Spirituality, music, and wellbeing : sharing insights from an Australian setting

The relationship between spirituality, music, health, and wellbeing is gaining much theoretical and research attention globally. These related concepts are complex and involve many facets and challenges. This paper explores the relationship between music and spirituality as a way to communicate actively with God, which interconnects with wellbeing and quality of life. The focus of this paper discusses one case study from my wider research project “Spirituality and Wellbeing: Music in the Community” that started in 2013, in Melbourne (Australia). Having gained ethical clearance, case study methodology (interviews, documents, and observation) was employed. For this paper, I only offer a discussion of semi-structured interviews with volunteer participants from an Anglican Church in the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne (Australia). Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), I analyzed and codified the interview data to explore the lived experience of the participant’s perception and how they make sense of it. As IPA is phenomenological, it takes into the account my own ideas through a process of interpretation when analyzing the phenomena under study. The interview data are reported under two overarching themes: music and spirituality and music and wellbeing. The data provides insights into the various ways music contributes to participants’ spiritual journey and growth. I argue that music is a powerful vehicle that connects people with God and others as it fosters an enhanced sense of spiritual growth and self-wellbeing.

Differences in health behaviours between immigrant and non-immigrant groups: a protocol for a systematic review

Health behaviours are important determinants of health and adoption of unhealthy behaviour is considered as one of the mechanisms through which immigrants' health changes over time in the host country. The change in health behaviours over time can contribute either to improving or worsening the overall health status of immigrants. Despite being the important mediators for the change in overall health status and chronic health conditions, no previous review (either general or systematic) has examined differences in key health behaviours simultaneously between immigrants and non-immigrants. This study aims to provide a systematic overview of the current global literature on differences in key health behaviours (that is, tobacco smoking, physical activity and alcohol drinking) between immigrant and non-immigrant groups.

Experiences of racism, racial/ethnic attitudes, motivated fairness and mental health outcomes among primary and secondary school students

While studies investigating the health effects of racial discrimination for children and youth have examined a range of effect modifiers, to date, relationships between experiences of racial discrimination, student attitudes, and health outcomes remain unexplored. This study uniquely demonstrates the moderating effects of vicarious racism and motivated fairness on the association between direct experiences of racism and mental health outcomes, specifically depressive symptoms and loneliness, among primary and secondary school students. Across seven schools, 263 students (54.4% female), ranging from 8 to 17 years old (M = 11.2, SD = 2.2) reported attitudes about other racial/ethnic groups and experiences of racism. Students from minority ethnic groups (determined by country of birth) reported higher levels of loneliness and more racist experiences relative to the majority group students. Students from the majority racial/ethnic group reported higher levels of loneliness and depressive symptoms if they had more friends from different racial/ethnic groups, whereas the number of friends from different groups had no effect on minority students' loneliness or depressive symptoms. Direct experiences of racism were robustly related to higher loneliness and depressive symptoms in multivariate regression models. However, the association with depressive symptoms was reduced to marginal significance when students reported low motivated fairness. Elaborating on the negative health effects of racism in primary and secondary school students provides an impetus for future research and the development of appropriate interventions.

Experience of racism and tooth brushing among pregnant Aboriginal Australians: exploring psychosocial mediators

Despite burgeoning evidence regarding the pathways by which experiences of racism influence health outcomes, little attention has been paid to the relationship between racism and oral health-related behaviours in particular. We hypothesised that self-reported racism was associated with tooth brushing, and that this association was mediated by perceived stress and sense of control and moderated by social support.

Interventions to improve cultural competency in healthcare: a systematic review of reviews

Cultural competency is a recognized and popular approach to improving the provision of health care to racial/ethnic minority groups in the community with the aim of reducing racial/ethnic health disparities. The aim of this systematic review of reviews is to gather and synthesize existing reviews of studies in the field to form a comprehensive understanding of the current evidence base that can guide future interventions and research in the area.

Self-reported racism and experience of toothache among pregnant Aboriginal Australians: the role of perceived stress, sense of control, and social support

Objectives We hypothesized that the psychosocial factors perceived stress and sense of personal control mediated the relationship between self-reported racism and experience of toothache. We hypothesized that social support moderated this relationship. Methods Data from 365 pregnant Aboriginal Australian women were used to evaluate experience of toothache, socio-demographic factors, psychosocial factors, general health, risk behaviors, and self-reported racism exposure. Hierarchical logistic regression models estimated odds ratios (ORs) and 95 percent confidence intervals (CIs) for experience of toothache. Perceived stress and sense of personal control were examined as mediators of the association between self-reported racism and experience of toothache. Social support was examined as a moderator. Results Self-reported racism persisted as a risk indicator for experience of toothache (OR 1.99, 95 percent CI 1.07-3.72) after controlling for age, level of education, and difficulty paying a $100 dental bill. The relationship between self-reported racism and experience of toothache was mediated by sense of control. The direct effect of self-reported racism on experience of toothache became only marginally significant, and the indirect effect was significant (β coefficient-=-0.04, bias-corrected 95 percent CI 0.004-0.105, 21.2 percent of effect mediated). Stress was insignificant as a mediator. Social support was insignificant as a moderator. Conclusions The findings indicate that high levels of self-reported racism were associated with experience of toothache and that sense of control, but not perceived stress, mediated the association between self-reported racism and experience of toothache among this sample of pregnant Aboriginal Australian women. Social support did not moderate the association between self-reported racism and experience of toothache.

Patterns of intergroup contact in public spaces: micro-ecology of segregation in Australian communities

The use of public spaces can promote social cohesion and facilitate interpersonal interactions within the community. However, the ways racial and ethnic groups interact in public spaces can also reflect and influence informal segregation in the wider community. The present study aimed to examine patterns of intergroup contact within public spaces in Victoria, Australia through short-term observation in four localities. Data were collected on within-group, intergroup and absence of contact for people from minority and majority groups. A total of 974 contacts were observed. Findings indicate that in the observed public spaces, people from visible minority groups tended to have no contact with others or to interact with people from other ethnic/racial groups. In contrast, those from the majority group tended to interact predominately with other majority group members. This suggests that majority group members are more likely to ‘self-segregate’ in public spaces than those from minority groups.

Encountering the ‘other’: interpreting student experiences of a multi-sensory museum exhibition

The Immigration Museum Melbourne, Australia, launched the Identity: Yours, Mine, Ours exhibition in 2011. Aimed primarily at secondary school students, this long-term installation seeks to foster reflection on identity and belonging, as well as dialogue about racism, through an interactive, immersive museum experience. This paper describes a multi-method research project, which included narrative interviews, focus groups and video diaries with 47 Year 11–12 students from three secondary schools in Victoria, Australia, and discusses each method's contribution to an overall empirical understanding of the installation's impact on students' experiences. Emerging findings suggest the ways in which the exhibition space supports students to encounter and engage with individual stories and experiences, thus moving beyond an abstract tolerance of cultural diversity by unsettling the self and destabilising stereotyped and prejudiced interpretations of the ‘other’. The paper concludes by discussing the potential for triangulated qualitative approaches to provide rich emic perspectives on multi-sensory exhibitions.

Assessing mediators between discrimination, health behaviours and physical health outcomes: a representative cross-sectional study

PURPOSE: Discrimination is a social determinant of health; however, the pathways linking discrimination to ill-health are under-researched. This study investigated the mediators through which discrimination affects health behaviours and physical health outcomes, as well as assessed whether sex moderated these mechanisms. METHODS: Data from a representative survey (n = 1023) of undergraduate students enrolled in a Brazilian university in 2012 were used. Structural equation models were applied to assess the following mediation mechanisms--(1) discrimination influences self-rated health and body mass index via anxiety/depression; (2) discrimination affects behaviours (alcohol consumption, problem drinking, smoking, fruit/vegetable consumption, and physical activity) through discomfort associated with discriminatory experiences. The potential of sex to act as an effect-modifying variable was also explored in each of the postulated pathways. RESULTS: The effect of discrimination on self-rated poor health was totally (100.0%) mediated by anxiety/depression, while body mass index was not correlated with discrimination. Self-reported discrimination was associated with some behaviours via discomfort. Particularly, discomfort partially mediated the positive association between discrimination, leisure time physical activity (43.3%), and fruit/vegetable consumption (52.2%). Sex modified the association between discrimination, discomfort and physical activity in that such mechanism (more discrimination → more discomfort → more physical activity) was statistically significant in the entire sample and among females, but not among males. CONCLUSIONS: This is one of the first studies to demonstrate that discrimination is associated with physical health outcomes and behaviours via distinct pathways. Future investigations should further explicate the mediational pathways between discrimination and key health outcomes.

Excessive criminal punishment amounts to punishing the innocent : an argument for taking the parsimony principle seriously

Punishing the innocent is incontestably repugnant. Punishing offenders more harshly than is justified is a form of punishing the innocent, yet this practice is commonplace in the United States. This Article sets out a normative argument in favor of less severe penalties for many forms of offenses. There is already an established principle, which limits punishment to the minimum amount of hardship that is required to achieve the objectives of sentencing. The principle is termed “parsimony” and is widely endorsed. Yet, in reality, it is illusory. It has no firm content and in its current form is logically and jurisprudentially incapable of grounding a persuasive argument for more lenient sentences. This Article gives content to the principle of parsimony. It is argued that application of the principle will result in a considerable reduction in the number of offenders who are sentenced to imprisonment and shorter sentences for many offenders who are jailed. The recommendations in this Article will enhance the fairness and transparency of the sentencing system. The argument is especially important at this point in history. The United States is experiencing an incarceration crisis. The principle of parsimony, properly applied, is an important key to ameliorating the incarceration problem. The Article also examines the operation of the parsimony principle in Australia. Unlike sentencing courts in the United States, Australian judges enjoy considerable discretion in sentencing offenders. Despite the vastly different approach to sentencing in Australia, it too is experiencing a considerable increase in the incarceration rate. It emerges that the courts in a tightly regimented sentencing regime (the United States) and a mainly discretionary system (Australia) effectively ignored the parsimony principle. It is not the strictures in the United States that curtail the imposition of parsimonious sentences; rather, it is the absence of a forceful rationale underpinning the principle and a lack of clarity regarding the attainable objectives of sentencing. This Article addresses these shortcomings. In doing so, it paves the way for fundamentally fairer sentencing outcomes in the United States and Australia.

Doing diversity: intercultural understanding in primary and secondary schools

Doing Diversity: Intercultural understanding in primary and secondary schools1 was a three year, multi-method programme of research involving intensive work in 12 diverse profile schools in Melbourne, Victoria, that examined the facilitators and impediments to the intercultural capabilities described in the Victorian and Australian curricula for students and schools.

Challenges of development in difficult sociopolitical contexts

In the middle of writing this chapter, I visited a friend who has beenin the development industry for a couple of decades. I had not seenhim for a while as he had been in Afghanistan and, for a considerableperiod after that, in hospital. Afghanistan has arguably been the mostdangerous place in the world to do development work, perhaps since the1960s, and, of course, undertaking development while a war is ongoingis almost a contradiction in terms. Especially in Afghanistan, butperhaps in many other ‘difficult sociopolitical contexts’, developmentgains have been few, extraordinarily expensive for their outcomes, andprobably not sustainable.Not all development workers end up in my friend’s situation; a suicidebomber left him substantially and permanently damaged. But, juston this personal level, I have had colleagues and friends arrested, shotat, jailed and kidnapped, as well as being exposed to dangerous illnessesand, too often unstated, often long-term psychological trauma. Localswhom colleagues have worked with have experienced all this, as well asbeing beaten, tortured and, too often, killed. My own first rule in ‘difficultsociopolitical contexts’ is never to expose another person to danger,either at the time or, potentially, later. Yet it happens, to foreigners, tolocals working with foreigners and to state employees. Developmentworkers easily fall foul of the extremes of competing perspectives andgoals, where there is no such thing as neutrality and everyone who isnot a clear friend is a clear enemy.

Racism as a determinant of health: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Despite a growing body of epidemiological evidence in recent years documenting the health impacts of racism, the cumulative evidence base has yet to be synthesized in a comprehensive meta-analysis focused specifically on racism as a determinant of health. This meta-analysis reviewed the literature focusing on the relationship between reported racism and mental and physical health outcomes. Data from 293 studies reported in 333 articles published between 1983 and 2013, and conducted predominately in the U.S., were analysed using random effects models and mean weighted effect sizes. Racism was associated with poorer mental health (negative mental health: r = -.23, 95% CI [-.24,-.21], k = 227; positive mental health: r = -.13, 95% CI [-.16,-.10], k = 113), including depression, anxiety, psychological stress and various other outcomes. Racism was also associated with poorer general health (r = -.13 (95% CI [-.18,-.09], k = 30), and poorer physical health (r = -.09, 95% CI [-.12,-.06], k = 50). Moderation effects were found for some outcomes with regard to study and exposure characteristics. Effect sizes of racism on mental health were stronger in cross-sectional compared with longitudinal data and in non-representative samples compared with representative samples. Age, sex, birthplace and education level did not moderate the effects of racism on health. Ethnicity significantly moderated the effect of racism on negative mental health and physical health: the association between racism and negative mental health was significantly stronger for Asian American and Latino(a) American participants compared with African American participants, and the association between racism and physical health was significantly stronger for Latino(a) American participants compared with African American participants. Protocol PROSPERO registration number: CRD42013005464.