Lara-Zuzan Golesorkhi, Grace Fortson, Katherine Harder and Trevor Riedmann
The purpose of this commentary is to share preliminary findings from our ethnographic research on refugee women's livelihoods during the COVID-19 pandemic in Portland, Oregon…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this commentary is to share preliminary findings from our ethnographic research on refugee women's livelihoods during the COVID-19 pandemic in Portland, Oregon (USA), and to highlight the significance of community efforts in providing gender-responsive measures that address the specific needs and challenges of refugee women.
Design/methodology/approach
This commentary draws on a mixed-method approach, including ethnographic research (interviews and observations) as well as an analysis of emerging research on the social implications of COVID-19 in the fields of migration and gender.
Findings
Refugee women's livelihoods have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in various specific ways: from losing jobs and healthcare to becoming essential workers and assuming additional caretaker roles, to finding oneself again in unprecedented situations of limited mobility and social isolation. These impacts have been informed by restricted access to resources and services, lack of information about resources and services, and paramount fear due to ever-changing policy. Based on interviews and observations the authors conducted, they find that in many ways, community efforts have addressed the specific needs and challenges of refugee women in the absence of gender-responsive COVID-19 measures across institutional levels and policy areas.
Originality/value
In this commentary, the authors present original data from their ethnographic research on a particularly marginalized, yet resilient population: refugee women. By centering refugee women's experiences, the authors highlight the lack of gender-responsiveness in COVID-19 measures and provide insights into social implications of COVID-19 that often remain overlooked and understudied in discourse and politics.
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– This paper presents the viewpoint of a parent of two children with Fragile X syndrome.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper presents the viewpoint of a parent of two children with Fragile X syndrome.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper presents the author's views of her and her family's experience of Fragile X syndrome.
Findings
The paper provides the author's perspective on the impact that the condition has had on family life.
Originality/value
The paper provides a unique insight into the day-to-day experiences of a parent of two children with Fragile X syndrome.
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Purpose – This chapter examines children's options for responding to parental attempts to get them to do something (directives).Methodology/approach – The data for the study are…
Abstract
Purpose – This chapter examines children's options for responding to parental attempts to get them to do something (directives).
Methodology/approach – The data for the study are video recordings of everyday family mealtime interactions. The study uses conversation analysis and discursive psychology to conduct a microanalysis of sequences of everyday family mealtimes interactions in which a parent issues a directive and a child responds.
Findings – It is very difficult for children to resist parental directives without initiating a dispute. Immediate embodied compliance was the interactionally preferred response option to a directive. Outright resistance was typically met with an upgraded and more forceful directive. Legitimate objections to compliance could be treated seriously but were not always taken as grounds for non-compliance.
Research implications – The results have implications for our understandings of the notions of compliance and authority. Children's status in interaction is also discussed in light of their ability to choose whether to ratify a parent's control attempt or not.
Originality/value of chapter – The chapter represents original work on the interactional structures and practices involved in responding to control attempts by a co-present participant. It offers a data-driven framework for conceptualising compliance and authority in interaction that is based on the orientations of participants rather than cultural or analytical assumptions of the researcher.
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Ireland has suddenly become a hub of activity around children's services ‐ at central and local government levels, involving the primary statutory and voluntary agencies, and…
Abstract
Ireland has suddenly become a hub of activity around children's services ‐ at central and local government levels, involving the primary statutory and voluntary agencies, and engaging some of the more disadvantaged communities. In the first article in the series, Sylda Langford (2007) described the origins and work of the Office of the Minister for Children (OMC), of which she is Director General. In the second article, Michael Little and Ali Abunimah (2007) considered the role of $200 million philanthropic investment in the reforms, specifically a 10‐year programme of work funded by Atlantic Philanthropies to encourage strategy development and service design to improve outcomes for children on the island of Ireland. Part of that investment is being made in what are called ‘community engagement sites’ ‐ economically disadvantaged communities with a child population of between 3,000 and 7,000. In this article, Katherine Zappone examines the reform process at local level as the leader in one of the community engagement sites. She describes the approach they took and products of the work so far and discusses problems and opportunities that have been encountered along the way. The next (and last) article in the series (by a leading figure in the voluntary sector) will put the reforms into the context of the evolution of children's services in Ireland over the last 20 years.The first section of this article draws on the Tallaght Strategy document, written by Katherine in dialogue with a research team, followed by an edited transcript of Katherine's interview.
Shanthi Johnson, Bill McLeod, Sabyasachi Gupta and Katherine McLeod
A six-month randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine the impact of a home-based nutrition and exercise intervention on functional capacity to prevent falls among rural…
Abstract
Purpose
A six-month randomized controlled trial was conducted to examine the impact of a home-based nutrition and exercise intervention on functional capacity to prevent falls among rural seniors. The paper aims to discuss this issue.
Design/methodology/approach
Men and women (n=134), aged 60 and older were assigned to one of four groups: exercise, nutrition, exercise-nutrition, and control. Participants in the exercise and exercise-nutrition groups performed a home-based exercise program (Home Support Exercise Program), and the nutrition and exercise-nutrition groups received a liquid nutritional supplement (Ensure®) for six months. Participants were assessed at baseline and six months on functional mobility, balance, flexibility and endurance.
Findings
There were significant group differences over time for functional reach and the Timed Up and Go test, with significant differences existing between exercise and nutrition-exercise, and exercise and nutrition groups respectively. Overall, the exercise group out-performed the other groups in terms of functional capacity and psychological well-being.
Research implications
Improvement of functional health among rural seniors is achievable through the delivery of a home-based intervention focusing on exercise and nutrition.
Practical implications
The study also shows that the effective delivery of an intervention to successfully address a fundamental and persistent problem is possible using existing resources; however, it requires a commitment of focus and energy over considerable time.
Social implications
The approach and findings helps seniors to age in place in a rural context. It shows feasibility of delivering a practical intervention in the rural setting through the health care infrastructure of home care.
Originality/value
Apart from the rural context, the study was innovative at many levels. Specifically, this intervention addressed a significant health issue (functional capacity, falls and injuries), involved frail rural seniors (often hard to reach through community-based programs), provided a feasible intervention (multiple component exercise program), used existing infrastructure (e.g. home care), and espoused community development principles (active involvement of community partners, researchers, and trainees). As well, the study had built-in mechanisms for monitoring and support through the involvement of home service workers who received training. This approach created a strong research to practice connection (another innovation) and was critical for the credibility of the investigation, as well as the sustainability of the intervention. Another innovation was the inclusion of a population health perspective as the study framework. From the population health perspective, this research addressed several determinants of health in rural and urban areas that include: physical environment (intervention within people’s home and rural context), social environment and social support networks (through existing infrastructures of home support workers), health services (availability of health promotion strategy delivered through the health care system) and personal health practices and coping skills (exercise).
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Fiona Donald, Cameron Duff, Jillian Broadbear, Sathya Rao and Katherine Lawrence
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a complex condition characterized by a number of psychosocial difficulties that typically involve considerable suffering for individuals…
Abstract
Purpose
Borderline personality disorder (BPD) is a complex condition characterized by a number of psychosocial difficulties that typically involve considerable suffering for individuals with the condition. Recovery from BPD may involve specific processes such as work on how the self is perceived by the individual with BPD and his or her relationships which differ from those common to recovery from other mental health conditions. The details of the processes that may best promote changes within the self and relationships are yet to be established. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 17 consumers from a specialist BPD service were interviewed to identify factors they have experienced that contribute to recovery from BPD. Thematic analysis within a grounded theory framework was used to understand key themes within the interview data. The emphasis was on specific conditions of change rather than the more global goals for recovery suggested by recent models.
Findings
Key themes identified included five conditions of change: support from others; accepting the need for change; working on trauma without blaming oneself; curiosity about oneself; and reflecting on one’s behavior. To apply these conditions of change more broadly, clinicians working in the BPD field need to support processes that promote BPD-specific recovery identified by consumers rather than focusing exclusively on the more general recovery principles previously identified within the literature.
Originality/value
The specific factors identified by consumers as supporting recovery in BPD are significant because they involve specific skills or attitudes rather than aspirations or goals. These specific skills may be constructively supported in clinical practice.
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The legalization of same-sex marriage changed the parenting landscape for LGBTQ parents in a variety of ways. Parenthood is presumably different now that same-sex marriage is…
Abstract
The legalization of same-sex marriage changed the parenting landscape for LGBTQ parents in a variety of ways. Parenthood is presumably different now that same-sex marriage is officially legal. Experiences among LGBTQ couples in the post-legalization of same-sex marriage era raise questions about the context of growing recognition and cultural acceptance of same-sex relationships. I conducted in-depth interviews with LGBTQ parents to learn how they navigate parenting and the construction of parenting roles in the context of a society that has legalized same-sex marriage, yet still is rooted in heteronormative notions of family and parenthood. Specifically, I ask: How do LGBTQ couples construct and make sense of their roles as parents, particularly within the contemporary context of the legalization of same-sex marriage? Understanding the contexts that shape LGBTQ parents’ experiences aids in not only understanding the lives of LGBTQ parents and their families better, but also developing a deeper understanding of contemporary parenting identities and experiences more broadly.