This finding matters because it shows that respondents are not seeking an 'exotic' kind of healthcare, but are utilizing a homegrown, if nonmainstream, model of healthcare. The finding also matters because it shows that an holistic health delivery model is not only feasible, but currently exists in the United States: how Chinese medicine practitioners are trained, and how they subsequently deliver their care, could serve as a model for American healthcare reform.
The user demographic picture was of mid-age, well-educated, employed, mid-income patients. They sought care for a wide variety of conditions; top uses were for relief of musculoskeletal dysfunction, mood care, and wellness care. A large majority reported "disappearance" or "improvement" of symptoms, improved quality of life, and reduced use of selected measures including prescription drugs and surgery. Respondents reported utilizing a wide array of practices in addition to Chinese medicine, while also expressing extremely high satisfaction with Chinese medicine care. The evidence indicates that these respondents behave as astute consumers within a plural health care system. Part II (in press) details reasons given for satisfaction and situates respondent attitudes within a larger sociocultural framework.
An important cultural question is, "What is a 'good'--desirable, beautiful, impressive--body?" The answers are legion; here I examine why bigger bodies represent survival skill, and how this power symbolism is embodied by behaviors that guide larger persons toward the top of the social hierarchy. bigness is a complex concept comprising tallness, boniness, muscularity and fattiness. Data show that most people worldwide want to be big--both tall and fat. Those who achieve the ideal are disproportionately among the society's most socially powerful. In the food-secure West, fascination with power and the body has not waned, but has been redefined such that thinness is desired. This apparent anomaly is resolved by realizing that thinness in the midst of abundance--as long as one is also tall and muscular--still projects the traditional message of power, and brings such social boons as upward mobility.
Human rights education is a prominent concern of a number of international organisations and has been dominant on the United Nations' agenda for the past 20 years. The UN Decade for Human Rights Education (1995)(1996)(1997)(1998)(1999)(2000)(2001)(2002)(2003)(2004) has been followed by the World Programme for Human Rights Education (2005-ongoing) and the recently adopted UN Declaration on Human Rights Education and Training. This article shares findings from a project that aimed to gauge the knowledge of human rights education of students undertaking initial teacher education and childhood practice programmes at one university in Scotland. Students were invited to share their experiences of and attitudes towards human rights education. While some students were confident in their approach to human rights education, others identified barriers, including their own knowledge and the structures acting upon them as teachers. Initial conclusions suggest that education students feel ill-equipped to engage with human rights education and that this issue must be addressed in initial teacher education courses.
This article explores the concept of community of enquiry through an examination of 3 case studies: (a) a school-based community of enquiry involving pupils, teachers, and researchers; (b) a community of enquiry involving teachers from around 100 different schools in a Scottish local authority, together with policy advisers and researchers; and (c) the project team involved in the present study itself. The 3 case studies are considered in relation to 7 factors identified in previous research as significant considerations when attempting to build a community of enquiry, namely: dialogue and participation; relationships; perspectives and assumptions; structure and context; climate; purpose; and control. The authors conclude by highlighting key issues and potential implications for attempts to foster collaborative partnerships between educational researchers and practitioners
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