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Overarching Themes (overarching + themes)
Selected AbstractsFROM REVOLUTION TO MODERNIZATION: THE PARADIGMATIC TRANSITION IN CHINESE HISTORIOGRAPHY IN THE REFORM ERAHISTORY AND THEORY, Issue 3 2010HUAIYIN LI ABSTRACT Chinese historiography of modern China in the 1980s and 1990s underwent a paradigmatic transition: in place of the traditional revolutionary historiography that bases its analyses on Marxist methodologies and highlights rebellions and revolutions as the overarching themes in modern Chinese history, the emerging modernization paradigm builds its conceptual framework on borrowed modernization theory and foregrounds top-down, incremental reforms as the main force propelling China's evolution to modernity. This article scrutinizes the origins of the new paradigm in the context of a burgeoning modernization discourse in reform-era China. It further examines the fundamental divides between the two types of historiography in their respective constructions of master narratives and their different approaches to representing historical events in modern China. Behind the prevalence of the modernization paradigm in Chinese historiography is Chinese historians' unchanged commitment to serving present political needs by interpreting the past. [source] Managing knowledge in the healthcare sector.INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MANAGEMENT REVIEWS, Issue 3 2008A review Over the past decade, knowledge management (KM), as a concept and a set of practices, has penetrated into the fabric of organizational and managerial processes in the healthcare sector, which has been the site of numerous innovative KM practices. As a result scholars from a range of academic (and non-academic) fields have begun to document how KM is conceived and practised in health care, what the recurrent issues are and how they can be addressed. The purpose of this paper is to review the current literature on KM concepts, policies and practices in the healthcare sector. Based on the analysis of the most relevant contributions in the last six years, three overarching themes that have occupied the interests of authors are identified and discussed: the nature of knowing in the healthcare sector, the type of KM tools and initiatives that are suitable for the healthcare sector, and the barriers and enablers to the take up of KM practices. The paper concludes with some considerations on what the literature tells us about the state of the art and the future of KM in this important sector of Western economies. [source] Controlled and dependent: experiences of living on social assistance in SwedenINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIAL WELFARE, Issue 2 2010Anneli Marttila Marttila A, Whitehead M, Canvin K, Burström B. Controlled and dependent: experiences of living on social assistance in Sweden Int J Soc Welfare 2010: 19: 142,151 © 2009 The Author(s), Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd and the International Journal of Social Welfare. This study explored experiences of people receiving social assistance in 21st-century Sweden, based on 33 in-depth interviews conducted in 2005 and 2006. Two overarching themes emerged from the accounts, encompassing both a material and a psychosocial dimension of living on social assistance. Recipients reported that social assistance was generally sufficient for their basic material needs but allowed for no extras. It was possible to live on social assistance for a short time, but became difficult in the longer term. Perceptions of powerlessness, hopelessness and dependency were common and had the most damaging consequences for the recipients' perceived wellbeing. Some recipients believed that society at large had negative perceptions of people living on social assistance; it was something to be ashamed of but, at the same time, it was the recipients' only possible source of income. Findings of this study are partly similar to previous studies conducted in Sweden, suggesting that improvement in services should take into account the experiences of social assistance recipients. [source] Physicians "Missing in Action": Family Perspectives on Physician and Staffing Problems in End-of-Life Care in the Nursing HomeJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 10 2005Renée R. Shield PhD Objectives: To understand the roles of physicians and staff in nursing homes in relation to end-of-life care through narrative interviews with family members close to a decedent. Design: Qualitative follow-up interviews with 54 respondents who had participated in an earlier national survey of 1,578 informants. Setting: Brown University interviewers conducted telephone interviews with participants throughout the United States. Participants: The 54 participants agreed to a follow-up qualitative interview and were family members or close to the decedent. Measurements: A five-member, multidisciplinary team to identify overarching themes taped, transcribed, and then coded interviews. Results: Respondents report that healthcare professionals often insufficiently address the needs of dying patients in nursing homes and that "missing in action" physicians and insufficient staffing create extra burdens on dying nursing home residents and their families. Conclusion: Sustained efforts to increase the presence of physicians and improve staffing in nursing homes are suggested to improve end-of-life care for dying residents in nursing homes. [source] From critical care to comfort care: the sustaining value of humourJOURNAL OF CLINICAL NURSING, Issue 8 2008Ruth Anne Kinsman Dean PhD Aims and objectives., To identify commonalities in the findings of two research studies on humour in diverse settings to illustrate the value of humour in team work and patient care, despite differing contexts. Background., Humour research in health care commonly identifies the value of humour for enabling communication, fostering relationships, easing tension and managing emotions. Other studies identify situations involving serious discussion, life-threatening circumstances and high anxiety as places where humour may not be appropriate. Our research demonstrates that humour is significant even where such circumstances are common place. Method., Clinical ethnography was the method for both studies. Each researcher conducted observational fieldwork in the cultural context of a healthcare setting, writing extensive fieldnotes after each period of observation. Additional data sources were informal conversations with patients and families and semi-structured interviews with members of the healthcare team. Data analysis involved line-by-line analysis of transcripts and fieldnotes with identification of codes and eventual collapse into categories and overarching themes. Results., Common themes from both studies included the value of humour for team work, emotion management and maintaining human connections. Humour served to enable co-operation, relieve tensions, develop emotional flexibility and to ,humanise' the healthcare experience for both caregivers and recipients of care. Conclusions., Humour is often considered trivial or unprofessional; this research verifies that it is neither. The value of humour resides, not in its capacity to alter physical reality, but in its capacity for affective or psychological change which enhances the humanity of an experience, for both care providers and recipients of care. Relevance to clinical practice., In the present era which emphasises technology, efficiency and outcomes, humour is crucial for promoting team relationships and for maintaining the human dimension of health care. Nurses should not be reluctant to use humour as a part of compassionate and personalised care, even in critical situations. [source] A phenomenological exploration of intellectual disability: nurse's experiences of managerial supportJOURNAL OF NURSING MANAGEMENT, Issue 6 2010GERALDINE GALVIN MSc, RNID galvin g. & timmins f. (2010) Journal of Nursing Management 18, 726,735 A phenomenological exploration of intellectual disability: nurse's experiences of managerial support Aim, The present study aimed to explore Registered Nurse Intellectual Disabilities (RNIDs) experiences of managerial support. Background, The current work environment for RNIDs is undergoing immense change. These changes include the introduction of social care leaders and care staff to care for people with an intellectual disability (ID) and community-based approaches to care. This has led to ambiguity and marginalization for RNIDs thus requiring them to re-establish their role boundaries. Support is thus required, through this change process, with managers required to lead and support RNIDs through this process. Methods, A Heideggerian constructivist phenomenological approach was used. Findings, Four overarching themes emerged from the data: The Professional Role of the Clinical Nurse Manager (CNM), Leadership Role of the CNM, Personal Supports and the Effects of CNM support. Conclusion, The themes found in this research study correlate with findings of other research studies on nurses' experiences of managerial support in various nurse settings. Implications for nursing management, The findings of this research study will illuminate and create an understanding for nurses, nurse managers and ID services of what managerial supports are to this specific group of RNIDs working in this service for people with an ID. [source] Students' perceptions of race, ethnicity and culture at two UK medical schools: a qualitative studyMEDICAL EDUCATION, Issue 1 2008Jane H Roberts Context, Globalisation has profoundly affected health care by increasing the diversity of clinicians and their patients. Worldwide, medical schools highlight the need for students to understand and show respect for patients and peers of different ethnicities. Yet a sound theoretical approach and robust methods for learning about cultural awareness are lacking. The reasons for this are unclear. Objective, To explore Year 2 medical students' understanding of the concepts of race, ethnicity and culture. Methods, This study was set in 2 universities in the north of England. The student population of each was of a similar ethnic mix but the universities differed in terms of local demography (a wide patient ethnic mix versus a predominantly White patient population with experience of social deprivation) and curricula (a curriculum involving problem-based learning and paper-based cases versus a curriculum involving early contact with patients). Participants comprised 49 Year 2 medical students (mean age 20·8 years), 40% of whom came from ethnic minority groups. Seven focus groups were held across the 2 universities to explore students' understanding of cultural awareness. Students were asked to discuss the terms ,race', ,ethnicity', ,culture' and ,cultural diversity'. Interviews were transcribed and analysed qualitatively using grounded theory. Themes were identified and validated by an independent researcher. Results, Four overarching themes emerged: ,White fears' at discussing race-related issues; ethnic minority discomfort at being viewed as ,different'; difficulties in relating to professional boundaries, and barriers against talking about race beyond legitimate disease-related discourse. Conclusions, For students, discussion of race beyond the confines of medical discourse was problematic. If students are to develop professional holistic values towards patient care, they need more support in understanding their own personal values and uncertainties. [source] Flow experiences and image making: An online chat-room ethnographyPSYCHOLOGY & MARKETING, Issue 10 2004Aviv Shoham Chat rooms are a relatively new phenomenon. They provide a unique experiential locale, much like a community. They have become a popular replacement for oft-diminishing communities of yore. Qualitatively building on three overarching themes, chat rooms are put at the nexus of three diverse theoretical themes: community, flow experiences, and image management,the latter two being explored in this article. Chat rooms provide flow-like experiences to participants and allow chatters to manage and enhance their images. Given that chatters are highly involved and frequent visitors to their online community (specific chat rooms), they provide a unique opportunity to study this relatively new phenomenon, which has far-reaching, multidisciplinary implications. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. [source] THE SACRISTY OF SAN MARCO, VENICE: FORM AND FUNCTION ILLUMINATEDART HISTORY, Issue 3 2009LYDIA HAMLETT The sacristy at San Marco in Venice had a crucial functional role, both within the daily liturgical life of the basilica and especially during the ritual activity of Holy Week, which is reflected through its artistic programmes. This article focuses solely on the sacristy as a key site within the church, and its renaissance rebuilding and decoration c. 1491,1546. It examines the major elements of the programme in turn, including the mosaics, door, tarsie and tapestries. For the first time, each of these developments is viewed as complementary to a deliberate and coherent programme revolving around liturgical requirements, iconography of the Passion and overarching themes of triumph and redemption. Without surviving documentary evidence for the instigation of such a monolithic project, this article argues that the sacristy be looked at anew in light of contemporary understanding of the sacristy as a space. The practical and symbolic associations of the sacristy at San Marco are thus considered in this wider typological context in order to illuminate our own appreciation of the development of the sacristy's artistic programme. [source] What helps when it hurts: children's views on pain reliefCHILD: CARE, HEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT, Issue 4 2008L. S. Franck Abstract Background Previous studies have focused on children's views of sources of pain and only secondarily explored their views on pain-relief strategies. Methods An exploratory cross-sectional descriptive design and ,draw and write' technique were used to investigate what children think helps them when they have pain. Results The sample (n = 71) was comprised of 33% boys and 67% girls, with an age range of 4,16 years (mean ± SD: 9.25 ± 3.04). Four overarching themes were derived that were common to both the texts and drawings: ,People who help', ,What I do that helps', ,What other people do that helps' and ,Things that help'. Children also described their emotional reactions to pain or pain relief. Multiple themes were represented in most of the texts and drawings. There were few differences in the themes present in the children's texts and drawings based on developmental age and no differences based on gender. Conclusions Children across the three developmental age groups view themselves as active agents in pain relief. Although less than half of the children described specific behaviours they had taken, almost all children indicated their active role as the central figure in relation to use of objects or the actions of others. [source] A qualitative exploration of the perception of emotions in anorexia nervosa: A basic emotion and developmental perspectiveCLINICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND PSYCHOTHERAPY (AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF THEORY & PRACTICE), Issue 4 2009John R. E. Fox Abstract Difficulties in emotional processing have long been regarded as a core difficulty within anorexia nervosa. Recent research and theory have started to highlight how eating disorder symptoms are often used to regulate painful emotions. However, there has been a lack of theoretical sophistication in how emotions have been considered within the eating disorders. This study was designed to use qualitative methodologies to address these inadequacies and provide a richer, more thorough account of emotions within anorexia nervosa. It used a grounded theory methodology to gather and analyse interview data from 11 participants who had a diagnosis of anorexia nervosa, being seen at a regional eating disorder service (both inpatient and day patient). The results highlighted two main overarching themes regarding the perception and management of emotions within anorexia nervosa: (1) development of poor meta-emotional skills; and (2) perception and management of emotion in anorexia nervosa. These two categories comprised of a significant number of components from the qualitative analysis, including difficulties with anger, meta-emotional skills and poverty of emotional environments while growing up. Once the data had been collected and analysed, links were made between the findings of this research and the current literature base.,Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key Practitioner Message: Practitoners needs to consider the importance of poor meta-emotional skills within anorexia nervosa. These meta skills appears to be more complicated than the simplistic notion of alexithymia. The routes to these difficulties in emotion appear to be drawn from a complicated developmental picture. The role of anger needs to be considered more fully in the psychotherapeutic work with people with anorexia nervosa. This study's findings suggest that increasing levels of anger may play a role in increased eating disorder symptomatology, especially vomitting. [source] | ||||||||||||||||