Book Review: Diabetes and wellbeing: Managing psychological and emotional challenges of diabetes types 1 and 2

Book Review in peer revewed Journal of Diabetes Nursing about the psychological and emotional challenges associated with living with Diabetes. The book is recommended to both health professionals and people with Diabetes.

Consumer acceptance of m-wellbeing services : a social marketing perspective

Purpose This study aims to employ the Model of Goal-Directed Behaviour (MGB) to examine the consumer acceptance of technology-based self-service (TBSS) for a credence service instrumental to a social goal. Credence services are increasingly delivered via self-service technology and in social marketing, the achievement of social goals can be contingent on consumer acceptance of these services. However, little is known about the determinants of acceptance and extant marketing literature fails to account for emotional and goal influences which are likely to be important. Design/methodology/approach The authors interviewed 30 young adults with self-reported stress, anxiety or depression as potential users of a self-help mental health service delivered via mobile phone. The data were analysed deductively and inductively with the assistance of NVivo. Findings The findings generally support using the MGB to enhance understanding of consumers' acceptance of TBSS. The paper also found evidence of the importance of maintenance self-efficacy, the self-evaluation of the ability to continue using the service, and a previously ignored element of consumer level competition that arises between alternatives that achieve the same goal. Originality/value This study is the first to examine factors that influence consumers' acceptance of TBSS for credence services aimed at achieving a social goal. It builds on understanding of consumer decision making in social marketing, particularly the influence of self-efficacy and competition. It also contributes to attitudinal research by providing initial evidence for deepening and broadening the MGB in the context of TBSSs.

The value of health and wellbeing : an empirical model of value creation in social marketing

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the role of multiple actors in the value creation process for a preventative health service, and observe the subsequent impact on key service outcomes of satisfaction and customer behaviour intentions to use a preventative health service again in the future. Design/methodology/approach An online self-completion survey of Australian women (n=797) was conducted to test the proposed framework in the context of a free, government-provided breastscreening service. Data were analysed using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). Findings The findings indicate that functional and emotional value are created from organisational and customer resources. These findings indicate that health service providers and customers are jointly responsible for the successful creation of value, leading to desirable outcomes for all stakeholders. Practical implications The results highlight to health professionals the aspects of service that can be managed in order to create value with target audiences. The findings also indicate the importance of the resources provided by users in the creation of value, signifying the importance of customer education and management. Originality/value This study provides a significant contribution to social marketing through the provision of an empirically validated model of value creation in a preventative health service. The model demonstrates how the creation and provision of value can lead to the achievement of desirable social behaviours - a key aim of social marketing.

Strengthening Social and Emotional Learning in Children with Special Needs

Locally and globally, guiding children’s social and emotional development is no longer optional for educators. Research undertaken over the last 20 years provides compelling evidence that early and ongoing development of socio-emotional skills contributes to an individual’s overall health, wellbeing and competence throughout life. Moreover, competence in this domain is now recognised as fundamental to school readiness, school adjustment and academic achievement. As a consequence, social and emotional learning (SEL) is an important theme in current educational policy, curriculum frameworks and classroom practice. This chapter focuses on a particular group of vulnerable learners – children with special needs – and highlights key strategies for educators to use in their everyday classroom practices to strengthen SEL in children from early years through to the end of primary school.

Indicators of wellbeing in recreational video game players

Video game play is a popular entertainment choice, yet we have a limited understanding of the potential wellbeing benefits associated with recreational play. An online survey (final sample, n = 297) addresses this by investigating how the player experience related to wellbeing. The impact of amount of play, game genre, mode of play (social or solitary play) and the psychological experience of play (flow and need satisfaction) on a multi-dimensional measure of wellbeing (emotional, psychological and social) was examined via hierarchical regression. Age, gender, the play of casual games compared to shooters, and in-game experiences of flow, autonomy and relatedness were associated with increases in dimensions of wellbeing.

Impact of abuse and neglect on the health and wellbeing of children:Child sexual abuse

During the past 30 years, the focus on the extent and nature of child abuse and neglect has been coupled with an increasing interest in the impact on children’s development, health and mental wellbeing. Child maltreatment is both a human rights violation and a complex public health issue, likely caused by a myriad of factors that involve the individual, the family, and the community. Child abuse includes any type of maltreatment or harm inflicted upon children and young people in interactions between adults (or older adolescents). Such maltreatment is likely to cause enduring harm to the child.
The different forms of abuse and neglect often occur together in one family and can affect one or more children. These include, in deceasing level of frequency: neglect; physical abuse and non-accidental injury; emotional abuse; and sexual abuse (Cawson et al, 2000; 2002). Recently, bullying and domestic violence have been included as forms of abuse of children.
There is a sizeable body of literature on the relationship between types of child maltreatment and a variety of negative health and mental health consequences. These include biological, psychological, and social deficits (for reviews, see Crittenden, 1998; Kendall-Tackett, 2001; 2003). Aside from the serious physical and health consequences of child maltreatment, several emotional and behavioural consequences for children have been noted in the literature.

Towards a positive cross-cultural lexicography: Enriching our emotional landscape through 216 ‘untranslatable’ words pertaining to well-being

Although much attention has been paid to culture-specific psychopathologies, there have been no comparable attempts to chart positive mental states that may be particular to certain cultures. This paper outlines the beginnings of a positive cross-cultural lexicography of ‘untranslatable’ words pertaining to wellbeing, culled from across the world’s languages. A quasi-systematic search uncovered 216 such terms. Using grounded theory, these words were organised into three categories: feelings (comprising positive and complex feelings); relationships (comprising intimacy and pro-sociality); and character (comprising personal resources and spirituality). The paper has two main aims. First, it aims to provide a window onto cultural differences in constructions of wellbeing, thereby enriching our understanding of wellbeing. Second, a more ambitious aim is that this lexicon may help expand the emotional vocabulary of English speakers (and indeed speakers of all languages), and consequently enrich their experiences of wellbeing. The paper concludes by setting out a research agenda to pursue these aims further.

Emotional interactions and an ethic of care: caring relations in families affected by HIV and AIDS

In the context of global processes of economic restructuring, the HIV and AIDS epidemic and socio-cultural constructions of care, many women and young people in low-income households have been drawn into caring roles within the family. Drawing on the literature on an ethics of care, emotional geographies and embodiment, this paper examines the emotional dynamics of the caring process in families affected by HIV and AIDS. Based on the perspectives of both ‘caregivers’ and ‘care-receivers’ from research undertaken in Namibia, Tanzania and the UK, we examine the everyday practices of care that women and young people are engaged in and explore how emotions are performed and managed in caring relationships. Our research suggests caregivers play a crucial role in providing emotional support and reassurance to people with HIV, which in turn often affects caregivers' emotional and physical wellbeing. Within environments where emotional expression is restricted and HIV is heavily stigmatised, caregivers and care-receivers seek to regulate their emotions in order to protect family members from the emotional impacts of a chronic, life-limiting illness. However, whilst caregiving and receiving may lead to close emotional connections and a high level of responsiveness, the intensity of intimate caring relationships, isolation and lack of access to adequate resources can cause tensions and contradictory feelings that may be difficult to manage. These conflicts can severely constrain carers' ability to provide the ‘good care’ that integrates the key ethical phases in Tronto's (1993) ideal of the caring process.

Population health and wellbeing: identifying priority areas for Victorian children

Background
Population health information, collected using soundly-designed methodologies, is essential to inform policy, research, and intervention programs. This study aimed to derive policy-oriented recommendations for the content of a health and wellbeing population survey of children 0–12 years living in Victoria, Australia.

Results
Qualitative interviews were conducted with 54 academic and policy stakeholders, selected to encompass a wide breadth of expertise in areas of public health and inter-sectoral organisations relevant to child health outcomes, including universities, government and non-government agencies across Victoria. These stakeholders were asked to provide advice on strategic priorities for child health information (data) using a structured interview technique. Their comments were summarised and the major themes were extracted. The priority areas of health and wellbeing recommended for regular collection include obesity and its determinants, pregnancy and breastfeeding, oral health, injury, social and emotional health and wellbeing, family environment, community, health service utilisation, illness, and socioeconomic position. Population policy questions for each area were identified.

Conclusion
In contrast to previous population survey programs nationally and internationally, this study sought to extract contemporary policy-oriented domains for inclusion in a strategic program of child health data collection, using a stakeholder consultation process to identify key domains and policy information needs. The outcomes are a rich and relevant set of recommendations which will now be taken forward into a regular statewide child health survey program.

The Resilient Families program: promoting health and wellbeing in adolescents and their parents during the transition to secondary school.

Resilient Families is a school-based prevention program designed to help students and parents develop knowledge, skills and support networks to promote health and wellbeing during the early years of secondary school. the program is designed to build within-family connectedness (parent--adolescent communication, conflict resolution) as well as improve social support between different families, and between families and schools. It is expected to promote social, emotional and academic competence and to prevent health and social problems in youth.

Leaders and their teams : learning to improve performance with emotional intelligence and using choice theory

Looks at the relationship between emotional intelligence and choice theory in the work world, with particular emphasis on the implications on health and productivity. Most of us have a managing or leading role of some sort, whether at home, in community life, or at work. Also, as a professional, one can be leading through professional expertise and not necessarily because of one's place in the organizational hierarchy. There is an increasing awareness of the role of leadership and team development in organizational development, for example in health care where change is needed to manage the chronic disease burden (Dunbar et al., 2007) and utilizing and retaining a dwindling workforce (Schoo, Stagnitti, Mercer, & Dunbar, 2005). This is forcing leaders and their teams to work as smart as they can with resources that are available to them. Positive leadership has been associated with outcomes that include happy relationships, teamwork, learning, recognition, staff retention, and health and wellbeing. There is evidence that emotionally intelligent leaders in workplaces are able to bring about these positive out- comes because they are attuned to the emotions that move people around them (Goleman, Boyatzis, & McKee, 2002). In this sense, emotion can be defined as aroused energy that takes a direction (Hunt, 2004a) (Latin: e = from, movere = to move). Valerie Hunt regards emotion as the metronome of life (Hunt, 2004b). Although emotion can be a feeling state (e.g., fear, anger, joy, hate or sorrow) associated with action, its energy is, according to Hunt, directed to action, to behave(Hunt, 2004b). As mentioned in an earlier publication (Schoo, 2005), Pert (Flowers, Grubin, & Meryman-Brunner, 1993) regards emotions as a bridge that connects the mental and physical realities (p.187), and sees neuropeptides as the physical representations of these emotions. Negative thoughts and emotions such as excitement and anger have been found to increase gut motility, cancer risk and arterial plaque formation which can lead to a heart infarct (Pert, 1997), whereas positive emotions seem to do the opposite.

Wild adventures in wellbeing

This study examined the foundations, features and wellbeing impacts of Australian outdoor adventure interventions (OAI). According to literature- and practice-based evidence, Australian OAI support positive impacts for individuals across physical, emotional, behavioural, social, cultural, spiritual, economic and environmental wellbeing in the Australian context.

The role of positive irrational beliefs in mental health & wellbeing

This research found that positive irrational beliefs can be separated into distinct categories. These categories only had weak power for explaining aspects of mental health, including emotional state, satisfaction with life, and self-esteem. The direction of these relationships also varied according to the specific positive irrational beliefs being examined. The portfolio presents four case studies to examine the importance of a biopsychosocial model of health and concludes that all health professionals need an understanding of the potential interactions impacting on individuals' experiences with particular conditions.