Enduring self‐health

Teratologies: A Cultural Study of Cancer, by Jacky Stacey, London/ New York: Routledge, 1997, 304 pp., £45.00 cloth, £13.99 pb     

Exploring families’ experiences of health: contributions to a model of family health

Child health and developmental outcomes are influenced by the health of the family and the context created. Research suggests symptoms of poor family health (e.g. suboptimal family interactions, parenting stress) yet there is limited understanding of the factors which contribute to robust family health which may unveil opportunities for targeted intervention and family health promotion. The present study examined families’ experiences of family health and factors contributing to family health. We performed a qualitative study using constructivist grounded theory methods to guide our understanding of family health for families with typically developing children aged 5–18. Interviews were conducted in family homes and all members were invited to participate. Data from interviews were transcribed, coded, thematically analyzed, and verified with select families. Ten families, including 10 mothers, 8 fathers, and 15 children participated in the study. Participants described family health as a process of balance, living purposefully, and sharing experiences together in alignment with family identity. Mediating family health were processes of awareness and reflection, and adapting, adjusting, and changing in response to family life including external stress factors. Results highlight the possibility for healthcare practitioners to facilitate families’ self-reflection and awareness about their health in order to mediate family health development.     

Does positive affect influence health?

This review highlights consistent patterns in the literature associating positive affect (PA) and physical health. However, it also raises serious conceptual and methodological reservations. Evidence suggests an association of trait PA and lower morbidity and of state and trait PA and decreased symptoms and pain. Trait PA is also associated with increased longevity among older community-dwelling individuals. The literature on PA and surviving serious illness is inconsistent. Experimentally inducing intense bouts of activated state PA triggers short-term rises in physiological arousal and associated (potentially harmful) effects on immune, cardiovascular, and pulmonary function. However, arousing effects of state PA are not generally found in naturalistic ambulatory studies in which bouts of PA are typically less intense and often associated with health protective responses. A theoretical framework to guide further study is proposed.     

A blessing in disguise? Empowering Catholic health care institutions in the current health care environment.

Health care institutions, including Roman Catholic institutions, are in a time of crisis. This crisis may provide an important opportunity to reinvigorate Roman Catholic health care. The current health care crisis offers Roman Catholic health care institutions a special opportunity to rethink their fundamental commitments and to plan for the future. The author argues that what Catholic health care institutions must first do is articulate the nature of their identity and their commitments. By a renewed commitment to the praxis of health care on their own distinctive terms, Roman Catholic health care institutions may reestablish a vision of human nature and human service in an increasingly secular society. Health care could then reclaim its place as a powerful setting for the expression of Roman Catholic faith, life and witness.     

Changes over time from baseline poor self-rated health: for whom does poor self-rated health not predict mortality?

The aim of this study was to understand for whom and why poor self-rated health (SRH) is a less valid predictor of longevity or future health by examining the predictors of decline in health among people with poor baseline SRH. The sample included 409 participants in the Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study of the old-old (75+) in Israel, who were self-respondents and rated their health as poor at baseline and their status was known at follow-up 3.5 years later: deceased/moved to proxy interview/remained in poor SRH/or improved SRH. Baseline measures included self-reported medical status, physical, cognitive, psychological and social functioning. Findings showed that less decline in health was predicted by less difficulty in physical and cognitive functioning at baseline and by a more active physical and social life, after controlling for socio-demographics. Most of the predictors retained a unique contribution in a multivariate model, suggesting that engagement in meaningful activities serves as an indicator of better health and longer survival even within a group of old-old people in poor health. It may reflect greater social support, contribute to fitness and/or provide a sense of mastery, which could explain similar findings regarding gender and race/ethnicity groups for whom SRH is a less potent predictor of mortality.     

Changes over time from baseline poor self-rated health: For whom does poor self-rated health not predict mortality?

The aim of this study was to understand for whom and why poor self-rated health (SRH) is a less valid predictor of longevity or future health by examining the predictors of decline in health among people with poor baseline SRH. The sample included 409 participants in the Cross-Sectional and Longitudinal Study of the old–old (75+) in Israel, who were self-respondents and rated their health as poor at baseline and their status was known at follow-up 3.5 years later: deceased/moved to proxy interview/remained in poor SRH/or improved SRH. Baseline measures included self-reported medical status, physical, cognitive, psychological and social functioning. Findings showed that less decline in health was predicted by less difficulty in physical and cognitive functioning at baseline and by a more active physical and social life, after controlling for socio-demographics. Most of the predictors retained a unique contribution in a multivariate model, suggesting that engagement in meaningful activities serves as an indicator of better health and longer survival even within a group of old–old people in poor health. It may reflect greater social support, contribute to fitness and/or provide a sense of mastery, which could explain similar findings regarding gender and race/ethnicity groups for whom SRH is a less potent predictor of mortality.     

Is there a religious factor in health?

This paper reviews epidemiologic studies employing religion as an independent construct, and finds that most epidemiologists have an extremely limited appreciation of religion. After a historical overview of empirical religion and health research, some theoretical considerations are offered, followed by clarification of several operational and methodological issues. Next, well over 200 studies are reviewed from nine health-related areas: cardiovascular disease, hypertension and stroke, colitis and enteritis, general health status, general mortality, cancer of the uterine corpus and cervix, all other non-uterine cancers, morbidity and mortality in the clergy, and cancer in India. Finally, an agenda for further research is proposed.     

Can spirituality be taught to health care professionals?

Although people with life-limiting conditions report a desire to have spiritual concerns addressed, there is evidence that these issues are often avoided by health care professionals in palliative care. This study reports on the longitudinal outcomes of four workshops purpose-designed to improve the spiritual knowledge and confidence of 120 palliative care staff in Australia. Findings revealed significant increases in Spirituality, Spiritual Care, Personalised Care, and Confidence in this field immediately following the workshops. Improvements in Spiritual Care and Confidence were maintained 3 month later, with Confidence continuing to grow. These findings suggest that attendance at a custom-designed workshop can significantly improve knowledge and confidence to provide spiritual care.     

What do people think about changes in health behaviors? Differential perceptions of consequences of increases and decreases in health behaviors

Most health decision-making models posit that cost-benefit analyses underlie decisions to make changes in health-related behavioral practices. In a series of studies, participants imagined either increasing or decreasing the frequency of a variety of health behaviors and estimated the consequences of those changes. In Studies 1 and 2, individuals consistently estimated that increasing a health behavior produced greater consequences than did decreasing the behavior by an equivalent amount. The results of Study 3 demonstrated that this effect is due to differences in how individuals judge the impact of health behavior changes which involve not engaging in the behavior at all versus other types of changes. Taken together, these findings suggest that perceptions of the outcomes afforded by health behavior changes depend on both the behavioral frequency and direction of changes in behavior an individual is considering. This asymmetry has the potential to help explain patterns of behavior in a range of important health domains and may impact the effectiveness of behavior change interventions.     

What have we learned about burnout and health?

Abstract It has been a decade since an international group of scholars came together to discuss and debate the construct of job burnout. That conference, which took place in Krakow, Poland in 1990, was a major turning point in the development of this field. Not only did it bring together a wide range of theoretical perspectives and empirical data, it generated new directions for the work that needed to be done in the future (Schaufeli et al., 1993). Now that we are 10 years into that future, it would be worthwhile to assemble a new group of international scholars and discover what progress has been made. In essence, that is what the editors of this Special Issue have done. They have invited several of the leading burnout researchers from several continents to contribute their newest studies on this important social phenomenon. Thus this Special Issue affords us the opportunity to assess the strides that have been made since that first meeting in Krakow. So what have we now learned about burnout and its relation to health?     

Leisure and health: why is leisure therapeutic?

The purpose of this article is to examine the empirical evidence and describe theoretical perspectives that address under what conditions and why leisure can be therapeutic and contribute to health and well-being. This review of the literature provides empirical evidence that leisure can contribute to physical, social, emotional and cognitive health through prevention, coping (adjustment, remediation, diversion), and transcendence. After examining this empirical evidence, the article addresses why leisure is therapeutic and concludes by presenting two concepts useful to practitioners who desire to provide leisure guidance to help people avoid risk and maximise the therapeutic possibilities of leisure.