Resilience to adverse events is increasingly recognized as important for human health. Socio-economic status (SES) is also frequently identified as a predictor of resilience. However, it is not well-understood how people define resilience in their everyday lives, and whether individuals have different experiences of resilience based on their SES. This study sought to fill these gaps, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and pandemic mitigation policies in the Netherlands.We interviewed high (n = 38) and low (n = 37) SES participants about their understanding and experiences of resilience during this period. Participants took part in individual interviews and focus groups in September 2021. Transcripts were analyzed thematically.A key theme was coping with adversity, in line with commonly-used definitions of resilience. However, we found that resilience was often defined more broadly. Resilience also encompassed aspects of self-reflection and improvement, and faith in oneself, the community and the nation. There were also key differences by SES background: elaborate and optimistic definitions and experiences of resilience were more often described by high SES individuals. For instance, high SES participants more frequently defined resilience as growing and improving. In contrast, low SES participants more commonly experienced resilience as enduring until better times arrived.Having a higher SES seemed to support resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. This indicates that adverse events may exacerbate pre-existing financial and material difficulties among low SES individuals. This finding underscores the importance of addressing financial precarity prior to adverse events.
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Field of study decisions are important for children’s future life chances, as significant differences exist in terms of financial and status benefits across fields of study. We examine whether the economic or the cultural status of the parents is more influential in shaping their children’s expectations about their future field of study. We also test whether children’s expectations about field of study choices are mediated by the child-rearing values that parents hold. Results show that parental economic status increased the likelihood of adolescents expecting to opt for extrinsic rewarding fields of study. Adolescent girls, not boys, with high cultural status parents were more likely to expect to opt for intrinsically rewarding fields of study. An upbringing that is characterized by conformity increased the expectations of boys to choose an extrinsically rewarding study, while self-direction increased the expectations of girls to opt for an extrinsic field of study
Vaker sporten. Minder alcohol drinken. Stoppen met roken. Nu echt op tijd naar bed. Dat leefstijlverandering lastig kan zijn, weten we allemaal. Maar voor sommigen lijkt het welhaast onmogelijk. Leefstijlverandering kost energie en aandacht. Wat als je daar helemaal geen ruimte voor hebt, omdat je wordt afgeleid door belangrijkere zaken, zoals de zorg voor een ziek familielid of doordat je de huur weer niet kunt betalen? Waar moet je het in zo’n situatie vandaan halen om gezonder te gaan leven? Vooral onder mensen met een lage sociaaleconomische status (SES) komt zo’n situatie regelmatig voor. Welke bijdrage zou de eerstelijnsgeneeskunde hieraan kunnen leveren? De oplossing is gecompliceerd en de weg ernaartoe is vaak frustrerend, vooral omdat gezondheidscommunicatie alleen kan werken als het in nevenschikking met andere instrumenten wordt gecombineerd. Het antirookbeleid is een mooi voorbeeld waar veel is bereikt door een combinatie van instrumenten.
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The project ‘Towards resilient leisure, tourism and hospitality (LTH) ecosystems in Europe’ addresses the critical problem of unsustainable practices in the tourism and travel industry. The LTH industry is ‘back on track’ after recovering from the global Covid-19 crisis. Destinations show increased numbers of international arrivals and rapid growth of tourism-related revenues. It is foreseen that cities like Amsterdam, but also vulnerable natural areas, will receive record numbers of visitors in the coming decade. The dominant economic model operating within the industry nonetheless prioritizes short-term gains, resulting in extreme exploitation of resources, labour, and local communities, evidenced by negative impacts in European destinations like Venice and the Canary Islands. The project aims to shift the industry’s focus to long-term sustainability, addressing systemic constraints and facilitating a transition that aligns with European priorities for a sustainable and just future. It builds vital connections between regional, national, and European research priorities by addressing and advocating for climate and social justice. Regionally, it investigates best practices across diverse tourism environments in Finland, Spain, Sweden, the UK, Scotland, and The Netherlands. Nationally, it challenges the status quo by proposing alternative governance frameworks that individual countries could adopt to encourage sustainable tourism practices. On a European scale, the project aligns with EU goals of climate action and sustainable development, supporting objectives of the European Green Deal and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). It aims to build solid theoretical foundations necessary for a transition towards more resilient and environmentally and socially inclusive LTH ecosystems. Through integrating insights from multiple regions, the project transcends local boundaries and offers scalable solutions that can influence policy and industry standards at both national and European levels. The project's transdisciplinary nature ensures that proposed solutions are grounded in diverse eco-socioeconomic contexts, making them robust and adaptable.
Vulnerable pregnant women are an important and complex theme in daily practice of birth care professionals. Vulnerability is an important risk factor for maternal and perinatal mortality and morbidity. Providing care for these women is often complex. First, because it is not always easy to identify vulnerability. Secondly, vulnerable women more often cancel their appointments with midwives and finally, many professionals are involved while they do not always know each other. Even though professionals are aware of the risks of vulnerability for future mothers and their (unborn) children and the complexity of care for these women, there is no international definition for ‘vulnerable pregnancies’. Therefore, we start this project with defining a mutual definition of vulnerability during pregnancy. In current projects of Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences (RUAS) we define a vulnerable pregnant woman as: a pregnant woman facing psychopathology, psychosocial problems, and/or substance abuse combined with lack of individual and/or social resources (low socioeconomic status, low educational level, limited social network). In the Netherlands, care for vulnerable pregnant women is fragmented and therefore it is unclear for birth care professionals which interventions are available and effective. Therefore, Dutch midwives are convinced that exchanging knowledge and best practices concerning vulnerable pregnancies between midwifery practices throughout Europe could enhance their knowledge and provide midwives (SMB partners in this project) with tools to improve care for vulnerable pregnant women. The aim of this project is to exchange knowledge and best practices concerning vulnerable pregnancies between midwifery practices in several European countries, in order to improve knowledge and skills of midwives. As a result, guidelines will be developed in order to exchange selected best practices which enable midwives to implement this knowledge in their own context. This contributes to improving care for vulnerable pregnant women throughout Europe.
