"I have HIV but I'm not the HIV" - the experiences of heterosexual Chinese men living with HIV in Singapore.

As HIV is widely acknowledged as a stigmatized chronic condition which impacts the self, it is important to study the experiences of people living with HIV in relation to their selves and identities. According to extant literature on HIV and identity, the incorporation of an HIV identity is essential to adapting to the diagnosis. However, most of the participants in this study reject HIV as an identity. Using qualitative in-depth interviews, this paper explores the experiences of twelve heterosexual Chinese men living with HIV in Singapore. This paper is anchored by identity concepts from identity theory to examine the impact of HIV on self and identities and how various identities are reworked in the face of a stigmatized chronic medical condition. Thematic analysis shows varying impact of HIV on self, the role of normative identities and the location of HIV in their lives. The findings shed light on the importance of normative identities and the manner in which participants locate HIV in their lives.

Why some children from poor families do well-an in-depth analysis of positive deviance cases in Singapore.

PURPOSE: Research documents that children from low-income families face higher risks in many areas of their development including academic performance. However, some children from low-income homes excel academically despite their disadvantaged environment. METHOD: Using Positive Deviance methodology (PD), audio-diary and interview data were collected from ten children who scored at least 70 percentile in school examinations in spite of their financial deprivation. RESULTS: This paper uncovers specific dimensions of agency in these children that stemmed from the relational contexts they had with their mothers. Combining the PD methodology and sensitizing lens from Social Relational Theory, this study provided evidence that PD children are connected agents within their family. It suggests that children's awareness of their family circumstances motivated them to work hard and enabled them to devise creative ways to manage their limited financial resources. CONCLUSIONS: The findings challenge dominant discourses on poor children as passive victims and suggest new ways for practitioners to examine the relationship contexts that support children's capacity as agents rather than focusing on individual traits.

Paternal involvement of Singaporean fathers within six months postpartum: A follow-up qualitative study.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to understand paternal involvement within the six-month postpartum period to identify the challenges and needs of Singaporean fathers. DESIGN: The study used a descriptive qualitative design. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: This research is a follow-up study of 50 first-time and experienced fathers who were originally interviewed in the early postpartum period. Fathers were recruited from a local public hospital in Singapore. MEASUREMENTS: Individual semi-structured interviews using an interview guide were conducted at six months postpartum with the fathers. The interview recordings were transcribed and analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Four major themes emerged from the analysis: (1) fathers' understanding of their involvement at six months postpartum, (2) challenges of paternal involvement, (3) impact on marital relationship, and (4) needs of fathers. The respondent fathers were determined to be motivated differently during this timepoint as compared to at one week postpartum, but hindrances from work commitments and the presence of support limited paternal involvement. Strained marital relationship and sexual needs surfaced in this study. One father reported to be at risk for depression. Co-parenting practices buffered against marital dissatisfaction. Moreover, the informational needs of fathers differed at one week and six months postpartum. KEY CONCLUSIONS: This follow-up study revealed that the concerns and needs of fathers continue to emerge in accordance with their infants' growth and needs in different postpartum periods. Necessary assistance in the form of long-term follow-ups and online educational resources may be dynamic in supporting the emerging needs of fathers. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Healthcare professionals should engage in interventions that are dynamic in suiting fathers' needs at different time points and cultural contexts.

Factors influencing paternal involvement during infancy: A prospective longitudinal study.

AIMS: To explore factors influencing paternal involvement at 6 months postpartum and to detail the trend of these factors over a period of 6 months. BACKGROUND: There is a dearth of studies on paternal involvement during infancy in the unique Asian context. DESIGN: A prospective four-time point longitudinal design was adopted. METHODS: A total of 201 participants were recruited from a local hospital from May 2016 - December 2017 using convenience sampling. Self-administered questionnaires were used for data collection. Data were statistically analysed. RESULTS: Parenting self-efficacy at 6-month postpartum, paternal involvement, and paternal postnatal depression on the day of wife's hospital discharge, wife in paid work and wife's antenatal class attendance significantly influenced paternal involvement at 6 months postpartum. A sub-analysis of first-time and experienced fathers revealed that parenting self-efficacy at 6-month postpartum, paternal involvement on the day of wife's hospital discharge and wife in paid work were significant factors influencing paternal involvement for first-time fathers. Significant factors influencing paternal involvement for experienced fathers were paternal involvement on the day of wife's hospital discharge and wife's antenatal class attendance. CONCLUSION: Fathers (first-time and experienced) who were involved during their infant's birth were also involved at 6-month postpartum. Healthcare professionals may encourage paternal involvement through teaching fathers infant care skills during the antenatal period, especially first-time fathers as they may be lacking in such skills, which may hinder their parenting satisfaction. Paternal involvement throughout the perinatal period can be enforced by healthcare professionals to promote paternal involvement.

Lived experiences of Asian fathers during the early postpartum period: Insights from qualitative inquiry.

OBJECTIVE: this study aims to understand fathers' expectations, needs, and experiences in infant care during the early postpartum period in Singapore. DESIGN: a descriptive qualitative study design was adopted. SETTING: the study was conducted in a tertiary public hospital in Singapore. PARTICIPANTS: fifty participants (first-time as well as experienced fathers) were recruited from postnatal wards of a public hospital. FINDINGS: thematic analysis was used to analyze the interviews data. Four main themes emerged from the analysis: (1) support system of fathers, (2) paternal involvement in childcare, (3) challenges of fatherhood, and (4) recommendations by fathers. KEY CONCLUSION: this study found that the postpartum period is a stressful period for both first-time and experienced fathers. Fathers desired to be involved but were hindered in many ways, such as maternal gatekeeping, work commitments, and a lack of infant care skills. Experienced fathers faced difficulty in assimilating older children with the newborn. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: fathers' needs to be involved in the infant and maternal care activities in the postpartum period. Necessary help from healthcare professionals and policymakers are needed for fathers to assimilate to fatherhood.

How HIV patients construct liveable identities in a shame based culture: the case of Singapore.

This article interrogates the mainstream healthcare narrative that frames human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) as a chronic disease, and triangulates it with the lived experiences of people with HIV in Singapore. It also examines how HIV patients reconstruct their identities after the diagnosis of HIV. Four HIV patients (two males and two females) were interviewed in depth by an experienced medical social worker. Findings revealed that even as the illness trajectory of HIV has shifted from a terminal condition to a chronic one, living with HIV continues to be fraught with difficulty as society, especially in the Asian context, perceives HIV with much fear and disapproval. The participants had an overwhelming sense of shame when they were initially diagnosed with HIV and they had to reconstruct a liveable identity by containing the shroud of shame, reinforcing their normative identities and constructing new ones. These strategies help them to keep their shame at bay. This paper also unpacks nuanced insights of shame experienced by Chinese HIV patients in an Asian city dominated by Confucian values.

Vulnerable families as active agents of their own change process: a bidirectional perspective.

The literature on successful practice with vulnerable families reports social workers' efforts in forging therapeutic bonds with clients, their ability to both recognize clients' strengths and pain and support them as they work through adversity. Vulnerable families' own contribu- tions to their change process, however, have remained largely opaque. This article offers concrete conceptual tools to consider both social workers and clients from vulnerable families as active agents in the change process. Empirical evidence collected by practitioner-researchers through in-depth discussions with 10 vulnerable families illustrates clients' agentic capacities for autonomy, construction, and action as well as joint construction and maintenance of the helping relationships with social workers, thereby illustrating their active contribution to the process of change.

Dynamics of ADHD in familial contexts: perspectives from children and parents and implications for practitioners.

This article provides in-depth insights on the bidirectional dynamics between parents and their children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Five family units (8 parents, 5 children, N = 13) participated in this study. Parents and their child with ADHD were interviewed individually in their homes. Stressful moments of parent-child dynamics revolved around managing their child's behavior and doing homework. Findings highlight the child's agency and power of influence, and the possible recovery of negative dynamics. It is recommended that practitioners adopt the strengths perspective in working with these families and incorporate child's agency and bidirectional dynamics in interventions.

Cross Sectional: bilateral parent-child interactions in school-age children's tooth-brushing behaviors.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to examine bilateral dynamics between parents and children in influencing children's tooth-brushing behaviors. METHODS: In-depth conversational interviews-a specific qualitative method-were conducted with 38 parents in urban Xiamen, China and Singapore to learn insights into parental strategies for encouraging tooth-brushing habits in 6- to 9-year-old children. The interviews also examined the range of responses from children toward these parental strategies. RESULTS: Children usually do not comply with these tooth-brushing instructions from parents without a process of negotiation. Children's responses ranged from active resistant to compliant. Parents in Xiamen tended to use softer strategies and were more prone to be emotionally and behaviorally influenced by children's effort to thwart these strategies. Conversely, Singapore parents tended to demonstrate greater tenacity in negotiating with children. CONCLUSIONS: The process of developing children's tooth-brushing habits is not a unilateral from-parent-to-children process. Instead, it should be conceptualized as an ongoing interaction with bilateral power of influence from both parties.