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The apps for drawing are present in our children's life. Nevertheless, little is known about the impact of mobile technology on the freehand drawing educational activity. There are few works which are contextualised within short periods of time, with teachers who are not theirs and, in some cases, outside the children's classroom. In this paper, we are focussed on the use of technology on freehand drawing activity. Thus, we have compared the graphics produced by 4- and 5-year-old children with paper&crayon in comparison with those with tablet-finger. Children made the drawings during a planned free-drawing activity, in their ordinary classrooms, with their teachers and during five sessions. Assessment of drawings has evidenced tablet feasibility for making graphics. Nevertheless, with the passing of time, quality of graphics (tablet-finger vs paper&crayons), are nearly matched, demonstrating the low impact level technology has on this activity. In addition, if drawings are analysed specifically according to ages, results have shown that both groups have to develop adaptation strategies of visual perceptual skills and fine motor skills for the touch screen in order to obtain the same quality in the drawings made on both support types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the United States' population grows via migration and immigration, with this rise in diverse identities, there has been increasing concern regarding disparities for undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. with limited access to the health system. Given the various constraints involving communication and social structures that undocumented immigrants face, a culture-centered approach is drawn on to investigating how this group goes about navigating a dominant health system given their restricted access. I explore co-constructed themes that emerged through conversations with undocumented immigrants, (people without papers as I call them in this work) living in the United States to gain an understanding as to the structural and cultural limitations faced by this group. By doing qualitative semi-structured interviews with local participants living in the South Florida region, I describe the various features of a complex U.S. health system that undocumented immigrants (people without papers) deemed as important obstacles that limit their willingness to interact with official medical spaces. This work draws on narratives and accounts to shed light on the intersection of disparities this group has to overcome in order to consider entering a medical space to receive the treatment they might need. The findings of this article highlighted the structural violence that certain subaltern groups, such as people without papers experience due to their limited access to foundational systems in their environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Appropriate paper-based technology (APT) is used to provide postural support for children with cerebral palsy (CP) in low-resourced settings. This pilot study aimed to evaluate the impact of APT on the children's and families' lives. A convenience sample of children with CP and their families participated. Inclusion was based on the Gross Motor Function Classification System levels IV and V. APT seating or standing frames were provided for six months. A mixed methods impact of APT devices on the children and families included the Family Impact Assistive Technology Scale for Adaptive Seating (FIATS-AS); the Child Engagement in Daily Life (CEDL) questionnaire; and a qualitative assessment from diary/log and semi-structured interviews. Ten children (median 3 years, range 9 months to 7 years). Baseline to follow-up median (IQR) FIATS-AS were: 22.7 (9.3) and 30.3 (10.2), respectively (p=.002). Similarly mean (SD) CEDL scores for "frequency" changed from 30.5 (13.2) to 42.08 (5.96) (p=.021) and children's enjoyment scores from 2.23 (0.93) to 2.91 (0.79) (p=.019). CEDL questionnaire for self-care was not discriminatory; seven families scored zero at both baseline and 6 months. Qualitative interviews revealed three key findings; that APT improved functional ability, involvement/interaction in daily-life situations, and a reduced family burden of care. APT devices used in Kenyan children with non-ambulant CP had a meaningful positive effect on both the children's and their families' lives. Assistive devices are often unobtainable for children with cerebral palsy (CP) in low-income countries. APT is a low cost and sustainable solution to make seating and standing devices for disabled children in Kenya. The regular use of a postural support device enhanced the children's motor skills, ability to function and participate in everyday activities, reduced the burden of care for the families and promoted the children's social interaction. The postural support devices were highly valued and utilised by the children and families in this study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a gap in research on how best to support exercise in moderate to severe MS. The objective of this study is to share perspectives of people living with MS and physiotherapists on their experiences in a randomized clinical trial of online physiotherapy vs. an active comparator. Semi-structured exit interviews were conducted with volunteer participants from the online and comparator arms of the trial, and focus groups were held with study physiotherapists. Transcripts were analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis. Perspectives from participants with MS yielded three themes: usability of their program, utility of their program, and motivation to participate. Visual and dexterity impairments limited the usability of the online program. Having an opportunity "to be pushed" was valued by participants in both trial arms. Motivation to exercise was variable, and participants desired periodic face-to-face contact with their physiotherapists. Perspectives from trial physiotherapists yielded similar and complementary findings concerning usability and utility. Participants with MS and physiotherapists found the online physiotherapy platform useful for supporting exercise, yet they identified some limitations. As the appeal of online platforms has increased since the pandemic, it will be important to consider the needs of people with moderate to severe MS. NCT03039400. People with moderate-to-severe MS and physiotherapists involved in a clinical trial found online physiotherapy useful for supporting exercise. Physiotherapists and participants using the online program desired improved platform accommodations for people living with MS with visual and dexterity impairments. Physiotherapists and people living with MS from both the online exercise program and comparator groups perceived a need for more face-to-face contact and opportunities to build therapeutic alliance. Perspectives from prescribing physiotherapists and people living with MS about supporting exercise online may have practice implications during and post-pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The confluence of the two major challenges has combined to create special challenges for rural nonprofits serving victims of crime: the fluctuation of federal funding, and the Covid-19 pandemic. We discuss the challenges faced by Child Advocacy Centers in northwestern South Carolina in the context of these shifting challenges. From qualitative interviews conducted at 14 centers in this primarily rural region, we explain the challenges they face and the potential effects on the communities they serve interpreted through the lens of Resource Dependence Theory, which predicts that organizations reduce uncertainty of funding through increasing their partnership bonds with cooperative entities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The controversy over vaccines, which has recently intensified following the COVID-19 pandemic, provokes heated debates, with both advocates and opponents raising allegations of bias and fraud in research. Researchers whose work raises doubts about the safety of certain vaccines claim to be victims of discriminatory treatment aimed at suppressing dissent, including the unjustified retraction of their published research. Such practices have previously been discussed in other controversial fields in science (e.g., AIDS, the environment, and water fluoridation) but not in the field of vaccines. The purpose of this study was to analyze, for the first time, the subjective views of researchers whose papers were retracted. Study participants are active researchers, most with international reputations in their respective fields. They perceived retraction as a means of censoring and silencing critical voices with the aim of preserving the pro-vaccination agenda of interested parties. Participants also reported additional measures aimed at harming them personally and professionally. These findings point to the need for a fair, open, and honest discourse about the safety of vaccines for the benefit of public health and the restoration of trust in science and medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This work aims to explore the potentialities of an end-user personalisation platform in industrial settings. In such a context, stakeholders with different roles and competencies collaborate to manage and control an environment where legacy machines coexist and interact with newer ones. Our goal is to provide a rule-based tool that allows end-users to build personalised solutions to respond quickly to the dynamic needs of factories. We report on a case study in the paper factory domain, in which the industrial aspects identified with expert stakeholders through interviews have been simulated and addressed through an extension of a personalisation platform. A first user test of the resulting environment has been carried out with a representative set of users, and has provided useful and encouraging feedback in terms of the potentialities of the proposed approach in industrial contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes a sustainable structure to deliver the World Health Organization (WHO) endorsed group Interpersonal Psychotherapy (IPT-G) for Postpartum Adolescent (PPA) mothers living with HIV in Nairobi. It documents the process of mobilizing, training, and engaging Community Health Workers (CHWs) and Key Informants (health facility staff) involved in the Prevention of Mother-To-Child Transmission (PMTCT) in two Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities from informal settlements of Nairobi County. Mainly reporting experiences from the training process utilizing focused group discussions and in-depth interviews involving participants, IPT-G therapists and supervisors we present process findings and acceptability of our IPT-G implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Children's perspectives in the context of health service delivery have historically been seen as unimportant. They have been viewed as unintelligent, unable to effectively share or tell of their experiences or fully participate in their care, potentially resulting in a sense of dehumanisation. Method: The present paper illustrates children's experiences when undergoing medical procedures, using application of the eight dimensions of humanised care theoretical framework. Results: Findings from six published papers were reflectively interrogated to identify implicit findings related to the dimensions of humanised care. These implicit findings show ways of caring for childrenwhichcan lead to enhanced human sensitivity in care or conversely where the dimensions of being human are obscured to greater or lesser degrees and can result in forms of dehumanisation. Conclusions: Inadvertent dehumanising features of practice can be mediated by encouraging the inclusion of children's own lifeworld perspective and make room for their voices in both care and research. In this way the present well documented power imbalance could be addressed. Adding the value of the theoretical framework highlights areas of need for young children to be cared for as human beings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we suggest that in most cases there is no need for a lengthy description of methodological procedures in qualitative higher education journal articles. Doing so often adds no real value beyond creating a scientific façade, and the space this requires as a proportion of the total paper word limit could be better utilized for crafting a more critical contribution for the field. With the relatively short word limits allowed for articles, there is always a trade-off between what can be covered and what might be needed. However, our preference would be to have journals and authors use the space to develop a deeper conceptual or theoretical engagement with the topic of interest, rather than writing about interview protocols and how codes and themes were identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:The aim of this paper is to provide the reader with an overall impression of the stepwise user-centred design approach including the specific methods used and lessons learned when transforming paper-based assessment forms into a prototype app, taking the Housing Enabler as an example. Methods:Four design iterations were performed, building on a domain study, workshops, expert evaluation and controlled and realistic usability tests. The user-centred design process involved purposefully selected participants with different Housing Enabler knowledge and housing adaptation experience. Results:The design iterations resulted in the development of a Housing Enabler prototype app. The prototype app has several features and options that are new compared with the original paper-based Housing Enabler assessment form. These new features include a user friendly overview of the assessment form; easy navigation by swiping back and forth between items; onsite data analysis; and ranking of the accessibility score, photo documentation and a data export facility. Conclusion:Based on the presented stepwise approach, a high-fidelity Housing Enabler prototype app was successfully developed. The development process has emphasized the importance of combining design participants’ knowledge and experiences, and has shown that methods should seem relevant to participants to increase their engagement. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In-clinic follow-up to assess completion of medical abortion is no longer a requirement according to World Health Organization guidance, provided adequate counselling is given. However, timely recognition of ongoing pregnancy, complications or incomplete abortion, which require treatment, is important. As part of a larger trial, this study aimed to establish whether women having a medical abortion could self-assess whether their abortion was complete using an automated, interactive questionnaire on their mobile phones. All 469 participants received standard abortion care and all returnees filled in a self-assessment on paper at clinic follow-up 2–3 weeks later. The 234 women allocated to receive the phone messages were also asked to do a mobile phone assessment at home ten days post-misoprostol. Completion of the mobile assessment was tracked by computer and all completed assessments, paper and mobile, were compared to providers’ assessments at clinic follow-up. Of the 226 women able to access the mobile phone assessment, 176 (78%) completed it; 161 of them (93%) reported it was easy to do so. Neither mobile nor paper self-assessments predicted all cases needing additional treatment at follow-up. Prediction of complete procedures was good; 71% of mobile assessments and 91% of paper assessments were accurate. We conclude that an interactive questionnaire assessing completion of medical abortion on mobile phones is feasible in the South African setting; however, it should be done later than day 10 and combined with an appropriate pregnancy test to accurately detect incomplete procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What role do texts play in LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) parents’ experiences of disability service systems? In interviews with 15 LGBTQ parents of disabled children in Toronto, Canada, participants selected documents to be used as a focus for discussion. Parents considered how LGBTQ identity and other intersectional identities influenced their experiences of institutional texts including adoption certificates, intake forms, and assessments. Findings suggest that documentation practices can operate as forms of systemic gatekeeping. LGBTQ identity was sometimes very significant in parents’ accounts, and sometimes less central than other aspects of their families' identities and experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper will consider the impact and implications of changing the method of selection for social work students on one BA/Diploma in social work course for mature students with family commitments. The change was instituted following research which suggested that interviewers' preferences were a poor predictor of successful outcome of course completion for students, and further, that other predictors such as quality of written application material and student motivation were factors which had a strong correlation with successful outcome. Consequently, in 1999, selecting students by interview was replaced by paper selection. While it is the long-term aim of academic staff to evaluate the merits of paper selection in terms of students' outcomes, this initial paper considers the organisational and administrative implications of changing to paper selection and the students' and selectors' perceptions of paper selection. In particular, this paper will consider whether it is possible to be objective in selecting applicants, or whether subjectivity will always be part of the process. Finally, the article considers the relative cost of paper selection as opposed to interview. The findings of this study suggest that interviewing is twice as costly on academic and agency staff time - a factor which in the present financial climate has considerable implications for the future of interviewing on social work courses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While on paper Zimbabwe has a comprehensive child protection legal framework, the occurrence of child sexual abuse (CSA) is high. Drawing from findings of a qualitative study, a case study design, and a research population consisting of a forum of organizations providing CSA interventions: the Victim Friendly System, this paper presents how some cultural myths, cultural practices, cultural rites, and religious practices may contribute to CSA in Zimbabwe. Purposive sampling was used to select 38 professional working in the VFS, 4 key informants, 17 VFS monthly meeting minutes, and 300 court files of tried and sentenced CSA cases from Harare and Gokwe. CSA is a gross child and human rights violation that places some religions, myths, beliefs, and cultural practices at crossroads with social work principles. Various social work interventions are suggested as ways to navigate the paradox: shaped by cultural, traditional, religious, and mythical factors contributing to CSA and legal frameworks to address CSA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Indo-Carribean repatriation of laborers. The necessity of handing over the information and knowledge to the future generations orally or written helps in identity, origin and understanding the descent of individual. The sailing of M.V. Resurgent between shores is shown as a unit of cultural and political bonding overcoming the barriers of caste, religion and language. The author's interview with Chhablal Ramcharan on the final voyage, is also presented.

Background: The development of a set of questions is a central element of examination development, with the validity of an examination resting to a large extent on the quality of the questions that it comprises. This paper reports on the methods and findings of a project that explores how educational examination question writers engage in the practice of question setting. Although the practice of examination question writing is ubiquitous, limited research has been carried out on how writers actually draft individual examination questions when writing complete examination papers. Purpose: The main aim of this study was to understand more deeply the process of examination question writing. Sample: The study involved 12 experienced educational examination question writers. Design and methods: The first data collection phase involved observing writers whilst they wrote the first draft of a question paper (using a 'think aloud' process). Following the observation, the writers took part in an hour-long interview. This led to the construction of a model of question writing. Phase 2 of the data collection process involved validating the proposed question writing model with six additional question writers by means of telephone interviews. Analysis and findings: A model was developed that outlined the key stages of writing that all of the writers moved through in the completion of their question writing task. The question writing model situates the process of writing individual questions in relation to the broader cognitive tasks required in writing a complete paper. It also situates the writing process within the social dimensions of question writing. Conclusions: Iteration in the writing process appears to have an important function. These iterations represent a form of decision-making that is common to the examination question writing culture and appears to be logical and rule bound. Whilst the recognition of iterative behaviour reveals a highly personalised element of question writing, it also reveals a common expectation that the ideas across a subject area are highly inter-related, and that an examination paper should reflect this. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Actual accounts of the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples since colonization remain largely misunderstood and misrepresented within Australian education systems and the broader social consciousness. Culturally sensitive practice and ethnic diversity are challenging topics to teach social work students when truth-telling is absent. Social workers need to develop an understanding of intergenerational trauma experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, critically reflect on perpetuated stereotypes, and confront internalized beliefs about peoples of diverse ethnic and cultural identities in preparation to work respectfully with Indigenous communities. A course focused on building students' knowledge and skills for culturally responsive practice is described in this paper, along with suggestions for enhancing teaching and learning. The paper argues for the importance of truth-telling about Australia's continuing racism in social work education to create cultural safety for service users. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Resilience is an important attribute of incident management teams (IMTs) for managing disasters. Previous research on resilience of IMTs has focused on comparing work-as-imagined (WAI) and work-as-done (WAD) but predominantly used narrative analyses which limited comparisons between IMTs. This paper presents a novel Interaction Episode Analysis (IEA) method to identify the IMT's WAI and WAD episodes by analyzing dynamic interactions that occur between different roles that carry out information management tasks. Observations and audio--visual recordings of two high-fidelity IMT exercises were conducted to capture WAD episodes, and semi-structured interviews with experts elicited corresponding WAI episodes. Quantitative analyses using five interaction-based measures were conducted to detect differences of the WAD episodes between two IMTs. Next, qualitative analyses were focused on identifying reasons why such differences have occurred by comparing the gaps between WAI and WAD episodes. Some of the reasons for WAI-WAD gaps included the non-occurrence of critical interactions that were expected and occurrence of unexpected interactions between IMT members. This paper also identifies cases of preparatory, proactive, and reactive performance adjustment that characterizes IMT resilience. The IEA method shows promise for investigating how and why the gaps between WAI and WAD in IMTs occur. With the identification of these gaps, future research can be conducted to reconcile the gaps between WAI and WAD episodes, and thus enhance resilience of IMTs in future disasters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Paperwork can transform organisational aims into action in group homes, but it can also be problematic for staff. The aim of this study was to explore frontline staff perspectives on paperwork in group homes for people with intellectual disability. Methods: Constructivist grounded theory methodology guided the study. Data were collected from 29 participants through semi-structured interviews, participant observations and journaling. Coding and sorting methods were used to analyse participants’ perspectives. Results: Staff have nuanced paperwork perspectives. They described and evaluated paperwork in terms of its value and fit with resident-focused practice. They identified gaps in paperwork and reimagined its design and use. Conclusions: Frontline staffs’ reflection suggests some paperwork hinders them from supporting residents well. This suggests organisations could consult better with staff to design paperwork that has a goodness of fit to their practice. Further research could explore how staff manage the limiting characteristics of paperwork. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Data entry at the point of collection using mobile electronic devices may make data-handling processes more efficient and cost-effective, but there is little literature to document and quantify gains, especially for longitudinal surveillance systems. Objective: To examine the potential of mobile electronic devices compared with paper-based tools in health data collection. Methods: Using data from 961 households from the Rufiji Household and Demographic Survey in Tanzania, the quality and costs of data collected on paper forms and electronic devices were compared. We also documented, using qualitative approaches, field workers, whom we called ‘enumerators’, and households’ members on the use of both methods. Existing administrative records were combined with logistics expenditure measured directly from comparison households to approximate annual costs per 1,000 households surveyed. Results: Errors were detected in 17% (166) of households for the paper records and 2% (15) for the electronic records (p < 0.001). There were differences in the types of errors (p = 0.03). Of the errors occurring, a higher proportion were due to accuracy in paper surveys (79%, 95% CI: 72%, 86%) compared with electronic surveys (58%, 95% CI: 29%, 87%). Errors in electronic surveys were more likely to be related to completeness (32%, 95% CI 12%, 56%) than in paper surveys (11%, 95% CI: 7%, 17%).The median duration of the interviews (‘enumeration’), per household was 9.4 minutes (90% central range 6.4, 12.2) for paper and 8.3 (6.1, 12.0) for electronic surveys (p = 0.001). Surveys using electronic tools, compared with paper-based tools, were less costly by 28% for recurrent and 19% for total costs. Although there were technical problems with electronic devices, there was good acceptance of both methods by enumerators and members of the community. Conclusions: Our findings support the use of mobile electronic devices for large-scale longitudinal surveys in resource-limited settings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In thinking about care, much research has focused on kin relations, family-related care, and formal (medical) or informal care providers. Yet, how do we understand care responsibilities in contexts where kin care is absent despite being a desired social norm, and people turn to other community sources or practices? This paper draws on ethnographic research in a Sufireligious shrine in western India well-known for providing succor to those in distress, including those with mental illness. Interviews were conducted with pilgrims who had left homes due to strained relationships with kin members. For many of them, the shrine emerged as a sanctuary, even while not entirely a safe one, allowing women to live alone. While both academic research on mental health institutions and state responses have delved into the abandoned or 'dumped woman' in long-stay institutions or care homes, this paper argues that 'abandonment' is not a straightforward condition, but rather a dynamic discourse that works in different ways. For women bereft of kinship ties, narratives of being abandoned by kin became ways of justifying long (and sometimes permanent) residence in religious shrines, which were able to absorb such 'abandoned' pilgrims who had nowhere else to go, even if half-heartedly so. Importantly, these alternative forms of living made possible by shrines reflect women's agency, enabling women to live alone even while belonging to a community. In a context with limited social security options for women in precarious family situations, these care arrangements become significant, even if they are informal and ambivalent forms of care. Keywords: kinship; abandonment; agency; care; religious healing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The English National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) is a nationally mandated public health programme. It provides data for child excess weight indicators in the Public Health Outcomes Framework, part of the government's approach to reducing childhood obesity. Drawing on a meta-ethnographic synthesis of household members' experiences of the programme, we conceptualise the NCMP as a 'technique of futuring' to generate new insights into how it (re)shapes and (re)imagines past, present, and future responsibilities and practices for overweight children, parents, and carers, in potentially harmful ways. For children categorised by the NCMP as overweight, the NCMP is an emotionally significant event, driving new bodily practices, new food practices and changed relationships with peers. This paper outlines how parents come to resist and reframe the programme and its results, to protect their children from a weight-focused future. They consider the potential risks of bullying, dysfunctional eating, and mental health consequences more important than future risks of overweight. We show how parents of children categorised as overweight preserve their claim to 'responsible' and 'good' parenting amongst peers, whilst shifting the blame for childhood obesity to other, 'irresponsible' parents, thus reproducing moralising and responsibilising discourses inherent within the 'behaviour change' messaging of the NCMP and associated research. Finally, we consider a central paradox of this programme and the use of NCMP population level monitoring data to (re)shape lives at the individual and social level – the children it sets out to help are the most likely to experience harm as a result of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global commitments to the education of children with disabilities, have led to progressive policy developments in India, and a surge in the enrolment of children who were traditionally excluded from the formal education system. This paper examines the perceptions and practices of mainstream teachers in rural government schools, within the context of increased learner diversity, focusing on how teachers understand, and respond to, the needs of children with disabilities. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with teachers and classroom observations, in six primary schools, in three districts of Haryana. Our findings suggest that deficit-oriented views dominated teacher thinking, but they showed a readiness to engage with disability issues, recognising the value of education for all. However, they struggled in their classroom practices in relation to meeting diverse learner needs and exclusionary practices were further amplified for children with disabilities. Teachers were unwilling to take responsibility for the learning of children with disabilities, expressing significant concerns about their own preparedness, while highlighting the lack of effective and appropriate support structures. The paper concludes by drawing attention to the pressing need for effective teacher professional development opportunities and other support structures, to provide quality education. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores how neoliberal ideologies inform both social and political agendas that influence how social workers can provide support to trans and gender diverse people attempting to access gender-affirming healthcare, using an analysis of social workers' experiences working in mental health in Nova Scotia, Canada. Qualitative semi-structured interviews provide a perspective of the experiences of social workers in Nova Scotia and how their ability to provide mental health services to trans and gender diverse people is impacted by neoliberalism. Most social workers attributed the structural context of working within a bio-medical system as contributing to social workers being disempowered, undermined, and not able to practice according to the values of their profession thus limiting their ability to provide affirming mental health supports to trans and gender diverse people in ways that align with their social work professional ethics and values. Through examining how neoliberal ideologies create notions of ideal social citizens by controlling the body, the paper explores how lived experience of neoliberal practices in mental health social work reinforce transnormativity. This paper highlights the necessity for social workers to resist dominant neoliberal and medicalized discourses which serve as mechanisms of power and control. The paper concludes with recommendations for social work practice with trans and gender diverse populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hospital to home transfers for older people require effective communication, coordination and collaboration across multiple service settings. Rural Nursing Theory and the Beyond Periphery model explain why this is particularly difficult in rural areas, but there are few examples of how rural services respond. This paper presents a case study of the district of Tärnaby in the inland north of Sweden. Data are drawn from interviews with health and care staff in Tärnaby, observations, and experiences of the researchers. Data were analyzed thematically, with four main themes emerging – role clarity, communication, geography, and understanding of the rural context. Responses to challenges included increasing opportunities for communication between service providers and improving documentation. The paper concludes that informal "workarounds" run the risk of further disconnecting rural service settings from "the city". Rather, the aim needs to be to improve contextual understanding through formally incorporating "the rural" in service design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A smartphone application (app) from the company Monsenso was developed to monitor anxiety symptoms in the treatment of anxiety disorders as an alternative to paper registrations. The aim of the study was to explore patient and therapist experiences of using the app in conjunction with standard treatment for anxiety disorder in a developmental and implementation phase. The study design was qualitative. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three therapists and seven patients from an outpatient clinic. The interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. Three main themes emerged for both patients and therapists. The patient themes were usability (it was easier to use the app and remember daily mood registrations), insight in own disorder (awareness of symptom progress), and support to use the app (support from the therapist was wanted). The therapist themes were therapeutic quality (app registrations made it easier to prepare sessions), the role of the therapist (enthusiasm and technical assistance affected the patient), and implementation challenges (time allocation is important). The anxiety monitoring app is recommended in standard treatment as an alternative to paper registrations. However, a successful development and implementation process include ready available technical support, time allocation, and therapist effort and enthusiasm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the major impacts of hearing disability that hinders the individual's effective participation in society and full enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms is his/her ability to communicate with others. Sign language is one of the main methods of communication used by people with hearing disability. Therefore, improving access to sign language services and increasing the availability of interpreters contribute to better inclusion and integration of people with hearing disability into society. This paper explores the experience of a Jordanian university that launched a pioneering initiative by offering a sign language course for its students. It reports the findings of a study that evaluated this initiative from the perspective of students. Feedback was recorded during unstructured interviews with 23 student participants who had taken the course. The paper concludes that universities can play a significant role in integrating people with disabilities into the education system and promoting their participation in society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on South African teenage girls' engagement with pornography. Using a decolonial approach and drawing upon new feminist materialism, this study focuses on the ways in which bodies, gender and sexuality configure to produce and constrain girls' capacities for sexual expression. The paper makes three claims. First, the article turns away from a one-sided representation of girls as only possible to know through the lens of sexual suffering while challenging childhood sexual innocence. Second, the online pornographic field is situated in a gendered and racialised system of organisation whereby the perfect body is naturalised as an esteemed object of desire. Third, the desire for the perfect, slim, blemish-free, hairless body through self-surveillance constricts capacities in line with normative standards of female beauty. A decolonial porn assemblage is harnessed to illustrate the contradictions produced as girls both desire and object to idealised bodies that are naturalised through heterosexual and racialised hierarchies. The paper concludes by considering the implications of approaching girls' engagement with pornography in relation to the expansion and limitation of their capacities and the body as an intense site of power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adult-centric concept of 'age-appropriateness' is an arbitrary signifier and yet it commands a powerful common-sense appeal in governing the shape of sexuality education. The visibility of LGBTQ+ lives in primary schools is deeply impacted by the cis-heteronormative ways in which age-appropriateness is commonly understood and mobilised; very often resulting in silence and delay. The concept of age-appropriateness also becomes entangled with moral panics about 'promoting' LGBTQ+ lives, or children being somehow 'recruited' to identify as LGBTQ+. This paper draws on findings from a study with the parents of eleven trans and gender diverse children (then aged between 5 and 13) conducted in 2017, as well as a follow-up study conducted with seven participants from the same group of parents and children in 2022. The paper explores how the politics of age and agency intersect and become intensified as trans and gender diverse children and their parents navigate and make decisions about their bodies, lives and everyday worlds in primary schools. These stories of trans and gender diverse children provide an arresting invitation to adults to attend closely to the rich stories of children themselves in (re)considering the potential of sexuality education across contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers the ways that publicly funded developmental services for adults with developmental disabilities in southern Ontario are limited in how they support clients. This paper is informed by field research conducted in the summer of 2019, which was composed of semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and a policy review. Informed by parent advocates who are the main caregivers of their adult children labelled with intellectual and developmental disabilities, this paper claims that the administrative processes of the Ontario ministry that manages and funds adult disability services relate to broader exclusionary patterns among adults with developmental disabilities. I explore this claim by reviewing how common ableist assumptions of people with developmental disabilities are ingrained in the policies and administrative processes of these services. I contribute to ongoing discussions among Critical Disability Scholars of the ways that disability as a social category can be articulated outside of ableist assumptions. Informed by parent caregiver perspectives, this article outlines how the limitations of provincially funded disability services in Ontario, Canada cause significant challenge in the lives of those labelled with intellectual and developmental disabilities. One possible explanation for these limitations is that there is a disconnect between how the provincial government classifies who should receive immediate services and how many services, versus the actual need of those labelled with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The criteria for high supports, such as monthly funding, placement into a living facility, and the provincial assessment for determining a person's 'adaptive functioning' are rooted in problematic assumptions made of people labelled with intellectual and developmental disabilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a major growth in global health networks in recent decades to address health issues including tobacco use, alcohol abuse, and maternal mortality. Most conditions that incur high costs have provoked networks of advocates working to mitigate the impact, increase investment in research, and establish campaigns. Global health networks often work simultaneously across policy, knowledge creation, and advocacy. Until recently there has been limited activity in global health networks and advocacy addressing hearing loss and deafness which has contributed to its relatively low visibility with policymakers compared to other health conditions. This discussion paper reports on a global consultation that explored the views of advocacy groups and individuals on advocacy for the management of hearing loss, and cochlear implantation (CI). It focussed on stakeholders' views of current advocacy endeavours, opportunities and barriers, and the possible development of a global advocacy network to improve access to cochlear implantation and the supporting services. The subsequent development of a global health network, the Cochlear Implant International Community of Action (CIICA) is discussed and the conditions necessary for the successful development of health networks are explored. This paper will be of interest to those wishing to understand the factors influencing the development of health networks and advocacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Women in the Netherlands with non-western migration backgrounds experience domestic violence at the intersection of culture and gender, and visit their general practitioners (GPs) with health concerns related to the violence. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with GPs, this paper illuminates how GPs navigate the process of decision-making around intervention in domestic violence, with particular attention to the role of autonomy. Patient autonomy is a core principle in Dutch general practice. The term refers to the principle that GPs must respect that competent adults can make autonomous decisions about the care they do and do not want, and that GPs must respect patients' views, choices, and ways of life. The interview data shows great variation in how GPs respond in situations of domestic violence against women with non-western migration backgrounds. Deploying 'somatechnics of perception', this paper explores how GPs' perceptions of their patients' autonomy are both the agent and effect of a complex and embodied negotiation of gender, race, culture, ethnicity, medical ethics, and morality. In highlighting how these patients' autonomy is rendered (un)intelligible and (il)legible in contextually specific ways, this paper sheds light on how GPs in the Netherlands can better assist women with non-western migration backgrounds who experience domestic violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) carried out by children and young people can include sexual abuse of younger children or adults, or sexual assault in dating or peer relationships. The aim of this paper is to capture the "practice wisdom" of practitioners and applied researchers about clusters of risk factors associated with HSB onset, as well as possibilities for earlier intervention. Participants included practitioners and applied researchers in the HSB field. Data was collected in 2020 through individual interviews with eight key expert informants, and two group interviews – the first with two applied researchers and the second with three practitioners. Data analysis revealed risk factor clusterings around five key childhood experiences: being sexually curious; having a sexual interest in children; living with childhood trauma; living with contextual violence; and using pornography. These clusters are discussed in relation to early intervention. PRACTICE IMPACT STATEMENT Harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) is preventable but the early intervention agenda is underdeveloped. In this paper, five risk clusters are identified: being sexually curious; having a sexual interest in children; living with childhood trauma; living with contextual violence; and using pornography. The identification of these risk clusters present opportunities for early intervention that could enhance the prevention agenda to address HSB in Australia and internationally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Secondary prevention efforts, which target risk and protective factors associated with harmful sexual behaviour (HSB) and seek to intervene early in the trajectory of HSB, are underdeveloped in Australia. This study explored design considerations for an online early intervention service for children and young people worried about their sexual thoughts and behaviours. A trauma-informed child right's framework underpinned the study, which involved 10 individual interviews with international experts in HSB, and one group interview (n = 3) with Australian practitioners. Analysis was carried out using thematic analysis. Results reflect design considerations in relation to: theoretical approaches; practice frameworks; service delivery components; and helpseeking challenges. Key tensions emerging from the results are discussed, including the need to move beyond binary constructions of victims and perpetrators. PRACTICE IMPACT STATEMENT: This paper has significant potential to influence practice in the field of harmful sexual behaviour prevention and response. The paper sets out the components of an early intervention online service for children and young people worried about their sexual thoughts and behaviours. The online service could be built and trialed for impact and efficacy in supporting children and young people not to sexually harm. It would be the first service of its kind in Australia and fill a gap in the current service delivery landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: To investigate the feasibility and acceptability of a serious mobile-game intervention on older adults' engagement, affect, and cognitive function. Methods: In this single-subject design, twenty older adults, six of whom living with dementia, participated in a 16-session mobile-game intervention. Before and after the intervention, participants had sessions involving traditional paper-based cognitive activities. Engagement and affect were measured in each session. Cognitive measures were administered before and after the intervention. Acceptability was explored through interviews. Results: After the intervention, there was a statistically significant increase in engagement in 37% of participants, and in affect in 21% of participants. Participants preferred the mobile games to the paper-based activities. Cognitive measures showed improvement in four participants with dementia. Conclusions: Although not conclusive, participants experienced higher levels of engagement and positive affect while playing the mobile games compared to paper-based activities. The results indicate feasibility and acceptability of the mobile game intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Roadside memorials are made up of objects, usually flowers, candles and crosses, placed at the roadside to mark the sites of fatal accidents. The paper introduces the potential of Lefebvre's concept of rhythmanalysis and geography of rhythms in exploring roadside memorials. The aim of the paper is to investigate rituals and rhythms at roadside memorials in Poland. Data were collected during two-year field observations of 12 roadside memorials and from 10 semi-structured interviews. Polish roadside memorials are part of widespread rituals which either generate material changes to roadside memorials, like cleaning up works, leaving candles and flowers at memorials or which do not generate such changes, like saying prayers or reminiscing about the deceased. The specifics of roadside memorialisation in Poland are expressed in prayers being said and no personal belongings being left at the sites. We found that the coexistence of individual and social rhythms at roadside memorials was deeply rooted in Catholic liturgy and commonly accepted cemetery rituals in Poland. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In response to the global call to upscale mental health services in low--income countries, mental health non-governmental organisations (MHNGOs) have sprung up in Kerala to address mental health needs by partnering with pre-existing locally grown, bottom-up, community-led pain and palliative clinics (PPCs) to increase access to mental health care through task-shifting. The MHNGOs mandate filtering only patients with 'severe mental disorders' from low socioeconomic backgrounds for their free services. This eligibility criterion mandated by the MHNGO is ruffling feathers within the palliative clinics that oppose such -classifications. They believe that suffering cuts across all divisions and should not be discriminated against based on economic background and severity of illnesses. When chronicity and suffering are held universal by the MHNGO and palliative care, respectively, it brings to the fore the enactment of two perspectives of care. Drawing on observations of clinical interactions between patients, MHNGO staff and mental health professionals and interviews with community volunteers of palliative care clinics in Kerala, this paper demonstrates how chronicity narrative promoted by MHNGOs based on biopsychiatric model gains hegemony, whereas the community care model loses traction progressively. The state, caught between these two narratives, frontstages development by submitting its health machinery to the MHNGOs flouting basic medical safety laws in its services to marginalised people like the tribal population. This paper argues that the rising dominance of chronicity narrative in community mental health clinics as well as in popular media discourses evolves out of power relations between the MHNGOs and the palliative clinics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the paper is to explore countertransference in qualitative research. Specifically, through the examination of a study which explored the experiences of mental health professionals working with refugee and immigrant families with infants and young children, the paper aims to demonstrate how the monitoring of countertransference can be transformed into a useful research tool. Countertransference movements are examined on multiple levels, in the mental health worker-immigrant/refugee dyad, in the researcher-participant dyad, and at the institutional level. The importance of thinking about a whole research process in terms of the process of countertransference is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is a community-based NGO that supports people with alcohol misuse concerns to achieve and maintain abstinence. Qualitative methods are best suited to investigate individual experiences of recovery in AA, since this typically involves not only abstinence from alcohol but also the global psychological growth of the whole person. Despite this, the growing body of qualitative research exploring individual experiences in AA has yet to be collated. Objectives: The aims of this paper were to systematically search for and critically review qualitative interview studies with AA members. Methods: A systematic database and citation search identified 21 articles published between 1977 and 2014. Two independent reviewers assessed each research report and extracted data pertaining to the findings and the methodological quality of the studies. Results: Major themes across the reviewed articles included 'rock-bottom' experiences and powerlessness, and identity and change processes in AA. Findings related to the methodological quality of the papers were both general to qualitative research and more specific to AA. Conclusions/Importance: Research in this field has been characterized by a relatively uncritical discovery of AA narratives among AA members and by a lack of methodological rigor, which is likely to perpetuate its negative standing in the context of academia, and therefore in public and political discourse. Overall, findings demonstrated a pressing need for high quality qualitative research on AA. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is recognised that there is a correlation between precarity and affective mental health conditions that is typically overlooked due to the individualisation of wellbeing discourses and interventions. This paper aims to explore alternative psychotherapeutic practices that foreground relational, embodied and ecological approaches to mental health and wellbeing. It considers precarity's effects through the context of the moving body and an openness to human and more-than-human inter-connections. Using a socio-new materialist and critical-posthuman framework, precarity is conceptualised as an assemblage of affects and emergent capacities. It is within this framing that empirical data – taken from nine qualitative interviews with practitioners from the fields of dance/movement psychotherapy, embodied-relational therapy and eco-psychotherapy – is discussed. The study identifies that precarity can also provide opportunities to affirm our inter-dependencies within an inter-connected human and more-than-human world. Alternative practices can help cultivate the relational capacities through which precarity's complexities may be navigated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background:Evidence on effective ways of improving maternal and neonatal health outcomes is widely available. The challenge that most low-income countries grapple with is implementation at scale and sustainability. Objectives:The study aimed at improving access to quality maternal and neonatal health services in a sustainable manner by using a participatory action research approach. Methods: The  study consisted of a quasi-experimental design, with a participatory action research approach to implementation in three rural districts (Pallisa, Kibuku and Kamuli) in Eastern Uganda. The intervention had two main components; namely, community empowerment for comprehensive birth preparedness, and health provider and management capacity-building. We collected data using both quantitative and qualitative methods using household and facility-level structured surveys, record reviews, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. We purposively selected the participants for the qualitative data collection, while for the surveys we interviewed all eligible participants in the sampled households and health facilities. Descriptive statistics were used to describe the data, while the difference in difference analysis was used to measure the effect of the intervention. Qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. Conclusions:This study was implemented to generate evidence on how to increase access to quality maternal and newborn health services in a sustainable manner using a multisectoral participatory  approach. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Filipino psychologist Fr. Jaime C. Bulataosuggested that a shared collective consciousness allows for telepathy to occur. In the context of psychotherapy, telepathy may strengthen rapport between therapist and client, as well as enrich insight. This paper aims to describe and discuss a framework of Bulatao-inspired psychotherapy that integrates telepathy as part of the therapeutic practice. Thus, the paper asks the question: What does the Bulatao therapeutic process of telepathy look like? Descriptive phenomenology revealed four phenomenological structures: (a) Mental quietude and psychic openness; (b) Perceiving the client; (c) Receiving and reacting to telepathic stimuli; and (d) Anomalous insight. This paper has the potential to inspire a conversation with regard to the potential therapeutic uses of Bulatao's transpersonal world view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Current speech-language pathology (SLP) services in Cambodia are limited in scope, service accessibility and integration into government systems. However, momentum is growing to develop an internationally recognised profession. This paper examines the depth and breadth of SLP support available to people with communication and/or swallowing difficulties in relation the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Qualitative interview data collected from service facilities (n = 13) and speech therapy practitioners (n = 27) were mapped and analysed for accessibility and scope of SLP services. Data revealed a workforce density of 0.16:100 000. Disparity in service accessibility was identified between provincial and urban locations, adult and paediatric populations and range of practice areas. The findings demonstrate the importance of partnerships (SDG 17) among government departments, non-government organisations and private sector entities to establish a sustainable and culturally responsive SLP profession in Cambodia. Although there is no Cambodian university training program, there is a growing momentum and local commitment to establishing a workforce to support Cambodians with communication and/or swallowing difficulties. This commentary paper focuses on good health and well-being (SDG 3), decent work and economic growth (SDG 8), reduced inequalities (SDG 10), and also addresses no poverty (SDG 1), quality education (SDG 4) and partnerships for the goals (SDG 17). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article traces the origin, sustenance and implications of a persistent rumour that is responsible for low measles mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccination uptake in the Somali diaspora in a number of countries across the globe. The rumour stipulates that the MMR vaccine – the silent shot – causes autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Although the association between MMR and ASD is non-causal, and various public health initiatives have promoted health information campaigns, the rumour continues to circulate in the Somali diaspora in many countries, including Sweden. This paper shows that there are valid reasons for this. The findings from this paper draw on a systematic scoping review and qualitative interview data from Sweden. The results show that the Somali community experiences higher than average rates of ASD compared to the general population. Moreover, ASD does not exist in the Somali language or their home country, is considered a Western disease that only affects Somali children in the diaspora, and is a highly stigmatised disease. Also, the Somali diaspora has had negative experiences with ASD diagnosis and care. The rumour has been sustained by the absence of an answer to their ASD fear and through active diaspora networks on social media. The network that surrounds the rumour has arguably further helped to create an epistemic community for a community whose concerns have been silenced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to study the effectiveness of the three techniques commonly employed for collecting data to be used in evaluating personality adjustment. The interview technique portrays the personality appraisement approach resorted to by most specialists as psychologists, clinicians, and counselors. This technique endeavors to diagnose personality characteristics on the basis of verbal responses, appearance, individual testing, personal contact, and the like. The interview technique as used in this study consisted of a personalized administration of each test during which time ample opportunity was given the student to discuss his understanding of the test situations and the nature of responses made to them. People frequently question the effectiveness of many of the personality evaluating techniques utilized in guidance programs. Since guidance practice generally relies upon the use of one personality evaluating technique, it is essential to know which technique provides the most effective diagnosis of student adjustment not only in the school situation but in other environments as well.

Mental health services are increasingly employing peer workers (PWs), individuals who have lived experiences with mental health problems, to support patients and be part of mental health care teams. While the employment of PWs continues to increase, little is known about how the function unfolds in practice. This paper explores the broader context in which the PWs navigate and the concrete outcomes and everyday issues that exist at the individual level. Methodologically, the paper draws on 22 interviews with PWs employed in the mental health services in Denmark. Theoretically, it combines Lipsky's (1980) theory on street-level bureaucrats with sociological discussions concerning the lay-expert divide. The analysis shows that PWs experience both role ambiguity and goal uncertainty and that they use substantial discretion in determining the nature, amount and quality of their peer practices. This – combined with the PWs' diverse lived experiences – calls for a heterogeneous understanding of peer work and therefore the analysis presents three categories of peer workers: PWs as (1) a representative of patients' lifeworld, (2) an interdisciplinary professional and (3) an 'expert by experience'. These categories display PWs different enactments of their lived experiences and reveal ambiguities tied to the lay-expert divide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the various labels ascribed to males in the heterosexual discourse among female undergraduates in Nigeria. Insights from Community of Practice and Sexual Script Theory were used to demonstrate the use of situated linguistic choices to establish the differentials in male sexual behaviours. Data for the study were generated through participant observation and unstructured interviews with the aid of audiotape recordings and field notes. The study involves a representative sample of 22 female undergraduates who served as participants and research assistants. The findings reveal that situated language practices stimulate heterosexual discourses where female undergraduates creatively ascribe labels to the different males' sexual scripts. The labels include those related to male sexual performance, body size and size of sex organs, financial and marital status, familial and gatekeeping roles, and other routine sexual behaviours shown by men in sexual phases such as advances, arousal and intercourse. The scripts are also combined to re-enact the peculiar sexual narratives by the female students that show emerging sexual orientations. It is believed that the categorisation of such males' sexual behaviours in the University social contexts, would provide a basis for comparison with the sexual practices of other young adults' social groups across the globe. The paper discusses the various strands of sexual scripts shown by men in their heterosexual relationships with female undergraduates in a Nigerian University. The students ascribed labels based on the sexual performance, economic and marital status, and other routine behaviours that have an impact on the male sexual lifestyle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Addressing sexting in sexual health education classrooms is one way of supporting young people to become good sexual citizens and to emphasise respect and consent in their sexual practices and in their lives. While a fair amount of research has worked with youth to understand their motivations for sexting, less research has been conducted with in-service teachers to understand their perspectives, pedagogical approaches, and beliefs regarding young people and sexting. Set in this context, this paper discusses findings from interviews with Canadian teachers who were teaching a new Ontario Health and Physical Education curriculum that included discussions of sexting. Our findings suggest that many teachers are still engaging discourses of risk, shame and blame when they talk to their students about sexting. Likewise, longstanding gender norms and stereotypical sexual scripts are evident in the ways in which many teachers both understand and teach sexting. Some teachers, however, are engaging in more promising pedagogical practices that frame sexting as having a range of uses, outcomes, and purposes, painting a more holistic picture of young people's sexting landscapes. Findings from this paper may be useful for educators and policymakers creating sexting curriculum for young people in educational settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on recent governmental initiatives in Washington, D.C. to bolster the long-term physical and financial viability of its limited-equity cooperative housing stock. Drawing on in-depth interviews with members of the DC Limited Equity Cooperative Taskforce, it interrogates the relationship between recent municipal housing policy and the growing asset-based racial wealth gap. The findings indicate that limited-equity cooperatives provide myriad benefits to their residents, yet ultimately fail to curb systemic limitations on black wealth in the property market and rectify historical patterns of racial disparity in the distribution of governmental resources. This paper argues that policy makers must proactively assess how new models of shared equity homeownership affect or even perpetuate racial disparities in wealth and continuously interrogate the structural impacts of affordable housing policy on the (re)distribution of resources in urban centers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]