scholarly journals Pearls of wisdom: using the single case study or ‘gem’ to identify strategies for mediating stress and work-life imbalance in healthcare staff

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 61-72
Author(s):  
Teena J Clouston

Background The growing levels of stress and work-life imbalance reported in contemporary health and social care arenas in the UK can be linked to the neoliberal principles driving performance and intensification in the workforce. These pressures are an area of concern in terms of staff health and wellbeing and the impact of these on the care and compassion of patients/service users. Aims This paper reports on a single case study that was part of a wider interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) that aimed to explore the levels of stress and work-life imbalance experienced by occupational therapists working in health and social-care sectors in Wales in the UK. Methods Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used as both an approach and tool of analysis. The use of the single case study and gem as a tool in IPA to pique interest and promote further investigation is also explicated. Results Identified four key strategies that underpinned an approach to mediating stress and work-life balance for staff in the workplace. These were: a sense of choice and autonomy over workloads and decision-making; congruence with family values; supportive workplace attitudes and expectations of others; and finally, that the ability to reconcile conflicts i.e. integrate or harmonise them with personal values, as opposed to holding a sense of compromise marked by concession or loss, can address cognitive and emotional dissonance. Conclusions The existing constructs to support the health and wellbeing of staff in health and social-care settings are ineffective. These strategies offer tools to address this and successfully promote a sense of personal integrity and meaning in life. In turn, this can achieve and sustain a more resilient workforce providing the positive energy needed to be caring and compassionate in their practice.

Author(s):  
Renee Georgoulas ◽  
Jane Southcott

“Calista” is a bilingual, bicultural Greek-Australian musician in Melbourne, Victoria who explores and enacts her bicultural identity by musicking (making music). This single case study explores the formation and development of hybridized identity which is a complex lifelong process that may generate tensions for an individual that changes across the lifespan. There are strengths and challenges for those traversing different cultures. This study focuses on a bicultural identity formed by personal, musical and cultural contexts. Calista enacts her bimusicality in different musical genres and in different modes of musical engagement. Data were collected by semi-structured interview and by reference to published materials. Data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The findings are reported under three themes that reflect different stages in Calista’s life: Becoming a Greek-Australian musician; Mature musicking; and Teaching and community work.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 241-249
Author(s):  
Päivikki Kuoppakangas ◽  
Juha Lindfors ◽  
Jari Stenwall ◽  
Tony Kinder ◽  
Antti Talonen

During 2020, the COVID-19 crisis expanded the use of digital tools in public health and social care. The aim of this qualitative, single-case study was to scrutinize how homecare professionals experienced meaningfulness in their work in the midst of a crisis and with the utilization of the videophone in long-term homecare service provision. The empirical data consisted of 20 thematic interviews carried out among homecare professionals and their managers in the city of Tampere, Finland. The results indicated that the videophone can generate significance, self-realization and broader purposes among homecare professionals, thus providing meaningfulness for work in the midst of a crisis and continuous work-related changes. In addition, a crisis may support change in the meaningfulness of e-welfare in work-related tasks and aid in overcoming reluctance amongst public-sector social care (homecare) professionals towards an e-welfare initiative: the videophone (VideoVisit).


Delivering high quality health and social care is considered to be one of the key governance challenges in the UK. People are living longer, and chronic diseases are more prevalent, which puts ever more pressure on health and social services to deliver. In order to better co-ordinate these services and deal with increased demand and funding pressures, authorities at both national and local levels are moving towards integrated care services. However, the integration of these services is plagued with difficulties. This chapter will explore the complexities of joining-up health and social care. It includes a case study of Continuing Healthcare (CHC), which is a package of care provided by the National Health Service (NHS) and which involves a number of providers across the health and social care sectors. While much of the chapter focuses on health and social care challenges in England, it will finish with analysis of Scotland's progress towards integrated services.


2018 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 137-146
Author(s):  
Sarah Jane Godfrey

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to convey the experience of medical cannabis users and growers in the UK. Design/methodology/approach Biography and personal ethnograpy. Findings Medical cannabis users are forced into cultivating their own medicine. Research limitations/implications Single case study. Practical implications There is an urgent need for policy change to enable medical cannabis users to access their medication easily and affordably. Social implications A rising number of people are denied their constitutional right to health by a misguided policy. Originality/value This study fills a major gap in the literature on medical cannabis growers.


2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (4) ◽  
pp. 875-902 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kieran Mervyn ◽  
Nii Amoo ◽  
Rebecca Malby

Purpose Public sectors have responded to grand societal challenges by establishing collaboratives – new inter-organizational partnerships to secure better quality health services. In the UK, a proliferation of collaboration-based healthcare networks exists that could help to enhance the value of investments in quality improvement programs. The nature and organizational form of such improvements is still a subject of debate within the public-sector literature. Place-based collaboration has been proposed as a possible solution. In response, the purpose of this study is to present the results and findings of a place-based collaborative network, highlighting challenges and insights. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a social constructionist epistemological approach, using a qualitative methodology. A single case study was used and data collected in three different stages over a two-year period. Findings The study finds that leadership, data-enabled learning through system-wide training and development, and the provision of an enabling environment that is facilitated by an academic partner, can go a long way in the managing of healthcare networks for improving quality. Research limitations/implications Regardless of the tensions and challenges with place-based networks, they could still be a solution in maximizing the public value required by government investments in the healthcare sector, as they offer a more innovative structure that can help to address complex issues beyond the remit of hierarchical structures. This study is limited by the use of a single case study. Practical implications Across countries health systems are moving away from markets to collaborative models for healthcare delivery and from individual services to population-based approaches. This study provides insights to inform leaders of collaborative health models in the design and delivery of these new collaborations. Social implications As demand rises (as a result of increasing complexity and demographics) in the western world, health systems are seeking to redefine the boundaries between health service provision and community self-reliance and resilience. This study provides insights into the new partnership between health institutions and communities, providing opportunities for more social- and solidarity-based healthcare models which place patients and the public at the heart of change. Originality/value The city place-based network is the first of such organizational form in healthcare collaboration in the UK.


2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (04) ◽  
pp. 403-430 ◽  
Author(s):  
SHAUKAT ALI ◽  
VICKY O'CALLAGHAN ◽  
JOHN D. MIDDLETON

A health impact assessment case study of an innovative "Towards 2010" programme aiming to bring together health and social care organisations is described. The aim of the assessment was to inform the decision makers which of the four service reconfiguration options being considered would bring about significant benefits to the health and wellbeing of the local population. Overall, 600 positive and negative impacts were predicted across 11 broad determinants of health including employment and economy, education, transport, housing, visual amenity (environment), access to services, crime, lifestyle, pollution, health inequalities and family and social cohesion. The findings suggest that two of the four options seem to offer the best opportunity for improving the health and wellbeing of the local population and for linking into wider regeneration initiatives within the programme area. The outcome of the HIA places decision makers in a better informed position to develop appropriate policies for maximising positive and mitigating negative aspects of the proposals.


2003 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 148-159
Author(s):  
Keith V. Bletzer

Migratory farm labor like other forms of migrant work both in and outside agriculture impedes on the opportunity to make choices. The following essay explores particular phases in the life of one man (a single case study) and examines how he considers turning points in his life that led to a long period of substance use, both as an immigrant in the country and as a working man in his home country, followed by a cessation of use and the beginning stages of recovery. / Para el migrante, viajar en busca de trabajo es díficil, ya sea que trabaje en agricultura o en otras labores. Este ensayo examina ciertas etapas en la vida de un hombre (estudio de un solo caso) que examina los cambios que le han ocurrido durante un período en que él consumía grandes cantidades de alcohol en los estados y en su país, seguido por un período de sobriedad (no tomaba alcohol, no usaba drogas) en este país en que él comienza una etapa de rehabilitación.


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