scholarly journals Professional support during the postpartum period: Primiparous mothers’ views on professional services and their expectations, and barriers to utilizing professional help.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiping Nan ◽  
Jingjun Zhang ◽  
Anum Nisar ◽  
Lanting Huo ◽  
Lei Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Primiparous mothers who lack of experience and knowledge of child caring, are usually overwhelmed by multifarious stressors and challenges. Although professional support is needed for primiparas, there is a gap between the necessary high-quality services and the currently provided poor services. This study aimed to explore Chinese primiparous mothers’ views on professional services, identify barriers to utilizing professional support, and further understand mothers’ expectations of and preferences for the delivery of professional services.Method: A descriptive phenomenological study design was utilized in this study, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 primiparous mothers who had given birth in the first year period before the interview and were selected from two community health centres in Xi’an city, Shaanxi Province, Northwest China. Each conversational interview lasted between 20 and 86 minutes. Colaizzi’s seven-step phenomenological approach was used to analyse the data.Results: Three major themes were identified: (a) dissatisfaction with current professional services for postpartum mothers, (b) likelihood of health care professional help-seeking behaviour, (c) highlighting the demands for new health care services. The related seven sub-themes included being disappointed with current hospital services; distrusting services provided by community health centres, private institutes and commercial online platforms; preferring not seeking help from professionals as their first choice; hesitating to express their inner discourse to professionals; following confinement requirement and family burden prevents mothers from seeking professional help; experiencing urgent needs for new baby-care-related services; and determining the importance of mothers’ needs. The necessity of professional support in the first month after childbirth was strongly emphasized by the participants. Online professional guidance and support were perceived as the best way to receive services in this study.Conclusion: The results of this descriptive phenomenological study suggested that the current maternal and child health care services were insufficient and could not meet primiparous mothers’ need. The results also indicated that identifying barriers and providing services focused on mothers’ needs may be an effective strategy to enhance primiparous mothers’ well-being, and further suggested that feasibility, convenience, and the cultural adaptability of health care services should be considered during the delivery of postpartum interventions.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiping Nan ◽  
Jingjun Zhang ◽  
Anum Nisar ◽  
Lanting Huo ◽  
Lei Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Primiparous mothers who lack experience and knowledge of child caring, are usually overwhelmed with multifarious stressors and challenges. Although support from professionals is needed for new mothers, there is indeed a gap between the necessary high-quality service and the currently provided poor services. This study aimed to explore Chinese primiparous mothers' views on professional services, identify barriers to mobilizing professional support, and further understand mothers' expectations of and preferences for the delivery of professional services. Method: A descriptive phenomenological study design was utilized in this study, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 primiparous mothers selected from two community health centres in Xi' an city, Shannxi province, northwest part of China and who had given birth within one year before the interview. Each conversation lasted between 20-86 minutes. Colaizzi' s seven-step phenomenological approach was used for data analysis. Results: Three major themes were identified: (a) dissatisfying with current professional services for postpartum mothers, (b) likelihood of health care professional help- seeking behaviour, (c) highlighting demands for new health care services. Seven related subthemes including disappointment with hospital services, distrusting services provided by community health centres, private institutes and online platforms; seeking help from professional was not the first choice, hesitating to express their inner discourse to professionals, and considering practical factors prohibited mothers from seeking professional help; urgent needs for new baby-care-related services, and importance of mothers' self-needs. The necessity of professional support in the first month of confinement was highly emphasized by participants. Online professional guidance and support were perceived to be the best way to receive services in this study. Conclusion: The results of this descriptive phenomenological study suggested that the current maternal and child health care services were insufficient and could not meet the needs of primiparous mothers. The identified barriers should be analysed and highlighted by enhancing education and eliminating stigma. The results also indicated that providing service focused on mothers' needs may be an effective strategy to enhance primiparous mothers' well-being, and also suggested that feasibility, convenience, and the cultural adaptability of health care service should be considered during the delivery of postpartum interventions.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiping Nan ◽  
Jingjun Zhang ◽  
Anum Nisar ◽  
Lanting Huo ◽  
Lei Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Primiparous mothers who lack of experience and knowledge of child caring, are usually overwhelmed by multifarious stressors and challenges. Although professional support is needed for primiparas, there is a gap between the necessary high-quality services and the currently provided poor services. This study aimed to explore Chinese primiparous mothers’ views on professional services, identify barriers to utilizing professional support, and further understand mothers’ expectations of and preferences for the delivery of professional services.Method: A descriptive phenomenological study design was utilized in this study, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 primiparous mothers who had given birth in the first year period before the interview and were selected from two community health centres in Xi’an city, Shaanxi Province, Northwest China. Each conversational interview lasted between 20 and 86 minutes. Colaizzi’s seven-step phenomenological approach was used to analyse the data.Results: Three major themes were identified: (a) dissatisfaction with current professional services for postpartum mothers, (b) likelihood of health care professional help-seeking behaviour, (c) highlighting the demands for new health care services. The related seven sub-themes included being disappointed with current hospital services; distrusting services provided by community health centres, private institutes and commercial online platforms; preferring not seeking help from professionals as their first choice; hesitating to express their inner discourse to professionals; following confinement requirement and family burden prevents mothers from seeking professional help; experiencing urgent needs for new baby-care-related services; and determining the importance of mothers’ needs. The necessity of professional support in the first month after childbirth was strongly emphasized by the participants. Online professional guidance and support were perceived as the best way to receive services in this study.Conclusion: The results of this descriptive phenomenological study suggested that the current maternal and child health care services were insufficient and could not meet primiparous mothers’ need. The results also indicated that identifying barriers and providing services focused on mothers’ needs may be an effective strategy to enhance primiparous mothers’ well-being, and further suggested that feasibility, convenience, and the cultural adaptability of health care services should be considered during the delivery of postpartum interventions.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. e0160986 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shankar Prinja ◽  
Aditi Gupta ◽  
Ramesh Verma ◽  
Pankaj Bahuguna ◽  
Dinesh Kumar ◽  
...  

2018 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Yinan Zhou ◽  
Ge Bai ◽  
Li Luo

Community health centres (CHCs) are the health gatekeepers of the local population. Location and numbers of the CHCs affect fairness and effectiveness with regard to access to primary health care. In the past, the distribution of the CHCs was solely empiric-based. The goal of this study was to devise a method for CHC distribution based on the principle of improving equity as well as ensuring efficiency. We tested the effectiveness and operability of the method through a process of revision and simulation using Guangdong Province, China as sample district. A methodology based on literature review and expert consultation was repeatedly applied until an ideal result had been reached. A hexagonal, mesh-based method was developed and used to find a solution where the CHCs could be distributed where their location would be the most needed and total number suitable. Testing the effectiveness of the proposed plan, we found the proportion of area covered to be 52.8% and the proportion of the population covered 80.7%, which is 15.4% and 14.7%, respectively, better than before. It was concluded that the hexagonal mesh-based, distribution method can effectively define the location as well as the number or required CHCs, not only improving the accessibility for residents to primary health care services but also maximizing cost-effectiveness. Management of the city by grid is a new idea in urban management, which improves rationality of planning and also may be applied for many different purposes in addition to CHC localization.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yiping Nan ◽  
Jingjun Zhang ◽  
Nisar Anum ◽  
Lanting Huo ◽  
Lei Yang ◽  
...  

Abstract Background: Mothers of young infants, especially primiparous women who lack experience and knowledge, are usually overwhelmed with a multitude of stressors and challenges. Although support from professionals is needed for new mothers, there is indeed a gap between the necessary high-quality service and the currently provided poor services. This study aimed to explore primiparous women’s views on professional services, identify barriers to mobilizing professional support, and further understand women’s expectations of and preferences for the delivery of professional services. Method: A descriptive phenomenological study design was utilized in this study, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 28 primiparous women who were selected from two community health centres and who had given birth within one year before the interview. Each conversation lasted between 20-86 minutes. Colaizzi’s seven-step phenomenological approach was used for data analysis. Results: Three major themes were identified: (a) dissatisfaction with current professional services for postpartum women, (b) barriers to mobilizing professional support, and (c) primiparous women’s expectations of professional support. Seven related subthemes included primiparous women’s disappointment with clinical services and their low confidence in services provided by communities, social health centres and online platforms; internal personal reasons and external socio-cultural factors that contributed to barriers in obtaining professional help; and primiparas’ new expectations of baby-care-related services, their personal needs for recovery, and their expectations of methods of services delivery. The necessity of professional support in the first month of confinement was emphasized by primiparas. Online methods were perceived by the majority of participants to be the best way to receive services. Conclusion: The results of this descriptive phenomenological study suggested that the professional services currently provided by medical facilities were insufficient and could not meet the requirements of primiparous women. The identified barriers should be analysed and overcome by enhancing education and eliminating stigma. The results also suggested that providing service focused on women’s requirements may be an effective strategy to enhance primiparous women’s well-being and suggested that women believed that the most acceptable and convenient methods should be considered during the delivery of interventions.


2001 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 65 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hal Swerissen ◽  
Jenny Macmillan ◽  
Catuscia Biuso ◽  
Linda Tilgner

This study examined the existing relationship between community health centres and General Practice Divisions in the State of Victoria, including the nature of joint working arrangements and the identification of barriers to greater collaboration. Improved integration of primary health care services has been advocated to improve consumer and population health outcomes and to reduce inappropriate use of acute and extended care services. General practitioners (GPs) and community health centres are two key providers of primary health care with potential for greater integration. The current study conducted telephone interviews with 20 community health centre CEOs and 18 Executive Officers of divisions, which were matched according to catchment boundaries. Results suggest, while some joint planning is occurring, especially on committees, working parties and projects, there is an overall low level of satisfaction with the relationship between community health centres and GPs and GP divisions. Major barriers to greater integration are the financial or business interests of GPs and misunderstanding and differences in perceived roles and ideology between GPs and community health centres. Improved communication, greater contact and referral and follow-up procedures are identified as a means of improving the relationship between GPs, GP divisions and community health centres. Community health centres and general practitioners (GPs) are key providers of primary care (Australian Community Health Association, 1990).


2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-262 ◽  
Author(s):  
Terry J. Boyle ◽  
Kieran Mervyn

Purpose Many nations are focussing on health care’s Triple Aim (quality, overall community health and reduced cost) with only moderate success. Traditional leadership learning programmes have been based on a taught curriculum, but the purpose of this paper is to demonstrate more modern approaches through procedures and tools. Design/methodology/approach This study evolved from grounded and activity theory foundations (using semi-structured interviews with ten senior healthcare executives and qualitative analysis) which describe obstructions to progress. The study began with the premise that quality and affordable health care are dependent upon collaborative innovation. The growth of new leaders goes from skills to procedures and tools, and from training to development. Findings This paper makes “frugal innovation” recommendations which while not costly in a financial sense, do have practical and social implications relating to the Triple Aim. The research also revealed largely externally driven health care systems under duress suffering from leadership shortages. Research limitations/implications The study centred primarily on one Canadian community health care services’ organisation. Since healthcare provision is place-based (contextual), the findings may not be universally applicable, maybe not even to an adjacent community. Practical implications The paper dismisses outdated views of the synonymity of leadership and management, while encouraging clinicians to assume leadership roles. Originality/value This paper demonstrates how health care leadership can be developed and sustained.


2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 226-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jatin Pandey ◽  
Manjari Singh ◽  
Biju Varkkey ◽  
Dileep Mavalankar

The health of people in a nation is a potential indicator of its development. Over and above that, the job performance of people involved in the delivery and facilitation of health care services within a nation reflects the actual health conditions in it. In developing countries, where a large chunk of the population lives in rural areas, the job performance of grass-roots health care workers gains significant importance in order to ensure effective and efficient delivery of health care services to the masses and marginalized communities. The present study takes the case of Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) in difficult rural areas of India to identify factors that affect their job performance and suggests interventions through which it could be enhanced. Fifty-five ASHAs were interviewed and five focused group discussions (FGDs) were conducted. Additionally, triangulation was done by interviewing other stakeholders, while studying relevant documents. Through content analysis of these interviews and documents, this study identifies the demands, resources and stressors that affect the job performance of these important intermediaries in the health care supply chain (in the Indian context). The study also suggests policy-level decisions that could help in enhancing job performance of ASHAs by managing demands, increasing resources and reducing stressors. Key Messages We have developed a model that delineates the demands, resources and stressors that affect job performance of women workers in rural India. We have studied Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs) who are part of community health care sector. However, our findings are applicable to a wider set of similar job roles. We have studied the nuances of factors affecting job performance for a category of community health care workers who are not full-time employees, have received minimal training and work in close proximity of their residence in a closely knit society. We have looked at job performance of ASHAs who are women community health workers, with low educational qualifications, based in rural setting of a developing country. We have recommended policy implications that would aid in enhancing the performance of ASHAs and thus improve the health care situation in rural India.


Author(s):  
Guey-Shin Shyu ◽  
Shinn-Jou Lin ◽  
Wei-Ta Fang ◽  
Bai-You Cheng

Engaging in social contributions to enhance social participation and attending community experiential service learning or internship courses have become an essential learning experience for university students. On the basis of postmodern education theories, this study adopted images and oral accounts involving personal experiences to construct a postmodern education research scheme by using the method of collaborative ethnography. This study selected and performed the following services: filming a community documentary, administering community health dance classes, and archiving community cultural artifacts in databases. Interviews were also administered to facilitate implementation of the actual services. Community health services commonly seen in Taiwan and abroad were compiled, and the resources required for each service were examined. Subsequently, factor analysis was performed to explore the characteristic of these services in order to recommend feasible services for university students to undertake. The results indicated that the eight resources required for the 59 common community health services were (1) a designated space or venue, (2) materials, (3) monetary resources, (4) human resources, (5) expertise, (6) professional equipment, (7) patience, and (8) empathy. The results revealed three principal components, namely labor services, high-resource services, and professional services, for a total explanatory power of 67.99%; the individual explanatory power of these components accounted for 25.04%, 21.81%, and 21.15%, respectively. Next, community health care services suitable for university students to perform were selected and implemented, and these services were well received. The study results indicated that community and environmental justice can be realized by identifying with the value of community health services and promoting postmodern education theories and social norms. The research results are suitable for implementation after the COVID-19 pandemic.


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