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This study examines the relationship between adaptation difficulties in ageing, disaster awareness, disaster risk perception, and disaster risk communication among older adults. Data were collected from 385 older adults living in Ni&#x11f;de Province, T&#xfc;rkiye, through an online survey between October 31 and December 31, 2023, in this cross-sectional study. Adaptation to ageing was assessed through adaptation difficulties using the Scale for Assessing Adaptation Difficulties in the Elderly. The data were analyzed using independent samples t-tests and binary logistic regression. Lower levels of adaptation difficulty were associated with higher disaster awareness, stronger risk perception, and more effective disaster risk communication. Older adults with higher adaptation difficulty were more likely to experience loneliness during and after disasters and were less likely to seek support from family members despite limited self-sufficiency (p&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.05). In addition, many participants framed disaster preparedness in spiritual terms and reported relying primarily on traditional media, particularly radio and television, as well as informal social networks for disaster-related information. Adaptation difficulties play an important role in shaping disaster-related awareness, perceptions, and communication among older adults. Strengthening psychosocial adaptation, enhancing perceived control, and promoting accessible, culturally sensitive, and multi-channel risk communication strategies may improve disaster preparedness in this population.

Sexual health has been defined as a human right and a key component of human well-being. In contexts of migration, its exercise is influenced by life trajectories, access barriers, and cultural factors that shape perceptions and care practices. In Chile, sexual health care for members of the Haitian population-a recently arrived group with a distinct language-poses communicative and cultural challenges for the provision of equitable and appropriate services. This study explores cultural beliefs and practices that shape sexual health care among Haitian migrants using a sequential mixed-methods design. It included semi-structured interviews (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;33) and a survey (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;251) among Haitian residents in the Metropolitan Region of the country. Survey participants were recruited by respondent driven sampling. Findings, based on both men's and women's perspectives, revealed practices such as the use of herbs and antibiotics during menstruation&#xa0;and postpartum rituals, rooted in traditions and beliefs about cleanliness, body self-care, economic hardship, and male approval. Tensions between biomedical and spiritual understandings of HIV were also observed. A mixed-methods approach made it possible to understand connections between the cultural, material and gender dimensions of sexual health, underscoring the need for culturally sensitive policies that recognise migrants' agency in shaping their sexual health.

Cultural and intangible heritage has been part of human daily life since time immemorial, fulfils a function within the community and acts as an element of identity. Its potential as a stimulus in Reminiscence Therapy (RT), however, has been scarcely explored, despite well-documented evidence on the role of music, crafts or sports as facilitators of autobiographical recall. This pilot study had three operational objectives: (i) to design a reproducible protocol for selecting elements of intangible cultural heritage (traditional oral literature and traditional dances) suitable for personalised RT; (ii) to develop and field-test the first prototype of the LONG-REMI App, an AI-supported tablet application that delivers these stimuli in an individualised manner; and (iii) to examine the impact of those stimuli on memory recall, communication and interaction in older adults with and without neurocognitive disorder. Pilot, prospective, multicentre, mixed-methods study with a participatory observational component, conducted in six institutions (three Day Care Centres in Catalonia (Spain) and three centres in Portugal) between February 2021 and April 2022. Fifty-six participants aged&#x2009;&#x2265;&#x2009;65 years were enrolled (n&#x2009;=&#x2009;21 without cognitive decline, recruited from two centres; n&#x2009;=&#x2009;35 with mild or moderate cognitive decline, recruited from four day-care centres). Mean age was 80.71&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;6.82 years (range 66-94); 41 (73.21%) were women and 43 (76.78%) had a low educational level (including two illiterate participants). Cognitive status was classified using Reisberg's Global Deterioration Scale (GDS 3 and 4) and the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE; group with cognitive decline: 22.26&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;5.90, range 7-30). Each participant attended four weekly individual 45-minute sessions on Android tablets. The App database contained more than 500 multisensory stimuli organised in two difficulty modalities (low / high). Data were collected through the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS, 1-10) for usability and satisfaction; the Spanish-adapted Computer System Usability Questionnaire (CSUQ, 7-point Likert); and the Spanish-validated PANAS, administered before and at the end of the intervention. In addition, a structured observation grid (memory recall, verbal and non-verbal interaction), audio-video recording and facilitators' field notes supported the qualitative arm. Content validation of the App database was carried out by the multidisciplinary research team itself, through consensus during project meetings; a formal Delphi with an external panel is foreseen for the planned randomised trial. Stimuli combining rhyme and music (songbook items and ballads) and stimuli supported by video produced the highest frequency of recall episodes and of communication / interaction events. Brief audio-only stimuli (proverbs and nursery songs without video) elicited fewer recall events and were associated with observed disengagement. Usability and satisfaction were highly perceived in both groups: VAS usability 7.75&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;1.88 and VAS satisfaction 8.38&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;1.57 on a 1-10 scale; the CSUQ overall score was 6.95&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;0.22 in the group without cognitive decline and 5.44&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;1.09 in the group with cognitive decline (1-7 Likert). PANAS scores showed a statistically significant shift in positive affect from pre- to post-intervention (28.86&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;8.88 vs. 36.70&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;9.43; Z&#x2009;=&#x2009;-&#x2009;4.18; p&#x2009;<&#x2009;0.001), while no significant change was observed in negative affect (12.09&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;3.19 vs. 11.89&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;3.00; p&#x2009;=&#x2009;0.688). Participants completed on average 3.59&#x2009;&#xb1;&#x2009;0.40 of the four planned sessions. Traditional oral literature and traditional dance, when delivered through an AI-supported App, can act as effective triggers for reminiscence in older adults with and without cognitive decline. The study contributes (a) a replicable protocol for cross-cultural selection of intangible heritage stimuli, (b) preliminary evidence on which formats (audio&#x2009;+&#x2009;video, rhyme&#x2009;+&#x2009;music) are most effective, and (c) an open methodological framework for future randomised, longitudinal trials.

Employed informal caregivers in Iran navigate caregiving responsibilities within a context of absent formal support infrastructure, rigid cultural expectations, and economic constraints. This study explored their lived experiences, focusing on work-care balance, stress management, and interactions with support structures.&#xa0;A qualitative descriptive study was conducted using semi-structured in-depth interviews with five employed female informal caregivers of older persons (aged 65 and above) in urban Iran. Interviews were conducted in Persian via Zoom between January and March 2025, lasting 60 to 120&#xa0;min. Data were analyzed using Reflexive Thematic Analysis, informed by Role Theory and Lazarus and Folkman's Stress and Coping Theory.&#xa0;Six themes emerged: (1) onset and context of caregiving, (2) work-care role balance, (3) stress and coping strategies, (4) social and workplace support, (5) personal and cultural experiences, and (6) advice and future perspectives. Findings reveal a distinctive "triple burden" where structural barriers (absent caregiver leave policies, inadequate insurance coverage, limited respite services), cultural expectations (filial piety norms, gendered care obligations), and economic pressures (inability to reduce work hours, high caregiving costs) converge to create unsustainable caregiving conditions. Participants sacrificed sleep, personal relationships, and career advancement while experiencing chronic exhaustion, workplace discrimination, and social isolation. Coping strategies proved insufficient without formal support structures.&#xa0;Unlike developed countries with established support systems, Iranian caregivers operate within institutional silence where caregiving remains an exclusively private burden. Urgent policy reforms are needed: caregiver leave policies, subsidized respite services, insurance coverage for home care, workplace accommodations, and culturally sensitive counseling programs.

Sexuality fluidity is shaped by individual processes and cultural values and might thus be perceived and experienced differently across different sociocultural contexts. This qualitative study explored how sexuality fluidity was understood and experienced by Thai LGBTQ+ individuals. Using free association narrative interviews with 14 participants and reflexive thematic analysis, the findings show that sexuality fluidity in Thailand emerges as a relational and future-oriented process. Participants' experiences highlight a process of dual validation, involving exploration, self-acceptance, and recognition by others. Fluidity is&#xa0;also embedded within narratives shaped by cis-heteronormativity, homophobic discourses, and familial expectations, where possibilities for change were negotiated in relation to dominant ideals of marriage. Among participants in this study, rather than reflecting instability, fluidity functions as a culturally pragmatic strategy that balances personal authenticity with social harmony. Overall, the findings suggest that sexuality fluidity in the Thai context operates at the intersection of self-understanding, relational negotiation, and future-oriented adaptation.

This paper seeks to challenge the dominance of Global North frameworks in international work on sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR), arguing that decolonising this work requires centring Global South knowledge, lived experience, and culturally grounded understandings of sexuality, including sexual pleasure. Decolonisation is here understood as dismantling inequitable power relations, shifting epistemic authority away from Global North institutions, and prioritising Indigenous, local, and self-determined practices. Writing from within Global North academic institutions, we offer a reflexive critique that acknowledges the tension of advocating for decolonial change from inside the very systems that are under examination. We examine how dominant models have shaped SRHR research, policy, and practice, often limiting responsiveness to, and engagement with, Global South communities. Drawing on examples from M&#x101;ori communities, Somalia, and West Africa, we demonstrate how culturally driven approaches that integrate pleasure and wellness can challenge inequality, broaden understandings and measures of sexual health, and open pathways to sexual liberation. In doing this, the commentary contributes to that reimagining by using real-world examples to show what becomes possible when pleasure and Global South narratives are centred - transforming how knowledge is produced, how research questions are framed, and how interventions are designed and implemented.

Although Asklepios (Asclepius), the god of medicine, was the main and most famous healing deity of Classical Antiquity, other gods and goddesses also had healing aspects and abilities - especially Eileithyia, the goddess of childbirth and labour pains and the protector of pregnant and birthing women and newborns. Unlike the main ancient deities (including Asklepios/Asclepius), the cult of Eileithyia was practiced in smaller districts, centred around an altar with a statue (sometimes the statue was placed in a small temple) and sometimes located outside the main part of city-states or directly in nature. One such rural sanctuary of the goddess Eileithyia is located on the island of Paros, on the southern slope of Mount Kounados (267 m above sea level), situated about 3.5 km northeast of the centre of Parikia, the capital of the island. The southern, slightly lower peak of this mountain (254 m above sea level) forms a small plateau, along and below the edge of which there is a zone of distinctive rock cliffs, creating smaller overhangs or caves in some places. The sanctuary of Eileithyia is located on a narrow terrace in the zone of these rocky cliffs, about 30 m below the plateau of the lower peak. It is an important site of its kind in the whole of Greece. The centre of worship here was probably a sacred spring (under a rock shelter) and a small cave (or rock overhang). However, offerings and inscriptions were also placed in several niches in the rock face east of the cave (between the cave and the spring). Excavations in the sanctuary have yielded rich finds - inscriptions, votive reliefs and, above all, dozens of (fragments of) terracotta busts and statuettes of women and ceramic sherds. The oldest finds from this site date back to the Geometric period (8th century BC), and the cult persisted here until the Late Roman Empire - probably until the 3rd century AD.

Iran's ageing population presents distinct social challenges within a culture where belonging has been traditionally based on family relationships. While research suggests ageism may affect a sense of belonging, this association remains unexplored in non-Western contexts with traditionally family-centred values. This cross-sectional study investigated the association between ageism experiences and sense of belonging among older Iranian adults. A sample of 302 community-dwelling older adults (mean age&#x2009;=&#x2009;67.75 years, SD&#x2009;=&#x2009;6.59) from Tehran and Qazvin completed the Ageism Survey Scale and Sense of Belonging Instrument. Results showed that older adults who reported a lower sense of belonging also reported more experiences of ageism. Hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated that the full model, including demographic variables and sense of belonging, explained 8% of the variance in ageism experiences, with belonging accounting for 7% of the variance beyond demographic factors. Additionally, higher education levels, higher socio-economic status, and visits from relatives were associated with stronger psychological belonging. These findings contribute to understanding how demographic factors and a sense of belonging relate to ageism experiences in a non-Western, collectivist culture where older adults are traditionally valued.

Scholarship on security technologies has focused on states and infrastructures, but this article shows how security logics reshaped everyday manners inside the home. Introducing the concept of "securitized etiquette," the article examines how video intercoms transformed domestic interaction in modern Japan. Situating contemporary practices within a longer history from the Meiji period to the present, it traces a shift from a "voice-calling culture" (koe o kakeru bunka) to technologically mediated interaction governed by logics of security and risk. By focusing on the materiality of manners, the article highlights domestic technologies as active participants in the reconfiguration of social relations and everyday governance.

Accounts of digital infrastructure have privileged corporate, military, and countercultural origins, but this article identifies genealogy and religion as central-if overlooked-sites of infrastructural innovation. Focusing on twentieth-century developments among microcomputer hobbyists and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the article draws on archival analysis of hobbyist newsletters and Church publications. It shows how genealogists built nationwide networks, negotiated technical constraints, and helped shape durable data standards and systems for networked information sharing. By demonstrating how Mormon theology materially informed system design and implementation, the article reframes digital infrastructure as an outcome of domestic, religious, and kinship practices rather than Silicon Valley alone.

Healthcare settings are contexts where Black and Latine sexual minoritised individuals experience stigma when accessing HIV services. Negative experiences have the potential to shape an individual's beliefs, attitudes, and behaviours regarding future HIV prevention. To understand their experiences accessing HIV preventive care, this study used an abductive approach to explore (1) Black and Latine sexual minoritised individuals' experiences with providers when accessing HIV prevention; and (2) how these interactions shaped subsequent feelings and behaviours towards accessing such services. Thirty semi-structured interviews were conducted with Black and Latine sexual minoritised individuals (Mage = 26.30, SD&#x2009;=&#x2009;2.97) living in the USA. Participants described both negative (stigmatising and uncomfortable) and positive (openness and trusting) patient-provider interactions in healthcare settings. The combination of these negative and positive patient-provider interactions shaped the emotional experiences attached to access experiences in healthcare settings that, in turn, shaped behavioural responses (e.g. impression management or intentions to seek care from more culturally competent providers). Together, these findings highlight mechanisms that underpin the link between patient-provider interactions and the sustained use of HIV preventive services,&#xa0;as well as the importance of further training for healthcare providers.

This paper examines how Italian teenagers construct meanings, norms and boundaries around sexting within their everyday digital cultures. Drawing on six vignette-based focus groups with 49 participants aged 16-18&#x2009;years, the study used a media practice approach to analyse how teenagers collectively interpret a hypothetical sexting vignette. Findings show that participants overwhelmingly rely on heteronormative scripts, reproducing the dominant "girl-sends-nude-to-boy" narrative and positioning boys as initiators, while girls bear the potential risks. Sexting was consistently framed through risk discourses-particularly the threat of non-consensual dissemination-leading girls to internalise fear, self-policing, and responsibility for managing potential harm. Peer gossip further reinforced these risk narratives, circulating cautionary tales that blurred the boundaries between consensual and non-consensual practices and sustained moral regulation among peers. In response, teenagers constructed informal boundaries distinguishing "appropriate" from "unsafe" sexting, often limiting acceptable practices to long-term relationships and less explicit content. These findings highlight how risk discourses, peer surveillance and entrenched gender norms constrain teenagers' digital intimacies, particularly in an Italian context marked by limited sexuality education and persistent gender inequalities. The paper argues for research and pedagogical approaches that move beyond risk prevention to support teenagers' rights to agentic digital intimacies.

Gynaecological cancers and their treatment can alter sexual functioning, intimacy, and relationship dynamics, yet these concerns are frequently difficult to raise in clinical encounters and everyday support networks. This study examines how sexuality is articulated and collectively interpreted in online peer communities by analysing sex-related discussions in three Reddit forums focused on cervical, endometrial, and ovarian cancer. After web-scraping posts in RStudio, a reflexive thematic analysis was conducted to identify recurring patterns in how participants describe sexual concerns, seek guidance, and construct shared understandings of 'normal' sexual change in the context of illness. Four themes were developed: (1) sexual pain and distress; (2) body image and sexual selfhood; (3) seeking peer advice and lateral expertise; and (4) relational strain. Together, the findings identify Reddit as a venue for collective meaning-making about sexuality under illness conditions, highlighting how lay communities generate practical and interpretive resources that complement, and at times extend beyond, clinical framings of sexual recovery.

The practice of masculinity can often masquerade as "goodness" in society. However, the underlying parasitic nature of this ideological practice can extend its sway over society, destroying the environment and the host it inhabits. This article examines the nature of masculinity, which preys on both the environment and its host in the Malayalam films Kireedam (1989) and Chenkol (1993), written by AK Lohithadas, directed by Siby Malayil. This perspective is drawn through the character arc of Achuthan Nair, played by Thilakan; his transition from a proud man to a loathsome end reflects the nature of toxic masculinity. This article on Connell's hegemonic masculinity and Gramscian ideas of hegemony, coupled with an outspoken feminist performance by the female characters, critiques masculine ideals. This thereby repositions the tragic hero status from Sethumadhavan to Achuthan Nair. He acts as the fulcrum of the entire events of the films; "goodness" practiced by him has a performative quality approved by society. The statements, interactions, and discourses of Achuthan Nair act as the catalyst and medium of this destructive turn. The traditional gender roles and performances are also visited to identify the liminal nature of the host's identity, which remains in flux, leaving him in an ideological limbo. The article tries to analyze the interactions of Achuthan Nair with other characters and situations to bring in this perspective of the parasitic nature of masculinity, with an emphasis on Achuthan Nair's interactions with different forms of masculinities in the film, to represent the underplayed notion of hegemonic masculinity and its parasitic nature in a cult film duology. The transition of Achuthan Nair from a hegemonic practitioner to a victim of the same practice is also traced in the article.

Following China's shift towards pronatalist governance, vasectomy has been reported as difficult to obtain in some public hospitals, even as online narratives frame male sterilisation as responsible partnership and protection of women's health. Treating access as an institutional and discursive problem, this article analyses public-facing justificatory discourse rather than clinical practice itself. Using qualitative document analysis and reflexive thematic analysis, it examines a purposive multi-genre corpus of policy and legal texts, statistical reporting, English- and Chinese-language journalism, hospital public accounts, and peer-reviewed studies on vasectomy trends, reversal demand, and social media narratives. Four linked logics recur across the corpus: eligibility tied to administratively legible marital/parental status; refusal justified through regret-and-risk talk that protects both patients and institutions under policy ambiguity; responsibility recognised mainly when aligned with pronatalist family-completion trajectories; and opaque service boundaries that shift information work onto individuals and couples. These dynamics produce conditional reproductive citizenship: vasectomy remains legitimate in principle but is practically available chiefly to men legible as stable husbands and fathers and low risk for hospitals.

This qualitative study explores Slovenian healthcare professionals' perceptions of ageism in their work environments and their role in fostering relationships to prevent ageism with older adults. A phenomenological approach was used, grounded in hermeneutic phenomenology, and reflexive thematic analysis was used to identify key themes. Data were collected via eight focus groups from September 2024 to June 2025, involving 38 participants from various healthcare sectors. The study revealed that healthcare professionals acknowledge the prevalence of ageism and recognize their role in fostering respectful relationships with older adults. Key strategies for preventing ageism included empathy, interprofessional collaboration, and ongoing professional development. Organizational factors such as leadership and institutional culture were identified as critical in addressing ageism. Combating ageism in healthcare requires a multilayered approach, including education, organizational change, and systemic reforms. These findings highlight the need for integrated educational, organizational, and systemic interventions to support age-inclusive care in healthcare settings.