Displaying publications 21 - 40 of 68 in total

Abstract:
Sort:
  1. Chua RY, Kadirvelu A, Yasin S, Choudhry FR, Park MS
    J Community Psychol, 2019 09;47(7):1750-1771.
    PMID: 31374592 DOI: 10.1002/jcop.22224
    Although faced with historical and ongoing hardships, many indigenous communities in Southeast Asia have managed to survive and thrive. The identification of factors that assist these communities in coping with the challenges experienced would help enhance their overall psychological well-being and resilience. The current review outlines types of protective factors for the indigenous communities in Southeast Asia focusing on the cultural, family and community elements linked to their psychological well-being. Four themes of protective factors were identified strong connection to the land and the environment, embracing cultural norms and traditions, passing down and keeping indigenous knowledge across generations, and emphasis on community and social cohesion. Findings suggest that the value of interconnectedness serves as an overarching theme that forms the worldview of the indigenous communities in Southeast Asia. Interconnectedness was important to the indigenous peoples as they considered themselves to be extensions of their family, community, ancestors, future descendants, the land and to all living things and creations that reside on their lands. Future intervention attempts to promote resilience among these communities should take these factors into account, and pay closer attention to community-level factors that seem to have a profound impact on the indigenous construction of resilience.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment*
  2. Barrett RJ
    Commun Med, 2004;1(1):25-34.
    PMID: 16808686
    An analysis is presented of psychiatric research interviews conducted among the Iban, a longhouse dwelling people of Sarawak, Malaysia. It draws on transcripts of interviews recorded in the course of carrying out research into schizophrenia in this group. The article examines three different interview spaces within the longhouse--public, family, and private--in order to explore the interplay between ethnographic context and interview conversation. The public setting is notable for the number of relatives who join in and transform the communication from dyadic to collective interlocution; the role of repetition in recruiting them into the conversation is explored. Indirect contrast is the private space, which allows for a level of confidentiality commensurate with Western psychiatric research practice. Intermediate between the two is the family space. The communicative forms that correspond to these settings influence the way symptoms of schizophrenia are experienced and expressed in the Iban. Implications for the practice of psychiatry cross-culturally are examined.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment*
  3. Armstrong RW, Kutty MK, Armstrong MJ
    Soc Sci Med, 1978 Dec;12(3D-4D):149-56.
    PMID: 734454 DOI: 10.1016/0160-8002(78)90029-1
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment*
  4. Teoh JI
    Aust N Z J Psychiatry, 1976 Mar;10(1A):105-10.
    PMID: 1065321
    According to Malinowski there are no peoples, however primitive, without religion and magic; nor are there any societies lacking either in the scientific attitude or in science (Blumberg 1963). Magic and taboo are resorted to when through the normal use of science, or rational techniques, man is unable to control unpredictable events important to him. Where there is difficulty in predicting the outcome of behaviour, where the results of action are not consonant with effort, where there are great limitions on man's knowledge of vital issues, magical techniques are employed--in short, where circumstances of life are uncertain, uncontrolled and unknown. Magic and animism are systems of thought which give not only the explanation of a single phenomenon, but make it possible to comprehend the totality of the world from one point, as a continuity. Of the three systems of thought--animistic, religious and scientific--animism is perhaps the most consistent and the most exhaustive, the one which explains the world in its entirety.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment*
  5. Ludin SM, Rohaizat M, Arbon P
    Health Soc Care Community, 2019 05;27(3):621-631.
    PMID: 30345603 DOI: 10.1111/hsc.12674
    A cross-sectional study design was created, using the Index of Perceived Community Resilience (IPCR) and Buckner's Index of Cohesion (BIC) to survey 386 flood evacuees from six communities in Kelantan, Malaysia, in 2015. The respondents were mostly female (54.7%); lived in basic housing (95.6%); average income (55.9%); secondary level schooling (81.1%); not involved with community organisations (95.1%), volunteering activities (91.2%), or emergency teams (96.9%); inexperience with injury during flooding (94%); experienced the emergency disaster (61.6%); and their mean age was 49 years old. Overall, respondents scored a high level of community disaster resilience (CDR) (mean 3.9) and social cohesion (mean 3.79). Also, respondents' housing type, event of injury during disaster, volunteering in post-disaster activities, and emergency team participation were significantly associated with CDR (p = 0.001-0.002), organisational involvement (p = 0.016), and emergency disaster experience (p = 0.028) were significantly associated with social cohesion. The Pearson correlation coefficient results mostly showing a moderate, weak, and one with a strong relationship. There is a strong relationship between community participation (CDR) in events and BIC variables (r = 0.529, p = 0.001). Other analysis shows a moderate but significant relationship with BIC; is open to ideas (r = 0.332, p = 0.001); community has similar values/ideas (r = 0.421, p = 0.001); sense of pride (r = 0.389, p = 0.001); strong leadership (r = 0.339, p = 0.001); positive change (r = 0.484, p = 0.001); and able to handle problems (r = 0.454, p = 0.001). Overall, the results show that respondents had high levels of CDR and social cohesion, while the demographic characteristics show the impact of CDR and social cohesion. In conclusion, the data gives original insight into the level of association between social cohesion and disaster resilience, which could be used as a building block in sustainable disaster recovery. There is a need to explore this further on programmes designed to improve social cohesion across communities.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment*
  6. Stones R, Botterill K, Lee M, O'Reilly K
    Br J Sociol, 2019 Jan;70(1):44-69.
    PMID: 29479667 DOI: 10.1111/1468-4446.12357
    The paper is based on original empirical research into the lifestyle migration of European migrants, primarily British, to Thailand and Malaysia, and of Hong Kong Chinese migrants to Mainland China. We combine strong structuration theory (SST) with Heideggerian phenomenology to develop a distinctive approach to the interplay between social structures and the lived experience of migrants. The approach enables a rich engagement with the subjectivities of migrants, an engagement that is powerfully enhanced by close attention to how these inner lives are deeply interwoven with relevant structural contexts. The approach is presented as one that could be fruitfully adopted to explore parallel issues within all types of migration. As is intrinsic to lifestyle migration, commitment to a better quality of life is central to the East Asian migrants, but they seek an uncomplicated, physically enhanced texture of life, framed more by a phenomenology of prosaic well-being than of self-realization or transcendence. In spite of possessing economic and status privileges due to their relatively elite position within global structures the reality for a good number of the lifestyle migrants falls short of their prior expectations. They are subject to particular kinds of socio-structural marginaliszation as a consequence of the character of their migration, and they find themselves relatively isolated and facing a distinct range of challenges. A comparison with research into various groups of migrants to the USA brings into relief the specificities of the socio-structural positioning of the lifestyle migrants of the study. Those East Asian migrants who express the greatest sense of ease and contentment seem to be those who have responded creatively to the specific challenges of their socio-structural situation. Often, this appears to have been achieved through understated but active involvements with their new settings and through sustaining focused transnational connections and relationships.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment*
  7. Chen ST
    J Singapore Paediatr Soc, 1989;31(3-4):178-85.
    PMID: 2638722
    126 Malay children from higher income families were followed-up regularly from birth to six years of age in the University Hospital, Kuala Lumpur. Their developmental performance was compared to that of Denver children. Generally, Malaysian and Denver children appear to be similar in their development during the first six years of life except for some minor differences in the personal-social, language and gross motor sectors. Malaysians appear to be slower in self-care but more advanced in "helping around the house", "playing interactive games" and in "separating from mother". They were slightly slower in gross motor function during the first year of life but more advanced during the second year of life. However, they were slightly more advanced in language development. The differences in development between the two groups of children are discussed and it is concluded that the differences can partly be explained by differences in socio-economic or cultural differences between the two groups of children. However, the influence of genetic factors cannot be dismissed.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment
  8. Lee RL
    Soc Sci Med, 1985;21(11):1289-96.
    PMID: 4095582
    This paper examines four drug rehabilitation systems in Malaysia from an organizational perspective. It focuses on authority structures in rehabilitation centres and their impact on rehabilitees' identities. The findings show that there are important differences between government-run and private centres in terms of administration and approach to therapy. Some policy implications are derived from a comparison of these systems.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment
  9. Thambypillai V
    Soc Sci Med, 1985;21(7):819-23.
    PMID: 4071118 DOI: 10.1016/0277-9536(85)90130-3
    A questionnaire on smoking habits was administered to 4106 Form IV school children in Kuala Lumpur. The period of survey was from 9 to 20 April 1984. 2099 boys and 2007 girls were studied and their mean age was 16.1 years. 32.8% of the students had been initiated to smoking and the mean age of initiation was 13.3 years. The prevalence of smoking was found to be 9.8% and the mean duration of smoking was 2.5 years. Most of the smokers and occasional smokers were boys. About 42% of the smokers wished to stop smoking and only 1% of the non-smokers intended to smoke in the future. The study recommended that health education programmes should be started earlier in school.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment
  10. Zheyuan C, Rahman MA, Tao H, Liu Y, Pengxuan D, Yaseen ZM
    Work, 2021;68(3):825-834.
    PMID: 33612525 DOI: 10.3233/WOR-203416
    BACKGROUND: The increasing use of robotics in the work of co-workers poses some new problems in terms of occupational safety and health. In the workplace, industrial robots are being used increasingly. During operations such as repairs, unmanageable, adjustment, and set-up, robots can cause serious and fatal injuries to workers. Collaborative robotics recently plays a rising role in the manufacturing filed, warehouses, mining agriculture, and much more in modern industrial environments. This development advances with many benefits, like higher efficiency, increased productivity, and new challenges like new hazards and risks from the elimination of human and robotic barriers.

    OBJECTIVES: In this paper, the Advanced Human-Robot Collaboration Model (AHRCM) approach is to enhance the risk assessment and to make the workplace involving security robots. The robots use perception cameras and generate scene diagrams for semantic depictions of their environment. Furthermore, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) have utilized to develop a highly protected security robot based risk management system in the workplace.

    RESULTS: The experimental results show that the proposed AHRCM method achieves high performance in human-robot mutual adaption and reduce the risk.

    CONCLUSION: Through an experiment in the field of human subjects, demonstrated that policies based on the proposed model improved the efficiency of the human-robot team significantly compared with policies assuming complete human-robot adaptation.

    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment
  11. Oyedele DT, Sah SA, Kairuddinand L, Wan Ibrahim WM
    Trop Life Sci Res, 2015 Dec;26(2):27-44.
    PMID: 26868708 MyJurnal
    Studies of habitat suitability (HS) are essential when animals' habitats have been altered or when animals migrate to a habitat different from their natural habitat. This study assessed HS and used an integrated geographic information system in the assessment of Rattus norvegicus in a highly developed urban environment. Using data from the Campbell market and the police quarters of George Town, Malaysia, home range (through the use of 100% Minimum Convex Polygon [MCP], 95% MCP and 95% Harmonic Mean [HM]) was estimated. Home range for male rats at Campbell market reached an asymptote, with a slight increase, at 96 radio fixes (home range = 133.52 m(2); core area = 29.39 m(2)). Female rats reached an asymptote at 62 radio fixes (home range = 13.38 m(2); core area = 9.17 m(2)). At Campbell market, male rats emerged at 1900 hours every day, whereas females emerged at 2000 hours; at police quarters, the most common time of emergence for males was 2000 hours and for females was 2200. Raster charts of R. norvegicus showed that rat hot spots can be grouped into 4 zones (market, shop houses, settlement and general places). The standardised raster chart isolated the market as the major rallying points of the rats (hot spots) by producing the highest rats frequencies of 255. All of the habitat suitability thresholds, including the built-up points, skip bins, water source and nature of the site explored in this study, produced a structural pattern (monotonic increase or decrease) of habitat suitability.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment
  12. Vikneswaran A/L Sabramani, Idayu Badila Idris, Rosnah Sutan, Zaleha Md. Isa, Saidatul Norbaya Buang, Hasanain Faisal Ghazi
    MyJurnal
    The evolution in lifestyle and dietary habits of the Malaysian people that have taken place over the last few decades can be largely attributed to both family and social environment. These factors are known to affect the nutritional status of the community, in both children and adults. Reduced physical activity and changes in their diet have been one of the contributing factors to the rising prevalence of overweight and obesity. However, in Malaysia, in which nutrition transition has been a norm, it is worrying when the trends of overweight and obesity have been rising steadily over the years especially among children. Although numerous strategies to control obesity in Malaysia have been taking place, many had shown little effect. Analysing strategies implemented at national level is thus crucial in order to ascertain reasons for the shortfalls of these strategies especially among children. Obesity most commonly begins as early as the ages of 5 and 6 years, or during adolescence. Obesity is indeed a major public health concern due to its huge negative impact on the society at large which is well supported by evidence-based literatures. Managing this issue is complex and holistic approach is thus crucial in reducing its incidence and prevalence.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment
  13. Waddy BB
    J Trop Med Hyg, 1974 Apr;77(4):s:19-21.
    PMID: 4841357
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment
  14. Carr JE
    Cult Med Psychiatry, 1978 Sep;2(3):269-93.
    PMID: 710174
    The phenomenon of amok is reviewed in order to demonstrate the heuristic value of an ethno-behavioral model of culture-bound syndromes. The notion that culture-bound syndromes share underlying common disease forms is rejected. Instead, the ethno-behavioral model postulates that culture-bound syndromes consist of culturally specific behavioral repertoires legitimated by culturally sanctioned norms and concepts, but with both behavior and norms acquired in accordance with basic principles of human learning universal to all cultures. Consistent with this model, amok is shown to be a common behavioral pathway for multiple precipitants (which may or may not include disease pathology), but with a distinct form and conceptualization which can be traced to the social learning practices and beliefs of the Malay.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment
  15. Tackett S, Shochet R, Shilkofski NA, Colbert-Getz J, Rampal K, Abu Bakar H, et al.
    BMC Med Educ, 2015;15:105.
    PMID: 26081751 DOI: 10.1186/s12909-015-0388-0
    Perdana University Graduate School of Medicine (PUGSOM), the first graduate-entry medical school in Malaysia, was established in 2011 in collaboration with Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (JHUSOM), an American medical school. This study compared learning environments (LE) at these two schools, which shared the same overarching curriculum, along with a comparator Malaysian medical school, Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences (CUCMS). As a secondary aim, we compared 2 LE assessment tools - the widely-used Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) and the newer Johns Hopkins Learning Environment Scale (JHLES).
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment*
  16. Tackett S, Wright S, Lubin R, Li J, Pan H
    Med Educ, 2017 Mar;51(3):280-289.
    PMID: 27896846 DOI: 10.1111/medu.13120
    OBJECTIVE: To assess whether favourable perceptions of the learning environment (LE) were associated with better quality of life, less burnout and more empathy across three undergraduate medical education programmes in Israel, Malaysia and China.

    METHODS: Cross-sectional surveys were administered at the end of the 2013-2014 academic year at three medical schools: Technion American Medical Students Program (TAMS) in Israel, Perdana University-Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland School of Medicine (PURCSI) in Malaysia and Peking Union Medical College (PUMC) in China. LE perceptions were assessed using the Johns Hopkins Learning Environment Scale (JHLES). Well-being was assessed using validated items for quality of life and the depersonalisation and emotional exhaustion domains of burnout. The 20-item Jefferson Empathy Scale assessed empathy. Statistical analyses included bivariate regressions and multivariate regressions that adjusted for gender, school, class year and perceived academic rank.

    RESULTS: Overall, 400/622 (64.3%) students responded, with the following rates by site: TAMS 92/121 (76.0%), PURCSI 160/198 (80.1%) and PUMC 148/303 (48.8%). In multivariate models, favourable overall LE perceptions were associated with higher odds of good quality of life (odds ratio [OR], 3.2; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.8-5.8; p < 0.001) and lower odds of emotional exhaustion (OR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.24-0.50; p < 0.001) and depersonaliation (OR, 0.30; 95% CI, 0.24-0.37; p = 0.001). 'Community of Peers', one of seven factors in the JHLES, was the only one to be independently associated with better quality of life and less emotional exhaustion and depersonalisation. After adjusting for covariates, there was not a statistically significant association between overall LE and empathy (OR, 1.4; 95% CI, 0.91-2.2; p = 0.12).

    CONCLUSIONS: Students' LE perceptions are closely associated with their well-being, and fostering peer community may hold promise for enhancing quality of life and protecting against burnout. Across these three settings, LE and empathy were not closely related, suggesting that any influence of learning environment on empathy would be modest.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment*
  17. Tung SE, Ng XH, Chin YS, Mohd Taib MN
    Child Care Health Dev, 2016 Jul;42(4):478-85.
    PMID: 27272607 DOI: 10.1111/cch.12355
    BACKGROUND: This study aimed to evaluate parental perception of neighbourhood environments and safety in association with children's physical activity among primary school children in Klang, Selangor, Malaysia.

    METHODS: A total of 250 children (9-12 years of age) and their parents participated in this cross-sectional study. Physical Activity Questionnaire for Older Children and Neighbourhood Environmental Walkability Scale as well as questions on constrained behaviours (avoidance and defensive behaviours) were used to assess the children's physical activity and parental perception of neighbourhood environment and safety, respectively.

    RESULTS: More than one-third (36.0%) of the children were physically inactive compared with only a small percentage (4.8%) who were physically active, with boys achieving higher physical activity levels than girls (t = 2.564, P = 0.011). For the environmental scale, parents' perception of land-use mix (access) (r = 0.173, P = 0.006), traffic hazards (r = -0.152, P = 0.016) and defensive behaviour (r = -0.024, P = 0.143) correlated significantly with children's physical activity. In multiple linear regression analysis, child's gender (β = -0.226; P = 0.003), parent's education (β = 0.140; P = 0.001), household income (β = 0.151; P = 0.024), land-use mix (access) (β = 0.134; P = 0.011) and defensive behaviour (β = -0.017; P = 0.038) were significantly associated with physical activity in children (R = 0.349, F = 6.760; P 

    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment*
  18. Ibrahim S, Karim NA, Oon NL, Ngah WZ
    BMC Public Health, 2013;13:275.
    PMID: 23530696 DOI: 10.1186/1471-2458-13-275
    Physical inactivity has been acknowledged as a public health issue and has received increasing attention in recent years. This cross-sectional study was conducted to determine the barriers to physical activity among Malaysian men. These barriers were analyzed with regards to sociodemographic factors, physical activity level, BMI and waist circumference.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment*
  19. Gan WY, Mohd Nasir MT, Zalilah MS, Hazizi AS
    Appetite, 2012 Dec;59(3):679-87.
    PMID: 22885453 DOI: 10.1016/j.appet.2012.08.002
    The mechanism linking biopsychosocial factors to disordered eating among university students is not well understood especially among Malaysians. This study aimed to examine the mediating role of psychological distress in the relationships between biopsychosocial factors and disordered eating among Malaysian university students. A self-administered questionnaire measured self-esteem, body image, social pressures to be thin, weight-related teasing, psychological distress, and disordered eating in 584 university students (59.4% females and 40.6% males). Body weight and height were measured. Structural equation modeling analysis revealed that the partial mediation model provided good fit to the data. Specifically, the relationships between self-esteem and weight-related teasing with disordered eating were mediated by psychological distress. In contrast, only direct relationships between body weight status, body image, and social pressures to be thin with disordered eating were found and were not mediated by psychological distress. Furthermore, multigroup analyses indicated that the model was equivalent for both genders but not for ethnic groups. There was a negative relationship between body weight status and psychological distress for Chinese students, whereas this was not the case among Malay students. Intervention and prevention programs on psychological distress may be beneficial in reducing disordered eating among Malaysian university students.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment*
  20. Benford K, Swami V
    Body Image, 2014 Sep;11(4):454-7.
    PMID: 25113287 DOI: 10.1016/j.bodyim.2014.07.004
    The present study examined associations between the Big Five personality domains and measures of men's body image. A total of 509 men from the community in London, UK, completed measures of drive for muscularity, body appreciation, the Big Five domains, and subjective social status, and provided their demographic details. The results of a hierarchical regression showed that, once the effects of participant body mass index (BMI) and subjective social status had been accounted for, men's drive for muscularity was significantly predicted by Neuroticism (β=.29). In addition, taking into account the effects of BMI and subjective social status, men's body appreciation was significantly predicted by Neuroticism (β=-.35) and Extraversion (β=.12). These findings highlight potential avenues for the development of intervention approaches based on the relationship between the Big Five personality traits and body image.
    Matched MeSH terms: Social Environment
Related Terms
Filters
Contact Us

Please provide feedback to Administrator (afdal@afpm.org.my)

External Links