a taste of freedom. For a fair, participatory and efficient National Health System.

CONTEXT: Following the Tunisian revolution of 2010/2011, a new Public Health literature emerged, by the ministerial departments as well as the civil society, which was marked by the transparency and the comprehensiveness of the approach. OBJECTIVE: To identify the key ideas of the new Tunisian Public Health discourse, reconciling the principles of a globalizing paradigm with the health problems of a country in transition. METHODS: During this qualitative research, a selected series of three Tunisian reports of Public Health, published in the first quinquennium of the revolution, was read by an independent team of experts in Public Health, not having contributed to their elaboration, to identify the consensual foundations of the new Public Health discourse. These documents were: the "2011 Health Map" of the Department of Studies and Planning of the Ministry of Health, the "Societal Dialogue Report on Health Policies, Strategies and Plans" (2014), and the "Report on the right to health in Tunisia" (2016). RESULTS: The reading of this sample of the Tunisian Public Health literature of the post-revolution brought out three consensual ideas: 1. The constitutional principle of the "right to health" (article 38 of the constitution) with its corollary the State's obligation to ensure access to comprehensive, quality and secure care; 2. The challenge of social "inequalities" of access to care, reinforced by a regional disparity in the distribution of resources, particularly high-tech (specialist doctors, university structures); 3. Advocacy for a National Health System, based on a universal health coverage for its funding and citizen participation in its governance. CONCLUSION: The new Tunisian Public Health literature, in post-revolution, calls on all stakeholders in Preventive and Community Medicine to replace their segmental, technical and hospital practices with a new approach, centered on the implementation of a National Health System that is based on a socialized financing of care and citizen participation in its management.

The Pituri Learning Circle: central Australian Aboriginal women's knowledge and practices around the use of Nicotiana spp. as a chewing tobacco.

INTRODUCTION: Tobacco smoking has a range of known and predictable adverse outcomes, and across the world sustained smoking reduction campaigns are targeted towards reducing individual and public risk and harm. Conversely, more than 87 million women, mostly in low- and middle-income countries, use smokeless tobacco, yet the research examining the effect of this form of tobacco exposure on women is remarkably scant. In central Australia, the chewing of wild Nicotiana spp., a tobacco plant, commonly known as pituri and mingkulpa, is practised by Aboriginal groups across a broad geographical area. Until recently, there had been no health research conducted on the effects of chewing pituri. METHODS: This article reports on one component of a multidimensional pituri research agenda. A narrative approach utilising the methodology of the Learning Circle was used to interview three key senior central Australian Aboriginal women representative of three large geographical language groupings. The participants were selected by a regional Aboriginal women's organisation. With the assistance of interpreters, a semistructured interview, and specific trigger resources, participants provided responses to enable an understanding of the women's ethnobotanical pituri knowledge and practices around the use of pituri within the context of Aboriginal women's lives. Data were transcribed, and by using a constant comparison analysis, emergent themes were categorised. The draft findings and manuscript were translated into the participants' language and validated by the participants. RESULTS: Three themes around pituri emerged: (a) the plants, preparation and use; (b) individual health and wellbeing; and (c) family and community connectedness. The findings demonstrated similar participant ethnobotanical knowledge and practices across the geographical area. The participants clearly articulated the ethnopharmacological knowledge associated with mixing pituri with wood ash to facilitate the extraction of nicotine from Nicotiana spp., the results of which were biochemically verified. The participants catalogued the pleasurable and desired effects obtained from pituri use, the miscellaneous uses of pituri, as well as the adverse effects of pituri overdose and toxicity, the catalogue of which matched those of nicotine. The participants' overarching pituri theme was related to the inherent role pituri has in the connectiveness of people to family, friends and community. CONCLUSIONS: Central Australian Aboriginal women have a firmly established knowledge and understanding of the pharmacological principles related to the content of Nicotiana spp. and the extraction of nicotine from the plant. Widespread use of Nicotiana spp. as a chewing tobacco by Aboriginal populations in the southern, central and western desert regions of Australia is attested to by participants who assert that everyone uses it, with girls in these remote areas commencing use between 5 and 7 years of age. Central Australian Aboriginal people who chew Nicotiana spp. do not consider it to be a tobacco plant, and will strongly refute that they are tobacco users. Central Australian Aboriginal people do not consider that the Western health information regarding tobacco (as a smoked product) is applicable or aligned to their use of pituri. Nicotiana spp. users will deny tobacco use at health assessment. There is a requirement to develop and provide health information on a broader range of tobacco and nicotine products in ways that are considered credible by the Aboriginal population. Health messages around pituri use need to account for the dominant role that pituri occupies in the context of central Australian Aboriginal women's lives.
Information for readers: A consultative organisation of Aboriginal women has as a strategic intent and operational agenda the improvement of Aboriginal women's and children's health across the research region. The group seeks opportunities to enhance their knowledge based on legitimate collaborative research; accordingly, they sought to participate in a range of research activities regarding the use of pituri and women's health outcomes. Of particular note, the group's participants chose to be identified by name in the publication of this research activity. In this article, the term 'Aboriginal' has been chosen by the central Australian women to refer to both themselves and the Aboriginal people in their communities; 'Indigenous' has been chosen to refer to the wider Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The term Nicotiana spp. is used when referring to the plants from a Western perspective; pituri is used when referring to the plants, the tobacco quid, and the practice of chewing from a general Aboriginal perspective; and mingkulpa is used when the participants are voicing their specific knowledge and practices.

Test-Retest Reliability and Internal Consistency of the Activity Card Sort-Australia (18-64).

The Activity Card Sort (ACS) measures activity engagement levels. The Activity Card Sort-Australian version for adults aged 18 to 64 (ACS-Aus (18-64)) was recently developed, and psychometric properties have not yet been determined. This study was established to determine the test-retest reliability and internal consistency of the ACS-Aus (18-64) and describe activity engagement trends for healthy adults. Fifty-four adults aged 18 to 64 participated in this descriptive study. The ACS-Aus (18-64) demonstrated excellent test-retest reliability ( r = .92, p < .001) and acceptable internal consistency (α = .83). Adults aged 18 to 40 retained a lower percentage of activities than adults aged 41 to 64 for personal care, daily life, home maintenance activities ( t = -2.22, p = .03), and recreation and relaxation activities ( t = -2.38, p = .02). The ACS-Aus (18-64) may be used to explore the activity engagement patterns of community-dwelling Australian adults aged 18 to 64. Further research will determine validity for clinical populations.

Effects of Community Singing Program on Mental Health Outcomes of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People: A Meditative Approach.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the impact of a meditative singing program on the health outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. DESIGN: The study used a prospective intervention design. SETTING: The study took place in six Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and Community Controlled Health Services in Queensland, Australia. SUBJECTS: Study participants were 210 Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults aged 18 to 71 years, of which 108 were in a singing intervention group and 102 in a comparison group. INTERVENTION: A participative community-based community singing program involving weekly singing rehearsals was conducted over an 18-month period. MEASURES: Standardized measures in depression, resilience, sense of connectedness, social support, and singing related quality of life were used. ANALYSIS: The general linear model was used to compare differences pre- and postintervention on outcome variables, and structural equation modeling was used to examine the pathway of the intervention effect. RESULTS: Results revealed a significant reduction in the proportion of adults in the singing group classified as depressed and a concomitant significant increase in resilience levels, quality of life, sense of connectedness, and social support among this group. There were no significant changes for these variables in the comparison group. CONCLUSIONS: The participatory community singing approach linked to preventative health services was associated with improved health, resilience, sense of connectedness, social support, and mental health status among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults.

Interdependent Self-Construal, Self-Efficacy, and Community Involvement as Predictors of Perceived Knowledge Gain Among MMORPG Players.

This study explored the relationship between interdependent self-construal, video game self-efficacy, massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) community involvement, and self-reported learning outcomes. The results suggested that self-efficacy and interdependent self-construal were positive and significant predictors of MMORPG community involvement. For its part, MMORPG community involvement was a positive predictor of self-reported learning in both focused and incidental forms. Supplementary analyses suggested that self-efficacy was a comparatively more robust predictor of MMORPG community involvement when compared to self-construal. Moreover, the present data suggest that community involvement significantly facilitated indirect relationships between self-construal, game-relevant self-efficacy, and both focused and incidental learning.

Religious and Non-religious Activity Engagement as Assets in Promoting Social Ties Throughout University: The Role of Emotion Regulation.

Emerging adulthood is a time of many changes. For example, one change that occurs for a subset of emerging adults is leaving home and starting university. Importantly, the creation of social ties can aid in promoting positive adjustment during university. This study investigated whether involvement in religious activities promotes social ties among university students directly and/or indirectly through emotion regulation. Importantly, involvement in religious activities may promote self-regulatory skills, and the ability to effectively regulate emotions can aid in navigating social interactions. To rule out potentially important confounding variables, spirituality and involvement in non-religious clubs were statistically controlled in all analyses. The participants included 1,132 university students (70.5 % female) from a university in Ontario, Canada who were surveyed each year over a period of 3 years. The results indicated that involvement in religious activities indirectly predicted more social ties over time through emotion regulation. Spirituality did not predict social ties or emotion regulation. Furthermore, non-religious clubs directly predicted more social ties over time. Thus, although involvement in religious and non-religious activities both predicted more social ties in a university setting over time, the mechanism by which these activities promote social ties differed.

Stressors, coping resources, functioning, and role limitations among older korean immigrants: gender differences.

This study explored the differential impacts of stressors and coping resources on the functioning and roles of 246 older Korean immigrant men and women. Older Korean immigrant women were significantly more likely than men to have acculturation and socioeconomic stressors, physical/social functioning problems, and role limitations. English-language barriers and lack of transportation were significantly related to lower functioning and higher role limitations of older Korean women compared to those of older men. Providing social and health care services with bilingual and transportation services to older Korean immigrant women is recommended to increase their physical/social functioning and role performance.

Predictors of suffering in advanced cancer.

CONTEXT: Suffering is a complex experience. Identifying its predictors is useful to signal at-risk patients. OBJECTIVE: To identify suffering predictors in patients with advanced cancer in palliative care. METHODS: A total of 98 patients participated in the study. A semistructured interview examining suffering levels and physical, psychological, social, and spiritual aspects was used. Instruments included Pictorial Representation of Illness and Self Measure (PRISM), Edmonton Symptom Assessment System (ESAS), Detection of emotional distress (DED), and Structured Interview of Symptoms and Concern (SISC). Variance-based structural equation model was used for the data analysis. RESULTS: All measures were valid and reliable. The structural model explained 64% of the variance. Suffering levels were directly determined by psychological and adjustment problems and indirectly determined by physical, psychological, and spiritual aspects and coping strategies. CONCLUSION: Our study supports the proposed theoretical model and signals the important mediating effect of psychological and spiritual variables between physical symptoms and suffering.

Sobre o desenvolvimento do talento no desporto: um contributo dos modelos teóricos do desenvolvimento desportivo / Athlete development models

Con este artículo, se pretende, globalmente, sintetizar algunos de los avances más importantes de las últimas décadas sobre el tema del talento en deporte, pero también contribuir para que los diferentes agentes deportivos, particularmente dirigentes y entrenadores, los pueden reconocer y aplicar en sus prácticas. Así, inicialmente se presenta una breve evolución histórica que procura explorar como si ha pasado de una perspectiva basado en la idea de la detección de rasgos innatos que podrían predecir el éxito deportivo, para una perspectiva de desarrollo del talento y para un marco holístico de lo atleta y de su contexto. En seguida, lo artículo presenta una retrospectiva sobre varios modelos teóricos que han sido avanzados en lo ámbito de la psicología del deporte, a saber, modelos basados en las transiciones de la carrera y los basados en lo desarrollo del talento y de la pericia. Finalmente en cuanto modelo conceptual más referenciado en la literatura, se hace una análisis con detalle del Modelo de Desarrollo de la Participación Deportiva (Côté, Baker y Abernethy, 2007), en particular con respecto a los procesos de desarrollo relativos a las normas de entrenamiento (e.g., diversificación y especialización) y las influencias psicosociales, aspectos que están en la base de todo el desarrollo del atleta (AU)

With this article, we aim to offer a conceptual synthesis of some of the most important developments in past decades on the subject of talent in sport, while also helping sports stakeholders, particularly managers and coaches, to recognize and apply these conclusions in their practices. The article starts with a brief historical review, which explores how there has been a shift from a talent detection perspective to a talent development perspective and to a holistic vision of athletes and their background context. Secondly, the article presents an overview of the main theoretical models put forward in literature on sport psychology, including career-transition-based models and talent-and-expertise-based models. Finally, as the conceptual model most widely referred to in literature, a detailed analysis of the Development Model of Sports Participation (Côté, Baker & Abernethy, 2007), is made, especially with regard to development processes relating to standards of practice (e.g. diversification and specialization) and psychosocial influences, aspects that form the basis of all-round athlete development (AU)

Psychosocial impact of onychomycosis: a review.

Onychomycosis (tinea unguium) is the most common nail disorder. Nonetheless, it requires lengthy, often ineffective treatments, and recurrence is frequent. Predominantly a disease of the elderly, onychomycosis is becoming more and more common. Besides interfering with normal nail function, fungal nail infections are relatively painful, unsightly in appearance, disrupt daily activities, and have a negative psychosocial connotation. Commonly reported psychosocial factors are embarrassment, low self-esteem, and social withdrawal. Yet advances in therapy have been achieved since these reports were made, and many of these treatment options have proven to be more effective. Thus, the impact of these advances on psychosocial well-being of patients with onychomycosis is worth analyzing. The objective of this paper is to review studies that investigated the psychosocial impact of onychomycosis on a variety of patient populations. An alternative, total patient approach that dermatologists and general practitioners alike could use to incorporate patients' psychosocial well-being into the holistic management of onychomycosis will also be discussed.

An integrative review of what contributes to personal recovery in psychiatric disabilities.

The aim of this integrated literature review is to identify what people with psychiatric disabilities experience as contributing to their personal recovery. The study design is based on Whittemore and Knafl's integrative review and includes 14 qualitative peer-reviewed articles. The analysis reveals three main themes: recovery as an inner process; recovery as a contribution from others; and recovery as participating in social and meaningful activities. If mental health nurses adhere to the personal recovery perspective, nursing practice will focus on the patients' needs, conveying hope and supporting the patient in the recovery process.

Older adults' response to the loss of a spouse: the function of spirituality in understanding the grieving process.

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to examine the role of spirituality in helping older adults grieve the loss of a spouse in the context of a model of group psychotherapy. METHODS: Twenty-four older adults, ranging in age from 65 to 82, whose spouses had died in the previous year, were assigned, in groups of six, to a 14-week group therapy intervention facilitated by trained, experienced co-therapist social workers. All sessions were audio recorded. RESULTS: Qualitative analysis of the four therapy groups at beginning, middle and ending sessions yielded salient themes that illustrate associations between spirituality and shifts in self-identity, mourning the loss and social re-engagement. DISCUSSION: Observed were within process acknowledgement of the role played by spiritual beliefs in mourning the loss of a spouse. Implications for group intervention for older adults grieving the loss of a spouse are discussed.

Mechanisms linking affective reactions to competition-related and competition-extraneous concerns in male martial artists.

The main aim of this study was to examine affective linkages between competition-related and competition-extraneous concern domains. A secondary purpose was to establish the contributions of pre-competition affects to post-competition performance appraisals, independent of pre-competition performance expectations. Thirty-nine highly skilled male martial artists were assessed at five random times a day for a week and 1 h before a major competition on affective states and sources of concern. They also reported their performance expectations and post-competition performance appraisals. Affective states triggered by competition-related and competition-extraneous concerns persisted in time. Carry-over effects were stronger after reports of competition-related concerns, emphasizing the subjective importance of the competitive event. Although positive (enjoyment and surprise) and negative (sadness and guilt) affective spill-over was observed from competition-extraneous to competition-related concerns, the reverse held true only for disgust. These findings may be due to the athletes' ability to regulate affective reactions within a sporting setting, in particular. Spill-over from competition-extraneous to competition-related concerns is indicative of a lesser degree of control over work/study and family life. Given that average weekly negative affects and anger/disgust were independent predictors of post-competition performance appraisals, the phenomenon of spill-over and other affective linkage mechanisms in sport warrant further investigation.

Effect of hippotherapy on perceived self-competence and participation in a child with cerebral palsy.

This case report highlights changes in self-competence and social acceptance, along with changes in functional skills, after an 8-week program of hippotherapy. A 6-year-old girl with mild ataxic cerebral palsy, level I Gross Motor Functional Classification System, exhibited typical impairments in body systems and functions that affected her participation in age-appropriate functional and leisure activities. The child's performance on the Gross Motor Function Measure-66, the Pediatric Outcomes Data Collection Instrument, and the Pictorial Scale of Perceived Competence and Social Acceptance for Young Children were examined at baseline, after the 8-week intervention, and at a 2-month follow-up session. Data at 8 weeks demonstrated positive changes in all areas, with improvements continuing for 2 months after the program's completion. Hippotherapy not only may be an effective intervention to improve functional gross motor development but also may affect perceived self-competence and social acceptance, which may lead to increases in participation for children with mild cerebral palsy.