scholarly journals Lived Experiences of Persons with Chronic Schizophrenia Living in the Community

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 1-12
Author(s):  
Akanksha Rani ◽  
Sphoorthi G. Prabhu ◽  
Thirumoorthy Ammapattian ◽  
Janaki Trichy ◽  
Sojan Antony

Background and Purpose: Schizophrenia is a chronic and severe mental disorder which impacts a person’s ability to successfully function in the community. When it interacts with structural and situational stress like poverty, homelessness and unemployment, it can lead to negative experiences and makes a person vulnerable to abuse or even develop resilience or retaining a meaningful life within the limitation of the disorder. The study aims to understand how individuals diagnosed with schizophrenia define and evaluate their experience of living in the community; personal and environmental strengths, impact of illness on their personal and social life, the challenges and barriers they meet in their day to day life and how they overcome those challenges. Methods: The study focuses on lived experiences and deriving meaning from those experiences from a service user perspective. Therefore, Hermeneutic phenomenological approach will be used. In-depth interviews will be conducted over the course of four months to elicit client’s narratives of their experiences. The interviews are transcribed, read and coded to cluster thematic aspects in each case by using ATLAS.ti.v.7. Data will be collected till saturation point is reached and participants are from various age-group, socio-economic status, ethnicity and educational background, living in the Community. Implication: Participants’ stories would narrate sources of strength, process of normalization, describing instances of discrimination, social and structural factors which they encounter affecting their help-seeking behaviour and how these factors act as facilitator and barriers in their day to day life. Findings would suggest the need for advocacy services which are discussed through recommendations and suggestions.

2000 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 688-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gus Norris ◽  
Roy Laube

Objective: Maladaptive help-seeking behaviour in psychiatric patients is a significant problem for public mental health services, yet it is not addressed in the mainstream literature. We present a report on the successful treatment of a person with schizophrenia who displayed this common dilemma for patients and clinicians. Clinical picture: A 31-year-old man with borderline intellectual functioning had a 10-year history of schizophrenia marked by negative features. He frequently presented in crisis to public mental health services, the local hospital, and his general practitioner; this resulted in excessive use of services, including admissions. Treatment: The patient was reassessed from a cognitive-behavioural perspective rather than a syndromal perspective. Specific behaviours were modified, cognitions were identified, challenged and restructured, and other service providers were provided with an alternative to admission or acute community care. Outcome: At 24 months the maladaptive behaviour remains in remission. Conclusions: Behavioural problems in persons with chronic schizophrenia may be effectively treated by reconceptualising the behaviour as distinct from the major diagnosis.


Author(s):  
Cynthia Superable

Domestic violence is prevalent not only in the Philippines but also in other countries. This study explored how battered women viewed their experiences as victims using a hermeneutic phenomenological approach (van Manen, 2016). Using purposive sampling and snowball technique, the study identified six battered women who were interviewed using researcher-made guide questions. The responses generated from the interviews were transcribed and analyzed using Heidegger's hermeneutic phenomenology which aimed to understand the lived experiences of the participants. Four central themes were identified, namely recurrence of physical abuse, endurance to pain, disempowerment of women, and love for family. Battered women prefer to stay home and endure their husbands’ battering to protect children and family from social stigma.


2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Gisbey

The purpose of this qualitative study concerned developing an inductive and comprehensive understanding of the lived experiences of Malaysian homeowners and tenants of affordable housing. This was with respect to the variegated nature of the relationship between housing affordability and property values in the Malaysian housing market, the phenomenon under consideration. A descriptive phenomenological approach, involving both purposive and snowball sampling, was used to achieve the goal of this study: describing the relevant lived experiences in connection with the housing affordability issue in question. Through in-depth interviews, research participants described the experiences that stood out for them, in response to pre-prepared stimulus questions. Verbatim transcriptions of interviews were used as the primary source of data. However, triangulation was achieved through the use of interviews, corroborating field notes and reflective journals. Phenomenological analysis revealed ten emergent themes, namely financing, availability, race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, motives, property values, quality of life, stigma, quality of affordable housing and fairness. One clear implication arising from the findings was that if the Malaysian Government is seen to be doing more in an equitable fashion, this might lead to more positive perceptions in general of the issue of housing affordability. Another clear implication stemming from the findings was that the issue of housing affordability vis-à-vis property values, viewed at from a phenomenological perspective, is clearly a structural problem. Such contentions tend to significantly increase the desirability of the relevant decision-makers employing suitably multi-layered, multi-agency, systems thinking. In terms of practical measures, two key preliminary measures and one fundamental recommendation were made, pinpointing the desirability of improvements in property financing and increased perceptions of fairness.


2019 ◽  
Vol 6 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Ssebunnya ◽  
G. Medhin ◽  
S. Kangere ◽  
F. Kigozi ◽  
J. Nakku ◽  
...  

Background.Depression is a common disorder characterized by delayed help-seeking, often remaining undetected and untreated.Objectives.We sought to estimate the proportion of adults in Kamuli District with depressive symptoms and to assess their help-seeking behaviour.Methods.This was a population-based cross-sectional study conducted in a rural district in Uganda. Sampling of study participants was done using the probability proportional to size method. Screening for depression was done using Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9). The participants who screened positive also reported on whether and where they had sought treatment. Data collected using PHQ-9 was used both as a symptom-based description of depression and algorithm diagnosis of major depression. All data analysis was done using STATA version 13.Results.With a cut-off score of ⩾10, 6.4% screened positive for current depressive symptoms and 23.6% reported experiencing depressive symptoms in the past 12 months. The majority of individuals who screened positive for current depression (75.6%) were females. In a crude analysis, people with lower education, middle age and low socio-economic status were more likely to have depressive symptoms. Help-seeking was low, with only 18.9% of the individuals who screened positive for current depression having sought treatment from a health worker.Conclusion.Depressive symptoms are common in the study district with low levels of help-seeking practices. People with lower levels of education, low socio-economic status and those in middle age are more likely to be affected by these symptoms. Most persons with current depression had past history of depressive symptoms.


Author(s):  
Ian Coxon

At our research centre we have employed a hermeneutic phenomenological approach within a broad spectrum of projects to help us to better understand everyday human experience for the people for whom we wish to design. We have experimented with and explored creative ways to 'enter into' the lives of individuals and groups within diverse industry sectors. Finding new ways to capture lived experiences; understanding hidden 'meaning structures' within them and communicating these insights experientially are the goals driving this work. In this paper we share some examples of how we achieved these goals by infusing design thinking with hermeneutic phenomenology across four stages of our projects - Exploring; Sharing; Understanding and Showing How. These stages are kept rigorous by constantly referring back to philosophical first principles to inspire new techniques and 'ways into' the life-worlds of real people. We hope that designers and engineers will find these examples helpful in their attempts to find new perspectives on old problems and to challenge old perspectives on new problems.


2016 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenny Gårdling ◽  
Erna Törnqvist ◽  
Marie Edwinson Månsson ◽  
Inger Hallström

Background: The aim of radiotherapy is to provide a cure and/or symptomatic relief for children with cancer. Treatment is delivered on a daily basis, 5 days per week, over the course of 5 to 35 days. Many parents find that leaving their children alone during treatment and exposing them to radiation is a challenging experience. To gain an understanding of parents’ lived experiences, 10 parents were asked to keep a diary while their children underwent radiotherapy. Methods: A descriptive inductive design with a hermeneutic-phenomenological approach was chosen to analyze the diaries. The parents were asked to write down their lived experiences while their children underwent radiotherapy. Daily notes, both short and long, were desirable. Findings: The parents described radiotherapy as a balancing act involving a constant attempt to maintain a balance between coercing and protecting their children in order to improve their children’s chances of survival. Meanwhile, the parents themselves were struggling with their own despair and feelings of powerlessness. While protecting their children, they experienced a sense of hope and felt that they had gained control. Conclusion: Parents’ daily written reflections are important for clinical practice and provide vital knowledge. Parents need support when focusing on coercing and protecting their children and help with information and routines that enable them gain control.


Author(s):  
Jennifer L. Shaw ◽  
Julie A. Beans ◽  
Katherine Anne Comtois ◽  
Vanessa Y. Hiratsuka

This study explored the lived experiences of suicidality and help-seeking for suicide prevention among Alaska Native and American Indian (AN/AI) people in a tribal health system. An interpretive phenomenological approach was used to analyze semi-structured, in-depth interviews with 15 individuals (ages 15–56) with self-reported histories of suicide ideation and/or attempt. Several factors were found to be central to acquiring resilience to suicide risk among AN/AI people across a wide age range: meaningful and consistent social connection, awareness about how one’s suicide would negatively effect loved ones, and knowledge and utilization of available health services. Findings highlight the mutable nature of suicide risk and resilience, as well as the importance of interpersonal factors in suicidality.


Curationis ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Juliana Horn ◽  
Petra Brysiewicz

Background: Both non-governmental organisations and governmental organisations are very involved in the development and implementation of community empowerment programmes (CEPs). Because of various health issues within the community, 10 CEPs were launched in Ladysmith with a focus on addressing the particular needs of HIV-affected and -infected members. Of the 10 programmes, however, only four were deemed sustainable after five years.Objectives: The researcher explored the lived experiences of HIV community workers participating in two CEPs in Ladysmith, KwaZulu-Natal in order to develop recommendations for CEPs.Method: Data were explored using a qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological approach. Ten participants who had been involved in HIV CEPs for more than six months were identified and individual interviews were held.Results: Three themes emerged, namely, giving of yourself, maintaining sustainability and assisting the CEPs and community workers. Each of these themes also contained a number of subthemes. Exploring the lived experience of the community workers revealed that there are a number of ways in which to promote the sustainability of CEPs.Conclusion: The community should be involved in all aspects of the CEP and community workers must respect the community and their knowledge, experience and value systems.


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