ABSTRACT
Having the choice to stay living in one's home and community for as long as possible is a desire of people living with dementia. Yet, for many, this is not a reality due to a lack of appropriate support, unsuitable housing and built environments, social exclusion, and stigma. The global movement called Dementia Friendly Communities aims to address such barriers and bring about positive change. At the local place-based level, Dementia Friendly Community initiatives are typically planned and implemented by committees, yet little is known about how they operate to enact Dementia Friendly Community principles. Using micro-ethnography and a case study approach, two Australian - Queensland Dementia Friendly Community committees and their activities were studied to better understand implementation at the local level. This involved 16 semi-structured interviews, participant observation and field notes identifying goals, approaches, and tensions. While both committees showed the capacity to raise awareness of issues impacting people living with dementia, there were substantial differences in the implementation of the key Dementia Friendly Community principle of inclusion of people living with dementia and carers. Key differences were the way people living with dementia were positioned and the part they were expected to play in committees, whether they were empowered and valued or tokenistically included yet not listened to. Three aspects of practice are central to more meaningful inclusion: engagement, power-sharing, and leadership. Local action groups directed and led by people living with dementia and their carers, with the support of key local people and organizations, help to progress Dementia Friendly Communities locally.
Subject(s)
Dementia , Humans , Queensland , Independent Living , Caregivers/psychology , Female , Male , Aged , Anthropology, CulturalABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Livability is a concept commonly featured in health research to help shape public policy decisions and improve local place settings. Although widely used, it is a contested concept known for its ambiguity and inconsistency of measurements. Other criticisms include the lack of equity perspectives and the underrepresentation of people with disabilities and inhabitants of non-metropolitan places. OBJECTIVES: This review sought to identify the extent to which people with disabilities and non-metropolitan places are included in measurements of livability and to critically review and summarise i) livability definitions and uses, ii) livability places and populations, and iii) livability measurements. METHODS: The scoping review followed Arksey and O'Malley's methodological framework and the PRISMA extension for scoping reviews. The data extraction used meta-aggregation techniques to evaluate findings. A standardised mixed methods appraisal tool was used, and a novel classification of measurements was created. RESULTS: Seventy-seven articles were included, and 1955 measurements were extracted. The overarching findings were: i) livability is inconsistently defined and assessed by measuring the performance of related and independent domains, ii) the population sample or the studies' participants are often not disclosed, non-metropolitan settings are overlooked, and equity is not generally applied or operationalised in measurements, and iii) there is an extensive lack of measurements considering people with disabilities and diversity within disabilities. CONCLUSIONS: The assumptions of homogeneity in study populations in livability measurement literature overlook inequities experienced by people with disabilities and inhabitants of non-metropolitan settings. This review suggests recommendations for future research to assess livability from perspectives inclusive of human diversity.
Subject(s)
Disabled Persons , Health Equity , HumansABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Having a voice in family matters is considered a protective factor from harm, and key to promoting children's wellbeing. However, since the adoption of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989) and specifically Article 12 pertaining to children's participation, research reveals that children's voices often remain invisible in child protection and family welfare services. OBJECTIVE: While there is renewed interest in hearing children's voices about their experiences in out-of-home care, there remains little awareness and knowledge of children's voices in family support services. This article addresses this gap by presenting children's own meanings and experiences of having a voice, derived from a research collaboration between UnitingCare and Queensland University of Technology . PARTICIPANTS AND SETTING: 17 children aged 6-16 years (8 sibling groups) whose families received family support services (voluntary or ordered) from UnitingCare in Queensland, Australia. METHODS: An interpretative phenomenological approach with activity-based interviews involving art, play and Reflexions cards were used to support children to share their lived experiences. FINDINGS: Children's sense-making related to having a voice revealed four connected meanings that poignantly illustrated that not only should children have a say about the supports they receive because they are part of a family, but because they are knowledgeable agents with insights that can improve their and their family's experiences. CONCLUSION: Family support services need a sustained paradigm shift towards protection with participation to incorporate the voices of children as an everyday practice to ensure their wellbeing and safety.
Subject(s)
Child Welfare , Family , Australia , Child , Humans , QueenslandABSTRACT
PURPOSE: This study examined the challenges young people with a physical and/or neurological condition experience in their journey to work. This includes both their physical commute to work and transition to the workforce. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Insight was established through the development and testing of a model which extended the model of goal directed behavior. A survey was distributed to 200 young people with a physical and/or neurological condition. PLS-SEM analysis was conducted to identify factors which influence a young person with a physical and/or neurological disability's journey to work. RESULTS: The results suggest subjective norms, attitudes, anticipated negative emotions, and risk aversion underpin a young person's desire to journey to work (both physical commute to work and transition to workforce). This desire then encourages an individual's intentions to travel independently. Past behavior and perceived behavioral support are seen to encourage intentions, while employer support and social support lead to increased perceived behavioral control directly and intentions indirectly. CONCLUSIONS: The study highlights the importance of mental preparedness, having support available from employers, friends, and families, and access to transport that supports independence in encouraging and facilitating the journey to work for young adults with a neurological and/or physical disability.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONfPositive attitude, risk aversion, and expected negative emotions are key factors in the decision to commute to work independently for a young person with a physical and/or neurological disability.The more support a young person with a physical and/or neurological disability feels from their employer and social circle, the more likely they feel in control of their actions and to plan to journey to work independently.Encouraging social norms are likely to impact the desire and intention to journey to work independently for young people with a physical and/or neurological disability.Feeling in control and having successful previous transport experiences is likely to help predict whether young people with a physical and/or neurological disability will plan on commuting to work independently in the future.
Subject(s)
Intention , Transportation , Adolescent , Friends , Humans , Social Support , Surveys and Questionnaires , Young AdultABSTRACT
This study investigates how young adults with disabilities can be encouraged to be independent in their travel to work and thus, transition more smoothly into the workforce. Using cluster analysis, we identify three segment groups of young adults with physical disabilities. The Theory of Planned Behaviour is then applied to examine differences and identify strategies that could provide assistance and support to these groups of workers in their travel to work. This study is the first to segment this group of workers and identify strategies to mitigate the often-unique challenges they face in their physical journey to work.
ABSTRACT
Iron and silver nanoparticles were synthesized using a rapid, single step, and completely green biosynthetic method employing aqueous sorghum extracts as both the reducing and capping agent. Silver ions were rapidly reduced by the aqueous sorghum bran extracts, leading to the formation of highly crystalline silver nanoparticles with an average diameter of 10 nm. The diffraction peaks were indexed to the face-centered cubic (fcc) phase of silver. The absorption spectra of colloidal silver nanoparticles showed a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) peak centered at a wavelength of 390 nm. Amorphous iron nanoparticles with an average diameter of 50 nm were formed instantaneously under ambient conditions. The reactivity of iron nanoparticles was tested by the H(2)O(2)-catalyzed degradation of bromothymol blue as a model organic contaminant.