Main Barriers to Optimal Breastfeeding Practices in Armenia: A Qualitative Study

2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 318-327
Author(s):  
Anahit Demirchyan ◽  
Dzovinar Melkom Melkomian
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Breastfeeding Support ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Levels Of Care ◽  
Breastfeeding Practices ◽  
Independent States ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Systemic Barriers

Background In 2015, the median duration of exclusive breastfeeding was 2.2 months in Armenia, and only 15% of 4–5-month-old children were exclusively breastfed, indicating an issue with breastfeeding knowledge and practices. Research aim To identify the main barriers to optimal breastfeeding practices in Armenia. Methods We used qualitative research methods via focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with four groups of providers from different levels of care, and mothers of young children, from Yerevan city and two provinces, Lori and Shirak. Overall, eight in-depth interviews and 13 focus group discussions were conducted with a total of 99 participants. Qualitative content analysis was applied, with elements of both inductive and deductive approaches. Results We identified two main categories of barriers to optimal breastfeeding—systemic barriers and knowledge deficiencies. The main themes within systemic barriers were lack of skilled breastfeeding support services and low motivation of providers—mainly related to inadequate recognition of their role in breastfeeding counseling and low remuneration. The main knowledge-related barriers were insufficient counseling of mothers, lack of reliable information sources about infant feeding, and misconceptions among both mothers and providers. Conclusion Optimal breastfeeding is crucial for the best start to an infant’s life; however, there were a number of barriers to optimal breastfeeding practices in Armenia. Our findings and recommendations could help policymakers apply effective strategies for improving breastfeeding rates in Armenia. Considering the similar historical backgrounds of the post-Soviet countries, our findings could also be applicable to other Commonwealth of Independent States countries.

scholarly journals Nurses’ Views on Need for Professional Development in Nepal

2010 ◽  
Vol 49 (179) ◽  
Author(s):  
Geeta Kamal Shrestha ◽  
N Bhandari ◽  
B Singh
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Continuing Professional Development ◽  
Female Gender ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
University Hospital ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Depth Interviews

INTRODUCTION: This study explores the nurses' views on need for professional development and barriers in Nepal. METHODS: This is a qualitative content analysis study conducted among nurses from different health institutes. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used to obtain their views on need of professional development and major barriers against professional development in Nepal. Eleven nurses for in-depth interviews and three groups of six nurses each for focus group discussions were selected purposefully from Kathmandu University Hospital, Dhulikhel and Tribhuban University Teachng Hospital, Kathmnadu. RESULTS: Five themes emerged from qualitative data. "Continuing professional development", "supportive management", "nursing leadership", "recognition and respect" and "professional networking" were considered as essential factors for professional development. Lack of "commitment by the nurses", "female gender professional" and "lack of autonomy" were felt as barriers for the nursing professioanl development. CONCLUSIONS: Continuing professional development and supportive working environment are crucial to make nursing profession more dynamic and appealing in Nepal. Keywords: continuing professional development, professional development, supportive managment

scholarly journals Nairobi Early Childcare in Slums (NECS) Study Protocol: a mixed-methods exploration of paid early childcare in Mukuru slum, Nairobi

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. e000822
Author(s):  
Robert C Hughes ◽  
Patricia Kitsao-Wekulo ◽  
Sunil Bhopal ◽  
Elizabeth W Kimani-Murage ◽  
Zelee Hill ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mixed Methods ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Early Years ◽  
Epidemiological Methods ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Early Childcare ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Childcare Providers

IntroductionThe early years are critical. Early nurturing care can lay the foundation for human capital accumulation with lifelong benefits. Conversely, early adversity undermines brain development, learning and future earning.Slums are among the most challenging places to spend those early years and are difficult places to care for a child. Shifting family and work structures mean that paid, largely informal, childcare seems to be becoming the ‘new normal’ for many preschool children growing up in rapidly urbanising Africa. However, little is known about the quality of this childcare.AimsTo build a rigorous understanding what childcare strategies are used and why in a typical Nairobi slum, with a particular focus on provision and quality of paid childcare. Through this, to inform evaluation of quality and design and implementation of interventions with the potential to reach some of the most vulnerable children at the most critical time in the life course.Methods and analysisMixed methods will be employed. Qualitative research (in-depth interviews and focus group discussions) with parents/carers will explore need for and decision-making about childcare. A household survey (of 480 households) will estimate the use of different childcare strategies by parents/carers and associated parent/carer characteristics. Subsequently, childcare providers will be mapped and surveyed to document and assess quality of current paid childcare. Semistructured observations will augment self-reported quality with observable characteristics/practices. Finally, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with childcare providers will explore their behaviours and motivations. Qualitative data will be analysed through thematic analysis and triangulation across methods. Quantitative and spatial data will be analysed through epidemiological methods (random effects regression modelling and spatial statistics).Ethics and disseminationEthical approval has been granted in the UK and Kenya. Findings will be disseminated through journal publications, community and government stakeholder workshops, policy briefs and social media content.

Kinship construction variability among Nigerian international migrants: The context of contemporary Diaspora

Human Affairs ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Olayinka Akanle ◽  
Olanrewau Olutayo
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Life Histories ◽  
First Century ◽  
Primary Data ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Kinship Networks ◽  
Methodological Triangulation ◽  
International Migrants ◽  
Depth Interviews

AbstractUnderstanding the selves, situations and actions of Africans can never be comprehended outside kinship. Local and foreign worldviews are first pigeonholed into culture and defined within kinship realities in Nigeria and Africa. There have been studies on kinship in Africa. However, the findings from such studies portrayed the immutability of African kinship. Thus, as an important contribution to the on-going engagement of kinship in the twenty-first century as an interface between the contemporary Diaspora, this article engaged kinship within international migration. This is a major behavioural and socio-economic force in Nigeria. Methodological triangulation was adopted as part of the research design and primary data were collected through in-depth interviews (IDIs), and life histories of international migrants were documented and focus group discussions (FGDs) were held with kin of returnees. The article found and concluded that while returnees continued to appreciate local kinship infrastructures, the infrastructures were liable to reconstruction primarily determined by dominant support situations in the traditional African kinship networks.

Islamic Discourses of Environmental Change on the Swahili Coast of Southern Tanzania

2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-60
Author(s):  
Justin Raycraft
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Environmental Change ◽  
Belief System ◽  
Social Suffering ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Swahili Coast ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Depth Interviews

This paper addresses how Makonde Muslim villagers living on the Swahili coast of southern Tanzania conceptualize and discuss environmental change. Through narratives elicited during in-depth interviews and focus group discussions, I show that respondents associate various forms of environmental change—ecological, climatic, political, and socioeconomic—with God’s plan. Respondents had a sound grasp of the material workings of their lived realities and evoked religious causality to fill in the residual explanatory gaps and find meaning in events that were otherwise difficult to explain. Such narratives reveal both a culturally engrained belief system that colors people’s understandings of change and uncertainty and a discursive idiom for making sense of social suffering. On an applied note, I submit that social science approaches to studying environmental change must take into account political and economic contexts relative to local cosmologies, worldviews, and religious faiths, which may not disaggregate the environment into distinct representational categories.

scholarly journals BREASTFEEDING EXPERIENCES OF WORKING MOTHERS IN VIETNAM

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 279-286
Author(s):  
Nguyen Thi Truong Xuan ◽  
Nhan Thi Nguyen
Keyword(s):  
Working Mothers ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
World Health ◽  
Breastfeeding Support ◽  
Breastfeeding Practices ◽  
Optimal Health ◽  
Returning To Work ◽  
Need For Support ◽  
Health Organization ◽  
Depth Interviews

Background: World Health Organization recommends mothers all over the world should continue breastfeeding up to the age of two years or beyond to achieve optimal health, growth and development for their infants. However, the breastfeeding practices among working mothers have been decreased by the time passed.Objective: to describe the breastfeeding experiences of mothers who returned to work after childbirth.Methods: This study was utilized a qualitative design. Purposive sampling was used to recruit the participant who met the inclusion criteria. Data were collected from 10 semi-structured in-depth interviews. All interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. The interview transcriptions were analyzed by using the qualitative content analysis approach.Results: The breastfeeding period of 10 working mothers ranging from 7 to 15 months. Five categories emerged from the data were: 1) Attitude towards breastfeeding, 2) Breastfeeding support during working, 3) Strategic plan for breastfeeding, 4) Psychological distress, and 5) A need for support facilities and resources for breastfeeding during working.Conclusion: This research provided a better understanding of breastfeeding experiences of working mothers in Vietnam. The findings can help nurses and other healthcare professionals in providing anticipatory guidance to mothers who plan to continue breastfeeding after returning to work.

scholarly journals Persepsi Ibu Terhadap Iklan Vaksin Measles Rubella (MR)

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Muslimah Muslimah ◽  
Dian Ayubi
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Health Promotion ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Electronic Media ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Data Collection Process ◽  
Depth Interviews

Measles and Rubella (MR) is a disease that is highly contagious and usually occurs in children aged 9 months until the age of 15 years. One effort that can be done to reduce the incidence of the disease is through health promotion about the importance of immunization. Purpose the promotion was packaged in the form of advertisements on electronic media with the aim of building perceptions that the importance of immunization for public health. Methods this research was a qualitative study with a method of collecting in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The number of informants in this study was 19 mothers who had children aged 0.9 to 15 years in one of the Puskesmas work areas in Merangin District, Jambi Province. Before the data collection process, all informants were asked to see two MR immunization advertisements. Results that immunization advertisements are interesting and contain humor. Meanwhile, informants who did not give MR immunization to their children tended to be negative towards MR immunization advertisements and tended to ignore the effects that arose if they did not give immunizations to their children. The recommendation that MR immunization advertisements should avoid using the fear arousal method and use the pay off idea method in those ads

Unlocking Trust in Community Health Systems: Lessons from the Lymphatic Filariasis Morbidity Management and Disability Prevention Pilot Project in Luangwa District, Zambia

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph M. Zulu ◽  
Patricia Maritim ◽  
Adam Silumbwe ◽  
Hikabasa Halwiindi ◽  
Patricia Mubita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Health Services ◽  
Lymphatic Filariasis ◽  
Health Systems ◽  
Disability Prevention ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Community Health Systems ◽  
Referral Systems ◽  
Depth Interviews

Background: Surgery for hydrocele is commonly promoted as part of morbidity management and disability prevention (MMDP) services for lymphatic filariasis (LF). However, uptake of these surgeries has been suboptimal owing to several community level barriers that have triggered mistrust in such services. This study aimed at documenting mechanisms of unlocking trust in community health systems (CHS) in the context of a LF hydrocele management project that was implemented in Luangwa District, Zambia. Methods: Qualitative data was collected through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions (n=45) in February 2020 in Luangwa District. Thirty-one in-depth interviews were conducted with hydrocele patients, CHWs, health workers, traditional leaders and traditional healers. Two focus group discussions were also conducted with CHWs who had been involved in project implementation with seven participants per group. Data was analyzed using a thematic analysis approach. Results: The use of locally appropriate communication strategies, development of community driven referral systems, working with credible community intermediaries as well as strengthening health systems capacity through providing technical and logistical support enhanced trust in surgery for hydrocele and uptake of the surgeries. Conclusion: Implementation of community led communication and referral systems as well as strengthening health services are vital in unlocking trust in health systems as such mechanisms trigger authentic partnerships, including mutual respect and recognition in the CHS. The mechanisms also enhance confidence in health services among community members.

scholarly journals Exploring a Model of Whistle Blowing System for Malaysian Municipal Council

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 62
Author(s):  
Maheran Zakaria ◽  
Rahayu Abdul Rahman ◽  
Hasnun Anip Bustaman
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Internal Control ◽  
Ethical Culture ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Whistle Blowing ◽  
Municipal Council ◽  
Life Threatening ◽  
Depth Interviews

A municipal council is one of the local authorities established under the auspice of Malaysian local government. The objective is to deliver services to a community under its jurisdiction in a sustainable manner, but evidences indicated that the service qualities have deteriorated due to numerous malpractices. The malpractices could be prevented should any of the insiders who witness the incidences whistle blow to those who have power to act. However, not many are willing to report for fear of reprisal, retaliation and even life threatening. Despite that a whistleblowing system is established to encourage whistleblowing, such system has yet to be formed in any of Malaysian municipal councils. Intrigued with the issue, the objective of this study is to explore a model of whistle blowing system for a Malaysian municipal council. A hermeneutic phenomenography study was conducted in which data were gathered through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The participants consisted of four top management and sixty officials from a Malaysian municipal council. Data were analyzed qualitatively using Nvivo 14 and triangulated with other source of documents. The findings from emergent themes proposed a model of the whistleblowing system that consisted of four elements namely protection, internal control policies, incentives and ethical culture. This discovery provides useful insights to policy makers, relevant authorities, and academic fraternities of the model of whistle blowing system that will alleviate malpractices and thus elevate the transparency, efficiency and integrity of the municipal council to the fullest.

Myth of the Informal Sector: A Study on the Sexual Harassment of Female Adolescents in Four Motor Garages in Ilorin, Nigeria

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 717-735 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Arazeem Abdullahi ◽  
Mariam Seedat Khan ◽  
Tomilola Ifeoluwa Ajimati
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Informal Sector ◽  
Female Adolescent ◽  
Female Adolescents ◽  
Late Adolescents ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Depth Interviews

Abstract This study investigates the vulnerability of the female adolescent to sexual harassment in motor garages in Ilorin, Nigeria. While informal organizations such as motor garages remain the stronghold of the economy in Ilorin, they also provide fertile-grounds for sexual harassment of female adolescents. This study explored the patterns, perceptions, and experiences of female adolescent hawkers who experienced sexual harassment in four selected motor garages in Ilorin, Nigeria. Data for this study was gathered using semi-structured, in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The study found that sexual harassment of female adolescents in motor garages in Ilorin was pervasive, widespread, and alarming. All participants disclosed they had experienced some forms of sexual harassment in their day-to-day activities. However, perceptions about the severity of the sexual harassment vary from early, middle to late adolescents interviewed. Although, none of the participants disclosed being raped, some revealed that some of their friends had been victims of rape. This study recommends measures to minimize sexual harassment in informal organizations such as motor garages in Ilorin.

Effects of Alcohol Consumption and Abuse Among Younger Adults in Nsukka, Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 7 (10) ◽  
pp. 612-625
Author(s):  
Anthony Obinna Iwuagwu ◽  
Christian Chiedozie Iyiani ◽  
Christopher Ndubuisi Ngwu ◽  
Stanley Emeka Agholor ◽  
Brian Obue Eyang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Alcohol Consumption ◽  
Focus Group ◽  
Alcohol Abuse ◽  
Random Sample ◽  
Qualitative Data ◽  
Focus Group Discussions ◽  
Group Discussions ◽  
Younger Adults ◽  
Multi Stage ◽  
Depth Interviews

Globally, there has been availability and misuse of alcohol among youths and the consequences have been a thing of serious concern. This study investigates the effects of alcohol consumption and abuse among younger adults in Nsukka, Nigeria. The study used a multi stage random sample of 110 younger adults aged 17-40 years. They were interviewed using in-depth interviews (10) and Focus Group Discussions (10 FGD) that elicited information on the effects of alcohol consumption and abuse among younger adults. The qualitative data generated were analyzed in themes. Results indicate that majority of the respondents negatively perceived alcohol consumption to be depraved due to its health, religious and social implications, especially when it is abused. However, they conserved that many positive benefits are inherent in alcohol consumption if it is not abused. Given the rate of alcohol abuse among younger adults as findings show, there is the urgent need for policies and programmes that will help regulate alcohol consumption and abuse. This will go a long way in sensitizing, rehabilitating and reintegrating alcohol addicts and the at-risk persons to the larger society and the findings has potentials to influence policies on alcoholism.

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