43 research outputs found
The management of identity and accountability in online weight loss discourse
The aim of this thesis is to explore the management of accountability and identity in an online
commercial weight loss group. The commercial weight loss context is socially significant
because it is a space which foregrounds women's efforts to control their bodies and behaviour
in order to conform to culturally prescribed norms of 'femininity' through continued selfsurveillance
and restriction of consumption. The analysis examines 2219 individual posts in
422 message threads over a 24 hour period on a message board on the Weight Watchers
website. The site explicitly promotes itself as a space in which members can obtain advice and
emotional support from fellow dieters in an encouraging and egalitarian environment, and is
therefore intended to be used as an aid to becoming a more successful 'weight watcher' (and
consequently a 'better woman'). Using a feminist hybrid discourse analytic method, and
drawing on Coffman's notion of 'face', the empirical chapters explore the interactional
management of progress reports by group members.
The commercial weight loss group provides a space in which the confession of transgression is
encouraged, and analysis of the message threads reveals that members of the message board
community are accountable to both societal gender norms and to their fellow weight
watchers. In these confessional exchanges group members realign themselves with social
norms of 'femininity', and renew their commitment to the body modification project. Group
members employ face-protective mitigation strategies in their delivery of confessions, and
responses to confessional posts orient to group norms of solidarity and support while
rehabilitating the transgressing members back into the eating regime. The analysis also
explores the use of humour in the construction of the confessional message which, despite its
potential to undermine the regime, appears to perform a face-management function, and is
used to display 'expertise' about the regime while fostering group solidarity. In message
threads where group members report 'inexplicable' failure to lose weight, the group work to
maintain commitment to the regime by explaining lack of success in ways which are protective
of the reputation of the regime as an effective means of losing weight, thus ensuring
continued dedication to the body modification project. The community offers solutions which
provide the member with new 'expertise', helping her to become a 'better weight watcher'
Women's and midwives' perspectives on the design of a text messaging support for maternal obesity services.
This study was aimed to explore womenâs and midwivesâ views on the use of mobile technology in supporting obese pregnant women with healthy lifestyle choices. A purposive sample of 14 women and midwives participated in four focus groups in Doncaster, UK. A content analysis of the transcripts from the first focus group led to the emergence of three main constructs with associated subcategories including Benefits (âmodernising,â âmotivating,â âreminding,â and âreducingâ the sense of isolation), Risks and Limitations (possibility of âbeing offensive,â âcreating pressure or guilt,â and âbeing influenced by moodâ), and Service Delivery (making it âavailable to all pregnant women,â giving attention to the âmessage toneâ and development of âmessage contentâ). They also suggested the use of other modalities such as web-based services for weight management during pregnancy. Based on the above results a text messaging service was developed and presented to the 2nd focus group participants who confirmed the positive views from the first focus group on the use of the text messaging as being supportive and informative. The participants also welcomed âwomenâs engagement and choiceâ in deciding the content, timing and frequency of messages. The results informed the development of a text messaging service to support maternal obesity management. The implementation and acceptability of this service requires further investigation
How was it for you? Experiences of participatory design in the UK health service
Improving co-design methods implies that we need to understand those methods, paying attention to not only the effect of method choices on design outcomes, but also how methods affect the people involved in co-design. In this article, we explore participants' experiences from a year-long participatory health service design project to develop âBetter Outpatient Services for Older Peopleâ. The project followed a defined method called experience-based design (EBD), which represented the state of the art in participatory service design within the UK National Health Service. A sample of participants in the project took part in semi-structured interviews reflecting on their involvement in and their feelings about the project. Our findings suggest that the EBD method that we employed was successful in establishing positive working relationships among the different groups of stakeholders (staff, patients, carers, advocates and design researchers), although conflicts remained throughout the project. Participants' experiences highlighted issues of wider relevance in such participatory design: cost versus benefit, sense of project momentum, locus of control, and assumptions about how change takes place in a complex environment. We propose tactics for dealing with these issues that inform the future development of techniques in user-centred healthcare design
Maternal obesity support services: a qualitative study of the perspectives of women and midwives
Background -
Twenty percent of pregnant women in the UK are obese (BMI â„ 30 kg/m2), reflecting the growing public health challenge of obesity in the 21st century. Obesity increases the risk of adverse outcomes during pregnancy and birth and has significant cost implications for maternity services. Gestational weight management strategies are a high priority; however the evidence for effective, feasible and acceptable weight control interventions is limited and inconclusive. This qualitative study explored the experiences and perceptions of pregnant women and midwives regarding existing support for weight management in pregnancy and their ideas for service development.
Methods -
A purposive sample of 6 women and 7 midwives from Doncaster, UK, participated in two separate focus groups. Transcripts were analysed thematically.
Results -
Two overarching themes were identified, 'Explanations for obesity and weight management' and 'Best care for pregnant women'. 'Explanations' included a lack of knowledge about weight, diet and exercise during pregnancy; self-talk messages which excused overeating; difficulties maintaining motivation for a healthy lifestyle; the importance of social support; stigmatisation; and sensitivity surrounding communication about obesity between midwives and their clients. 'Best care' suggested that weight management required care which was consistent and continuous, supportive and non-judgemental, and which created opportunities for interaction and mutual support between obese pregnant women.
Conclusions -
Women need unambiguous advice regarding healthy lifestyles, diet and exercise in pregnancy to address a lack of knowledge and a tendency towards unhelpful self-talk messages. Midwives expressed difficulties in communicating with their clients about their weight, given awareness that obesity is a sensitive and potentially stigmatising issue. This indicates more could be done to educate and support them in their work with obese pregnant women. Motivation and social support were strong explanatory themes for obesity and weight management, suggesting that interventions should focus on motivational strategies and social support facilitation
Crowdsourcing Methods for Data Collection in Geophysics: State of the Art, Issues, and Future Directions
Data are essential in all areas of geophysics. They are used to better understand and manage systems, either directly or via models. Given the complexity and spatiotemporal variability of geophysical systems (e.g., precipitation), a lack of sufficient data is a perennial problem, which is exacerbated by various drivers, such as climate change and urbanization. In recent years, crowdsourcing has become increasingly prominent as a means of supplementing data obtained from more traditional sources, particularly due to its relatively low implementation cost and ability to increase the spatial and/or temporal resolution of data significantly. Given the proliferation of different crowdsourcing methods in geophysics and the promise they have shown, it is timely to assess the stateâofâtheâart in this field, to identify potential issues and map out a way forward. In this paper, crowdsourcingâbased data acquisition methods that have been used in seven domains of geophysics, including weather, precipitation, air pollution, geography, ecology, surface water and natural hazard management are discussed based on a review of 162 papers. In addition, a novel framework for categorizing these methods is introduced and applied to the methods used in the seven domains of geophysics considered in this review. This paper also features a review of 93 papers dealing with issues that are common to data acquisition methods in different domains of geophysics, including the management of crowdsourcing projects, data quality, data processing and data privacy. In each of these areas, the current status is discussed and challenges and future directions are outlined
The Management of Identity and Accountability in Online Weight Loss Discourse
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