Factors facilitating and inhibiting the social participation of the elderly in health-oriented activities in Shiraz, Southern Iran.

BACKGROUND: The social participation (SP) of the elderly is one of the factors that contribute to the improvement of their well-being. SP, one of the most important factors of active ageing, is mainly influenced by a number of facilitating or inhibiting factors. AIMS: This study aimed to identify the factors that prevent and facilitate the SP of the elderly population in Iran. METHODS: A cross-sectional study carried out in Shiraz, southern Iran in 2021. Participants were selected using a convenience sampling method. Shiraz is divided into 11 districts and the largest park in each district is selected for data gathering. The questionnaires were completed by 612 people aged over 60. Data were collected using the Canadian Elderly Survey Project scale and a health-related lifestyle questionnaire and were analyzed using t-test, ANOVA, Pearson's correlation, and ANCOVA. RESULTS: The mean SP score of the elderly in Shiraz was 24.2 out of 60, which is below the midpoint. The results of the covariance analysis revealed that the SP had a significant relationship with the experience of physician consultation, cost barriers, age, marital status, income level, and education level (P < 0.001). Moreover, the results of Pearson correlation revealed a significant correlation between SP and different dimensions of health-oriented activities (< 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This study revealed that the main barriers to older people's participation in health-related activities are cost and access barriers, such as transportation issues. Moreover, higher income level and higher educational attainment have been recognized as the main facilitators of SP in the elderly. In this regard, it can be suggested to apply a combination of health promotion strategies, financial support programs, and development of optimal transportation infrastructure to increase the SP of the elderly.

Relationship between Family-Work and Work-Family Conflict with Organizational Commitment and Desertion Intention among Nurses and Paramedical Staff at Hospitals.

BACKGROUND: High turnover intention rate is one of the most common problems in healthcare organizations throughout the world. There are several factors that can potentially affect the individuals' turnover intention; they include factors such as work-family conflict, family-work conflict, and organizational commitment. The aim of this research was to determine the relationship between family-work and work-family conflicts and organizational commitment and turnover intention among nurses and paramedical staff at hospitals affiliated to Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (SUMS) and present a model using SEM. METHODS: This is a questionnaire based cross-sectional study among 400 nurses and paramedical staff of hospitals affiliated to SUMS using a random-proportional (quota) sampling method. Data collection was performed using four standard questionnaires. SPSS software was used for data analysis and SmartPLS software for modeling variables. RESULTS: Mean scores of work-family conflict and desertion intention were 2.6 and 2.77, respectively. There was a significant relationship between gender and family-work conflict (P=0.02). Family-work conflict was significantly higher in married participants (P=0.001). Based on the findings of this study, there was a significant positive relationship between work-family and family-work conflict (P=0.001). Also, work-family conflict had a significant inverse relationship with organizational commitment (P=0.001). An inverse relationship was seen between organizational commitment and turnover intentions (P=0.001). CONCLUSION: Thus, regarding the prominent and preventative role of organizational commitment in employees' desertion intentions, in order to prevent negative effects of staff desertion in health sector, attempts to make policies to increase people's organizational commitment must be considered by health system managers more than ever.