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Research paper thumbnail of Theatre production: a positive metaphor for dementia care-giving

Ageing and Society, 2021

Language can shape and reinforce attitudes and stereotypes about living with dementia. This can h... more Language can shape and reinforce attitudes and stereotypes about living with dementia. This can happen through use of metaphors. However, common metaphors may not capture the complexity of experience of dementia from the perspective of the individual person or a family carer. This paper presents an alternative metaphor – that of a theatre production – based on the strategies used by carers to support people with dementia to live well in the community. We conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 12 family members caring for someone with dementia in the community in Queensland, Australia. Our aim was to explore the strategies these carers used to provide support. Interview recordings were fully transcribed and thematically analysed. We identified positive care-giving strategies that described multiple roles that carers fulfilled as they felt increasingly responsible for day-to-day decision making. Family carers explained how they supported the person with dementia to rem...

Research paper thumbnail of Birth Talk, Birth Culture: What do mothers say and do during labour? A workshop on the language of labour pain

Research paper thumbnail of Examining the nexus of labour pain and culture using an applied social science framework

Horizonte de enfermeria, 2017

Birthing women can convey a cultural response to pain. The greater the cultural distance between ... more Birthing women can convey a cultural response to pain. The greater the cultural distance between a woman and her midwife, the greater the chance of misinterpretation of her labour experience. This paper examines childbirth beliefs, influences and practices, which contribute to cross-cultural understandings of pain. A literature search was conducted in April 2013. Studies were included if they had pain as the primary outcome and examined non-elicited pain language from the maternal perspective. Twelve articles were included. The language findings were reported in a companion paper. The present paper reported the cultural findings using an applied social science framework to reflect upon the nexus of pain and culture within pain communication and the development of culturally sensitive practice. The studies depicted shared childbirth beliefs and practices across African, Asian, European, North American and South American cultures, which in part is attributed to common physiological factors of childbirth. Childbirth may be impacted upon by 'internal' factors: pain reactions and attitudes, religion and spirituality, pain definition and meaning, anxiety, pain acceptance and tolerance, conceptualisation of motherhood, psychology, and societal beliefs; external factors may include the environment (physical setting or context of childbirth) and the model of care. The interpretation of these beliefs may be influenced by the midwife's development of their cultural competence.Viewing cultural patterns provides a cultural lens for midwives across care models (e.g. Power S., Bogossian F., Sussex R., Strong J. technocratic, humanistic, and holistic) to better understand women's experiences of pain, to reflect upon cross-cultural interpretation of pain and to develop cross-cultural competence.

Research paper thumbnail of Supporting staff as change leaders in consumer engagement in aged care: Learnings from action research

Journal of Nursing Management, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of A Critical Analysis of Women’s Descriptions of Labor Pain Based on the McGill Pain Questionnaire

International Journal of Childbirth, 2016

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article was to examine childbirth (labor) pain language through an... more OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article was to examine childbirth (labor) pain language through an analysis of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) descriptors.METHOD: Language was extracted from 6 studies which used MPQ descriptors (and originally formed part of a larger interpretive review of pain assessment). MPQ descriptors are considered rich language data because they provide insight into the different qualities and dimensions of pain. An applied linguistic approach, which examines language in its real world context (in this instance, childbirth and midwifery) was used to analyze maternal language.FINDINGS: The MPQ descriptors conveyed sensory, affective, evaluative, and miscellaneous dimensions of the labor pain experience. Words were classified according to the semantic category of the descriptors (the associated meanings of pain words), parity, stage of labor, and the location of pain. Generalizations cannot be made from this small sample of maternal language; however, this a...

Research paper thumbnail of Cross-cultural pain semantics: an applied multidisciplinary approach to understanding the pain of childbirth

Power, Stephanie, Bogossian, Fiona E., Strong, Jenny and Sussex, Roland (2014). Cross-cultural pa... more Power, Stephanie, Bogossian, Fiona E., Strong, Jenny and Sussex, Roland (2014). Cross-cultural pain semantics: an applied multidisciplinary approach to understanding the pain of childbirth. In: AILA World Congress, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, (). 10-15 August 2014.

Research paper thumbnail of To measure pain and then let pain speak for itself: the role of elicited and non-elicited verbal pain language in pain assessment across cultures

Australian nursing & midwifery journal, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Dar a luz ‘To bring to the light’ a pilot study of English and Spanish birth pain narratives

Women and Birth, 2013

Posters / Women and Birth 26 (2013) S22-S41 vey clearly indicated the immediate need for ongoing ... more Posters / Women and Birth 26 (2013) S22-S41 vey clearly indicated the immediate need for ongoing support and provision of continued education opportunities for midwives of all experience levels caring for women with identified psychosocial risk factors. A short 7 min DVD on 'identifying lost opportunities, techniques and challenges when conduct the antenatal psychosocial asssesment' has been developed locally to be used a teaching resource. The evaluations from the first one-day workshop were very positive with a high level of satisfaction. The post-workshop evaluation (4-6 weeks later) indicated that all respondents have applied strategies from the workshop in their work practices with an overall eg. The percentage of participants feeling confident in 'Responding to a woman who answers 'Yes' to EDS question 10 (self harm/suicide)' increased from 44% to 88%. Additional findings will be presented.

Research paper thumbnail of A critical and interpretive literature review of birthing women's non-elicited pain language

Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives, Jan 12, 2017

Standardised pain assessment i.e. the McGill Pain Questionnaire provide an elicited pain language... more Standardised pain assessment i.e. the McGill Pain Questionnaire provide an elicited pain language. Midwives observe spontaneous non-elicited pain language to guide their assessment of how a woman is coping with labour. This paper examined the labour pain experience using the questions: What type of pain language do women use? Do any of the words match the descriptors of standardised pain assessments? What type of information doverbal and non-verbal cues provide to the midwife? A literature search was conducted in 2013. Studies were included if they had pain as the primary outcome and examined non-elicited pain language from the maternal perspective. A total of 12 articles were included. The analysis revealed six categories in which labour pain can be viewed: 'positive', 'negative', 'physical', 'emotional', 'transcendent' and 'natural'. Women's language comprised i.e. prefixes and suffixes, which indicate the qualities of pain, and ...

Research paper thumbnail of Theatre production: a positive metaphor for dementia care-giving

Ageing and Society, 2021

Language can shape and reinforce attitudes and stereotypes about living with dementia. This can h... more Language can shape and reinforce attitudes and stereotypes about living with dementia. This can happen through use of metaphors. However, common metaphors may not capture the complexity of experience of dementia from the perspective of the individual person or a family carer. This paper presents an alternative metaphor – that of a theatre production – based on the strategies used by carers to support people with dementia to live well in the community. We conducted face-to-face semi-structured interviews with 12 family members caring for someone with dementia in the community in Queensland, Australia. Our aim was to explore the strategies these carers used to provide support. Interview recordings were fully transcribed and thematically analysed. We identified positive care-giving strategies that described multiple roles that carers fulfilled as they felt increasingly responsible for day-to-day decision making. Family carers explained how they supported the person with dementia to rem...

Research paper thumbnail of Birth Talk, Birth Culture: What do mothers say and do during labour? A workshop on the language of labour pain

Research paper thumbnail of Examining the nexus of labour pain and culture using an applied social science framework

Horizonte de enfermeria, 2017

Birthing women can convey a cultural response to pain. The greater the cultural distance between ... more Birthing women can convey a cultural response to pain. The greater the cultural distance between a woman and her midwife, the greater the chance of misinterpretation of her labour experience. This paper examines childbirth beliefs, influences and practices, which contribute to cross-cultural understandings of pain. A literature search was conducted in April 2013. Studies were included if they had pain as the primary outcome and examined non-elicited pain language from the maternal perspective. Twelve articles were included. The language findings were reported in a companion paper. The present paper reported the cultural findings using an applied social science framework to reflect upon the nexus of pain and culture within pain communication and the development of culturally sensitive practice. The studies depicted shared childbirth beliefs and practices across African, Asian, European, North American and South American cultures, which in part is attributed to common physiological factors of childbirth. Childbirth may be impacted upon by 'internal' factors: pain reactions and attitudes, religion and spirituality, pain definition and meaning, anxiety, pain acceptance and tolerance, conceptualisation of motherhood, psychology, and societal beliefs; external factors may include the environment (physical setting or context of childbirth) and the model of care. The interpretation of these beliefs may be influenced by the midwife's development of their cultural competence.Viewing cultural patterns provides a cultural lens for midwives across care models (e.g. Power S., Bogossian F., Sussex R., Strong J. technocratic, humanistic, and holistic) to better understand women's experiences of pain, to reflect upon cross-cultural interpretation of pain and to develop cross-cultural competence.

Research paper thumbnail of Supporting staff as change leaders in consumer engagement in aged care: Learnings from action research

Journal of Nursing Management, 2020

Research paper thumbnail of A Critical Analysis of Women’s Descriptions of Labor Pain Based on the McGill Pain Questionnaire

International Journal of Childbirth, 2016

OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article was to examine childbirth (labor) pain language through an... more OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this article was to examine childbirth (labor) pain language through an analysis of the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) descriptors.METHOD: Language was extracted from 6 studies which used MPQ descriptors (and originally formed part of a larger interpretive review of pain assessment). MPQ descriptors are considered rich language data because they provide insight into the different qualities and dimensions of pain. An applied linguistic approach, which examines language in its real world context (in this instance, childbirth and midwifery) was used to analyze maternal language.FINDINGS: The MPQ descriptors conveyed sensory, affective, evaluative, and miscellaneous dimensions of the labor pain experience. Words were classified according to the semantic category of the descriptors (the associated meanings of pain words), parity, stage of labor, and the location of pain. Generalizations cannot be made from this small sample of maternal language; however, this a...

Research paper thumbnail of Cross-cultural pain semantics: an applied multidisciplinary approach to understanding the pain of childbirth

Power, Stephanie, Bogossian, Fiona E., Strong, Jenny and Sussex, Roland (2014). Cross-cultural pa... more Power, Stephanie, Bogossian, Fiona E., Strong, Jenny and Sussex, Roland (2014). Cross-cultural pain semantics: an applied multidisciplinary approach to understanding the pain of childbirth. In: AILA World Congress, Brisbane, QLD, Australia, (). 10-15 August 2014.

Research paper thumbnail of To measure pain and then let pain speak for itself: the role of elicited and non-elicited verbal pain language in pain assessment across cultures

Australian nursing & midwifery journal, 2013

Research paper thumbnail of Dar a luz ‘To bring to the light’ a pilot study of English and Spanish birth pain narratives

Women and Birth, 2013

Posters / Women and Birth 26 (2013) S22-S41 vey clearly indicated the immediate need for ongoing ... more Posters / Women and Birth 26 (2013) S22-S41 vey clearly indicated the immediate need for ongoing support and provision of continued education opportunities for midwives of all experience levels caring for women with identified psychosocial risk factors. A short 7 min DVD on 'identifying lost opportunities, techniques and challenges when conduct the antenatal psychosocial asssesment' has been developed locally to be used a teaching resource. The evaluations from the first one-day workshop were very positive with a high level of satisfaction. The post-workshop evaluation (4-6 weeks later) indicated that all respondents have applied strategies from the workshop in their work practices with an overall eg. The percentage of participants feeling confident in 'Responding to a woman who answers 'Yes' to EDS question 10 (self harm/suicide)' increased from 44% to 88%. Additional findings will be presented.

Research paper thumbnail of A critical and interpretive literature review of birthing women's non-elicited pain language

Women and birth : journal of the Australian College of Midwives, Jan 12, 2017

Standardised pain assessment i.e. the McGill Pain Questionnaire provide an elicited pain language... more Standardised pain assessment i.e. the McGill Pain Questionnaire provide an elicited pain language. Midwives observe spontaneous non-elicited pain language to guide their assessment of how a woman is coping with labour. This paper examined the labour pain experience using the questions: What type of pain language do women use? Do any of the words match the descriptors of standardised pain assessments? What type of information doverbal and non-verbal cues provide to the midwife? A literature search was conducted in 2013. Studies were included if they had pain as the primary outcome and examined non-elicited pain language from the maternal perspective. A total of 12 articles were included. The analysis revealed six categories in which labour pain can be viewed: 'positive', 'negative', 'physical', 'emotional', 'transcendent' and 'natural'. Women's language comprised i.e. prefixes and suffixes, which indicate the qualities of pain, and ...