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Papers by Luigina Mortari

Research paper thumbnail of ‘Living’ ethical dilemmas for researchers when researching with children

International Journal of Early Years Education, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of The voice of children on their experience of wellbeing

At the end of the 60s, serious attempts were made to develop major research about people's ha... more At the end of the 60s, serious attempts were made to develop major research about people's happiness or satisfaction with life. A significant difference emerged from these studies between an "objective" and a "subjective" well-being (Campbell et al., 1976; Bertolini, 1984; Ben-Arieh and Frones 2007): material conditions may not indicate anything about people's real worries and needs; what is important

Research paper thumbnail of The inclusion of students with dyslexia in higher education: a systematic review using narrative synthesis

Dyslexia (Chichester, England), 2014

This article reports on a study focusing on the inclusion of students with dyslexia in higher edu... more This article reports on a study focusing on the inclusion of students with dyslexia in higher education (HE). A systematic review was carried out to retrieve, critically appraise and synthesize the available evidence on how the inclusion of students with dyslexia can be fostered in HE. The 15 studies included in the final synthesis employed descriptive designs and overwhelmingly used qualitative methods to explore dyslexic students' perceptions on the impact of teaching, support and accommodation in their own learning experience. A critical appraisal of these studies revealed a landscape of significant gaps in the available stock of evidence on the inclusion of students with dyslexia in HE. The synthesis of the available evidence is presented in a narrative of five cross-study thematic areas: student coping strategies, being identified as dyslexic, interaction with academic staff, accessibility and accommodations, and using assistive technologies and information and communicatio...

Research paper thumbnail of Self-assessment of nursing competencies ��� validation of the Finnish NCS instrument with Italian nurses

Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 2009

Self-assessment of nursing competencies -validation of the Finnish NCS instrument with Italian nu... more Self-assessment of nursing competencies -validation of the Finnish NCS instrument with Italian nurses Aim: Research focusing on competence assessment of practicing nurses has recently increased. However, few generic instruments are available for this purpose. This study reports cultural validation of the Italian version of the Nurse Competence Scale (NCS, English version) by exploring nurses' perceptions of the use of the NCS instrument. Methods: Content validity of the Italian version of the NCS was assessed during the translation and backtranslation process. Thereafter, cultural validity was further explored by conducting self-assessments and semi-structured interviews with 10 nurses, who practise medicine, cardiology and intensive care wards. First, the Italian version of the 73-item NCS was used to assess nurses' competence levels and the frequency of using competencies in practice settings. Second, semi-structured interviews were conducted to evaluate nurses' perceptions of the use of the instrument. Results: The advanced beginners obtained a high overall competence level and the experienced nurses a very high overall competence level. These results are similar with the earlier findings of nurse competence levels with the NCS. The overall frequency of using NCS competencies in clinical practice indicated good cultural validity of the instrument. The instrument was considered easy to understand and to complete, and the Italian version was considered to express the domain of nursing. However, a need to make semantic specifications for some items for the Italian version was pointed out. Conclusions: This explorative pilot study reports a first phase cultural validation process. Carefully performed translation alone does not ensure validity of translated instrument. Interview method is recommended to deepen the understanding of concept in question and the content validity of the instrument. The results support previous research findings of the use of the NCS instrument and show that it could be very useful in competence assessment for Italian nurses.

Research paper thumbnail of Visible and invisible caring in nursing from the perspectives of patients and nurses in the gerontological context

Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 2013

Just as in many countries all over the world, the number of older people in Italy has increased r... more Just as in many countries all over the world, the number of older people in Italy has increased rapidly. Consequently, an increasing number of nurses are engaged in the care of older patients. However, due to a lack of understanding of how nurses and patients perceive caring, nursing care may be compromised. The aim of this study is to explore, describe and compare the perceptions of gerontological nurses and patients related to the dimensions of caring in nursing in an Italian hospital setting. In this qualitative descriptive study, a variety of analytic techniques were used to analyse semi-structured interview data from a purposeful sample of 20 nurses and 20 patients from geriatric units in two different Italian hospitals. Although both nurses and patients gave rich descriptions of caring experiences, patients described features of caring in nursing that were visible (including nurses' caring gestures, giving attention and being competent) while nurses predominantly emphasised aspects of caring that were relatively invisible (such as reflecting on the patient's past needs, evaluating the nursing care rendered, planning for more appropriate future nursing care, taking multiple complex contextual factors into account to protect the patient and being competent). Our data revealed more nuanced insight into the meaning of invisible and visible caring in nursing within the gerontological context than has been previously reported in the literature. This has implications for nursing education and practice because it may help nurses meet the actual needs of older patients in hospital settings.

Research paper thumbnail of Conversational pursuit of medication compliance in a Therapeutic Community for persons diagnosed with mental disorders*

Disability and Rehabilitation, 2013

In this article, we contribute to the debate on medication compliance by exploring the conversati... more In this article, we contribute to the debate on medication compliance by exploring the conversational "technologies" entailed in the process of promoting clients' adherence to psychopharmacological prescriptions. Using a case study approach, we explore how medication-related problems are dealt with in conversational interaction between the staff members and the clients of a mental health Therapeutic Community (TC) in Italy. Four meetings between two staff members (Barbara and Massimo) and the clients of the TC were audio-recorded. The data were transcribed and analyzed using the method of Conversation Analysis. Barbara and Massimo recur to practices of topic articulation to promote talk that references the clients' failure to take the medications. Through these practices they deal with the practical problem of mobilizing the clients' cooperation in courses of action that fit into the institutional agenda of fostering medication adherence. Barbara and Massimo's conversational practices appear to reflect the assumption that medication-related problems can be reduced to compliance problems. This assumption works to make the clients accountable for their failure to take the medications while shaping a conversational environment that is unreceptive to their complaints about side effects. Implications for the understanding of mental health rehabilitation practice in TCs are discussed. Implications of Rehabilitation Therapeutic community staff members should be aware of the challenges and blocks in communicating with their clients. Therapeutic communities can promote staff members' awareness of communication challenges through reflective workshops in which they can jointly view and comment on interaction with their clients. Reflective workshops can be used to raise awareness of the presuppositions underlying therapeutic community staff members' communication practices.

Research paper thumbnail of EARLI Conference 2009

Papers and chapters by Luigina Mortari

Research paper thumbnail of Problem formulation in mental health residential treatment: a single case analysis

Research paper thumbnail of Beyond neutrality: Professionals’ responses to clients’ indirect complaints in a Therapeutic Community for people with a diagnosis of mental illness

Communication & Medicine, 2013

Previous research has evidenced that in different institutional settings professionals are cautio... more Previous research has evidenced that in different institutional settings professionals are cautious when responding to clients’ indirect complaints and tend to avoid siding either with the clients/complainants or the complained-of absent parties.
In this article we use the method of Conversation Analysis to explore professional responses to clients’ indirect complaints in the context of a Therapeutic Community (TC) for people with diagnoses of mental illness in Italy. Although the TC staff members sometimes display a neutral orientation toward the clients’ complaints, as is the case in other institutional settings, in some instances they take a stance toward the clients’ complaints, either
by distancing themselves or by overtly disaffiliating from them. We argue that these practices reflect the particular challenges of an institutional setting in which professionals engage with clients on a daily basis, have an institutional mandate of watching
over them and are responsible for their safety. According to this interpretation, staff members’ nonneutrality toward clients’ complaints can be seen as a way of defending against the possibility, raised by the clients’ reports, that the staff members might be involved, albeit indirectly, in courses of action that
have harmed or might harm the clients.

Research paper thumbnail of ‘Living’ ethical dilemmas for researchers when researching with children

International Journal of Early Years Education, 2012

Research paper thumbnail of The voice of children on their experience of wellbeing

At the end of the 60s, serious attempts were made to develop major research about people's ha... more At the end of the 60s, serious attempts were made to develop major research about people's happiness or satisfaction with life. A significant difference emerged from these studies between an "objective" and a "subjective" well-being (Campbell et al., 1976; Bertolini, 1984; Ben-Arieh and Frones 2007): material conditions may not indicate anything about people's real worries and needs; what is important

Research paper thumbnail of The inclusion of students with dyslexia in higher education: a systematic review using narrative synthesis

Dyslexia (Chichester, England), 2014

This article reports on a study focusing on the inclusion of students with dyslexia in higher edu... more This article reports on a study focusing on the inclusion of students with dyslexia in higher education (HE). A systematic review was carried out to retrieve, critically appraise and synthesize the available evidence on how the inclusion of students with dyslexia can be fostered in HE. The 15 studies included in the final synthesis employed descriptive designs and overwhelmingly used qualitative methods to explore dyslexic students' perceptions on the impact of teaching, support and accommodation in their own learning experience. A critical appraisal of these studies revealed a landscape of significant gaps in the available stock of evidence on the inclusion of students with dyslexia in HE. The synthesis of the available evidence is presented in a narrative of five cross-study thematic areas: student coping strategies, being identified as dyslexic, interaction with academic staff, accessibility and accommodations, and using assistive technologies and information and communicatio...

Research paper thumbnail of Self-assessment of nursing competencies ��� validation of the Finnish NCS instrument with Italian nurses

Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 2009

Self-assessment of nursing competencies -validation of the Finnish NCS instrument with Italian nu... more Self-assessment of nursing competencies -validation of the Finnish NCS instrument with Italian nurses Aim: Research focusing on competence assessment of practicing nurses has recently increased. However, few generic instruments are available for this purpose. This study reports cultural validation of the Italian version of the Nurse Competence Scale (NCS, English version) by exploring nurses' perceptions of the use of the NCS instrument. Methods: Content validity of the Italian version of the NCS was assessed during the translation and backtranslation process. Thereafter, cultural validity was further explored by conducting self-assessments and semi-structured interviews with 10 nurses, who practise medicine, cardiology and intensive care wards. First, the Italian version of the 73-item NCS was used to assess nurses' competence levels and the frequency of using competencies in practice settings. Second, semi-structured interviews were conducted to evaluate nurses' perceptions of the use of the instrument. Results: The advanced beginners obtained a high overall competence level and the experienced nurses a very high overall competence level. These results are similar with the earlier findings of nurse competence levels with the NCS. The overall frequency of using NCS competencies in clinical practice indicated good cultural validity of the instrument. The instrument was considered easy to understand and to complete, and the Italian version was considered to express the domain of nursing. However, a need to make semantic specifications for some items for the Italian version was pointed out. Conclusions: This explorative pilot study reports a first phase cultural validation process. Carefully performed translation alone does not ensure validity of translated instrument. Interview method is recommended to deepen the understanding of concept in question and the content validity of the instrument. The results support previous research findings of the use of the NCS instrument and show that it could be very useful in competence assessment for Italian nurses.

Research paper thumbnail of Visible and invisible caring in nursing from the perspectives of patients and nurses in the gerontological context

Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 2013

Just as in many countries all over the world, the number of older people in Italy has increased r... more Just as in many countries all over the world, the number of older people in Italy has increased rapidly. Consequently, an increasing number of nurses are engaged in the care of older patients. However, due to a lack of understanding of how nurses and patients perceive caring, nursing care may be compromised. The aim of this study is to explore, describe and compare the perceptions of gerontological nurses and patients related to the dimensions of caring in nursing in an Italian hospital setting. In this qualitative descriptive study, a variety of analytic techniques were used to analyse semi-structured interview data from a purposeful sample of 20 nurses and 20 patients from geriatric units in two different Italian hospitals. Although both nurses and patients gave rich descriptions of caring experiences, patients described features of caring in nursing that were visible (including nurses' caring gestures, giving attention and being competent) while nurses predominantly emphasised aspects of caring that were relatively invisible (such as reflecting on the patient's past needs, evaluating the nursing care rendered, planning for more appropriate future nursing care, taking multiple complex contextual factors into account to protect the patient and being competent). Our data revealed more nuanced insight into the meaning of invisible and visible caring in nursing within the gerontological context than has been previously reported in the literature. This has implications for nursing education and practice because it may help nurses meet the actual needs of older patients in hospital settings.

Research paper thumbnail of Conversational pursuit of medication compliance in a Therapeutic Community for persons diagnosed with mental disorders*

Disability and Rehabilitation, 2013

In this article, we contribute to the debate on medication compliance by exploring the conversati... more In this article, we contribute to the debate on medication compliance by exploring the conversational "technologies" entailed in the process of promoting clients' adherence to psychopharmacological prescriptions. Using a case study approach, we explore how medication-related problems are dealt with in conversational interaction between the staff members and the clients of a mental health Therapeutic Community (TC) in Italy. Four meetings between two staff members (Barbara and Massimo) and the clients of the TC were audio-recorded. The data were transcribed and analyzed using the method of Conversation Analysis. Barbara and Massimo recur to practices of topic articulation to promote talk that references the clients' failure to take the medications. Through these practices they deal with the practical problem of mobilizing the clients' cooperation in courses of action that fit into the institutional agenda of fostering medication adherence. Barbara and Massimo's conversational practices appear to reflect the assumption that medication-related problems can be reduced to compliance problems. This assumption works to make the clients accountable for their failure to take the medications while shaping a conversational environment that is unreceptive to their complaints about side effects. Implications for the understanding of mental health rehabilitation practice in TCs are discussed. Implications of Rehabilitation Therapeutic community staff members should be aware of the challenges and blocks in communicating with their clients. Therapeutic communities can promote staff members' awareness of communication challenges through reflective workshops in which they can jointly view and comment on interaction with their clients. Reflective workshops can be used to raise awareness of the presuppositions underlying therapeutic community staff members' communication practices.

Research paper thumbnail of EARLI Conference 2009

Research paper thumbnail of Problem formulation in mental health residential treatment: a single case analysis

Research paper thumbnail of Beyond neutrality: Professionals’ responses to clients’ indirect complaints in a Therapeutic Community for people with a diagnosis of mental illness

Communication & Medicine, 2013

Previous research has evidenced that in different institutional settings professionals are cautio... more Previous research has evidenced that in different institutional settings professionals are cautious when responding to clients’ indirect complaints and tend to avoid siding either with the clients/complainants or the complained-of absent parties.
In this article we use the method of Conversation Analysis to explore professional responses to clients’ indirect complaints in the context of a Therapeutic Community (TC) for people with diagnoses of mental illness in Italy. Although the TC staff members sometimes display a neutral orientation toward the clients’ complaints, as is the case in other institutional settings, in some instances they take a stance toward the clients’ complaints, either
by distancing themselves or by overtly disaffiliating from them. We argue that these practices reflect the particular challenges of an institutional setting in which professionals engage with clients on a daily basis, have an institutional mandate of watching
over them and are responsible for their safety. According to this interpretation, staff members’ nonneutrality toward clients’ complaints can be seen as a way of defending against the possibility, raised by the clients’ reports, that the staff members might be involved, albeit indirectly, in courses of action that
have harmed or might harm the clients.