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Conceptual development and initial evaluation of the Care Home Measure of Quality of Life (CH-QoL): a scale to measure the quality of life and well-being of older adults without cognitive impairment living in care settings
No full textBackground:- Better quality of life (QoL) and well-being are associated with better health and lower mortality in older adults. Promoting these concepts amongst care residents without dementia, therefore, is beneficial.
Aim:- To further the understanding of QoL and well-being through the development and initial evaluation of the Care Home Measure of Quality of Life (CH-QoL); a new measure designed to evaluate the QoL and well-being of residents without dementia living in care settings.
Method:- A preliminary working conceptual framework and item pool was developed through two systematic reviews. The item pool was examined for initial validity with care home residents and proxies using the Clinical Impact method. Item screening and further psychometric properties, including validity, reliability, and factor structure were evaluated with a larger sample of residents and proxies. Finally, a systematic review was conducted to understand the impact of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and past pandemics on QoL and well-being.
Results:- An item pool was developed, consisting of seven themes, after no existing instruments were found to be theoretically or psychometrically adequate. Face and content validity were supported during the Clinical Impact study. Item screening demonstrated good initial reliability and item performance, and following exploratory factor analysis, a six-factor solution with 73 items was found. The CH-QoL's reliability was re-examined and found to be good overall. Further work to improve factor four was required, as was future research to further develop and evaluate the measure. The final review demonstrated the potential negative and long-lasting effects of the pandemic, the resilience of older adults, and the need for collecting of QoL and well-being data.
Conclusion:- The CH-QoL demonstrated good psychometric properties and helped develop the theoretical understanding of QoL and well-being for residents without dementia. The knowledge can be used by researchers and care professionals to improve the lives of residents and inform future practice. Future work will allow for further refinement of the instrument
Between the chalk and the sea
No full textWhen Henry VIII banned pilgrimage in 1538, he ended not only a centuries-old tradition of walking as an act of faith, but a valuable chance to discover the joy of walking as an escape from the burdens of everyday life.
Much was lost when these journeys faded from our collective memory, but clues to our past remain. On an antique map in Oxford’s Bodleian Library, a faint red line threading through towns and villages between Southampton and Canterbury suggests a significant, though long-forgotten, road. Renamed the Old Way, medieval pilgrims are thought to have travelled this route to reach the celebrated shrine of Thomas Becket.
Described as England’s Camino, this long-distance footpath carves through one of the nation’s most iconic landscapes – one that links prehistoric earthworks, abandoned monasteries, Saxon churches, ruined castles and historic seaports.
Over four seasons, travel writer Gail Simmons walks the Old Way to rediscover what a long journey on foot offers us today. In the age of the car, what does it mean to embrace ‘slow travel’? Why does being a woman walking alone still feel like a radical act? In an age when walking connects the nation, can we now reclaim pilgrimage as a secular act?
Winding 240 miles between the chalk hills and shifting seascapes of the south coast, Gail ventures deep into our past, exploring this lost path and telling a story of kings and knights, peasants and pilgrims, of ancient folklore and modern politics. Blending history, anthropology, etymology and geology, Gail’s walk along the Old Way reveals the rich natural and cultural heritage found on our own doorstep
Empirical analysis of bitcoin and major cryptocurrencies prices
Get PDFCryptocurrency is a relatively new phenomenon that is attracting a lot of interest. On the one hand, it is built on a brand-new technology whose full potential has yet to be realized. On the other hand, it performs similar services
to other, more traditional assets, at least in its current form. The development of theoretical models of cryptocurrencies has received a lot of academic attention. Many elements have been mentioned in the theoretical literature on cryptocurrencies as potentially important in cryptocurrencies’ pricing. The cryptocurrencies with a market value of over $100 million between January 1, 2018 and May 12, 2021 were selected for this research. Time-series analysis was done to investigate the price relationship among the cryptocurrencies. The results pointed out as major cryptocurrencies’ prices are linked to Bitcoin prices
The ripple effects of CBDC-related news on Bitcoin returns: insights from the DCC-GARCH model
Get PDFCentral bank digital currencies (CBDCs) have emerged as a potential substitute for current payment methods, and, as such, major announcements, events and policy discussions regarding CBDCs have the potential to influence cryptocurrency returns. In light of this, the present study undertakes an in-depth analysis of the CoinMarketCap data between August 1, 2017 and April 1, 2022 by implementing the dynamic conditional correlation-generalized autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (DCC-GARCH) model. The study reveals a noteworthy influence of news and events related to CBDCs on Bitcoin returns. Precisely, CBDC uncertainty index and CBDC attention index have resulted in significant fluctuations in Bitcoin returns, indicating that positive news can result in significant Bitcoin returns. The findings suggest that future expectations of investors regarding cryptocurrencies are shaped by CBDC-related news and events
A holistic approach to peace education: experiences of Putumayo, Colombia
No full textAfter Colombia signed a peace accord in 2016 with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia to end a five-decade-long conflict, there has been an increase of school initiatives for instruction with peace-related contents, such as Cátedra para la Paz. This chapter describes informal as well as formal education in the zones of conflict that have contributed to understanding the potential of peacebuilding curriculum and instruction. The local library, the school, and women’s organizations in Putumayo, Colombia are examples of how peace has been mobilized, rehearsed, and worked at with members of the community that provide holistic education. Such practices consolidate forms of emancipatory and non-violent action, empowering communities. Education agents have contributed positively to relational practices that embrace diversity and call for action to break cycles of violence, silence, and helplessness, which is the focus of this chapter. A hybrid work with social movements, state organizations, programs, NGOs, and other groups have nurtured the action and reflection of some schools, the local library, and women’s groups, bringing about strategies such as radio, theatre, reading activities in public spaces, intergenerational educational activities with indigenous communities, networks with cultural groups, creating opportunities for peace to be diversely conceptualized, (re)imagined, and enacted
Create to Collaborate: using creative activity and participatory performance in online workshops to build collaborative research relationships
Get PDFBackground:-
Creative methods/practices have been highlighted as helpful to develop more collaborative, equitable research partnerships between researchers and communities/public-participants. We asked artist partners to design four online workshops, one on each research priority area: school environments and mental health; wellbeing within the Somali community; air pollution; health data. We aimed to understand whether creative processes can enable public-participants and researcher- participants to meet in a neutral space to discuss a research theme and begin to build collaborative relationships through more equal engagement. Ideas could be taken forwards with seed funding, providing opportunity for collaboration to continue beyond initial workshops.
Methods:-
Different artist partners designed and facilitated four workshops. Evaluation data was collected on each workshop using participatory observation and fieldnotes, alongside chatlog data, and one-to-one interviews with 21 workshop participants, providing a contextually rich, comparative evaluation across four diverse workshops. Analysis was thematically driven.
Results:-
Artist partners took different approaches to designing workshops. The workshops began with introductory games and activities, and there was less emphasis on introductions of people’s roles, with the intention to avoid hierarchical dynamics. Whilst public-participants enjoyed this, some researchers found it challenging and reported confusions over their workshop roles. Disrupting usual practice and challenging norms was not always an easy experience. There were examples where emergent, co-created knowledge was enabled. However, it was more challenging to facilitate longer-term collaborative research projects from the workshops due to different stakeholder priorities, and lack of staff time/ less sense of ownership for further work.
Conclusions:-
Creative activities can influence and impact the types of conversations between public-participants and researchers in a way that changes and challenges power dynamics, shifting towards public-participant driven discussion. Whilst deconstructing hierarchies is important, supporting researchers is key so that any discomfort can be productive and experienced as a vital part of co-production. Longer term collaborative research projects were limited, highlighting a need for facilitation beyond initial workshops, and a sense of ownership from workshop participants to take things forwards. Workshops like these may lend themselves well to research prioritisation. However, taking community-led ideas forwards within research funding landscapes remains challenging