scholarly journals Motherhood and Home Quarantine: Exploring the Experiences of Iranian Mothers in Caring for their Children During the COVID-19 Outbreak

2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 87-96
Author(s):  
Anahita Khodabakhshi-koolaee ◽  
◽  
Mahsa Aghaei Malekabadi ◽  

Background: Following the spread of new coronavirus disease (COVID-2019) in Iran, people began a new lifestyle in quarantine to survive the disease. Mother-child relationships were affected by this new lifestyle. This phenomenological study was conducted to explore the experiences of Iranian mothers in caring for their children during COVID-19 outbreak. Methods: This qualitative study was conducted with an interpretive phenomenological approach. The participants were selected using purposive sampling among mothers living in Tehran in 2020. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews. The participants were mothers with 7- to 9-year-old children with the experience of living in quarantine.  The collected data were theoretically saturated after 17 interviews. All the interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the resulting data were analyzed using van Manen’s phenomenological approach. Results: Four main themes were extracted from the collected data: the mother’s health and physical concerns, confusion in playing the motherhood role, concerns about educational quality and wasting learning opportunities, and concerns about the impact of financial disputes on children.  Conclusion: The experiences of the mothers as the main caregivers in home quarantine were very unique. Understanding the complexities of their experiences, beliefs, and attitudes about motherhood and caring for children in quarantine can provide useful insights for decision-makers, healthcare professionals, and mental health professionals.

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Federica Facchin ◽  
Daniela Leone ◽  
Giancarlo Tamanza ◽  
Mauro Costa ◽  
Patrizia Sulpizio ◽  
...  

Although most studies investigated the impact of infertility and its treatment on the couple, a small body of evidence suggested that infertility care providers may experience different sources of stress related for instance to excessive workload, the complexity of the technique, and relational difficulties with patients. The current study aimed at providing further insight into the understanding of the subjective experience of infertility care providers by highlighting their feelings and emotions, personal meanings, challenges, and opportunities. Following the methodological guidelines of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, we conducted individual semi-structured interviews with 23 members of two different fertility units. Interviews were audiotaped and transcribed verbatim. Textual analysis was then conducted to identify emerging dominant themes and subthemes. Three main themes were extracted: (i) dealing with infertile patients and their specificities, (ii) performing assisted reproductive technology (ART), (iii) being part of a team. These themes related to participants experiencing: (i) difficulties in establishing an empathic connection and communicating with couples, such that women were sometimes perceived as “particular patients” and men as poorly involved in the process; (ii) difficulties in dealing with a complex procedure in which errors are not allowed (as reported by embryologists), with a growing number of women aged > 40 seeking assisted reproduction, despite the risks for their health; (iii) being part of a team as a resource, although the huge amount of time spent together can involve conflicts and organizational problems. These findings suggested that patients’ overpersistence (rather than just dropout) represents an important source of stress for infertility care providers. At the same time, the concept of particular or difficult patient derives from the combination of multiple factors, including providers’ own history and subjective experience. The presence of mental health professionals in fertility units is essential to help providers improve the quality of doctor-patient communication and relieve the stress related to organizational issues and conflicts.


Author(s):  
Crystale Marsh-McDonald ◽  
Sybil Schroeder

A phenomenological approach examined the stories of ten women transitioning from childhood poverty to adult life. Women were chosen from a pool of participants in an Upward Bound program designed to assist low-income and/or first-generation college students in the Midwestern United States. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to retrospectively explore their lived experiences. Recurring themes included facilitators of change, specifically the people, including mental health professionals, family members, romantic partners, and friends who helped make change possible. Another frequent theme found in the research was the impact an education had on the participants. Finally, the participants shared their own insights related to the stigma of poverty and their diverse experiences in transitioning away from poverty. Research findings could prove beneficial to social service professionals interested in understanding the complex realities of resilient, impoverished women.


2020 ◽  
pp. 025371762092872
Author(s):  
Neha A. ◽  
Sailaxmi Gandhi ◽  
Manjula M. ◽  
Padmavathi N.

Background: Understanding the caregivers’ experiences of aggressive persons with mental disorders is very important from the public health point of view. Only a few Indian studies have focused on this. No Indian studies could be found that explored the caregivers’ experiences of aggressive persons with schizophrenia. This study was conducted to explore the same. Methods: A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted in the outpatient and inpatient settings at a tertiary care mental health institute at Bengaluru, Karnataka. Ten participants meeting the eligibility criteria were selected using purposive sampling. Data collection was done by individual, in-depth, face-to-face, semi-structured interviews using topic guide along with subjective observation and field notes. Each interview was audio-recorded, transcribed, translated, and coded. A total of five master themes and 22 subthemes were derived from the codes by using the qualitative research software ATLAS-Ti. Results: The themes derived based on the experiences of caregivers living with their aggressive persons with schizophrenia were the aggressive behaviors of the patients, reasons for the aggression of the patients, dealing with the aggression of the patients, the impact of aggression on the caregivers, and the coping methods of the caregivers. Conclusion: This study explored the experiences of the caregivers living with the aggressive patients. The results show the need for care and support to the caregivers. The themes can guide mental health professionals while developing culture-specific tools and interventions for future research as well as suggest them standard operating procedures for prevention and management of aggressive patients in the psychiatric hospitals.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Cinzia Albanesi ◽  
Carlo Tomasetto ◽  
Veronica Guardabassi

Abstract Purpose Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is one of the most common forms of domestic violence, with profound implication for women's physical and psychological health. In this text we adopted the Empowerment Process Model (EPM) by Cattaneo and Goodman (Psychol Violence 5(1):84–94) to analyse interventions provided to victims of IPV by a Support Centre for Women (SCW) in Italy, and understand its contribution to women’s empowerment. Method We conducted semi-structured interviews with ten women who had been enrolled in a program for IPV survivors at a SCW in the past three years. The interviews focused on the programs’ aims, actions undertaken to reach them, and the impact on the women’s lives, and were analysed using an interpretative phenomenological approach. Results Results showed that the interventions provided by the SWC were adapted according to women's needs. In the early phases, women’s primary aim was ending violence, and the intervention by the SCW was deemed as helpful to the extent it provided psychological support, protection and safe housing. Women’s aims subsequently moved to self-actualisation and economic and personal independence which required professional training, internships, and social support. Although satisfying the majority of the women’s expectations, other important needs (e.g., economic support or legal services) were poorly addressed, and cooperation with other services (e.g., police or social services) was sometimes deemed as critical. Conclusions By evaluating a program offered by a SCW to IPV survivors through the lens of the EPM model, we found that women deemed the program as effective when both individual resources and empowerment processes were promoted. Strengths, limitations and implications are discussed.


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
L Green ◽  
K Ashton ◽  
M Dyakova ◽  
L Parry-Williams

Abstract Health Impact Assessment (HIA) and Social Return on Investment (SROI) are beneficial public health methodologies that assess potential effects on health including social, economic and environmental factors and have synergies in their approaches. This paper explores how HIA and SROI can complement each other to capture and account for the impact and social value of an assessed intervention or policy. A scoping review of academic and grey literature was undertaken to identify case studies published between January 1996 and April 2019 where HIA and SROI methods have been used to complement each other. Semi-structured interviews were carried out with nine international experts from a range of regulatory/legislative contexts to gain a better understanding of past experiences and expertise of both HIA and SROI. A thematic analysis was undertaken on the data collected. The review identified two published reports which outline when HIA and SROI have both been used to assess the same intervention. Interview results suggest that both methods have strengths as standalone processes i.e. HIAs are well-structured in their approach, assessing health in its broadest context and SROI can add value by monetizing social value as well as capturing social/environmental impact. Similarities of the two methods were identified i.e. a strong emphasis on stakeholder engagement and common shared principles. When questioned how the two methods could complement each other in practice, the results indicate the benefits of using HIA to explore initial impact, and as a platform on which to build SROI to monetarize social value. HIA and SROI methodologies have cross-over. The research suggests potential benefits when used in tandem or combining the methods to assess impact and account for health and social value. Innovative work is now being carried out in Wales to understand the implications of this in practice and to understand how the results of the two methods could be used by decision-makers. Key messages HIA and SROI methods can be used in tandem to capture both the health impact and social value of policies and proposed interventions. HIA and SROI when used together can provide valuable information to inform decision makers around the health impact and social value of proposed policies and interventions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 524-530
Author(s):  
Heather Watson ◽  
Donna Brown

Background With greater numbers of midwives being trained to counteract the predicted shortages, it seems that it is now more vital than ever to explore how newly qualified midwives (NQMs) describe their experiences in the clinical environment, the support they have received, and identify barriers to their development during the transition period. Aim The aim of this study was to explore NQMs experiences of working clinically during the transition from student to qualified midwife. Method Using a qualitative approach, eight NQMs participated in semi-structured interviews. Findings The findings revealed four key themes that sum up the NQMs experiences: expectations and realities of the role; creating conditions for professional growth; the impact of the care environment; and limitations to creating a healthful culture. Conclusions The clearly articulated journey that has been described by the NQMs demonstrated that there is both a need and desire to change, improve and develop the transition period for all new midwives working in clinical practice. Consideration needs to be given to more robust guidance, with some ideas for development, such as support forums for NQMs to meet up on a regular basis; advanced planned rotation with flexibility; a named preceptor/‘buddy’ in each clinical area; and a shared online forum to allow the NQMs to discuss and share experiences, and to signpost to any useful information or learning opportunities available.


2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 421
Author(s):  
Lucy Hunt

Greece has been a site of various crises in recent years: firstly, the financial crash of 2008; secondly, the ongoing ‘refugee crisis’, which peaked in 2015; and thirdly, the current COVID-19 pandemic. This paper addresses the first of these crises, and particularly how state responses to increased migration flows shape young refugees’ (aged 15–25) (re-)engagement with post-15 learning opportunities upon arrival in the country. It is based on semi-structured interviews with young refugees living in Thessaloniki, conducted as part of an ethnographic doctoral project on educational decision-making. The findings reveal that three key institutional bordering practices in Greece—namely the bordering of space (via encampment), time (via enforced waiting), and public services (via administrative barriers)—played central roles in young refugees’ (re-)engagement with post-15 education; often causing their dreams to be diverted or downgraded. However, with determination and the support of willing gatekeepers, refugee youth found ways to (re)construct adapted learning trajectories despite, and in response to, these arrival challenges.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 7-23
Author(s):  
Maha Al-Freih

The aim of this phenomenological study is to provide a deeper understanding of the impact of remote teaching on instructors’ perceptions of online learning and future teaching practices amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to analyze open-ended semi-structured interviews conducted with five higher education faculty in Saudi Arabia. Three major themes were identified: enhancing student engagement; increased awareness of technology affordances and constraints; and moving from emergency remote teaching to technology-enhanced and blended learning. Participants of this study were mainly concerned about finding ways to support active student engagement in this new learning environment, which in turn increased their awareness of the educational affordances and constraints of online learning and technologies. Participants’ deeper understanding of the potential of online technologies in supporting student learning, as well as their own and students’ increased familiarity and comfort with online learning and technologies, served as the main drivers for potential future implementation of blended learning and technology-enhanced teaching practices. With that said, participants were still apprehensive about engaging in fully online teaching, arguing that blended strategies and enhanced-technology integration are more likely to overcome some of the limitations of face-to-face teaching and improve the overall learning experience for their students. Discussion of these findings in relation to the extant literature and their implications for higher education institutions moving forward are provided.


2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (3) ◽  
pp. 2011-2029 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia Ivanova ◽  
Adela Grando ◽  
Anita Murcko ◽  
Michael Saks ◽  
Mary Jo Whitfield ◽  
...  

Integrated mental and physical care environments require data sharing, but little is known about health professionals’ perceptions of patient-controlled health data sharing. We describe mental health professionals’ views on patient-controlled data sharing using semi-structured interviews and a mixed-method analysis with thematic coding. Health information rights, specifically those of patients and health care professionals, emerged as a key theme. Behavioral health professionals identified patient motivations for non-sharing sensitive mental health records relating to substance use, emergency treatment, and serious mental illness (94%). We explore conflicts between professional need for timely access to health information and patient desire to withhold some data categories. Health professionals’ views on data sharing are integral to the redesign of health data sharing and informed consent. As well, they seek clarity about the impact of patient-controlled sharing on health professionals’ roles and scope of practice.


SAGE Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 215824402091459
Author(s):  
Yusuf Keskin ◽  
Sevgi Coşkun Keskin ◽  
Deniz Yüceer

In Turkey today, one of the most frequently mentioned issues in the media is the influx of refugees, mostly from Syria. While most refugees are attempting to reach Europe by crossing through Turkey illegally, some consider Turkey an asylum center. This study used a phenomenological approach and qualitative experiment to determine how the phenomenon of refugeehood discussed in the media in Turkey affects children’s views on the issue. The sample was determined using the convenience sampling method, and 31 seventh-grade students (18 girls and 13 boys, all aged 14 years old) were selected. “Having previously met refugees” was used as a basic criterion in the selection of students, while classroom activities, letters, and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Descriptive and content analyses revealed that there were both positive and negative changes in students’ views regarding refugees, depending on the content of the news in the media, which was an important factor in influencing these changes.


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