Self-fulfillment despite barriers: volunteer work of people living with HIV

Helping Others Facilitates Well-Being for Indigenous Peoples Living With HIV/AIDS in Canada

Research has found that helping others facilitates well-being for Indigenous peoples living with HIV and AIDS, but limited research exists that investigates the mechanism(s) underlying this relationship. Indigenous perspectives posit that helping others facilitates well-being through the development of an individual's spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental aspects (four aspects). Similarly, self-determination theory posits that helping others facilitates well-being by satisfying basic psychological needs. In the present study, we examined if helping others facilitates well-being through the fulfillment of the spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental aspects among Indigenous peoples living with HIV and AIDS. We used a convergent parallel mixed methods design, coupled with a community-engaged approach grounded in the United Nations Greater Involvement of People Living with HIV and AIDS principles and Indigenous and decolonizing research methodologies. Survey (n = 117) and interview data (n = 9) collected by an Indigenous-led HIV/AIDS organization in Canada were employed to examine the relationship between helping, the four aspects, and well-being. Participants were primarily First Nations leaders and mentors who live with HIV/AIDS, with some Métis and Inuit. A parallel multiple mediation model and reflexive thematic analysis were used to analyze the relationship between helping, the four aspects, and well-being. Mixed-methods findings support the idea that helping others promotes well-being by fulfilling the emotional and mental aspects. Qualitative findings demonstrated this relationship for all four aspects. This research may facilitate the development of programs to support Indigenous peoples living with HIV/AIDS well-being and contribute to the literature on integrating Indigenous perspectives and methodologies within psychological research.

The Relationship Between Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Alcohol Misuse and Smoking Among Aging Men Who Have Sex With Men: No Evidence of Exercise or Volunteering Impact

OBJECTIVES

To determine if the association between posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use (alcohol misuse or smoking tobacco) is mediated/moderated by exercise or volunteering among aging (≥40 years) men who have sex with men (MSM), and if this mediation/moderation differs by HIV serostatus.

METHODS

Multicenter AIDS Cohort Study data were used. Three datasets with PTSD measured during different time periods (10/1/2017-3/31/2018, 898 men; 4/1/2018-9/30/2018, 890 men; 10/1/2018-3/31/2019, 895 men) were analyzed. Longitudinal mediation analyses estimated the mediation effect of exercise and volunteering on the outcomes.

RESULTS

Nine percent of MSM had evidence of PTSD. There was no statistically significant mediation effect of exercise or volunteering regardless of substance use outcome. The odds of smoking at a future visit among MSM with PTSD were approximately double those of MSM without PTSD. Results did not differ by HIV serostatus.

DISCUSSION

There is a particular need for effective smoking cessation interventions for aging MSM with PTSD.

Resilience resources and coping strategies of COVID-19 female long haulers: A qualitative study

Background

Female long haulers deal with persistent post-acute COVID-19 symptoms that have serious health implications. This study aimed to identify resilience resources at multiple socio-ecological levels for female long haulers and describe how resilience resources affect their responses to long COVID.

Methods

Purposive sampling was adopted to recruit participants through social media from April to June 2021 followed by 15 semi-structured interviews. An inductive analytical approach was adopted to categorize themes by open and axial coding that were verified by peer review.

Results

Female long haulers relied on resources at various socio-ecological levels to foster their resilience in response to long COVID. At the individual level, they utilized cognitive and emotional resources to increase knowledge, learn new skills, set goals, and manage emotions; behavioral resources (e.g., internal motivation and executive functioning) to perform physical, creative, and recreational activities, and adopt healthier eating habits; and spiritual resources to perform spiritual rituals and connect with God. At the social level, the support from existing relationships and/or online social support groups enhanced their social identity and provided material and informational resources. At the health systems level, the guidance from counselors and physicians and availability of clinics, medicines, and health equipment assisted them in symptom management and medication adherence.

Conclusion

The resilience of female long haulers can be enhanced through (1) offering financial and health-related resources, (2) developing online social-support groups, (3) counseling and care service training for healthcare professionals, and (4) implementing more psychosocial interventions by labor organizations.

Using the science of positive psychology in the formative evaluation of social justice interventions: A case example

The pursuit of culturally responsive approaches for designing and evaluating programs to promote social justice has become of the utmost importance to the evaluation community in the past decade. A strengths-focused evaluation approach has great promise for empowering individuals, groups, communities, and organizations, and identifying program strengths to build upon in addition to illuminating program deficits. However, there is a dearth of literature on using a strengths approach to evaluate interventions and programs to promote social justice. Drawing from the two disciplines of positive psychology and evaluation, this article illustrates a strengths-focused approach to formative evaluation using a case example of a halfway house for previously incarcerated women. The findings exemplify the positive psychological phenomena that emerge as a result of focusing the evaluation on program strengths. The case demonstrates that the application of a strengths-focused approach to evaluating social justice interventions can be empowering for institutions and the communities they serve.

The role of volunteering in supporting well-being - What might this mean for social prescribing? A best-fit framework synthesis of qualitative research

Volunteering for an organisation, charity or group enables people to make connections with others and to be involved in interesting, worthwhile and/or enjoyable pursuits. Engaging in volunteering can form part of a social prescribing action plan developed between a patient and link worker. Greater understanding of the processes through which volunteering can improve people's well-being as part of social prescribing will help to support link workers in their role. We conducted a best-fit framework synthesis of qualitative literature on volunteering and well-being. Our search of eight electronic databases, complemented by a Google search, conducted in June 2020, resulted in the location of 2210 potentially relevant references. After screening, 335 papers were read in full and 54 drawn upon within the review. They were published between 1993 and 2020. We used the New Economics Foundation's Five Ways to Well-Being model to guide data extraction and synthesis. From this, we developed a conceptual framework that highlights how volunteering can contribute to identity validation and modification leading to the establishment of an acceptable sense of self. Our findings have implications for: (a) the use of volunteering as part of a link worker's toolkit as they seek to support people with varying psychosocial needs and (b) requirements of organisations accepting referrals to volunteering as part of social prescribing.

Factors Associated with Turnover Intention Among Healthcare Workers During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Pandemic in China

PURPOSE

This study assessed the prevalence of turnover intention and explored associated factors on turnover intention among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

METHODS

An institutional-based cross-sectional study was conducted from July to February 13th to 20th, 2020, in 31 provinces of mainland China. A total of 1403 healthcare workers were recruited. Hierarchical logistic regressions were used to identify potential factors associated with turnover intention among Chinese health care workers.

RESULTS

The prevalence of turnover intention among healthcare workers was 10.1% during the COVID-19 pandemic in China. Results of hierarchical regression revealed that working in Grade II hospital (OR = 1.78), technician (OR = 0.30), daily working hours over 12 h (OR = 2.92), frequency of mask replacement between 4 and 8 h (OR = 3.51), refuse volunteer to frontline (OR = 1.68), patient-physician relation unchanged (OR = 1.73), depression (OR = 2.21) and lower social support (OR = 1.75) were significantly associated with the risk of turnover intention. Additionally, healthcare worker's psychosocial syndemic (OR = 6.13) was positively associated with turnover intention.

CONCLUSION

Turnover intention is relatively prevalent among healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in China, and the factors contributing to turnover intention were complex and varied. Early screening of high-risk groups for turnover intention among healthcare workers and more psychosocial health care and physical protection are needed during the COVID-19 pandemic in China.

Protective and Compensatory Effects of Group Identification on the Mental Health of People Living with HIV

Despite persistent stigmatization of people living with HIV (PLHIV) across the globe, group identification among these individuals may serve to counteract the detrimental effect of prejudice and discrimination associated with the stigmatized identity. Drawing on resilience theory and social identity theory, this study examined how multiple dimensions of group identification (i.e., in-group ties, in-group affect, and centrality) function to buffer and neutralize the negative impact of HIV stigma. A total of 281 PLHIV were recruited from the only community-based public HIV clinic in Hong Kong to participate in this study. The results revealed a protective effect of in-group affect, which moderated the relationship between HIV stigma and mental health, such that HIV stigma was not associated with mental health among people with higher positive in-group affect. In addition, a positive compensatory effect of in-group ties was found in people with higher HIV identity centrality. Given the protective effect of in-group affect, it is important to re-story the lives among PLHIV by challenging their maladaptive beliefs about being PLHIV and building a positive sense of identity in their personal narratives. Community-based interventions should be provided to individuals with higher HIV identity centrality by offering peer support groups and engaging them in community work.

Analysis of engagement between ethics and return-to-work discourses in respective academic literature

BACKGROUND

Return-to-work (RTW)/back-to-work (BTW) interventions that are designed to rehabilitate individuals impaired from fulfilling employment roles are facing challenges. Ethics discourses, including ethics theories, principles and concepts, are meant to give guidance on what one ought to do or not to do and RTW professionals could use them to respond to their challenges.

OBJECTIVE

A scoping review was performed to investigate to what extent 33 ethics concepts, theories, and principles are employed in RTW/BTW academic literature, and to what extent RTW/BTW is engaged with in ethics linked academic journals.

METHODS

Three academic databases were searched, and 147 article results were extracted from our literature review to be thematically analyzed.

RESULTS

Searches with n = 11 ethics concepts and n = 4 ethics theories generated results. The content of 20 RTW/BTW article results demonstrated conceptual engagement between RTW and ethics discourses. Only one article in ethics-related journals conceptually engaged with RTW/BTW.

CONCLUSION

Ethics theories and principles were not used extensively in RTW/BTW academic literature and RTW/BTW is a topic under-engaged within ethics-related journals. Our findings indicate opportunities for further research, like conducting interviews, to better understand our findings and how to respond to them.

Conceptualizing and Assessing Everyday Functioning in the Context of HIV-Associated Neurocognitive Disorders

Combination antiretroviral therapy has reduced the rates of severe HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND), but the prevalence of milder forms of HAND that can affect everyday functioning remains high. As HIV-infected adults approach near-normal life expectancies, they may become increasingly susceptible to declines in everyday functioning secondary to a variety of physical and mental factors, including HAND. Although impairments in everyday functioning are a hallmark of HAND diagnoses and can adversely influence quality of life, there are no gold standard measures of this fundamentally important and complex construct. This chapter provides a brief review of the various self-report, clinician-rated, and performance-based methods by which everyday functioning is measured in the setting of HIV disease, including global activities of daily living and specific domains of medication adherence, financial management, automobile driving, and vocational functioning.

Health-related quality of life and coping strategies among people living with HIV: the moderating role of gender

The aim of the study was to explore gender differences in the level of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and coping strategies among people living with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (PLWH). In particular, the moderating role of participants' gender on the relationship between coping strategies and HRQoL was explored, while controlling for socio-medical data. A total of 444 HIV-infected men and 86 HIV-infected women were recruited to participate in the study. This was a cross-sectional study with the HRQoL assessed by the World Health Organization (WHO) Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) and the coping strategies measured by the Brief COPE inventory. Although the HIV-infected men and HIV-infected women differed in terms of some HRQoL domains, these differences disappeared in the regression analysis after controlling for socio-demographic data (employment and higher education). In addition, several statistically significant interactions between participants' gender and coping strategies in relation to HRQoL domains were observed. Future research on gender differences in HRQoL among PLWH should take into account unique differences between HIV-infected men and HIV-infected women across, not only in respect to socio-medical factors but also regarding psychosocial variables.

When helping helps: exploring health benefits of cancer survivors participating in for-cause physical activity events

BACKGROUND

Over 15.5 million Americans live with cancer and 5-year survival rates have risen to 69%. Evidence supports important health benefits of regular physical activity for cancer survivors, including increased strength and quality of life, and reduced fatigue, recurrence, and mortality. However, physical activity participation among cancer survivors remains low. Cancer organizations provide various resources and support for cancer survivors, including emotional, instrumental, informational, and appraisal support. Many cancer organizations, like the LIVESTRONG Foundation, support the cancer community by sponsoring and hosting for-cause physical activity events, providing opportunities for anyone (including cancer survivors) to "help"/support those living with cancer. The concept of helping others has been positively related with wellbeing, physical activity, and multiple health behaviors for those helping. However, the role of helping others has not been examined in the context of being physically active to help others or its relationship with overall physical activity and quality of life among those helping. Therefore, we developed a path model to examine relationships between cancer survivors' (1) desire to help others with cancer, (2) physically active LIVESTRONG participation to help others, (3) regular physical activity engagement, and (4) quality of life.

METHODS

In 2010, 3257 cancer survivors responded to an online survey sent to all people involved with the LIVESTRONG organization at any level. The hypothesized path model was tested using path analysis (Mplus 8).

RESULTS

After list-wise deletion of missing responses, our final sample size was 3122 (61.8% female, mean age: 48.2 years [SD = 12.7]). Results indicated that the model yielded perfect fit indexes. Controlling for age, sex, income, and survivorship length, desire to help was positively related with physically active LIVESTRONG participation (β = .11, p < .001), which was positively related with regular physical activity (β = .30, p < .001), and regular physical activity was positively related with quality of life (β = .194, p < .001).

CONCLUSIONS

Results suggest that cancer survivors can benefit from participating in for-cause physical activity events, including more regular physical activity. Researchers need to further investigate the role of helping others when examining health behaviors and outcomes, and cancer organizations should continue encouraging cancer survivors to help others by participating in physical activity events.

Social support and posttraumatic growth in a longitudinal study of people living with HIV: the mediating role of positive affect

Background: Psychological research in people living with HIV (PLWH) has been dominated by studies on the negative consequences of HIV infection. However, recently, positive changes following the diagnosis of HIV have been examined, namely the phenomenon of posttraumatic growth (PTG). Objectives: The aim of this one-year longitudinal study was to investigate the level of PTG and its relationship with social support dimensions (perceived support, need for support, actually received support) and positive and negative affect among PLWH. Specifically, this study explored the mediating role of positive and negative affect in the link between social support and PTG. Method: Participants filled out the following psychometric tools: Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Berlin Social Support Scales (BSSS) and Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS-X). Three assessments were performed. Altogether, 129 patients were recruited for the first assessment, 106 patients participated in the second assessment and 82 participants (63.6%) out of the initial sample of 129 participated in all three assessments. Results: The positive relationship between all examined social support dimensions and PTG was entirely mediated by positive affect. There was no association between negative affect and PTG. Selected socio-medical covariates (sex, employment, higher education, being in a stable relationship and HIV/AIDS status) were related to social support and PTG among participants. Conclusions: This study points to the need for more research on positive aspects of HIV/AIDS, notably PTG. More specifically, interventions focused on enhancement and sustainment of positive affect among PLWH should be an adjunct to traditional mental health screening among this patient group.

Sentidos das ações voluntárias: desafios e limites para a organização do trabalho

O trabalho voluntário representa uma das bases de sustentabilidade das Organizações Não-Governamentais, principalmente para a manutenção e continuidade dos projetos institucionais. Em contrapartida, vem sendo considerado fator de degradação do trabalhador que está excluído do mercado. Partindo de uma experiência de implantação de rotinas para acolhimento e integração de voluntários em uma ONG/AIDS, este estudo teve por objetivo a caracterização dos voluntários e a compreensão da diversidade de sentidos presentes nas ações voluntárias, visando subsidiar a avaliação e planejamento das ações de organização do trabalho adotadas pela instituição. A análise temática de conteúdo das entrevistas, realizadas com 20 candidatos ao trabalho voluntário, permitiu a caracterização do perfil, das suas concepções e expectativas. Em síntese, o trabalho voluntário pareceu representar um recurso de qualificação para a inserção no mercado de trabalho e elemento importante para formação da identidade social e socialização do conhecimento em HIV/AIDS.