BackgroundThis study described the differences between elderly men and women living in Lebanese long-term care nursing homes on socio-economic, health and nutritional status.MethodsThis study used a cross-sectional design. Field researchers obtained data from 221 residents; 148 (67%) women and 73 (33%) men, living in 36 nursing homes. Data on health conditions; nutritional, psychological, and functional status; socio-demographic characteristics, as well as social relations were collected. The analysis used both chi-square and t-test tests.ResultsThe majority of elderly had low socio-economic and poor health status. In comparison to men, women were significantly less educated, had lower occupational status, had no partner, relied financially on their children and relatives, and enjoyed better social relations and health behaviours. Furthermore, the prevalence of both; malnutrition, and at risk of malnutrition, were at 3.2% and 27.6% respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between women and men on Mini Nutritional Assessment, Activities of Daily Living, Geriatric Depression Scale, Body Mass Index, and chronic diseases. While women reported “good” health status compared to men, they continued to have higher prevalence of diseases and chronic pain.ConclusionsThis study explored the socio-demographic, health, and nutritional status of elderly residing in Lebanese nursing homes and compared these characteristics across gender. The results indicated the need of health support and institutional interventions for elderly women residents.

Until the late 1990s, Qatar's educational system used the intrinsicnationalistic and cultural traditions of Arabic schools. The Qatari leadership and stakeholder was outdated; hence, they approached the RAND Corporation to examine and analyze the existing educational system and recommend options for building a new educational system. The RAND assessment study concluded that the country's education system was rigid and lacked standards and international benchmarks. Consequently, this led to the reform in which a system of Independent Schools was established, new curriculum standards were set, and teacher and leadership professional development were enhanced to find the most effective systems for Qatari students to succeed along international and particularly Western benchmarks. The reform imputed by key principles of autonomy, accountability, variety and choice. Post-reform evaluation suggests that the system is still far from being what it should be. New teacher development initiatives have stressed on improving professional development for teachers through licensing and increased professional development programs. The present schooling is markedly different from what was presented in the reform. This article gives a brief historical preface of the educational system in Qatar and discusses the reform in terms of its future implications on teacher development in the K-12 educational system.

The study is original in the sense that it assesses elderly residents' psychological and physical health status in relation to institutional structures, processes, and skills.

The first encounter of students at universities is the administrative office, which leaves a lasting imprint for their entire experience in higher education. With the exponential growth of higher education in the Middle East, private universities face hardened competition in the overall retention of students. Registrar and academic advising offices are vital components to the university as well as the front end to the universities' service quality. This study attempts to measure student attitudes of registration and academic advising across different faculties to assure positive quality service complementing that of the academic. Keeping in mind that many developing universities in the Middle East and other nations have not yet utilized automated services to meet student needs, the present study provides recommendations in the inroads en route to the development of touch-tone and Web-banner automated registration for a positive assessment of service quality.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to survey students on their satisfaction with university services and programs in a coeducational Lebanese Catholic higher education institution. The study attempts to relate self‐assessed knowledge of the university procedures, rules and regulations on six dimensions of satisfaction, being: academic experience, academic advisor, residential life, campus life, personal development opportunities, resources and student services.Design/methodology/approachA cluster random selection procedure was used to select n=870 students from within the university. Students rated 31 knowledge items and 33 satisfaction items. The study analyses student satisfaction in relation to their knowledge of procedures, rules and regulations. An Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was run to determine differences between university class level, and knowledge level on satisfaction. In addition, a regression analysis was run to determine whether university class (freshmen, sophomore, junior, and senior level) and knowledge level (low, middle and high knowledge levels) were predictors of the satisfaction dimensions.FindingsGenerally, those who assessed their knowledge (of the services) as higher were more inclined to be satisfied. In addition, seniors in general were less satisfied with programs and services than freshmen students. Self‐rated knowledge and university level (freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors) significantly predicted satisfaction with both variables being highly associated (i.e. predicting) with satisfaction in academic advising.Originality/valueSelf‐enhancement theory suggests that those individuals with greater self‐worth have greater affective need to feel satisfied. Increased self‐worth is manifested in active roles of decision making and judgments about events that the individual experiences (Wells and Sweeney, 1986). Thus, self‐worth is highly correlated with knowledge about an aspect. This study shows that knowledge is an important predictor to satisfaction – i.e. the higher the knowledge the more satisfied students are likely to be.