Two worlds: Adolescents' strategies for managing life with a parent in hospice

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 177-186 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denice Kopchak Sheehan ◽  
M. Murray Mayo ◽  
Grace H. Christ ◽  
Kim Heim ◽  
Stephanie Parish ◽  
...  

ABSTRACTObjective:This study aimed to generate an explanatory model of the coping strategies that adolescents employ to manage the stressors they experience in the final months of their ill parent's life and shortly after their death.Method:The sample included 26 families of adolescents with a parent receiving care in a large hospice program in northeastern Ohio. A semistructured interview was conducted with 14 ill parents, 17 well parents/guardians, and 30 of their adolescent children before the parent's death and, additionally, with 6 of these families after the death. The interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using a grounded-theory approach.Results:The participants described two worlds that constituted the lives of the adolescents: the well world of normal adolescence and the ill world of having a parent near the end of life. The adolescents experienced a common challenge of living in two worlds and responded to the challenge with a process we labeled “managing two worlds.” Five stages through which adolescents manage their worlds were identified: keeping the ill world and the well world separate; having the ill world intrude into the well world; moving between the ill world and the well world; being immersed in the ill world; and returning to the well world having been changed by the ill world.Significance of results:The explanatory model of “managing two worlds” outlines a complex and nuanced process that changes over time. The model can be used by health professionals who seek to help adolescents navigate this critical time when their parents are dying or have recently died. These results can also be used to inform the development of interventions that assist families with strategies tailored to an adolescent's specific needs. Future research should investigate associations among the process of “managing two worlds” and outcomes related to adolescent bereavement.

2021 ◽  
pp. 016235322110235
Author(s):  
Claudia A. Cornejo-Araya ◽  
Leonie Kronborg

Adopting a constructivist grounded theory approach, 91 students from Years 9 to 11, in gifted educational programs from three schools in Melbourne, nominated their inspiring teachers. Eleven teachers, who received the highest number of nominations, were invited to an interview and an observation of their teaching. The emerged theoretical construct was identified as “Opening new possibilities: Inspiring teachers of gifted and highly able students,” which is further explained through three main categories: Being a knowledgeable and passionate teacher, creating an academically safe learning environment, and teaching beyond and above the regular curriculum. In addition, the theoretical process was explained through three phases: Expanding knowledge and understanding, Fostering positive attitudes, and Encouraging students to take action. Contextual determinants were considered to analyze and report the findings: students’ developmental characteristics, school culture, curriculum, and gifted educational provisions. Findings are discussed in the light of existing literature, as well as study limitations and ideas for future research.


Sexual Abuse ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 31 (8) ◽  
pp. 908-929
Author(s):  
Miriam Ryan ◽  
Mathew McCauley ◽  
Davina Walsh

Sexual offenses evoke strong emotional responses and frequently elicit demands from society that offenders be indefinitely incarcerated or treated until they are deemed safe, which may impact the provision of therapeutic treatment for offenders. However, in recent years, there has been a proposal to move toward a positive, strengths-based treatment approach, namely the Good Lives Model (GLM). The present study used semi-structured interviews and a constructivist grounded theory approach to examine the experience of 13 men who were voluntarily engaging in or had completed a GLM community-based treatment program. A conceptual model emerged which outlines the process the men underwent, the factors they identified as crucial for change, and the perceived gains. The model extends previous work by exploring the process from the clients’ perspective. Implications for future research, prevention, and treatment are discussed.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (12) ◽  
pp. e058885
Author(s):  
Viola Sallay ◽  
Andrea Klinovszky ◽  
Sára Imola Csuka ◽  
Norbert Buzás ◽  
Orsolya Papp-Zipernovszky

ObjectivesThe rapid worldwide increase in the incidence of diabetes significantly influences the lives of individuals, families and communities. Diabetes self-management requires personal autonomy and the presence of a supportive social environment. These attributes can considerably ameliorate the outcomes of the chronic condition. However, little is known about individual variations in overcoming the illness-related challenges and in the achievement of autonomy in daily activities. This paper seeks to bridge this knowledge gap.DesignThis qualitative study used the grounded theory approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, and the data collection and data analysis probed participant experiences of autonomy through the self-management of their daily socio-physical environments.SettingParticipants were recruited from the outpatient ward of a university clinic in Hungary.ParticipantsThe study was conducted with 26 adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (15 females and 11 males aged between 26 and 80 years; M=62.6 years; SD=13.1). The inclusion criteria were: T2D diagnosis at least 1 year before the beginning of the study; prescribed insulin injection therapy; aged over 18 years; native Hungarian speaker and not diagnosed with dementia or any form of cognitive impairment.ResultsThe study established three principal aspects of the active construction of personal autonomy in diabetes self-management: coping strategies vis-à-vis threats posed by the symptoms and the treatment of the disease; autonomous ways of creating protective space and time and relationship processes that support everyday experiences of self-directedness.ConclusionsThe results of this study confirm the validity of the self-determination theory in diabetes self-management. They also imply that pathways towards constructing everyday experiences of self-directedness in participants lead through self-acceptance, supporting family relationships and a doctor–patient relationship characterised by partnership. The tentative empirical model of pathways towards patients’ experience of self-directedness can serve as a framework for future research, patient-centred clinical practice, and education.


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 16
Author(s):  
Manuel Anglada-Tort

The target study explores whether evaluations of the same piece of music differ under two distinct listening conditions: listening to a piece described either as an improvisation or as a preexisting composition. Participants (N = 16) in the two conditions listened to the same musical piece and provided verbal evaluative judgements. The author used a grounded theory approach to analyze listeners' responses, reporting different listening experiences in the two groups. The findings provide unique insights to enable a greater understanding of the nature of the aesthetics of improvisation. In this commentary, I first discuss the strengths of the article, followed by methodological considerations and suggestions for future research. I then present a short literature review and discussion of what I consider the most relevant topic in relation to this study, namely, the effects of contextual information on subjective evaluations.


Dementia ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 18 (6) ◽  
pp. 2158-2172 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Colquhoun ◽  
Jennifer Moses ◽  
Rosslyn Offord

Couples living with dementia face multiple losses in their relationship, and may experience changes in their overall sense of relationship quality. These topics have predominantly been researched from the caring partner’s perspective therefore, this study aimed to explore how couples adapt to relational losses to maintain quality in their relationship from the perspective of both partners. Using a constructivist grounded theory approach 10 spousal dyads, where one partner has a diagnosis of dementia, engaged in a joint interview. The results revealed three master themes: consolidating us, contextual positioning, and living well together, as well as an overarching theme of ‘turning to and away’. The findings are discussed in relation to theories of loss and family adaptation, and implications for clinical practice and future research are proposed.


Author(s):  
Khaldoun Aldiabat ◽  
Michael Clinton

A better understanding of how male Jordanian psychiatric nurses become smokers and continue the habit mainly at work is necessary if smoking reduction and cessation programs are to help them better manage their smoking behaviours. Here we use a grounded theory approach to describe the factors that influenced the eight nurses in our sample to take up smoking. We use five categories derived from open coding to explain the initial stage in the smoking histories of the nurses. We situate our account of " becoming a novice smoker" within the contextualizing smoking behaviours over time theory we developed from our study. Finally, we relate the substantive findings we report here to the theoretical perspectives of symbolic interactionism and transtheoretical theory.


2014 ◽  
Vol 84 (2) ◽  
pp. 162-187 ◽  
Author(s):  
Silvia Diazgranados Ferráns ◽  
Robert Selman

The authors of this article, Silvia Diazgranados Ferráns and Robert Selman, use an emergent framework to explore how the rules of the school culture at different perceived school climates affect early adolescents’ decisions to upstand, bystand, or join the perpetrators when they witness peer aggression and bullying. Through a grounded theory approach, they revisit interview data from twenty-three eighth graders in four middle schools, with the aim of building on previous research and refining their theoretical framework to guide future research on bullying. The authors identify four school-level indicators that are salient in students’ perceptions of their school climate—safety, order, care, and empowerment—and examine how these indicators combine to configure three types of perceived school climates—negligent, authoritarian, and cohesive. They explore how these perceived school climates influence adolescents’ choice of strategy when they witness bullying in school and document a set of student recommendations about what schools can do to prevent bullying.


2007 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
pp. 25-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Von Krosigk

Aligning body, mind and spirit, acquiring emotional intelligence, an unshakable belief in their own intuition and producing outcomes in the context of organisational abilities encompass the attributes of leaders that emerged from this holistic exploration of leadership development. Emotionally aware leaders demonstrated their authenticity and cared for peaceful process. In this exploration such leaders started at the bottom within their enterprise working their way up over time. Agreeableness and flexibility were the core competencies they developed amongst others. A complex mix of behaviour, thoughts and emotions were the specific leadership attributes that were found to differ for different organisations. These specific leadership attributes needed to fit with the character and dynamics of the organisation. Since leadership development was found to be a holistic character development over time leadership courses are recommended for all scholars and students, with a strong emphasis on self-development. A grounded theory approach to this holistic exploration of leadership development serves the community well, by promoting the emergence of grounded theories which are free from practical impossibilities.


2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Mitchell ◽  
Shawna McCusker

AbstractThe following exploratory study was conducted in 2005 within Canadian post-secondary institutions for those intending to gain employment within public education for children and related professions. Data are comprised from thirteen interviews and draw upon students and educators from education, child health, and child and youth studies programmes. The researchers adopted a qualitative, grounded theory methodology to analyze documentary themes and those that emerged during theoretical sampling. Although there is variance of opinion, the majority confirm there is a limited theoretical appreciation of the Convention, and of concepts related to 'childhood' with a resultant lack of knowledge within post-secondary education. Interview findings were corroborated by policy analyses and data from non-governmental surveys, the Concluding Observations from the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, and a contemporaneous parliamentary review undertaken by Canada's Standing Senate Committee on Human Rights. A number of implications stemming from the ongoing violation of international human rights law in Canada are discussed as well as directions for future research.


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