A comparative review of palliative care development in six countries represented by the Middle East Cancer Consortium (MECC)

Palliative care development and services were reviewed in the region represented by the six members of the Middle East Cancer Consortium: Cyprus, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, and Turkey. The multimethod review synthesized evidence from ethnographic field visits to inpatient units, home care hospice teams and free-standing hospices, including interviews with hospice and palliative care clinicians, administrators, volunteers, policy makers and academic researchers. Public health data and relevant literature were collated together with internet-accessed information on services and health care systems. A total of 69 services were located; two country members have a history of relatively sustained development of hospice and palliative care, but provision across the Middle East Cancer Consortium region is highly variable at a local level. Considerable barriers to service development were identified in a region already struggling with many military and political conflicts. Key problems are a lack of secure funds and government support, inadequate professional training programs, opioid phobia in professionals and the public, and a lack of awareness and understanding of palliative care needs at public, government, and professional levels. Key areas for further attention were increasing national and international professional training and public education programs, improving opioid legislation and health care policies, negotiating for secure government or health insurance funding provision, raising awareness about the need for pediatric services and for patients with other illnesses, as well as for those with cancer, and working to integrate palliative care into mainstream health service provision and education

Perceived and anticipated discrimination in people with mental illness-An interview study.

Background. Studies on perceived discrimination of people with mental illness are largely lacking. The purpose of the study was to investigate perceived discrimination in a sample of users in contact with mental health services in Sweden. Methods. Interviews were conducted with 156 users, asking for perceived and anticipated discrimination during the last 2 years. Background characteristics were also collected. Results. Perceived discrimination was common. Highest frequencies were reported regarding family (54%), avoidance by people who knew about the mental illness (53%) and in making or keeping friends (50%). A majority of those anticipating discrimination regarding job or education seeking, or starting a close relationship did not report having been discriminated in these areas. Previous hospitalizations were associated with discrimination, and age with anticipated discrimination. Conclusions. Public stigma and self-stigma have been reported to have a number of negative consequences for people with mental illness. Discrimination is part of this complex situation and this study showed that this largely affects a number of individual life areas posing an obstacle for social integration. Anticipated discrimination or self-stigma was also prevalent and it is pointed out that this to a great extent is an obstacle on its own without being promoted by actual experiences of discrimination

Scandinavian nurses’ use of social media during the COVID-19 pandemic—A Berger and Luckman inspired analysis of a qualitative interview study

This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).There is a knowledge gap about nurses’ use of social media in relation to and during the COVID-19 pandemic, which demands the upholding of a physical distance to other people, including patients and their relatives. The study aims to explore how nurses in the Scandinavian countries used social media for professional purposes in relation to the first 15 months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 30 nurses in three Scandinavian countries (Denmark, Norway, and Sweden) were conducted. Thematic analyses were made, methodically inspired by Braun and Clarke, and theoretically inspired by Berger and Luckmann’s theory about the construction of social reality. The Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research (SRQR) checklist was used. The results showed that social media was a socialisation tool for establishing new routines in clinical practice. Virtual meeting places supported collective understandings of a specific COVID-19 ‘reality’ and ‘knowledge’ amongst nurses, with the pandemic bringing to the fore the issue of eprofessionalism among nurses relating to their clinical practice. However, social media and virtual education were not commonly used in patient contacts. Further, nurses attempted a re-socialisation of the public to proper COVID-19 behaviour through social media. Moreover, blurred boundaries between acting as a private individual and a professional nurse were identified, where ethics of the nursing profession extended to nurses’ private lives.publishedVersio

Reflections upon being university teachers and researchers at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic

A short reflection upon being university teachers and researchers at the time of the COVID-19 pandemi

Instagram - Den sociala paradoxen

Syfte: Syftet med studien är att nå en ökad förståelse om hur unga, svenska kvinnor konstruerar en social identitet genom Instagram samt hur det påverkar dem, för att ge ett kvalitativt bidrag till forskningen om konsumentbeteende. Metod: Vi har använt oss av ett hermeneutiskt förhållningssätt till en kvalitativ metod med 8 semistrukturerade djupintervjuer, samt en abduktiv ansats genom att dra slutsatser utifrån vår primärdata och sekundärdata i form av befintliga teorier. Teoretiskt Perspektiv: Uppsatsen bygger till stor del på teorier av Goffman (jaget och maskerna), Maslow (behovstrappan), Giddens (den moderna identiteten), Brewer (det sociala jaget) och Freud (jaget och dess försvarsmekanismer). Empiri och analys: Vår empiri består av informationen vi samlat in genom våra intervjuer, som sedan analyserats utifrån vårt teoretiska ramverk. Slutsats: Unga kvinnor konstruerar en socialt åtråvärd identitet genom Instagram för att kunna identifiera sig med sina vänner, få bekräftelse och skapa trygghet. Beteendet leder till stress och oro på grund av ständig jämförelse.

Language at Stake in International Research Collaboration—Methodical Reflections on a Multi-Sited, Rapid Ethnographic Study

Based on experiences from multi-sited, rapid ethnographic fieldwork about age-friendly communities, the article aims at shedding light and reflecting on the encountered challenges and potentials regarding language and communication. Moreover, the aim is to contribute to enhancing researchers’ awareness of and preparedness to meet and address such challenges in future research endeavors. As English often serves as a lingua franca for Western-dominated international research collaborations, the implications thereof for researchers/participants, the use of interpreters, and linguistic pitfalls are discussed. Such attention is significant for international collaboration, methodical choices, and research quality. International rapid ethnographic fieldwork requires thorough preparation and reflection to properly handle linguistic and cultural competencies, nuances, and understandings incorporated in the researchers, with subsequent consequences for research processes/ outcomes