Latest news with #Likert
Medscape
6 days ago
- Health
- Medscape
Social Withdrawal in Aging Tied to Shifts in Brain Networks
There is a natural decline in sociability as a result of aging influenced by brain changes, new research shows. 'Our study suggests that age-related changes in the functional wiring of the brain may impair certain abilities needed to maintain social relationships,' the study's lead study author Yuet Ruh Dan, Duke-National University of Singapore Medical School, told Medscape Medical News . The findings were published online on May 28 in PLOS One . Sociability Critical to Health Sociability, which is the capacity to communicate effectively, be socially assertive, and to manage emotions, is 'critical' for maintaining and promoting health, especially as we age, said Dan. Research has linked sociability to increased functional connectivity in and between intrinsic brain networks. Overall, the default mode network (DMN), ventral attention network, and limbic structures have been the most strongly correlated with sociability. The aging process also involves changes in intrinsic brain networks. Studies have shown that aging results in lower within-network connectivity, as well as greater between-network connectivity. For example, Dan noted that connectivity between the frontoparietal and DMNs decreases with age change that has been linked to poorer self-esteem and memory. Meanwhile, connectivity between the limbic and insular regions increases with age and has been shown to activate in situations involving social exclusion, she added. 'Intuitively, poorer self-esteem and an increased sensitivity to exclusion may be linked to a decreased ability to communicate with others and regulate our emotions,' she said. This study is among the first — if not thefirst — to directly examine the relationship between age-related changes in functional connectivity and sociability, Dan added. The study included 196 healthy participants aged 20-77 years (mean age, approximately 38 years), with 34.2% identifying as female, drawn from the Leipzig Study for Mind-Body-Emotion Interactions dataset. For the analysis, researchers grouped participants into 5-year age brackets (20-25, 25-30, etc.), Dan said. In addition, the researchers obtained resting-state functional MRI data. Participants completed the sociability subscale of the Trait Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire Short Form. This six-question subscale measures social awareness, emotional management, communication effectiveness, and participation in social situations. The questionnaire is scored on a 7-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (completely disagree) to 7 (completely agree), with higher scores indicating higher levels of sociability. Researchers also collected data using the NEO Five-Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI), which measures neuroticism, extraversion, openness to new experiences, agreeableness, and conscientiousness. They found a strong positive correlation between sociability and extraversion ( P < .001), highlighting a significant link between the two traits. Researchers conducted network-based analyses to identify patterns of resting-state functional connectivity, grouping the data into an age-positive network (APN), which showed a positive correlation with age, and an age-negative network (ANN), which showed a negative correlation. 'Essentially, we found that with increased age, there is a group of functional brain networks that become more interconnected and a group that becomes less interconnected,' said Dan. The subcortical-parietal connectivity and the within-limbic connectivity were the most negatively correlated in the ANN, while limbic-insular connectivity was the strongest positive correlation within the APN. Within the positive connectivity network, ventral attention-somatomotor connectivity had the strongest correlation with age. Frontoparietal-DMN connectivity was the most negatively correlated with age. Decreased Connectivity, Sociability Both ANN and APN may contribute to decreased sociability, but it's not yet clear which plays the more dominant role, Dan said. However, she and her colleagues have some theories. They propose that reduced connectivity between the frontoparietal and DMN regions may be linked to impaired cognition and lower self-esteem, 'thereby resulting in impaired social assertiveness, emotional regulation skills, and reduced sociability.' Decreased connectivity of these regions could be linked to decreased sociability through impaired executive processing, they noted. The study illustrates that as we age, 'it may not be just a lack of social contact opportunities that prevents us from forming and maintaining relationships but also an inherent change in the brain's functional wiring,' Dan said. A mediation analysis showed the effect of age on sociability was fully mediated via both APN and AAN. 'Generally, these statistical results meant that the networks that become more connected, for example APN, as well as less connected, for example, ANN, with age can explain decreased sociability seen across the lifespan,' said Dan. Dan emphasized that sociability is just one factor related to loneliness — and one that is relatively easy to measure — whereas loneliness itself is a far more complex and deeply subjective experience. 'Intuitively, people with lower sociability scores may be more likely to be lonely, as they may find it harder to maintain relationships. In this sense, increased sociability may be a risk factor for increased loneliness with age.' Dan said she hopes these preliminary findings will spur more longitudinal research into these relationships and help inform efforts to support healthy aging. She noted the importance of physicians recognizing that declining sociability may be a natural part of aging. 'Greater emphasis should be placed on community-based health promotion efforts,' she said. The investigators did not analyze NEO-FFI personality trait variables, so 'we can't draw any conclusions about whether they were related to changes in brain connectivity or sociability,' Dan said. She also noted that the sample was heavily skewed toward younger participants, which may limit the reliability of the findings for older adults. Additionally, grouping subjects into 5-year age bins may have introduced 'noise' into the statistical models. Other limitations included an all-European study sample, and collection of sociability data exclusively via self-report, which may be less reliable than more objective measures like social network size. Interpret With Caution Commenting for Medscape Medical News , Dirk Scheele, PhD, professor of social neuroscience, Ruhr University Bochum, Bochum, German, said the paper addresses a 'relevant' topic. 'The general question of how social interactions and the desire for social engagement change with age is undoubtedly important, particularly given strong evidence that the risk of social isolation and loneliness increases with advancing age,' he said. However, the underlying neural mechanisms remain 'surprisingly unclear,' he said. 'For example, no study to date has directly compared the neural substrates of loneliness or social isolation between younger and older adults.' Although the study 'has the potential to inspire novel research questions,' its findings should be interpreted with 'considerable caution' due to several limitations, he said. 'Most notably, it's an entirely exploratory study without preregistration, and its cross-sectional design prevents conclusions about causal relationships,' he added. Scheele also noted the 'sociability' construct was derived from a subscale of a questionnaire and 'encompasses multiple facets, such as emotion regulation and social awareness, that may belinked to distinct neural mechanisms.'
Forbes
22-04-2025
- Business
- Forbes
How To Effectively Change Your Company Culture
Changing your company culture is difficult, but not impossible Fostering a connective culture is a top priority of HR leaders this year. Great leaders recognize the importance of fostering a collaborative, innovative, and inclusive workplace environment. Whether driven by attracting top talent, retaining current employees, or meeting business targets, improving your culture sets up an organization for success. Here's how to effectively transform your company culture. A company's culture is more than a list of core values on a website. It is embedded in every business decision, meeting, email, and conversation. Words like 'welcoming,' 'cutthroat,' or 'formal' can give a sense of an organization's culture, but often it's more of a feeling sensed through daily interactions. Alicia Pittman, the Global People Team Chair at Boston Consulting Group, conveyed to me via email: 'Culture should be a foundation, not a formula.' A company culture is noticed by employees, customers, suppliers, and stakeholders. Before you can improve culture, you must first understand it. Start by conducting a thorough and honest evaluation of the existing culture. Avoid solely relying on executive leadership insights. The workplace culture is experienced at all levels of an organization. Employees who interact across departments and levels can offer a unique perspective on both organizational culture and micro-cultures within teams. Roll out surveys, focus groups, visioning sessions, and, when needed, external consultants for an unbiased view. Establish metrics to track culture over time, using targeted culture questions to create a reliable baseline. Putting forth Likert survey questions, 'I statements' with varying levels of agreement or disagreement, helps individuals analyze how the company culture impacts their work. Sometimes, improving culture is a matter of being better at clearly defining and exemplifying existing company values. Other times, complex misalignments exist and require a more in-depth analysis. Take the time to identify pain points and root causes. Understand what is contributing to the disconnect between company values and reality. Skipping this foundational step is one of the main reasons why culture change initiatives fail. Once it is assessed what needs to change and why, start designing the actions and behaviors that align with the ideal company culture. This needs to be a holistic systemic change, and it has lasting results. According to The State of Global Workplace Culture in 2024 report by the Society for Human Resource Management, 83% of those who rate their workplace culture as good or excellent are motivated to produce high-quality work, in comparison to only 45% of workers in poor or terrible cultures. A culture change may include rethinking how meetings are conducted, feedback given and received, and how expectations and boundaries are communicated. Establish a network of change champions across all departments and levels who can model and reinforce the new behaviors. Change champions need support and empowerment from leadership to speak up when old habits resurface. Flexibility is essential – each employee plays a role in shaping the workplace culture. As Pittman notes, 'Empowerment drives engagement. Teams perform best when they have the flexibility to shape their environment while staying aligned with the company's broader purpose.' Allow individuals to share their opinions and influence positive change. Changing company culture is not a one-time initiative – it is a continuous journey. Regularly evaluate progress using the questions and metrics established in your baseline. Consider conducting culture surveys quarterly or annually, and track key indicators like employee satisfaction, burnout, and support. Factor employee feedback and management championship of culture changes into the performance review process. Recruiting strategies should align with the new culture change initiative. Being intentional about hiring new employees that will augment the workplace environment can also drive progress towards an ideal company culture. Great company cultures take time develop. If progress stalls, reassess your strategy. Engage employees through asking for their ideas and encouraging them to contribute in shaping the culture. Sustainable workplace culture change requires both determination and adaptability. Celebrate incremental small successes in company culture metrics. At its core, a company is a community of people working toward a shared purpose. Every employee helps shape the company culture, whether consciously or not. Both small and large actions have the potential to transform the workplace environment. Approaching this process with openness and intention enables organizations to build a thriving company culture that motivates teams to deliver their best work.
Zawya
27-01-2025
- Health
- Zawya
Qatar: Medication home delivery service sees increase in usage
Doha, Qatar: Medication home delivery, a relatively new service introduced in Qatar's healthcare sector, continues to benefit an increasing number of people, with high levels of satisfaction reported by users. In 2024, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) and the Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC) home delivery services dispatched nearly 60,000 items. The home delivery service, operated by Qatar Post in partnership with HMC and PHCC, delivers medications, medical reports, medical consumables, and dietary products. According to reported data, HMC's medication home delivery service dispatched 56,436 items in 2024, while PHCC delivered 2,223 items over seven months in the same year. Launched in April 2020 as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the service continued due to positive feedback from patients. A fee of QR30 is charged for the service. A study published in October 2024 in BMJ Medical Journal highlighted the satisfaction and preferences of patients who used the new home delivery services offered by PHCC's health centres during the pandemic. The study involved 604 adults who used the medication delivery services. Participants were asked to rate their satisfaction with 11 service aspects on a 5-point Likert scale, where 1 meant 'highly dissatisfied' and 5 meant 'highly satisfied.' The scores were aggregated and adjusted to a maximum of 100 for clarity. Results showed that 45.5% of participants were very satisfied with the service quality. Additionally, 58.9% would recommend the service to others, though only 30.9% considered the delivery cost to be reasonable. Satisfaction levels varied, with Qatari nationals reporting an average satisfaction score of 89%, compared to 79.5% for expatriates. To access the HMC medication home delivery service, patients should call 16000 between 8am and 2pm daily, from Sunday to Thursday. To access the PHCC medication home delivery service, patients can call the designated number for their health centre or 16000 for more information. They can also contact their health centre via WhatsApp, with the number available on the PHCC website. Items will be delivered within two days of the request. Patients must present a valid health card, a payment card for medications/items and delivery fees, and be aware of their house and street address. This service is available across the country to all patients. © Dar Al Sharq Press, Printing and Distribution. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (
