Using Froma Walsh’s Family Resilience Framework, this study explored the experiences of overseas Filipino workers’ (OFWs) families as narrated by adolescent children of migrant parents. Ten (10) Filipino college-level older adolescents (five were female) served as participants in an in-depth interview. Their narratives explored key family resilience processes using a Deductive Qualitative Analysis using various domains of family resilience (i.e., family belief system, communication processes, and organizational patterns). The study found that: (1) The family adjusts belief systems to accommodate unsettling realities of international labor migration; (2) Roles change in the family to compensate for responsibilities fulfilled by the parent before leaving for another country; and (3) Communication processes were strained, but family members serve as moderators to ease tensions and maintain a pre-migration relationship. This study concluded that the family resilience framework is a robust lens through which migrant families’ experiences can be understood. Families generally exert effort to maintain homeostasis and cope with migration’s psychological and social costs. A resilience-focused model for addressing psychosocial needs is proposed. Processes more apparent to the Filipino family and opportunities for future research are also discussed.

Food neophobia (FN) is the reluctance to eat novel foods. It peaks around the toddler and preschool years, a sensitive time for developing dietary habits. If this eating behavior persists, children are susceptible to acquiring lifelong unhealthy dietary habits, ultimately affecting their development. Hence, this cross-sectional study involved 88 parents or caregivers of children ages 2 to 5 to describe FN relative to nutritional status (NS) and diet quality (DQ) and identify factors affecting its development. Data were collected using a computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) online survey. Weight-for-height and height-for-age measurements were used to assess NS. While dietary diversity score (DDS) and Menu Eval Plus for DQ. The Child Food Neophobia Scale was adopted to measure FN. No significant associations were noted regarding NS and DQ. However, food-neophobic children had fewer intakes of legumes (p-value=0.041) and non-vitamin A-rich vegetables (p-value=0.048) and excessive intakes of phosphorus (p-value=0.002), vitamin A (p-value=0.027), and riboflavin (p-value=0.037). Snacks and discretionary foods are also frequently consumed as they are readily available and accessible. This behavior may probably be due to the innate preference of children for sweet and salty over bitter and sour flavors. Results warrant further research to develop interventions to address FN in children.

This study was conducted to compare the UPLB students’ awareness, knowledge, attitudes and practices (AKAP) on sustainable fashion. It also described their socio-demographic characteristics, explained their AKAP on sustainable fashion, analyzed the relationship between their AKAP towards sustainable fashion, and compared the AKAP of students who have not yet taken the HUME 112 (Sustainability Science) course (first cohort) and students who finished the HUME 112 course (second cohort) on sustainable fashion; and formulated recommendations on the AKAP of selected UPLB students. This research was conducted using a quantitative research method with 225 selected UPLB students determined through purposive sampling. A self-administered survey questionnaire through Google Forms was used as a research instrument. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, Spearman’s correlation, and Mann-Whitney U-test. Results showed that the respondents from the first cohort showed a moderate level of awareness, while the respondents from the second cohort showed a high level of awareness. For the knowledge level, both cohorts (first cohort is 77%, second is 95%) had a high level of knowledge on sustainable fashion. Both cohorts showed favorable attitudes towards sustainable fashion and had a moderate level of practice towards sustainable fashion. Variables such as awareness and knowledge, awareness and practices, and knowledge and practices had a significant relationship with each other for the first cohort, while only awareness and knowledge and awareness and practices for the second cohort. Lastly, results showed a significant difference in the awareness and knowledge level between the two cohorts.

The geographical location of Catanduanes makes it known as the island of howling winds. As the years passed, typhoons came to the island more frequently and with higher magnitudes due to climate change. With this phenomenon, Catandunganons faced risks not just for their lives but for their sources of income. Mixed methods of research were used through a community-participatory approach and non-probability sampling method using a purposive sample to include participants who represent a wide range of experiences and perspectives related to the vulnerability, exposure, and sensitivity of the communities for the past ten years (October 2010- October 2020). Findings revealed that selected coastal communities in Virac experienced typhoons very frequently for the past ten years; Magnesia del Norte was considered highly sensitive in terms of biophysical and socioeconomic aspects while communities such as Magnesia del Sur, Marilima, and Batag were considered moderately sensitive. The coastal communities of Magnesia del Norte and Marilima have an extremely high adaptive capacity. This implies that these communities can easily adapt to the hazards of climate change; Magnesia del Norte and Marilima were the coastal communities that were extremely vulnerable to the hazards of climate change. It was further recommended that selected coastal communities be considered in providing sustainable livelihood programs since they are extremely vulnerable to climate change hazards. Furthermore, coastal communities must also be engaged in disaster-risk reduction training to raise their awareness of responding to a disaster; let vulnerable communities participate in planning, design, implementation, monitoring, and evaluation of disaster risk activities as they play key roles in identifying the risks they may face during a disaster, and enhance the capacities of the local communities to lessen the vulnerability.

Place attachment has been studied over the past years in the realm of environmental psychology and social sciences. The study explores the place attachment of the residents of Calauan, Laguna, a second-class municipality in the Philippines which faces a very challenging waste problem. Further, the study aims to characterize the degree of place attachment of the residents, determine residents’ environmentally responsible behavior in accordance with their place attachment, and explain the role of place attachment in building community-based solid waste management (SWM) practices in the locality. The study used a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire incorporating socio-demographic characteristics, three (3) parameters of place attachment (place identity, nature bonding, and community ties), and concept of environmentally responsible behavior. Findings revealed that place attachment of the residents, as determined by the three parameters used, were at a high level — a means in having a positive role in building SWM practices. Consequently, decision-making influenced by active citizenry and participatory planning will eventually trigger a holistic and ecologically sound intervention towards the environment.

The drastic increased use of telenutrition during the COVID-19 pandemic allows the provision of nutrition services despite the physical restrictions. The effective implementation of any mode of healthcare delivery, including telenutrition, is heavily influenced by client acceptance. This study generally aims to analyze the acceptability of telenutrition among patients of the IHNF Nutrition Wellness Clinic. Ten (10) semi-structured interviews were conducted using the theoretical framework of acceptability from July to August 2022. Participants were purposively sampled from the patients of the clinic. The qualitative analysis revealed that the participants were highly satisfied with their telenutrition consultations and even found telenutrition an acceptable alternative to in-person visits mainly due to its thoroughness, convenience, accessibility, cost, and time efficiency. However, several participants expressed concerns about the need for a doctor’s referral to avail of the consultation and the effect of internet stability on the telenutrition consultation. Nonetheless, the high satisfaction with telenutrition driven by the patients’ positive experience outweighs the patient-expressed concerns about internet stability and access barriers associated with the patients’ recent telenutrition consultation.

With COVID-19 disrupting basic health services, the Family MUAC approach was recognized as a “reduced physical contact” method for detecting malnutrition among children aged 6-59 months old. The mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) is an anthropometric measure taken at the midpoint of the upper arm, between the tip of the shoulder (olecranon process) and the tip of the elbow (acromion). While this approach is already being implemented in 26 countries worldwide, there is a research gap in the implementing strategies of the Family MUAC approach in the Philippines. As of 2021, there were only a few documented barangay-level activities involving this approach; a pilot implementation in Samar, Northern Samar, and Zamboanga Del Norte, and a virtual training in Cagayan Province. This quantitative study was conducted to correlate factors with the competency of the Barangay Nutrition Scholars in the implementation of the Family MUAC approach. The study surveyed all 18 Barangay Nutrition Scholars in Cabuyao, Laguna using a pretested structured questionnaire. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the socioeconomic and demographic characteristics, supportive systems, resources, and level of competency of the respondents. On the other hand, Spearman and Cramer’s V coefficients were calculated to identify factors correlated with the competency of the respondents. With the majority of the respondents having a moderate level of competency (72.2\%), results showed that competency was negatively correlated with age and positively correlated with household size, monthly family income, last MUAC training, supervisory visits, refresher training, and availability of selected supplies. In conclusion, the variables above were factors correlated with competency, and knowledge, experience, and motivation were sufficient measures of the Barangay Nutrition Scholars’ level of competency. The study recommends reinforcing strategies on the identified positively-influencing factors related to family support, training, supervision, and supplies to improve the competency of the Barangay Nutrition Scholars in the implementation of the Family MUAC approach.

The scaffolds of the “I See, I Think, and I Feel” capability-building project was built first by the results of a qualitative inquiry of 10 gay preschool teachers whose experiences yielded resiliency with the themes as persona duality, vicarious experiences as an anxiety trigger, innate creativity, adaptability, the need to feel respected, the difficult choice of living alone, and dealing with children’s gender typing; and second by the extension project cycle of Central Mindanao University. Further, the Sustainable Development Goal on Reduction of Inequalities towards the empowerment and promotion of the social, economic, and political inclusion of all, regardless of age, sex, or other status, thereby paving for laws that are non-discriminatory and sustainable development-related policies has been the main ingredient throughout the project development leading to the conceptualization of the main objective that is to reach out to gay preschool teachers in Bukidnon who have been experiencing the struggles, and thereby pave positive psychology for them. Hence, the underscored capability-building method is the process approach covering five main topics: intensifying the utilization of arts in gay preschool teachers’ pedagogy, effective handling of children’s curiosity about gays, positive use of resiliency in dealing with the challenges of being gay preschool teachers, self-love, and the importance of positive mental health, which will undergo 5-year monitoring and evaluation to ensure the sustainability and magnify the impact.