Journal club — a forum of discussion for scientific dialectics

In the sometimes hectic routines of daily academic work, it can be difficult to find opportunities for naturally creative encounters with our colleagues, where we can jointly focus methodological issues in research. Where do we find the time and place for constructive discussions on published research? And how can we foster such meetings? As a senior lecturer and researcher, I have a strong interest in research seminars in the field of clinical activity, as well as long-standing experience of coordinating and leading such seminars. I also gained extensive knowledge of seminar dynamics from my doctoral studies at the University of Linköping. Over the years, I have developed a particular way of working with seminars, aiming to contribute to the establishment of interdisciplinary research groups at the School of Health and Social Science, at Halmstad University. One of my ideas was to take advantage of the privileged position of our university, and the fact that it hosts a scientific journal and its Editor-in-Chief, Professor Lillemor Hallberg. This is why I started the Journal Club in 2006—the same year that the International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being was launched. Initially, I simply sent an invitation to my fellow researchers at the School of Health and Social Science, explaining the purpose of the meetings. The idea was to use the Journal Club to discuss selected articles from the International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, and critically examine them. It is essential that the articles are distributed to participants well in advance, and that participants have had time to read the contents, so they are prepared to critically examine the aims, methods and results of the discussed articles. My vision with the meetings at the Journal Club was to give added impetus to scientific dialectics at the School, to develop a critical approach and deepen methodological understanding. We need a continuous reflection concerning qualitative research approaches and various standpoints with respect to research ethics, in order to increase methodological awareness in our research. In this way, the monthly seminars contribute to developing our competencies as researchers, as well as keeping our knowledge up-to-date. Another aim of the Journal Club is to be a discussion forum for interdisciplinary research issues, relating to health, life-styles, well-being and the quality of life. Uniting a critical mass at our school, and bringing about an engaging discussion, allows us to test our ideas in a stimulating dialogue with colleagues. It also provides an opportunity to widen and deepen our understanding of current issues. The Journal Club has met since the autumn term 2006, always on the same day of the week, at the same time and place, at the School of Health and Social Science. The objective is to give these encounters a “club feeling”, and to shape a tradition of a recurrent event at the School. Before each seminar at the Journal Club, an invitation is sent to all teaching and research staff at the School. The availability of the most recent articles from the International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, combined with the Editor-in-Chief's contribution to the seminars, gives the meetings an additional dimension, and strengthens the impact that the Journal Club has at Halmstad University. The role of the Club is also strengthened by the important position that the International Journal of Qualitative Studies occupies on our own nursing programmes, both at junior and senior levels. The articles are widely used and discussed on our Nursing science and Methods courses

BOOK REVIEW

Developing grounded theory. The second generation is a very useful and clarifying book arisen from a one-day symposium on advances in qualitative methods in Alberta, 2007. The conference was sponsored by the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology (IIQM). For the first time, the students of Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss, “the second generation” of grounded theory researchers, met to discuss grounded theory and its developments. With the exception of Janice Morse, the authors of this book worked directly with Anselm Strauss and Barney Glaser. In this volume they provide a description of the history, principles and practice of the grounded theory methods

From chaos to a new normal—the COVID-19 pandemic as experienced by municipal health and social care providers in Sweden: A qualitative study

When the COVID-19 pandemic began to spread around the world, Swedish municipalities were unprepared. Different guidelines on how to act in relation to the disease varied and protective equipment was lacking. This study aims to describe the experiences of health and social care providers of working at municipality level during the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 12 assistant nurses, 13 registered nurses, and three physicians were interviewed, individually or in groups, between fall 2020 and spring 2021. The interviews were semi-structured and were analyzed using thematic analysis, utilizing a design following the COREQ-checklist. Three main themes were identified as follows: ‘Initial chaotic situation and uncertainty regarding how to deal with the pandemic’; ‘Continuous changes in organization and work routines’, and ‘Management of the pandemic has become the new normal’. Though health and social care workers eventually managed to embed dealing with COVID-19 as a routine feature of their daily work, municipalities must prepare for future crises

Maintaining families' well-being in everyday life

The aim of this paper is to discuss how everyday life changes for the family in the event of chronic illness or disability. It changes physically due to loss of body function and socially due to time and other constraints related to treatment or lack of mobility. Equally important, there is a psychological impact due to the uncertainty of the future. The article will explore how family participation can help to maintain well-being in everyday life. The family should therefore focus on their own needs as much as on the needs of the family members who are ill. In order to maintain well-being in everyday life, it is crucial for the family to create routines and spend time doing things that they enjoy. By doing this, the family will create a rhythm of well-being regardless of the critical family situation. Family members and professional caregivers also need to come together at the beginning and during the illness or disability event to discuss changes that could be made day-to-day for all those involved, thereby making for an easier transition into care giving

Dealing with daily emotions—supportive activities for the elderly in a municipal care setting

There are diverse descriptions of supportive activities in nursing to be found in the literature. What they have in common is their association with good care outcomes, but they may differ depending on the context in which the care is given. In a Swedish municipal elderly care setting, registered nurses (RN) work in a consultative way and they describe a part of their tasks as comprising supportive activities without specifying what kind of supportive activities they mean. The aim of the study was to explore the main concern of the support given by RN to a group of patients in an elderly home care setting. The study was conducted using Grounded Theory. Data were collected using nonparticipant observations regarding the supportive activities of 12 RN at the home of 36 patients between the ages of 80 and 102. Most of the home visit lasted about 40 min but some lasted for 90 min. The central category was about dealing with daily emotions. This was done by encouraging the situation and reducing the patient's limitations, but situations also occurred in which there was a gap of support. Support was about capturing the emotions that the patient expressed for a particular moment, but there were also situations in which RN chose not to give support. To develop a holistic eldercare, more knowledge is needed about the factors causing the RN to choose not to provide support on some occasions

Livet i skuggan av dialys - beskrivning av anhörigas vardag

Närmast anhöriga till patienter med bloddialys är vardagshjältar då de fokuserar kraft och kärlek på att hjälpa och stödja den sjuke anhörige. Komplexiteten och allvaret med njursjukdomen förändrar livssituationen för närmast anhöriga, men trots detta försöker de hantera sin vardag. Kunnighet och medvetenhet om konsekvenser av svår njursvikt med dialysbehandling stärker hela familjen och tvingar fram nya lösningar i vardagssituationer. Vetskapen om livshotande sjukdom resulterar ofta i hjälteinsatser och att anhöriga håller tillbaka egna hälsoproblem för att orka fokusera tid och kraft på patientens behov. Dessutom upplevs mödosamhet och reducerad egen tid när anhöriga involveras i patientens tidskrävande behandling. Denna upplevelse kan förklaras av att anhöriga ofta tar på sig ansvaret för patientens hälsa samt att de inte vågar be om stöd. Anhörigas vardag anpassas till patientens tider utan möjligheter till egen framtidsplanering. Den egna vardagen blir således beskuren med begränsat livsutrymme. Därför behöver vårdpersonalen kommunicera med de närmast anhöriga om deras vardagssituation vid fler tillfälle än det görs idag. Närmast anhöriga behöver även förberedas bättre varför förändringar i deras vardag kan uppkomma och hur förändringarna kan hanteras (Ziegert, 2005). Everyday life can be complex when next of kin of haemodialysis patients are preoccupied with taking care of the patient. My thesis reveals how next of kin demonstrated a determination to manage their everyday life while their family member was on haemodialysis, eventually resulting in the whole life situation being changed. Despite their difficult life situation, the next of kin in the thesis expressed an ability to adapt and take each day as it comes. The commitment to the patient can be regarded as a loss of freedom meaning that the next of kin could not live their lives as they wish. The findings also showed that everyday life among next of kin of haemodialysis patients can be characterised by ambivalence towards their own health, especially in cases where the next of kin is a spouse of the patient. Next of kin need support and supervision from the renal care professionals is needed to help them sustain their driving force. It emerged that next of kin take initiatives, that they care and show concern as well as being knowledgeable

Going in Dialysis is Time to Live : Family’s Experiences of Everyday Life with Haemodialysis Treatment

Time is a central concept when attempting to capture how life develops as results of the interaction between the individual and those in his/her immediate environment. Chronic renal disease such as ESRD with chronic haemodialysis not only shortens life but also places everyday life on a thin line survival paramount. The haemodialysis is also a time-consuming treatment that makes it necessary to carefully plan of everyday life and involves next of kin to a large degree. The aim of this study was to explore the content of time in everyday life as experienced by the next of kin of haemodialysis patients. This study used explorative and descriptive design with a content analysis approach. The interviews, which were conducted in the informants’ homes, lasted 20-60 minutes and were audio-taped and transcribed verbatim in order to not to lose any information. Twenty next of kin were selected purposive with the criterion of having at least one year of experience as a next of kin of a patient on haemodialysis. The content of time in everyday life can be described as follows: fragmented time, vacuous time and uninterrupted time. Conclusion which illustrate how time is minimised and life space contracted for next of kin and their family. They were aware of the prognosis of renal disease and the fact that haemodialysis is life-sustaining treatment, which forced them to live for the moment. It is important to gain insight into how time influences the next of kin’s experiences of everyday life and how this knowledge can be communicated in the nursing science

Everyday Life among Next of Kin of Haemodialysis Patients

Everyday life can be complex when next of kin of haemodialysis patients are preoccupied with taking care of the patient and his/her health, which implies the difficulties and requirements needed. The general aim of this thesis was to explore and describe everyday life among next of kin of haemodialysis patients with focus on the life situation, health, time and professional support. Two perspectives of the thesis was applied: a holistic perspective on the everyday life of next of haemodialysis patient and a social perspective with focus on human communication and understanding of next of kin’s experience of everyday life. A qualitative descriptive and explorative design, comprising a phenomenographic and content analysis was used in Studies I-IV. The data collected in the studies consisted of interviews with next of kin to haemodialysis patient and analysis of professional support for next of kin to chronic haemodialysis patients in nursing documentation from two hospitals in Sweden. The experience of time in everyday life among next of kin of haemodialysis patients demonstrated that time for them is minimised and life space contracted. Next of kin experienced ambivalence towards their own health, especially in cases of patients’ spouses When next of kin of haemodialysis patient’s became involved in the patients’ care, they experienced arduousness in relation to their own health as well as less uninterrupted time for themselves in everyday life, and their life situation was characterised by confinement and social isolation. They were aware of the prognosis of renal disease and the fact that haemodialysis is a life-sustaining treatment, which forced them to live for the moment. The everyday life among the next of kin changed when the family became involved in the care, which in turn lead to a changed life situation and restrictions in everyday life. Lack of knowledge in nursing documentation of professional support revealed necessity of the readiness of next of kin. It is therefore important to be familiar with this in the nursing process, especially when the patient and their next of kin need support and attention in everyday life. Original papers not included.Linköping University Medical Dissertation, 926, I. Ziegert K. &amp; Fridlund B. Conceptions of life situation among next of kin of haemodialysis patients. Journal of Nursing Management 2001; (9) 231-239. doi:10.1046/j.1365-2834.2001.00233.x, II. Ziegert K., Fridlund B. &amp; Lidell E. Health in everyday life among spouses of patients on haemodialysis; a content analysis. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, Volume 20, Number 2, June 2006, pp. 223-228(6). DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-6712.2006.00400.x, III. Ziegert K., Fridlund B. &amp; Lidell E. Time in everyday life as experienced by next of kin of haemodialysis patients (Submitted for publication)., IV. Ziegert K., Fridlund B. &amp; Lidell E. Professional support for next of kin of patients receiving chronic haemodialysis treatment. A content analysis study of nursing documentation. Journal of Clinical Nursing, Volume 16, Number 2, February 2007, pp. 353-361(9). DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2702.2006.01597.x,</p

Mapping family and social space in caring : a metamethod study

Social relations are about how we treat each other. They imply explicit and tacit knowledge, rules of behaviour, and values inherent in specific social spaces. When a family is struck by a life-threatening illness, the individual’s ‘‘life space’’ tends to shrink. This impacts the mutual relationships in the family, as well as the situation in the home. Therefore, there are obvious dialectics between spatial and social dimensions, when close relatives are afflicted by serious illness. This paper explores how research on homecare involves space in analysing social issues.Meta-method analysis was chosen, in order to extend the review format and analyse meta-questions. Meta-synthesis in different research areas and fora involved the examina- tion of a set of qualitative studies. Material was collected using the Cinahl, PubMed and Academic Search data- bases. These were supplemented by the Social Science Index, Sociological Abstract and Science Direct, to explore if aspects of care and space are treated in social science. The sample consisted of 38 articles, displaying a wide variety of methods. Findings suggest that in the fields of caring and sociological research, spatial factors are only implicitly described, and the dynamics of the social and spatial dialectics in home caring relationships seem to be rare. The concept of space in caring is found in a few studies in human geography. The observed absence of a spatial perspective in caring is problematic, since it neglects the fact that relationship and caring are situated in context