Health & Well-Being

Considering words and the areas of the mind that they impact as two-dimensional shapes forms the theoretical basis from which intercultural communication between the West and Sub-Saharan Africa are examined. Unique shapes of words are illustrated as arising from their meeting with equally unique 'impactible areas' of people's minds, and cultures, resulting in transmitted and received shapes differing in a way related to lexical content at both ends. Differences in overlap between word impacts, shapes of words and fit between words in different languages / cultures are shown to contribute to imprecision in translation, resulting in the recommendation that local policy be of local origin. The above is applied to Christian mission in Africa through diagrammatic representations of 'love' as a spiritual gift in comparison to fellow words, and by an inter-cultural consideration of public…

How may culture be defined? Numerous works and important contributions have been answering this crucial question for the past thirty years; yet the problem remains unsolved. When taking a close look at ‘intercultural communication’, we may see that some utterances might not be thatcultural at all. If we have a clear definition of ‘intercultural communication’, then what is ‘intra-cultural communication’ (Winch 1997, Ma 2004)? Is there really a sharp difference between these two concepts and is miscommunication necessarily ‘cultural’ when implying individuals or groups from alleged different cultural backgrounds? We will study various examples and try to separate the cultural from the non-cultural by taking a close look at intercultural and intra-cultural miscommunication, insofar as their definitions seem to ultimately cover the same conceptual maps. After this first step, we will…

Sweden is rapidly changing from being a monocultural to a multicultural society. The effects of this process can also be seen in health care which has, up till now, been one of the most ethnically and gender segregated working places, compared to the industrial sector. Increasing multiculturality places the issue of intercultural communication on top of the agenda for Swedish society in general and for the health care sector in particular. This article is based on the results of two interrelated questionnaires, one directed at non-Swedish physicians, a relatively new but rapidly growing group in Swedish heath care, and one directed at Swedish health care personnel, a traditionally ethnically homogeneous group. The respondents’ answers have been summarised and compared in order to get a comprehensive picture of intercultural communication in Swedish health care.

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has evolved globally from philanthropic acts to strategic initiatives with social, environmental, and economic implications. In Kenya, CSR is often applied philanthropically, with limited integration into long-term development strategies, especially in rural areas. This study investigates the social impacts of Rabai Power Company’s (RPL) CSR initiatives on sustainable rural development and corporate reputation in Kilifi County, Kenya. It aims to assess how CSR activities influence community beneficiaries and shape the company's legitimacy and stakeholder perceptions. A qualitative case study approach was used. Data were collected through four key informant interviews and one focus group discussion. The study was guided by Stakeholder Theory, Legitimacy Theory, and the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework. The data were thematically analyzed to…

Throughout the last few decades, English has become the lingua franca for professionals in many fields. However, within the framework of health services in Spain, English does not seem to work as the main vehicle of communication among providers and users. Therefore, the goal of this study is to shed light into how and why certain categorization of languages frequently emerge and circulate in public health institutions. In this sense, our method is based on ethnographic fieldwork and includes 10 interviews with key members of one Health Care Unit for women. Our results seem to corroborate that medical discourses work at institutional, professional, and moral levels and that the way the Institution supports or prioritizes English, in particular, unfolds certain linguistic hierarchies underlying governmental policies as it is made more accessible and considered “better” by medical…

This study aims to examine regional disparities in human development across the 10 regions of Morocco. Specifically, the objectives are to: a) create a typology of the regions based on their human development levels, b) develop a synthetic regional indicator, and c) measure the extent of regional disparities. The analysis utilizes statistical data from the 2017 household panel survey conducted by the National Human Development Observatory in Morocco. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) is employed using SPSS Statistics V23 to categorize regions and develop a regional composite indicator. The Gini index is adopted to measure the degree of regional inequalities. The findings reveal the existence of three strata of regions with distinct levels of human development: low, medium, and high. The calculation of a significant Gini index highlights substantial inequalities, primarily driven by the…

Over the past decades, interest in the field of conflict research has developed worldwide. A broad range of literature evaluates conflicts as stressors with negative health effects. Particularly in transcultural situations conflict parties experience stress due to the lack of transcultural understanding, differences in value-orientations and culture-specific attitude and behaviour. This article introduces the model of "Culture-Synergetic Transcultural Mediation" (CSTM), which is based on transformative mediation philosophy and promotes culture-synergetic processes in conflict situations. These processes aim at transforming personal, relationship-based, structural and cultural identities. They particularly integrate the concept of identity and salutogenesis as important aspects in conflict transformation. The article presents the dynamic interrelationship of CSTM, transcultural…

Exploring the communicative behavior of teachers and students in the Japanese language classroom in Singapore is one important way of looking at intercultural communication between Japanese and Singaporeans. Ease in effective communication is often hindered by differences in expectations resulting in communication gaps. In this study, attempts were made to explore the differences in perceptions held by students and Japanese teachers of (i) a good teacher versus a Japanese teacher; and (ii) a good student versus a university student. A questionnaire based on previous findings was constructed using a 5-point semantic differential scale for this purpose. A comparison of results showed that there were significant differences in students’ and teachers’ perception of a good teacher/student versus the teacher/student in reality.

The aim of this research is the theoretical development of cultural values to understand the unique human differences from the women's empowerment approach, implementing strengthening of the cultural literacy-based women's empowerment model in order to create a tourism-aware village in sustainable development. Employing a virtual ethnographic approach, the study involved an online search for digital literacy materials related to women's empowerment and literacy, applied specifically to women residing in the Serdang Bedagai tourist area. The model applied here blends with virtual data to derive contemporary findings. The empowerment model integrates educational, cultural, and health therapies to bolster literacy awareness and foster development, particularly targeting students in the Serdang Bedagai area. Educational therapy trains women in providing training on how to provide special…

The purpose of this study is to explore the key factors influencing the ability of households in Abu Dhabi to maintain a subsistence standard of living, particularly focusing on how various socio-demographic and well-being determinants impact this ability. The study utilizes data from 38,124 employed heads of households who participated in the Abu Dhabi Quality-of-Life (QoL) survey conducted in 2021. A hierarchical regression model was applied to analyze the relationships between the ability to make ends meet and a range of independent variables while controlling for specific household and individual characteristics. The findings reveal that satisfaction with household income, the ability to save from previous earnings, and work-family balance are the most significant determinants of a household’s ability to make ends meet. Additionally, the education level of the head of the household…