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Objectives This study aimed to determine the proportion of older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples participating in cultural events and activities and determine the demographic and sociocultural characteristics associated with participation. Methods The Australian Bureau of Statistics National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (2014–2015) was used to measure the prevalence of participation in cultural events and activities. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to measure associations. Sociocultural factors were selected by matching survey items to the 12 sociocultural factors described in the Good Spirit Good Life Framework, a culturally validated quality-of-life tool for older people. Results The majority (62.0%) of survey respondents 45 years and older participated in cultural events (e.g. ceremonies, funerals/sorry business, NAIDOC week activities, sports carnivals, festivals/carnivals) or were involved in organizations. Many (58.5%) also participated in activities (e.g. fishing, hunting, gathering wild plants/berries, arts/crafts, music/dance/theater, writing/telling of stories). In regression models including demographic and cultural variables, participation in cultural events was highest among people living remotely (odds ratio [OR] = 2.71), reporting recognition of homelands (OR = 2.39), identifying with a cultural group (OR = 3.56), and those reporting having a say in their communities (OR = 1.57), with similar odds seen for participation in activities. Participation was inversely proportional to increasing age, with a greater proportion of females participating in events and males in activities. Discussion The social lives of older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were characterized by widespread participation in cultural events and activities. These findings provide important insights into services as they support older people to live a good life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractChild labor has majorly been analyzed through the socio-economic lens, because the deterministic cultural factors have not received much attention. This study attempts to understand the cultural influences on children’s involvement in traditional economic activities. Applying a cultural sociological approach, an intrinsic case study was conducted on the nomadic Nat tribe in India that generates its livelihood through children’s involvement in acrobatics. Findings suggest that the cultural existence of the tribe significantly determines children’s involvement in socio-economic exchanges. Policy attempts toward child upliftment must consider the cultural aspects essential for the tribe’s survival. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most countries are still nations of homeowners, i.e. owning-centric despite home ownership being an economically irrational tenure due to its long-term financial risk. Seemingly, pre-existing social and institutional factors also shape people's tenure decisions, which supports a cultural explanation of tenure decisions. This paper frames the examination of tenure decisions from a cultural perspective in Malaysia, a Southeast Asian country with a strong home ownership tradition characterised by inflated house prices in its major cities and high household debts. A qualitative approach was adopted, involving a focus group discussion (FGD) and an open-ended online questionnaire survey (OQS). Two input categories (parental and societal) and five cultural determinants (filial piety, parental care, emulation, virtue signalling and status symbol) of tenure decisions were discerned. Considering the current trajectory of the global economy and local housing market, an honest reconsideration of the home ownership culture in Malaysia is proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Parent-infant interaction is highly recommended during the preterm infant hospitalisation period in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Integrating culturally sensitive healthcare during hospitalisation of preterm infants is critical for positive health outcomes. However, there is still a paucity of evidence on parental experience regarding cultural practices that can be integrated into preterm infant care in the NICU. The study explored and described the cultural determinants of parents that can be integrated into the care of preterm infants in the NICU. Methods A descriptive qualitative research design was followed where twenty (n=20) parents of preterm infants were purposively selected. The study was conducted in the NICU in Limpopo using in-depth individual interviews. Taguette software and a thematic analysis framework were used to analyse the data. The COREQ guidelines and checklist were employed to ensure reporting standardisation. Results Four themes emerged from the thematic analysis: 1) Lived experienced by parents of preterm infants, 2) Interactions with healthcare professionals, 3) Cultural practices concerning preterm infant care, and 4) Indigenous healthcare practices for preterm infants. Conclusions The study emphasised a need for healthcare professionals to understand the challenges parents of preterm infants face in NICU care. Furthermore, healthcare professionals should know indigenous healthcare practices to ensure relevant, culturally sensitive care.

Background: Parent-infant interaction is highly recommended during the preterm infant hospitalisation period in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Integrating culturally sensitive healthcare during hospitalisation of preterm infants is critical for positive health outcomes. However, there is still a paucity of evidence on parental experience regarding cultural practices that can be integrated into preterm infant care in the NICU. The study explored and described the cultural determinants of parents that can be integrated into the care of preterm infants in the NICU. Methods: A descriptive qualitative research design was followed where twenty (n=20) parents of preterm infants were purposively selected. The study was conducted in the NICU in Limpopo using in-depth individual interviews. Taguette software and a thematic analysis framework were used to analyse the data. The COREQ guidelines and checklist were employed to ensure reporting standardisation. Results: Four themes emerged from the thematic analysis: 1) Lived experienced by parents of preterm infants, 2) Interactions with healthcare professionals, 3) Cultural practices concerning preterm infant care, and 4) Indigenous healthcare practices for preterm infants. Conclusions: The study emphasised a need for healthcare professionals to understand the challenges parents of preterm infants face in NICU care. Furthermore, healthcare professionals should know indigenous healthcare practices to ensure relevant, culturally sensitive care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay addresses personal and professional values underlying (but not necessarily consciously articulated) how we practice and what we define as healthy outcomes for our efforts as transactional analysts. It is an invitation to consider the importance of a professional culture of curiosity and respect, one that can welcome and make use of difference and conflict, stressing the need for the elaboration of theories and values that actively attend to social and political forces that shape beliefs and behaviors. Central to this essay is a critique of the incorporation of "I'm OK, You're OK" as a central value of transactional analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Background Cultural practices are an integral part of childrearing and remain a significant aspect for healthcare professionals to ensure culturally sensitive care, particularly in the neonatal intensive care unit. Objective To synthesise literature on the cultural determinants that can be integrated into care of preterm infants admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit. Methods The current review followed the integrative literature review steps proposed by Lubbe and colleagues. The registration of the review protocol was in PROSPERO. There was a literature search conducted in the EBSCOhost, PubMed, ScienceDirect and Scopus databases using the search string developed in collaboration with the librarian. Three reviewers employed a three-step screening strategy to screen the articles published in English between 2011 and 2021 that focused on culturally sensitive care. The Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Evidence critical appraisal toolkit assessed the methodological quality of the articles included at the full-text screening level. Results There were 141 articles retrieved, and 20 included on the full-text screening level; the exclusion of one article was due to a low critical appraisal grade. Four topical themes emerged from 19 articles: spiritual care practices, intragenerational infant-rearing practices, infant physical care practices, and combining treatment practices. Conclusion Overall, the findings indicated that parental cultural beliefs and practices mostly influenced infant-rearing practices, emphasising the significance of integrating cultural practices when rendering healthcare services. The recommendation is that healthcare professionals understand various cultural determinants, mainly those specific to the community they serve, to provide culturally sensitive care.

The current study's sole specific goal was to use a qualitative approach, from the parents' emic perspective, to investigate the cultural determinants that influence using parent-child communication as an instrument to protect children from sexual abuse in the six electoral wards of Ife-East Local Government that covered the rural settlement of Ile-Ife. The study adopted a simple random sampling method to select a village from each ward and a convenient sampling method to select six parents from each village, making a total sample size of 36. The study utilized in-depth face-to-face interviews to garner the primary data and content analysis for data analysis. This study found and concluded that parents' economic activities, religious beliefs, fear of stigmatization or mockery, belief that giving a child sex education via parent-child communication promotes waywardness in the behavior of such a child, belief that sex education should be best confined to formal education, and overconfidence of the parents in their wards were among the cultural determinants influencing the efficacy of parent-child communication as a device to shield young ones from being victims of sexual abuse in the study location. The study recommended public enlightenment via various social institutions on dealing with these cultural determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Cultural practices are an integral part of childrearing and remain a significant aspect for healthcare professionals to ensure culturally sensitive care, particularly in the neonatal intensive care unit. Objective: To synthesise literature on the cultural determinants that can be integrated into care of preterm infants admitted into the neonatal intensive care unit. Methods: The current review followed the integrative literature review steps proposed by Lubbe and colleagues. The registration of the review protocol was in PROSPERO. There was a literature search conducted in the EBSCOhost, PubMed, ScienceDirect and Scopus databases using the search string developed in collaboration with the librarian. Three reviewers employed a three-step screening strategy to screen the articles published in English between 2011 and 2021 that focused on culturally sensitive care. The Johns Hopkins Nursing Evidence-Based Practice Evidence critical appraisal toolkit assessed the methodological quality of the articles included at the full-text screening level. Results: There were 141 articles retrieved, and 20 included on the full-text screening level; the exclusion of one article was due to a low critical appraisal grade. Four topical themes emerged from 19 articles: spiritual care practices, intragenerational infant-rearing practices, infant physical care practices, and combining treatment practices. Conclusion: Overall, the findings indicated that parental cultural beliefs and practices mostly influenced infant-rearing practices, emphasising the significance of integrating cultural practices when rendering healthcare services. The recommendation is that healthcare professionals understand various cultural determinants, mainly those specific to the community they serve, to provide culturally sensitive care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brazilian mental health care reform understands mental health as a complex social process. There is a large literature production within the country focused on deinstitutionalization policy, social determinants of mental health and human rights, however, with little recognition beyond Latin American borders. In addition, cultural dimensions of mental suffering have been neglected in Brazilian debates which limits an expanded understanding of health care and users' inclusion. This paper aims to discuss the role of cultural determinants in mental health care in Brazil. We followed a patient in the city of Rio de Janeiro who opted for therapy based on her religious beliefs—using ayahuasca in the context of the Afro Brazilian religion of Umbanda—over the treatment-as-usual in mental health. We draw on the notions of autoatención (self, domestic, and group-care in lay contexts) and medical landscapes to examine how therapeutic negotiations reflect embodied cultural traits and both social and political determinants shaping therapeutic spaces. We argue that recognizing sociocultural differences and therapeutic negotiations are key elements in making a more inclusive health practice. Moreover, this recognition enables identifying and reasoning the broader social processes framing health practices. This debate is relevant to the Brazilian mental health context and to other scenarios, especially those where local and global knowledge and practices in mental health are entangled. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Is a pediatric patient from a community near the Sierra of Zongolica, admitted to the hospital with clinical and radiological symptoms suggestive of pulmonary tuberculosis, without improvement with treatment. This leads to a lung biopsy finding actinomycete with characteristic inflammatory. Treatment is redirected showing improvement, after almost a month of hospitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Approved or not, the Hermann Rorschach test can be considered more than just a test to a clinical trial. Reflection on it as a broader phenomenon may yield what is the most valuable: better knowledge of human nature. This article aims to present the dual nature of Rorschach's inkblots: as a test of "guessing" the meaning of signs and as a test of perception. Narrative literature review on the meaning and interpretation of the Rorschach test. The nature and reception of inkblots. The inkblots have a dual nature: they require visual perception, and at the same time they are signs, whose meanings are extracted in the process of interpretation. This process is largely subject to cultural determinants; it also depends on the structure of stimuli and on their artistic expression. Charles Sanders Peirce's theory of signs and the sign nature of inkblots. According to Peirce, the interpretation of a sign, as a triadic structure, belongs to the ontic order and is a continuous process, taking place perpetually. Mental interpretation, as it were, follows the ontic dimension and constitutes a kind of reflection of this dimension. The phenomenology of perception and the interpretation of inkblots. Perception as viewed by Rorschach found its unintended, though strikingly consistent, complement in the philosophy of Maurice Merleau-Ponty. This is particularly clear in the acknowledgment of the role of the body in perception and in emphasis placed on the active and dynamic nature of the subject–object relationship. Rorschach and Merleau-Ponty vs. Peirce: similarities and differences. The seemingly completely different ways of understanding interpretation in Peirce's semiotics (indirect cognition) and in Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology (direct cognition), actually show important similarities. I draw attention to the ontic dimension of interpretation and its systemic character, which both philosophers stress, and to the view of interpretation as a perpetual process that is never completed, both in Peirce's semiotics and in Merleau-Ponty's phenomenology. The semiotic and perceptual nature of the inkblots created by the Swiss psychiatrist reflects two basic and mutually complementary ways in which humans experience the world. This experience has both a psychological and an ontic nature, which makes it possible for an examination using the Rorschach test to become an encounter with an existential dimension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. A study reveals – against to common beliefs –less support between rural area residents in comparison to town-dwellers and significantly higher support for healthy, not for poor health research participants. Objectives. The aim of our paper was comparing support from spouse/partner, relatives, friends and strangers among people with good and ill physical health. A next purpose was to find differences of social support and experience of social undermining in urban and rural residential settings. Material and methods. The study “Epidemiology of Mental Disorders and Access to Mental Health Care, EZOP – Poland” was carried out on random sample of 24 000 of Poland residents and a 50,4% response rate, 10 081 computerassisted personal interviews. Of those respondents, 4 000 constituted a sub-sample asked to complete the social networks and support section of the questionnaire. Data were analyzed by age, gender, residential setting and marital status for statistically significant differences in the percentage of functional and structural social support being reported, using the chi-squared test with a significance level of 0.05 used to reject the null hypothesis (H0 = lack of relationship between variables). Results. A majority of respondents maintain that in difficult life situations, family and a close network of friends and acquaintances make it possible to openly discuss problems and obtain help. However, respondents who rate their health as “poor” or “very poor” significantly less often than healthy individuals experience support coming from their relatives, friends, or strangers. In comparison to urban areas, the extent of social support in rural areas is significantly limited. The rural setting offers less support and even less opportunities for interaction with relatives, friends, acquaintances and strangers. Negative social factors– low levels of trust, isolation from friends and family, lack of a social life, lack of a helpful neighborhood – are conditions significantly more often found in the countryside than in urban areas. Conclusions. Results obtained from the EZOP study shows that amount of social support received is higher in urban areas and among those who enjoy better physical health.

Issue addressed: The Anthropocene is a new era in which human activity has been the dominant influence on climate and the environment. The negative impact humans have on the earth's systems pose significant threats to human health. Health promotion is a discipline well placed to respond to planetary health challenges of the Anthropocene. The overarching aim of this paper is to describe the elements of 21st century socio‐ecological health and apply them in a revised socio‐ecological framework for health promotion. Methods: A qualitative description study design was employed to explore the significance of ecological and cultural determinants of health and review models in contemporary health promotion to inform the development of a revised Mandala of Health. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit ten experts from across Australia including academics and practitioners working at the nexus of health promotion, environmental management and sustainability. Data were analysed thematically, using deductive and inductive methods. Results: A revised Mandala of Health could address existing gaps in health promotion theory and practice. Ecological and cultural determinants of health were considered essential components of health promotion that is often lacking in socio‐ecological frameworks. Indigenous Knowledge Systems were considered immensely important when addressing ecological and cultural determinants of health. Conclusions: A revised Mandala of Health could encourage development of contemporary health models, assisting health promotion to evolve with the health and environmental issues of the Anthropocene. This study highlights the need for more theoretical development and empirical research regarding ecological and cultural determinants of health in a health promotion context. So what?: In the context of the Anthropocene, this study highlights the potential gaps in health promotion theory and practice in terms of the natural environment and health and emphasises the need of a paradigm shift to embed ecological and cultural determinants with other determinants of health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consumption of fruits and vegetables (F&V) has many health benefits, yet the majority of the world's population, including young children, consume less than recommended. This article provides caregivers' perspectives on cultural determinants of F&V consumption in children in Fiji. A qualitative study design using focus group discussions with caregivers of children aged 6 months to 5 years old in Suva was used. Thematic content analysis was undertaken to identify common issues using four main themes. Subthemes were further analyzed from the broad themes to understand caregiver's perceptions. Caregivers perceived that meal components lacked F&V and food preparation and cooking methods of F&V did not stimulate children's appetite. Non-vegetable products such as meat and fish were perceived as more valued and privileged for those consuming them. Understanding cultural determinants as perceived by caregivers is important to inform strategies to increase F&V consumption in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This theoretical paper examines the context-sensitivity of the impact of cultural norms on prejudice regulation. Granting the importance of understanding intergroup dynamics in cultural-ecological contexts, we focus on the peculiarities of the French diversity approach. Indeed, the major cultural norm, the Laïcité (i.e., French secularism) is declined today in two main variants: The Historic Laïcité, a longstanding egalitarian norm coexisting with its amended form: The New Laïcité, an assimilationist norm. In fact, these co-encapsulated Laïcité variants constitute a fruitful ground to cast light on the processes underlying prejudice regulation. Indeed, it is documented that the assimilationist New Laïcité is linked to higher levels of prejudice as compared to the egalitarian Historic Laïcité. To this day, research mainly explored interindividual determinants of Laïcité endorsements and specified how these endorsements shape prejudice. Crucially, this “indirect-endorsement path” does not account for the more straightforward causal relationship between Laïcité and prejudice. Moreover, recent experimental evidence suggests that the normative salience of both Laïcité norms shape intergroup attitudes beyond personal endorsement. Therefore, in this contribution, we complement previous work by investigating the possible socio-cognitive processes driving this “direct-contextual path.” In doing so, we seek to bridge the gap of causality by investigating how the Laïcité norms can set the stage for specific regulatory strategies. Our reasoning derives from an application of the Justification-Suppression Model bolstered by classical work on mental control, modern racism and diversity ideology. From this, we sketch out the operative functioning of two distinct regulation processes: (a) one that prevents prejudicial attitudes but which can have unexpected consequences on stereotyping within the Historic Laïcité context (i.e., suppression) and (b) one that helps realize prejudice within the New Laïcité context (i.e., justification). From this analysis, we discuss the consequences for intergroup relations within and beyond the French context. In particular, we outline the importance of an adequate framing of egalitarian ideologies so that they achieve their goal to foster harmonious intergroup relations.

Drawing on a salutogenic perspective, we explored sense of coherence (SOC) in a group of Palestinian mental health care providers living and working in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories (West Bank). Specifically, we conducted a qualitative exploration of the cultural characteristics of SOC and its components (comprehensibility, manageability, and meaningfulness) in two groups of Palestinian Muslim helpers. We found that context-specific features of SOC can mobilize generalized resistance resources for coping with traumatic and stressful experiences, even in an environment characterized by political instability, military violence, and social trauma. Ten main themes emerged from the thematic content analysis: acceptance, reacting to adversity, acknowledging human insecurity (comprehensibility), self-control, talking to family, education as a resource for survival, connecting to the severity of the event, responsibility as a source of control (manageability), religiosity, and sense of belonging (meaningfulness). The Islamic faith, as expressed through the concepts of Sumud and Taslim, seemed to permeate individuals' ability to attribute meaning to historical and transgenerational trauma, as well as to their ongoing traumatic conditions, thus acting as their ultimate source of health and wellbeing. A holistic, spiritual, and collectivist outlook helped respondents to approach their lives with optimism. We discuss the implications for mental health care providers and future research directions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors have no competing interests to declare.

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Yolsuzluk ve rüşvet sadece gelişmekte olan ya da geçiş ekonomilerinde değil tüm ekonomilerde ortak bir davranış olarak görülmektedir. Rüşvet, toplumların ekonomik, politik ve kültürel yapıları ile ilişkili olarak ortaya çıkmaktadır. Böylece yolsuzluk ve rüşvet davranışını belirleyen faktörler de çok yönlü ve çok boyutlu olarak ifade edilmektedir. Bununla birlikte, rüşvet ve yolsuzluk olayları farklı faktörlerden etkileniyor olsa bile, bu olayların ekonomik sonuçları önemli maliyetler doğurmakta ve toplumun kültürel yapısını zayıflatmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, genel olarak yolsuzluk ve özellikle rüşvet süreci, bu süreci belirleyen faktörler analiz edilecektir. Çalışma, rüşvet davranışı ve toplumların kültürel kurumları ve yapıları arasındaki bağlantıyı incelemektedir. Böylece çalışma, yolsuzluk ve rüşvet davranışlarının kültürel belirleyicilerini ortaya çıkarmayı amaçlamaktadır. Bu amaç için ilk olarak; Uluslararası Şeffaflık Örgütü Yolsuzluk Algılama Endeksi CPI ve Dünya Bankası Yönetişim Göstergelerinden ulaşılan yolsuzluk algılama endeksi verisi ile farklı ülkeler özelinde karşılaştırma yapılmaktadır. Daha sonra ülkelerin yolsuzluk puanları ile kültürel değerleri ve yapıları arasındaki karşılıklı ilişkiler, Dünya Değerler Araştırması World Value Survey WVS ve Avrupa Değerler Araştırması European Value Survey EVS ile elde edilen veriler aracılığıyla değerlendirilmektedir. WVS ve EVS, çeşitli boyutlarda kültürel sınıflandırmaya yönelik endeksleri geliştirmek için çok geniş bir değişken setine kapsamaktadır. Ülkelerin yolsuzluk puanları WVS/EVS’den toplu düzeyde ve kesit regresyonlar aracılığıyla, diğer makro seviyedeki ekonomik değişkenlerden elde edilen kültürel özelliklerinin belirleyicileri ile birlikte analiz edilmektedir. WVS, özellikle bireylerin rüşveti ne kadar tolere ettiği sorusunu içermektedir. Bu çalışma ayrıca mikro ölçekte farklı ülkelerin WVS verilerini kullanarak yolsuzluk ve rüşvet davranışının temel göstergelerini belirlemeye çalışmaktadır. Metodolojik açıdan Çalışma; bağımlı değişken olarak bireylerin rüşveti kabul etmesini kullanmakta ve bireysel değerler, davranışlar ve demografik değişkenler olarak temel belirleyicilerin etkisini tahmin etmektedir.

European film festival venues are explored in their relation to transnationalism, a “supranational sphere”, as well as with political and economic implications (Acciari, 2014). The international film festivals are seen as cosmopolitan spaces (Chan 2011, 253), yet, the new morphology of film festivals - perceived as "public spheres" or as new objects of historical research - bring a new light on film festivals and the theory of culture and visual discourse, especially with the new reconfiguration of festivals in Europe, the insertion of new technologies and new opportunities to explore local identity. The article examines the cultural determinants and the new vocabulary of visual discourse, exploring the implied questions regarding national identity vs. European identity, and the possibility of building a cultural city/ country branding. With a case study on the Transilvania International Film Festival, I attempt an inquiry of three interconnected aspects employed in exploring film festivals and their transnational dimension: the impact of the new media on the audience, the challenge of identity and the possibility to create a city/ country branding.

Highlights • Farmers' cooperation is viable in an autonomous decision making setting. • Top-down regulation can crowd out voluntary cooperation. • Historic practices do not determine individuals' cooperation decision today. • Panacea approaches to local water users' cooperation are unlikely to succeed. Abstract This study contributes to the understanding of long- and short-term determinants of cooperation among water users. We experimentally investigate the potential of water users' self-governance in enhancing their contributions to a common pool as opposed to external regulation. Our focus is on the irrigated areas of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. Due to their Soviet past, these countries have a reputation for low bottom-up cooperation potential. Based on the different pre-Soviet irrigation traditions of the two study sites, we assess the effectiveness of short-term incentives compared to long term cultural factors of cooperation. History might matter, but we find it does not predetermine the success of current water decentralization in ancient as compared to relatively recently established irrigation sites. Our study reveals that external regulation, in fact, decreases farmers' cooperation, whereas face-to-face communication increases it. This finding calls into question the top-down approach prevalent in current water policies of the region. Moreover, it suggests the viability of endogenous cooperation and hence encourages the implementation of truly self-governed water management policies in Central Asia. However, the substantial heterogeneity in individual contributions apparent at the village level also signals a warning that one-size-fits-all approaches to local cooperation are unlikely to succeed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Colonisation in Australia has had a devastating and lasting impact on the wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia (herein referred to as Indigenous Australians). This paper discusses the role of psychology in Australia and the negative impact that certain disciplinary theories and practices have had on Indigenous Australians. The impact has been further exacerbated by the failure of mainstream policy makers and mental health practitioners to recognise the key, distinctive cultural and social determinants that contribute to Aboriginal health and wellbeing. There is a growing response by Aboriginal psychologists, critical social theorists, and their allies to decolonise psychological theory and practice to redress this situation. This paper outlines key decolonising strategies that have been effective in interrupting those aspects of psychology that are inimical to Aboriginal wellbeing.

Background: Exclusive breastfeeding has been found to be effective in reducing infant mortality and morbidity in the contemporary world. This study explored attitude and cultural determinants of EBF among childbearing mothers in Nsukka urban. Data Source and Method: Data from 592 childbearing mothers were collected and analyzed using questionnaire, (SPSS), Chi-square and multiple linear regression. Results: Attitude such as infant's inability to eat other food after EBF and that male infant should not be exclusively breastfed as well as cultural determinants such as the use of coconut water to loosen intestine and after-birth care were significant with EBF practice. The infant's inability to eat other food after EBF and after-birth care were predictors of EBF on binary logistic regression. Conclusion: Findings suggest the need for government, healthcare and social workers to raise awareness on the risks of complementary feeding and the importance of EBF for the reduction of infant mortality and the achievement of related sustainable goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European film festival venues are explored in their relation to transnationalism, a "supranational sphere", as well as with political and economic implications (Acciari, 2014). The international film festivals are seen as cosmopolitan spaces (Chan 2011, 253), yet, the new morphology of film festivals - perceived as "public spheres" or as new objects of historical research - bring a new light on film festivals and the theory of culture and visual discourse, especially with the new reconfiguration of festivals in Europe, the insertion of new technologies and new opportunities to explore local identity. The article examines the cultural determinants and the new vocabulary of visual discourse, exploring the implied questions regarding national identity vs. European identity, and the possibility of building a cultural city/country branding. With a case study on the Transilvania International Film Festival, I attempt an inquiry of three interconnected aspects employed in exploring film festivals and their transnational dimension: the impact of the new media on the audience, the challenge of identity and the possibility to create a city/country branding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with two things: finding an objective and easilyquantifiable measure of government efficiency and testing possible determinantsof government quality. As measures of government efficiency, we used ratios ofinfant mortality rate to health expenditures as a percentage of GDP, and ratios ofdrop out and illiteracy rates to education expenditures as a percentage of GDP.We assume that government efficiency in providing health and education servicesdepends on economic, political and cultural factors.

Background: Maternal health remains a major public health problem in Ethiopia. Despite the government's measures to ensure institutional delivery assisted by skilled attendants, home delivery remains high, estimated at over 80% of all pregnant women. Objective: The study aims to identify determinants that sustain home delivery in Ethiopia. Methods: A total of 48 women who delivered their most recent child at home, 56 women who delivered their most recent child in a health facility, 55 husbands of women who delivered within 1 year preceding the study, and 23 opinion leaders in selected districts of Amhara, Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region, and Tigray regions were involved in the study. Key informant interview, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions were conducted to collect data using checklists developed for this purpose. Data reduction and analysis were facilitated by Maxqda qualitative data analysis software version 11. Results: Findings show that pregnancy and delivery is a normal and natural life event. Research participants unanimously argue that such a life event should not be linked with health problems. Home is considered a natural space for delivery and most women aspire to deliver at home where rituals during labor and after delivery are considered enjoyable. Even those who delivered in health facilities appreciate events in connection to home delivery. Efforts are underway to create home-like environments in health facilities, but health facilities are not yet recognized as a natural place of delivery. The positive tendency to deliver at home is further facilitated by poor service delivery at the facility level. Perceived poor competence of providers and limited availability of supplies and equipment were found to maintain the preference to deliver at home. Conclusion: The government's endeavor to improve maternal health has generated positive results with more women now attending antenatal care. Yet over 80% of women deliver at home and this was found to be the preferred option. Thus, the current form of intervention needs to focus on factors that determine decisions to deliver at home and also focus on investing in improving service delivery at health facilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examined influences of causal attributions of schizophrenia and perceived and internalized mental illness stigma on perceived working alliance with, and informational support received from doctors practicing Western psychiatry in the Taiwanese social-cultural context. This cross-sectional quantitative study used a non-probability, purposive sampling technique to recruit 212 Taiwanese diagnosed with schizophrenia from Taiwanese Alliance of the Mentally Ill, 4 community mental health rehabilitation centres and 2 psychiatric hospitals between July 2012 and March 2013. Linear regression models were used for analysis. The results showed that environmental attributions were positively associated with both perceived working alliance and perceived informational support, while supernatural attributions were negatively associated with perceived working alliance and perceived informational support. Perceived stigma had a negative association with perceived working alliance. The discrimination domain of internalized stigma specifically had a positive association with perceived working alliance, while the withdraw domain had a negative association with perceived informational support. Findings inform the importance of culturally sensitive practices in developing an effective working relationship. Western psychiatric care providers need to explore consumers' casual attributions of mental illness and understand the impact of stigma so that providers may successfully engage consumers in care and provide tailored illness education and information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is now abundant scientific evidence that humanity is living unsustainably. The environment is gradually becoming more overstressed. People now are transforming ecosystems throughout the world at a faster and more extensive pace than any other time in human history. We are culturally given to the wasteful use of resources. In this milieu, this paper observes that bringing human use of natural resources within sustainable limits will require a major collective effort. There is a need to sensitize the people, to change their mindset and the worldview, and to direct their efforts to a serious thinking and action to change our present preoccupation with an unsustainable development towards sustainable development. It highlights the role of the 'creative core' and good governance. But the intelligentsia, especially in the less developed nations where social consciousness is dominated by the myopic personal agenda, will not be effective unless the monitoring of the entire program of development is efficient. The people must, therefore, come forward. But, while social consciousness is weak and dormant, this requirement pushes us into the vicious circle. This vicious circle is the real trap and obstacle to sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two hundred years after his birth, Darwin, originated by the American Museum of Natural History in New York, is the most important exhibition about the English scientist ever organized for the general public. This traveling exhibition has appeared in many versions worldwide, and a study of the relationships between local developers of the various editions of the exhibition underlines how a scientific exhibition and, more generally, science communication can succeed in striking a good equilibrium between universal content and cultural determinants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study sought to explore cultural attitudes toward caregiving and long-term care and their influence on patterns of long-term care use among Mexican American family caregivers of relatives aged 50 and older. Using a cross-sectional design, the researchers used mixed methods and conducted interviews with 66 Mexican American family caregivers in San Diego, California. They applied the Andersen behavioral model of health service utilization to examine familism, gender roles, acculturation, religiosity, and knowledge and perceptions of longterm care as factors in usage. Caregivers with greater long-term care use displayed lower levels of familism, were knowledgeable about services, had a care recipient with health insurance, shared caregiving responsibilities, and were less acculturated. Medicaid coverage for low-income care recipients was associated with higher long-term care use. Although familism may deter service use, caregivers empowered with resources and knowledge or Medicaid coverage are inclined to use long-term care services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sets out to encapsulate current developments in general comparative welfare state theory, focusing on the nexus between politics, culture and social policy outcomes, while putting forward the importance of comparative social welfare and policy studies for the development of theory and practice in social welfare policy. Before introducing major categories in general and comparative welfare state theory, the meaning of comparative analysis for the future of social welfare will be pointed out briefly. The main part of the paper then addresses new developments in comparative welfare state theory. First, it takes on the importance of using ideal-typical models, and then the issue of the influence of cultural and political determinants on social welfare politics, distinguishing first order and second order determinants. The last part of the paper will sum up the current and future role of comparative social policy analysis for the advance the understanding of and solutions to social problems that today increasingly cut across national boundaries and are increasingly found to impede people's welfare on a world's scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although our very name, social work announces that this profession is attentive to the socio-cultural surround and the ways in which environment plays its role in the shaping of our psyches, the clinicians among us have drawn extensively on psychoanalytic theory, although they were aware that until very recently its theories remained rather culture-blind. Perhaps in some measure due to the increasing proportion of social workers trained as analysts, there now exists in the analytic world an intention to integrate into its practices and theories that "fourth leg," the culture (or cultures) in which we are born and live. It may be that the largely female social work profession may play an important role in enabling psychoanalysis to overcome its previous unconsciousness about that component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social-epidemiology that excludes Aboriginal voices often fails to capture the full and complex social worlds of Aboriginal people. Using data from an existing co-designed Victorian government Adolescent Health and Wellbeing Survey (2008/9), we worked with Aboriginal organizations to identify data priorities, select measures, interpret data, and contextualize findings. Using this participatory co-analysis approach, we selected "cultural" and "structural" determinants identified by Aboriginal organizations as important and modelled these using principal component analysis. Resulting components were then modelled using logistic regression to investigate associations with "likely being well" (Kessler-10 score < 20) for 88 Aboriginal adolescents aged 11-17 years. Principal component analysis grouped 11 structural variables into four components and 11 cultural variables into three components. Of these, "grew up in Aboriginal family/community and connected" associated with significantly higher odds of "likely being well" (OR = 2.26 (1.01-5.06), p = 0.046). Conversely, "institutionally imposed family displacement" had significantly lower odds (OR = 0.49 (0.24-0.97), p = 0.040) and "negative police contact and poverty" non-significantly lower odds (OR = 0.53 (0.26-1.06), p = 0.073) for "likely being well". Using a co-analysis participatory approach, the voices of Aboriginal researchers and Aboriginal organizations were able to construct a social world that aligned with their ways of knowing, doing, and being. Findings highlighted institutionally imposed family displacement, policing, and poverty as social sites for health intervention and emphasized the importance of strong Aboriginal families for adolescents.