Roles and Dynamics within Community Mental Health Systems During the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Qualitative Systematic Review and Meta-Ethnography.

Globally, COVID-19 had an immense impact on mental health systems, but research on how community mental health (CMH) systems and services contributed to the pandemic mental health response is limited. We conducted a systematic review and meta-ethnography to understand the roles of CMH services, determinants of the quality of CMH care, and dynamics within CMH systems during COVID-19. We searched and screened across five databases and appraised study quality using the CASP tool, which yielded 27 qualitative studies. Our meta-ethnographic process used Noblit and Hare's approach for synthesizing findings and applying interpretive analysis to original research. This identified several key themes. Firstly, CMH systems played the valuable pandemic role of safety nets and networks for the broader mental health ecosystem, while CMH service providers offered a continuous relationship of trust to service users amidst pandemic disruptions. Secondly, we found that the determinants of quality CMH care during COVID-19 included resourcing and capacity, connections across service providers, customized care options, ease of access, and human connection. Finally, we observed that power dynamics across the CMH landscape disproportionately excluded marginalized groups from mainstream CMH systems and services. Our findings suggest that while the pandemic role of CMH was clear, effectiveness was driven by the efforts of individual service providers to meet demand and service users' needs. To reprise its pandemic role in the future, a concerted effort is needed to make CMH systems a valuable part of countries' disaster mental health response and to invest in quality care, particularly for marginalized groups.

What is quality in long covid care? Lessons from a national quality improvement collaborative and multi-site ethnography.

BACKGROUND: Long covid (post covid-19 condition) is a complex condition with diverse manifestations, uncertain prognosis and wide variation in current approaches to management. There have been calls for formal quality standards to reduce a so-called "postcode lottery" of care. The original aim of this study-to examine the nature of quality in long covid care and reduce unwarranted variation in services-evolved to focus on examining the reasons why standardizing care was so challenging in this condition. METHODS: In 2021-2023, we ran a quality improvement collaborative across 10 UK sites. The dataset reported here was mostly but not entirely qualitative. It included data on the origins and current context of each clinic, interviews with staff and patients, and ethnographic observations at 13 clinics (50 consultations) and 45 multidisciplinary team (MDT) meetings (244 patient cases). Data collection and analysis were informed by relevant lenses from clinical care (e.g. evidence-based guidelines), improvement science (e.g. quality improvement cycles) and philosophy of knowledge. RESULTS: Participating clinics made progress towards standardizing assessment and management in some topics; some variation remained but this could usually be explained. Clinics had different histories and path dependencies, occupied a different place in their healthcare ecosystem and served a varied caseload including a high proportion of patients with comorbidities. A key mechanism for achieving high-quality long covid care was when local MDTs deliberated on unusual, complex or challenging cases for which evidence-based guidelines provided no easy answers. In such cases, collective learning occurred through idiographic (case-based) reasoning, in which practitioners build lessons from the particular to the general. This contrasts with the nomothetic reasoning implicit in evidence-based guidelines, in which reasoning is assumed to go from the general (e.g. findings of clinical trials) to the particular (management of individual patients). CONCLUSION: Not all variation in long covid services is unwarranted. Largely because long covid's manifestations are so varied and comorbidities common, generic "evidence-based" standards require much individual adaptation. In this complex condition, quality improvement resources may be productively spent supporting MDTs to optimise their case-based learning through interdisciplinary discussion. Quality assessment of a long covid service should include review of a sample of individual cases to assess how guidelines have been interpreted and personalized to meet patients' unique needs. STUDY REGISTRATION: NCT05057260, ISRCTN15022307.

'The night is for sleeping': how nurses care for conflicting temporal orders in older person care.

This paper examines the conflicting temporal orders of the regional nurse, a role which has been introduced to deal with the increasing demands of aged care and workforce shortages in regional settings. We build on ethnographic research in the Netherlands, in which we examine regional district nurses as a new professional role that attends to (sub)acute care needs, connecting and coordinating different places of care during out of office hours. We use the concept of 'temporal regional order' to reflect on the different ways caring practices are temporally structured by management and care practitioners, in close interaction with patients and informal care givers. In the results three types of disruptions of the regional temporal order are distinguished: interfering bodily rhythms and needs; (un)expected workings of technologies; and disrupting acts of patient and relatives. It was region nurses' prime responsibility to stabilise these interferences and prevent or soften a disruption of the regional order. In accomplishing this, we show how nurses craft their professional role in between various care settings, without getting involved too much in patient care, to be mobile as 'temporal caregivers'.

Children's cognition and attitudes during long-term cancer treatment: an ethnographic study.

BACKGROUND: Cancer treatment for children is typically long-term and difficult, and the experience is unique for each child. When designing child-centred care, individuals' values and preferences are considered equally important as the clinical evidence; therefore, understanding children's thoughts and attitudes while they receive long-term treatment could offer valuable insights for better clinical practice. METHODS: We conducted long-term consecutive participatory observations and interviews with seven children, who were hospitalised and receiving cancer treatment for the first time. The daily observational data on those children's discourses, behaviours and interactions with health professionals were systematically collected and thematically examined. The analysis was expanded to explore significant narratives for each child to capture their narrative sequence over time. RESULTS: The initial analysis identified 685 narrative indexes for all observation data, which were categorised into 21 sub-codes. Those sub-codes were assembled into five main themes by thematic analysis: making promises with health professionals, learning about the treatment procedures through participation, taking care of oneself, increasing the range of activities one can perform and living an ordinary life. CONCLUSION: We observed a forward-looking attitude toward understanding cancer, accepting treatment and looking forward to the future among children undergoing in-hospital cancer treatment. In addition, the children developed cognitively, affectively and relationally throughout cancer treatment processes. These findings have implications for better clinical practice in child-centred care, including children's participation in shared decision-making in paediatric oncology.

The overcoming of the monogamous family is through the community! Non-monogamous parenting of sex-gender-diverse people. / A superação à família monogâmica é pela coletividade! Parentalidades não-monogâmicas de pessoas sexo-gênero-diversas.

Sex-gender-diverse and non-monogamous strain cisnormativity and mononormativity. In scientific terms, the parenting arrangements of these people are uncertain. Thus, this ethnography aims to understand the perception of non-monogamous sex-gender-diverse people about parenting. The theoretical framework adopted is derived from non-monogamous studies, love and sexuality from the Social and Human Sciences in Public Health and the digital ethnography methodological framework. Fieldwork occurred from 2021 to 2022 through an online WhatsApp group. Participant observation was employed in the group, and semi-structured online interviews were held. Two categories emerged: a) The non-monogamous parenting nodes and b) Collective parenting. In the first, the importance of bonds in affective networks is explored, and the barriers to these family arrangements are exposed. The second describes the importance of living in a community, and Indigenous and Black ancestry is revived. The revived ancestry and ways of living in a community gain importance as we understand their relevance in the experience of parenting for sex-gender-diverse people who are non-monogamous.

Pessoas sexo-gênero-diversas e que são não-monogâmicas tensionam a cisnormatividade e a mononormatividade. Em termos científicos, há uma nebulosidade quanto aos arranjos parenterais dessas pessoas. Assim, esta etnografia objetiva compreender a percepção de pessoas sexo-gênero-diversas não-monogâmicas sobre parentalidades. O referencial teórico utilizado partiu dos estudos não-monogâmicos, amor e sexualidade das Ciências Sociais e Humanas em Saúde da Saúde Coletiva, e o metodológico da etnografia digital. O trabalho de campo ocorreu entre 2021 e 2022, em um grupo on-line do WhatsApp. A observação participante foi empregada no grupo e foram realizadas entrevistas on-line semiestruturadas. Emergiram duas categorias: a) Os nós das parentalidades não-monogâmicas e b) As parentalidades coletivas. Na primeira, se explora a importância do vínculo nas redes afetivas e expõe as barreiras desses arranjos familiares. Já na segunda, se descreve a importância do viver em comunidade, bem como o resgate à ancestralidade indígena e negra. O resgate à ancestralidade e às formas de se viver em comunidade ganham relevo à medida que se compreende a importância que estes possuem na vivência das parentalidades de pessoas sexo-gênero-diversas e que são não-monogâmicas.

Creencias sobre prácticas de alimentación y obesidad de madres con hijos menores de 5 años del noroeste de México / Crenças sobre práticas de alimentação e obesidade entre mães com filhos menores de 5 anos de idade no noroeste do México / Beliefs about feeding practices and obesity among mothers with children under 5 years of age in northwestern Mexico

Introducción: Existe una tendencia mundial de incrementoen los índices de sobrepeso y obesidad en niños menoresde 5 años. Las creencias, percepciones y actitudes de lasmadres hacia las prácticas de alimentación y la obesidadtienen implicaciones directas sobre la salud del hijo.Objetivo: Explorar creencias sobre prácticas de alimentacióny obesidad infantil entre madres con hijos menores de cincoaños del noroeste de México.Metodología: Estudio cualitativo de aproximación etnográfica.Mediante un muestreo propositivo se realizaron nueve entrevistassemiestructuradas a mujeres que contaban con un promediode 12 años de educación.Resultados: Las creencias incluyeron inseguridad para asumirel rol de madre, una baja percepción de apoyo familiar ycreencias que no se alineaban con las recomendaciones dela lactancia materna exclusiva e introducción de alimentoscomplementarios. Además, estas tenían la creencia de que laobesidad no es un problema debido a la corta edad de sus hijos.Conclusiones: Existe una ambivalencia entre las creencias delas participantes y sus prácticas con relación a la alimentacióny la obesidad infantil. Es imperativo desarrollar estrategiasde educación y comunicación que proporcionen informaciónbasada en evidencia, de fácil acceso y disponible para madrescon la intención de prevenir problemas de nutrición durantela primera infancia.(AU)

Introduction: There is a worldwide trend of increasingrates of overweight and obesity in children under5 years of age. Mothers' beliefs, perceptions, andattitudes towards feeding practices and obesity havedirect implications on their children's health.Aim: To explore beliefs about feeding practices andchildhood obesity among mothers with children underfive years of age in northwestern Mexico.Methodology: Qualitative study with ethnographicapproach. Using purposive sampling, nine semi-structured interviews were conducted with womenwith an average of 12 years of education.Results: Beliefs included insecurity in assuming therole of mother, a low perception of family support, andbeliefs that were not aligned with the recommendations ofexclusive breastfeeding and introduction of complementary foods. In addition, these held the belief that obesity isnot a problem due to the young age of their children.Conclusions: There is ambivalence between theparticipants' beliefs and their practices regarding feedingand childhood obesity. It is imperative to developeducation and communication strategies that provideevidence-based information that is easily accessibleand available to mothers to prevent nutrition problemsduring early childhood.(AU)

Introdução: Há uma tendência mundial de aumentodas taxas de sobrepeso e obesidade em crianças commenos de 5 anos de idade. As crenças, percepções eatitudes das mães com relação às práticas alimentares eà obesidade têm implicações diretas na saúde infantil.Objetivo: explorar as crenças sobre práticas de alimentaçãoe obesidade infantil entre mães de crianças com menosde cinco anos de idade no noroeste do México.Metodologia: estudo qualitativo com uma abordagemetnográfica. Usando amostragem intencional, foramrealizadas nove entrevistas semiestruturadas commulheres com uma média de 12 anos de escolaridade.Resultados: As crenças incluíam insegurança em assumiro papel de mãe, baixa percepção de apoio familiar ecrenças que não se alinhavam com as recomendaçõesde amamentação exclusiva e introdução de alimentoscomplementares. Além disso, elas acreditavam quea obesidade não era um problema devido à poucaidade de seus filhos.Conclusões: Há uma ambivalência entre as crenças epráticas dos participantes com relação à alimentaçãoe à obesidade infantil. É imperativo desenvolverestratégias de educação e comunicação que forneçaminformações baseadas em evidências, facilmenteacessíveis e disponíveis para as mães, a fim de evitarproblemas de nutrição na primeira infância.(AU)

Cambio cultural en cuidadores indígenas. Bases etnográficas para la enfermería transcultural / Mudança cultural nos cuidadores indígenas. Bases etnográficas para enfermagem transcultural / Cultural change in the indigenous caregivers. Ethnographical bases for transcultural nursing

Este estudio tiene como objetivo comprender las prácticas delos cuidadores indígenas en contexto de cambio cultural. Partede la idea de la necesidad de construir bases etnográficas quesirvan de insumos para la implementación de los enfoquesde salud intercultural y enfermería transcultural, así comoparte de la evidencia que facilite las prácticas de salud, a partirde descripciones competentes que ayuden a comprender ladiversidad cultural de las poblaciones humanas. El abordajemetodológico se realizó desde la investigación cualitativa,con enfoque etnográfico, combinando revisión documental yentrevistas semiestructuradas a 44 personas. Se identificaroncódigos, agrupados en subcategorías y categorías. Se encontraronvarios tipos de cuidadores, de los cuales, se consideraronrelevantes el médico tradicional y la partera. Sus prácticasse basan en saberes de la dimensión material y espiritual,entre las que se destaca el uso de plantas medicinales,rezo, interpretación de los sueños y ceremonias colectivas.Además, su labor depende del reconocimiento social, estatusdel cuidador y rol en la organización social. Los modelosinterculturales deben tener en cuenta a los cuidadores, enel marco de estrategias basadas en el diálogo de saberes yla participación.(AU)

The objective of this study is to understand the practices ofindigenous caregivers in the context of cultural change. Partof the idea of the need to build ethnographic bases that serve as inputs for the implementation of cross-cultural healthand cross-cultural nursing approaches, as well as part of theevidence that facilitates health practices, based on competentdescriptions that help to understand the cultural diversityof human populations. The methodological approach wascarried out from qualitative research, with an ethnographicapproach, combining documentary review and semi-structuredinterviews with 44 people. Codes were identified, grouped intosubcategories and categories. Several types of caregivers werefound, of which the traditional doctor and the midwife wereconsidered relevant. Their practices are based on knowledgeof the material and spiritual dimension, among which theuse of medicinal plants, prayer, dream interpretation andcollective ceremonies is highlighted. In addition, their workdepends on social recognition, caregiver status and rolein social organization. Intercultural models must considercaregivers, within the framework of strategies based on thedialogue of knowledge and participation.(AU)

Este estudo tem como objetivo compreender as práticas decuidadores indígenas no contexto de mudança cultural. Parteda ideia da necessidade de construir bases etnográficas quesirvam de subsídios para a implementação de abordagensinterculturais de saúde e enfermagem transcultural, bemcomo parte das evidências que facilitem as práticas desaúde, a partir de descrições competentes que ajudem acompreender a diversidade cultural das populações humanas.A abordagem metodológica foi realizada a partir de pesquisaqualitativa, com abordagem etnográfica, combinando revisãodocumental e entrevistas semiestruturadas com 44 pessoas.Os códigos foram identificados, agrupados em subcategoriase categorias. Foram encontrados vários tipos de cuidadores,dos quais o médico tradicional e a parteira foram consideradosrelevantes. Suas práticas são baseadas no conhecimento dadimensão material e espiritual, entre as quais se destacam ouso de plantas medicinais, oração, interpretação de sonhose cerimônias coletivas. Além disso, seu trabalho dependede reconhecimento social, status do cuidador e papel naorganização social. Os modelos interculturais devem levarem consideração os cuidadores, no marco de estratégiasbaseadas no diálogo de conhecimento e participação.(AU)

Significados y prácticas de salud como ausencia de enfermedad en universitarios / Significados e práticas de saúde como ausência de adoecimento em universitários / Meanings and practices of health as absenceof disease in university students

Introducción: Los jóvenes universitarios están expuestos acambios y transiciones que marcarán su salud en la adultez.Sus decisiones se traducen en comportamientos que puedenser saludables o no, y dependen del significado de saludque se construye de conocimientos adquiridos, tradicioneso costumbres culturales.Objetivo: Comprender la influencia que tiene la culturauniversitaria en la construcción del significado y prácticasde salud en estudiantes de pregrado de una sede, en unauniversidad privada en Colombia.Metodología: Estudio cualitativo, tipo etnografía. Participaron15 estudiantes, 11 profesores y profesionales de BienestarUniversitario. Se aplicó una entrevista semiestructuradavirtual, se procesaron los datos, y se sometieron a auditoría.Resultados: El significado de salud responde a una perspectivaindividual y biopsicosocial; existe una fuerte influencia delentorno cercano y universitario en la significación y lasprácticas de salud. Los hallazgos tienen similitud con otrosestudios del ámbito internacional.Conclusiones: Se logró comprender la alta importanciaque se da a la salud, entendiéndola principalmente comoausencia de enfermedad, reflejada en creencias, valores yprácticas. Se proponen unos retos, necesarios enfrentar, parahacer a las universidades promotoras del concepto amplioy renovado de la salud.(AU)

Introduction: Young university students are exposedto changes and transitions that will influence theirhealth in adulthood. Their decisions translate intobehaviors that may or may not be healthy and aredependent on their meaning of health that is built uponacquired knowledge, traditions, or cultural customs.The objective of this study is to understand howuniversity cul-ture influences undergraduate studentsin establishing health practices and the meaning ofhealth at a private university in Colombia.Methodology: In this ethnographic, qualitative study, 15students, 11 professors, and UW (University Wellfare)professionals were included. A virtual semi-structuredinterview was used and data were coded and audited.Results: The results show the meaning of health dependson individual and biopsychosocial perspectives; thereis a strong influence of the immediate environment,such as family and university on the meaning andpractices of health. The findings are similar to otherinternational studies.Conclusions: It was possible to understand the highimportance given to health, which is mainly under-stood as the absence of disease, reflected in beliefs,values and practices. Some necessary challenges areproposed to be faced to make universities promotersof the broad and renewed concept of health.(AU)

Introdução: Jovens universitários estão expostos amudanças e transições que influenciarão sua saúdena vida adulta. Suas decisões se traduzem emcomportamentos que podem ou não ser saudáveise dependem de seu significado de saúde construídoa partir de conhecimentos adquiridos, tradições oucostumes culturais.Objetivo: O objetivo deste estudo é compreender comoa cultura universitária influencia os estudantes degraduação no estabelecimento de práticas de saúde eo significado de saúde em uma universidade privadana Colômbia.Metodologia: Neste estudo etnográfico, qualitativo,foram incluídos 15 alunos, 11 professores e profissionaisda UW (University Wellfare). Foi utilizada umaentrevista virtual semiestruturada e os dados foramcodificados e auditados.Resultados: Os resultados mostram que o significadode saúde depende de perspectivas individuais ebiopsicossociais; há forte influência do ambienteimediato e universitário no significado e nas práticasde saúde. Os resultados são semelhantes a outrosestudos internacionais.Conclusões: Foi possível compreender a elevadaimportância dada à saúde, entendendo-a principalmentecomo ausência de doença, refletida em crenças, valorese práticas. Propõem-se alguns desafios necessáriosa serem enfrentados para tornar as universidadespromotoras do conceito amplo e renovado de saúde.(AU)

Navigating Confidentiality Dilemmas in Student Support: An Institutional Ethnography Informed Study.

Introduction: School-level student support programmes provide students with pastoral care and support for academic, wellbeing and other issues often via a personal tutor (PT). PT work is a balancing act between respecting the confidential information divulged by students and doing what is expected in terms of accountability and duty of care. We aimed to explore how tutors manage this tension, with the aim of advancing understanding of student support programmes. Methods: This qualitative study was informed by an Institutional Ethnography approach. We conducted 11 semi-structured interviews with PTs from one medical school in Singapore. We considered how they worked in relation to relevant national and institutional-level policy documents and reporting guidelines. Data collection and analysis were iterative. Results: We crafted two composite accounts to illustrate the dilemmas faced by PTs. The first depicts a PT who supports student confidentiality in the same way as doctor-patient confidentiality. The second account is a PT who adopted a more mentoring approach. Both tutors faced confidentiality challenges, using different strategies to "work around" and balance tensions between accountability and maintaining trust. PTs were torn between school and student expectations. Discussion: Fostering trust in the tutor-student relationship is a priority for tutors but tensions between confidentiality, accountability and governance sometimes make it difficult for tutors to reconcile with doing what they think is best for the student. A more nuanced understanding of the concept of confidentiality may help support PTs and ultimately students.

Older adults experience of transition to the community from the emergency department: a qualitative evidence synthesis.

AIM: Older adults comprise a growing proportion of Emergency Department (ED) attendees and are vulnerable to adverse outcomes following an ED visit including ED reattendance within 30 days. Interventions to reduce older adults' risk of adverse outcomes following an ED attendance are proliferating and often focus on improving the transition from the ED to the community. To optimise the effectiveness of interventions it is important to determine how older adults experience the transition from the ED to the community. This study aims to systematically review and synthesise qualitative studies reporting older adults' experiences of transition to the community from the ED. METHODS: Six databases (Academic Search Complete, CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycARTICLES, PsycINFO, and Social Science Full Text) were searched in March 2022 and 2023. A seven-step approach to meta-ethnography, as described by Noblit and Hare, was used to synthesise findings across included studies. The methodological quality of the included studies was appraised using the 10-item Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) checklist for qualitative research. A study protocol was registered on PROSPERO (Registration: CRD42022287990). FINDINGS: Ten studies were included, and synthesis led to the development of five themes. Unresolved symptoms reported by older adults on discharge impact their ability to manage at home (theme 1). Limited community services and unresolved symptoms drive early ED reattendance for some older adults (theme 2). Although older adults value practical support and assistance transporting home from the ED this is infrequently provided (theme 3). Accessible health information and interactions are important for understanding and self-managing health conditions on discharge from the ED (theme 4). Fragmented Care between ED and community is common, stressful and impacts on older adult's ability to manage health conditions (theme 5). A line of argument synthesis integrated these themes into one overarching concept; after an ED visit older adults often struggle to manage changed, complex, health and care needs at home, in the absence of comprehensive support and guidance. DISCUSSION/ CONCLUSION: Key areas for consideration in future service and intervention development are identified in this study; ED healthcare providers should adapt their communication to the needs of older adults, provide accessible information and explicitly address expectations about symptom resolution during discharge planning. Concurrently, community health services need to be responsive to older adults' changed health and care needs after an ED visit to achieve care integration. Those developing transitional care interventions should consider older adults needs for integration of care, symptom management, clear communication and information from providers and desire to return to daily life.

Tensions experienced by case managers working in home care for older adults in Quebec: first level analysis of an institutional ethnography.

BACKGROUND: Case managers play a vital role in integrating the necessary services to optimise health-related goals and outcomes. Studies suggest that in home care, case managers encounter tensions in their day-to-day work, that is, disjuncture between what they should do, in theory, and what they actually do, in practice. However, direct exploration of these tensions is lacking. As such, this study aimed to describe the tensions encountered by case managers in public home care for older adults in Quebec and their influence on day-to-day work. METHODS: An institutional ethnography was conducted through observations of work, interviews and a survey with case managers working in home care in Quebec. Data were analysed using institutional ethnography first-level analysis procedures. This included mapping the work sequences as well as identifying the tensions experienced by case managers through the words they used. RESULTS: Three main tensions were identified. First, case managers perceive that, despite working to return hospitalised older adults at home safely, their work also aims to help free up hospital beds. Thus, they often find themselves needing to respond quickly to hospital-related inquiries or expedite requests for home care services. Second, they are supposed to delegate the care to "partners" (e.g., private organisations). However, they feel that they are in effect managing the quality of the services provided by the "partners." Consequently, they go to great lengths to ensure that good care will be provided. Finally, they must choose between meeting organisational requirements (e.g., reporting statistics about the work, documenting information in the older adults' file, doing mandatory assessments) and spending time providing direct care. This often leads to prioritising direct care provision over administrative tasks, resulting in minimal reporting of essential information. CONCLUSION: The results are discussed using the three lenses of professional practice context analyses (i.e., accountability, ethics, and professional-as-worker) to formulate recommendations for practice and research. They suggest that, despite their important role, case managers have limited power in home care (e.g., with partners, with the hospital).

Extra/ordinary medicine: Toward an anthropology of primary care.

Primary care is at the forefront of healthcare delivery. It is the site of disease prevention and health management and serves as the bridge between communities and the health care system As ethnographers of primary care, in this article we discuss what is gained by situating anthropological inquiry within primary care. We articulate how anthropologists can contribute to a better understanding of the issues that emerge in primary care. We provide a review of anthropological work in primary care and offer empirical data from two ethnographic case studies based in the United States, one focused on social risk screening in primary care and the other examining the diagnosis and care of people with dementia in primary care. Through these cases, we demonstrate how research of and within primary care can open important avenues for the study of the multidimensionality of primary care. This multidimensionality is apparent in the ways the medical field addresses the social and structural experiences of patients, scope of practice and disciplinary boundaries, and the intersection of ordinary and extraordinary medicine that emerge in the care of patients in primary care.

What are the key influences and challenges around weight management faced by patients in UK adult secure mental health settings? A focused ethnographic approach.

OBJECTIVES: Excess weight is highly prevalent in secure (forensic) mental health services and impacts negatively on patients' physical and mental health. This study sought to identify the key influences and challenges around weight management in UK adult secure mental health settings. DESIGN: Qualitative focused ethnography. Analysis of written fieldnotes was undertaken through a combined inductive and deductive approach, informed by thematic analysis. SETTING: Low secure male mental health ward and associated patient activities and events, in a National Health Service Trust delivering mental health, intellectual disability and neurorehabilitation services in the UK. PARTICIPANTS: 12 males (primarily white British) on the low secure ward; additional male participants from low and medium secure services, who took part in group events and activities; and multidisciplinary low and medium secure services staff. Approximately 23 hours of observation were undertaken over a 6-month period from April 2022. RESULTS: Secure mental healthcare delivered an environment predisposing patients to excessive weight gain and sedentary behaviour, which was often perceived as inevitable. Key themes highlighted the heightened salience of food in secure settings; inadequacy of catered hospital food and shortcomings of alternative food options; limited physical activity opportunities; and a ward culture that was not conducive to healthy behaviours. Perceptions and behaviour towards the ethnographer were primarily positive and accepting. CONCLUSIONS: Weight management in secure services is a complex challenge. In future, whole setting-based interventions to promote healthy weight are likely to be required. These should integrate physical and mental health, incorporate underpinning determinants such as adequate staffing and a culture promoting weight management, and involve both patients and staff.

Why is hospital discharge so difficult? Reconsidering patient trajectories in theory and practice: Insights from an ethnographic study of transitions in hip fracture care.

This paper combines translational mobilisation theory and assemblage thinking to elaborate the patient trajectory concept. Deploying ethnographic research on transitions in hip fracture care in Wales (2014-2016), it describes and explains the structures and logics that condition transition interfaces, how transition infrastructures enact patients and with what effects. Comparative analysis of transition in three distinctive assemblages offers new insights into the challenges of hospital discharge and opportunities for research and improvement.

Crafting Ethnographic Relationships During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Germany Using Voice-Based Technologies.

Drawing on a two-year ethnography of care practices during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany, we discuss the affordances of voice-based technologies (smartphones, basic mobile phones, and landline telephones) in collecting ethnographic data and crafting relationships with participants. We illustrate how such technologies allowed us to move with participants, eased data collection through the social expectations around their use, and reoriented our attention to the multiple qualities of sound. Adapting research on the performativity of technology, we argue that voice-based technologies integrated us into participants' everyday lives while also maintaining physical distance in times of infectious sociality.

Learning to teach with patients and caregivers: a focused ethnography.

BACKGROUND: Little is known about what happens when patients and caregivers are involved in an academic setting as co-teachers and how healthcare professionals approach a new model of partnership-based teaching. This study aimed to explore the learning and behavioural patterns of a group of healthcare professionals who were learning to teach with patients and caregivers as co-teachers in a post-graduate course. METHODS: A focused ethnographic study involving 11 health professionals was conducted. Data were collected through participatory observation during the course, individual semi-structured interviews, and a follow-up focus group. Taxonomic analysis was performed. RESULTS: Three categories were identified: 'group', 'role of narration' and 'applying co-teaching with patients and caregivers '. Specifically, heterogeneity, absence of hierarchies, and balanced relationships characterised the group dynamic and promoted partnership. Narration played a key role both in learning and in healthcare professionals' relationship with patients and caregivers and promoted emotional skills and self-awareness. Project planning and lessons simulations were essential aspects of the implementation process. CONCLUSIONS: This focused ethnography helped further understanding of the context of a specific project involving patients and caregivers as co-teachers in healthcare professional education. The development of emotional skills and self-awareness are the main learning patterns of co-teaching, and interprofessionalism and balanced relationships are the basis of the behavioural patterns. These patterns facilitated the involvement of patients and caregivers in health education.

Fluid professional boundaries: ethnographic observations of co-located chiropractors, osteopaths and physiotherapists.

BACKGROUND: Chiropractors, osteopaths and physiotherapists (COPs) can assess and manage musculoskeletal conditions with similar manual or physical therapy techniques. This overlap in scope of practice raises questions about the boundaries between the three professions. Clinical settings where they are co-located are one of several possible influences on professional boundaries and may provide insight into the nature of these boundaries and how they are managed by clinicians themselves. OBJECTIVES: To understand the nature of professional boundaries between COPs within a co-located clinical environment and describe the ways in which professional boundaries may be reinforced, weakened, or navigated in this environment. METHODS: Drawing from an interpretivist paradigm, we used ethnographic observations to observe interactions between 15 COPs across two clinics. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis principles. RESULTS: We identified various physical and non-physical 'boundary objects' that influenced the nature of the professional boundaries between the COPs that participated in the study. These boundary objects overall seemed to increase the fluidity of the professional boundaries, at times simultaneously reinforcing and weakening them. The boundary objects were categorised into three themes: physical, including the clinic's floor plan, large and small objects; social, including identities and discourse; and organisational, including appointment durations and fees, remuneration policies and insurance benefits. CONCLUSIONS: Physical, social, organisational related factors made the nature of professional boundaries between COPs in these settings fluid; meaning that they were largely not rigid or fixed but rather flexible, responsive and subject to change. These findings may challenge patients, clinicians and administrators to appreciate that traditional beliefs of distinct boundaries between COPs may not be so in co-located clinical environments. Both clinical practice and future research on professional boundaries between COPs may need to further consider some of these broader factors.

Wider institutional research cultures and their influence on patient and public involvement and engagement in health research - An institutional ethnography.

Focus on patient and public involvement and engagement (PPIE) is increasing in health policy and research governance. PPIE is considered by some to be a democratic right, and by others to be a way to improve health care and research outcomes and implementation. Most recently, policy makers, funders and (clinical) research institutions are making PPIE a strategic requirement for health research urging researchers to invite patients and relatives into their research activities. Our study is based in a Danish university hospital where PPIE has been introduced as one of five strategic research goals. We investigated how researchers experienced this new practice and how their research practices connect to the wider context of the Danish health care system. Ten cases were studied during a year using observations, interviews, and document analysis. As our method of inquiry, we used institutional ethnography to look at researchers' work from their perspective and to understand how PPIE practices are part of a larger institutional research culture reaching far beyond the individual. We found that current research culture has implications for the selection of patients and relatives and for what they are asked to do. Researchers who experienced that PPIE outcomes aided their existing research practices felt motivated. Researchers who engaged patients and relatives before it was a strategy, were ideologically driven and their approaches resulted in an increased diversity of inclusion and researcher assimilation. These findings add to the current knowledge on PPIE practices and help us understand that further development towards collaborative research practices require a change in key performance indicators and training and perhaps call for attention to our shared acceptance of knowledge generation in research.

[Suicide and medical practices: Assessing the way of life among Colombian coffee-growing rural men in mental health care]. / Suicidio y prácticas médicas: la valoración del modo de vida de hombres campesinos caficultores colombianos en la atención de la salud mental.

The aim was to understand the way of life and self-care practices in mental health among adult male farmers living in a municipality in the Risaralda department, located in the coffee axis of Colombia, marked by a high incidence of suicides. An ethnographic study was conducted between March and December 2021, employing a combination of methods including interviews, participant observation, document review, and field diaries. Economic and social aspects undergoing transformations were identified, impacting gender roles, family dynamics, and caregiving possibilities for these men. By observing how men discuss their suffering and the resources available to address it, it can be concluded that mental health practices function more as self-care resources, while health services often provide symptom-based care, neglecting attentive listening. These findings are valuable for shaping services and life care strategies that align with the conditions of rural men in Colombia.

El objetivo fue conocer el modo de vida y las prácticas de autocuidado en salud mental de los hombres adultos campesinos, que viven en un municipio del departamento de Risaralda en el eje cafetero de Colombia con alta incidencia de suicidios. Entre marzo y diciembre de 2021, se realizó un estudio etnográfico, haciendo uso de una combinación de métodos: entrevistas, observación participante, revisión documental y diario de campo. Se identificaron aspectos económicos y sociales cuyas transformaciones han afectado los roles de género, las dinámicas familiares y las posibilidades de cuidado para los hombres. Al observar cómo los hombres hablan de su sufrimiento y de los recursos con que cuentan para atenderlo, puede concluirse que las prácticas de salud mental se encuentran más bien como recursos de autoatención y los servicios de salud ofrecen atención basada en síntomas del cuerpo, de modo que abandonan la escucha. Estos hallazgos son útiles para pensar servicios y estrategias de cuidado de la vida que se adapten a las condiciones de hombres campesinos en Colombia.