In this article, five papers that formed the Special Issue for the fourth International Associati... more In this article, five papers that formed the Special Issue for the fourth International Association of Language and Social Psychology Taskforce on health communication are revisited. Our starting point is Gallois's epilogue and the six themes she identified from those papers. These themes are invoked to explore where health communication is moving in the 21st century. Burgeoning work on intergroup communication in this context, patient voice, minority groups, and the role of the carer are highlighted.
The articles presented in this special issue represent key issues for current day health communic... more The articles presented in this special issue represent key issues for current day health communication scholars. The articles were commissioned by the International association of Language and Social Psychology Taskforce and presented at the 2008 International Communication association in Montreal. each article tackles a specific health dilemma and demonstrates the need for immediate but theoretically based interventions.
The current study examined the impact of neonatal nursery design on nursing staff in an Australia... more The current study examined the impact of neonatal nursery design on nursing staff in an Australian context. Nurses' employee adjustment and job demands and resources were examined, using surveys and interviews, before and after the transition from an open-bay to a single family room (SFR) design. Results revealed significant increases in the level of nurse workload and isolation. Most employee adjustment and resources indicators remained relatively unchanged after the transition, however inconsistencies were found between survey and interview findings. Personal accomplishment improved in the SFR, and nurses reported increased satisfaction from the benefits accruing to infants and parents in SFR, which we argue potentially ameliorate the impact of increased workload and isolation within the SFR.
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the a... more This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright a b s t r a c t Aim: The Breast Care Nurse (BCN) supports people with breast cancer, coordinating services, and providing information and psychosocial support, yet there is ambiguity surrounding the scope of the role, with implications for both BCNs and service provision. The current studies investigated the scope of practice of BCNs from the perspective of both BCNs and other health professionals. Method: In study 1, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 BCNs and 7 other key health professionals (HPs) involved in the care of those with breast cancer. Participants were questioned about the scope of practice of the BCN role and the challenges facing the role. In Study 2, 27 BCNs and 21 HPs then completed a survey asking about the importance of the different elements of practice identified in Study 1, together with the extent to which each aspect of practice was part of the day to day practice of BCNs. Results and conclusion: Provision of information and support to people with breast cancer and their families were identified as core to the role. BCNs and other health professionals differed in their perceptions of both the length and breadth of practice of the BCN, with implications for workload and burnout in BCNs, as well as multidisciplinary team functioning and patient care. Scope of practice also differed across practice contexts.
Objective This study examined the influence of neonatal nursery design on interactions between nu... more Objective This study examined the influence of neonatal nursery design on interactions between nurses and mothers of infants in the nursery. Design and methods: We used a natural quasi-experimental design, using semi-structured interviews and a structured measure of mothers' and nurses' perceptions of nursing care, to compare mothers (n = 26 and n = 40) and nurses (n = 22 and n = 29) in an open-bay (OB) nursery and a single family room (SFR) nursery. Thematic analysis was used to generate key themes from the interviews. Results: Mothers and nurses in both nursery designs talked about Valuing interactions; the importance of interactions between mothers and nurses. Mothers and nurses described SFRs as providing a space, My/their room, which enhanced mothers' sense of control and connection with the infant. SFRs were also associated with Changing the norms of interactions with nurses and other mothers, which created challenges in the desired quantity and quality of interactions for mothers and nurses. Nurses in the SFR nursery also reported Enhanced interactions, including improved confidentiality and personalized communication. Mothers in the OB nursery reported more supportive mothering actions from nurses than mothers in the SFR nursery. Both mothers and nurses in the OB nursery also talked about Our nursery community, which captured the value of having other nurses and mothers in the rooms. Conclusion: Mothers and nurses perceived that the SFR nursery enhanced privacy and maternal closeness for mothers compared to the OB nursery. However, the SFR nursery design presented challenges to some interactions of value to nurses and mothers.
Objective: Nursing staff are an important source of support for parents of a hospitalized preterm... more Objective: Nursing staff are an important source of support for parents of a hospitalized preterm infant. This study aimed to describe parents' and nurses' perceptions of communicating with each other in the context of the special care nursery. Method: A qualitative descriptive design was employed. Thirty two parents with a newborn admitted to one of two special care nurseries in Queensland, Australia participated, and 12 nurses participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interviews. Results: Nurses and parents focused on similar topics, but their perceptions differed. Provision of information and enabling parenting were central to effective communication, supported by an appropriate interpersonal style by nurses. Parents described difficulties accessing or engaging nurses. Managing enforcement of policies was a specific area of difficulty for both parents and nurses. Conclusion: The findings indicated a tension between providing family-centered care that is individualized and based on family needs and roles, and adhering to systemic nursery policies.
The birth of a preterm infant is associated with psychological distress and disruption to parenti... more The birth of a preterm infant is associated with psychological distress and disruption to parenting for adult mothers but little is known about adolescent mothers in this context. This study investigated how adult and adolescent mothers experienced parenting in the neonatal nursery, with a focus on communication and supportive relationships. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 39 adult and 20 adolescent mothers of preterm infants at infant discharge. Interviews were analysed using induc-tive descriptive content analysis. Two themes explicated mothers' experiences of communication and supportive relationships: Facilitative and inhibitory nursing behaviours and Negotiating the nursery environment. Two contextual themes shaped mothers' experiences: Expectations and realities and Practical challenges. There were significant differences between adult and adolescent mothers for each theme. Communication was important for shaping mothers' experiences of parenting in the neonatal nursery. For adult mothers communication was mostly positive and they actively negotiated the nursery environment. Adolescent mothers experienced communication as more inhibi-tory and intergroup attributing the nurses' communication and unsupportive behaviours to their age. Health professional recognition of the influence of maternal age on communication and mothers' experiences of parenting would enhance interperso-nal interactions with adolescent mothers and facilitate their parenting.
Evidence-based programs are considered critical in the human services field if major social and h... more Evidence-based programs are considered critical in the human services field if major social and health problems are to be addressed. Despite the large number of programs that have been developed and implemented, there is much to learn about how to effectively implement these programs in community settings. One perspective that is rarely represented in the literature is that of the purveyor organization (an organization that actively works to disseminate and support the implementation of a program or practice). This paper introduces the Triple P Implementation Framework, developed by the program's purveyor organization, and discusses principles underlying the design and implementation of the Framework. The Framework incorporates two key underlying principles of the Triple P system: minimal sufficiency and self-regulation. Lessons learned from the application of these principles and the implementation process are discussed, along with directions for future research.
Background: Weight management is increasingly considered part of physiotherapists' scope of pract... more Background: Weight management is increasingly considered part of physiotherapists' scope of practice in order to improve patient outcomes by, for example, reducing load on joints, or improving chronic pain. However, interactions with patients involving weight may result in patient perceptions of negative judgement from health professionals, which can result in poorer health outcomes. How physiotherapist/ patient interactions involving weight are perceived by patients has not yet been investigated. Objectives: To explore patients' perceptions of interactions with physiotherapists that involved weight, and investigate how these perceptions may inform physiotherapy practice. Design: Face-to-face interviews with physiotherapy patients, with follow up interviews conducted by telephone. Data were analysed thematically. Method: First interviews were held in a physiotherapy practice with follow up interviews conducted two weeks later. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed using an inductive thematic method established by Braun and Clarke. Findings: Thirty interviews with 15 patients were analysed. Four main themes relevant to weight were identified: 1) perceptions of being 'in physiotherapy' including pre-conceptions, the physical environment , and exposing the body, 2) emphasis placed on weight in physiotherapy interactions, 3) communication styles, and 4) judgement perception. Conclusion: Some patients perceived negative weight judgements from elements of physiotherapy interactions and environments. Physiotherapists need to be aware of this perception because it may result in poorer patient outcomes and patients avoiding physiotherapy appointments. The results suggest strategies to counteract weight stigma include: adjusting the physical environment of the clinic, portraying an understanding of complex determinants of weight, and employing collaborative, non-judgemental communication styles.
Objective: To examine the relationships among special care nursery design, parental presence, bre... more Objective: To examine the relationships among special care nursery design, parental presence, breastfeeding, psychological distress, hospital-related stress, and maternal parenting self-efficacy at the infant's discharge from hospital and at 4 months postdischarge. Design: We used a causal comparative design to compare two special care nursery designs: open ward nursery (OW) and single-family room (SFR) nursery. Setting: Special care nurseries of two tertiary hospitals on the Gold Coast, Australia, with the newly built second hospital replacing the first. Participants: Fifty-six mothers of infants cared for in the special care nurseries (OW, n ¼ 31; SFR, n ¼ 25). Methods: Participating mothers completed parental presence records during their infants' stays in hospital and completed two surveys, one at discharge and the other at 4 months postdischarge, to measure their psychological distress, hospital-related stress, parenting self-efficacy, and infant feeding method. Results: Mothers with newborns in SFR nurseries spent markedly more time with their newborns, without any more visits or fewer visits, than mothers of newborns in OW nurseries during the first 2 weeks of their newborns' lives. For mothers with low levels of presence, parental role alteration stress was significantly greater for mothers in OW compared with SFR nurseries. Compared with mothers of infants in OW nurseries, mothers of newborns in SFR nurseries were significantly more likely to exclusively breastfeed their newborns at discharge from the hospital and at 4 months postdischarge. Conclusion: Compared with mothers with infants in OW nurseries, mothers with infants in SFR nurseries were more likely to be present and to initiate and maintain breastfeeding. Likewise, the SFR nursery was protective against stress related to changes in the parenting role for mothers who had low levels of presence.
In this article, five papers that formed the Special Issue for the fourth International Associati... more In this article, five papers that formed the Special Issue for the fourth International Association of Language and Social Psychology Taskforce on health communication are revisited. Our starting point is Gallois's epilogue and the six themes she identified from those papers. These themes are invoked to explore where health communication is moving in the 21st century. Burgeoning work on intergroup communication in this context, patient voice, minority groups, and the role of the carer are highlighted.
The articles presented in this special issue represent key issues for current day health communic... more The articles presented in this special issue represent key issues for current day health communication scholars. The articles were commissioned by the International association of Language and Social Psychology Taskforce and presented at the 2008 International Communication association in Montreal. each article tackles a specific health dilemma and demonstrates the need for immediate but theoretically based interventions.
The current study examined the impact of neonatal nursery design on nursing staff in an Australia... more The current study examined the impact of neonatal nursery design on nursing staff in an Australian context. Nurses' employee adjustment and job demands and resources were examined, using surveys and interviews, before and after the transition from an open-bay to a single family room (SFR) design. Results revealed significant increases in the level of nurse workload and isolation. Most employee adjustment and resources indicators remained relatively unchanged after the transition, however inconsistencies were found between survey and interview findings. Personal accomplishment improved in the SFR, and nurses reported increased satisfaction from the benefits accruing to infants and parents in SFR, which we argue potentially ameliorate the impact of increased workload and isolation within the SFR.
This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the a... more This article appeared in a journal published by Elsevier. The attached copy is furnished to the author for internal non-commercial research and education use, including for instruction at the authors institution and sharing with colleagues. Other uses, including reproduction and distribution, or selling or licensing copies, or posting to personal, institutional or third party websites are prohibited. In most cases authors are permitted to post their version of the article (e.g. in Word or Tex form) to their personal website or institutional repository. Authors requiring further information regarding Elsevier's archiving and manuscript policies are encouraged to visit: http://www.elsevier.com/copyright a b s t r a c t Aim: The Breast Care Nurse (BCN) supports people with breast cancer, coordinating services, and providing information and psychosocial support, yet there is ambiguity surrounding the scope of the role, with implications for both BCNs and service provision. The current studies investigated the scope of practice of BCNs from the perspective of both BCNs and other health professionals. Method: In study 1, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 11 BCNs and 7 other key health professionals (HPs) involved in the care of those with breast cancer. Participants were questioned about the scope of practice of the BCN role and the challenges facing the role. In Study 2, 27 BCNs and 21 HPs then completed a survey asking about the importance of the different elements of practice identified in Study 1, together with the extent to which each aspect of practice was part of the day to day practice of BCNs. Results and conclusion: Provision of information and support to people with breast cancer and their families were identified as core to the role. BCNs and other health professionals differed in their perceptions of both the length and breadth of practice of the BCN, with implications for workload and burnout in BCNs, as well as multidisciplinary team functioning and patient care. Scope of practice also differed across practice contexts.
Objective This study examined the influence of neonatal nursery design on interactions between nu... more Objective This study examined the influence of neonatal nursery design on interactions between nurses and mothers of infants in the nursery. Design and methods: We used a natural quasi-experimental design, using semi-structured interviews and a structured measure of mothers' and nurses' perceptions of nursing care, to compare mothers (n = 26 and n = 40) and nurses (n = 22 and n = 29) in an open-bay (OB) nursery and a single family room (SFR) nursery. Thematic analysis was used to generate key themes from the interviews. Results: Mothers and nurses in both nursery designs talked about Valuing interactions; the importance of interactions between mothers and nurses. Mothers and nurses described SFRs as providing a space, My/their room, which enhanced mothers' sense of control and connection with the infant. SFRs were also associated with Changing the norms of interactions with nurses and other mothers, which created challenges in the desired quantity and quality of interactions for mothers and nurses. Nurses in the SFR nursery also reported Enhanced interactions, including improved confidentiality and personalized communication. Mothers in the OB nursery reported more supportive mothering actions from nurses than mothers in the SFR nursery. Both mothers and nurses in the OB nursery also talked about Our nursery community, which captured the value of having other nurses and mothers in the rooms. Conclusion: Mothers and nurses perceived that the SFR nursery enhanced privacy and maternal closeness for mothers compared to the OB nursery. However, the SFR nursery design presented challenges to some interactions of value to nurses and mothers.
Objective: Nursing staff are an important source of support for parents of a hospitalized preterm... more Objective: Nursing staff are an important source of support for parents of a hospitalized preterm infant. This study aimed to describe parents' and nurses' perceptions of communicating with each other in the context of the special care nursery. Method: A qualitative descriptive design was employed. Thirty two parents with a newborn admitted to one of two special care nurseries in Queensland, Australia participated, and 12 nurses participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the interviews. Results: Nurses and parents focused on similar topics, but their perceptions differed. Provision of information and enabling parenting were central to effective communication, supported by an appropriate interpersonal style by nurses. Parents described difficulties accessing or engaging nurses. Managing enforcement of policies was a specific area of difficulty for both parents and nurses. Conclusion: The findings indicated a tension between providing family-centered care that is individualized and based on family needs and roles, and adhering to systemic nursery policies.
The birth of a preterm infant is associated with psychological distress and disruption to parenti... more The birth of a preterm infant is associated with psychological distress and disruption to parenting for adult mothers but little is known about adolescent mothers in this context. This study investigated how adult and adolescent mothers experienced parenting in the neonatal nursery, with a focus on communication and supportive relationships. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 39 adult and 20 adolescent mothers of preterm infants at infant discharge. Interviews were analysed using induc-tive descriptive content analysis. Two themes explicated mothers' experiences of communication and supportive relationships: Facilitative and inhibitory nursing behaviours and Negotiating the nursery environment. Two contextual themes shaped mothers' experiences: Expectations and realities and Practical challenges. There were significant differences between adult and adolescent mothers for each theme. Communication was important for shaping mothers' experiences of parenting in the neonatal nursery. For adult mothers communication was mostly positive and they actively negotiated the nursery environment. Adolescent mothers experienced communication as more inhibi-tory and intergroup attributing the nurses' communication and unsupportive behaviours to their age. Health professional recognition of the influence of maternal age on communication and mothers' experiences of parenting would enhance interperso-nal interactions with adolescent mothers and facilitate their parenting.
Evidence-based programs are considered critical in the human services field if major social and h... more Evidence-based programs are considered critical in the human services field if major social and health problems are to be addressed. Despite the large number of programs that have been developed and implemented, there is much to learn about how to effectively implement these programs in community settings. One perspective that is rarely represented in the literature is that of the purveyor organization (an organization that actively works to disseminate and support the implementation of a program or practice). This paper introduces the Triple P Implementation Framework, developed by the program's purveyor organization, and discusses principles underlying the design and implementation of the Framework. The Framework incorporates two key underlying principles of the Triple P system: minimal sufficiency and self-regulation. Lessons learned from the application of these principles and the implementation process are discussed, along with directions for future research.
Background: Weight management is increasingly considered part of physiotherapists' scope of pract... more Background: Weight management is increasingly considered part of physiotherapists' scope of practice in order to improve patient outcomes by, for example, reducing load on joints, or improving chronic pain. However, interactions with patients involving weight may result in patient perceptions of negative judgement from health professionals, which can result in poorer health outcomes. How physiotherapist/ patient interactions involving weight are perceived by patients has not yet been investigated. Objectives: To explore patients' perceptions of interactions with physiotherapists that involved weight, and investigate how these perceptions may inform physiotherapy practice. Design: Face-to-face interviews with physiotherapy patients, with follow up interviews conducted by telephone. Data were analysed thematically. Method: First interviews were held in a physiotherapy practice with follow up interviews conducted two weeks later. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed using an inductive thematic method established by Braun and Clarke. Findings: Thirty interviews with 15 patients were analysed. Four main themes relevant to weight were identified: 1) perceptions of being 'in physiotherapy' including pre-conceptions, the physical environment , and exposing the body, 2) emphasis placed on weight in physiotherapy interactions, 3) communication styles, and 4) judgement perception. Conclusion: Some patients perceived negative weight judgements from elements of physiotherapy interactions and environments. Physiotherapists need to be aware of this perception because it may result in poorer patient outcomes and patients avoiding physiotherapy appointments. The results suggest strategies to counteract weight stigma include: adjusting the physical environment of the clinic, portraying an understanding of complex determinants of weight, and employing collaborative, non-judgemental communication styles.
Objective: To examine the relationships among special care nursery design, parental presence, bre... more Objective: To examine the relationships among special care nursery design, parental presence, breastfeeding, psychological distress, hospital-related stress, and maternal parenting self-efficacy at the infant's discharge from hospital and at 4 months postdischarge. Design: We used a causal comparative design to compare two special care nursery designs: open ward nursery (OW) and single-family room (SFR) nursery. Setting: Special care nurseries of two tertiary hospitals on the Gold Coast, Australia, with the newly built second hospital replacing the first. Participants: Fifty-six mothers of infants cared for in the special care nurseries (OW, n ¼ 31; SFR, n ¼ 25). Methods: Participating mothers completed parental presence records during their infants' stays in hospital and completed two surveys, one at discharge and the other at 4 months postdischarge, to measure their psychological distress, hospital-related stress, parenting self-efficacy, and infant feeding method. Results: Mothers with newborns in SFR nurseries spent markedly more time with their newborns, without any more visits or fewer visits, than mothers of newborns in OW nurseries during the first 2 weeks of their newborns' lives. For mothers with low levels of presence, parental role alteration stress was significantly greater for mothers in OW compared with SFR nurseries. Compared with mothers of infants in OW nurseries, mothers of newborns in SFR nurseries were significantly more likely to exclusively breastfeed their newborns at discharge from the hospital and at 4 months postdischarge. Conclusion: Compared with mothers with infants in OW nurseries, mothers with infants in SFR nurseries were more likely to be present and to initiate and maintain breastfeeding. Likewise, the SFR nursery was protective against stress related to changes in the parenting role for mothers who had low levels of presence.
Uploads
Papers by Liz Jones