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There have been growing concerns that social distancing and stay-at-home mandates have exacerbated loneliness for older people. Empirical evidence about older people's experiences of loneliness and COVID-19 have quantified this phenomena without considering how older people themselves define and understand loneliness. This paper explores how older New Zealanders conceptualized and experienced loneliness under 'lockdown' stay-at-home measures. This multi-methods qualitative study combines data from letters (n = 870) and interviews (n = 44) collected from 914 people aged over 60 and living in Aotearoa, New Zealand during the COVID-19 pandemic. We conducted a reflexive thematic analysis to conceptualise this data. We identify three interconnected ways in which older people conceptualised and experienced loneliness: (1) feeling disconnected relating to lack of emotional closeness to another often resulting from being physically separated from others and not being able to touch; (2) feeling imprisoned relating to separation from preferred identities and activities and was frequently associated with boredom and frustration; and (3) feeling neglected which often related to feeling let down by generalised and idealised forms of support, such as one's neighbourhood and health care system. Older New Zealanders experienced lockdown loneliness in three interconnected ways rather than as a stable and homogenous experience. Māori, Pacific, Asian and New Zealand European older people often discussed loneliness in different ways; attesting to loneliness being a culturally-mediated concept shaped by expectations around desirable social interaction. We conclude the paper with implications for research and policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the qualitative phase of a New Zealand study of young people who had been exposed to "risky" environments from a young age. These young people had experienced traumatic events such as abuse, violence, addictions, mental health issues, and many had been excluded from school. The young people (aged between 13 and 17) were users of multiple services (statutory and nongovernmental services including: child welfare, juvenile justice, remedial education, and mental health services). Qualitative interviews (n = 109) explored young people's experiences in their families, communities, education, and their perspectives on support provided by services and their own support networks. Three thematic clusters emerged as central motifs in young people's experiences and are the focus of this article: navigating "risky" environments; services and support; and, working to find different pathways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Death and dying are inevitable life encounters, but a nurse’s first experience with patient death may pose considerable cognitive, emotional and clinical challenges. This paper reports the findings of the second phase of a study; the first has been reported elsewhere. This phase explored the earliest memorable patient death experiences of New Zealand registered nurses. Method: A purposeful, self-selected sub-sample of a larger study of New Zealand registered nurses, took part in individual face-to-face semi-structured interviews. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was utilised to seek to understand participants’ experiences. Thematic analysis was undertaken to identify emerging themes, with participants’ own words used as theme headings, where their phrases provided succinct or powerful descriptors. Results: A diverse participant group of twenty, currently practising, New Zealand registered nurses provided rich and detailed descriptions of their earliest memorable experience with patient death. Participants from a variety of training backgrounds described patient deaths, which occurred in a range of settings – some only a few months prior, others – more than thirty years ago. Seven emergent themes, and features of more positive, or negative experiences were identified: Event Significance; Emotional Challenges; Sharing the Experience; Learning; Feeling Unprepared, Responses to Death and Finding Benefits. Conclusion: For participants in this study, there was considerable evidence that their earliest memorable patient death was a significant event. Furthermore, although most participants’ experiences were characterised by emphatic or poignant description, there was most often a balance of challenges and rewards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]