The meaning of open-water swimming for adults in Ireland: a qualitative study

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Edel Murray ◽  
Jackie Fox

Purpose There has been an increase in swimming in natural bodies of water as reported in personal qualitative accounts. However, limited academic research has explored the meaning of this occupation. Engaging with nature, exercising and being part of a community contribute to better mental and physical health. The purpose of this research was to explore the meaning that adults attribute to open-water swimming in natural bodies of water. Design/methodology/approach This study used phenomenological interviews to explore the meaning that five adults attribute to open-water swimming. Findings Open-water swimming contributes to meaning-making in many ways. Participants reported swimming as necessary for maintaining mental and emotional well-being and forming meaningful connections with the social environment, nature and their true selves. Research limitations/implications This study contributes to the understanding of the meaning of open-water swimming for adults in Ireland. Understanding the meaning of this occupation may add to the body of evidence exploring blue-space to promote health. Originality/value Open-water swimming is an occupation growing in popularity. This is the first paper to explore open-water swimming from an occupational perspective. This may provide an alternative perspective for viewing blue-space engagement and understanding the relationship between health, blue-space occupations and our oceans.

Humanomics ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-188 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohamed Safiullah Munsoor ◽  
Hannah Safiullah Munsoor

Purpose Modern life is characterized by its hectic life-style, which invariably leads to high levels of stress having negative consequences for the mind-body. Thus, people are seeking for natural ways to achieve a sense of equilibrium and peace. Neuroscience has identified beneficial findings from contemplative practices like meditation, prayers and fasting. Within the Islamic framework, these practices were found to be beneficial for both the body and the mind. However, comparatively little research has been carried out on Islamic contemplative practices. Thus, there is a dire need to carry out further research, where the focus needs to be more on the inward aspects of Islam especially the contemplative practices. Design/methodology/approach The study took an integrated approach, whereby, objective experimental data from various sources were combined with the religious narratives from the Qur’an and the Hadiths or the practice of the Prophet in Islam. This was augmented by the subjective experiences of the participants of the study and all of these woven to present a case for Islamic contemplative practices. Findings Worship, be it Yogic, Buddhist and Islamic, seems to have positive mental and physical benefits for individuals. Much has been documented within the field of Yoga and Buddhist practices, and it is only recently that Islamic practices are beginning to be studied and are yielding similar results. It has been found that Islamic ritual prayers, fasting and meditation (dhikr) have an impact on the well-being of the worshipper. The communities of practice commonly known as “tariqas” and other religio-spiritual orders can serve as a vehicle to further these practices. This opens the door for more extensive research in this direction. Research limitations/implications This study clearly indicates that Islamic practices have positive benefits; however, the number of studies are limited. Moreover, there are a whole system of practices as the contemplative tree in this paper points out, which needs more robust as well as longitudinal studies to outline more conclusive evidence to this effect. Practical implications Muslims have been looking at other traditions like Yoga and Buddhist meditation to find ways of improving their physical and mental health. This meta-study indicates that Islamic contemplative practices have positive benefits, and thus, there are a variety of practices like ritual prayers, fasting and meditation, which is found to demonstrate positive health benefits. Thus, it has direct practical reasons to pursue these practices and derive the innate benefits from them. Social implications The data from the various neuroscience studies have demonstrated the neurological and physiological impact on individuals directly relating to worship. However, the studies on the Islamic ritual prayer (salat) cited in this study points out to its social implications, where congregational prayers was found to be more beneficial than the individual prayers. Thus, this indicates the social implications that collective worship can have. Further research is needed in terms of understanding the social impact on the various collective contemplative practices. Originality/value The originality of this literature review and analysis is bringing together the various strands of neuroscience and health data to demonstrate the positive impact of worship emanating from others faiths, while building a case for Islamic contemplative practices. This is further augmented by its integrated approach of weaving hard and soft data and synthesizing it to present health benefits of worship.


2019 ◽  
Vol 40 (8/9) ◽  
pp. 583-592
Author(s):  
Ewa Głowacka

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to indicate the place of assessment of the impact of libraries in the overall quality evaluation of these institutions. In the paper, an attempt has been made to separate the concepts of the impact and values of library services and, according to the designated scope, the most important areas of research, methods and indicators for the assessment of the impact of academic libraries were characterized. The focus was on the most important areas, i.e. on the impact of libraries on didactics and academic research, information literacy and on its assessment in the cultural and environmental aspect. Design/methodology/approach A literature-based overview of actual insights on tasks and areas, methods, indicators research on the impact of academic is provided. Findings The author has determined that the analysis of the impact of academic libraries can mainly concern the following areas: information (influence on didactics, research and information competence of users), cultural and environmental. That is why it is worth analyzing the most important methods and indicators of research on the impact of academic libraries in these areas. The best way to research the quality of libraries, and especially to determine its impact on users and the environment, is to use a mixed methodology – a whole set of quantitative and qualitative methods and techniques. Triangulation can involve the use of both qualitative and quantitative data or the use of multiple methods to develop one type of data. Research limitations/implications However, these methods were used to study the impact of academic libraries, whose results do not determine the financial value. Practical implications The paper shows the methods of research on the quality of the functioning of academic libraries with a special emphasis on the study of their impact on users and the social environment. Social implications The paper shows the methodology of determining the social role of academic libraries. Originality/value The paper intends to add to the body of knowledge about the research methodology for the impact of academic libraries.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Muhammad Zia-ur-Rehman ◽  
Khalid Latif ◽  
Muhammad Mohsin ◽  
Zahid Hussain ◽  
Sajjad Ahmad Baig ◽  
...  

PurposeThe basic intention of this research is to investigate the role of information transparency of financial institutions and psychological attitude of the individuals toward their attention to saving and borrowing. This study also tries to know how an individual's psychological factor affects a person's attitude to motivate them to save or borrow and contribute to well-being by giving them confidence that they can face financial challenges. So, the main concern of this study is to explore different factors that ultimately contribute to the financial well-being (FWB) of individual.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted by using a well-structured questionnaire to collect data and test the developed hypotheses by using SmartPLS. Data were collected from 120 customers of seven different commercial banks in Pakistan.FindingsThe findings of this study show that perceived information transparency positively affects FWB. It is also because transparent shared information creates positive change in individuals' perceived self-efficacy and leads to FWB. Furthermore, an individual's psychological attitude toward borrowing and saving did not contribute to the FWB of people who belong to Pakistan.Research limitations/implicationsThe research area is limited to one city of Pakistan and analysis is done with small numbers of sample, it can be increased and more areas can be explored.Practical implicationsThis research provides significant implications for people and economists by providing awareness about the antecedents of FWB. The policymakers or managers who work in financial institutions should provide more transparent information and create less risky opportunities to improve the individual's well-being. If person, manager and financial institution can properly utilize the information of this study, then they are able to improve their FWB. By providing more transparent services and favorable experience with your dealings, it could help to obtain and retain more loyal internal (employees) and external customers. The loyal customers and sincere employees can increase the productivity level of organization. The more productive organizations in countries means better society and progress in the economy.Originality/valueThis research contributes to the body of knowledge that how perceived information transparency and psychological attitude of borrowing create improvement and upward changes in the FWB of a person.


2018 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 442-463 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Martin ◽  
Megan Woods ◽  
Sarah Dawkins

Purpose Mental health conditions such as depression are prevalent in working adults, costly to employers, and have implications for legal liability and corporate social responsibility. Managers play an important role in determining how employees’ and organizations’ interests are reconciled in situations involving employee mental ill-health issues. The purpose of this paper is to explore these situations from the perspective of managers in order to develop theory and inform practice in workplace mental health promotion. Design/methodology/approach Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 Australian managers who had supervised an employee with a mental health issue. Interview transcripts were content analyzed to explore themes in managers’ experiences. Findings Managing an employee with a mental health issue involves becoming aware of the issue, taking action to understand the situation and develop an action response, implementing the response and managing the ongoing situation. Each of these tasks had a range of positive and negative aspects to them, e.g., managing the situation can be experienced as both a source of stress for the manager but also as an opportunity to develop greater management skills. Practical implications Understanding line managers’ experiences is critical to successful implementation of HR policies regarding employee health and well-being. HR strategies for dealing with employee mental health issues need to consider implementation support for managers, including promotion of guiding policies, training, emotional support and creating a psychosocial safety climate in their work units or teams. Originality/value The insights gained from this study contribute to the body of knowledge regarding psychosocial safety climate, an emergent theoretical framework concerned with values, attitudes and philosophy regarding worker psychological health. The findings also have important implications for strategic human resource management approaches to managing mental health in the workplace.


2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Farmer ◽  
Tracy De Cotta ◽  
Katharine McKinnon ◽  
Jo Barraket ◽  
Sarah-Anne Munoz ◽  
...  

Purpose This paper aims to explore the well-being impacts of social enterprise, beyond a social enterprise per se, in everyday community life. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory case study was used. The study’s underpinning theory is from relational geography, including Spaces of Wellbeing Theory and therapeutic assemblage. These theories underpin data collection methods. Nine social enterprise participants were engaged in mental mapping and walking interviews. Four other informants with “boundary-spanning” roles involving knowledge of the social enterprise and the community were interviewed. Data were managed using NVivo, and analysed thematically. Findings Well-being realised from “being inside” a social enterprise organisation was further developed for participants, in the community, through positive interactions with people, material objects, stories and performances of well-being that occurred in everyday community life. Boundary spanning community members had roles in referring participants to social enterprise, mediating between participants and structures of community life and normalising social enterprise in the community. They also gained benefit from social enterprise involvement. Originality/value This paper uses relational geography and aligned methods to reveal the intricate connections between social enterprise and well-being realisation in community life. There is potential to pursue this research on a larger scale to provide needed evidence about how well-being is realised in social enterprises and then extends into communities.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dayna Rodger ◽  
Nicola Callaghan ◽  
Craig Thomson

Purpose Sustainably addressing the social and economic demands from an ageing population is a major global challenge, with significant implications for policy and practice. This is resultant of the increasing demand for housing adaptations to prevent increased pressure upon acute health services. Through the lens of institutional theory, this paper aims to explore the levels of joined-up retrofit practice within a Scottish social housing provider, under a constructivist approach. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory single case study of a Scottish local authority was undertaken. Within this, nine key stakeholders were interviewed, taking a hierarchical approach, from director to repair and maintenance staff. Results were analysed by using Braun and Clarke’s six stages of thematic analysis. Findings There is a need for greater levels of integration within retrofit practice to not only improve the health and well-being of the older population but also increase efficiency and economic savings within public services. Currently, there are key issues surrounding silo-based decision-making, poor data infrastructure, power struggles and a dereliction of built environment knowledge and expertise, preventing both internal and external collaboration. However, housing, energy and health have interlinking agendas which are integral to achieving ageing in place. Therefore, there must be system-wide recognition of the potential benefits of improved cross-sector collaboration, preventing unintended consequences whilst providing socioeconomic outcomes. Originality/value This research provides a new perspective surrounding retrofit practice within the context of an ageing population. It highlights the requirement for improved cross sector collaboration and the social and economic cost of poor quality practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 231-235
Author(s):  
Felipe da Silva Triani ◽  
Glhevysson dos Santos Barros

ResumoA dança é a arte de movimentar expressivamente o corpo seguindo movimentos ritmados, em geral ao som de música. Dessa forma, o significado da dança vai além da expressão artística, podendo ser vista como um meio para adquirir conhecimentos ou como opção de lazer. No campo de atuação do bacharelado, as investigações acadêmicas ainda são tímidas, urgindo de produções científicas que possam alimentar o campo científico sobre o tema. Dessa forma, o objetivo do estudo foi identificar e analisar as representações sociais que um grupo de bacharelandos do curso em Educação Física compartilha sobre a dança. A metodologia da pesquisa envolve uma abordagem qualitativa, tendo o estudo de campo como procedimento técnico. A amostra foi constituída por 200 indivíduos, sendo 85 homens e 115 mulheres com médias de idade entre 17 a 45 anos. A coleta de dados ocorreu através de questionário com associação livre de palavras, cujo termo indutor foi ”dança”. A análise foi feita por meio dos conteúdos das respostas. O resultado principal do estudo apontou que a maioria dos estudantes emprega sentido de dança como uma atividade técnica e a associam com saúde mental e bem-estar. Palavras-chave: Representação Social. Educação Física. Dança. AbstractDance is the art of expressively moving the body following rhythmic movements, usually to the sound of music. Thus, the meaning of dance goes beyond artistic expression, and can be seen as a means to acquire knowledge or as a leisure option. In the field of performance of the bachelor's degree, academic investigations are still timid, urging scientific productions that can feed the scientific field on the theme. Thus, the objective of the study was to identify and analyze the social representations that a group of Physical Education course bachelors shares about dance. The research methodology is a qualitative approach, with the field study as a technical procedure. The sample consisted of 200 individuals, 85 men and 115 women with a mean age between 17 and 45 years. Data collection was carried out through a questionnaire with free association of words, whose inducing term was, "dance". The analysis was done through the responses content. The main result of the study pointed out that most students use dance as a technical activity and associate it with mental health and well-being. Keywords: Social Representation. PE. Dance.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Rui Silva ◽  
Margarida Rodrigues ◽  
Mário Franco ◽  
Cidália Oliveira ◽  
Nuno Sousa

Purpose Using self-determination theory and individual social responsibility’s (ISRs) association with pure social entrepreneurship, this study aims to answer the following question: How and why have the different actors responded to the crisis caused by the pandemic? Design/methodology/approach Qualitative research (multiple case studies) was adopted, resorting to interviewees with seven economic and non-economic actors in the Portugal context. Findings The results obtained, using MAXQDA software, show that those carrying out actions of social responsibility have a high degree of self-determination and intrinsic motivation, and are true social entrepreneurs, which lets them improve the well-being of those around them. In addition, these individuals feel good about themselves by performing these actions, as they measure their performance by the social impact of their actions on society in general. Practical implications This study suggest there is a high awareness amongst people to exercise that responsibility in a voluntary way, through humanitarian initiatives and campaigns brought about especially by an unprecedented pandemic. In practice, people joining these initiatives motivate many others towards the causes, creating the will to continue in the future and satisfy unmet needs provoked by social crises. Originality/value This study is innovative because it is related to filling the gaps identified, mainly by carrying out an empirical study about ISR, rather than that of firms, where studies are more common.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Eliada Wosu Griffin-EL

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address the research question: How does the social entrepreneur’s compassion inform how they engage with their environment to mobilize resources for social entrepreneurial action? Design/methodology/approach The study features a comparative case study analysis of seven high-profile social entrepreneurs within Cape Town, South Africa. Data via in-depth interviews, site visits and archival information and follow-up conversations were collected and then analyzed via thematic coding of qualitative analysis. Findings The findings suggest that compassion is an antecedent for the social entrepreneurial boundary spanning shaped by their orientation toward concern for others’ well-being. Propositions presented offer the groundwork for an emergent theoretical framework of social entrepreneurial boundary spanning. Originality/value The study builds upon the emerging compassion research within social entrepreneurship, extending the conceptualization of compassion to be shapers of the social structure – not just the individual or the organization – in an emerging market context.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sergey Kazakov ◽  
Olga Oyner

Purpose This paper aims to examine the development and significant contributions in a growing array of relevant publications spanning from 1946 to date and discuss future developments of the wellness tourism topic until the year 2095. Design/methodology/approach This perspective study traces down the wellness tourism evolution research by re-viewing and analysing an extant body of the relevant literature over the last 75 years. This paper builds a rigorous perspective review by examination of publications derived from several scientific domains, including tourism, medicine, economics and social sciences. Findings As a result of this study, wellness tourism can be attributed as a profuse and proliferating research stream in the recent 75 years. Its relevance to significant aspects of life, such as health and also due to effects on human, social, and economic well-being, drives its proliferation. The paper anticipates the relevance and topicality of wellness tourism studies for academic research in the next 75 years. Originality/value This paper contributes to the theory by addressing the ambiguous nature of wellness tourism, recapping the debate on the most debated research questions, and revealing the perspectives for future research in this area.


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