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Aim: This study assessed the association between exposure to alcohol adverts on social media and alcohol use among university students in Uganda since alcohol consumption has severe effects, especially in countries with weak regulations for alcohol marketing.

Methods: In total, 996 undergraduate students at Makerere University responded to a questionnaire assessing exposure to alcohol advertising on social media (independent variable) and alcohol use (dependent variable). Adjusted multinomial logistic regression was used to analyse data.

Results: One in ten students reported hazardous drinking, while three in ten students were low-risk drinkers. Most students (70.1%) reported low exposure to alcohol adverts on social media, followed by high exposure (12.1%), and 17.8% reported no exposure. A key finding was that exposure to alcohol adverts on social media was significantly associated with alcohol use, especially the high exposure and hazardous drinking (odds ratio = 12.62, 95% confidence interval: 4.43-35.96). Students reporting high exposure to alcohol adverts on social media also had higher odds of low-risk drinking (odds ratio = 3.70, 95% confidence interval: 1.88-7.27) than those with low exposure (odds ratio = 1.77, 95% confidence interval: 1.09-2.87), in reference to no exposure.

Conclusion: Among Ugandan university students, exposure to alcohol adverts on social media is common and associated with alcohol use, in a dose-response manner. These findings suggest a need for a design and implementation of alcohol interventions for students using social media.

Michel Foucault’s short text, The Order of Discourse, includes the main features of his vision of discourse analysis. The text is a summary of an entire framework of discourse analysis, which includes not only theoretical insights, but also practical guidelines for conducting concrete studies. Foucault’s thinking has been of great importance to media and communications scholars, and continues to inspire new studies and critical thinking about power, knowledge and communication.

News and media reports on social work have had policy and legislative consequences for social work practice in Sweden. Generally, it is often argued that media reports have negative implications for public perception and public trust towards social services. However, empirical studies supporting such claims are rare. Going back to the classic theory of cultivation regarding media effects, this study investigates possible associations between news media use, public trust in news, and public trust towards social services in Sweden. Analyses are based on survey data from a representative sample of Swedish adults and young adults (n = 1 697) and linear regressions have been applied. In contrast to assumptions in the existing literature, no associations were identified between the level of news use, preferred news outlet and public trust towards the social services, whereas trust in news predicted trust in social services. The findings challenge dominating notions on the implications of news media use and public trust in social services. In short, news reports of the social services do not simply translate into public (dis)trust. This also enable, linear regressions has been applied. In contrast to assumptions in existing literature, no associations.

Nyheter och massmediala rapporter har haft betydelse för policy och lagstiftning inom det sociala området i Sverige, inte minst i relation till exempelvis inrättandet av Lex Sarah. Ofta hävdas också att rapporter i massmedia har negativa konsekvenser för allmänhetens uppfattningar om, och förtroende för socialtjänsten. Empiriska studier av liknande påståenden är emellertid sällsynta. Med utgångspunkt i kultiveringsteori undersöker vi i denna studie möjliga samband mellan användning av nyhetsmedier, allmänhetens förtroende för nyheter och allmänhetens förtroende för socialtjänsten i Sverige. Studien bygger på enkätdata från ett representativt urval av svenska vuxna och unga vuxna (n = 1697). Data har analyserats deskriptivt och med hjälp av linjär regressions analys. I motsats mot tankar om medias påverkan visar resultatet inget samband mellan nivå av nyhetsanvändning, föredragen nyhetskanal och förtroende för socialtjänsten. Däremot hade förtroende för nyheter ett samband med högre tillit till socialtjänsten. Dessa fynd tyder på att det är dags att omvärdera tidigare dominerande idéer om kopplingen mellan nyhets – och medierapporter och allmänhetens förtroende för socialtjänsten. Vi menar att nyhetsrapporter om socialtjänsten inte per automatik leder till ett allmänt missförtroende för socialtjänsten, något som dessutom skapar möjligheter för socialarbetare att närma sig nyhetsbevakningen av socialtjänsten på ett annat sätt.

Brännande samhällsutmaningar i form av bland annat segregation, ohälsa och ekologisk obalans skapar efterfrågan på nytänkande lösningar som inte bara följer en ekonomisk logik utan också är socialt och miljömässigt hållbara. I antologin presenteras aktuell svensk forskning om social innovation för hållbar utveckling, med koppling till Agenda 2030. Forskare från olika discipliner och lärosäten belyser detta i förhållande till exempelvis stadsutveckling, arbetslivsinkludering, naturbaserad rehabilitering och skola. Hybridorganisering, samverkan mellan olika aktörer och en ny samhällsekonomisk styrning tas också upp. Tillsammans ger antologins kapitel en bild av det växande forskningsfältet social innovation, med tillämpning mot hållbar utveckling. Därmed diskuteras potentialen i att sammanföra dessa perspektiv för att stärka bidragen till vetenskaplig och praktisk utveckling. 

Social innovation för hållbar utveckling riktar sig till forskare, studenter och praktiker inom innovationsområdet, exempelvis innovatörer, innovationsfrämjare, politiker och tjänstepersoner, samt andra intresserade.Boken är framtagen i samarbete med Mötesplats Social Innovation.

Denna antologi ger en inblick i aktuell forskning i Sverige om social innovation, det vill säga nya sätt att möta samhällsutmaningar och förbättra människors livsvillkor. Särskilt uppmärksammas forskning om social innovation för hållbar utveckling, med koppling till de globala hållbarhetsmålen i FN:s Agenda 2030. Syftet med antologin är att göra akademisk kunskap inom området tillgänglig för studenter, forskare, innovatörer, innovationsfrämjare och andra intresserade. I detta avsnitt ges en inledande överblick över områdena social innovation och hållbar utveckling, som en inraming till antologins olika kapitel.

BACKGROUND: Globally, alcohol use significantly contributes to the disease burden. Alcohol consumption in Uganda is related to several health consequences among young people, including university students. Social media is commonly used by students to share academic information and create social networks. Among young people in high-income countries, previous studies have also shown that social media use can have negative health outcomes related to alcohol use, and associated problems. To date, similar studies conducted in low- and middle-income countries are largely missing.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the prevalence of and associations between social media use and alcohol consumption among university students in Uganda.

METHOD: This was a cross-sectional study among 996 undergraduate students at Makerere University. Data were collected using a questionnaire. Alcohol use in the previous 12 months was the dependent variable. The independent variable was social media use categorised as general use, alcohol-related use, and social media lurking/passive participation. Multinomial logistic regression was used to assess associations. Crude and adjusted odds ratios were reported.

RESULTS: Nearly all students (97%) used social media and 39% reported alcohol use. Regular alcohol use was significantly associated with moderate (OR = 2.22, CI: 1.35-3.66) and high level general social media use (OR = 2.45, CI: 1.43-4.20). Regular alcohol use was also associated with alcohol-related social media (OR = 6.46, CI: 4.04-10.30), and alcohol-related lurking (OR = 4.59, CI: 2.84-7.39). Similar, although weaker associations were identified for occasional alcohol use.

CONCLUSIONS: Approximately four in ten students reported alcohol use in the past year, and almost all students used social media. Alcohol-related social media use was associated with occasional and regular alcohol use, with stronger associations for regular use. These findings may guide further research and present an opportunity for potential alcohol control interventions to improve health among young populations in low- and middle-income countries.

The climate crisis concerns all fabrics of society. Local journalism can play a key role when cities are handling the problems. This paper analyses local media discourses on climate change in four Swedish cities that aim to be role-models in the transition towards carbon-neutrality. A discourse analysis of news articles and op-eds about the climate, combined with semi-structured interviews with journalists working at four different local newspapers shows that the climate crisis is covered in all newspapers, even if the amount and ambitions varies, including the ability to fill key roles as watchdog and educator. The newsrooms’ climate focus also had to give way when the covid-19 pandemic struck. Local decisions about transportation, food and urban development are common topics and often debated in the local press. However, the price-winning cities ambitious green plans to become climate neutral already by 2030 remain vague for the journalists and probably their readers. 

Purpose: The aim of this study is to analyse how recurrent health hindrance themes in the firefighter discourse, identified by firefighters themselves, relate to a set of policies about diversity, preventive work and education of firefighters. The intention is further to discuss the implications of these policy initiatives and the resistance against them in terms of firefighters’ health and well-being at work.

Method: Firefighters from three different rescue stations in Sweden, participated in either a focus group discussion or individual interviews. Different themes in firefighter discourse that were described as hindrances to the health and well-being of firefighters were identified. A strategic sample of policy documents that relate to the very same themes was also chosen for analysis and here we combined critical discourse analysis (CDA) with critical policy analysis.

Results: The health hindrance themes regarding diversity, preventive work and education that firefighters identified have in common that they relate to changes in work culture and the firefighter profession.

Conclusion: In conclusion, we argue that the most important challenge for the rescue service to tackle in the future, is how to transform firefighting to be more inclusive and yet maintaining the good health and well-being that exists among the vast majority of today’s firefighters.