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This article presents themes emerging from semistructured interviews with dementia family caregivers in rural communities who participated in an integrative, cognitive-behavioral and spiritual counseling intervention, and with faith community nurses (FCNs) who delivered the intervention. The primary objectives of the counseling intervention were to ameliorate dementia caregivers' depressive affect and the severity of their self-identified caregiving and self-care problems. The qualitative portion of the study was intended to elicit caregivers' and FCNs' perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of the intervention. We conducted interviews with seven FCN/caregiver pairs 4 times during the 6-month counseling process, totaling 56 interviews. Themes emerging from the interviews included caregivers' perception of burden and care partners' problem behavior; formation of therapeutic alliance between FCNs and caregivers; problem-solving skills, tools, and resources; caregivers' use of problem-solving strategies; spirituality in caregiving and counseling processes; FCNs' prior professional experience; and caregiver and FCN time constraints.

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Our objective was to develop a rich description of how parents experience their grief in the first year after the death of their child, and how various bereavement follow-up and support services helped them during this time, with the aim of informing follow-up and support services offered to bereaved parents. Our findings situated parents' individual experiences of coping within the social and institutional contexts in which they grieved. In the first year after the death of their child, parents regulated their intense feelings of grief through loss-oriented, restoration-oriented, and/or meaning reconstruction strategies. Often, parents' relationships with others and many of the bereavement follow-up and support services helped them in this regard. This article also explores how the results may aid service providers in accompanying parents in a way that optimizes outcomes for these parents.

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In this article, we outline methodological considerations for conducting research interviews with couples. We draw from two qualitative men's health studies, both developed to explore social interactions between men and their partners of either sex in relation to their health practices. We utilized a combination of separate interviews and joint couple interviews. From these studies, we offer insight into our experiences of using both types of interview styles, addressing four key areas which span elements across the research project journey: (a) choosing a mode of interview, (b) ethical concerns in couple research,

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Persistent, subjective symptoms of unknown etiology following treatment for Lyme disease have been termed post- treatment Lyme disease syndrome or chronic Lyme disease (PTLDS/CLD). The objective of this study was to give primacy to the patient experience of this medically contested condition by eliciting patient illness narratives and identifying emergent issues through semistructured interviews conducted among 29 participants. We used thematic narrative analysis to identify three predominant themes: (a) Physical and social limitations lead to a "new normal" characterized by fundamental shifts of ways of being in the world, (b) disease-specific factors contribute to symptom and illness invisibility that affects social support in nuanced ways, and (c) pervasive medical uncertainty regarding PTLDS/CLD promotes an increased sense of personal responsibility for care. Similar to other contested or medically unexplained syndromes, our findings suggest that the social sequelae of PTLDS/CLD can be equally protracted as the physical effects of this illness.

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Thirty-five in-depth, semi-structured interviews were conducted with female, street-based, commercial sex workers in Kathmandu, Nepal. The framework of structural violence guided this study in identifying the structural context that impacts the female sex workers' lives and may cause harm to their health. Structural violence in health care was revealed through thematic analysis as (a) discrimination, (b) forced choice, and (c) limitations to health information sources. Lived experiences highlight how the sex workers engaged with structural limitations in health care access, services, and utilization. Structural violence conveys a message about who is entitled to health care and what a society emphasizes and expects regarding acceptable health behavior. Examining the structural violence highlighted how the sex workers negotiated, understood, and engaged with structural limitations in health care access, services, and utilization.

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Experiences and constructions of menarche and menstruation are shaped by the sociocultural environment in which women are embedded. We explored experiences and constructions of menarche and menstruation among migrant and refugee women resettled in Sydney, Australia, and Vancouver, Canada. Seventy-eight semistructured individual interviews and 15 focus groups comprised of 82 participants were undertaken with women from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Sri Lanka, and varying South American countries. We analyzed the data using thematic decomposition, identifying the overall theme "cycles of shame" and two core themes. In "becoming a woman," participants constructed menarche as a marker of womanhood, closely linked to marriage and childbearing. In "the unspeakable," women conveyed negative constructions of menstruation, positioning it as shameful, something to be concealed, and polluting. Identifying migrant and refugee women's experiences and constructions of menarche and menstruation is essential for culturally safe medical practice, health promotion, and health education.

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As China's older adult population has rapidly increased, the attending increase in chronic disease poses serious concerns regarding disparities in medical care utilization for elders. Drawing on 48 semistructured interviews with elders with chronic conditions and their caregivers in China, this article analyzes two opposite patterns of health-seeking behavior in urban and rural areas. Presenting the findings as a relational model, we argue that the interplay between structures of medical care and cultural discourses about health and (un)worthiness generates different habitus as sets of practices and beliefs that facilitate or hinder elders' and their caregivers' decisions to engage with medical care. By demonstrating the Chinese state's social health insurance reform's failure to improve health-seeking behavior on the ground, our findings suggest that efforts to understand and promote health-seeking behavior need to address the intersections of structural and cultural factors.

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Previous research has highlighted that acute care provision can lead to a loss of confidence, control, and independent functioning in older adult patients. In addition, it is recognized that interactions between patients and health care staff are central to the prevention of functional decline in patients. In this study, we aimed to affect the staff-patient relationship by implementing a coaching intervention in an older adult acute care setting. Here, we report on staff experiences of this coaching approach. Data were collected from 16 members of staff via semi-structured interviews, which were analyzed using thematic analysis. Four themes were identified: Putting a Label on It, Stepping Back and Listening, Identifying the Opportunities, and Working as Team. Our findings show that a coaching approach can be successful in getting staff to reconsider their interactions with patients and to focus on strategies that foster the independence and autonomy of older adult patients.

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Living kidney donation is considered common practice across most Westernized countries. While extensive research has documented the experience of living donors, few studies have addressed the perspective of recipients, and even fewer have examined the experience of donor and recipient as an interactive dyad. In this study, our aim was to examine the reciprocal influence between donors and recipients across the transplantation process. We recruited a homogeneous sample of 10 donors and recipients, who were interviewed individually. Data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The presentation of results follows the stages of the transplantation process: the disease experience, the experience of offering and accepting a kidney, the screening period, the surgery, and the post-transplantation period. Results are discussed within the framework of Mauss's gift exchange theory, social roles, and altruism. This comprehensive description of the dyadic experience provides a way to frame and understand psychosocial aspects and relational implications of living renal transplantation.

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Compared with non-Latino Whites, Latino immigrants have a lower prevalence of depression. However, they are also less likely to seek professional mental health services. Our objective was to compare and contrast perceptions of depression and access to mental health care among four of the largest Latino immigrant subgroups in Florida (Puerto Rican, Cuban, Mexican, and Colombian). We conducted a total of 120 interviews (30 men and women from each subgroup). Thematic analysis of qualitative data revealed that participants across the four groups were aware of the signs and symptoms of depression and had similar perceptions of depression. However, notable differences by subgroup emerged with regard to perceptions of access to mental health care. We suggest that the variation stems from differences in life experiences and the immigration context. Understanding the variances and nuances of Latino immigrants' cultural construction of depression and immigration experience will enable practitioners to better serve this community.

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This article represents a phenomenological study on how women endow meaning to their scarred bodies after breast cancer treatment. Data collection consisted of multiple interviews with 10 women who had mastectomy, and 9 women who had breast-saving surgery. Against the background of the phenomenological premise that one's body can appear to oneself in various ways, we identified meaningful differences between experiences that go together with one's body "at a distance" and experiences that go together with one's body's "closeness." The diversity in body experiences we have revealed in our study calls for reconsidering the prejudiced critique of the "body as object" in mainstream phenomenology of health care, and invites medical professionals to develop the ability to recognize different perspectives on embodiment.

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Although there is evidence of both clinical and personal recovery from distressing voices, the process of recovery over time is unclear. Narrative inquiry was used to investigate 11 voice-hearers' lived experience of recovery. After a period of despair/exhaustion, two recovery typologies emerged: (a) turning toward/empowerment, which involved developing a normalized account of voices, building voice-specific skills, integration of voices into daily life, and a transformation of identity, and (b) turning away/protective hibernation, which involved harnessing all available resources to survive the experience, with the importance of medication in recovery being emphasized. Results indicated the importance of services being sensitive and responsive to a person's recovery style at any given time and their readiness for change. Coming to hold a normalized account of voice-hearing and the self and witnessing of preferred narratives by others were essential in the more robust turning toward recovery typology.

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Having a preterm infant is a life-altering event for parents. The use of interventions intended to support the parents is recommended. In this study, we investigated how parents' perceptions of physiotherapy in primary health care influenced their adaptation to caring for a preterm child. We conducted 17 interviews involving parents of seven infants, at infants' corrected age (CA) 3, 6, and 12 months. The analysis was a systematic text condensation, connecting to theory of participatory sense-making. The parents described a progression toward a new normalcy in the setting of persistent uncertainty. Physiotherapists can ameliorate this uncertainty and support the parents' progression toward normalization, by providing knowledge and acknowledging both the child as subject and the parent-child relationship. Via embodied interaction and the exploration of their child's capacity, the parents learn about their children's individuality and gain the confidence necessary to support and care for their children in everyday life.

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Cancer patients who live alone place specific importance on acting independently during treatment. We want to describe what it means to act independently and which strategies patients use to continue to act independently. We used a qualitative design, based on grounded theory. We interviewed 32 patients, 17 of them a second time. Patients who live alone defined acting independently in two different ways: It meant not only doing things alone but also using the help of others in a controlled way. These two meanings lead to two types of strategies. As treatment evolves, patients needed to change their preferred type of strategies to continue acting independently. Succeeding to change led to a feeling of mastery and success. However, failing to change led to struggling, whereby patients' needs became invisible. Health care providers should anticipate patients' inability to change strategies during cancer treatment, thereby preventing the patient's struggle from only becoming visible during crisis.

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Despite the growing evidence linking social capital to improvements in health and health behaviors, reliable measures of social capital are lacking in low-income countries. To accurately measure social capital in new contexts, there is a need to validate social capital survey questions in each new cultural setting. In this article, we examine the content validity of the measurement of social capital in Bangladesh using qualitative methods. In December 2012, we conducted four focus group discussions and 32 cognitive interviews in one rural subdistrict (Durgapur) and one urban slum (Mirpur). We used the findings from the focus groups and cognitive interviews to create a new social capital survey instrument that can be used by health and development organizations in Bangladesh. Furthermore, in this article, we provide insight into social capital survey research in general, including suggestions for the measurement of group membership, social support, collective action, and social trust.

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Achieving equitable access to health care is an important policy goal, with access influenced by affordability, availability, and acceptability of specific services. We explore patient narratives from a 5-year program of research on health care access to examine relationships between social constructions of illness and the acceptability of health services in the context of tuberculosis treatment and antiretroviral therapy in South Africa. Acceptability of services seems particularly important to the meanings patients attach to illness and care, whereas-conversely-these constructions appear to influence what constitutes acceptability and hence affect access to care. We highlight the underestimated role of individually, socially, and politically constructed healthworlds; traditional and biomedical beliefs; and social support networks. Suggested policy implications for improving acceptability and hence overall health care access include abandoning patronizing approaches to care and refocusing from treating "disease" to responding to "illness" by acknowledging and incorporating patients' healthworlds in patient-provider interactions.

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Extremely low gestational age infants (<28 weeks at birth) experience significant pain from repeated therapeutic procedures while hospitalized in the neonatal intensive care unit. As part of a program of research examining pain in preterm infants, we conducted a qualitatively driven mixed-methods design, supplemented with a qualitative and quantitative component, to understand how health care professionals (HCPs) assess and manage procedural pain for tiny and underdeveloped preterm infants. Fifty-nine HCPs from different disciplines across four tertiary-level neonatal units in Canada participated in individual or focus group interviews and completed a brief questionnaire. Four themes from the content analysis were (a) subtlety and unpredictability of pain indicators, (b) infant and caregiver attributes and contextual factors that influence pain response and practices, (c) the complex nature of pain assessment, and (d) uncertainty in the management of pain. The information gleaned from this study can assist in identifying gaps in knowledge and informing unit-based and organizational knowledge translation strategies for this vulnerable population.

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When older people develop delirium, their demeanor changes; they often behave in ways that are out of character and seem to inhabit another world. Despite this, little is known about the experiences of family members who are with their older loved one at this time. This article reports a phenomenological study that involved in-depth interviews with 14 women whose older loved one had delirium. Analysis and interpretation of the data depict the women's experiences as "Changing family portraits: Sudden existential absence during delirium," capturing the way family members lose the taken-for-granted presence of their familiar older loved one and confront a stranger during delirium.

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To better understand why cooperation between health care professionals is still often problematic, we carried out 25 semistructured face-to-face expert interviews with physicians and nurses in different rural and urban areas in northern Germany. Using Mayring's qualitative content analysis method to analyze the data collected, we found that doctors and nurses interpreted interprofessional conflicts differently. Nursing seems to be caught in a paradoxical situation: An increasing emphasis is placed on achieving interprofessional cooperation but the core areas of nursing practice are subject to increasing rationalization in the current climate of health care marketization. The subsequent and systematic devaluation of nursing work makes it difficult for physicians to acknowledge nurses' expertise. We suggest that to ameliorate interprofessional cooperation, nursing must insist on its own logic of action thereby promoting its professionalization; interprofessional cooperation cannot take place until nursing work is valued by all members of the health care system.

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In this article, we report findings from the first qualitatively driven study of patient-clinician communication in Hong Kong Accident and Emergency Departments (AEDs). In light of the Hong Kong Hospital Authority's policy emphasis on patient-centered care and communication in the public hospitals it oversees, we analyze clinicians' perceptions of the role and relevance of patient-centered communication strategies in emergency care. Although aware of the importance of effective communication in emergency care, participants discussed how this was frequently jeopardized by chronic understaffing, patient loads, and time pressures. This was raised in relation to the absence of spoken interdisciplinary handovers, the tendency to downgrade interpersonal communication with patients, and the decline in staff attendance at communication training courses. Participants' frequent descriptions of patient-centered communication as dispensable from, and time-burdensome in, AEDs highlight a discrepancy between the stated Hong Kong Hospital Authority policy of patient-centered care and the reality of contemporary Hong Kong emergency practice.