With the growing interest in how online sedentary activity can mediate offline health practices, we present a study of social media activity related to personal health and fitness. We aim to identify the type of content and motivations for sharing health-related activity in social media outlets. To this end, we performed a qualitative analysis of Twitter posts, as well as an extensive set of in...

This paper examines the influence of the Troika on the retrenchment and reform of social security in Ireland during its bailout between 2010 and 2013. To do this, it draws on data from in-depth interviews with senior civil servants and civil society organisation staff who met with the Troika as part of their quarterly missions to Ireland during this period. The key themes which emerged from the...

This paper examines the dynamics of news consumption on social media through sixteen openended interviews with young users from Argentina. It adopts a texto-material perspective to explore the role of technology and users’ motivations, actions and interpretations. The interviews reveal that the idealtypical mode in which young users consume news on social media can be characterized with the not...

This study investigates knowledge exchange in a Hybrid Virtual Communities (HVC) for patients with multiple sclerosis, that is a group of people with shared interests who meet face-to-face to exchange information or provide emotional support, but also coordinate or share information in a “virtual” or online environment Using discourse analysis and semi-structured interviews, I examine a face-to...

This article on the civic struggles of residents of the demolished Bedouin village of Al-’Arakeeb in Israel demonstrates how social media have helped marginalized communities acquire a voice. It is based on site visits to the village over the course of a year beginning in July 2010, and on interviews with residents, Bedouin and Jewish activists, and journalists covering the conflict. Media stra...

The purpose of this research study was to explore the efficacy of role-playing and coaching in mixed-reality environments for the acquisition and generalization of social skills leading to successful job interview performance. Using a multiple baseline across participants design, five young adults with intellectual disability practiced interviewing in a mixed-reality environment and were rated ...

This study discusses the relations existing between the institutional aspects of a Psychosocial Care Center (Caps) and the experience of psychotic patients. Using the referential base of the social experience of psychosis, which is broader in scope than a description of the experience of symptoms, while considering cultural aspects of the experience, three case studies were conducted at two dif...

BACKGROUND Social support has a strong impact on individuals, not least on older individuals with health problems. A lack of support network and poor family or social relations may be crucial in later life, and represent risk factors for elder abuse. This study focused on the associations between social support, demographics/socio-economics, health variables and elder mistreatment. METHODS Th...