Health & Social Care in the Community最新文献

To mitigate the COVID-19 epidemic, the South Korean government implemented institutional quarantine in centralized facilities from March 2020 to November 2022. Patients who tested positive were required to stay in these facilities for up to 2 weeks to meet the minimum 7-day isolation. During that period, evidence shows that COVID-19 patients experienced intense psychological and mental health challenges and physical suffering. Using a descriptive phenomenological research design with thematic analysis, this qualitative study sought to understand the mental health and psychological experiences of COVID-19 patients with no or mild symptoms quarantined in institutional facilities in Korea. This study used semistructured phone interviews with 15 COVID-19 patients recruited through social media using purposive and snowball sampling between February 2020 and April 2021. Thirteen subthemes were identified in four overarching themes: (a) anxiety and guilt after infection; (b) questioning the cause and impact of infection; (c) finding relief and comfort; and (d) navigating mental struggles in isolation. The findings show that patients quarantined in an institutional facility experienced mental health challenges and a rollercoaster of emotions, attempted to find resources to manage these challenges, and wanted to get back to normal. The pandemic may have an enduring effect on psychological and mental health, particularly among those quarantined in these facilities. Practitioners could play an important role in monitoring psychological and mental health needs and delivering support to individuals in need.

While much of the care literature has focused on the benefits of social farms for people living with dementia, less research has examined the accessibility of this form of support. Conducted in England between 2023 and 2024, this study examined access to social farms by people living with dementia using Levesque’s conceptual framework of access as a navigational guide. We surveyed 32 social farm managers, held four online focus groups—two with care professionals and two with social farm staff—and conducted 14 single or dyad interviews with people living with dementia and either their family carer or a social farm volunteer. The sample included six nonfarm users unaware of farm-based services, all of whom were people living with dementia originally from India, Bangladesh, or Pakistan but now living in England. The inclusion of multiple perspectives provided novel insights about accessibility and the cultural meaning of animals, which has not been reported in farm-based studies before. Overall, we found a wide variation in access to social farms by people living with dementia in England. People who access a social farm are overwhelmingly White British with the means to travel independently to a social farm (i.e., access to a car and/or a carer who can drive). The study shows how Levesque’s conceptual framework is a helpful navigational tool for researching access to social care. However, to make the framework more compatible for research on access to social care services, and in particular, forms of ‘green care’, we recommend that researchers incorporate more detailed consideration of intersectionality and access to specific facilities and activities within a service, beyond access to the service itself.

The Chinese government launched the Home and Community-Based Services (HCBSs) pilot program in 2016 to tackle the unmet care needs of the aging population. This study seeks to evaluate the association between HCBS usage and healthcare utilization and to examine whether this relationship is influenced by place of residence and gender. We used data from the 2015 and 2018 waves of the China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study and applied propensity score matching with difference-in-differences (PSM-DID) to investigate the link between HCBS usage and healthcare utilization. The final sample comprised 9280 older adults. Findings revealed a significant positive association between HCBS usage and the number of outpatient visits in the past month (β = 0.031, p < 0.05), outpatient out-of-pocket (OOP) expenditure (β = 0.223, p < 0.01), and total outpatient expenditure (β = 0.220, p < 0.01). However, HCBS usage showed no association with the number of hospitalizations in the past year, inpatient OOP expenditure, or total inpatient expenditure (all p > 0.05). Heterogeneity analysis indicated that the urban–rural background significantly moderated the association between HCBS and inpatient care, while these associations between HCBS and healthcare utilization did not vary by gender. Policymakers should prioritize integrating HCBS with healthcare services when designing and implementing healthcare and HCBS policies to optimize resource utilization and improve service efficiency. Moreover, additional efforts are warranted to ensure the equitable distribution of HCBS and healthcare resources between urban and rural areas.

Parenting requires complex physical, cognitive, and emotional skills, and for parents with disabilities, these demands are intensified by barriers such as physical limitations, fluctuating health, and insufficient tailored support. Although societal attitudes have shifted to some extent, parents with disabilities often encounter stigma, systemic inequities in child welfare systems, and significant challenges in accessing parenting-specific support services. Despite growing recognition of the rights of parents with disabilities, limited research has focused on their experiences accessing professional parenting support services. This mapping review aimed to explore the existing literature addressing the experiences of parents living with disabilities with regard to accessing professional support services related to parenting. The mapping review included qualitative studies published in peer-reviewed journals. From 26,179 initial records, 209 studies met the inclusion criteria. Findings reveal significant growth in research on parenting with disabilities, with a focus primarily on Western contexts and specific populations, such as parents with mental health challenges, substance use disorders, or intellectual disabilities. While all 209 studies included participant quotes related to accessing support services for parenting, only 5.7% of studies had specific aims related to understanding parents’ experiences of accessing professional support or services directly related to the parenting role. Most studies lacked methodological specificity, often employing generic qualitative approaches without alignment with theoretical frameworks. Despite an increasing number of publications, the review highlights critical gaps, particularly the underrepresentation of non-Western cultural contexts and diverse disabilities. Future studies should prioritize understanding the experiences of accessing professional support and services for parenting and the needs of parents with disabilities across broader disability types, parenting tasks, and cultural settings. These findings underscore the need for targeted policies and practices to create inclusive support systems for parents with disabilities.

Technology transfer in healthcare is an essential mechanism to transform scientific discoveries into real-world solutions. However, the path from laboratory research to market impact remains challenging, particularly for women scientists, who face structural and cultural barriers in accessing entrepreneurial opportunities and innovation ecosystems. This paper aims to provide a practical and empowering guide for early career women scientists interested in technology transfer and health entrepreneurship. It outlines the stages of the commercialization journey, highlights institutional and ecosystem enablers, and explores gender disparities that persist in innovation. A narrative synthesis approach is used, integrating literature, policy insights, and real-world case studies of successful female-led health tech ventures. Key elements of the technology transfer process are presented alongside strategies for mentorship, networking, and institutional support. Despite progress, women remain underrepresented in patenting, startup leadership, and venture capital access. However, targeted mentorship programs, inclusive innovation networks, and institutional infrastructures such as Technology Transfer Offices (TTOs) significantly enhance women’s ability to navigate this path. Case studies demonstrate how aligning scientific rigor with market needs, leveraging personal insight, and building interdisciplinary teams enable successful translation of research into impact. Technology transfer offers a high-impact career pathway for women in science, empowering them to lead innovation in healthcare. Supporting this journey requires not only skills and resources but also communities of mentorship, structural equity, and visibility of success stories. Academic institutions play a central role in integrating entrepreneurship training into research careers and in shaping a more inclusive, translational research culture.

K. Awuviry-Newton, S. A. Kukah, and K. Abekah-Carter, “Exploring the Unmet Needs of Primary Caregivers of Autistic Children and Its Implications for Social Work Practice in Ghana,” Health & Social Care in the Community 2024, (2024): 3574815, https://doi.org/10.1155/2024/3574815.

In the article, there is an error in Section 2.2.

“To reach the participants, the first author sent a letter to the head of the AwaaWaa2 institution to explain the purpose of the research.”

should read

“To reach the participants, the second author sent a letter to the head of the AwaaWaa2 institution to explain the purpose of the research.”

We apologize for this error.