Andrea Whittaker | Monash University (original) (raw)
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Papers by Andrea Whittaker
Journal of Child and Family Studies, Jan 21, 2017
Global Public Health, Apr 13, 2016
One of the challenges in doing research with individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is t... more One of the challenges in doing research with individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the difficulty in communication. This study employed a modified form of photovoice with a group of young people with ASD in Hanoi, Vietnam, to provide a means of meaningful participation in research about their lives, experiences, and needs. We describe the process of conducting photovoice with nine children with ASD from June 2011 to May 2012, many of whom had limited verbal communication skills. More than 2100 photos were taken by children. Undertaking photovoice with children with ASD required some modification of the method. In particular we consider the difficulties in analysing and interpreting the photographs produced by children with ASD. Due to the ambiguities of the visual images produced we found content analysis of photographs alone was inadequate. There was a discrepancy between our initial interpretations of the photographs and our understandings derived from information from interviews with children, parents, carers, and our own observations. Our study points to the need to understand context through multiple methods and the potential of photovoice as a means to mediate communication and participation in research for groups with communication difficulties.
Journal of Family Studies, Nov 1, 2007
ABSTRACT This paper mines data from in-depth interviews on family formation with 115 women, men a... more ABSTRACT This paper mines data from in-depth interviews on family formation with 115 women, men and couples of family-forming age in eastern Australia to examine aspects of the complex phenomenon of living together unmarried. Sixty-five percent of interviews yielded evidence of one or more such relationships entered over approximately a 20-year period. Informants had rarely made considered 'decisions' to cohabit. Moving in had rathe 'just happened', often after couples were 'sort of' living together anyway through regularly staying over with one another. What tended to be transitions rather thandatable events were widely perceived to be 'natural progressions', and motives for them were typically more pragmatic than emotional. The notion of cohabitation as trial marriage did not resonate widely among cohabitors, but did appear to have aided increasing parental acceptance of the lifestyle. Non-cohabiters mostly cited religious beliefs, a desire not to offend parents or a view that by marrying directly they had shown greater commitment as reasons for not having lived together. Youthful entry to cohabiting relationships seems frequently to presage their dissolution as 'growing up' relationships in a climate that increasingly eschews serious family formation until some years later in life. Transitions to marriage, which remains a highly symbolic act of commitment despite being seen in some quarters as irrelevant, have a variety of triggers. Prominent among them are decisions to have children (notwithstanding widespread childbearing within cohabiting unions) and the age-old prerogative of a male to propose marriage when the mood takes him.
Medical Anthropology, Feb 27, 2023
Global Public Health, Jan 2, 2023
Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Oct 16, 2017
Social Science & Medicine, Dec 1, 2022
Research Square (Research Square), Nov 7, 2022
Fertility & Reproduction
Background: Cross-border surrogacy and egg donor arrangements are an increasingly common means to... more Background: Cross-border surrogacy and egg donor arrangements are an increasingly common means to family building. Establishing patterns of use has always been difficult in relation to Australian patients. Accurate data is stymied by lack of documentation of international third-party reproductive care available to Australian authorities. Since Australia’s international travel ban came into effect, it is hypothesised that those planning to use cross-border reproductive care have had to rely significantly more on local IVF clinics for services such as sperm freezing, embryo creation and gamete release procedures. Establishing the increase in gamete shipping as a result of the ban on non-essential travel will improve understanding of the resource impact on Australian IVF laboratories. Such data can also assist policymakers assess the utility of state-based regulations relevant to CBRC. Aim: Quantify and characterise the impact of the Covid-19-related travel ban on Cross-Border Reproduc...
Technologies of Sexuality, Identity and Sexual Health
Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 2017
This document summarises key findings from social research designed to help strengthen antimicrob... more This document summarises key findings from social research designed to help strengthen antimicrobial resistance (AMR) policy and communications for the Australian general public. The research comprised analysis of media and public health messaging for general publics and how they think, feel and act in relation to AMR. The research was funded by the Australian Research Council (DP170100937) and conducted by social and media researchers from Monash University, Swinburne University of Technology, University of Gothenburg and University of Strathclyde.
Social Science & Medicine, 2020
Global Reproductive Health
Fertility & Reproduction
Background: Cross-border surrogacy arrangements are an increasingly common means to family buildi... more Background: Cross-border surrogacy arrangements are an increasingly common means to family building globally amongst gay male singles and couples, as well as infertile heterosexual singles and couples who do not have significant access to other routes to parenthood. Research has shown that when regulation or affordability in a home state is too restrictive people will travel across borders for surrogacy extensively. Establishing patterns of use has always been difficult. Accurate data is stymied by lack of documentation of international third-party reproductive care available to authorities. In addition, surrogacy destinations have been in a state of flux for some years. Estimating the trends in source and destination countries will improve understanding of the populations whose reproductive care needs cannot be met in their home country. Such data can assist regulators, policymakers and professionals to understand these trends and provide education and policy to minimise risk. Aim:...
Aids Care-psychological and Socio-medical Aspects of Aids/hiv, Dec 2, 2015
ABSTRACT International focus on reducing onward HIV transmission emphasizes the need for routine ... more ABSTRACT International focus on reducing onward HIV transmission emphasizes the need for routine HIV testing and early uptake of antiretroviral treatment (ART). Strategic targets have been set for 2020 to achieve the goal of 90% of people infected with HIV diagnosed, 90% of identified cases on treatment, and 90% of persons on treatment virally suppressed (90–90–90). It is vital to understand the complexity of factors influencing a person's treatment decisions over time and the context which may enable better adherence. In this paper we present findings from the review of published and gray literature (2003–2013) on the documented factors associated with treatment initiation and adherence in the general adult population of Australia, Canada, and the UK. A framework developed by Begley, McLaws, Ross, and Gold [2008. Cognitive and behavioural correlates of non-adherence to HIV anti-retroviral therapy: Theoretical and practical insight for clinical psychology and health psychology. Clinical Psychologist, 12(1), 9–17] in Australia was adapted to summarize the findings. A systematic database search using keywords and a set of inclusion criteria yielded 17 studies (Australia = 6; Canada = 8; UK = 3). In addition 11 reports were included in the review. We found that a person's abilities and motivations (intrapersonal factors, reported in 7 studies) to start and continue ART are influenced by a host of interconnected factors spanning relationship (interpersonal, 3 studies) and broader structural (extrapersonal, 15 studies) factors that are situated within social determinants of health. People therefore evaluate various costs and benefits of starting and staying on treatment, in which biomedical concerns play an important yet often subsidiary role. In this review the economic barriers to care were found to be significant and under-reported, highlighting the persistent health inequities in terms of access to services. Our understanding of the context around people's use of ART remains poor. Qualitative social research within HIV-positive communities is urgently needed to capture people's lived experiences and may address some of this deficit in understanding.
Journal of Child and Family Studies, Jan 21, 2017
Global Public Health, Apr 13, 2016
One of the challenges in doing research with individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is t... more One of the challenges in doing research with individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is the difficulty in communication. This study employed a modified form of photovoice with a group of young people with ASD in Hanoi, Vietnam, to provide a means of meaningful participation in research about their lives, experiences, and needs. We describe the process of conducting photovoice with nine children with ASD from June 2011 to May 2012, many of whom had limited verbal communication skills. More than 2100 photos were taken by children. Undertaking photovoice with children with ASD required some modification of the method. In particular we consider the difficulties in analysing and interpreting the photographs produced by children with ASD. Due to the ambiguities of the visual images produced we found content analysis of photographs alone was inadequate. There was a discrepancy between our initial interpretations of the photographs and our understandings derived from information from interviews with children, parents, carers, and our own observations. Our study points to the need to understand context through multiple methods and the potential of photovoice as a means to mediate communication and participation in research for groups with communication difficulties.
Journal of Family Studies, Nov 1, 2007
ABSTRACT This paper mines data from in-depth interviews on family formation with 115 women, men a... more ABSTRACT This paper mines data from in-depth interviews on family formation with 115 women, men and couples of family-forming age in eastern Australia to examine aspects of the complex phenomenon of living together unmarried. Sixty-five percent of interviews yielded evidence of one or more such relationships entered over approximately a 20-year period. Informants had rarely made considered 'decisions' to cohabit. Moving in had rathe 'just happened', often after couples were 'sort of' living together anyway through regularly staying over with one another. What tended to be transitions rather thandatable events were widely perceived to be 'natural progressions', and motives for them were typically more pragmatic than emotional. The notion of cohabitation as trial marriage did not resonate widely among cohabitors, but did appear to have aided increasing parental acceptance of the lifestyle. Non-cohabiters mostly cited religious beliefs, a desire not to offend parents or a view that by marrying directly they had shown greater commitment as reasons for not having lived together. Youthful entry to cohabiting relationships seems frequently to presage their dissolution as 'growing up' relationships in a climate that increasingly eschews serious family formation until some years later in life. Transitions to marriage, which remains a highly symbolic act of commitment despite being seen in some quarters as irrelevant, have a variety of triggers. Prominent among them are decisions to have children (notwithstanding widespread childbearing within cohabiting unions) and the age-old prerogative of a male to propose marriage when the mood takes him.
Medical Anthropology, Feb 27, 2023
Global Public Health, Jan 2, 2023
Medical Anthropology Quarterly, Oct 16, 2017
Social Science & Medicine, Dec 1, 2022
Research Square (Research Square), Nov 7, 2022
Fertility & Reproduction
Background: Cross-border surrogacy and egg donor arrangements are an increasingly common means to... more Background: Cross-border surrogacy and egg donor arrangements are an increasingly common means to family building. Establishing patterns of use has always been difficult in relation to Australian patients. Accurate data is stymied by lack of documentation of international third-party reproductive care available to Australian authorities. Since Australia’s international travel ban came into effect, it is hypothesised that those planning to use cross-border reproductive care have had to rely significantly more on local IVF clinics for services such as sperm freezing, embryo creation and gamete release procedures. Establishing the increase in gamete shipping as a result of the ban on non-essential travel will improve understanding of the resource impact on Australian IVF laboratories. Such data can also assist policymakers assess the utility of state-based regulations relevant to CBRC. Aim: Quantify and characterise the impact of the Covid-19-related travel ban on Cross-Border Reproduc...
Technologies of Sexuality, Identity and Sexual Health
Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism, 2017
This document summarises key findings from social research designed to help strengthen antimicrob... more This document summarises key findings from social research designed to help strengthen antimicrobial resistance (AMR) policy and communications for the Australian general public. The research comprised analysis of media and public health messaging for general publics and how they think, feel and act in relation to AMR. The research was funded by the Australian Research Council (DP170100937) and conducted by social and media researchers from Monash University, Swinburne University of Technology, University of Gothenburg and University of Strathclyde.
Social Science & Medicine, 2020
Global Reproductive Health
Fertility & Reproduction
Background: Cross-border surrogacy arrangements are an increasingly common means to family buildi... more Background: Cross-border surrogacy arrangements are an increasingly common means to family building globally amongst gay male singles and couples, as well as infertile heterosexual singles and couples who do not have significant access to other routes to parenthood. Research has shown that when regulation or affordability in a home state is too restrictive people will travel across borders for surrogacy extensively. Establishing patterns of use has always been difficult. Accurate data is stymied by lack of documentation of international third-party reproductive care available to authorities. In addition, surrogacy destinations have been in a state of flux for some years. Estimating the trends in source and destination countries will improve understanding of the populations whose reproductive care needs cannot be met in their home country. Such data can assist regulators, policymakers and professionals to understand these trends and provide education and policy to minimise risk. Aim:...
Aids Care-psychological and Socio-medical Aspects of Aids/hiv, Dec 2, 2015
ABSTRACT International focus on reducing onward HIV transmission emphasizes the need for routine ... more ABSTRACT International focus on reducing onward HIV transmission emphasizes the need for routine HIV testing and early uptake of antiretroviral treatment (ART). Strategic targets have been set for 2020 to achieve the goal of 90% of people infected with HIV diagnosed, 90% of identified cases on treatment, and 90% of persons on treatment virally suppressed (90–90–90). It is vital to understand the complexity of factors influencing a person's treatment decisions over time and the context which may enable better adherence. In this paper we present findings from the review of published and gray literature (2003–2013) on the documented factors associated with treatment initiation and adherence in the general adult population of Australia, Canada, and the UK. A framework developed by Begley, McLaws, Ross, and Gold [2008. Cognitive and behavioural correlates of non-adherence to HIV anti-retroviral therapy: Theoretical and practical insight for clinical psychology and health psychology. Clinical Psychologist, 12(1), 9–17] in Australia was adapted to summarize the findings. A systematic database search using keywords and a set of inclusion criteria yielded 17 studies (Australia = 6; Canada = 8; UK = 3). In addition 11 reports were included in the review. We found that a person's abilities and motivations (intrapersonal factors, reported in 7 studies) to start and continue ART are influenced by a host of interconnected factors spanning relationship (interpersonal, 3 studies) and broader structural (extrapersonal, 15 studies) factors that are situated within social determinants of health. People therefore evaluate various costs and benefits of starting and staying on treatment, in which biomedical concerns play an important yet often subsidiary role. In this review the economic barriers to care were found to be significant and under-reported, highlighting the persistent health inequities in terms of access to services. Our understanding of the context around people's use of ART remains poor. Qualitative social research within HIV-positive communities is urgently needed to capture people's lived experiences and may address some of this deficit in understanding.