Supporting community participation in a pandemic

The invariable governmental approach to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic has been to effect the White Knight stance of Don Quixote, defending the population from the “Virus Dragon” and dedicating its knight-errantry to the damsel Dulcinea. Though essential, new therapeutics, vaccines, physical distancing, rigorous hygiene standards and efficient health systems are not sufficient to counter the effects of the virus. Individual compliance to public health guidelines also matters, while remaining similarly insufficient to diminish the threat. Earthier, citizen-led, community participation strategies, however, lead to innovative, tailored solutions that better fulfil the needs of diverse neighbourhoods and assures greater virus resistance and increase in population health compared to a top-down, knightly approach or isolated individual efforts. The challenge of COVID-19 offers communities a moment to build more resilient, antifragile communities that not only survive the current crisis, but that thrive after it, and that are better equipped for the next challenge. This is not the time for the singular heroics of the White Knight, or the antics of Don Quixote, tilting at windmills. It is the time of Sancho Panza, which is to say of regular non-credentialed citizens, and their collective efforts, who up to now have largely been considered pawns in this contest. Asset-based community development (ABCD) rejects both the individual as an island and the institutional, knightly emphasis on assessing needs and deficits within communities. It favours identifying and mobilising available and latent assets within a community to forge closer connections among all people, the better to collectivise problem-solving efforts. Community-driven initiatives are assisted in this by localised not-for-profit agencies that practice subsidiarity.     

Wellbeing,resilience, and coping: Are there differences between healthy older adults,adults with mild cognitive impairment,and adults with Alzheimer-type dementia?

The changes that occur with cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s disease could affect psychological aspects unrelated to memory. The purpose of this study is to compare 32 healthy older adults, 31 amnestic mild cognitively impaired (aMCI) adults, and 32 patients diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease (AD), in order to determine whether there are differences in their psychological wellbeing, resilience, and coping strategies. Unifactorial MANOVAS and ANOVAS were performed to analyze the between-group differences. The results reveal that the AD group showed lower levels of resilience and orientation toward problem-solving and greater use of religious strategies. In addition, they had significantly lower wellbeing scores than the other groups. The worsening of the pathology impedes the capacity for adaptation and resilience and the application of strategies oriented toward the problem, and it increases the application of strategies based on magical thinking. Moreover, it also produces a reduction in wellbeing.     

烧伤康复期患者韧性水平与生存质量的相关性研究

目的 了解烧伤康复期患者韧性水平与患者生存质量之间的相关性,为烧伤患者的心理危机预防和干预提供理论指导.方法 对255例烧伤康复期患者的一般资料、韧性、生存质量进行问卷调查.结果 烧伤患者韧性得分处于中等水平,生存质量水平处于中等偏低水平,烧伤康复期患者的韧性水平与生活质量之间存在显著正相关,韧性水平对患者心理健康水平影响较大,韧性中的坚韧与力量因子得分与心理健康得分成显著正相关.结论 应通过干预来帮助人们提高韧性,达到发展潜能,预防行为障碍的效果,帮助患者提高韧性从而产生正向的心理适应能力.