TOWARDS A SOCIAL NICHE ASSESSMENT INSTRUMENT

From a social work perspective, individual outcomes are the results of a transactional processbetween personal and environmental influences. It is a long-cherished conviction in SocialWork that individual problems and successes must be framed within the larger context offamily, community and society (Saleebey, 2002c:231). However, it is also a conviction that isoften not reflected in social work practice (Rose, 2000:405; Saleebey, 2002c:230; Weick,2000:398). Clinical practice tends to focus on personal factors, and community practice onenvironmental factors, while the transactional dimension is often not accounted for. Thetendency is also to focus on deficits and problems in these systems and not on strengths orpotential strengths

Om ouers van ‘n premature baba in ‘n neonatale intensiewesorgeenheid te wees – ‘n selfreflekterende gevallestudie

In this article, the author and his wife's experience with their premature baby in a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) is described and compared with recent literature. Two broad themes, namely vulnerability and strengths, were identified through interpretative phenomenological analysis. Vulnerability is characterised by experiences of uncertainty, loss, hypersensitivity and alienation, whereas strengths are characterised by hope, social support and selfregulation. The implication of the findings, especially the role of self-regulation as untapped resource for parents of premature babies, are critically discussed. Finally, guidelines for NICU staff in terms of dealing with parents of premature babies are proposed.In hierdie artikel word die outeur en sy vrou se belewenis met hulle premature baba in ‘n neonatale intensiewesorgeenheid (NISE) beskryf en met resente literatuur vergelyk. Twee breë temas naamlik kwesbaarheid en sterktes, is met behulp van interpreterende fenomenologiese analise (IFA) geïdentifiseer. Kwesbaarheid is gekenmerk deur belewenisse van onsekerheid, verlies, hipersensitiwiteit en vervreemding, terwyl sterktes gekenmerk is deur hoop, sosiale ondersteuning en self-regulering. Die implikasies van die bevindinge, en veral die rol van selfregulering as ‘n onontginde bron vir ouers van premature babas, word krities bespreek. Laastens word riglyne aan NISE-personeel met betrekking tot die hantering van ouers van premature babas voorgestel. Keywords: prematuriteit; neonatale intensiewesorgeenheid; belewenis; ouerskap; selfregulering Health SA Gesondheid Vol. 10 (3) 2005: pp. 36-4