Experiences of fathering a baby admitted to neonatal intensive care: A critical gender analysis

More fathers than ever before attend at the birth of their child and, internationally, there is a palpable pressure on maternity and neonatal services to include and engage with fathers. It is, thus, more important than ever to understand how fathers experience reproductive and neonatal health services and to understand how fathers can be successfully accommodated in these environments alongside their partners. In this paper we advance a theoretical framework for re-thinking fatherhood and health services approaches to fatherhood based on Critical Studies of Men and Masculinities (CSM). We illustrate the importance of this feminist-informed theoretical approach to understanding the gendered experiences of fathers in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) setting. Using a longitudinal follow-up research design, with two data collection points, a total of 39 in-depth semi-structured interviews was conducted with 21 fathers of infants admitted to NICU between August 2008 and December 2009. The findings demonstrate: (i) ways in which men are forging new gendered identities around the birth of their baby but, over time, acknowledge women as the primary caregivers; (ii) how social class is a key determinant of men’s ability to enact hegemonic forms of ‘involved fatherhood’ in the NICU, and; (iii) how men also encounter resistance from their partners and health professionals in challenging a gender order which associates women with the competent care of infants. An understanding of these gendered experiences operating at both individual and structural levels is critical to leading change for the inclusion of fathers as equal parents in healthcare settings. © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Prevalence of Adverse Childhood Experiences in a University Population: Associations with Use of Social Services

This paper is part of a series published by the Multiple Adverse Childhood Experiences research group based at QUB. First-year undergraduates took part in an online survey, self-reporting on Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACE) and measures of social service contact. The 10-item ACE questionnaire measures abuse, neglect and household dysfunction (current sample ?????????The study achieved a response rate of 18.6%. (N=765; 552 (72.7%) females and 212 (27.2%) males; 21.8% reporting having been educated at a ‘Protestant’ school, 42% reporting having been educated at a ‘Catholic’ school and 20.4% reporting previous school religious affiliation as ‘other’). Despite obvious non-response bias, ACE scores for this student population are comparable with college-educated populations in the US. Current respondents with previous social service contact are over twenty three times more likely than peers to have experienced multiple adversities. Findings support the hypothesis that social service contact, alone, acts as a proxy indicator for the presence of multiple adverse childhood experiences, with no significant elevation in ACE scores for those going through court proceedings or subject to child protection registration. This study supports current concerns by policy makers to target those children experiencing multiple adversities.

Comparing cancer experiences among people with colorectal cancer:a qualitative study

This paper reports on how people with colorectal cancer compare experiences, what comparison meant to them and the context in which it took place.

The translation and sedimentation of accounting reforms. A comparison of the UK, Austrian and Italian experiences

Since the late 1980s, there has been a significant and progressive movement away from the traditional Public Administration (PA) systems, in favour of NPM-type accounting tools and ideas inspired by the private sector. More recently, a new focus on governance systems, under the banner Public Governance (PG), has emerged. In this paper it is argued that reforms are not isolated events, but are embedded in more global discourses of modernisation and influenced by the institutional pressures present in a certain field at certain points in time. Using extensive document analysis in three countries with different administrative regimes (the UK, Italy and Austria), we examine public sector accounting and budgeting reforms and the underlying discourses put forward in order to support the change. We investigate the extent to which the actual content of the reforms and the discourses they are embedded within are connected over time; that is, whether, and to what degree, the reform “talk” matches the “decisions”. The research shows that in both the UK and in Italy there is consistency between the debates and the decided changes, although the dominant discourse in each country differs, while in Austria changes are decided gradually, and only after they have been announced well in advance in the political debate. We find that in all three countries the new ideas and concepts layer and sediment above the existing ones, rather than replace them. Although all three countries underwent similar accounting and budgeting reforms and relied on similar institutional discourses, each made its own specific translation of the ideas and concepts and is characterised by a specific formation of sedimentations. In addition, the findings suggest that, at present in the three countries, the PG discourse is used to supplement, rather than supplant, other prevailing discourses.

Simultaneous use of mephedrone and alcohol: A qualitative study of users' experiences

Mephedrone (4-methylmethcathinone) gained popularity across "recreational" drug scenes in the United Kingdom and Ireland during 2009. Although mephedrone was banned in both jurisdictions in 2010, the drug was subsequently sourced through street dealers. This qualitative study explores the simultaneous use of mephedrone and alcohol, among study participants who used mephedrone following legislative controls. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with male and female respondents. The results suggest a three-tier classification system that describes users' experiences with simultaneous use of mephedrone and alcohol. Most participants engaged in "heavy" alcohol use immediately prior to consuming mephedrone, and then reduced alcohol consumption as the effects of mephedrone were experienced during the drug episode. Spontaneous use of mephedrone often was associated with larger amounts of alcohol being consumed just prior to the mephedrone episode. The findings have the potential for informing socioepidemiological surveys as well as peer interventions to reduce harm associated with
simultaneous drug use.

Experiences of carers supporting dying renal patients managed without dialysis

Aim: To explore the impact of being a family carer to patients with stage 5 chronic kidney disease managed without dialysis.
Background: Increasing numbers of patients with renal disease worldwide are making the decision not to embark on dialysis. This group has significant physical and psychological symptom burdens similar to or greater than those in advanced cancer patients. Little is known about the impact on family carers.
Design: Exploratory, qualitative design.
Methods: The study was undertaken with 19 carers caring for patients managed in a Renal Supportive Care Service in the UK between 2006–2008. Sixty-one semi-structured interviews and detailed field notes inform the analysis.
Findings: ‘Caring from diagnosis to death’ was the overarching theme illustrated by three sub-themes: (i) Caregiver's plight – making sense of the disease and potential deterioration; (ii) Having to care indefinitely; and (iii) Avoiding talk of death. ‘Caring from diagnosis to death’ coincides with an original concept analysis of renal supportive care, which is considered an adjunct to the management of patients with renal disease at all stages of their illness.
Conclusion: There is a clear need for further research internationally and theory-based nursing interventions to support carers of patients managed without dialysis. The development of a holistic, integrated care pathway based on carer perspectives, which includes identification of information needs related to original diagnosis, associated comorbidities, treatment options, prognosis, and assistance in developing strategies to manage communication with patients as the end of life approaches, is required.

A need to belong?: The prevalence of experiences of belonging and exclusion in school among minority ethnic children living in the 'White hinterlands'

Based on a survey of 711 children in Northern Ireland, this paper explores a range of aspects of experiences of belonging and exclusion in relation to school among three main minority ethnic groups: Irish Traveller, Chinese/Asian and European Migrant children. The study examines variations between each group and how they compare to the White settled population. The findings indicate that all three groups experience lower levels of belonging and higher levels of exclusion compared to their White, settled Northern Irish peers. The experiences of Irish Traveller children were the most negative. The article adds to the dearth of data on minority ethnic children living in mainly white regions in the UK and Ireland. It argues for the need to move beyond achievement gaps in assessing minority ethnic children’s differential experiences in education and highlights the potential of belongingness as a concept for the further study of differential patterns of need and processes of inclusion.