Separately Together:Working Reflexively as a Team

Discussions of reflexivity tend to ignore issues of practice, and those addressing practice are likely to presume a sole researcher. In this paper, we respond to the need for attention to reflexive practice in qualitative research teams. Drawing on our experience of working 'separately together', we identify reflexivity as an embedded feature of team-based research. We discuss how reflexivity can be used as a collective interpretive resource in the construction of the research subject/object, and we highlight reflexive possibilities unique to team-based research. We include in the article a presentation of the orientations and research practices that supported our reflexive teamwork

Hospitals caring for rural Aboriginal patients: holding response and denial

Open Access article published under a CC-BY-NC-ND licence: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/deed.en_US).Objective To investigate how policy requiring cultural respect and attention to health equity is implemented in the care of rural and remote Aboriginal people in city hospitals. Methods Interviews with 26 staff in public hospitals in Adelaide, South Australia, were analysed (using a framework based on cultural competence) to identify their perceptions of the enabling strategies and systemic barriers against the implementation of official policy in the care of rural Aboriginal patients. Results The major underlying barriers were lack of knowledge and skills among staff generally, and the persistent use of ‘business as usual’ approaches in their hospitals, despite the clear need for proactive responses to the complex care journeys these patients undertake. Staff reported a sense that while they are required to provide responsive care, care systems often fail to authorise or guide necessary action to enable equitable care. Conclusions Staff caring for rural Aboriginal patients are required to respond to complex particular needs in the absence of effective authorisation. We suggest that systemic misinterpretation of the principle of equal treatment is an important barrier against the development of culturally competent organisations. What is known about this topic? The care received by Aboriginal patients is less effective than it is for the population generally, and access to care is poorer. Those in rural and remote settings experience both severe access barriers and predictable complexity in their patient care journeys. This situation persists despite high-level policies that require tailored responses to the particular needs of Aboriginal people. What does this paper add? Staff who care for these patients develop skills and modify care delivery to respond to their particular needs, but they do so in the absence of systematic policies, procedures and programs that would ‘build in’ or authorise the required responsiveness. What are the implications for practitioners? Systematic attention, at hospital and clinical unit level, to operationalising high policy goals is needed. The framework of cultural competence offers relevant guidance for efforts (at system, organisation and care delivery levels) to improve care, but requires organisations to address misinterpretation of the principle of equal treatment

Adjustment to Stroke: Learned Helplessness & Attributions of Spouses

Applied Behavioral Studie

Elementary Special Education Teachers' Cultural Awareness and Beliefs In One Urban School District Regarding African American Learners

Today's urban schools are composed of students from diverse cultural backgrounds and varying levels of academic readiness. At the same time, approximately 88% of teachers are White and middle-class. The dispositions of teachers have important educational ramifications. Teachers' beliefs structure the classroom atmosphere, influence perceptions regarding the abilities of students, and impact how they teach and expect students to learn and behave. In order to foster an accepting and productive learning environment, teachers must have cultural awareness. To ensure that all learners receive a solid academic foundation, teachers must be able to instruct dissimilar students. Special educators have been trained to work with students with unique, special needs, but the reality of today's demographics - and special education classrooms in particular - mandate that they also have the cultural knowledge to effectively serve diverse students. Perceptions and attitudes of elementary special education teachers regarding their cultural awareness and beliefs need to be explored. This study examined the cultural awareness beliefs of elementary special educators working in urban school districts located in southeast Texas. The research also needs to ascertain whether ethnicity or length of service effected such teachers' cultural awareness beliefs. Using the Cultural Awareness Beliefs Inventory (CABI) instrument, the investigator gathered self-reported data from 54 participants. The reliability and validity of the instrument were determined to be sound by previous investigators. The CABI contains eight major components: Teacher Beliefs, School Climate, Culturally Responsive Classroom Management, Home and Community Support, Curriculum and Instruction, Cultural Sensitivity, Cultural Awareness, and Teacher Efficacy. Data were analyzed using percentage analysis and one-way analysis of variance. The findings include: 1) Participants had favorable perceptions towards the School Climate, Culturally Responsive Classroom Management, and Cultural Awareness variables; 2) Participants had unfavorable perceptions regarding Teacher Beliefs; 3) In contrast to some previous research, it did not appear that teaching experience impacted cultural beliefs; and 4) Importantly, it was discerned that teachers' ethnicities yielded statistically significant effects on their cultural awareness and beliefs regarding African American special education students

Blueskin People Power - a toolkit for community engagement.

Report Commissioned by Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authorit

Flows, Eddies, Swamps and Whirlpools:Inequality and the Experience of Work Change

The main concern of this paper is how inequalities are implicated in the capacity individuals have to deal with changes in their work. The ability to deal with change - to seek it out, go with it, benefit from it - is a key aspect of neo-liberal discourse on the contemporary economy. Yet, there is little recognition within this discourse of the different capacities individual

A new malaria vector in Africa: Predicting the expansion range of Anopheles stephensi and identifying the urban populations at risk

In 2012, an unusual outbreak of urban malaria was reported from Djibouti City in the Horn of Africa and increasingly severe outbreaks have been reported annually ever since. Subsequent investigations discovered the presence of an Asian mosquito species; Anopheles stephensi, a species known to thrive in urban environments. Since that first report, An. stephensi has been identified in Ethiopia and Sudan, and this worrying development has prompted the World Health Organization (WHO) to publish a vector alert calling for active mosquito surveillance in the region. Using an up-to-date database of published locational records for An. stephensi across its full range (Asia, Arabian Peninsula, Horn of Africa) and a set of spatial models that identify the environmental conditions that characterize a species’ preferred habitat, we provide evidence-based maps predicting the possible locations across Africa where An. stephensi could establish if allowed to spread unchecked. Unsurprisingly, due to this species’ close association with man-made habitats, our maps predict a high probability of presence within many urban cities across Africa where our estimates suggest that over 126 million people reside. Our results strongly support the WHO’s call for surveillance and targeted vector control and provide a basis for the prioritization of surveillance