Who says aging is lonely? A phenomenology of Filipino older adults’ experiences of happiness when joining international group tours

Across the literature, travelling has been viewed as a recurring activity for older adults and is driven by a multitude of purposes and reasons. Previous studies have probed touristic activities of older adults however, little is known about their emotional experiences specifically their sense of happiness when joining international group tours, hence this phenomenological study. A qualitative approach was utilized to gather data from a group of 15 purposively selected participants aged 60 years and above. A two-part instrument consisting of a robotfoto and a semi-structured interview was used in this study. Through vertical and horizontal analyses of the field text, this study afforded the development of The Spiraling Model of Aging Filipino Tourists’ Happiness. This model describes aging tourists’ happiness while travelling as a product of Shared Moments, Shared Culture, Shared Memories, and Shared Transcendence. Summarily, findings of this study may provide significant insights to service providers such as hotels, airlines and travel agencies across the globe in developing innovative marketing strategies that cater to this promising age group. Empirically, this study may stimulate further exploration in the field of Cognitive Psychology aimed at adding large-scale data regarding the study of emotions specifically older adults’ happiness when joining international group tours.     

Developing a Model of Medication Adherence among Filipino Elderly

While adherence to medication remains a problematic area in the care of chronically ill elderly, an extended model that incorporates the interaction of studied variables remains a blank spot. Anchored on Ajzen's Theory of Planned Behavior, this article details our efforts to develop and test a model of medication adherence among Filipino elderly relative to their medication belief, follow-up visits, consultation satisfaction, memory task, trust with physician, perceived stress, memory strategies, social support, memory load, depression, length of time taking the medication, number of conditions, and self-efficacy with medication adherence. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was employed to study causalities among all parameters. With the participation of 325 older adults located in District IV, Sampaloc, Manila, data needed were gathered through a multiaspect questionnaire consisting of a robotfoto, a memory strategy usage measure, an eight-scale Morisky Medication Adherence Scale, a 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale, a General Self-efficacy Scale, a Consultation Satisfaction Questionnaire, and a Perceived Stress Scale. Data were analyzed using AMOS version 19. Results revealed that depression, trust with physician, and number of conditions affect adherence positively, while event-based memory, consultation satisfaction, memory load, and external memory strategy affect it otherwise. Some suggested variables were found to have no impact at all. As this study reveals, careful consideration should be given to multiple factors, and their interrelationship should be examined well. Because many factors can influence medication adherence behavior of the elderly, and because the reasons for their noncompliance are also varied, multifaceted solutions must be developed.     

The Filipino Nursing Students' Dilemmas in Geriatric Care

The continually rising percentage of the elderly population and the demand for geriatric nursing care are dramatically related. While it is true that most undergraduate programs prepare nurses for the care of geriatric patients, most receive limited academic preparation in the nursing curriculum (Williams & Mezey, 2000 Williams , C. , & Mezey , M. ( 2000 ). Older adults: Recommended baccalaureate competencies and curricular guidelines for geriatric nursing care . American Association of Colleges of Nursing and the John A. Hartford Foundation Institute for Geriatric Nursing . Retrieved August 10, 2008, from http://www.aacn.nche.edu/Education/pdf/Gercomp.pdf  [Google Scholar]). This is particularly true in the Philippines where there is no stand-alone geriatric nursing course.

This phenomenological study purports to capture the lived experiences of Filipino nursing students' dilemmas in geriatric care. Five Filipino senior nursing students and three clinical faculty from a comprehensive university in the Philippines were purposely chosen for the study. A two-part instrumentation was used. The first is the robotfoto, a Dutch term which means a cartographic sketch of the subject (Kelchtermans & Ballet, 2002 Kelchtermans , G. , & Ballet , K. ( 2002 ). The micropolitics of teacher induction: A narrative bibliographical study on teacher socialization . Teaching and Teacher Education , 18 ( 1 ), 105 – 120 .[Crossref], [Web of Science ®] , [Google Scholar]). The second was a semi-structured face-to-face interview that was recorded with the consent of the participants. The full texts were phenomenologically reduced using a repertory grid to observe both cool and warm analyses, which facilitates the identification of unique conceptual clusters. Findings of this study have described the elements that define student dilemmas in geriatric care. The emerged Students' Dilemmas in Geriatrics Causality Quadrant (SDGCQ), which consists of (a) Foundational Deficit, (b) Psychological Deficit, (c) Relational-Attitudinal Deficit, and (d) Occupational Deficit, are valuable discussion points for needed reforms in the present-day nursing curriculum.     

A Structural Equation Modeling of the Factors Affecting an Age-friendly Workplace

There has been a growing trend recently to examine the various factors affecting an age-friendly workplace. Through structural equation modelling (SEM), this study purports to test a model that shows the interaction between and among declining memories, wisdom, age discrimination, and an age-friendly workplace in Filipino elderly in a government setting. Two hundred elderly from a large government bank in the Philippines participated in this study. Data were obtained through a self-completion questionnaire and a one-on-one interview. Surprisingly, results revealed that declining memory has no significant effect on wisdom. However, wisdom has a positive impact on age discrimination as does age-discrimination on an age-friendly workplace. The authors discuss the implications of these results and highlight directions for future research.     

Internal,External, and Government Political Efficacy: Effects on News Use,Discussion, and Political Participation

News use and political discussion are often studied as important factors in understanding the effects of political efficacy on participation. However, measurements of external efficacy often blur distinctions between personal ability and government responsiveness. This study establishes a measure for perceptions of competence in the institutions of democratic government—government efficacy (GE). Drawing on panel survey data from the United States, confirmatory factor analysis introduces GE as a unique construct. Political efficacy dimensions are tested for their impact on news consumption, discussion, and political participation. Results add to the extant literature revolving the role of political efficacy on news use, discussion, and participation.     

Bookbinding Information on the Web: Breaking the Circle,from Pixels to Linked Open Data

The “Digital Heritage: Spotlight on Europe” column examines technological advances internal and external to cultural institutions. The digital shift changed radically how cultural heritage is made, disseminated, distributed, accessed, consumed, and monetized. One of the most important revolutions is that the user's role changed dramatically, shifting from passive observers to active participants and content producers with many new and exciting opportunities for engagement, creative use, and access. The strength of the column is its broad, international focus, and contributors are encouraged to explore issues and recent advances in digital heritage theories, methodologies, standards relevant to the European region, as well as the larger, global audience. Interested authors are invited to submit proposals and articles to the column editor at annamaria.tammaro@unipr.it. Please include “ILLR submission” in the subject line of the e-mail.     

Packaging and unpackaging knowledge in mass higher education—a knowledge management perspective

The progressive deployment of market-oriented regulatory frameworks in mass Higher Education Institutions (MHEI hereafter) triggered, in a wide variety of forms and degrees, the application of Knowledge Management principles in MHEI. This means the application of the knowledge ‘codification strategy’, where the focus is on the economies of the re-use of centrally developed knowledge through codifying, storing and distributing knowledge. This process however, presents significant challenges. Both knowledge and non-knowledge related aspects might constrain the application of knowledge codification strategies in MHEI. The aim of this paper is to better understand the application of knowledge codification strategies in MHEI, from a knowledge management perspective. This is done by examining the use of course outlines as the critical means to ‘transfer’ codified knowledge. The research site was a MHEI that explicitly followed a ‘codification strategy’, where the profits come from the economies of scale and low cost operation. Research findings point out mixed outcomes. The set of cost-saving managerial-oriented initiatives together with the deployment of knowledge codification strategies simultaneously supported the knowledge transfer of codified-oriented courses associated to low levels of tacit knowledge and constrained knowledge transfer of codified-oriented courses associated with slightly higher levels of tacit knowledge. This finding can be credited to a set of both knowledge and non-knowledge related issues. The implications for the management of knowledge in MHEI were explored.