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Developing an eBook for First Responders: Exploring Arts-Based Interventions to Counter Burnout and Build Resilience
Get PDFThe researchers in this project studied the prevalence and impact of burnout among first responders, after which they produced CRISP (Creative Resilience Initiatives for Service Providers), a groundbreaking art therapy-based program published in an electronic book format aimed at addressing burnout and fostering resilience among first responders. Our program aims to foster resilience by integrating art therapy\u27s Expressive Therapies Continuum (ETC) model with Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and anti-racism strategies. The ETC model aligns with inclusive and diverse practices as it emphasizes a system-focused approach in using creativity, self-reflection, and cultivation of effective body-mind empathy. The CRISP eBook features 18 arts-based activities, each accompanied by relevant psychoeducation and self-reflective questions. These activities engage first responders in kinesthetic, sensorial, perceptual, affective, cognitive, and symbolic components of information processing in the ETC, utilizing multifaceted creativity as a powerful tool for building resilience and countering burnout signs that can lead to depersonalized and biased practices in their work. Future studies are warranted to assess the efficacy of art interventions, such as those explored in the CRISP eBook, in addressing the unique stressors faced by first responders
NCAA Enactment of a Disciplinary Policy: Uniformity to Regain Institutional Legitimacy
Get PDFThis article examines issues surrounding decentralized disciplinary systems and inconsistent enforcement against student-athletes who engage in criminal misconduct across the National Collegiate Athletic Association (“NCAA”). The NCAA recognizes the inherent conflicts of interest that arise when institutions are left to regulate their own recruiting practices. To negate these conflicts, the NCAA has established a robust disciplinary system, the NCAA Committee on Infractions, which oversees investigations into violations of NCAA Bylaws, reviews materials provided by the athlete and/or institution, and issues binding rulings which may include suspensions and fines. Yet the NCAA fails to see how the same conflict issues arise when schools are left in charge of investigating and imposing suspensions or disciplinary measures on their own star student-athletes for violating the law. While some institutions implement policies to ensure fairness, others deal with criminal misconduct allegations on an ad hoc basis. The resulting patchwork system of enforcement creates loopholes in which athletes can transfer from school to school to avoid appropriate punishment. This article argues that the NCAA has the knowledge and resources necessary to implement a centralized disciplinary enforcement policy. Such a policy would absolve individual institutions of the responsibility to issue fair discipline despite adverse incentives. Furthermore, stepping into a new area of regulation provides an avenue for the NCAA to remain relevant in an era of increasing conference autonomy, expiry of amateurism, and an ever-shifting college athletics landscape
Exploring the Role of Yoga in Improving the Quality of Life Among Patients Diagnosed with Schizophrenia and Intellectual Disability
Get PDFBackground and objectives
There is large evidence of the positive effect of yoga in mental health disorders, mainly anxiety and depression. However, the studies on the role of yoga in schizophrenia and intellectual disability are sparse and inconclusive. The objective of this study is exploring the role of a specific yoga intervention, based on the Gitananda Rishiculture Asthanga Yoga Tradition, in improving the quality of life (QoL) of patients diagnosed with schizophrenia and intellectual disability in a mental health institution of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (Spain).
Methods
Patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (n=5) and patients diagnosed with intellectual disability (n=4) followed a yoga intervention once a week in two different 45 minutes sessions over the course of five months. The Recovering Quality of Life (ReQoL-20) was used to assess the quality of life. A one-group pretest- post-test quasi-experimental design was used.
Results
A total of 3 patients diagnosed with schizophrenia (60%) and 4 patients diagnosed with intellectual disability (75%) showed a reliable clinical improvement of QoL after the yoga intervention. All the patients reported a higher or equal level of physical health after the yoga intervention.
Conclusion
The preliminary results provide some evidence for suggesting that yoga could be considered as an adjuvant therapy for enhancing the QoL and helping in the treatment of schizophrenia and intellectual disability for residential patients in mental health institutions. The specific yoga intervention of the current study could help researchers in developing yoga protocols appropriated for schizophrenia and intellectual disability
Embracing Communal Discernment for Synodal Leadership in Jesuit Higher Education
Get PDFThis paper proposes a transformative shift in Jesuit higher education leadership by advocating for synodal leadership, a model grounded in Ignatian spirituality and Catholic tradition. In response to the limitations of traditional shared and collegial governance models, which often perpetuate elitism and hinder broad-based participation, this paper highlights the need for a more inclusive and adaptive leadership approach. Synodal leadership, revitalized by Pope Francis, emphasizes active participation, communal discernment, and mutual respect, diverging from hierarchical norms. It fosters a “walking together” ethos, allowing every member’s voice to contribute to a collective vision. By integrating synodal principles with Jesuit values, this model promotes genuine dialogue and responsiveness to contemporary challenges, offering practical recommendations for fostering inclusivity and collaboration in decision-making processes. This approach not only aligns with the Ignatian ethos but also provides Jesuit institutions with a dynamic framework for enhancing their relevance and impact in an evolving academic landscape
Sleep Disturbance As a Mediator of Lung Cancer Stigma on Health-related Adjustment
No full textObjective: This study tested sleep disturbance as a mediator through which stigma and discrimination predict psychological distress and physical symptom burden in adults with lung cancer. Methods: Lung cancer patients on active oncological treatment (N=108; 74.1% Stage IV) completed questionnaires on lung cancer stigma, sleep, distress, and physical symptoms at study entry and at 6- and 12-week follow-up. Mediation analyses were conducted to investigate whether stigma and discrimination predicted distress and physical symptoms at study entry and across 12 weeks through disrupted sleep. Results: Higher discrimination (b = 5.52, 95% CI [2.10, 8.94]) and constrained disclosure (b = 0.45, 95% CI [0.05, 0.85]) were associated significantly with higher sleep disruption at study entry. Sleep disruption, in turn, was associated with higher distress (b = 0.19, 95% CI [0.09, 0.29]) and physical symptoms (b = 0.28, 95% CI [0.17, 0.40]) at study entry. Sleep disruption significantly mediated relationships between higher discrimination and the outcomes of distress (indirect effect = 1.04, 95% CI [0.13, 1.96]) and physical symptoms (indirect effect = 1.58, 95% CI [0.37, 2.79]) at study entry. Sleep disruption also mediated relationships between constrained disclosure and the outcomes of distress (indirect effect = 0.85, 95% CI [\u3c 0.01, 0.17]) and physical symptoms (indirect effect = 0.13, 95% CI [0.01, 0.25]). Conclusions: Lung cancer patients evidenced pronounced sleep disruption, which mediated relationships between indicators of lung cancer stigma and distress and physical symptoms at study entry. Research is needed to test additional mechanisms through which lung cancer stigma predicts these outcomes longitudinally
Changes in Parent-Student Text Message and Phone Call Communication During the Transition to College as Predictors of Cannabis and Simultaneous Use During the First Year
No full textParent communication can be protective against cannabis use among young adults. However, changes in parent-student communication frequency naturally occur during the transition from high school to college. Recent research suggests declines in parent-student communication frequency predict increased drinking and consequences during the first year of college, yet these effects on other risky behaviors are unknown. The current study investigated whether post-matriculation changes in frequency of texting/calling with parents predict cannabis use and simultaneous use of cannabis and alcohol, and whether pre-matriculation cannabis and simultaneous use predict changes in communication. First-year students (N = 287, 61.3% female, 50.9% White) reported cannabis and simultaneous use pre- and post-matriculation (T1 & T3) and changes in frequency of texting/calling their mother/father per day (T2). Negative binomial hurdle models examined whether T2 changes in communication frequency predicted T3 cannabis and simultaneous use, and logistic regression models examined whether T1 cannabis and simultaneous use predicted T2 changes in communication frequency. Results revealed that increasing (vs. decreasing) frequency of calling with mothers and texting with fathers was protective against cannabis use, whereas increasing frequency of calling with fathers was associated with greater risk of use. Changes in communication did not significantly predict simultaneous use, nor did pre-matriculation cannabis or simultaneous use predict changes in either mode of communication with parents during the college transition. These findings highlight that changes in mother and father communication may be both beneficial and detrimental to cannabis use depending on the parent and mode of communication. Implications for these findings are discussed
Rising plant demand strengthens nitrogen limitation in tidal marsh
No full textNitrogen (N) is a limiting nutrient for primary productivity in most terrestrial ecosystems, but whether N limitation is strengthening or weakening remains controversial because both N sources and sinks are increasing in magnitude globally. Temperate marshes are exposed to greater amounts of external N inputs than most terrestrial ecosystems and more than in preindustrial times owing to their position downstream of major sources of human-derived N runoff along river mouths and estuaries. Simultaneously, ecosystem N demand may also be increasing owing to other global changes such as rising atmospheric [CO2]. Here, we used interannual variability in external drivers and variables related to exogenous supply of N, along with detailed assessments of plant growth and porewater biogeochemistry, to assess the severity of N-limitation, and to determine its causes, in a 14-year N-addition × elevated CO2 experiment. We found substantial interannual variability in porewater [N], plant growth, and experimental N effects on plant growth, but the magnitude of N pools through time varied independently of the strength of N limitation. Sea level, and secondarily salinity, related closely to interannual variability in growth of the dominant plant functional groups which drove patterns in N limitation and in porewater [N]. Experimental exposure of plants to elevated CO2 and years with high flooding strengthened N limitation for the sedge. Abiotic variables controlled plant growth, which determined the strength of N limitation for each plant species and for ecosystem productivity as a whole. We conclude that in this ecosystem, which has an open N cycle and where N inputs are likely greater than in preindustrial times, plant N demand has increased more than supply
Jesuit Pedagogy\u27s \u27Missing Link\u27
Get PDFJesuit pedagogy has undergone a major renewal in the last fifty years. In this process, various inspirational formulations of its educational vision have been chosen. Despite maintaining a common language and spirituality, we have identified the risk that it is only lived out by a minority of people in Jesuit educational institutions. This paper proposes a re-reading of the Ratio Studiorum (RS) that offers a more precise and complete understanding of Jesuit pedagogy. This leads us to conclude that, in addition to other well-known features, it must involve the institutional governance model, a focus on an educative community that learns together, and a will to engage with various stakeholders at the setting in which the education institution is located. These three components are not peripheral to Jesuit pedagogy but rather are an intrinsic part of it. Recovering this rich vision holds great promise for successfully grappling with the changes in Jesuit higher education
Using a Historical Approach to Teach Social Justice: A Classroom Model
Get PDFSocial Justice epitomizes the Ignatian ideal of “men and women for others”. Utilizing Ignatian pedagogy, faculty at Jesuit colleges and universities can help students explore and understand the link between historical events and current social justice issues. This article demonstrates and applies a six-step model of utilizing history as a tool for social justice. The model can be adapted for any field of study at the undergraduate and graduate levels