The Perceptions of Greek Immigrants in Germany About the Health Illness and Pain in the Context of Mental Health

2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (S1) ◽  
pp. S624-S624
Author(s):  
S. Kotrotsiou ◽  
A. Tsoumani ◽  
E. Kotrotsiou ◽  
M. Gouva ◽  
E. Dragioti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Access To Health Services ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sociocultural Environment ◽  
Health And Disease ◽  
Competing Interest ◽  
The Individual

AimThis study aims to investigate the perceptions of health, disease and pain issues among Greek immigrant, living in Germany, as they were formed through their previous experiences, their immigration routes and their experiences in a new sociocultural environment, while taking under consideration their varying cultural backgrounds.Material-methodThis research was based on the personal interpretations of ten Greek immigrant (6 women and 4 men). As to methodology, qualitative research was employed. The methodological tools used for the collection of the material were semi-structured interviews (face to face), participant observation and a field diary. Finally, the method of analysis used for the empirical material was content thematic analysis.ResultsAll participants experienced immigration as an especially stressful period of their lives that changed their state of health (these changes extend from physical complaints to manifestation of depression). Most person describe life in Germany as difficult due to various problems (loss of relatives and friends’ social networks, poor language knowledge, isolation, etc.). However, the public health system's organization (regardless any flaws), which ensures their access to health services, positively contributed in changing their attitudes regarding the issues under question. Lastly, the reference to psycho-traumatic situations, transitional life phases, as well as to stimuli in the difficult everyday life feed person's meaning-makings about pain.ConclusionsThe research's results showed that health and disease are not only biologically determined phenomena. They also are socially determined situations, given that they are not only related to changes in the individual's psychology but are influenced by the broader sociocultural environment in which the individual lives and works.Disclosure of interestThe authors have not supplied their declaration of competing interest.

scholarly journals Challenges faced during COVID-19 outbreak investigation in Qatar: From the investigators’ perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Abrar Ahmed ◽  
Syed Shariq Jaffrey ◽  
Farhat Fatima ◽  
Fatimah Ahmed Elnour ◽  
Marwa Saleh Mohamed Abuzaid ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Migrant Workers ◽  
Social Stigma ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
World Cup ◽  
Public Places ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Public ◽  
Case Investigation

Background: Case investigation and surveillance is a key step in managing any epidemic. This report aimed to identify the main challenges faced by COVID-19 case investigators in Qatar and to suggest possible solutions to improve the case investigation process in managing future pandemics. Methods: Purposive sampling was used to select 40 COVID-19 case investigators posted at the Ministry of Public Health, Qatar. Interviewees were from diverse educational and cultural backgrounds and had been investigating COVID-19 cases for more than 6 months, at the time of interview. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were done to collect data which was anonymized before analyzing for the purpose of this qualitative study. Results: The most common concern faced in conducting case investigations was language barrier, given the multinational and diverse diasporas Qatar is host to. Authenticity of the investigation was a matter of suspicion for many patients; whereas the majority of the investigators opined that multiple calls received from different healthcare departments asking for information overwhelmed many patients. Laborers/migrant workers often did not divulge information due to fear of repercussions from their supervisors. Social stigma associated with COVID-19caused reluctance to reveal the index case and close contacts. Information regarding social gatherings attended and public places visited was often concealed . Cultural differences as well hindered smooth investigation in a few cases. Rising case load at times put restraints on improved coordination between different health departments and structured guidance for investigators about the pandemic response system, which could help to deliver appropriate health services more efficiently. Comprehensive orientation in using the Electronic Surveillance database could also improve the efficacy of epidemiological analysis for improved public health outcomes. Conclusion: Addressing these challenges will help the public health team in Qatar to increase preparedness and efficiency in managing potential future outbreaks, especially in view of upcoming mass gathering events such as the FIFA 2022 World Cup.

Nostalgia, the Fleeting, and the Rare in Chilean Relationships to Nature and Nonhuman Species

2014 ◽  
Vol 22 (6) ◽  
pp. 560-579 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meredith Root-Bernstein
Keyword(s):  
Participant Observation ◽  
Social Value ◽  
Public Realm ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Central Chile ◽  
The Public ◽  
Dominant Discourse ◽  
Mediterranean Habitat ◽  
Nonhuman Species ◽  
Over Time

Semi-structured interviews and participant observation were used to understand how urban Chileans form relationships with nature and nonhuman species in central Chile. Most informants expressed dislike of the typical mediterranean-habitat landscape, characterizing it as dry, poor, and empty. Yet many people expressed nostalgic attachment to specific places, species, and activities that they had experienced, often as children. Most of the reminisced-about interactions were fleeting or had been lost over time. In the dominant discourse, nature in the mediterranean zone of Chile is closely associated with poverty, and it is considered to lack beauty, biodiversity, culture, and history. Appeals to personal nostalgia may break through this discourse to form private assemblages of value. Chileans also attributed social value to interactions with species who are rare or who are found “exclusively” in Chile. Appeals to nostalgia, rarity, and exclusivity help to draw these private discourses into the public realm.

Japanese student writers’ perspectives on anonymous peer review

ELT Journal ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (3) ◽  
pp. 296-305 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sugene Kim
Keyword(s):  
Peer Review ◽  
Asian Students ◽  
Writing Classroom ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Student Writers ◽  
Efl Learners ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Japanese Student ◽  
Peer Reviewers

Abstract This article explores Japanese EFL learners’ perceptions of face-to-face vs. anonymous peer review in a writing classroom. Albeit few in number, some studies claim that Asian students exhibit difficulty in providing negative feedback because they tend to be hesitant for cultural reasons to criticize others’ work. To verify and extend such observations, this study collected data from 64 Japanese college students regarding their experiences and perspectives after they performed peer review in both conditions. Analysis of the data collected through a survey and semi-structured interviews did not support the previously held views that learners from non-Western cultural backgrounds are predisposed to be reluctant peer reviewers. Further, the findings indicated that Japanese EFL learners’ preference for a specific peer-review mode interacts closely with various factors. Possible pedagogical implications are discussed in relation to ways to better implement peer-review sessions.

Issues in the financing and provision of Orthotics and Prosthetics services in Iran: Protocol for a Qualitative Research Study (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saeed Shahabi ◽  
Ahmad Ahmadi ◽  
Hosein Shabaninejad
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Health Coverage ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Purposeful Sampling ◽  
Content Analysis Method ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Policy Solutions

BACKGROUND The demand for rehabilitation services, including Orthotics and prosthetics services, is increasing. Traffic injuries, Eight-years imposed war, natural disasters, aging, and chronic diseases are the main causes of disability in Iran that lead to the great need for receiving these services. This study will attempt to identify the challenges in the financing and provision of Orthotics and Prosthetics services in Iran and declare the policy solutions to improve the financing and delivery of these services in line with the universal health coverage. OBJECTIVE This study aims to explore the challenges in the financing and provision of the Orthotics and Prosthetics services in Iran and propose policy solutions to strengthen this sector. METHODS This study will use the qualitative content analysis method for understanding the challenges. The study population of this study will be all clinicians, academics, and policy-makers who involved in the financing and provision of the Orthotics and Prosthetics services. The purposeful sampling, as well as the snowball sampling, will be used to select the informants. The individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews will be conducted in Tehran, Isfahan, and Shiraz. Furthermore, telephone and Skype interviews will be applied to participants who lived in other regions. This project will be performed from 2019 to 2020. RESULTS We believe the results will lead to identifying challenges and also policy solutions to strengthen the Orthotics and Prosthetics services in the healthcare system and improve the utilization in Iran. CONCLUSIONS The findings will inform the policy-makers to better planning in Iran and internationally.

Internet-Mediated Communication at the Cultural Interface

2006 ◽  
pp. 373-380
Author(s):  
Leah P. Macfadyen
Keyword(s):  
Intercultural Communication ◽  
Cultural Groups ◽  
Mediated Communication ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Global Village ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Intercultural Communications ◽  
Cultural Interface ◽  
Social Interfaces ◽  
The Individual

As individuals launch themselves into cyberspace via networked technologies, they must navigate more than just the human-computer interface. The rhetoric of the “global village”—a utopian vision of a harmonious multicultural virtual world—has tended to overlook the messier and potentially much more problematic social interfaces of cyberspace: the interface of the individual with cyberculture (Macfadyen, 2004), and the interface of culture with culture. To date, intercultural communications research has focused primarily on instances of physical (face-to-face) encounters between cultural groups, for example, in the classroom or in the workplace. However, virtual environments are increasingly common sites of encounter and communication for individuals and groups from multiple cultural backgrounds. This underscores the need for a better understanding of Internet-mediated intercultural communication.

Organizational memory: a qualitative research study on a multi-cultural organization

Kybernetes ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cem Sen ◽  
Korhan Arun ◽  
Olcay Okun
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Organizational Memory ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Cultural Backgrounds ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Cultural Aspects ◽  
Cultural Organizations ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Individual Memory

PurposeThis paper articulates a multi-contextual and dynamic system for memory research in relation to multi-cultural organizations (MCOs) by a qualitative research method.Design/methodology/approachFace-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with representatives of 30 national officers in North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to illuminate how the construction of organizational memory (OM) can then be compared and contrasted across different cultures.FindingsThe findings show that OM still mostly resides in individuals with the social transfer. However, even if, cultural aspects define what should be stored, time and purpose, the static memory of individuals becomes dynamic OM that is represented and interpreted in an organization's practices, policies and learning.Originality/valueThe primary contribution is to attempt to dissolve the seeming assumption of dialectical metaphoric perspectives of OM between different but related sub-communities of practice and outcomes. Consequently, socially constructed and individual memory models are necessary to integrate different metaphors according to the multi-context theory, which extends the understanding of the diversity between the cultural backgrounds of individuals and groups.

Using Death Cafés as a method for discussing death and dying with third year student nurses

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (7) ◽  
pp. 352-360
Author(s):  
Theresa Mitchell ◽  
Brian Nyatanga ◽  
Sue Lillyman ◽  
Mary Bruce ◽  
Sue Bryane
Keyword(s):  
Nursing Students ◽  
End Of Life ◽  
Death And Dying ◽  
Student Nurses ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sensitive Topics ◽  
Life Issues ◽  
End Of Life Issues

Background: Death Cafés are increasingly being held to facilitate discussions around death and dying and end-of-life issues with the public. They are thought to provide a safe, confidential and interactive space in which sensitive and supportive conversations about death and dying and end-of-life are shared. Aim: To explore nursing students' experiences of participating in a modified Death Café and its impact on their learning about death and dying. Methodology: A qualitative interpretive approach was employed using face-to-face semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of third year student nurse volunteers. Thematic analysis was used to identify key themes. Findings: Students viewed the modified Death Cafés positively, reporting that they were stimulating, informative and worthwhile for discussing sensitive topics related to death and dying. Five themes were developed from interview data: anticipation of the Death Cafés; timing of the Death Cafés within the curriculum; facilitation; trust within the group and getting involved; and reflection on, and for, practice. Conclusion: Students voiced a preference to disclose their feelings about death to an expert facilitator in the more informal environment of a Death Café because they thought they might be judged by their nursing lecturers. Effective facilitation of a Death Café session is critical to encourage self-scrutiny and disclosure by students, and the modified Death Café sessions achieved this. Implications: It is expected that students may feel vulnerable while participating in a Death Café, but it is important that the sessions enable students to be open about their feelings about death and the reciprocal sharing of inner thoughts and feelings about death and dying.

‘Don’t mess with my algorithm’: Exploring the relationship between listeners and automated curation and recommendation on music streaming services

First Monday ◽  
2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sophie Freeman ◽  
Martin Gibbs ◽  
Bjørn Nansen
Keyword(s):  
Recommender Systems ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Music Listening ◽  
Music Recommendation ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Streaming Services ◽  
Music Recommender Systems ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Music Streaming

Given access to huge online collections of music on streaming platforms such as Spotify or Apple Music, users have become increasingly reliant on algorithmic recommender systems and automated curation and discovery features to find and curate music. Based on participant observation and semi-structured interviews with 15 active users of music streaming services, this article critically examines the user experience of music recommendation and streaming, seeking to understand how listeners interact with and experience these systems, and asking how recommendation and curation features define their use in a new and changing landscape of music consumption and discovery. This paper argues that through daily interactions with algorithmic features and curation, listeners build complex socio-technical relationships with these algorithmic systems, involving human-like factors such as trust, betrayal and intimacy. This article is significant as it positions music recommender systems as active agents in shaping music listening habits and the individual tastes of users.

scholarly journals What Do Australian Library and Information Professionals Experience as Evidence?

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Gillespie ◽  
Faye Miller ◽  
Helen Partridge ◽  
Christine Bruce ◽  
Alisa Howlett
Keyword(s):  
Public Library ◽  
Local Environment ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Constructivist Grounded Theory ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Public ◽  
Information Professionals ◽  
Many Sources ◽  
Library Professionals

Abstract Objective – This article presents the findings of a project which established an empirical basis for evidence based library and information practice (EBLIP). More specifically, the paper explores what library and information professionals experienced as evidence in the context of their professional practice. Methods – The project consisted of two sub-studies. The public library sub-study was conducted using ethnography. Over a 5-month period, a member of the research team travelled to a regional public library on 15 occasions, staying between 3 and 4 days on each visit. The researcher observed, interacted, and became involved in the day-to-day activities of this library. These activities were recorded in a journal and added to the researcher’s insights and thoughts. Additionally, 13 face-to-face interviews with staff in positions ranging from the operational to the executive were conducted. The academic sub-study was conducted using Constructivist Grounded Theory. Semi-structured interviews were conducted either in person or via Skype, with 13 librarians from Australian universities. Interviewees were in a diverse array of roles, from liaison librarian to manager and library director. Results – The project found that the Australian academic librarians and the public librarians who participated in the project experienced six elements as evidence: observation, feedback, professional colleagues, research literature, statistics, and intuition. Each of these will be described and highlighted with examples from each of the two studies. Conclusions – The findings of this study revealed many similarities in the way that library professionals from both studies experienced evidence. Evidence was not hierarchical, with evidence from many sources being valued equally. In contextualizing evidence and applying to the local environment, library professionals were able to draw upon more than one source of evidence and apply their professional knowledge and experiences. In this way evidence was more nuanced.

scholarly journals Alternatives to the face-to-face consultation in general practice: focused ethnographic case study

2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (669) ◽  
pp. e293-e300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Atherton ◽  
Heather Brant ◽  
Sue Ziebland ◽  
Annemieke Bikker ◽  
John Campbell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
General Practice ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Ethnographic Case Study ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Face ◽  
General Practices ◽  
The One

BackgroundNHS policy encourages general practices to introduce alternatives to the face-to-face consultation, such as telephone, email, e-consultation systems, or internet video. Most have been slow to adopt these, citing concerns about workload. This project builds on previous research by focusing on the experiences of patients and practitioners who have used one or more of these alternatives.AimTo understand how, under what conditions, for which patients, and in what ways, alternatives to face-to-face consultations present benefits and challenges to patients and practitioners in general practice.Design and settingFocused ethnographic case studies took place in eight UK general practices between June 2015 and March 2016.MethodNon-participant observation, informal conversations with staff, and semi-structured interviews with staff and patients were conducted. Practice documents and protocols were reviewed. Data were analysed through charting and the ‘one sheet of paper’ mind-map method to identify the line of argument in each thematic report.ResultsCase study practices had different rationales for offering alternatives to the face-to-face consultation. Beliefs varied about which patients and health issues were suitable. Co-workers were often unaware of each other’s practice; for example, practice policies for use of e-consultations systems with patients were not known about or followed. Patients reported benefits including convenience and access. Staff and some patients regarded the face-to-face consultation as the ideal.ConclusionExperience of implementing alternatives to the face-to-face consultation suggests that changes in patient access and staff workload may be both modest and gradual. Practices planning to implement them should consider carefully their reasons for doing so and involve the whole practice team.

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