BackgroundThe global burden of chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) disproportionally affects Roma populations. Health interventions addressing CRD among Roma or other vulnerable groups often fail... Show moreBackgroundThe global burden of chronic respiratory diseases (CRDs) disproportionally affects Roma populations. Health interventions addressing CRD among Roma or other vulnerable groups often fail to be effective, as their implementation strategy misaligns with the local context. To design context-driven strategies, we studied CRD-related beliefs, perceptions, and behaviors among a Greek Roma population, focussing on asthma and COPD. MethodsFor this qualitative study in Crete, Greece, we used a Rapid Assessment Process. We conducted interviews and focus groups with purposively selected Roma community members (CMs), key informants (KIs) and healthcare professionals (HPs) serving the population. Data were triangulated using observations of households and clinical consultations. Key themes were identified using Thematic Content Analysis. The Health Belief Model, the Explanatory Model of Illness, and the Theory of Planned Behavior that are complementary is some aspects, guided our methodology with the several variables from them to be integrated to better understand CRD risk preventative behavior. ResultsWe conducted six focus groups, seven interviews and 13 observations among 15 CMs, four KIs, and three HPs. Five themes emerged: (1) Poor CRD-awareness (smoking and household air pollution were perceived as harmful, but almost exclusively associated with acute rather than chronic symptoms); (2) Low perceived susceptibility to CRD (and CMs tended to ignore respiratory symptoms); (3) High risk exposure (smoking was common, and air pollution was perceived inevitable due to financial constraints); (4) Healthcare seeking (healthcare was sought only for persistent, severe symptoms, daily needs were a priority); (5) Perceived barriers/facilitators to care (health illiteracy, perceived discrimination and financial constraints were main barriers; established trust the main facilitator). ConclusionThese five themes highlight that strategies to tackle CRD in the studied Roma setting require a multilevel approach: bridging awareness gaps at the population level, providing resources to enhance the adoption of healthy behaviors, and fighting discrimination at the societal level, whilst establishing trusted relationships at the local level. Similar methodologies to address local context may strengthen the implementation of effective interventions for similarly vulnerable and/or low-resource populations. Show less
The discussion on decolonising the mind and turning to African indigenous knowledge tends to construct a contradiction between the ‘colonial’ (bad) and the ‘decolonial’ (good), as well as between... Show moreThe discussion on decolonising the mind and turning to African indigenous knowledge tends to construct a contradiction between the ‘colonial’ (bad) and the ‘decolonial’ (good), as well as between the ‘foreign’ (bad) and the ‘indigenous’ (good). However, independent African thinkers have never shied away from taking in elements from abroad into their thinking and have always tried to marry the best elements of indigenous and foreign insights. One therefore wonders if the discussion should not be framed differently: as an examination of which ideas can be seen as empowering, in terms of increasing African agency, and which ideas instead can be seen as disempowering, or inhibiting African agency. This chapter discusses a number of such ideas in two key related areas, the areas of culture and language. In the area of culture, it argues in favour of a view of cultures as value systems that serve as common points of reference to a people. It argues that with such a view and the methods of cross-cultural psychology it is possible in principle to chart new developments in the area of culture in Africa and to devise new policies taking those developments into account. In the area of language, the chapter attacks the idea that all 2,000 living languages counted in Africa need to be treated in the same way. It shows that this idea paralyzes the debate and proposes instead a distinction between ‘discerned’ and ‘designed’ languages. It proposes five principles that would enable increased use of a limited number of African languages in more and more domains. Show less
In this internationalised world, graduate employability in terms of intercultural communication skills needs to be taken into account in higher education. The present study aims to explore the... Show moreIn this internationalised world, graduate employability in terms of intercultural communication skills needs to be taken into account in higher education. The present study aims to explore the effects of critical incident task instruction on English non-majored undergraduates’ intercultural competence. One group of students received ten weeks of instruction with one critical incident task per week and another group received standard English classes. Data were collected from the students’ pre- and post-test. The results showed a significant and strong effect of the intervention with critical incident tasks. Implications for educational practice are presented for further teaching with critical incident tasks. Show less
Hoe kiezen we wat de school moet meegeven aan de volgende generatie, als elke groep in de samenleving daar anders over denkt? Waarom mag de één wel met steun van de overheid programma's maken voor... Show moreHoe kiezen we wat de school moet meegeven aan de volgende generatie, als elke groep in de samenleving daar anders over denkt? Waarom mag de één wel met steun van de overheid programma's maken voor omroep of theater, en de ander niet? Wat moet worden onderzocht als niet elk onderzoek kan worden betaald? In een land waar geen enkele meerderheid zomaar zijn wil kan opleggen, zijn dat lastige vragen. "In de regel vrij" laat zien hoe Nederland in de afgelopen eeuw op eigen wijze vorm gaf aan onderwijs, cultuur en wetenschap. Een bijzondere ervaring, die bij de vraagstukken van de toekomst nog van nut kan zijn. Dit toegankelijke en rijk geïllustreerde boek verschijnt bij het honderdjarig bestaan van het ministerie van Onderwijs, Cultuur en Wetenschap. Het beschrijft een eeuw in thema's, van burgerschap tot wetenschap en van media tot Mammoetwet. Daarnaast bevat het bijzondere interviews met alle oud-ministers sinds 1973. Show less
Narrative is intimately connected to victimization and radicalization. Trouble, the notion that drives narrative, is often coupled with victimization: the experience of suffering intentional harm.... Show moreNarrative is intimately connected to victimization and radicalization. Trouble, the notion that drives narrative, is often coupled with victimization: the experience of suffering intentional harm. This experience can play a turning point in the stories that radicals construct about their own lives and thus play a role in their pathway to radicalization. In this article, three main themes of narrative will be further explored in relation to victimization and radicalization: identity, emotions, and culture. Central in this article is the discussion on how narrative can contribute to theory and research into victimological processes in radicalization, while offering new means to further develop key constructs. Show less
Van der Weijden, I.; Van Gelder, E.; Meijer, I.; Van der Ven, I.; Beukman, J.J.; Farzand Ali, R. 2017
In this paper I discuss food, cultural identity and development among the agropastoral Suri people of Southwest Ethiopia. Their food system is discussed in its actual form and in its process of... Show moreIn this paper I discuss food, cultural identity and development among the agropastoral Suri people of Southwest Ethiopia. Their food system is discussed in its actual form and in its process of change, accelerated since a decade or so. The theoretical concern of this paper is with issues of identity formation and continuity through the materiality of food and food systems, in the context of varying assumptions underlying discourses of development. The Suri people remain at the margins of the modernizing Ethiopian state and experienced a decline in food security, health and wealth in the last decade, coinciding with growing inter-group tension and new state developmental plans which devalue the agro-pastoral mode of life. State support or investment is in massive sugar and other mono-crop plantations and in enterprises by foreigners and private capitalists, not matched by parallel investment in local economies of agro-pastoralism and crop cultivation. Some of the effects on the production system, diet and ‘food sovereignty’ of the Suri are described so as to highlight the challenges they face, including growing internal differentiation, pressure on modifying their food system and the increasing sale and use of alcoholic drinks. Observing the, often ambivalent, changes in the Suri food pattern and food consumption shows the challenges they face in (re)defining group identity, responding to internal tensions and to state-capitalist modernizing schemes that impact their way of life. Show less
For a long time, Africa has 'lagged' behind global advances in transparency, but there are now significant developments on the continent. In a ground-breaking book, Access to Information in Africa... Show moreFor a long time, Africa has 'lagged' behind global advances in transparency, but there are now significant developments on the continent. In a ground-breaking book, Access to Information in Africa brings together for the first time a collection of African academics and practitioners to contribute to the fast-growing body of scholarship that is now accumulating internationally. This is therefore an African account of progress made and setbacks suffered, but also an account of challenges and obstacles that confront both policy-makers and practitioners. These challenges must be overcome if greater public access to information is to make a distinctive, positive contribution to the continent's democratic and socio-economic future. This book offers a necessarily multi-dimensional perspective on the state of ATI in African jurisdictions and the emerging, new praxis - a praxis that will entail a genuine domestication of the right of access to information on the continent. Show less
