Petmanship: Understanding Elderly Filipinos' Self-Perceived Health and Self-Esteem Captured from their Lived Experiences with Pet Companions

Understanding of the lived experiences of geriatric clients with pets, particularly in the Western cultures, has been the subject of many studies. However, little is known about how Asian cultures, particularly the Filipino elderly, view their experiences with their pets in regard to their self-esteem and self-perceived health. This phenomenological study purports to capture the essence of the lived experiences of a select group of Filipino elderly with their pet companions in relation to their self-perceived health and self-esteem. A total of five Filipino elderly recruited from the Luzon area were involved in this study and were chosen through the snowballing technique. A three-part instrument was made by the researchers to gather data, namely robotfoto, semistructured interviews, and doodling activities. Field texts were analyzed via structural analysis through the aid of dendogram. Results of both cool and warm analysis have eidetically and interestingly described how the new coinage of petmanship, as introduced in the study, surfaced the functional and the instrumental views of pets relative to the elderly's self-esteem, vis-a-vis their Self-Efficacy Booster and Social Proactivity Builder roles in regard to self-perceived health. The metaphorical images drawn by the Filipino elderly surfaced the Roles Syndrome of Petmanship and the Rules Syndrome of Petmanship.     

Home Away from Home: Acclimatization of Filipino Elderly from being Home to a Sense of being “At Home” in an Elderly Institution

This grounded study examined the process of acclimatization or the process of changing perspectives of a person so as to get used to or feel “at home” among a select group of Filipino elderly in a nursing care facility. As institutionalization of the elderly is not typical in the Philippine context, varied responses were analyzed to understand the factors and the course that an elderly person undergoes over a set period of time to achieve acclimatization. Twenty elderly (n = 20) residents were purposively recruited and subjected to an in-depth interview that chronicled their experiences on their previous and present lives and on the process by which they were able to adjust to a relatively new setting. Preliminarily, a robotfoto was devised to obtain demographic data including visitation frequencies and familial relationships, and this was followed by an in-depth interview. Through the constant comparison method, an interesting model called the Hourglass of Acclimatization emerged. This model yielded two distinct phases contributing to successful acclimatization. One is the Conversion phase, or imbibing the main notion of transforming one's perspectives of him or herself and his or her environment; there is also the Immersion phase, which describes how an elderly involves him or herself completely into the life he or she is supposed to live. This emerged model can contribute to the development of nursing interventions focusing on elderly experiences in the entire course of relocation to a new environment other than what they call “home.”     

Optimum take-off angle in the long jump

In this study, we found that the optimum take-off angle for a long jumper may be predicted by combining the equation for the range of a projectile in free flight with the measured relations between take-off speed, take-off height and take-off angle for the athlete. The prediction method was evaluated using video measurements of three experienced male long jumpers who performed maximum-effort jumps over a wide range of take-off angles. To produce low take-off angles the athletes used a long and fast run-up, whereas higher take-off angles were produced using a progressively shorter and slower run-up. For all three athletes, the take-off speed decreased and the take-off height increased as the athlete jumped with a higher take-off angle. The calculated optimum take-off angles were in good agreement with the athletes' competition take-off angles.     

Psychological adjustment in bullies and victims of school violence

The present study examined psychosocial adjustment in the following four groups of students: victims, bullies, bully/victims and a control group of adolescents not involved in bullying or victimization problems. Psychosocial adjustment was measured considering as indicators: level of self-esteem, depressive symptomatology, perceived stress, feeling of loneliness, and a general measure of satisfaction with life. Participants (N=1319) were aged from 11 to 16 (47% male) and drawn from seven state secondary schools in Valencia (Spain). ANOVAs revealed significant differences among groups, reporting adolescents not involved a general better psychosocial adjustment; they had higher levels of self-esteem and satisfaction with life, and lower levels of depressive symptomatology, perceived stress and feeling of loneliness. The scores for this group were equivalent to those of bullies with respect to self-esteem, depressive symptomatology and loneliness. However, bullies perceived more stress and expressed less satisfaction with life, as did the other two groups, namely victims and bully/victims. Victims reported the strongest feelings of loneliness. Bully/victims seemed to share characteristics with both bullies and victims, though showing more similarities with the latter and a general poor psychosocial profile.     

Protective environments and quality education in humanitarian contexts

This paper reflects the experience of the authors working in the field of humanitarian education during the last two decades. Important changes have been witnessed since the Central American crises of the seventies, the refugee focus of the eighties and the new UN vision of the complex emergency crisis of the nineties resulting from the post Cold War scenarios of humanitarian calamity.     

A basic model of integration of ICT by teachers: competence and use

The process to integrate information and communication technologies (ICT), where teachers play a decisive role, is complex. The objective of this study is to build a basic model that connects teachers’ ICT technological and pedagogical competences with the use of these technological resources by teachers (both personal-professional use and use with students). The model also considers how personal and contextual factors influence this relationship. A secondary analysis study was used, whose sample included 1095 male and female Primary, Secondary and Higher Education teachers from the Valencian Community (east Spain). Information was collected with a questionnaire from two survey design studies. Using an MIMIC model, teachers’ integration of ICT was optimally modeled. This model shows a complex relation between competence and use. Technological competences influence pedagogical competences and personal-professional use, while pedagogical competences influence personal-professional use and use in class. Use in class is influenced by both pedagogical competences and personal-professional use. Personal and contextual factors influenced the four dimensions of use and competence. This basic model of the relationship between teachers’ ICT competences and using these educational resources helps us to understand the complex process of integrating ICT into classrooms. Therefore, this model is a key element to guide teacher training in ICT.     

A comparison of the nurse–patient interaction criteria among geriatric clients in home health care and community settings: a trade-off analysis

While the nurse–patient relationship plays a vital role in enhancing a client’s well-being, in this study, it was observed that most nurses only communicate with their clients when dealing with administrative or functional activities. Although previous studies had been conducted involving the nature of nurse–patient interaction, none has yet investigated the potential of conjoint or trade-off analysis in understanding elderly patients’ preferences in home care and community settings. This study contributes to the gap in such knowledge about the nurse–patient relationship. A total of 238 Filipino elderly patients were recruited from home health care and community settings to participate in the research. A set of 36 choice bundles with 4 holdouts were extracted from a pool 144 orthogonal array. In this quantitative study, respondents were asked to sort and rank each card based on its importance and utility value. All data gathered were analyzed using SPSS version 20. Notably, the analysis found that the most important factor for elderly clients in home health care is non-verbal communication followed by verbal, gender and type of care provider while for elderly clients in community settings, gender is the most important consideration in nurse–patient interaction and this was followed by non-verbal cues, care provider and verbal cues. Findings of the study provide valuable inputs that could inform guidelines in implementing nurse professional development programs specifically in matters that relate to the effective communication between the nurse and patient in all health-care settings.     

Examining the Structural Relationship of Physical Activity,Cognition, Fear of Falling,and Mobility Limitation of Filipino in Nursing Homes

Mobility limitation is a major issue of care in the elderly and a typical characteristic of frailty in geriatric patients. The maintenance of mobility is thought to be fundamental to active aging, allowing older adults to continue living dynamic and independent lives. While previous studies have identified the different factors affecting mobility, the relationship between other factors, such as fear of falling, physical activity, cognition, and mobility limitation, has not been investigated, hence this structural equation model investigation.

This study was conducted in various nursing homes located in the National Capital Region and Region IV of the Philippines. A five-part survey-questionnaire was given to 125 Filipino elderly aged 60 years and above in nursing homes. The survey was conducted from May to August 2013. Results showed that high levels of fear about falling will lead to less physical activity and have a negative effect on cognition. Cognition levels also showed to have a direct impact on the physical activity. Physical activity was found to have a direct effect on the mobility of elderly patients. The emerging model can guide health care professionals in developing programs that can maximize the physical and mental functioning of the elderly in institutionalized settings.     

What Might Dewey Think of Knowledge Insertion?

In two articles, “Might Knowledge Be Insertable?” and “Is Knowledge Insertion Desirable?,” John Tillson argues that knowledge insertion is conceivable and desirable for the person who has it inserted. By knowledge insertion, he means the immediate or almost immediate acquisition of knowledge by means other than traditional processes of learning. He takes the case presented in the science fiction film The Matrix as paradigmatic and characterizes it as a special case of direct intervention, which begin with change in brain structure and function and result in in changes in thought patterns and behavior, by contrast to indirect interventions, which begin with changes in thought patterns and behavior and result in rewiring brain structure and functioning. Here, Gonzalo Obelleiro follows Tillson's argument and offers one special case in which knowledge insertion is not desirable and that is not fully elucidated by Tillson's conditions for desirability. John Dewey's notion of growth as summum bonum depends in important ways on gradual, progressive, traditional processes of learning. Deweyan growth constitutes a case of intrinsically valuable learning that can be tragically jeopardized by calculation errors in knowledge insertion. This is a significant risk that Tillson does not consider in his articles.     

Performing in a multi-cultural context: The role of personality

Performance in situations where individuals from multiple countries are operating in a foreign culture is an underexplored domain of organizational behavior. We test hypothesized relationships between Big Five personality factors and dimensions of international performance using a sample of 232 international business students from 14 countries studying in Mexico. The results indicate differential relationships between personality factors and performance dimensions that emphasize interacting with host nationals and students from other countries, adjusting to a foreign environment, and maintaining a positive attitude in a foreign country. We discuss theoretical and practical implications for understanding and influencing performance in multi-cultural contexts.