Changes in state policy for promoting a healthy lifestyle. (A historical aspect).

Healthy lifestyle promotion from the perspective of state policy, journalism, healthcare, sociology, and psychology was analyzed. The objective of the study was to analyze changes in the financial and agitation state policy aimed at increasing the motivational activity of citizens of the Russian Federation towards a healthy lifestyle (HLS) in the Soviet era and at the post-Soviet stage and assess the effectiveness of these measures. The effectiveness of the Soviet propaganda of healthy lifestyles among the population was evaluated. Crisis phenomena in public health, low persuasiveness of the media presentation of the healthy lifestyle value, the COVID-19 pandemic, difficulties in implementing corporate health promotion programs in the workplace at individual en-terprises, and ignoring gender stereotypes in attitudes to health are the reasons that contribute to the adherence of Russian workers to unhealthy behaviors, that cause an increase in the incidence of chronic non-communicable diseases. The historical aspect of changes in state policy for health promotion made it possible to determine the tasks in developing health-saving programs.Copyright © 2023, Media Sphera Publishing Group. All rights reserved.

Global representations of international students in a time of crisis: A qualitative analysis of Twitter data during COVID-19

International students have been historically valued by universities for their contributions to their host countries. Yet, representations of international students in the general public have become increasingly mixed, an issue likely exacerbated by COVID-19, which has shown increased hostility towards international students. Given the increased reports of discrimination during this period, there is ongoing need to understand how international students have been represented in this specific time of crisis. Our study analysed public representations of international students through Twitter data and qualitative analysis of 6,501 posts made during the immediate COVID-19 crisis (January-April 2020). Our findings confirm competing public representations of international students that changed over time: initially through stereotyping and depictions as assumed disease carriers, shifting to empathy and support after university campus closures. We also outline themes of racism and discrimination, which are of importance for the global higher education sector as we move into a post-COVID world.

Cross-cultural collaboration through virtual teaming in higher education

Scholars from three universities in three different parts of the world - North America, Africa, and Eurasia - across different cultures, disciplines, and contexts, collaborated with the objective of advancing transversal skills and intercultural competences through immersing their students in international virtual teamwork. Students and lecturers represented the Appalachian State University (United States of America), University of the Free State (South Africa), and Novgorod State University (Russia). In this article, we share our lessons learned from the challenges we faced in the hopes of deepening understanding in higher education concerning what can be accomplished through remote learning across continents and cultures. This work allowed us to be ahead of the collapse of traditional teaching on campuses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, as we had prior experience of online pedagogies reaching across international borders, cultures, time zones, and languages. Even during hard lockdown, when travelling abroad was impossible, our students experienced internationalised curricula, interacted with international scholars and staff, and were able to continue with the programme as planned. We began this work more than five years prior to the pandemic;therefore, these efforts led to successfully switching to online learning in other courses. We began with engaging staff members as well as students in ongoing, project-based collaboration across cultures from these institutions. This required the use of synchronous and asynchronous digital platforms, which would enable staff members and students to work collaboratively for six to eight weeks to create realistic projects. Staff members began to compile the collaborative co-creating courses that would be taught together, thus combining and adapting various pedagogical approaches. We then shared the responsibility for co-facilitating each course, despite different philosophies of teaching and learning. The result was a balanced blend of pedagogies, allowing students to collaborate successfully with students from the other universities. Students overcame a number of challenges: (a) cultural differences;(b) infrastructure for technology platforms;(c) time zones;(d) languages;(e) age and generational differences;(f) unfamiliarity with various pedagogies;(g) interaction with other cultures and settings;and (h) stereotypes fuelled by popular media. We share our journey and the strategies that addressed these challenges, including the use of technology and results from this continued collaboration.

Pivoting to a virtual high school exchange: The GAVE program

The U.S. Department of State recognizes that students "act as citizen ambassadors by building relationships within their host communities, demonstrating American values, and debunking stereotypes" (U.S. Department of State, 2023). According to the GAPP website, over 750 high schools in the United States have a GAPP program and more than 9000 students participate in GAPP each year. Afterwards, the students filled out an evaluation of GAVE, provided on the GAVE website. Ludwig confirms that "online classes cannot replace the classical purpose of a stay abroad, namely: to be in a different place, in a different environment, to gain hands-on experience and, last but not least, to become more independent" (Ludwig, 2022).

Regional consultation on enhancing the capacity of Member States to implement anti-stigma programmes in the Eastern Mediterranean Region

[...]the economic downturns, social polarization, public health emergencies, widespread humanitarian emergencies, forced displacement, climate crises, and even COVID-19 are major threats to mental health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region. The Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan 2013-2030 (8), the Regional Framework to Scaleup Action on Mental Health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (9), the World Mental Health Report (10), and the associated tools and resources published by WHO provide strategic directions for addressing stigma and discrimination. Recommendations Through outreach activities and advocacy at national and subnational levels, Member States are to strengthen multisectoral partnerships, including with people who experience mental health disorders and their support networks, to leverage scarce resources for mental health and integrate anti-stigma actions into mental health law, policies, and interventions.

Using Twitter to Understand COVID-19 Vaccine-Related Ageism during the Pandemic.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: During the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, older adults in high-income countries were often prioritized for inoculation in efforts to reduce COVID-19 related mortality. However, this prioritization may have contributed to intergenerational tensions and ageism, particularly with the limited supply of COVID-19 vaccines. This study examines Twitter discourse to understand vaccine-related ageism during the COVID-19 pandemic to inform future vaccination policies and practices to reduce ageism. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We collected 1,369 relevant tweets on Twitter using the Twint application in Python from December 8, 2020 to December 31, 2021. Tweets were analyzed using thematic analysis, and steps were taken to ensure rigor. RESULTS: Our research identified four main themes including: i) blame and hostility: 'It's all their fault'; ii) incompetence and misinformation: 'clueless boomer'; iii) ageist political slander; and iv) combatting ageism: advocacy and accessibility. DISCUSSION AND IMPLICATIONS: Our findings exposed issues of victim-blaming, hate speech, pejorative content, and ageist political slander that is deepening the divide of intergenerational conflict. Although a subset of tweets countered negative outcomes and demonstrated intergenerational solidarity, our findings suggest that ageism may have contributed to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy among older adults. Consequently, urgent action is needed to counter vaccine misinformation, prohibit aggressive messaging, and promote intergenerational unity during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond.

Intergroup Contact, Traditional and Social Media Use, and Attitudes Toward Chinese People in COVID-19: US College Students' Perspective

Guided by cultivation theory and intergroup contact theory, we examined how U.S. college students' traditional media use and social media use for information about COVID-19, and direct contact with Chinese were associated with their behavioral attitudes toward Chinese people in this survey study. Findings indicated that contact quality was positively associated with attitudes toward Chinese people. Moderation analyses indicated that traditional media use negatively predicted behavioral attitudes toward Chinese people for those with no Chinese friends and was a nonsignificant predictor for those with one or more Chinese friends. Furthermore, results indicated that social media use was positively associated with attitudes toward Chinese people for those who had high contact quality with Chinese but was a nonsignificant predictor for those who had low contact quality. Overall findings ruminate the critical role of intergroup contact quality and friendship in reducing intergroup prejudice in COVID-19.

MASCULINIDAD HEGEMÓNICA, ROLES DE GÉNERO Y VIOLENCIA INTRAFAMILIAR EN PUEBLA-TLAXCALA, MÉXICO

El objetivo del artículo es analizar, desde la perspectiva de género, la incidencia de la masculinidad hegemónica y los roles de género estereotipados en la armonía familiar en la Zona Metropolitana de Puebla-Tlaxcala (ZMTP), donde se reporta un incremento de violencia durante el confinamiento por Covid-19 como resultado del reparto desigual en los quehaceres domésticos y el machismo en México. Es una investigación cualitativa donde se empleó el método de encuesta telefónica y descriptivo-exploratorio. Al final del trabajo, se evidencia que las tradiciones culturales y la normalización de la dominación masculina impiden la erradicación de los abusos en el hogar.Alternate :The objective of the article is to analyze, from the gender perspective, the incidence of hegemonic masculinity and stereotyped gender roles in family harmony where it refers to an increase in violence during confinement by Covid-19 in the Metropolitan Area Puebla-Tlaxcala (ZMTP) as a result of the unequal distribution of domestic chores and sexism in Mexico. It is a qualitative investigation where the method of telephone and descriptive-exploratory survey was used. At the end of the work, it shows that cultural traditions and the normalization of male domination prevent the eradication of abuse in the home.

PREPARING FOR ESPORTS COMPETITIONS: GAMING COMMUNITIES OF PRACTICE

Communities of practice are groups of people united by a passion for something, who deepen their knowledge and experience in their field through ongoing interactions. This article focuses on the importance of institutionalized relationship networks and mutual recognition in preparation for esports competitions. The study represents inductive, qualitative analyses. Individual in-depth interviews were conducted with players (n = 12) that have significant achievements in Magic: The Gathering (MTG) competitions. In the social world of MTG enthusiasts, numerous groups reflect the functionality of a community of practice. These groups constitute a fundamental aspect of preparation for top-level MTG tournaments. Examples of the functioning of so-called testing groups among MTG enthusiasts allow the formulation of a new analytical category – the gaming community of practice. Contrary to stereotypes, the presented study supports the thesis about the significant role of video games in the formation of social competencies and the creation of specific communities, which is particularly important in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.Alternate :Koncepcja wspólnoty praktyków zakłada, że jest to grupa osób, które łączy zamiłowanie do czegoś i które pogłębiają swoją wiedzę oraz doświadczenie w tym obszarze poprzez bieżące interakcje. Prezentowany artykuł skupia się na znaczeniu zinstytucjonalizowanych sieci relacji i wzajemnego uznania w przygotowaniach do rywalizacji w e-sporcie. Badanie stanowi przykład indukcyjnej jakościowej analizy. W jego ramach przeprowadzono indywidualne wywiady pogłębione z osobami (n = 12) mającymi znaczące osiągnięcia we współzawodnictwie w grze Magic: The Gathering (MTG). W społecznym świecie miłośników MTG liczne grupy odzwierciedlają funkcjonalność wspólnoty praktyków. Grupy te konstytuują podstawowy aspekt przygotowań do najważniejszych turniejów MTG. Przykłady funkcjonowania tak zwanych grup testingowych wśród miłośników MTG prowadzą do sformułowania nowej kategorii analitycznej – growych wspólnot praktyków. Wbrew stereotypom, prezentowane badania wspierają tezę o znaczącej roli gier wideo w kształtowaniu kompetencji społecznych i tworzeniu specyficznych wspólnot, co jest szczególnie istotne w kontekście pandemii COVID-19.

Stereotypes of ageing in intergenerational talk and in media representations

Ageism is a manifestation of negative attitudes about and towards ageing. As stereotypes and ageism significantly influence our orientation to ageing, older age and older people, this chapter will examine some commonly held stereotypes of older adults and discuss how they might be constructed, reflected and reinforced in intergenerational communication and in some media representations. We will start by looking at the nature of common stereotypes of ageing and older adults, followed by how stereotypes might be activated in intergenerational talk and how this has been theoretically modelled, for example by Communication Accommodation Theory. We will then review some recent work on stereotypes of ageing in media contexts to illustrate some common trends. Two case studies from UK media, namely magazine advertising depictions of older adults and news reports during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic are presented. These serve to problematize overly 'positive' representations, on the one hand, and dichotomous vulnerable/exceptional representations, on the other hand. Lastly, we will link stereotyping with ageism in society. © Peter Lang Group AG, International Academic Publishers, Bern 2023. All rights reserved.

From Yellow Peril to Model Minority: Asian stereotypes in social media during the COVID-19 pandemic

Heightened racial tensions during the COVID-19 pandemic contributed to the increase and rapid propagation of online hate speech towards Asians. In this work, we study the relationship between the racist narratives and conspiracy theories that emerged related to COVID-19 and historical stereotypes underpinning Asian hate and counter-hate speech on Twitter, in particular the Yellow Peril and model minority tropes. We find that the pandemic catalyzed a broad increase in discourse engaging with racist stereotypes extending beyond COVID-19 specifically. We also find that racist narratives and conspiracy theories which emerged during the pandemic and gained widespread attention were rooted in deeply-embedded Asian stereotypes. In alignment with theories of idea habitat and processing fluency, our work suggests that historical stereotypes provided an environment vulnerable to the racist narratives and conspiracy theories which emerged during the pandemic. Our work offers insight for ongoing and future anti-racist efforts. © 2023 ACM.

Women and Children's Victims of Violence Case Management During COVID-19 Pandemic

Many studies have been conducted to prove the threat of violence against children and women during COVID-19. Unlike other studies, this study focuses more on government services in receiving complaints from victims of violence experienced by women and children during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using case studies as a qualitative method, documentary studies and in-depth interviews have been conducted on 13 informants from various parties in Bandung Regency, West Java, Indonesia. The results showed that the use of digital technology during the pandemic sometimes hampered the follow-up process for complaints of violence by victims due to a lack of equipment and the inability of officers or victims to use it. In addition, there is still a stereotype that the victim is the "guilty party" or "the party who bears the shame" of making the family cover up or refrain from pressing charges. There needs to be collaboration and coordination among the processing and accompanying officers who handle case management of violence against women and children. These cases are multi-dimensional;therefore, they require multiple approaches from many parties.

Between Empirical Data and Anti-Blackness: A Critical Perspective on Anti-Asian Hate Crimes and Hate Incidents

While women are more likely to report a hate incident to the StopAAPIHate reporting site, multiple sources of data show that men are as likely or more likely to experience a hate incident than women. [...]Asian Critical Theory (or AsianCrit) allows us to examine how race and racism affect the lives of Asian Americans within US society.5 Through this theoretical lens, we can better understand our unique racialization as Asian Americans;this racialization positions us as both model minorities and perpetual outsiders to US society. [...]even if not always dominant, the interspersal of images of Black-on-Asian-crime in coverage of anti-Asian violence tends to emphasize physical assaults by Black individuals, thereby playing on commonly accepted racist stereotypes of Black criminality.10 And while we may recognize that dominant discourses of safety and its antithesis (e.g., with regard to anti-Asian violence) are rooted in white supremacy and anti-Blackness (Jenkins 2021), most critiques of anti-Asian violence rarely examine the interconnections between them.11 For this reason, a large part of our paper calls for a critical racial analysis of widely circulating narratives around racist incidents against Asian Americans and their racialization as non-Black people of color. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND NARRATIVE CONTEXT In January and February of 2020, the first cases of COVID-19 in the United States were detected by public health agencies.12 The source of the virus was likely China (ibid), but the World Health Organization advised media organizations not to "attach locations or ethnicity" to the disease to avoid stigmatizing ethnic groups.

Does the pandemic have a gender? An exploratory study about the Perceived Impact of COVID-19 measures on women and men in Ukraine and Belarus

This paper examines the perceived effects of COVID-19 containment policies in Ukraine and Belarus, focusing on how these policies disproportionately affected men and women due to societal gender roles and stereotypes. The study uses document analysis, interviews with gender experts and activists, and a survey of 109 respondents to explore the different quarantine behaviours of men and women in the two countries. The analysis reveals how the virus was handled differently in the two countries, with Ukraine implementing strict lockdowns while Belarus downplayed the severity of the virus. In addition, the survey analysis was based on four dimensions - economic, social, healthcare and well-being, and civic empowerment - contributing to uncovering citizens' perceptions of the implications of the pandemic in their daily lives. The paper concludes by providing policy recommendations to address the economic and social impacts of the pandemic, as well as ways to better manage future health crises by addressing gender-specific needs. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Gender Studies is the property of Routledge and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

Of Fear and Strangers: A History of Xenophobia by George Makari (review)

Sigmund Freud in his "Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego" (1921) outlined his take on this after World War I. British psychotherapists, including some of his English followers such as Wilfried Trotter, appropriated a psychology of difference popularized by Gustave Le Bon to define the valorous "Tommy" crusading against the inherently evil "Boche." In his 1921 essay, Freud began with the claim concerning collective behavior that had long been established in the psychological literature of the late 19th century—that "a group is extraordinarily credulous and open to influence, it has no critical faculty, and the improbable does not exist for it." In the first of many striking moments in this book, Makari locates the modern origin of xenophobia—and it is not where we expected to find it: the social fascination with the "phobias" had its origin in 19th-century medicine, which quickly devolved into social metaphor, as such diagnostic categories of behavior tend to do rather quickly. Makari begins his book locating his own discomfort with being seen as "different" and trying to understand his own family, Greek Orthodox inhabitants of Ottoman Lebanon, whose trek to the United States created (as many of us know from our own family experience) "better" Americans, initially struggling as peddlers and then establishing themselves in Texas as "real" Americans.

THE USE OF METAPHOR IN DEFINING THE PANDEMIC PHENOMENON

Although pandemics are perceived as scientific and technical problems, their multi-layered political implications trigger an ideologyladen debate. In this paper, we argue that in the face of the upheavals caused by Covid-19, a considerable part of the political and media systems has used narratives rooted in neo-nationalist and neo-liberal ideologies. On the one hand, neo-nationalism is visible through the portrayal of stereotypical « others » in mainstream media. On the other hand, the health emergency has tested and will continue to test institutions and their ability to find and implement solutions that minimise harm without restricting individual freedoms. Those entrusted with the institutional and political responsibility to inform the public once again communicated on the event using the primal rhetorical figures. First in China, then in Italy and Europe, and finally throughout the world, politicians, journalists, doctors, economists and opinion leaders have defined the health emergency as "war". The metaphor of war has been used and abused from the beginning, and the first and most vocal disseminators of the term « war » and its associated concepts have been politicians. This paper proposes an extension of the concept of Orientalism as a possible key to understanding the construction of stereotypical representations of Covid-19 as the 'enemy' and the pandemic as 'war' during the lockdown. Furthermore, it is argued that political positions and conflicts over pandemic measures are not random and nor do they depend on the idiosyncrasy of individuals. Rather, they represent certain material interests and socio-cultural and ideological backgrounds.

Would a Male Sounding Name for the Covid-19 be Perceived as More Serious than a Female Sounding Name? Impact of the Grammatical Gender Assigned to the Disease on its Perception and on the Protective Measures Taken to Avoid it

At first glance, debates about the gender of the definite article that should precede the term Covid-19 seem to be more about grammatical and linguistic considerations. Nevertheless, following recent work (Farrow et al. [2018]) inviting a closer look at words as levers for influencing human perceptions and behaviours, we experimentally test in France whether the choice of the article to precede the term Covid-19 could have contributed to more effective public policies. The results show that this seemingly innocuous choice is not and suggest that, in the context of a strategy to combat the spread of the virus, the masculine article might have been more relevant.

The Patterns of Interaction between Russian Citizens and Ngos in the Context of Institutional Change

The article analyzes the institutional transformation of the sphere of social services in the context of the development of the non-profit sector. The institutional transformation in the field covers the issues of changing public attitudes, the level of public trust and prevailing stereotypes. Besides, online interactions that are spreading while providing and receiving services influence the processes of the individual choice under constantly changing market conditions. The results are based on two sociological surveys devoted to studying the attitude of citizens towards the non-profit sector of social services. The surveys were conducted in Russian regions in 2019(n=1204) and 2020 (n=2047). Among the factors influencing public attitudes towards NGOs are citizens' understanding of the meaning of social services, awareness of non-state service providers and the opportunities of NGO social service sector. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people tended to resort to online services more often, we assume that this hastened the transition to the online format of interaction in the analyzed field. The revealed relationship of attitudes towards state and nonstate type providers has demonstrated that the attitude of citizens towards one type of social service provider has an impact on the formation of attitudes towards another type of provider confirming that public trust is systemic. We have identified the key stereotypes that determine the choice of the type of provider by the recipients of services. It has also been found that the personal experience of interaction with social services organizations plays an important role for establishing trust in state and non-state social services organizations. The dynamics of the public trust in the non-profit sector of social services has been analyzed based on the identification of age subgroups.

Reducing ageism combining ageing education with clinical practice: A prospective cohort study in health sciences students.

AIM: To analyse the impact of an intervention combining ageing education with clinical practice in nursing homes on a nursing cohort's negative stereotypes and prejudices towards ageing. DESIGN: A prospective cohort study was conducted in September 2019-October 2020 in a population of health sciences students (n = 222). METHODS: Questionnaire of Negative Stereotypes towards Aging (CENVE) and Aging Semantic Differential (DSE) were used to examine negative stereotypes and prejudices towards ageing in the nursing cohort exposed to the ageing education and practice intervention compared to a medical cohort that received no intervention. Group-by-time interaction, controlled by sex and age, for the effect of the intervention on CENVE and DSE scores was determined by mixed-design ANOVA. RESULTS: The nursing cohort significantly reduced negative stereotypes and prejudices towards ageing when compared to the medical cohort in total (F = 26.926; p < 0.001), health factor (F = 16.812; p < 0.001), motivational and social factor (F = 11.266; p = 0.001), and character and personality factor (F = 19.202; p < 0.001) scores of CENVE scale and in DSE (F = 7.826; p = 0.006).

Addressing anti-semitism in social work education

Antisemitism, one of the oldest forms of prejudice and oppression is surging throughout the world. It ranges from verbal abuse to the destruction of property to murder. In the last two years, attacks against Jews in the United States were the overwhelming target of religion-based hate crimes. Stereotypes and myths continue to fuel prejudice and antisemitism in society. Factors such as anti-Israel sentiments, remarks by persons in power, the use of social media, white nationalism, and even the Covid 19 pandemic have contributed to its escalation.As a result of the increasing violence, the U.S. legislature held a hearing on confronting antisemitic terrorism with one outcome being that social workers and community advocates were needed to join law enforcement in the effort to heal and work for justice. Social work with its mandate to promote social justice and human rights and challenge oppression cannot ignore antisemitism and its impact on individuals and societies. However, the subject is basically ignored in the curriculum. This paper offers a brief history of antisemitism and presents guidelines and models for integrating it into social work programs.