The Impact of Family Support on the Success of Black Men at an Historically Black University: Affirming the Revision of Tinto’s Theory

Background: COVID-19 public health restrictions have affected end-of-life care experiences for dying patients and their families. Aim: To explore bereaved relatives’ experiences of quality of care and family support provided during the last days of life; to identify the impact of factors associated with perceived support. Design: A national, observational, open online survey was developed and disseminated via social media, public fora and professional networks (June–September 2020). Validated instruments and purposively designed questions assessed experiences. Analysis used descriptive statistics, logistic regression and thematic analysis of free-text responses. Participants: Individuals (⩾18 years) who had experienced the death of a relative/friend (all care settings) within the United Kingdome during the COVID-19 pandemic. Results: Respondents ( n = 278, mean 53.4 years) tended to be female ( n = 216, 78%); over half were ‘son/daughter’ (174, 62.6%) to the deceased. Deceased individuals (mean 81.6 years) most frequently died in their ‘usual place of care’ ( n = 192, 69.3%). Analysis established five conceptual themes affecting individualised care: (1) public health restrictions compounding the distress of ‘not knowing’; (2) disparate views about support from doctors and nurses; (3) challenges in communication and level of preparedness for the death; (4) delivery of compassionate care; (5) emotional needs and potential impact on grief. Male respondents (OR 2.9, p = 0.03) and those able to visit (OR 2.2, p = 0.04) were independently associated with good perceptions of family support. Conclusion: Despite public health restrictions, individualised care can be enabled by proactive, informative communication; recognising dying in a timely manner and facilitating the ability to be present before death.

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The impact of lockdown policy on depressive symptoms among pregnant women in China: mediating effects of internet use and family support

Global Health Research and Policy ◽

10.1186/s41256-021-00193-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 6 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Yongjie Zhou ◽

Ruoxi Wang ◽

Lei Liu ◽

Ting Ding ◽

Lijuan Huo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Depressive Symptoms ◽

Pregnant Women ◽

Family Support ◽

Parental Support ◽

Structural Equation ◽

Internet Use ◽

Western China ◽

Maternal Depressive Symptoms ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

The Impact

Abstract Background Although more and more attention has been paid to the psychological consequences of the lockdown policy amongst pregnant women, the underlying mechanism linking the lockdown policy to maternal depression has not been studied in the context of China. This study aimed to explore the association between the lockdown policy and maternal depressive symptoms, and whether such association was mediated by internet use and/or family support. Methods This cross-sectional study used multi-stage sampling techniques in central and western China. Data were collected from 1266 pregnant women using a structtured questionnaire that measured internet use, family support, and depressive symptoms. The Patient Health Questionnaire-9 (PHQ-9) was used to measure depressive symptoms. Internet use was measured by length of usage and varierity of purpose for internet use. Family support was measureed by spousal support and parental support. The structural equation modelling was employed to conduct mediation analysis to test the specificity of the hypothetical paths. Results Overall, 527 respondents (41.63%) presented depressive symptoms. The lockdown policy was negatively associated with depressive symptoms in pregnant women (β = − 0.925, 95% CI = −1.510, − 0.360). The impact of the lockdown policy on depressive symptoms was partially mediated by internet use (β = 1.589, 95% CI = 0.730, 2.807) and family support (β = − 0.162, 95% CI = − 0.341, − 0.017), accounting for 42.67% of the total effect. Conclusions The lockdown policy was generally associated with fewer depressive symptoms in pregnant women. The lockdown policy increased maternal depressive symptoms through increased internet use, but decreased maternal depressive symptoms through enhanced family support. The findings suggest that the psychological consequence of the lockdown policy may vary across different populations, and warrant the need to take into consideration the features of subgroups.

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