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Social Network Analysis has been posited as a useful technique to determine if leadership development programs are an effective intervention in developing social ties and enhancing connectivity among leaders in an organization. Evaluations can examine the extent to which the leadership development programs create and catalyze peer networks. This study used Social Network Analysis to evaluate the development of a peer leadership network and resulting relationships among leaders participating in a leadership development program. Several predictions were made about the development of participants’ task, career, and social networks, generally predicting enhanced “esprit de corps” with their peer leaders over time. Thirty top executives in local public health were selected to participate in a 12-month national leadership development training program. Peer network development was documented at three time points across the programmatic year at 6-month intervals. The results demonstrated that while leaders’ social networks increased over time, friendship networks increased more slowly than did acquaintance networks. The task-related networks involving interactions to solve problems, and career networks for seeking advice and support increased over time, with task-related and advice-related networks stabilizing by the end of the second workshop. Implications for developing peer leadership networks are discussed.

The authors would like to acknowledge the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the National Association for County and City Health Officials and for their support of this research.

This research evaluates (1) work situations prompting participants to recall memories of a wilderness-based leadership training program, (2) the content of such memories, and (3) the leadership attitudes and behaviors inspired by those memories.

A qualitative content analysis of semi-structured interviews was performed with 36 leaders who had participated in a wilderness leadership transformation program in the past (on average six years before).

The findings suggest that, at moments with emotional pressure and psychological stress, episodic memories of wilderness experiences have a positive influence on actual leadership style. Memories involved moments of solitude, a deep connection with nature, and peer-to-peer counseling. The interviewees regularly relived their emotion-laden wilderness experiences, acquiring direction and guidance. Simultaneously, episodic memories of nature immersion promoted an enduring transformation of their leadership styles.

The findings cannot be blindly generalized as referring to all leaders. The leaders in this study are a subset of leaders who are inclined towards personal growth and leadership development. It is challenging to motivate leaders unkeen on changing to achieve better leadership.

This study indicates that the inclusion of emotional concepts to address the root causes of learning among leaders might be the most promising way to innovate leadership development.

The present study makes a novel contribution to relevant literature by examining leadership transformation through episodic remembrance of leaders' experiences in nature.

The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a child's life. However, while the national coverage was 61.33%, the coverage in Sukoharjo was 39.33%. Effective intervention is needed to promote the importance of exclusive breastfeeding, and this requires knowledge of the barriers and support structures in place. This study analyzed the supports and barriers of exclusive breastfeeding in Sukoharjo, Central Java, Indonesia.

This qualitative study used in-depth interviews conducted from December 2017 to March 2018. The population consisted of 33 informants (29 mothers with babies over six months of age, a pregnant mother, two midwives working in the community health center and a staff member in the district health department).

There were barriers to and support for exclusive breastfeeding in Sukoharjo, Central Java province, Indonesia. The district already has support systems in place, while the barriers emerge from society, the baby's condition, environmental and other sources. The government has tried to overcome the barriers.

The limitation of this study was that the triangulation method was not utilized. However, the use of various informants strengthened the findings.

The district government, especially the health department, needs to establish a program to evaluate existing exclusive breastfeeding support programs thoroughly. Smarter and more comprehensive interventions may be needed, for example, by integrating various supports into one activity. For researchers, the findings of this study imply that they can conduct experimental community research using the framework of the two aforementioned theories of behavior change. For example, investigation of combining the support of trained peers with the presence of family members such as the grandmothers of the babies. If both types of support are conducted concurrently, it may strengthen support and reduce barriers from either inside or outside the home.

The district government, especially the health department, needs to establish a program to evaluate existing exclusive breastfeeding support programs thoroughly. Smarter and more comprehensive interventions may be needed, for example, by integrating various supports into one activity. For researchers, the findings of this study imply that they can conduct experimental community research using the framework of the two aforementioned theories of behavior change. For example, investigation of combining the support of trained peers with the presence of family members such as the grandmothers of the babies. If both types of support are conducted concurrently, it may strengthen support and reduce barriers from either inside or outside the home.

There are barriers to exclusive breastfeeding in Sukoharjo, but the government has made effective attempts to overcome them. The support systems in place were in line with the theory of planned behavior (TPB) and social cognitive theory (SCT).

This research attempts to reveal ways of addressing challenges in open universities related to empowering lifelong learning; establishing policies and strategies in dropouts, student portfolio and support services for students with special needs; and implementing online instructional design and strategies. Two institutions were investigated, namely National Open University (NOU) Taiwan and Universitas Terbuka (UT) Indonesia, both founded in the 1980s to serve lifelong learners with diverse backgrounds and needs. This study was aimed at understanding good practices and challenges for improvement for the two open universities in those areas being investigated.

This research was qualitative using document analysis along with focus group discussions and interviews with administrators, academic staff, students and alumni to collect data for analysis.

Lifelong learning is the necessity of individual in societies for continuing professional development through enabling access to quality university education. Open universities have been tasked to cater for lifelong learners using non-traditional approaches, new technology and adapting to online learning and teaching in digital age. This research was exploratory, and the findings were expected to improve understanding of lifelong learning in open universities, particularly in NOU and UT.

Findings of this research are relevant to open universities to enhance its missions and define its possible new roles to serve lifelong learners.

This research reveals the roles of open universities in lifelong learning and enhances understanding of open universities that have a wide range of responsibilities in offering programs and courses to accommodate lifelong learners.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the intention to prevent sexual risk behaviors and associated factors among the youth in Yangon, Myanmar.

A cross-sectional descriptive research was undertaken among 192 youths. Participants included the youth residing in the study area and participated in the youth development program. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regressions were applied to identify an association.

The findings indicated that the proportion of a high level of intention to prevent sexual risk behaviors was 53.6%. The factors associated with the intention to prevent sexual risk behaviors were: belief strength on sexual risk behaviors (aOR = 2.84; 95% CI: 1.06–7.26), normative belief on the prevention of sexual risk behaviors (aOR = 2.03; 95% CI: 3.03–6.23), motivation to comply with preventing sexual risk behaviors (aOR = 4.72; 95% CI: 3.11–6.23), decision-making (aOR = 2.46; 95% CI: 2.22–5.41) and negotiation (aOR = 6.3; 95% CI: 2.37–10.23)

The study was a cross-sectional study and cannot establish causal relationships. These results can be a guideline for implementation for the youth but may limit the generalization of results to other age groups in Myanmar.

Findings can be used as a local and national public health guideline for developing interventions to prevent sexual risk behaviors.

Sexual risk behavior is considered taboo and puts Myanmar youths at risk of health and social problems. It is important for prevention efforts to determine factors related to sexual intentions to prevent the consequence of these problems.

Undergraduate students are known to be a high-risk group for mental health problems. The purpose of this paper is to constitute a repeated cross-sectional study on the trend of depression over the years and factors associated with depression among undergraduates.

Cross-sectional data from five surveys between 2013 and 2020 (N = 1,578) among the undergraduates of Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman, a private university in Kampar Malaysia, were combined. The Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale-21 was used to screen for depression. Cochran’s Armitage test was used to detect trend in depression. Logistic regression, random forest regression and extra gradient boosting regression were used to identify risk factors and classification.

The prevalence of depressive symptoms was found to be between 26.4% and 36.8% between the years with an average of 29.9%. There was no significant time trend in the prevalence. The risk of depressive symptoms was higher among female students, those who were dependent on family for financial support and those who were stressed.

Periodical screening for depression is warranted for the identification of students at risk for depression. Professional cognitive-behavioral therapies, peer support and consulting services should be made available to the students in need.

Depression among students had been studied widely, but the trend over years remains unexplored, especially in developing countries.

This paper aims to describe the development, implementation and evolution of a multi-media educational tool to improve health profession students’ knowledge and awareness of stigma and ageism on the treatment of older adults with substance use disorder (SUD). In addition, this paper outlines the relationship between mental health and SUD and the impact of health provider stigmatization of older adults with behavioral health needs and the relationship between SUD and mental illness.

A literature review was conducted and initial project outlines was developed. Ten interviews were completed with content experts. The draft video was reviewed and minor revisions were incorporated. The facilitator guide accompanying the video was developed. A draft of the facilitator guide was shared with several interprofessional university faculty and the older adults with SUD. The video was presented to groups of health professions students, and following each video viewing, discussion content was used to provide additional edits.

The educational resources created for this project are appropriate for health professions curriculums related to older adults. Interprofessional health professions students are developing a basic foundation of knowledge on SUD through their standard coursework. More compassionate vocabulary is slowly being incorporated into health provider. Knowledge related to treatments and resources to treat SUD is lacking. In addition, health professions students need more education focused on assessment and interventions for individuals suspected of problematic substance use.

This paper fulfills an identified need to facilitate discussion and education around SUD for health professions students.