Women’s Lived Experiences of Chronic Pain: Faces of Gendered Suffering

<p>Research has shown that depression is prevalent in adolescence. This descriptive phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of young Pacific Island (PI) women (17-25 years of age) living in New Zealand. Phenomenological interviewing was used to capture the lived experiences of depression with the aim of developing a deeper understanding of what it is like to be a young depressed PI woman. The essence of being depressed was imprisonment. Young PI women described how family and cultural pressures, experiences of failure and abuse led to their depression. They experienced rejection, being labelled, misunderstood and silenced by others and their circumstances and depression trapped them. The women managed their depression by finding their voice in writing journals, listening to music, reading bible scriptures, prayer and connecting to others with similar lived experience. The implications of the study are discussed in relation to improving parent education and culturally relevant support for young PI women. Recommendations for future research include developing approaches to research that include a more specific cultural and gender focus.</p>

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Imprisonment: Young Pacific womens' experiences of living with depression

10.26686/wgtn.17013638 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

◽

Aotearoa Muaiava

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Lived Experience ◽

Parent Education ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Phenomenological Study ◽

Future Research ◽

Pacific Island ◽

Music Reading ◽

And Gender ◽

Cultural Pressures

<p>Research has shown that depression is prevalent in adolescence. This descriptive phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of young Pacific Island (PI) women (17-25 years of age) living in New Zealand. Phenomenological interviewing was used to capture the lived experiences of depression with the aim of developing a deeper understanding of what it is like to be a young depressed PI woman. The essence of being depressed was imprisonment. Young PI women described how family and cultural pressures, experiences of failure and abuse led to their depression. They experienced rejection, being labelled, misunderstood and silenced by others and their circumstances and depression trapped them. The women managed their depression by finding their voice in writing journals, listening to music, reading bible scriptures, prayer and connecting to others with similar lived experience. The implications of the study are discussed in relation to improving parent education and culturally relevant support for young PI women. Recommendations for future research include developing approaches to research that include a more specific cultural and gender focus.</p>

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The lived experience among Somali women of giving birth in Sweden: an interpretive phenomenological study

BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth ◽

10.1186/s12884-020-02933-9 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Susanne Wallmo ◽

Karin Allgurin ◽

Carina Berterö

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Lived Experience ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis ◽

Phenomenological Study ◽

Care Seeking ◽

Snowball Sampling ◽

Somali Women ◽

Pregnancy And Birth

Abstract Background The health care-seeking behaviour among Somali women is different from Swedish women’s behaviour, and this may have consequences for birth giving. The aim of the study was to identify and describe Somali women’s lived experience of birth giving in Sweden. Methods Qualitative individual interviews were conducted in Swedish with seven Somali women. The sample was purposeful, and the snowball sampling method was used. The interviews were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. Results Four themes emerged during the analysis which revealed the Somali women’s lived experiences of giving birth in Sweden. a) Being recognised and confirmed as a woman. Somali women consider it important to be confirmed as a woman by the surrounding and professionals during pregnancy and birth giving. b) Communication is important for the women’s independence. There is a need to provide a structure for how this information is given and adaptation regarding content and format .c) Something naturally becomes unknown and complicated. Somali women come from a different culture, which affects their lived experiences of pregnancy and birth giving. There is a need for improved and clearer information for these Somali women regarding pregnancy and birth giving in another culture- the Swedish context d) Professional and competent taking care of. The women appreciate if they are treated with competency and professionalism; they do not want to be discriminated. The women feel confidence in health care when they meet competent and professional health care professionals. Conclusions The findings in the study indicate that reproductive health care for Somali women should be improved with regard to cultural differences and lived experiences, as this affects their experience of pregnancy and childbirth in Sweden. There is a need for both knowledge and understanding in order to provide good quality care for these Somali women, especially those who have been genitally mutilated.

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The effects of the cultural context of health care on treatment of and response to chronic pain and illness

Social Science & Medicine ◽

10.1016/s0277-9536(97)00068-3 ◽

1997 ◽

Vol 45 (9) ◽

pp. 1433-1447 ◽

Cited By ~ 75

Author(s):

Maryann S. Bates ◽

Lesley Rankin-Hill ◽

Melba Sanchez-Ayendez

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Chronic Pain ◽

Cultural Context

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Researching lived experience in health care: Significance for care ethics

Nursing Ethics ◽

10.1177/0969733010389253 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 18 (2) ◽

pp. 232-242 ◽

Cited By ~ 20

Author(s):

Bernadette Dierckx de Casterlé ◽

Sofie TL Verhaeghe ◽

Marijke C Kars ◽

Annemarie Coolbrandt ◽

Marleen Stevens ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Decision Making ◽

Qualitative Research ◽

Lived Experience ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Ethical Decision ◽

Ethical Decision Making ◽

Care Ethics ◽

Care Recipients ◽

Imminent Death

The aim of this article is to demonstrate the usefulness of qualitative research for studying the ethics of care, bringing to light the lived experience of health care recipients, together with the importance of methods that allow reconstruction of the processes underlying this lived experience. Lived experiences of families being approached for organ donation, parents facing the imminent death of their child and patients being treated using stem cell transplantation are used to illustrate how ethical principles are differentiated, modified or contradicted by the narrative context of persons concerned. The integration of empirical data into ethics will help caregivers in their ethical decision making and may enrich care ethics as a narrative and interpretative field.

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Between Dishwater and the River

Worldviews Global Religions Culture and Ecology ◽

10.1163/15685357-02001006 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

pp. 64-75

Author(s):

Sofía Betancourt

Keyword(s):

Black Women ◽

Lived Experience ◽

Environmental Ethics ◽

Gender Stereotypes ◽

Lived Experiences ◽

Black Communities ◽

Environmental Engagement ◽

Renaissance Period ◽

Theological Foundation ◽

And Gender

The ground of ecowomanist ethics is watered by multigenerational responses to racial and gender stereotypes in relation to communal knowledge of the land. This wisdom survived through centuries of violence and the daily lived experience of bigotry and abuse in a white supremacist world, and rests on pluralistic understandings of the sacred relationship between human and non-human nature. It remains today as part of the womanist call to accountability and spirit defined in Alice Walker’s writings. Emergent ecowomanist thought is uniquely situated to interrupt many of the stereotypes that serve to maintain a separation between black communities and environmental engagement. This article argues that a robust ecowomanist ethics should situate itself in the interplay between ecojustice and environmental justice approaches to environmental devastation. It draws on the poem “No Images,” written by William Waring Cuney at the beginning of the Harlem Renaissance period, centering on the lived experiences of black women as expressed through black women’s musical appropriations of his work. The clear lamentation and grief interwoven between the words of this short poem are given new life in the voices of Nina Simone and Ysaye Maria Barnwell with the women of Sweet Honey in the Rock. Engaging questions of environmental ethics through the lens of black women’s lived experiences of agency and struggle can create a theological foundation for ecowomanist thought that promotes the preservation of both nature and human dignity.

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