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Foreign language anxiety (FLA), the pervasive feeling of mild to severe apprehension when faced with communicating in a foreign language, is universally quite common. The manifestation of FLA in Thailand, where English is taught as a foreign language in secondary schools, is no exception. By employing descriptive phenomenology, this study sought to corroborate the existence of FLA at some stage during Thai secondary EFL classes and discover if FLA continues to trouble Thai adults working in international organizations. The population of this study is 12 Thai adults who are working as office workers, management, and administrative staff in an international organization in Thailand. The participants shared accounts of experiencing negative or harsh feedback from Thai teachers and Thai classmates, doubting their English language proficiency, persistent fear of embarrassment when making mistakes in English, and a prolonged feeling of guilt from limited grammatical and vocabulary knowledge while in secondary EFL classes. In the end, all participants disclosed that FLA, which they corroborated began when they were students in secondary school, has continued to plague them in adulthood. The study recommends that to diminish FLA in Thai secondary EFL classrooms, education stakeholders must implement sound language policy changes, progressive educational development, and most importantly, sufficient teacher education and teacher support focused on producing qualified Thai teachers of English.

Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the economic impacts of the COVID‐19 lockdown in Thailand on low‐income older people concerning their employment, household income and food security. The study also aimed to identify which socioeconomic characteristics of low‐income older Thais are at higher risk of being negatively affected and whether they can access state economic relief during the pandemic response in Thailand. Methods: Economic, health and social well‐being questionnaires were completed by low‐income older Thais (n = 808) holding a State Welfare Card during the COVID‐19 lockdown in 2020. Descriptive analyses and multivariate logistic regressions were utilized in the data analysis. All analyses were performed using Stata 15. Results: This study found that 62% of participants experienced a negative impact on their household income, 35% had a negative impact on employment and 20% had a negative impact on food security. However, the impact level depended upon their vulnerability before the pandemic. The study also reveals that older Thais who experienced a negative impact on household income could access monetary relief schemes from the government during the pandemic. Conclusions: This study reveals the layers of economic vulnerability among the population of low‐income older Thais negatively affected by the 2020 lockdown. Despite the accessible state monetary relief, differential skills with the use of digital technology could create inequitable access to aid measures among older Thais. The findings highlight the need for longitudinal studies to track changes in the economic impacts arising from subsequent waves of COVID‐19 on low‐income older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To investigate the association of running participation and the dose of running with the risk of all-cause, cardiovascular and cancer mortality.Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis.Data Sources: Journal articles, conference papers and doctoral theses indexed in Academic Search Ultimate, CINAHL, Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition, MasterFILE Complete, Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations, Open Access Theses and Dissertations, PsycINFO, PubMed/MEDLINE, Scopus, SPORTDiscus and Web of Science.Eligibility Criteria For Selecting Studies: Prospective cohort studies on the association between running or jogging participation and the risk of all-cause, cardiovascular and/or cancer mortality in a non-clinical population of adults were included.Results: Fourteen studies from six prospective cohorts with a pooled sample of 232 149 participants were included. In total, 25 951 deaths were recorded during 5.5-35 year follow-ups. Our meta-analysis showed that running participation is associated with 27%, 30% and 23% lower risk of all-cause (pooled adjusted hazard ratio (HR)=0.73; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.68 to 0.79), cardiovascular (HR=0.70; 95% CI 0.49 to 0.98) and cancer (HR=0.77; 95% CI 0.68 to 0.87) mortality, respectively, compared with no running. A meta-regression analysis showed no significant dose-response trends for weekly frequency, weekly duration, pace and the total volume of running.Conclusion: Increased rates of participation in running, regardless of its dose, would probably lead to substantial improvements in population health and longevity. Any amount of running, even just once a week, is better than no running, but higher doses of running may not necessarily be associated with greater mortality benefits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: Given the differing cultural contexts and service needs of older persons in the west and the east, programs or policies should be thoughtfully redesigned to accommodate these diverse societies. This paper presents a systematic scoping review of ageing in place (AIP) strategies in Japan, Singapore and Thailand, emphasising how they are tailored to address the unique challenges of ageing populations in Asia., Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted through seven databases. Empirical, peer-reviewed studies in English that discussed AIP-related programs or policies involving aged populations in the target countries were included. Themes were identified using the policy triangle framework, allowing for a comprehensive comparison of AIP across the countries., Results: Three key components of AIP, place, support network and workforce, were identified from 44 included studies. Each country exhibits distinctive approaches to implementing these components. Japan has extensive AIP systems with comprehensive services and strong community and family support. Singapore offers innovative aged care with significant government involvement, though on a smaller scale. Thailand's localised initiatives focus on community health care and age-friendly city assessments, with a less developed AIP infrastructure., Conclusions: The study proposes a comprehensive framework for developing ageing policies in Asia, emphasising the need for a person-centred approach in developing AIP strategies that cater to the diverse needs of ageing populations, and underscores the importance of integrating health-care services, community support and home environment modifications. The three AIP elements advocate for a person-centred approach, providing valuable insights for policymakers to effectively manage challenges of rapidly ageing populations., (© 2024 AJA Inc’.)

Background: Physical activity (PA) surveillance, policy, and research efforts need to be periodically appraised to gain insight into national and global capacities for PA promotion. The aim of this paper was to assess the status and trends in PA surveillance, policy, and research in 164 countries., Methods: We used data from the Global Observatory for Physical Activity (GoPA!) 2015 and 2020 surveys. Comprehensive searches were performed for each country to determine the level of development of their PA surveillance, policy, and research, and the findings were verified by the GoPA! Country Contacts. Trends were analyzed based on the data available for both survey years., Results: The global 5-year progress in all 3 indicators was modest, with most countries either improving or staying at the same level. PA surveillance, policy, and research improved or remained at a high level in 48.1%, 40.6%, and 42.1% of the countries, respectively. PA surveillance, policy, and research scores decreased or remained at a low level in 8.3%, 15.8%, and 28.6% of the countries, respectively. The highest capacity for PA promotion was found in Europe, the lowest in Africa and low- and lower-middle-income countries. Although a large percentage of the world's population benefit from at least some PA policy, surveillance, and research efforts in their countries, 49.6 million people are without PA surveillance, 629.4 million people are without PA policy, and 108.7 million live in countries without any PA research output. A total of 6.3 billion people or 88.2% of the world's population live in countries where PA promotion capacity should be significantly improved., Conclusion: Despite PA is essential for health, there are large inequalities between countries and world regions in their capacity to promote PA. Coordinated efforts are needed to reduce the inequalities and improve the global capacity for PA promotion.