Subversive Materials: Quilts as Social Text

Using a feminist-postmodernist approach to qualitative research, this article explores the crisis of representation in social science writing. The discursive practices of social scientific knowledge production are explored through the creation of quilts as social texts. Women and men who were recovering from childhood trauma were asked to represent their life experience in quilt blocks. Participants provided written descriptions of both their quilt blocks and the quilting process. I explore and experiment with the representation of voice(s) through the creation of a reflexive research process and experimental textual style. This article contributes to the dialogue on arts-based methodologies and the creation of alternative textual styles in social science writing

Quilts as social text

The acts of writing and reading are exquisitely intertwined at a level that is deeper than the mere writing of a report. These acts are social. Given that our intent is to study social phenomena and re-present them in a text, how can we accomplish this task in a way that does not perpetuate the social scientific discursive tradition that privileges the positionless, invisible, disengaged account? Using a feminist-postmodernist approach to qualitative research, this paper explores the crisis of representation in social science writing. The discursive practices of social scientific knowledge production are explored through the creation of quilts as social texts that are able to communicate across disciplinary boundaries and traditional representational practices. Women and men who were recovering from childhood trauma were asked to represent their life experience in quilt blocks. Participants provided written descriptions of both their quilt blocks and the quilting process. I explore and experiment with the representation of voice(s) through the creation of a reflexive research process and experimental textual style. This paper contributes to the dialogue on the creation of alternative textual styles in social science writing

Biologically normal sleep in the mother‐infant dyad

Objectives We examine infant sleep from evolutionary, historico‐cultural, and statistical/epidemiological perspectives and explore the distinct conceptions of “normal” produced by each. We use data from the “Sleeping Like a Baby” study to illustrate how these perspectives influence the ideals and practices of new parents. Methods The “Sleeping Like a Baby” study investigated maternal–infant sleep in north‐east England. Sleep data for exclusively breastfeeding (EBF) and formula‐feeding (EFF) dyads were captured every 2 weeks from 4 to 18 weeks postpartum through actigraphy and maternal report. Mothers also reported their infant sleep ideals and practices. Results explore objective and maternally‐reported infant sleep parameters, and concordance of maternal ideals and practices with public health guidance. Results Comparison of sleep measures showed that mothers overestimate infant sleep duration compared with actigraphy; EFF mothers' reports were significantly more inaccurate than those of EBF mothers. For infants moved to a separate bedroom, maternally‐reported sleep increases were not borne out by actigraphy. Across the study period, concordance of maternal ideal sleep location with public health recommendations occurred on average for 54% of mothers, while concordance in practice fell from 75% at 4–8 weeks to 67% at 14–18 weeks. Discordance for EBF dyads occurred due to bedsharing, and for EFF dyads due to infants sleeping in a room alone. Conclusions Beliefs about “normal” infant sleep influence parents' perceptions and practices. Clinical and scientific infant sleep discourses reinforce dominant societal norms and perpetuate these beliefs, but biological and evolutionary views on infant sleep norms are beginning to gain traction with parents and health practitioners

Digital health tools to support parents with parent-infant sleep and mental well-being

Digital technology is increasingly important in people’s lives, particularly for new parents as it allows them to access information, stay connected to peers and offers them seductive solutions for improving infant sleep and parental well-being. Digital technology has been developed to support parents in the following four ways: (1) providing digital information on infant sleep, (2) offering targeted support for night-time care, (3) managing infant sleep and (4) monitoring infant sleep and safety. Evidence on the effectiveness of these strategies is varied and there are concerns regarding the reliability of information, use of personal data, commercial exploitation of parents, and the effects of replacing caregiver presence with digital technology

A central line care maintenance bundle for the prevention of central line–associated bloodstream infection in non–intensive care unit settings

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a central line care maintenance bundle to reduce central line-associated bloodstream infection (CLABSI) in non-ICU settings. DESIGN: Before-after trial with 12 month follow-up period. SETTING: 1250-bed teaching hospital. PARTICIPANTS: Patients with central lines on eight general medicine wards. Four wards received the intervention and four served as controls. INTERVENTION: A multifaceted catheter care maintenance bundle consisting of educational programs for nurses, update of hospital policies, visual aids, a competency assessment, process monitoring, regular progress reports, and consolidation of supplies necessary for catheter maintenance. RESULTS: Data were collected for 25,542 catheter-days including 43 CLABSI (rate = 1.68 per 1,000 CL-days) and 4,012 catheter dressing observations. Following the intervention, a 2.5% monthly decrease in the CLABSI incidence density was observed on intervention floors, but this was not statistically significant (95% confidence interval (CI); −5.3 – 0.4). On control floors, there was a smaller, but marginally significant decrease in CLABSI incidence during the study (change in monthly rate = −1.1%; 95% CI, −2.1 - −0.1). Implementation of the bundle was associated with improvement in catheter dressing compliance on intervention wards (78.8% compliance pre-intervention vs. 87.9% during intervention/follow-up; p<0.001) but improvement was also observed on control wards (84.9% compliance pre-intervention vs. 90.9% during intervention/follow-up; P = .001). CONCLUSIONS: A multi-faceted program to improve catheter care was associated with improvement in catheter dressing care, but no change in CLABSI rates. Additional study is needed to determine strategies to prevent CLABSI in non-ICU patients

Could parental rules play a role in the association between short sleep and obesity in young children?

Short sleep duration is associated with obesity in young children. This study develops the hypothesis that parental rules play a role in this association. Participants were 3-year-old children and their parents, recruited at nursery schools in socioeconomically deprived and non-deprived areas of a North-East England town. Parents were interviewed to assess their use of sleep, television-viewing and dietary rules, and given diaries to document their child's sleep for 4 days/5 nights. Children were measured for height, weight, waist circumference and triceps and subscapular skinfold thicknesses. One-hundred and eight families participated (84 with complete sleep data and 96 with complete body composition data). Parental rules were significantly associated together, were associated with longer night-time sleep and were more prevalent in the non-deprived-area compared with the deprived-area group. Television-viewing and dietary rules were associated with leaner body composition. Parental rules may in part confound the association between night-time sleep duration and obesity in young children, as rules cluster together across behavioural domains and are associated with both sleep duration and body composition. This hypothesis should be tested rigorously in large representative samples

Dynamics of a polyphagous lake trout, Salvelinus namaycush (Walbaum), population in a Northwestern Ontario lake

Tagging studies, index gill netting and an experimental winter fishery were used to investigate the dynamics of a polyphagous lake trout (Salvelinus namaycush population in Squeers Lake of northwestern Ontario. The density and standing crop of mature lake trout in Squeers Lake is higher than reported for other lake trout populations. Lake trout in Squeers Lake exhibit a bimodal length distribution with a wide range in length at age, suggesting recruitment of juveniles into the adult population is regulated. Observed depth distribution of lake trout indicates adults may limit young juveniles to deep water. Exploitation in the 1970's may have produced several strong year classes, but recruitment into the adult population did not occur. The slow growth of lake trout in Squeers Lake appears to result from the lack of available pelagic forage fishes. Thermal regimes limit foraging activity to Mysis relicta and Pontoporeia hovi during the summer months resulting in suboptimal growth. In Squeers Lake, scales underestimate the age of lake trout; the magnitude of the error increases with age. In slow growing polyphagous populations, age should be assessed using otoliths. The wide range in size of fish at a given age suggests the choice of aging tissue should be based on age rather than length. The Ricker Yield model indicates Squeers Lake can withstand the removal of four to eight times the allowable yield of lake trout recommended by the Morphoedaphic Index. . This model accurately reflected actual yield of the 1986 winter fishery. The lottery system is Useful for experimental management projects because it allows strict control and monitoring of effort and harvest. Anglers thought the lottery system was an unacceptable method for managing lake trout populations. Rotational pulse fishing appears to be a simple and acceptable system for managing polyphagous lake trout populations

Night-time on a postnatal ward: experiences of mothers, infants, and staff

This chapter illustrates an alternative approach to video ethnography, in which video case studies are described alongside semi-structured interview responses to detail night-time challenges of mothers, newborns, and hospital staff on a postnatal ward. Data from three original, inter-related research projects were combined. We uncovered five themes: maternal need for support, response to infant cues, negative experiences, bedsharing as a way of coping, and insufficient staffing. In detailing these issues, we draw attention to previously unknown or unacknowledged obstacles for new mothers and their infants, as well as the constraints on the staff involved in their care

Discrepancies in maternal reports of infant sleep vs. actigraphy by mode of feeding

Objectives: Many studies of infant sleep rely solely on parentally-reported data, assuming that parents accurately report their infant’s sleep parameters. The objective of this paper is to examine whether night-time sleep parameters of exclusively breastfed or exclusively formula-fed infants differ, and whether correspondence between parental reports and objective measures varies by feeding type. Methods: Mother-infant dyads intending to breastfeed or formula-feed exclusively for 18 weeks were recruited. Mothers were multiparas and primiparas, aged between 18 and 45 years. Infants were full-term, normal birthweight singletons. Maternal report and actigraphic data on infant sleep were collected fortnightly, from four to 18 weeks postpartum. Data were analysed cross-sectionally using t-tests and GLM analysis to control for interaction between feed-type and sleep location. Results: Actigraphy-assessed infant sleep parameters did not vary by feed-type but parentally reported sleep parameters did. Maternal report and actigraphy data diverged at 10 weeks postpartum and discrepancies were associated with infant feeding type. Compared to actigraphy, maternal reports by formula-feeding mothers (controlling for infant sleep location) over-estimated infant’s Total Sleep Time (TST) at 10 weeks and Longest Sleep Period (LSP) at 10, 12 and 18 weeks. Conclusions: These results raise questions about the outcomes of previous infant sleep studies where accuracy of parentally-reported infant sleep data is assumed. That parental reports of infant sleep vary by feeding type is particularly important for reconsidering previous studies of infant sleep development and intervention studies designed to influence sleep outcomes, especially where feed-type was heterogeneous, but was not considered as an independent variable