Social skills

• Leading up to Toy Fair, The Toy Association trends team previewed hundreds of products to identify the toys that will be dominating wish lists this holiday and get a sneak peek at early 2024 must-have toys.
• This research culminated today at Toy Fair at a "Toy Trends Briefing" for media, buyers, and other show guests.
• A summary of the top trends follows:
  Young kids won't be the only ones adding toys to their holiday wish lists — 89% of parents surveyed are toy shopping for grownups this holiday season, with 43% shopping for their spouse or significant other.
• Just over half (51%) of parents also consider whether a toy promotes mental well-being when shopping for their kids.

• Ghana’s education system currently favours a western educational philosophy, relegating its indigenous philosophies to the back burner.
• In a recent paper, I argue that education in Ghana needs to incorporate more elements based on an authentic Ghanaian framework.
• Based on the view that education, culture and development should be connected, I highlight the educational strengths of African folklore.

The case for Akan folklore

• The largest of these is the Akan.
• They can be found in eight of the 16 regions of the country and in parts of Côte d'Ivoire and Togo.
• I argue that Akan folklore can be integrated into the school curricula to teach social skills and emotional intelligence.

Not just proverbs and stories

• Researchers such as Grace Diabah and Nana Appiah Amfo have established the power of folklore types like proverbs to deal with important topics like gender.
• Unfortunately, the focus of education has leaned heavily towards examination performance and readying learners for the job market.
• The absence of indigenous components in course curricula results in a graduate population without any appreciation for cultural identity.

Looking ahead

• My research revealed that there is a need to develop and use an alternative indigenous philosophical framework, drawing on Akan folklore.
• In a nutshell, while western philosophies open students up to global understandings and perspectives, Akan folklore grounds them in their own culture.

• The Social Connection in Australia 2023 report acknowledges loneliness hurts businesses, as it causes employee absenteeism and reduced productivity.
• However, people are often unaware particular work roles, environments, responsibilities and work-related relocation is often what causes loneliness.
• The expression “it is lonely at the top” suggests senior managers or chief executives are especially likely to suffer from loneliness.
• Having nobody to share the risks and responsibilities with is an implicit social deficiency that increases workplace loneliness.
• To stimulate more interest in this topic and to help ease this modern pandemic, our research, soon to be released，proposes resource-based solutions to combat loneliness.

Strategies for individuals

• Some may be happy with a few strong relationships, some may prefer broad but weak social connections.
• Understanding personal social goals helps employees notice when they might need to develop appropriate strategies to battle loneliness.
• As individuals, we cultivate our social connections, so we are the key to shaping them.
• Desired social relations are developed gradually, and we need work on this regularly to achieve our desired level of connection.

Strategies for companies

• Organisations need to acknowledge that work practices can cause loneliness for employees and find creative solutions.
• • Remove social barriers for employees by cultivating an inclusive work environment.
• These investments in alleviating workplace loneliness will result in employees having a stronger sense of belonging to organisations and being more productive.

• SAN ANTONIO, Sept. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Nexus Health Systems , a network of inpatient specialty care hospitals and residential campuses, announced today the grand opening of its San Antonio location.
• The multidisciplinary team at Nexus Neurorecovery Center – San Antonio looks forward to partnering with the medical community in San Antonio and surrounding areas, helping with challenging cases and those who have lacked placement.
• Nexus Neurorecovery Center – San Antonio has 25 private and semi-private inpatient rooms in addition to a variety of amenities across the two-floor facility.
• Nexus Health Systems strives to meet the community's and country's needs with every new program developed and facility opened — Nexus Neurorecovery Center – San Antonio is no different.