scholarly journals Surf Tourism in Uncertain Times: Resident Perspectives on the Sustainability Implications of COVID-19

Societies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Leon John Mach

Surf tourism is the principal development driver in many coastal communities around the world. Surf tourism development brings economic opportunities to residents in coastal destinations, but has also been criticized for associations with gentrification, pollution, and inequity. While many have speculated that surfers represent a crisis-resistant tourist segment, this had not yet been empirically demonstrated, nor had the sustainability implications of their travel during crises been explored. Building on ethnographic observations and two interview phases with 25 resident surfers in Bocas del Toro, Panama, this is the first study to do both. The findings reveal that the pandemic exacerbated existing sustainability challenges by accelerating development near surf-breaks, fomenting tensions within the surf community (related to surf tourism business operations and the distribution of benefits) and facilitating residents to surf more frequently—exacerbating surf-resource crowding. Evidence also revealed, however, a potential shift in surfers’ collective consciousness in the context of the pandemic, which reduced conflicts between visiting and resident surfers. This paper exposes the urgent need for stakeholders in surf communities, and particularly surf tourism business owners, to cooperate in order to preserve surf experiences that are vital to resident mental/physical health and well-being, as well as the attractiveness as a surf tourism destination.

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 49-51 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Bouras ◽  
Silvia Davey ◽  
Tracey Power ◽  
Jonathan Rolfe ◽  
Tom Craig ◽  
...  

Maudsley International was set up to help improve people's mental health and well-being around the world. A variety of programmes have been developed by Maudsley International over the past 10 years, for planning and implementing services; building capacity; and training and evaluation to support organisations and individuals, professionals and managers to train and develop health and social care provisions. Maudsley International's model is based on collaboration, sharing expertise and cultural understanding with international partners.


2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Roderick V. Madarcos ◽  
Lota A. Creencia ◽  
Bethany R. Roberts ◽  
Mathew P. White ◽  
Johana Nayoan ◽  
...  

The Philippines, as a tropical archipelagic country, is particularly vulnerable to environmental changes affecting coastal and marine settings. However, there are limited studies investigating how these changes are perceived by the local populations who depend directly on the marine environment for their livelihoods, health, and well-being, and who are the most vulnerable to such changes. To explore these issues, we conducted an in-home face-to-face structured survey in 10 coastal communities in Palawan, Philippines (n = 431). As part of the survey, respondents were asked to comment on how important they believed a list of 22 drivers/pressures (e.g., “land-use change”) were in affecting their local marine environment. Statistical analysis of this list using Exploratory Factor Analysis suggested the 22 drivers/pressures could be categorized into 7 discrete groups (or in statistical terms “factors”) of drivers/pressures (e.g., “urbanization,” “unsustainable fishing practices” etc.). We then used ordinary least squared regression to identify similarities and differences between the perspectives within and across communities, using various socio-demographic variables. Results suggested that among the seven identified factors, four were perceived by the local communities as making the marine environment worse, two were perceived as having no impact, and one was perceived to be making the marine environment better. Perceptions differed by gender, education, ethnicity, and study site. A subsequent survey with 16 local coastal resource management experts, suggested that public perceptions of the most critical drivers/pressures were broadly consistent with those of this expert group. Our findings highlight how aware local coastal communities are of the drivers/pressures underpinning the threats facing their livelihoods, health, and well-being. Ultimately, this information can support and inform decisions for the management of local marine resources.


2022 ◽  
pp. 219-227
Author(s):  
Gillala Rekha

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, governments around the world closed all the educational institutions to control the spread of disease, which is creating a direct impact on students, educators, and institutions. The purpose of this study was to analyze the perception of academic stress experienced by students during current online education and coping strategies using emotional intelligence adopted by them. The study aims to conduct a timely assessment of the effects of stress due to COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of college students. The authors conducted interview surveys with 227 students at a private university in India to understand the effects of online education during pandemic on their mental health and well-being. The data were analyzed through quantitative and qualitative methods. Of the 227 students, 71% indicated anxiety and stress due to ongoing pandemic.


2020 ◽  
Vol 37 (4) ◽  
pp. 259-263 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Minihan ◽  
B. Gavin ◽  
B. D. Kelly ◽  
F. McNicholas

Crises such as the global pandemic of COVID-19 (coronavirus) elicit a range of responses from individuals and societies adversely affecting physical and emotional well-being. This article provides an overview of factors elicited in response to COVID-19 and their impact on immunity, physical health, mental health and well-being. Certain groups, such as individuals with mental illness, are especially vulnerable, so it is important to maximise the supports available to this population and their families during the pandemic. More broadly, the World Health Organization recommends ‘Psychological First Aid’ as a useful technique that can help many people in a time of crisis.


Author(s):  
Irma Ruslina Defi

The COVID-19 outbreak has been declared a public health emergency of worldwide concern by the World Health Organization. The direct and indirect effects of COVID-19 on health and well-being are still being investigated. In addition to the direct impacts of COVID-19 disease, social distancing and lockdown measures have had a significant and unequal effect on individuals, households, and communities through restrictions imposed on our daily social an d economic activities.


Author(s):  
Miguel Farias ◽  
Thomas J. Coleman III

Based on the well-established link between religiosity and positive mental health outcomes, it has been argued that non-religiosity is a health liability. However, most of this research suffers from methodological problems that limit their generalizability to non-religious populations, such as atheists and agnostics. In this chapter, we draw attention to these methodological issues, and argue in favour of a richer conceptualization of non-religion than has been theorized in previous literature. We further review recent work from various countries around the world, which challenges the notion that non-religiosity presents a health risk, finding instead that the non-religious experience similar levels of health and well-being benefits as the religious. We end by briefly discussing the limitations and recent backlash at this literature, while suggesting that the study of the non-religious may transform how we understand the interaction between beliefs, rituals, and health.


Author(s):  
Anamaria Bukvic ◽  
Julia Gohlke ◽  
Aishwarya Borate ◽  
Jessica Suggs

Coastal communities are increasingly exposed to more intense and frequent hurricanes, accelerated sea-level rise, and prolonged tidal inundation, yet they are often a preferred retirement destination for older adults vulnerable to flooding and extreme weather events. The unique physical and psychosocial challenges of older population age 65 and over may affect their level of preparedness, capacity to cope with, and ability to respond and recover from a hazard event. Despite the clear vulnerabilities of older residents living in high-risk areas when compared to younger coastal populations, there is a lack of empirical research on the integrated flood risks to this population group in the coastal context. This paper provides a holistic assessment of this emerging problem along the U.S. East Coast by measuring the exposure of older population to sea level rise and storm surge in coastal counties. It further evaluates how age-related vulnerabilities differ between rural and urban settings using the case study approach and geospatial and statistical analysis the paper also conducts a review of scientific literature to identify gaps in the current understanding of health and well-being risks to aging populations in coastal communities. The results show that older populations are unevenly distributed along the U.S. East Coast with some states and counties having significantly higher percent of residents age 65 and older living along the shoreline. Many places with larger older populations have other attributes that further shape the vulnerability of this age group such as older housing stock, disabilities, and lower income and that often differ between rural and urban settings. Lastly, our study found that vast majority of research on aging in high-risk coastal locations has been conducted in relation to major disasters and almost none on the recurrent nuisance flooding that is already affecting many coastal communities.


1981 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur H. Westing

The attempt is made here to provide an approximation of the number of people that the world can support in the light of three constraints: (a) provision for a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of everyone, (b) consideration for wildlife and Nature, and (c) reliance on existing levels of technology and politics. In fact, two alternative standards of living are suggested, ‘affluent’ (based on the standard of the 27 richest nations in the world) and ‘austere’ (based on the standard of the 43 next most wealthy nations in the world).


2012 ◽  
Vol 2012 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gennaro Selvaggi ◽  
Cecilia Dhejne ◽  
Mikael Landen ◽  
Anna Elander

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) currently publishes the Standards of Care (SOC), to provide clinical guidelines for health care of transsexual, transgender and gender non-conforming persons in order to maximize health and well-being by revealing gender dysphoria. An updated version (7th version, 2011) of the WPATH SOC is currently available. Differences between the 6th and the 7th versions of the SOC are shown; the SOC relevant to penile reconstruction in female-to-male (FtM) persons are emphasized, and we analyze how the 2011 WPATH SOC is influencing the daily practice of physicians involved in performing a penile reconstruction procedure for these patients. Depending by an individual’s goals and expectations, the most appropriate surgical technique should be performed: the clinic performing penile reconstruction should be able to offer the whole range of techniques, such as: metoidioplasty, pedicle and free flaps phalloplasty procedures. The goals that physicians and health care institutions should achieve in the next years, in order to improve the care of female-to-male persons, consist in: informing in details the individuals applying for penile reconstruction about all the implications; referring specific individuals to centers capable to deliver a particular surgical technique; implementing the surgery with the most updated refinements.


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