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Although competence to live alone is typically associated with measures of activities of daily living, such measures fail to capture problematic situations that older people face in daily life. In particular, little is known about how older homebound women handle potentially harmful incidents. During a descriptive phenomenological study of the experience of reaching help quickly (RHQ) with 40 older homebound women, 33 women spontaneously reported 139 incidents (falls, “tight spots,” near-falls, health problems, and unwanted visitors) that they managed alone. The purpose of this secondary phenomenological analysis of RHQ project data was to describe the experience of those women with handling “close-calls.” Data yielded a typology of close-call incidents and five components of the phenomenon, managing a close-call. In addition to self-directed intentions to lessen the impact of each incident, there were four component phenomena relative to help-seeking, ranging from no mention of need for help (70% of incidents) to managing without desired or solicited help (6% of incidents). Contextual factors, including availability of potential helpers and access to help-seeking devices, influenced intentions in close-calls. Findings are springboards for further research and stimuli for new approaches to practice. Researchers should broaden the focus of competence assessment to take in empirical situations. Further work should be done to explore how older people appraise their status following close-calls and how they move from self-management to consideration of help-seeking and in some cases, on to active help-seeking. Because few close-calls were reported, practitioners could use our typology as an assessment protocol during routine visits. Practitioners can elicit self-management intentions relative to a particular close-call and build dialogue around those intentions, thereby bolstering ability of older women to manage close-calls effectively.

There is a research gap in the explanation of cyber incident response approaches in management to increase cyber maturity for small–medium-size enterprises (SMEs). Therefore, based on the literature analysis, the chapter aims to (1) provide cyber incident response characteristics, (2) show the importance for SMEs, (3) identify cyber incident response feasibility and causal factors, (4) provide scenarios for consideration to create an incident response plan (IRP), and (5) discuss the cyber incident response and managerial approaches in SMEs. The authors used content analysis of scientific and professional articles to develop the theoretical foundation of incident response approaches in management for SMEs. The authors start from the fundamentals to obtain knowledge and understanding of the latest threats and opportunities, and how to defend themselves using the limited capacity of resources might be the starting point to building an extensive incident response capability. Incident response capabilities and maturity levels vary widely between various organisations. There is no simple one-size-fits-all process for incident response; each case is unique and requires continuous refinement. Differentiation and adaptation to different types of SMEs are pivotal to developing cyber maturity and defining requirements that fit the market’s needs and are therefore more efficient in achieving the goal of increasing cyber security (CS) among business management. SMEs may not have a mature IRP, but at least one readiness indicator could lead to the preparation of a mature IRP. Implementation of the secure undertakings and information processes requires using modern information and communication technologies, incident response processes, and other modules that could enhance support for decision-making processes in management. The approach requires a systematic approach to issues related to constructing these solutions. The authors highlight that building efficient incident response approaches in management to improve cyber maturity will begin with infrastructure and people factors.

Almost every year the nation was shocked by the fire incident at school and hostel. The Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (2020) recorded 216 fires that have occurred at the private Islamic religious schools from 2015 until 2019, where several fires have killed many students, such as accidents in 1985, 1998, 2013, 2014 and 2017. As a result, the public began questioning the level of awareness among the school administrators. Addressing these issues, a survey has been conducted on the private Islamic religious schools that had experienced fire incidents in order to identify the awareness level among the administrators and students and to investigate whether aspects of compliance with fire safety procedures are enhanced. Four groups of respondents were selected, in which the Department of Fire and Rescue acts as a focus group. The other three groups are the victims who have faced the fire itself in their respective schools. The findings highlighted that the awareness level among victims towards the fire prevention practices is very low. Evidence has revealed there is no periodic supervision towards fire safety equipment, and only 35% comply with the standard procedure. Experts suggest sustainable school building should introduce to meet the criteria in performance-based fire management solutions. This reflects the fact that building continuity and fire safety can be complementary, not contradictory, if the two disciplines engage in meaningful dialogue at the beginning of the design process.

Health care services are typically viewed as institutions or agencies offering professional care or care supervised by professionals. The concept of availability of health care services involves the degree to which persons can readily find professional care. Few scholars have considered the relevance of these notions to life-circumstances of older homebound women who experience emergent situations (ES) at home such as falls, unintentional injuries, or health problems. During a larger descriptive phenomenological study of the experience of reaching help quickly, 33 of 40 homebound women, aged 85–98 years, who were living alone, reported 57 situations of interest during open-ended interviews over 18 months. The purposes of this facet of the study were (a) to describe the life-world of women who had fortuitous help with ES at home, (b) to categorize helpers involved, and (c) to elaborate the reported influence of such situations on recognizing the risk of being unable to reach help quickly in the future. Life-world was featured by having help right now from someone on the scene. We categorized involved helpers into six types, including four previously identified types of home care helpers as well as (a) “on-the-spot” helpers, acquaintances not among the woman's home care helpers and (b) “at-this-scene-only” helpers, who were not likely to encounter the woman afterwards. In these ES, the home – not the health care institution – was the setting. On-the-scene helpers served as critical health care resources. In contrast to the typical focus on availability of health care services in a public space, availability of on-the-scene helpers in the home, a private space, was critical to the well-being of these old homebound women. This work raises new notions about availability of health care services for older homebound women and offers new perspectives on the key support network concepts of proximity and frequency of contact.

The study examines how late adolescents use the resources embedded in their social network to obtain the information and support they need to do their homework. A particular attention is paid to how social network sites (SNSs) are used and perceived by late adolescents for academic help seeking.

This qualitative study uses in-depth interviewing and critical incident technique. An egocentric approach to Social Network Analysis is also employed to examine the core social network of each participant.

Most adolescents had a solid personal social network but did not always fully take advantage of the resources embedded in it for schoolwork. Availability was the most important criteria for deciding who to approach. SNSs were often used to obtain the help they needed, although phone calls and in-person visits were considered more efficient in certain situations.

This study draws on a small purposive sample that may limit generalization. This research contributes to our understanding of the resources late adolescents have access to within their core social network, the way they take advantage (or not) of these resources for schoolwork, and the role SNSs play in the process. Findings have implications for services that educators and school librarians should provide to support the educational needs of late adolescents.

This study contributes more generally to our understanding of late adolescents’ use of people as primary sources of information to complete school-related homework.

Using archival data from the American Civil Liberties Union of Eastern Missouri and current data from Fatal Encounters (FE), this study descriptively compared concentrated incidents of fatal police shootings of civilians in St. Louis, Missouri at two points in time – 1970 to 1980 and 2000 to 2010. This study also explored connections to race and income by mapping the composition of Black residents and levels of concentrated economic disadvantage using 1980 and 2010 United States Census data. Geographic Information Systems (GISs) results revealed noticeable similarities in the sites of fatal police shootings of civilians across the two time periods. Specifically, most of the incidents occurred in the northern and southeastern sectors of St. Louis City in neighborhoods with a higher number of Black residents and impacted by economic disadvantage. All of the individuals shot and killed by the police were male, and a majority were 22 years old or younger, and armed during the incident. Results from police perceptions studies from the 1970s and early to mid oughts are also discussed to posit that a persistence of police violence historically and presently may help offer key insights into how legal estrangement may ensue.

The years following the 9/11/2001 terrorists attacks saw a marked increase in community and hospital emergency preparedness, from communications across community networks, development of policies and procedures, to attainment and training in the use of biological warfare resources. Regular drills ensured emergency and health care personnel were trained and prepared to address the next large-scale crisis, especially from terrorist and bioterrorist attacks. This chapter looks at some of the more familiar global health issues over the past two decades and the lessons learned from hospital responses to inform hospital management in preparation for future incidents.

This study is a narrative review of the literature related to lessons learned from four major events in the time period from 2002 to 2023 – SARS, MERS, Ebola, and COVID-19.

The initial search yielded 25,913 articles; 57 articles were selected for inclusion in the study.

Comparison of key issues and lessons learned among the four major events described in this article – SARS, MERS, Ebola, and COVID-19 – highlight that several lessons are “relearned” with each event. Other key issues, such as supply shortages, staffing availability, and hospital capacity to simultaneously provide care to noninfectious patients came to the forefront during the COVID-19 pandemic. A primary, ongoing concern for hospitals is how to maintain their preparedness given competing priorities, resources, and staff time. This concern remains post-COVID-19.

This study systematically outlines a multifaceted approach to Persian culture using the anthropological acronym of KERP (kinship, economics, religion, and politics). Possible touch points between the tourist and both modern life in Iran and the historical world of Persian culture are identified. It is proposed that these touch points would be revealed through the knowledge emotions of surprise, confusion, and interest. The chapter examines the detailed accounts of experienced Iranian guides who reported on their tourists’ knowledge emotions about the visited culture. A comprehensive catalogue of the key incidents evoking these knowledge emotions is developed. The chapter further proposes a spectrum of cultural accessibility for Western tourists using this catalogue of emotional responses.