"United We Stand": Framing Myalgic Encephalomyelitis in a Virtual Symbolic Community
In this article, we report on a study that seeks to explore how the contested chronic condition myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), one of the current medical diagnoses for medically unexplained long-term exhaustion, is negotiated within the context of Norwegian internet sites. From an analysis of discussions on 14 internet forums sustained by and for people living with ME, we seek to understand how their online activity sustains a virtual symbolic community (VSC). After exploring the content on these sites, we identified four discursive domains, or fields of conversation, that are demarcated by a discursive frame, or norms, v...
Source: Qualitative Health Research - September 8, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Lian, O. S., Nettleton, S. Tags: Using the Internet Source Type: research
Using Instagram as a Modified Application of Photovoice for Storytelling and Sharing in Adolescents With Type 1 Diabetes
Photovoice is a research method developed to help communities share images as a tool for discussion of key issues. Although this may be useful to promote healthy behavior, using Photovoice in adolescents has been logistically challenging. Given adolescents’ engagement in social media, our study explored the feasibility of using a photo-sharing mobile phone application, Instagram, to accomplish the principles of Photovoice. Twenty adolescents 14 to 18 years old with type 1 diabetes were asked to use Instagram to post any diabetes-related photo for 3 weeks. Individual interviews and a focus group were also offered, and...
Source: Qualitative Health Research - September 8, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Yi-Frazier, J. P., Cochrane, K., Mitrovich, C., Pascual, M., Buscaino, E., Eaton, L., Panlasigui, N., Clopp, B., Malik, F. Tags: Using the Internet Source Type: research
Media Discourse on the Social Acceptability of Fecal Transplants
We examined dominant representations of fecal transplants in Canadian media and found that fecal transplants are often represented as being inherently disgusting or distasteful (the "ick factor"). This "ick factor" is used to construct different messages about the treatment’s social acceptability and legitimacy. We conclude that an over-emphasis on the "ick factor" constrains public discourse from a more nuanced discussion of the social challenges, scientific concerns, and regulatory issues surrounding the treatment. (Source: Qualitative Health Research)
Source: Qualitative Health Research - September 8, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Chuong, K. H., O'Doherty, K. C., Secko, D. M. Tags: Using the Internet Source Type: research
Online Stigma Resistance in the Pro-Ana Community
In this study, I extend this view through an examination of in-depth interviews with bloggers from the "pro-ana" community, an online community for people with eating disorders. To explore how this community uses an online environment that is both anonymous and public, I fuse Goffman’s ideas about identity performance and stigma with more recent theories about boundary maintenance. In-depth interviews with "pro-ana" bloggers reveal that to protect this virtual group and resist stigmas associated both with their illness and with their online presence, they construct their own norms and rules in the online realm, and d...
Source: Qualitative Health Research - September 8, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Yeshua-Katz, D. Tags: Using the Internet Source Type: research
On the Creative Edge: Exploring Motivations for Creating Non-Suicidal Self-Injury Content Online
This article reports the findings from a qualitative analysis of online interviews with 17 individuals who produce NSSI content. A thematic analysis of participants’ narratives identified two prominent motives: self-oriented motivation (to express self and creativity, to reflect on NSSI experience, to mitigate self-destructive urges) and social motivation (to support similar others, to seek out peers, to raise social awareness). Participants also reported a double-edged impact of NSSI content both as a trigger and a deterrent to NSSI. (Source: Qualitative Health Research)
Source: Qualitative Health Research - September 8, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Seko, Y., Kidd, S. A., Wiljer, D., McKenzie, K. J. Tags: Using the Internet Source Type: research
Refugees, Post-Migration Stress, and Internet Use: A Qualitative Analysis of Intercultural Adjustment and Internet Use Among Iraqi and Sudanese Refugees to the United States
This study aims to contribute to theory on Internet-mediated social support and to refugee health by creating smoother pathways to self-sufficiency and allowing refugees to exhibit agency in constructing and maintaining online networks of support. (Source: Qualitative Health Research)
Source: Qualitative Health Research - September 8, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Mikal, J. P., Woodfield, B. Tags: Using the Internet Source Type: research
Analytic Strategies and Sample Size
(Source: Qualitative Health Research)
Source: Qualitative Health Research - September 8, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Morse, J. M. Tags: Editorial Source Type: research
Erratum
Cheek, J., Lipschitz, D. L., Abrams, E. M., Vago, D. R., & Nakamura, Y. (2015). Dynamic reflexivity in action: An armchair walkthrough of a qualitatively driven mixed-method and multiple methods study of mindfulness training in schoolchildren. Qualitative Health Research, 25(6), 751–762. (Original DOI: 10.1177/1049732315582022) (Source: Qualitative Health Research)
Source: Qualitative Health Research - August 12, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Tags: Erratum Source Type: research
Therapeutic Jurisprudence in Health Research: Enlisting Legal Theory as a Methodological Guide in an Interdisciplinary Case Study of Mental Health and Criminal Law
Studies that seek to understand and improve health care systems benefit from qualitative methods that employ theory to add depth, complexity, and context to analysis. Theories used in health research typically emerge from social science, but these can be inadequate for studying complex health systems. Mental health rehabilitation programs for criminal courts are complicated by their integration within the criminal justice system and by their dual health-and-justice objectives. In a qualitative multiple case study exploring the potential for these mental health court programs in Arctic communities, we assess whether a legal...
Source: Qualitative Health Research - August 12, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Ferrazzi, P., Krupa, T. Tags: Methods Source Type: research
Bundles of Norms About Teen Sex and Pregnancy
Teen pregnancy is a cultural battleground in struggles over morality, education, and family. At its heart are norms about teen sex, contraception, pregnancy, and abortion. Analyzing 57 interviews with college students, we found that "bundles" of related norms shaped the messages teens hear. Teens did not think their communities encouraged teen sex or pregnancy, but normative messages differed greatly, with either moral or practical rationalizations. Teens readily identified multiple norms intended to regulate teen sex, contraception, abortion, childbearing, and the sanctioning of teen parents. Beyond influencing teens&rsqu...
Source: Qualitative Health Research - August 12, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Mollborn, S., Sennott, C. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Dual, Yet Dueling Illnesses: Multiple Chronic Illness Experience at Midlife
We examined the online illness narratives (blogs) of 10 men and women aged 36 to 59 to better understand the experience of living with multiple chronic illnesses at midlife. Multiple morbidity presents distinct challenges to those at midlife: (a) diagnosis and management of multiple illnesses, (b) need for information, (c) identity dilemmas and threats to self-image, and (d) stigma and social rejection. Relinquishing the work identity was especially difficult for participants because it threatened to foreshorten middle adulthood and push them prematurely into late adulthood. Participants used their blogs to revise their id...
Source: Qualitative Health Research - August 12, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Markle, G. L., Attell, B. K., Treiber, L. A. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Clinical Positioning Space: Residents' Clinical Experiences in the Outpatient Oncology Clinic
In this article, we present a case study of residents’ clinical experiences and communication in outpatient oncology consultations. We apply positioning theory, a dynamic alternative to role theory, to investigate how oncology residents and patients situate themselves as persons with rights and duties. Drawing from seven qualitative interviews and six days of observation, we investigate the residents’ social positioning and their conversations with patients or supervisors. Our focus is on how (a) relational shifts in authority depend on each situation and its participants; (b) storylines establish acts and posi...
Source: Qualitative Health Research - August 12, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Williams, L. H., Christensen, M. K., Rytter, C., Musaeus, P. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Redefining Risk and Benefit: Understanding the Decision to Undergo Contralateral Prophylactic Mastectomy
Rates of contralateral prophylactic mastectomy (CPM) among unilateral breast cancer patients are rapidly increasing; however, there are little data documenting the decision-making process of patients with no known BRCA mutations, who elect this more aggressive treatment. We conducted semistructured interviews with nine newly diagnosed patients who elected CPM over other surgical options. Using grounded theory, we analyzed interview data to identify influential decision-making factors by prevalence and intensity across participants. Decision-making factors included subjective evaluations of risk and benefit, avoidance of fu...
Source: Qualitative Health Research - August 12, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Rendle, K. A. S., Halley, M. C., May, S. G., Frosch, D. L. Tags: Articles Source Type: research
Exploring the Legacies of Filmed Patient Narratives: The Interpretation and Appropriation of Patient Films by Health Care Staff
We trace the legacies of filmed patient narratives that were edited and screened to encourage engagement with a participatory quality improvement project in an acute hospital setting in England. Using Gabriel’s theory of "narrative contract," we examine the initial success of the films in establishing common grounds for participatory project and later, and more varied, interpretations of the films. Over time, the films were interpreted by staff as either useful sources of learning by critical reflection, dubious (invalid or unreliable) representations of patient experience, or as "closed" items available as auditable...
Source: Qualitative Health Research - August 12, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Adams, M., Robert, G., Maben, J. Tags: Ethics Source Type: research
Experiences of Family Relationships Among Donor-Conceived Families: A Meta-Ethnography
In this qualitative evidence synthesis, we explore how family relationships are experienced by parents who used gamete donation to conceive. We systematically searched four databases (PubMed, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and ProQuest) for literature related to this topic and retrieved 25 studies. Through the analysis of the qualitative studies, a comprehensive synthesis and framework was constructed. Following the meta-ethnography approach of Noblit and Hare, four main themes were identified: (a) balancing the importance of genetic and social ties, (b) normalizing and legitimizing the family, (c) building strong family ties, ...
Source: Qualitative Health Research - August 12, 2015 Category: Global & Universal Authors: Wyverkens, E., Van Parys, H., Buysse, A. Tags: Article Source Type: research
