scholarly journals “The Internal Police Officer Has Not Retired but Has Slowed Down”: Israeli Women Reframe Their Aging Experiences in the Second Half of Life

2022 ◽  
pp. 073346482110614
Author(s):  
Liat Ayalon ◽  
Shlomit Lir
Keyword(s):  
Older Women ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Public Attention ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Societal Norms ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Shed Light

Compared with gains, losses have received a substantial amount of research and public attention. The present study aims to shed light on the positive gains associated with older age from the perspective of older women. Five focus groups with 19 Israeli women over the age of 54 were conducted. Trailers of three different films were used to stimulate discussion about old age and aging and allow for reflections on societal norms in light of personal experiences. Focus group interviews were analyzed thematically. Respondents identified four contexts, characterized by reframing their experiences against societal norms. These included gender stereotypes, physical appearance, interpersonal relations, and employment. This study represents an opening to a different discourse around old age, which is characterized by gains and possibilities brought about by changes in reframing one’s experiences, while distancing oneself and exerting free will vis à vis social norms.

Much changes, much remains the same: Icelandic parents’ perspectives on preschool education

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 220-232
Author(s):  
Johanna Einarsdottir
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Values ◽  
National Curriculum ◽  
Preschool Education ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Cultural Discourses ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Curriculum Guidelines ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Shed Light

The aim of the study was to shed light on Icelandic parents’ views on their children’s preschool educations and explore if their views have changed over the last decade. In 2005/2006, focus group interviews were conducted with parents of 5- and 6-year-old children in three preschools in Iceland. In 2016, the same preschools were revisited, and now 26 parent participants were interviewed. Several challenges have been facing Icelandic early childhood education and care in the last decade. Iceland is faced with academic pushes and pressures to increase accountability. In addition, society is moving from a homogeneous to a multicultural nature. Therefore, it was of interest to explore if parents’ views had changed over the last decade. However, mostly parents of Icelandic origin were willing to participate. The findings from the present study therefore show the views of dominant Icelandic parents. The views of those parents have not changed much over the last decade, in spite of changes in the societal and educational landscape. They endorsed play as well as social and personal competences. The findings indicate that socio-cultural discourses are influential in shaping the narratives of participating parents. It seems that the parents were expressing ideas proposed by the Icelandic National Curriculum Guidelines for Preschools and their views reflect the dominant cultural values that are presented in the curriculum guidelines. One can assume that these cultural values reflected in the curriculum are stronger than the current neoliberal, global emphasis since the ideas of the participating parents had not changed significantly from the views of parents a decade ago, in spite of an international trend emphasising the academification of preschools and increasing multiculturalism in the country. Hence, the study shows clearly that despite neoliberal pressures, play and child-centred preschools remain a priority for Icelandic parents.

scholarly journals How to Promote Workplace Health in order to Work into Old Age: Experiences from Employees in an Industrial Setting

Scientifica ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 2019 ◽  
pp. 1-8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Lydell ◽  
Cathrine Hildingh ◽  
Arne Söderbom ◽  
Kristina Ziegert
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Old Age ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Workplace Health ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Organisational Climate ◽  
Industrial Setting ◽  
Health Promoting ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Health And Well Being

Background. Health is important in workplaces. A good organisational climate in a workplace plays a major role in the employees’ well-being at work and is also associated with increased productivity. Today, employees are expected to work into older age and it is a challenge for companies to promote health and well-being for this growing group. Purpose. The purpose of this study was to explore how to promote workplace health at present time and for the end of working life in the perspective of employees. Design/Methodology/Approach. The study had an explorative design, and a thematic analysis was chosen. The inclusion criteria were persons 50 years and older, working in the company and planning to continue working into old age. A total of 21 coworkers (14 men) participated in the study. Three focus group interviews were conducted. Findings. The results from the focus group interviews are presented in four themes: handle change in a changeable workplace, take responsibility for health concerns, get confirmation for feeling needed, and support and tolerance adapted for each employee. Practical Implications. Promoting health should be an urgent mission for employees themselves as well as for managers in order to support employees in working into old age. The health promotion must be suitable for each employee and should be designed in such a way as to avoid inequality in workplace health. Originality/Value. There is a need for more health-promoting behaviours, support, and activities for employees in order to work into old age.

scholarly journals EFL Students’ perceptions on Gender Stereotypes through their Narratives

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 141-166
Author(s):  
Jhonatan Vásquez-Guarnizo ◽  
Maribel Chía-Ríos ◽  
Mairon Felipe Tobar-Gómez
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Public University ◽  
Foreign Languages ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Efl Students ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Student's Perceptions

This article reports a case study conducted with twelve students from the Modern/Foreign Languages program at a public university in Colombia. It sought to unveil EFL Student’s perceptions on Gender Stereotypes through three different moments. At first, students expressed their thoughts after being exposed to a film. Then, their point of views were heard through the exposure of some before/now photographs; and lastly, they provided their insights through their own artwork. Data was gathered through focus group interviews, field notes and students’ artifacts. Findings showed that students’ perceptions on gender stereotypes differ from their past generations and the way they see their future have made their minds change over the time.

scholarly journals Experiences of using an activating spinal orthosis in women with osteoporosis and back pain in primary care

2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christina Kaijser Alin ◽  
Nathalie Frisendahl ◽  
Ann-Charlotte Grahn Kronhed ◽  
Helena Salminen
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Back Pain ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Daily Life ◽  
Close Friend ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Spinal Orthosis

Abstract Summary Women with osteoporosis and back pain took part in focus group interviews and described their experiences of using and handling an activating spinal orthosis. The women described the back orthosis as being like a “close friend”, a support in everyday life and a reminder to maintain a good posture. Purpose The purpose of this study was to describe and gain a deeper understanding of the views of older women with osteoporosis and back pain seeking primary care regarding their use and handling of an activating spinal orthosis. Method We chose a qualitative method whereby information was gathered via focus group interviews and analysed using inductive content analysis. Women who previously participated in a randomised controlled trial and wore an activating spinal orthosis for 6 months were asked. Out of 31 women, 18 agreed to participate. Five focus group interviews were conducted. Results The analysis resulted in an overall theme in which the experiences of wearing the spinal orthosis were described as follows: “A well-adapted spinal orthosis could develop into a long-lasting friendship that provided support and help in daily life”. The overall theme was based on three main categories: impact on daily life, individual adaptation and personal relationship. The main categories were well differentiated from each other but had an interdependency. All three categories involved cases in which the spinal orthosis was perceived as relieving symptoms and making daily life easier, as well as when it was perceived as being hard to manage and provided no symptom relief. Conclusion In older women with osteoporosis and back pain, an activating spinal orthosis could be perceived as being a “close friend” and a support in everyday life. To facilitate acceptance of the spinal orthosis, it was important for it to be well adapted and for follow-ups to be carried out regularly.

scholarly journals Hell’s Grannies and Crazy Ladies—Challenging the Precarization of Older Women

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Hudson
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Everyday Life ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Precarious Situation

AbstractOlder women are often portrayed as particularly vulnerable and in need of protection, producing processes of ageist “othering” that deny agency, foster “appropriate” behaviors, and work to exclude them from everyday life. While not denying many women face a precarious situation in later life, some older women resist their subjectivation as vulnerable. Drawing on a concept of precarity as governmentality, older women’s acceptance and resistance to being characterized as “vulnerable” and in need of protection are explored in relation to focus group interviews with female pensioners in four Swedish municipalities.

‘Theatre as an eye-opener’: How theatre may contribute to knowledge about living close to persons with dementia

Dementia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (4) ◽  
pp. 439-451
Author(s):  
Eva Gjengedal ◽  
Else Lykkeslet ◽  
Wigdis Helen Sæther ◽  
Jan Inge Sørbø
Keyword(s):  
Phenomenological Approach ◽  
Emotional Engagement ◽  
Health Providers ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Data Services ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
The Future ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Close Relatives ◽  
Project Data

The aim of the study was to show how theatre may yield insight into living close to persons with dementia. Six focus group interviews with health providers and close relatives were conducted. The informants, recruited by the local dementia associations and nursing homes in three Norwegian towns, were invited to see the theatre play Our Wonderful World. Further, they were asked to send written reflections from during and after the play to the project group within one week. Transcripts from the interviews and reflection notes were analysed inspired by a phenomenological approach. After discussion and reflection on each member’s preliminary themes, a common meaning of the informants’ experiences were gained. Informants gave written informed consent and The Norwegian Social Sciences Data Services assessed the project. Data showed that the two groups of informants had different knowledge of the patients’ earlier life and thoughts of the future. They became aware of how different they experienced their responsibility, and they expressed different attitudes as to how open one should be about the illness. Findings are summarised in four themes: Bright memories and sombre views of the future, Life responsibility versus professional responsibility and Shielding versus openness. The drama creates emotional engagement that enabled the informants to transcend their personal experiences and gain new knowledge.

Older New Zealand Women Doing the Work of Christmas: A Recipe for Identity Formation

2005 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 332-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Wright-St Clair ◽  
Clare Hocking ◽  
Wannipa Bunrayong ◽  
Soisuda Vittayakorn ◽  
Phuonjai Rattakorn
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Identity Formation ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Family Rituals ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Chiang Mai ◽  
Public Recognition ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Family Identities ◽  
Group Interviews

‘Christmas, because it is rather a sentimental time you tend to look for the familiar and go back into what you remember in your childhood.’ In the process of preparing family favourites or trying exciting new foods at Christmas, older New Zealand women construct self and family identities. This paper presents the New Zealand findings from an interpretive, multi-site research project exploring older women's experiences of food occupations at Christmas in Auckland, New Zealand, and Kentucky, USA and Songkran (the tradition Thai New Year) in Chiang Mai, Thailand. Narrative data were collected through focus group interviews with 16 New Zealand women, aged 65 years or over. Talk about recipes and kitchen things used, and how the foods are prepared and served revealed layers of identity work. While recipes from, and stories about, mothers’ and grandmothers’ homemade cooking are kept alive through doing the food work at Christmas, being a women in contemporary New Zealand allowed new identities to emerge. Identity as a family unit is formed and reformed over time by blending cultural and family traditions and remaking new ones through Christmas foods and family rituals. Significantly, the women's skilled preparation and customising of recipes for Christmas foods creates a rich opportunity for self-affirmation and public recognition. For these older women, the gift of Christmas food was like giving something of themselves.

Ethnic categorization and moral agency in ‘fitting in’ narratives among Madrid immigrant students

2010 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 82-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana María Relaño Pastor
Keyword(s):  
Moral Agency ◽  
Immigrant Students ◽  
Moral Order ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Spanish Society ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Fitting In ◽  
Ethnic Categorization ◽  
Multicultural Schools

This article examines a group of ‘fitting in’ narratives told by students with different migrant backgrounds in focus group interviews. These narratives indicate shared experiences of adaptation and transformation among these students in Madrid’s multilingual/multicultural schools and Spanish society . I argue that these narratives were told in interaction and constrained by the moderators’ development of the topic-talk at hand, emerging only as answers to questions related to personal experiences of social exclusion in and outside school, as well as those related to group relations at school. They presented a pervasive use of ethnic categorization, which is analyzed in relation to narrators, the problematic event, and the moral order displayed in these narratives. As an interactional device, ethnic categorization served different purposes: (1) to index intragroup solidarity (‘we’ versus ‘other’); (2) to signal opposition and comparison among students with different migrant backgrounds (‘them’ versus ‘them’ or ‘them’ versus ‘us’); (3) to attribute different degrees of moral agency to narrative protagonists. All in all, these narratives display the moral order of school integration and open a window of understanding to the challenges faced by immigrant origin students in Spanish society.

Support and Skepticism Regarding Women’s Ordination

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamin R. Knoll and ◽  
Cammie Jo Bolin
Keyword(s):  
Older Women ◽  
Gender Stereotypes ◽  
Personal Narrative ◽  
Deep Dive ◽  
Religious Traditions ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Women's Ordination ◽  
The Common ◽  
And Gender

This chapter focuses on why some people support women’s ordination while others oppose it. It takes a deep dive into face-to-face personal narrative interviews to uncover the common themes and patterns of explanations that people give to justify their positions. It uncovers a few key themes that are common to individuals in a variety of religious traditions, including scriptural authority, personal experiences, and gender stereotypes about the gifts and talents that men and women possess. It is striking that despite interviewees’ reasons for supporting or opposing women’s ordination, many indicated they would gladly change their position if their congregation changed its policy. Middle-aged and older women, however, seem to have the most difficulty overall accepting women as pastors.

The Rhythm of Health in Older Women With Chronic Illness

2009 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nelma B. Crawford Shearer ◽  
Julie D. Fleury ◽  
Pamela G. Reed
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Chronic Illness ◽  
Older Women ◽  
Energy Flow ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Chronic Illnesses ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Optimal Health ◽  
Health Related ◽  
Group Interviews

Trends in population growth indicate that nurses increasingly will be caring for older adults, especially older women, who are at risk for less than optimal health due to chronic illnesses. The purpose of this qualitative study was to obtain a better understanding of the meaning of health from the perspective of older women. Focus group interviews with 51 women, aged 55 to 93, were held. Data were analyzed using directed qualitative content analysis. A Rogerian perspective of human health provided the broad conceptual lens for the study. Three themes explicating the meanings of health emerged from the data: realizing the potential for purpose, listening to energy flow, and purposefully participating in health-related changes. The three themes represented ways in which the women dealt with the paradoxes posed by their chronic illness. Findings captured the hopeful, although sometimes conflicting, meanings of health among the women as brought forth by experiences with chronic illness and the challenges of aging.

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