Decision-making and ante-natal screening for sickle cell and thalassaemia disorders : To what extent do faith and religious identity mediate choice?

When making decisions about prenatal diagnosis, couples not only draw on their understanding of the condition but also broader aspects of their cultural identity. This article looks at how faith and religion mediate attitudes towards screening, prenatal diagnosis and termination of pregnancy for sickle cell and thalassaemia disorders. The article specifically reports on a qualitative study, which used focus groups from a variety of faith communities (Muslim, Sikh, Hindu and Christian), at risk of haemoglobin disorders, living in England. Our findings suggest that the decision about whether or not to have diagnostic testing generally related to attitudes towards the termination of pregnancy. The consequences of the condition were as important as religious beliefs to most people. More generally, faith beliefs emerged as negotiable and contingent: realized within a broader moral framework. Religion was felt not to be prescriptive and reproductive decisions were seen as personal. When making decisions, people utilize faith within a broader context of individual, family and social relationships

A Survey Of The Leisure Time Activities Of The Negro Physical Education Teachers Of Houston, Texas

The old adage, All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy has long since become an accepted and confirmed statement among people of the world. Although at all periods of history there have been persons who ap~reciated the true value of recreation, popular opinion has frequently been lacking in sympathy toward those who employ leisure for other than strictly utilitarian purposes. This has been true of our O\ffl country as well as of others. It has not always been considered respectable for American youth to have spare time or to use it as they please. The Methodist Discipline of 1792, outlining the policy of Cokesbury College toward leisure, says: We prohibit play in the strongest terms ••• The student shall rise at five o\u27clock ••• summer and winter ••• Their recreation shall be gardening, walking, riding, and bathing without doors, and the carpenter\u27s joiner\u27s and cabinet-maker\u27s bench within doors ••• A person skilled in gardening shall be appointed to overlook the students ••••••• in this recreation ••••• A master shall always.ys be present at the time of bathing. Only one shall bathe at a time and no one shall remain in the water above a minute. No student shall be allowed to bathe in the river ••• The students shall be indulged in nothing that the world calls play. Let this rule be observed with the strictest nicety; for most who play \u27When they are young will play when they are old. If the elders who imposed these Spartan regulations could survey the present-day scene, they would be astonished at the extent to which play is tolerated and actually encouraged. They would find the idea generally accepted that it is normal for people to wish to relax from their usual labors and to pursue various activities for which their ordinary occupations offer no scope. They would discover, no doubt with dismay, that the cultivation or leisure interests is not only looked upon as harmless but is considered to have definite values 1 to the individual and to society. In 1906 a group of men and women met at Washington and established the Playground and Recreation Association of America. The aim of the organization has been to induce both municipal and rural communities to establish well-directed playgrounds and recreation centers. It was also during this period the city governments came to recognize that their obligations to young Americans included the providing of facilities for play

Assessing Satisfaction: Insights from a multi-methods study

The data to be discussed in this paper arose from a study of the experiences of parents who had an unborn baby with a serious abnormality. The study used multiple methods to assess parents’ satisfaction with aspects of their care which thus allow us some insights into methodological issues in the numerical rating of satisfaction. It is increasingly being recognised that ‘satisfaction’ is a complex construct whose measurement is problematic. There is a growing literature on this topic, including a systematic review published by the NHS R&D Health Technology Assessment programme (Crow et al 2002). In the present paper, we will outline some of the specific issues in measuring and defining satisfaction which arose in this study and which we believe have much wider applicability. Although they inevitably serve to draw attention to the limitations of numerical scoring of satisfaction, they also illuminate the concept of satisfaction and enrich our understanding of it

Predicting breastfeeding in women living in areas of economic hardship : explanatory role of the theory of planned behaviour

This study employed the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) and additional variables (descriptive norm, moral norm, self-identity) to investigate the factors underlying breastfeeding intention and subsequent breastfeeding at four time points (during hospital stay, at hospital discharge, 10 days postpartum and 6 weeks postpartum) in a sample of women selected from defined areas of economic hardship (N = 248). A model containing the TPB, additional variables and demographic factors provided a good prediction of both intention (R-2 = 0.72; attitude, perceived behavioural control, moral norm and self-identity significant predictors) and behaviour - breastfeeding at birth (88.6% correctly classified; household deprivation, intention, attitude significant), at discharge from hospital (87.3% correctly classified; intention, attitude significant), 10 days after discharge (83.1% correctly classified; education, intention, attitude, descriptive norm significant) and 6 weeks after discharge (78.0% correctly classified; age, household deprivation, ethnicity, moral norm significant). Implications for interventions are discussed, such as the potential usefulness of targeting descriptive norms, moral norms and perceived behavioural control (PBC) when attempting to increase breastfeeding uptake

‘The greatest feeling you get, knowing you have made a big difference’: survey findings on the motivation and experiences of trained volunteer doulas in England

Background Support from a doula is known to have physical and emotional benefits for mothers, but there is little evidence about the experiences of volunteer doulas. This research aimed to understand the motivation and experiences of volunteer doulas who have been trained to support women during pregnancy, birth and the postnatal period. Methods A postal questionnaire survey was sent to volunteer doulas at five volunteer doula projects working in low-income areas in England. Quantitative and qualitative data were analysed in parallel using summary statistics and content analysis respectively. Results Eighty-nine volunteer doulas (response rate 34.5 %) from diverse backgrounds responded to the survey. Major motivators for volunteering included a desire to help others and, to a lesser extent, factors related to future employment. Most reported that the training was effective preparation for their role. They continued volunteering because they derived satisfaction from the doula role, and valued its social aspects. Their confidence, skills, employability and social connectedness had all increased, but many found the ending of the doula-mother relationship challenging. For a minority, negative aspects of their experience included time waiting to be allocated women to support and dissatisfaction with the way the doula service was run. Discussion and conclusions Most respondents found the experience rewarding. To maintain doulas’ motivation as volunteers, services should: ensure doulas can start supporting women as soon as possible after completing the training; consider the merits of more flexible endings to the support relationship; offer opportunities for ongoing mutual support with other doulas, and ensure active support from service staff for volunteers

Lives in the balance? Gender, age and assets in late-nineteenth-century England and Wales

Studies of wealth-holding in nineteenth-century Britain focus either on establishing aggregate measures or on individual case studies. These do not allow for a comparative analysis of the way that the composition of wealth was influenced by age and gender. This article explores the importance of these factors using both a case-study approach and a more comprehensive analysis of wealth left at death for a sample of 1,444 individuals. By establishing the age at death for 1,274 of these individuals, together with evidence from a series of death duty records, it is possible to determine the composition of assets by age and gender. For both men and women, shares became more important over the life course. Real estate was more important for men of all ages compared to women, for whom safe investments in government securities assumed greater significance with age. These findings confirm that both age and gender influenced the amount and composition of wealth and demonstrate that these factors need to be taken into account in any model that seeks to make generalizations about the pattern of wealth-holding in the population at large. Emphasizing these demand-side factors provides a different perspective on the rise of Britain as a 'nation of investors'

The processes of implementing and sustaining an intensive volunteer one-to-one support (doula) service for disadvantaged pregnant women

'Doulas' (lay women who are trained to support other women during pregnancy, birth and postnatally) can improve outcomes for disadvantaged mothers and babies. This Realist Evaluation study uses qualitative interviews to explore the views of staff, commissioners and local champions about the processes of establishing and sustaining five volunteer doula support projects in England. The six key factors in their successful implementation are: fitting with local commissioning priorities; staff commitment and skills; networking with other agencies; defining and marketing the role; providing strong support for volunteers; and having some costs absorbed by others. The four key factors in sustaining the projects are: finding ways to balance the numbers of referrals and volunteers; shaping the service to local service drivers; constant networking; and creative responses to funding shortages. It is a constant challenge to balance the rate of referrals and the number of trained volunteers within tight budgets and timescales ..

Optimising the location of antenatal classes

Objectives: To combine micro simulation and location-allocation techniques to determine antenatal class locations which minimise the distance travelled from home by potential users. Design: Micro simulation modelling and location-allocation modeling. Setting: City of Leeds, U.K. Participants: Potential users of antenatal classes. Methods: An individual-level micro simulation model was built to estimate the number of births for small areas by combining data from the UK Census 2001 and the Health Survey for England 2006. Using this model as a proxy for service demand, we then used a location-allocation model to optimize locations. Findings: Different scenarios show the advantage of combining these methods to optimize (re)locating antenatal classes and therefore reduce inequalities in accessing services for pregnant women. Key Conclusions: Use of these techniques should lead to better use of resources by allowing planners to identifyoptimal locations of antenatal classes which minimise women’s travel. Implications for practice: These results are especially important for health-care planners tasked with the difficult issue of targeting scarce resources in a cost-efficient, but also effective or accessible, manner

A Romance Map of the State of Maine

Perhaps a better title would be A Political, Historical, Cultural, Geographic, Maritime, Religious, and Romance Map of the State of Maine. Hundreds of facts about the Pine Tree State displayed in the side border panels as well as on the map proper. Map is displayed in two halves and four quarters to accommodate better readability. Full size versions of map are easily found via Internet search.https://digicom.bpl.lib.me.us/books_pubs/1338/thumbnail.jp