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Eenzaamheidsbeleid:Advies Wetenschappelijke adviescommissie aan de staatssecretaris Langdurige en Maatschappelijke Zorg
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Chaplaincy in secularizing, plural societies
No full textThis chapter provides a conceptualization of chaplaincy in contemporary Western secularizing and plural societies. This conceptualization is grounded in an understanding of chaplaincy as care for processes of (re)orientation in life. It is argued that this view of chaplaincy does justice both to the historical religious roots of the profession and to the diverse, dynamic, and individualized ways in which people these days search for meaning. The question of what characterizes chaplaincy for a plural world is explored along three lines: in terms of chaplains’ specific competencies as specialist spiritual caregivers; by explaining the role of chaplains’ worldviews in their professionalism; and by designating the distinctive aim of chaplaincy. This aim – having a sense of orientation in life – is then specified by distinguishing characteristic goals of the profession at the micro-, meso-, and macro-level of chaplaincy
Using Visual Data Methods in Research with Orphaned Children in Namibia
No full textParental loss is considered of the most stressful events in the lives of children. Understanding how children experience parental bereavement is therefore considered an important public health issue. However, qualitative research on how children experience the loss of their parent is scarce, especially among children in non-western countries. Besides, studies that explored this theme, describe that responses often remained limited when young orphans were interviewed on their feelings about their parent’s death.Research on hard-to-study populations, such as parentally bereaved children, and sensitive topics, such as parental loss, may require a broader palette of research methods than verbal interviews only.On the basis of a study in Namibia, the use of visual methods was examined to understand the experiences of these children. Twenty-one children who lost one or both their parents, participated in the research.Two types of visual methods were used: drawings and paintings, and taking photographs.This study shows that the use of these methods yields several benefits:a) It provided new information that other methods did not reveal.b) It encouraged some children to express experiences that they did not express through verbal methods. For example, a child who did not previously talk about the death of the mother, made a drawing about it.c) In addition, children enjoyed working with these techniques, providing they are appropriate to their age. This contributed to the enjoyment of participating in research.d) Finally, these visual methods offered various opportunities for children to participate in the research.Thus, this study showed the relevance of the use of visual methods in data gathering of a sensitive topic among a hard to study population. By thinking through the structuring of visual methods, this method could be used among larger group
Implementatie van zingeving in de huisarts zorg:GV Thuis en het opleiden van praktijkondersteuners huisartsen ggz
No full textPedagogies of Well‐Being:Disciplinary and Moral Concerns
No full textWorldwide, emphasis on student well-being and interventions like social emotional learning has necessitated investigations around its pedagogies. Taking the example of Happiness Class in India, I show that pedagogies of well-being in this context are deeply intertwined with disciplinary and moral concerns. In conversation with Foucauldian and Herbartian notions of discipline, I highlight some of the dangers of SEL interventions and argue that a Foucauldian critique is necessary but not sufficient for educational settings
"I Chose to Put my Ego in the Closet for a while, but Struggled to Find It Again”:Backstage Reflections on Participatory Action Research and Resilience
No full text‘Unwelcome truths’ are central to the empowerment and transformation aims of Participatory Action Research (PAR). They confront dominant narratives, challenge power relations, and reveal hidden structures of influence. At the same time, creating communicative spaces in which unwelcome truths can surface is rarely straightforward. Researchers play a key role in creating these spaces and face several challenges. These include ethical responsibilities, power imbalances, emotional and psychological barriers, and external pressures such as time limits and institutional demands. Researchers’ responses to these challenges are shaped by their methodological choices and positionality. These two factors directly influence how communicative spaces are created and sustained. Nevertheless, reflexive accounts of researchers’ methodological choices and positionality in PAR remain scarce in the literature. This scarcity limits accountability, transparency, and learning, which are principles integral to PAR. In this article we therefore present a behind-the-scenes account of a Dutch PAR project on resilience and experiences of loss. We draw on Goffman’s frontstage/backstage metaphor to examine the tension between public accounts of PAR and unpublished realities that are often personal, complex, and morally challenging. On the frontstage, we analyse how communicative spaces were created in meetings with co-researchers and the difficulties this process entailed. Backstage, we examine methodological challenges and the complex positionality of researchers. We explore these issues in greater depth using the validity claims from Habermas’s theory of communicative action. This provides a useful lens for analysing how unifying factors can emerge in communicative spaces despite the challenges faced. Finally, we conclude by considering the value of PAR for resilience research and how insights from this project may inform future studies
Ethical and cultural sensitivity in the palliative phase of heart failure: A scoping review
No full textBackground: Increasing migration is creating more multicultural and ethnically diverse societies, requiring healthcare professionals (HCPs) to address culturally determined values, preferences, and worldviews of patients and their families. Many patients with heart failure (HF) who require palliative care do not have their needs met within an equitable care pathway. This makes cultural sensitivity not only a practical necessity but also an ethical one.Aim/Research question or hypothesis: The aim is to explore the experiences of HF patients and their family caregivers regarding ethical and cultural sensitivity, as well as the factors that underlie or influence these experiences.Methods: A scoping review was conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) guidelines. The PALETTE framework for performing a literature search in palliative care was used. Six databases, including PubMed, CINAHL and PsycINFO were searched for empirical studies published from 2020-2024. Eligible studies focused on (1) HF patients and their family caregivers, (2) experiences regarding ethics, cultural sensitivity and inclusiveness in HF care and (3) conducted in Europe. The findings were discussed within an international group of researchers, synthesised using a qualitative approach and reported according to the PRISMA-ScR framework.Results: Findings on the ethical and cultural aspects of HF care include 1) ethical challenges in end-of-life decision-making processes, (2) communication about cultural and spiritual values, (3) inequalities in access to HF and palliative care, (4) ethnic, racial and gender related disparities, and (5) how socioeconomic factors shape HF patients’ approach to their illness.Discussion: HCPs need to consider the unique cultural contexts of HF patients and their families to make ethical decisions that align with the patient’s values. Subgroups may encounter potential disadvantages based on ethnicity, race, gender or socioeconomic circumstances, such as unequal access to appropriate treatment options or palliative care. Communication about ethical and cultural values is crucial in reducing disparities and providing culturally sensitive care
On the Importance of Gratitude for Humanistic Education in the Anthropocene
Full text linkThe present ecological crises that mark the Anthropocene make it clear that our exploitative way of relating to the world undermines humans' and many other beings' potential to flourish on Earth. Therefore, education should be concerned with fostering awareness and understanding of the value and vulnerability of (the conditions for life on) our planet, and our dependency in relation to this good. Gratitude experiences are characterized by and can contribute to such forms of awareness, types of understanding, and corresponding motivation to cherish the good these take as their object. Moreover, experiences of existential gratitude can reshape our relation to the natural world, making us perceive its objects as beautiful, intrinsically valuable entities that we feel profoundly connected with rather than as instrumentally valuable benefits. In particularly profound cases, people’s sense of self alters as they come to experience and understand themselves as an interdependent part of a larger whole such as Earth . Such experiences not only enrich our relationships with the natural world, but also provide us with meaning by deepening our sense of identity, and by infusing our lives with a sense of moral responsibility to care for the ecosystems we are part of. Thus, gratitude experiences not only have the potential to enhance flourishing, but may also have a bearing on how we approach the ontological-ethical question of what it means to be and flourish as a human being. Therefore, the potential educational value of gratitude seems to be particularly relevant for humanistic education in the Anthropocene. However, there seems to be a tension between existential gratitude and central elements of the modern western worldview; whereas the former is marked by an acknowledgement of our dependency and the uncontrollability of some aspects of the world, the latter is characterized by the humanistic values of freedom, autonomy and self-fulfilment, and by a belief in progress through the exercise of control over the natural environment. We discuss how humanism can disentangle itself from these problematic aspects of the modern worldview, and explore possibilities to foster existential gratitude within the framework of humanistic education