Informal support to first-parents after childbirth: a qualitative study in low-income suburbs of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In Tanzania, and many sub-Saharan African countries, postpartum health programs have received less attention compared to other maternity care programs and therefore new parents rely on informal support. Knowledge on how informal support is understood by its stakeholders to be able to improve the health in families after childbirth is required. This study aimed to explore discourses on health related informal support to first-time parents after childbirth in low-income suburbs of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Thirteen focus group discussions with first-time parents and female and male informal supporters were analysed by discourse analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The dominant discourse was that after childbirth a first time mother needed and should be provided with support for care of the infant, herself and the household work by the maternal or paternal mother or other close and extended family members. In their absence, neighbours and friends were described as reconstructing informal support. Informal support was provided conditionally, where poor socio-economic status and non-adherence to social norms risked poor support. Support to new fathers was constructed as less prominent, provided mainly by older men and focused on economy and sexual matters. The discourse conveyed stereotypic gender roles with women described as family caretakers and men as final decision-makers and financial providers. The informal supporters regulated the first-time parents' contacts with other sources of support.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Strong and authoritative informal support networks appear to persist. However, poverty and non-adherence to social norms was understood as resulting in less support. Family health in this context would be improved by capitalising on existing informal support networks while discouraging norms promoting harmful practices and attending to the poorest. Upholding stereotypic notions of femininity and masculinity implies great burden of care for the women and delimited male involvement. Men's involvement in reproductive and child health programmes has the potential for improving family health after childbirth. The discourses conveyed contradicting messages that may be a source of worry and confusion for the new parents. Recognition, respect and raising awareness for different social actors' competencies and limitations can potentially create a health-promoting environment among families after childbirth.</p

A A NEW NEW MODEL MODEL FOR FOR AUTOMATIC AUTOMATIC GENERATION GENERATION OF OF PLAN PLAN LIBRARIES LIBRARIES FOR FOR PLAN PLAN RECOGNITION RECOGNITION

The problem of generating plan libraries for plan recognition (the inverse of the planning problem), has gained much importance in recent years, because of the dependence of the existing plan recognition techniques on them, and the difficulty of the problem. Even when there is considerable work related to the plan recognition process itself, less work has been done on the generation of such plan libraries. In this paper, we present some preliminary ideas for a new approach for acquiring hierarchical plan libraries automatically, based only on a few simple assumptions and with little given knowledge. Keywords: Keywords

Integração e Valorização: Contribuições do Servidor Público na Atualidade

A UNILA, a Prefeitura Municipal de Foz do Iguaçu, a Alfândega da Receita Federal em Foz do Iguaçu, a Universidade Estadual do Oeste do Paraná (Unioeste) e o Instituto Federal do Paraná (IFPR) promoverão conjuntamente, este ano, a Semana Integrada do Servidor Público. O evento pretende ser um espaço de análise e discussão sobre o tema “Valorização e integração: contribuições e desafios do servidor público na atualidade”. As atividades serão realizadas entre os dias 22 e 27 de outubro. O lançamento da Semana foi realizado nesta segunda-feira (27), no auditório da Unioeste.O evento propõe, além da valorização e integração do servidor, o bem-estar, a saúde e a qualificação. Contempla, além de questões relativas ao trabalho, o desenvolvimento pessoal e a publicização de pesquisas dos servidores. A Semana, nesse sentido, terá um caráter social, recreativo e científico, com palestras, mesas-redondas, oficinas, atividades artísticas e culturais. As pesquisas serão apresentadas na forma de apresentação oral, a partir de sete eixos: políticas públicas e desenvolvimento; direitos humanos; bem-estar e qualidade de vida; gestão; saúde; sociedade, cultura e integração; e inovações tecnológicas. Compõem, ainda, os objetivos da Semana do Servidor um debate sobre relações de trabalho, importância das contribuições individuais para o coletivo, ferramentas voltadas à criação de um ambiente de trabalho mais dinâmico e criativo e uma discussão sobre os resultados das pesquisas de aprimoramento das políticas essenciais da Gestão Pública