scholarly journals Managing Uncertainty in Chronic Illness From Patient Perspectives

Author(s):  
Amanda Brown ◽  
Susan Hayden ◽  
Karen Klingman ◽  
Leslie C Hussey

Chronic illness is an increasing concern in the United States as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that 50% of adults have at least one chronic illness. When individuals must adjust to chronic illness, they may experience uncertainty regarding the illness, prognosis, and symptoms. The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore the management strategies of uncertainty in chronic illness from patients’ perspectives. Merle Mishel’s uncertainty in illness theory was the framework used to explore the lives of individuals diagnosed and living with chronic illness. In-depth interviews were conducted with eight individuals who have chronic disease. Results revealed themes that individuals with chronic illness do experience uncertainty and that it impacts almost all aspects of their lives. Some of the themes identified were chronic illness, uncertainty, impact of uncertainty on daily living, coping or managing uncertainty, and communication from the healthcare team about uncertainty. The individuals expressed changes in daily activities and retraining their minds to accept their new normal. This study offers coping and management strategies that healthcare professionals can implement into treatment plans to improve the quality of life for individuals with uncertainty in chronic illness. The information produced from this study will aid healthcare providers in understanding the need to address the uncertainty at diagnoses and offer ways to assist patients in coping and managing uncertainty

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 1926-1940
Author(s):  
Theresa S. Hefner-Babb ◽  
Rezvan Khoshlessan

This qualitative phenomenological study investigated the challenges faced by Iranian students during the admissions process at a mid-size southern university in the United States. Researchers used a convenience sample from Iranian masters and doctoral degree applicants admitted for the 2015-2016 academic year. Using face-to-face interviews researchers collected responses from seven Iranian students currently in the first year of their graduate programs. The overarching question guiding the study concentrated on the challenges experienced by Iranian students during the university admissions process. Focused questions included a discussion of specific challenges faced by Iranian students. The results from the interviews led the researchers to common themes that resonated across all three focused questions and a student recommendation on ways to streamline the process.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1220-1255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rohan Thompson

This phenomenological study examined the role of emotional and cultural intelligence in the social integration of international students. The study included nine participants who were selected using purposeful sampling. The researcher used five main interview questions to guide the datacollection process. The questions were designed to help determine both whether the participant appeared to be competent in cultural and emotional intelligence, and how that competence then contributed to his or her social integration. The study findings revealed that emotional and cultural intelligence played an important role in enabling international students to integrate socially. This article seeks to offer a deeper understanding of the social integration challenges of international students, contribute to the existing knowledge, and offer suggestions for future research.


2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 348-358 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Berrett-Abebe ◽  
Elyse Levin-Russman ◽  
Marie Elena Gioiella ◽  
Jeffrey M. Adams

AbstractObjective:The death of a child from cancer is an intense and life-changing loss for a parent. Guided by the principles of patient- and family-centered care, hospital-based caregivers developed a program to provide bereavement support for parents through phone calls and mailings. The aim of the present qualitative phenomenological study was to understand how parents experienced participating in this bereavement program.Method:A total of eight parents from six families participated in a focus-group evaluation of the two-year hospital-based bereavement program. Two social work clinicians/researchers independently analyzed the transcript of the focus group to define themes.Results:Four themes were identified: (1) lived experience of grief, (2) importance of relationships with the hospital-based team, (3) bereavement support from hospital-based providers, and (4) extending bereavement care.Significance of Results:Participants indicated the value of ongoing communication and connection with members of the healthcare team, who were often central to a family's life for years during their child's cancer treatment. Parents also provided suggestions for extending bereavement support through continued contact with providers and informal annual gatherings, as well as through a peer (parent-to-parent) support program.


Author(s):  
Kristina Lovato ◽  
Laura S. Abrams

During the past two decades, U.S. immigration policies have been tightened resulting in increased deportations of unauthorized persons residing in the United States. This qualitative phenomenological study is theoretically grounded in family systems theory. In-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with Latinx youth ( n = 8) and their remaining caregivers, specifically mothers ( n = 8) who had recently experienced the deportation of the child’s father. Findings from the analysis revealed that following the deportation of a parent, families (a) modified family structures and relied upon extended familial support, (b) experienced familial tensions, (c) experienced financial difficulties and housing instability, and (d) retreated from social life, including drastically shrinking social networks. Implications for practice include developing culturally based, trauma-informed interventions for Latinx families affected by deportation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 5-16
Author(s):  
Jan Adversario

This qualitative phenomenological study examined the occupational downgrading experiences of six adult immigrants. Occupational downgrading happens when an individual’s occupation post immigration does not match his or her education credentials and previous professional experiences. The goal is to make sense of the participants’ narratives through the lens of possible selves theory. Therefore, the research questions guiding this study were (1) How do occupational downgrading experiences of immigrants shape their integration to the U.S. workforce? and (2) How can we make sense of the participants’ narratives through the lens of possible selves theory? Phenomenological interviews served as the main source for data collection. In addition, artifacts allowed the participants to enrich their stories. Themes that emerged from the participants’ occupational downgrading experiences include underemployment, shift in status, language barrier, feeling of discrimination, and lack of inspiration at the new job. Looking at past, present, and future selves, the participants’ narratives were examined first through identity transition processes: separation, transition, and reincorporation. The study adds to a developing body of literature focusing on the possible selves of adult immigrants experiencing occupational downgrading. In particular, they inform who is participating in adult education. Likewise, this study centralizes the immigrant as participant to adult learning; it provides new narratives of adults in transition.


2021 ◽  
pp. 088626052110219
Author(s):  
Aiala Szyfer Lipinsky ◽  
Limor Goldner

Studies dealing with the experiences of non-offending mothers from the general population and minority groups after their child’s disclosure of sexual abuse are scarce, and studies on mothers from the Jewish ultra-Orthodox community are non-existent. This study takes an initial step in filling this gap by exploring how the normalization of sexual abuse shapes these mothers’ experiences. A qualitative phenomenological study was conducted on a sample of 21 mothers from the ultra-Orthodox sector whose children had been sexually abused. It consisted of in-depth, semi-structured interviews of the mothers followed by a drawing task on their experience. The analysis of the interviews yielded four central themes: the role of social stigmatization and religion on the mother’s ability to share her child’s abuse; the effect of the disclosure on the mothers’ mental state and maternal competency; the mothers’ ongoing experience in the shadow of this unprocessed/unresolved trauma; and the mothers’ coping strategies, including acceptance, faith, and meaning making. The findings highlight the influence of the tension between the need to adhere to religious norms and preserve the social fabric and the need to enhance mothers’ and children’s well-being.


2021 ◽  
Vol 75 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. 7512510228p1-7512510228p1
Author(s):  
Debra Hanson ◽  
Cherae C. Reeves ◽  
Alyssa Raiber ◽  
Megan K. Hamann

Abstract Date Presented 04/13/21 Results of a qualitative phenomenological study of the influence of spirituality on the lived experience of Christians during the rehabilitation process are shared. Findings show the pervasive impact of spirituality on occupational participation, performance, and engagement and align with the concepts of Humbert’s conceptual model of spirituality. This study of spirituality as expressed from a specific worldview perspective advances the provision of holistic, culturally relevant OT services. Primary Author and Speaker: Debra Hanson Contributing Authors: Heather Roberts, Angela Shierk


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 3-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Parkhideh Hasani ◽  
Rostam Jalali ◽  
Zhila Abedsaeedi

Background and objectives: Conscience is a cornerstone of ethics, affecting both our private and professional lives. Everyday health care practice raises questions about conscience and how to understand its role. Conscience has also been described as inducing self-growth and protecting personal integrity. Nurses views on their reactions to behaviors consistent or contrary to conscience could therefore help us to understand the meaning of the reactions of conscience. This study aimed to illuminate meanings of nurses lived experience of conscience reaction in their daily practices.Material and methods: Interviews with nine nurses were interpreted using a phenomenological hermeneutic (Colaizzi, 1978) method. Data was collected in 2010 among nurses working in various hospitals in Kermanshah. The nurses were selected for participation purposively.Results: The nurses lived experience of conscience reaction was formulated in three themes and ten sub-themes. The first theme is ‘being peace, which includes three sub-themes: Being calm, being pleased, and being satisfying. The second theme is ‘trouble conscience’ which includes four subthemes: guilt, thinking engagement, discomfort, and fretfulness. The third theme is responding which includes three sub-themes: expressing, compensation, and lack of repeat.Conclusions: The nurses lived experience of conscience reaction showed that nurses considered conscience reaction to be an important factor in the exercise of their profession, as revealed by the descriptive categories: being peace when they act consistent with conscience; trouble conscience when they act contrary on conscience; and responding after doing an anti conscience practice. They perceived that conscience played a role in nursing actions involving patients and next of kin, and guided them in their efforts to provide high quality care.  DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/bioethics.v2i3.10257Bangladesh Journal of Bioethics 2011;2(3):3-9


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