Domestic Violence: Implication for Health Practitioners

Domestic violence shattered the credibility of a home as safe haven. Feel oppressed, in fear, worried, uncertain, depressed, disturbed sleep, fragile, vulnerable, lost esteem and confidence, immobilized and paralysed, and lost direction in life were among the survivors' testimonies in my recent doctoral study on domestic violence. In each case it was just not merely a one off home scenario, but one that is ongoing and left the survivors ongoingly wounded and in grief. Yet these are kept silence in most instances, as domestic violence is considered as private and personal affair. What are the victims [survivors] barriers to reporting abuse and seeking help? Is that about the victim's internal fear and insecurity? Or it suggests that various external factors reinforce the victims to keep silence? If domestic violence is a public issue, what have the communities done to tackle the problem? What are the health team's barriers to enquire regarding abuse at the clinical level? How effective was our strategies? Have we been of help or have we added the 'salt to the wound'? What should also be stressed is the community awareness and active participation in curbing domestic violence. Ending gender discrimination and all forms of violence requires an understanding of the prevailing culture of bias and violence. In re emphasising the effective strategies, obligations and personnel responsibilities, this paper call for a continuity of public cooperation and support from the wider society. There need to be greater emphasis in multi-agency network and teamwork

Evidence-Based Nursing Education

Nursing is accountable to the community and society, not only in delivering nursing care but providing quality, cost-effective care and for seeking ways to improve that care. The “irony” is in this information age, nurses are constantly challenged to offer creative approaches to old and new health problems, and to design new and innovative programs. This is an era in which the challenges can best be met by integrating knowledge about biological, behavioral, cultural and environmental influences on health into practice. Evidence-based nursing education offers a framework to support, facilitate, develop and foster a questioning approach to nursing. Evidence-based nursing education is using the best available empirical evidence in making decisions about education in nursing. Through education using the most current evidence, current policies and up-to-date procedures, standards in practice are developed and maintained by health professionals. It is fundamental that evidence is to be used taking consideration in clinical judgment and acknowledgement of values, concerns and preferences of individual patient. Therefore it is essential for nurses to be able to evaluate the strength of the evidence and critique practice pattern so they can determine how appropriate the nursing care is

Domestic violence: refuge provision in Malaysia

Refuges have become a controversial form of provision for abused women in Malaysia. Questions such as What are the factors that challenge the establishment of refuges in Malaysia? What other options has Malaysia to offer these women? Has Other provision been so effective that Malaysia does not need refuge provision? have yet to be answered. Although the provision of refuge has been much debated, the issues are under-researched as the establishment of the first refuge in Malaysia only took place in 1982.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Focus Group Interview: Data Collection

Adjunct to our previous article Challenges in conducting Focus Group: Moderators’ experiences, authors thought it would be fair to further discuss about the procedures/steps in data collection during focus group interview. These include the interview guide, composition of the group, number of focus group, sample size, role of moderator and recording the data

A Qualitative Study: Chinese Cancer Caregivers in Sarawak

This qualitative research explores the experience of cancer caregivers in Sarawak. What are the impacts of cancer to the patient’s family members? How did they cope when their relatives were first diagnosed having cancer? What are the coping styles that work for the family while a relative underwent treatment? How could the nurses help and assist the patient and relative while in these states of mind. In this study data were collected from interviews with nine Chinese cancer caregivers. Data obtained were analyzed to gather and capture the experiences of Chinese cancer caregivers. Various themes emerged from the data and highlighted in this paper. These includes “Why me?”, Sadness, Acceptance of the Reality, Difficulties Faced by the Caregivers, Family Conflicts, Blames, Suffering, Remembering the Loss, Coping Mechanisms, Supports, Contact with Nurses. Cancer poses great emotional distress and difficulties to the family, in particular those who provide care for their loved ones. The findings of this study emphasized that the provisions of supportive care from the nurses help to alleviate psychological and emotional suffering of caregivers during this intricate time. The oncology nurses can express empathy through recognizing and accepting caregivers’ values and beliefs

Women’s Roles In A Rural Indigenous Community

Introduction: Women are said to be the agent for development. They have significant roles in the quality of her family as well as their community. Aims: This study is aimed at uncovering the roles of women of a rural indigenous community. Method: Focus group and in-depth interview with participants were employed to explore the roles of women in three rural Bisaya villages in Limbang, Sarawak. Data were analysed thematically. Results: This study highlights that in the rural community, women are mothers, wives, child-minders, domestic helpers, manager of home affairs as well as the carer of the family. They are the ones who ensure that children grow up as healthy productive individuals. Women are also involved in the family economy where they participated in income generating activities either in the farm or selling jungle produce. It is also noted that mothers also used traditional medicine for their family and self-prescribed medications when they or their family members are not well. Conclusion: This study highlights the important roles of women in the rural settings. The findings could enable health professionals and significant others to better understand the behaviour and attitudes of mothers as well as to assist the rural women to empower themselves. This study is also useful in planning and justifying future interventions of communities in the rural settings

Mental Health Literacy among Family Caregivers of Schizophrenia Patients

The benefits of public knowledge towards physical health are widely accepted but the area of mental health literacy remains undervalued and relatively neglected. The study aimed to identify caregivers’ mental health literacy in Malaysia. There were 154 family caregivers participated in the face-to-face semi-structured interview regarding their personal caring experiences. This study found that majority of the caregivers was women aged less than 60 years. Most of the caregivers have some understanding about their relatives’ mental illness. More than half of the participants found that the doctors were considered as their primary source of information about mental health. Consistent with previous literature in Malaysia, most of the caregivers used religious and traditional coping mechanism in their help-seeking processes. Each ethnic group had their own strong cultural beliefs about mental illness. The implications for mental health services are that many of the caregivers need help to educate their family members about mental illness. While this study emphasized on the family members who should be targeted to improve mental health literacy it also become significant to the public to reduce stigma towards the person with mental illness and their family

Patient’s Experiences of Violence as Perpetrator: A Qualitative Study from Patients with Schizophrenia in Indonesia

BACKGROUND: Individuals with schizophrenia are at an increased risk for violence – limited study on exploring the experience of violence in patients with schizophrenia as a perpetrator. AIM: This research aimed to investigate the perception of violence as a perpetrator in Indonesia in patients with schizophrenia. METHODS: This study used phenomenology using a purposive sampling technique. A total of 40 patients were from the psychiatric ward of significant mental hospitals in West Java, Indonesia. The inclusion criteria for patients were the following: Age over 18 years old confirmed diagnosis with schizophrenia. Focus group discussion of patients comprised four groups. Each group consisted of tens of patients. RESULTS: The patient’s experiences as a perpetrator were categorized into six subthemes: Committing physical violence to family, quarreling with family, verbal abuse to family, a perpetrator of verbal violence to neighbors, expression of anger to object, and physical violence to nurse. CONCLUSION: The patient’s experiences of violence were not linear, but rather it was a complex experience of being a perpetrator, yet at the same time as of perpetrator violence. A staff training program to reduce patient violence is needed