Blessings and Curses: Exploring the Experiences of New Mothers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The aim of this study was to explore the postpartum experiences of new parents during the COVID-19 pandemic. The postpartum period can be a time of significant transition, both positive and negative, for parents as they navigate new relationships with their babies and shifts in family dynamics. Physical distancing requirements mandated by public health orders during the COVID-19 pandemic had the potential to create even more stress for parents with a newborn. Examining personal experiences would provide health care professionals with information to help guide support during significant isolation. Feminist poststructuralism guided the qualitative research process. Sixty-eight new mothers completed an open-ended on-line survey. Responses were analyzed using discourse analysis to examine the beliefs, values, and practices of the participants relating to their family experiences during the pandemic period. It was found that pandemic isolation was a time of complexity with both ‘blessings and curses’. Participants reported that it was a time for family bonding and enjoyment of being a new parent without the usual expectations. It was also a time of missed opportunities as they were not able to share milestones and memories with extended family. Caring for a newborn during the COVID-19 pandemic where complex contradictions were constructed by competing social discourses created difficult dichotomies for families. In acknowledging the complex experiences of mothers during COVID-19 isolation, nurses and midwives can come to understand and help new parents to focus on the blessings of this time while acknowledging the curses.

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Women’s voices on social media: the advent of feminist epidemiology?

Emerging Themes in Epidemiology ◽

10.1186/s12982-021-00097-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 18 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Céline Miani ◽

Yudit Namer

Keyword(s):

Social Media ◽

Third Space ◽

Peer Groups ◽

Research Priorities ◽

Research Process ◽

Power Dynamics ◽

Women's Voices ◽

New Public Health ◽

New Public ◽

On Line

Abstract Background Social media have in recent years challenged the way in which research questions are formulated in epidemiology and medicine, and in particular when it comes to women’s health. They have contributed to the emergence of ‘new’ public health topics (e.g. gynaecological and obstetric violence, long-Covid), the unearthing of testimonials of medical injustice, and in some cases, the creation of new evidence and changes in medical practice. Main text From a theoretical and methodological perspective, we observe two powerful mechanisms at play on social media, which can facilitate the implementation of feminist epidemiological research and address so-called anti-feminist bias: social media as a ‘third’ space and the power of groups. Social media posts can be seen as inhabiting a third space, akin to what is said off the record or in-between doors, at the end of a therapy session. Researchers somehow miss the opportunity to use the third spaces that people occupy. Similarly, another existing space that researchers are seldom interested in are peer-groups. Peer-groups are the ideal terrain to generate bottom-up research priorities. To some extent, their on-line versions provide a safe and emancipatory space, accessible, transnational, and inclusive. We would argue that this could bring feminist epidemiology to scale. Conclusion Given the emancipatory power of social media, we propose recommendations and practical implications for leveraging the potential of online-sourced feminist epidemiology at different stages of the research process (from design to dissemination), and for increasing synergies between researchers and the community. We emphasise that attention should be paid to patriarchal sociocultural contexts and power dynamics, the mitigation of risks for political recuperation and stigmatisation, and the co-production of respectful discourse on studied populations.

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Identifying Missed Opportunities for the Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine (PCV13)

Journal of Pharmacy Technology ◽

10.1177/8755122517740364 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 34 (1) ◽

pp. 24-27 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Lauren Jindracek ◽

Jennifer E. Stark

Keyword(s):

Primary Care ◽

Influenza Vaccine ◽

Conjugate Vaccine ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine ◽

Unexpected Finding ◽

Primary Care Visit ◽

Electronic Reminder ◽

Missed Opportunities ◽

Care Appointment

Background: The recommendation for the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV13) in adults 65 years and older is recent, and the dosing schedule of PCV13 and the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine (PPSV23) can be complex in this population. Objective: The authors assessed the rate of PCV13 immunization in patients 65 years of age and older and identified barriers that contributed to missed opportunities for PCV13. Methods: This retrospective review evaluated outpatient Veterans age 65 years or older who did not receive PCV13 at a scheduled primary care appointment despite an electronic reminder. Investigators recorded any documented reason for the patient not receiving PCV13. Results: The rate of PCV13 immunizations administered during the primary care visit study period was 37% (89 of 239 PCV13 eligible patients). Of the 150 patients identified who did not receive PCV13, 92% were not offered the vaccine, 6.7% declined vaccination, and 0.7% reported an allergy to vaccination. Electronic immunization records revealed that 48 of the 150 patients who did not receive PCV13 at their clinic appointment did receive PCV13 later the same year. Most patients received PCV13 in influenza vaccine season on the same day as receiving the influenza vaccine. Conclusion: The main barrier identified was not offering the vaccination during primary care visits. Pneumococcal vaccine administration was delayed until the influenza vaccine season in a significant portion of patients. This unexpected finding represents a target for education: ensuring health care professionals are reminded that PCV13 is not a seasonal vaccine like the influenza vaccine, but should be offered throughout the year.

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Through the Looking Glass Space to New Ways of Knowing: A Personal Research Narrative

The Qualitative Report ◽

10.46743/2160-3715/2015.2127 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Gabrielle Brand

Keyword(s):

Qualitative Research ◽

Health Professional ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Historical Context ◽

Ways Of Knowing ◽

Research Process ◽

Value Systems ◽

Research Experience ◽

Looking Glass ◽

Personal Research

This article describes how writing personal research narratives during my doctoral research journey challenged my role as a health professional and my personal beliefs and values in fundamental ways. In qualitative narrative inquiry, the reflexive account of the research experience is a key element in conducting ethical, rigorous, and meaningful forms of qualitative research. However, as a novice researcher, I was unprepared for the unlearning journey I experienced during the research process. This uncomfortable experience cut to the core of my identity by dismantling unexamined belief and value systems that lay dormant and hidden from my everyday consciousness as a health professional. In the spirit of transparency, reflexivity and “good” qualitative research, this article presents an explicit account of my exquisite and sometimes excruciating reflexive research journey that profoundly changed how I relate and work with people. I believe health care professionals should adopt a narrative view of experience that creates the “looking glass space” to locate their own stories within the broader socio-cultural and historical context of their lives, especially in relation to their health professional identity. Exchanging diminishing dialogue with deeper dialogue honours both the complexities of young peoples’ lives and social worlds and encompasses socially-conscious methodologies of promise and hope.

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Students’ Perspective on Remote On-Line Teaching and Learning at the University of Latvia in the First and Second COVID-19 Period

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su132111890 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (21) ◽

pp. 11890

Author(s):

Sanita Baranova ◽

Dita Nīmante ◽

Daiga Kalniņa ◽

Alise Oļesika

Keyword(s):

Teaching And Learning ◽

Face To Face ◽

Short Period ◽

Digital Skills ◽

On Line ◽

Study Process ◽

Survey Responses ◽

Almost All ◽

The University ◽

Remote Learning

In Spring 2020, due to the rapid spread of COVID-19, all educational institutions in Latvia, including the University of Latvia (UL), transitioned from face-to-face on-site learning to remote learning. After a short period of face-to-face on-site learning in autumn, UL returned to remote learning in November for the second time. This paper investigates the UL students’ perspectives on remote teaching and learning at the UL during the first and second COVID-19 periods. The research assesses several remote study organization aspects, including the lecturer’s and student’s digital skills, their access to information and support during the study process, planning and implementation of the study process, and students’ acquisition of the content. The study used an original questionnaire designed in the Spring 2020 semester. Seven questions from the first questionnaire were included in another follow-up questionnaire distributed in the Spring 2021 semester. A total of 2248 UL students from the Spring 2020 semester and 742 students from the Spring 2021 semester participated in the study, representing 13 faculties across all study levels. The survey responses were collected via a QuestionPro survey platform and then downloaded into an IBM SPSS 28 file for a reliability check. Next, descriptive statistical analyses were conducted for each reported survey item using Microsoft Excel 2016. The research presented here implies that, in general, students perceive positive improvements in almost all the investigated aspects of the organization of the remote study process when comparing the first and second COVID-19 periods, which could indicate a certain level of resilience in students and university lecturers when subject to COVID circumstances. However, the results reveal that students have, in one year, developed a more realistic approach in assessing their digital skills. The results lead us to believe that remote on-line learning is not just a short-term solution but could become a valuable element for providing qualitative education in the long term. It could indicate that the students and lecturers at university are ready for new and sustainable higher education study organization solutions in the future.

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A smartphone game to prevent HIV among young Kenyans: Household dynamics of gameplay in a feasibility study

Health Education Journal ◽

10.1177/0017896919832344 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 78 (5) ◽

pp. 595-606 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Kate Winskell ◽

Gaëlle Sabben ◽

Ken Ondeng’e ◽

Isdorah Odero ◽

Victor Akelo ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Focus Group ◽

Feasibility Study ◽

Digital Games ◽

Individual Level ◽

Log Files ◽

Household Dynamics ◽

And Shifts ◽

Randomised Controlled ◽

High Level ◽

Survey Responses

Objective: mHealth interventions often favour individual-level effects. This is particularly problematic in contexts where social support and shifts in social norms are critical to sustained behaviour change. Mobile digital games represent a promising health education strategy for youth, including in low-resource settings. We sought to better understand the interpersonal and social interactions that can be elicited by digital games for health. Design: We piloted Tumaini, a smartphone game rooted in interactive narrative designed to prevent HIV among young Africans (aged 11–14), in a randomised controlled feasibility study and analysed reports of the household dynamics surrounding gameplay. Following a 16-day intervention period, phone gameplay log files were downloaded, and intervention arm participants ( n = 30) completed a gameplay experience survey; eight focus group discussions were held, four with intervention arm participants ( n = 27) and four with their parents ( n = 22). Setting: This study took place in Kisumu, Kenya, in Spring 2017. Method: Descriptive statistics were computed from survey responses and log files. Focus group transcripts were labelled, analysed thematically and compared demographically using MAXQDA software. Results: Data from log files, surveys and focus groups indicate that the game generated considerable interaction and dialogue with parents, siblings and friends and served as a catalyst for children to act as advocates for healthful decisions about sex, both within the family and beyond. The game showed a high level of acceptability with parents. Conclusion: Serious digital games using a smartphone platform can generate considerable household interaction. Games can model and facilitate these exchanges, maximising multi-level effects. An additional app for parents could reinforce these effects.

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Scientific Collaboration During the COVID-19 Pandemic: N95DECON.org

Annals of Work Exposures and Health ◽

10.1093/annweh/wxaa057 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 64 (8) ◽

pp. 775-777

Author(s):

David Rempel

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Personal Protective Equipment ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Scientific Collaboration ◽

Protective Equipment ◽

Collaborative Groups ◽

Spontaneous Formation ◽

Prevention And Treatment ◽

On Line ◽

Scientific Questions

Abstract Many academics and researchers have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic by forming on-line national and international collaborative groups to rapidly investigate issues of prevention and treatment. This commentary describes the spontaneous formation of an international team of 115 researchers who summarized the literature on safe methods for decontaminating N95 filtering facepiece respirators in response to the supply crisis. The summary reports and fact sheets on the (www.n95decon.org) website have had more than 200 000 unique visits and the organization’s webinars have reached health care professionals from more than 50 countries. The team is extending its mission to cover other personal protective equipment. The success of these collaborations may alter how scientific questions are tackled in the future.

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Making Ethics Work in Collaborative Projects

Australian Journal of Primary Health ◽

10.1071/py05049 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 101

Author(s):

Emily Mauldon

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Primary Health Care ◽

Research Ethics ◽

Health Care Professionals ◽

Ethics Committees ◽

Research Process ◽

Ethical Review ◽

Ethical Research ◽

Team Members ◽

Primary Health

This article discusses problems a research team had managing their ethical obligations during a short project, and considers the implications of these problems for better understanding and carrying out ethical research in the future. Two key points will be proposed. Initially, it will be argued that the culture of ethical research as articulated within the research community may not be universally accepted within the primary health care sector. The nature of "ethical conduct" within clinical practice, service provision and research is not the same. Further, practical difficulties the researchers experienced while trying to gain approval from ethics committees and implement the proposed research plan highlight some ways in which institutional ethical review processes are structurally unsuited to the requirements of small collaborative projects. Understanding the different ways in which the term "ethics" is used will allow for a more expedient translation of concepts between different health professionals. Recognising the practical constraints ethical review places on the research process may help reduce some of the frustration primary health care professionals can experience when faced with the requirements of research ethics committees. Due to the history of, and cultural commitment to, ethical research within the university sector, those with formal academic training in research are well placed to assume responsibility for managing the ethics process when involved in cross-sectoral research. This responsibility may include the need to educate team members and study participants about the importance of research ethics.

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The Economic Resource Receipt of New Mothers

Journal of Family Issues ◽

10.1177/0192513x06287249 ◽

2006 ◽

Vol 27 (9) ◽

pp. 1305-1330 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Laura Nichols ◽

Cheryl Elman ◽

Kathryn M. Feltey

Keyword(s):

Extended Family ◽

Safety Net ◽

Economic Resources ◽

Social Safety Net ◽

New Mothers ◽

Economic Resource ◽

Federal Policies ◽

Family Socioeconomic Status ◽

Network Support ◽

Economic Support

U.S. federal policies do not provide a universal social safety net of economic support for women during pregnancy or the immediate postpartum period but assume that employment and/or marriage will protect families from poverty. Yet even mothers with considerable human and marital capital may experience disruptions in employment, earnings, and family socioeconomic status postbirth. We use the National Survey of Families and Households to examine the economic resources that mothers with children ages 2 and younger receive postbirth, including employment, spouses, extended family and social network support, and public assistance. Results show that many new mothers receive resources postbirth. Marriage or postbirth employment does not protect new mothers and their families from poverty, but education, race, and the receipt of economic supports from social networks do.

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Development of an Instrument to Investigate Parents’ Perceptions of Research with Newborn Babies

Nursing Ethics ◽

10.1177/096973300000700406 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 7 (4) ◽

pp. 327-338 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Kathleen Oberle ◽

Nalini Singhal ◽

Joelene Huber ◽

Ellen Burgess

Keyword(s):

Health Care Professionals ◽

Neonatal Intensive Care ◽

Research Process ◽

Face Validity ◽

Newborn Baby ◽

Convenience Sample ◽

Lay Persons ◽

Risk And Benefit ◽

Development And Validation ◽

Sensitive Issues

Neonatal intensive care nurses are often involved in research protocols as investigators, research assistants or staff nurses implementing the protocol and providing support and explanations to families. It is important, therefore, that nurses have information about parents’ understanding of and attitudes towards the research process. The purpose of this study was to begin an exploration of parents’ perceptions about research with newborn babies through the development and validation of a survey instrument. The questionnaire included: demographic questions; scaled items about research with newborn babies; scenarios describing research studies that varied in degree of risk and benefit to the newborn baby; questions about parents’ willingness to enrol their newborn baby in the studies described; and questions regarding circumstances under which consent should be sought. Content and face validity were established by an expert panel and a pilot test conducted with a small group of health care professionals and lay persons. A convenience sample of 231 parents of newborn babies completed the final version of the questionnaire. Factor analysis revealed seven factors corresponding to issues identified in the literature, providing evidence of construct validity. Parents appeared to have no difficulty in completing the instrument and all questions were answered by the majority of participants. It was concluded that the questionnaire had adequate psychometric properties and that a mixed method approach can be fruitful in exploring sensitive issues.

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EP.TU.207Maintaining High Quality Surgical Teaching during the COVID-19 Pandemic

British Journal of Surgery ◽

10.1093/bjs/znab311.029 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 108 (Supplement_7) ◽

Author(s):

Charlotte Boardman ◽

Thomas Moschidis ◽

Michael Saunders

Keyword(s):

General Surgery ◽

Surgical Education ◽

Online Survey ◽

High Standard ◽

District General Hospital ◽

Missed Opportunities ◽

Clinical Procedures ◽

Surgical Teaching ◽

The Many ◽

Survey Responses

Abstract Aims The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in many changes to the delivery of undergraduate surgical education. Formal teaching is now online and exposure to the many different aspects of General Surgery is greatly reduced. We explored how the changes made to the 4-week General Surgery rotation at a district general hospital have impacted on students and their learning. Methods Online survey was used to collect feedback from the students and was compared to data collected prior to the pandemic. Results A total of 10 survey responses were received. Despite the timetable changes, 80% of students rated the placement as Good-Excellent. The students received more registrar/consultant level teaching than previously and rated the teaching to be of a good standard. They logged more clinical procedures and clerked more patients than previously, but clinic attendance remained poor and operating theatre sessions static. Conclusion Despite the added pressures of the pandemic, undergraduate surgical education has been maintained to a high standard. The struggles experienced with the decrease in elective operating lists and fewer surgical clinics does not appear to have impacted significantly when compared to pre-pandemic data. However, this is certainly an area that needs to be improved upon to ensure adequate exposure to surgery. The increase in procedural and clerking experience is perhaps a reflection of greater time spent on the wards. This is certainly of benefit in preparation for foundation training and any missed opportunities for exposure to surgical pathologies have been alleviated by the increase in formal senior-level teaching.

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