Feeling good, living life : A spiritual health measure for young children
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Beliefs & Values Vol. 25, no. 3 (2004), p. 307-315
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- Description: Following previous work on the spiritual health of secondary students, the author wondered if it was possible to develop a spiritual health measure for younger children. Taking Fisher's model of spiritual health as the basis, items were developed to reflect relationships with self, with others, with the environment and with a god. The children's ideals for spiritual health (what makes them Feel Good) were compared with their lived experience (Living Life) to ascertain their levels of spiritual health. Factor analyses on responses from 1080 students in 14 schools (State, Catholic, Independent and Christian Community Schools) in Victoria and Western Australia are reported in this paper.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000841
Item response theory analysis of the spiritual well-being questionnaire
- Authors: Gomez, Rapson , Fisher, John
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Personality and Individual Differences Vol. 38, no. 5 (2005), p. 1107-1121
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- Description: Recently, Gomez and Fisher (2003) published the Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire (SWBQ). This is a self-rating measure with separate 5-item scales for personal, communal, environmental, and transcendental spiritual well-being. This study used item response theory (IRT) to examine the psychometric properties of these scales. A sample comprising 4462 participants from mainly secondary schools and universities completed the SWBQ. Samejima's graded response model was used for the analyses. The results showed that the discrimination parameters for all items in the four scales were moderate to large. The threshold parameters showed adequate representation of the relevant traits from low to the mean trait level for personal, communal and environmental items, and from low to moderately high trait level for the transcendental items. With the exception of five items, all other items showed good item information function values, and therefore acceptable reliability. The findings also indicated that the number of response options could be decreased and increased at the low and high trait levels, respectively. Thus while there was general support for the psychometric properties of the SWBQ from an IRT perspective, there were also indications that this measure can be further improved. © 2004 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001243
Evaluation of training on the use of Graseby syringe drivers for rural nonspecialist nurses
- Authors: Fisher, John , Hayes, Anne , Brumley, David , Habegger, Lawrence , Wade, Mary , Ashby, Michael
- Date: 2005
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Palliative Nursing Vol. 11, no. 2 (2005), p. 84-92
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- Description: AIM: to assess the impact of a training programme on nurse confidence in: setting up the Graseby syringe driver (GSD); explaining the GSD to patient and family; setting the rate on the GSD; putting appropriate type and dose of drugs in the GSD. STUDY DESIGN: training programme with pre-training, post-training and follow-up questionnaires. SAMPLE AND SETTING: palliative care nurse consultants presented half-day training sessions to 270 non-specialist nurses throughout the rural Grampians Health Region of Victoria, Australia. Nurses were from rural acute and sub-acute care settings, aged care facilities, and district nursing and nurse education services. MEASUREMENTS: demographic details of participants, previous experience and training with GSDs, comparative analyses of the four confidence parameters and participants' assessment of interest, new knowledge and usefulness of the training programme. Results: increases in confidence levels were found in participating nurses in relation to each of the four confidence parameters. A follow-up survey tested residual benefit three months after the training programme. Statistically significant variations were found in nurses' confidence levels in relation to frequency of use. CONCLUSIONS: regular use of, and/or refresher sessions about the GSD are recommended to maintain optimum confidence, effective and safe nursing use of the GSD in palliative care.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001210
Investigating Australian education students' views about spiritual well-being, as compared with teachers in schools
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Childrens Spirituality Vol. 14, no. 2 (2009), p. 151-167
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- Description: Education students in Australian state and Christian universities expressed their views on ideals, lived experience, and help expected from schools in four domains of spiritual well-being (personal, communal, environmental, and transcendental) (SWB), using the Spiritual Health and Life-Orientation Measure (SHALOM). Students' lived experiences greatly affected their views on help provided by schools to nurture students' SWB. Currently, the more religious students in Christian universities reported support for their SWB from religious activities, whereas students in the state university gained support from more humanistic sources. But is this sufficient? Education students in state universities are likely to maintain the status quo regarding SWB in state schools. They report levels of help for students in line with current teachers' views. Christian university education students have lower expectations of schools than current teachers in Christian schools. However, some positive action is being taken in Christian universities to address the spiritual formation of their students. Further opportunities are needed within teacher education and schools in Australia for staff to address this area of vital concern for their own and students' SWB.
- Description: 2003007942
The impact of environment on spiritual wellbeing in school
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Religious Education Vol. 57, no. 1 (2009), p. 25-37
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- Description: Spiritual well-being can be revealed by the quality of relationships that people have in up to four domains of spiritual health, namely with self, with others, with the environment and/or with God. Many papers have been presented on the quality of relationships people have with self, others and God. This study concentrates on the views expressed by nearly 100 educators in a range of Victorian secondary schools about the impact of the environment on aspects of spiritual well-being in schools. It provides insights into Environmentalists, those people who see connection with the environment as the key component of spiritual well-being. Case studies and reports on variations between educators and school types are provided as well as suggestions about ways of developing spiritual well-being in schools.
Christian students' views on terrorism and religion : An Australian study
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Christian Education Vol. 46, no. 2 (2004), p. 45-56
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- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000842
The nature of spiritual well-being and the curriculum : Some educators' views
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2001
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Christian Education Vol. 44, no. 1 (2001), p. 47-58
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- Description: This study inquired into how well students' spirituality was reflected in their spiritual health and wellbeing. Ninety- seven school staff were interviewed, drawn from 22 secondary schools in Victoria, Australia. The schools from which the staff were drawn included state (4), Catholic (4), and other non- government schools (14), with the latter including Aboriginal, Islamic, Jewish and Steiner schools. The staff included people in such roles as the principal, curriculum coordinator, chaplain of religious education coordinator, and student welfare coordinator. The methodology and findings are discussed. [Author abstract, ed]
Understanding and assessing spiritual health
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Book chapter
- Relation: International Handbook of Education for Spirituality, Care and Wellbeing Chapter 4 p. 69-88
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- Description: This chapter explores awareness and compassion as essential elements in spiritual cultivation. Of the education of awareness, it describes the ideas of Aldous Huxley and J. Krishnamurthi as well as the Buddha’s teachings on mindfulness. The practice of awareness would reveal a holistic experience and multiple dimensions of reality. This chapter briefly describes the author’s view of “the five dimensions of reality” that include dimensions from the surface to the deepest, infinite reality. Drawing on Eastern perspectives, it explains that “pure awareness” is identical with infinite reality and that “great compassion” emerges as a manifestation of pure awareness. In addition, as for cultivating compassion, this chapter explores such concepts as the Four Immeasurable Minds, bodhichitta, bodhisattva, and also the mind training called lojong in Tibetan Buddhism. Finally, it suggests a vision of “the education of enlightenment,” in which both awareness and compassion are of central importance.
- Description: 2003007949
Going beyond CSF II to nurture the head and heart of students in Victorian schools
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2001
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Health Education Australia Vol. 1, no. 1 (2001), p. 6-9
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- Description: The foreword to the Victorian Curriculum and Standards Framework II notes the skills and knowledge that students now need to prepare them to work. The preface states that the curriculum standards framework (CSF) makes it clear what students should know and be able to do. Focusing on the essentials provides a rationalistic approach to humans doing, rather than humans being. At this point, one could well ask about attitudes, values and beliefs which lie at the heart of nurturing people. [Author abstract, ed]
Getting the balance : Assessing spirituality and well-being among children and youth
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Childrens Spirituality Vol. 14, no. 3 (2009), p. 273-288
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- Description: This paper provides a critique of available quantitative measures of spirituality and well-being that have been used with children and youth. These measures range in scope from single-item to complex multiple-item instruments. The four domain model of spiritual health and well-being has been used to classify each item in the spirituality measures to show how they address relationships with self (Personal Spiritual Well-being [SWB]), with others (Communal SWB), with the environment (Environmental SWB) and/or with a Transcendent Other (Transcendental SWB). Each instrument has been analysed to show how well it provides a balanced assessment of spiritual well-being, with the purpose of informing pastoral care.
- Description: 2003007940
Developing a spiritual health and life-orientation measure for secondary school students
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 1999
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at Research with a regional/rural focus : proceedings of the University of Ballarat inaugural annual conference, Mt. Helen: Victoria 15th October, 1999 p. 57-63
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- Description: The problem posed in this project was the development of an instrument to give a balanced assessment of young people’s spiritual health. Spiritual health is a dynamic state of being, which can be reflected in how well people relate in up to four domains of human existence, namely with themselves; with others; with the environment; and/or with a Transcendent Other. A convenience sample of 850 secondary students in State, Catholic, Christian Community and other independent schools in Ballarat and western suburbs of Melbourne were surveyed during 1999 to determine how important they considered each of the four sets of relationships to be for an ideal state of spiritual health (called Life-Orientation). They also expressed how each area reflected their personal experience most of the time (called Spiritual Health). Extensive factor analysis enabled the original 60-item instrument to be reduced to a reliable, compact 25-item Spiritual Health And Life-Orientation Measure (SHALOM for short). Analysis of variance and t-tests revealed significant variations between students’ views when compared by school type, gender, and year level. SHALOM has advantages over previous instruments in that it is balanced across the four domains of spiritual well-being, is more sensitive, and it compares people’s stated ideal position, with their lived experience, not others’, in determining the quality of relationships which constitute their spiritual well-being.
Using secondary students’ views about influences on their spiritual well being to inform pastoral care
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Children's Spirituality Vol. 11, no. 3 (2006), p. 347-356
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- Description: Spiritual well-being is reflected in the quality of relationships that each person has in up to four different domains, namely with self, with others, with the environment and/or with God. This study investigated how secondary students perceived relationships with family, friends, school and church community (including God) impacted on their spiritual well-being. This paper reports the views of 1002 secondary school students aged from 12 to 18 years old in Catholic, Christian community and other independent schools in Victoria, Australia. ANOVA and multiple regression analyses of students’ responses on the Quality Of Life Influences Survey developed in this study, and the Spiritual Health And Life Orientation Measure, a spiritual well-being questionnaire for secondary students, revealed significant differences in perceptions students held about influences on their spiritual well-being. A case study illustrates how these instruments can be used to inform pastoral care of young people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Personality & spirituality : Christian prayer & Eastern meditation are not the same
- Authors: Fisher, John , Francis, Leslie , Kaldor, Peter
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Pastoral Psychology Vol. 50, no. 3 (2002), p. 165-172
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- Description: A random sample of 1,033 adults in an Australian community survey completed a form containing the abbreviated Revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire together with questions about the practice of prayer and Eastern meditation. While prayer was associated with low psychoticism scores, Eastern meditation was associated with high psychoticism scores.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000203
Notoginseny Cream in the Treatment of Phlebitis
- Authors: Gouping, Zhang , Wan-Er, Tan , Xue-Ling, Weng , Min-Qian, Xian , Kun, Fang , Turale, Sue , Fisher, John
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Infusion Nursing Vol. 26, no. 1 (2003), p. 49-54
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- Description: This study investigated the curative effects of notoginseny cream versus Hirudoid cream in the treatment of postinfusion phlebitis. Sixty-five patients who received peripheral infusion therapy during a 20-month period and had developed phlebitis were divided randomly into two groups. Group A was treated with notoginseny cream, a topical Chinese medicine developed and produced by the pharmacological department of The Second Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-Sen University. Group B was treated with heparinoid cream (Hirudoid, a commercial product from Germany). Significantly fewer applications of notoginseny cream were required to bring about the disappearance of signs and symptoms of phlebitis in the group A patients as compared with the group B patients for the same effect. The actual time of disappearance of the signs and symptoms of phlebitis also were significantly shorter in patients treated with notoginseny cream than with heparinoid cream.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000391
Domains of spiritual well-being and development and validation of the spiritual well-being questionnaire
- Authors: Gomez, Rapson , Fisher, John
- Date: 2003
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Personality and Individual Differences Vol. 35, no. 8 (2003), p. 1975-1991
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- Description: Fisher (1998) proposed a spiritual well-being model, comprising the domains of personal, communal, environmental and transcendental well-being, and a single global spiritual well-being dimension. This paper reports on four studies aimed at testing Fisher's theoretical model, and establishing the validity and reliability of a new self-rating questionnaire (Spiritual Well-Being Questionnaire; SWBQ), developed to reflect this model. All four studies supported Fisher's model. The SWBQ showed good reliability (Cronbach's alpha, composite reliability and variance extracted), and validity (construct, concurrent, discriminant, predictive and factorial independence from personality). The SWBQ has the advantage over other existing spiritual well-being measures in that it is based on a broader and more empirically based conceptualization of spiritual well-being, and has well established psychometric properties. © 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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- Description: 2003000503
Quality of life in the workplace : Spirituality, meaning and purpose
- Authors: Fisher, John , Sellers, Eileen
- Date: 2000
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at Proceedings of the 3rd Annual Conference on Spirituality, Leadership and Management, Mt Helen : Victoria 1st - 4th December 2000
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- Description: This paper reports on research which aimed to investigate relationships between meaning and purpose in life and workplace expectations. It provides an overview of the methodology and outcomes of a survey conducted at a regional university. Survey methods included the distribution of two valid and reliable instruments to all employees of that university with data analysed using SPSS procedures. Analysis of the Spiritual Health and Life-Orientation Measure (SHALOM), developed by the principal researcher, and a purpose-designed questionnaire pertaining to meaning and purpose in the workplace, provided interesting findings. Overall, participants classified as administrators, professionals, service workers or labourers reported that they feel good about themselves and their relationships with others and the environment. The relationship with a god-type figure was of lesser importance for the spiritual well-being of the majority of participants. The participants do not expect the workplace to provide a major role in their spiritual well-being. They also reported significantly high levels of feelings of turbulence at work, and trends toward high anxiety and discomfort with autocratic managerial practices characterised by a focus on profits over people. The female staff described the workplace as more friendly, warm and caring than the males. The females also reported greater work satisfaction and were less depressed in doing their job than the males. Interpretation of these results indicates that a somewhat anxious and turbulent work place environment prevails. The personal impact of this unrest appears to be mediated by the support of families and friends of employees. The notion that workplace feelings which are negative (eg., anxiety) emanate from administrative practices, while those which are positive are a function of collegial behaviours, merits further exploration.
Investigating the importance of relating with God for school students' spiritual well-being
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Beliefs & Values-studies in religion & education Vol. 31, no. 3 (2010), p. 323-332
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- Description: Fisher's spiritual well-being (SWB) questionnaires assessed students' levels of relationship in four domains, namely with themselves, others, the environment and with a Transcendent Other (commonly called God). Students also reported the extent to which different entities helped them develop relationships in the four domains of SWB. However, emphasis here will be on the transcendental domain of SWB, i.e., relation with God. Levels of perceived help for relating with God (from mothers, friends, themselves, teachers, RE teachers and God) varied significantly between schools, in line with students' self reports of relationship with God, i.e. Christian Catholic independent ( government) schools. Contrary to the students' claims that teachers, especially RE teachers, provided major help for them in relating with God, other factors provided greater explanation of observed statistical variance. The 'importance of religion' and direct 'help from God' were key factors, together with how well students 'help themselves'. It is not surprising, therefore, that school ethos, which is influenced by teachers and religious affiliation of students, plays a vital role in fostering students' relationship with God, for their spiritual well-being.
Real kids, real faith : Practices for nurturing children's spiritual lives
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Book review , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Childrens Spirituality Vol. 13, no. 3 (2008), p. 299-300
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The personal and social correlates of spiritual well-being among primary school teachers
- Authors: Fisher, John , Francis, Leslie , Johnson, Peter
- Date: 2002
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Pastoral Psychology Vol. 51, no. 1 (2002), p. 3-11
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- Description: A sample of 311 primary school teachers completed the Spiritual Health in Four Domains Index alongside the abbreviated revised Eysenck Personality Questionnaire and measures of religiosity. The data demonstrate that higher levels of spiritual health are found among older teachers who record low scores on the psychoticism scale and who practice religious faith through church attendance and personal prayer.
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- Description: 2003000199
Comparing levels of spiritual well-being in state, catholic and independent schools in Victoria, Australia
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2001
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Beliefs & Values: Studies in Religion & Education Vol. 22, no. 1 (2001), p. 99-105
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- Description: This article reports on a survey completed by Chaplains, Religious Education and Student Welfare Coordinators in State, Catholic and Independent schools in Victoria. Results from this survey support the model of spiritual well-being, which was seen to be reflected in the quality of relationships that people develop with themselves, others, the environment, and with a Transcendent Other. The staff surveyed generally reported positively on current practice and expressed high priorities for action in nurturing their students' spiritual well-being. School type contributed to significant differences in each of these four sets of relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]