The global COVID-19 pandemic challenged the world-how it functions, how people move in the social worlds and how government/government services and people interact. Health services, operating under the principles of new public management, have undertaken rapid changes to service delivery and models of care. What has become apparent is the mechanisms within which contemporary health services operate and how services are not prioritising the person at the centre of care. Person-centred care (PCC) is the philosophical premise upon which models of health care are developed and implemented. Given the strain that COVID-19 has placed on the health services and the people who deliver the care, it is essential to explore the tensions that exist in this space. This article suggests that before the pandemic, PCC was largely rhetoric, and rendered invisible during the pandemic. The paper presents an investigation into the role of PCC in these challenging times, adopting a Foucauldian lens, specifically governmentality and biopolitics, to examine the policies, priorities and practical implications as health services pivoted and adapted to changing and acute demands. Specifically, this paper draws on the Australian experience, including shifting nursing workforce priorities and additional challenges resulting from public health directives such as lockdowns and limitations. The findings from this exploration open a space for discussion around the rhetoric of PCC, the status of nurses and that which has been lost to the pandemic.
This paper explores the explanatory models of mental challenges among Black Africans in England. It argues that understanding these models is critical for providing culturally appropriate care to this population. The study employed qualitative methodology, and interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Twelve mental health service users who are living in England and self-identified as first or second-generation Black Africans were purposively selected. The data were gathered using face-to-face semistructured interviews. Data were manually analysed in accordance with IPA concepts of searching for common, unique and idiosyncratic themes across transcripts. The findings revealed three themes Black Africans associated to their explanatory model of mental health challenges: complexities of migration, African-centred worldview and negative life experiences. To help alleviate the Eurocentric nature of mental health practice in England, it is hoped that this explanatory model will become an integral part of mental health practice in England and around the world.
Globally, including in North America, Indigenous populations have poorer health than non-Indigenous populations. This health disparity results from inequality and marginalisation associated with colonialism. Photovoice is a community-based participatory research method that amplifies the voices of research participants. Why and how photovoice has been used as a decolonising method for addressing Indigenous health inequalities has not been mapped. A scoping review of the literature on photovoice for Indigenous health research in the United States and Canada was carried out. Five electronic databases and the grey literature were searched, with no time limit. A total of 215 titles and abstracts and 97 full texts were screened resulting in 57 included articles. Analysis incorporated Lalita Bharadwaj's Framework For Building Research Partnerships with First Nations Communities. Photovoice was selected to improve knowledge mobilisation and participant empowerment and engagement. Studies incorporated relationship building, meaningful data collection, and public dissemination but had a lesser focus on the inclusion of Indigenous peer researchers or participant involvement in analysis. For photovoice to truly realise its decolonising potential, it must be incorporated into a broader participatory and decolonising research paradigm. In addition, more resources are required to support the involvement of Indigenous people in the research process.
Picture books are often part of children's socialisation processes, contributing to the children forming images of the world, including ideas about (categories of) people, such as nurses. The study aims to explore how nurses/nursing are portrayed in children's picture books in a Swedish context. Through a systematic search, 44 books were included for analysis using thematic analysis and a theoretical lens inspired by Goffman. The results were presented in three themes: 'The costume characterised and designated nurses', 'Nurses and nursing were defined through specific activities and accessories', and 'Nurses' role as caregivers and decency practitioners'. The results showed that nurses were depicted/described in varied contexts, performing their roles mainly front stage in 'hands-on work' in close contact with patients and relatives. Nurses were attributed different accessories and personality characteristics. Nurses/nursing were generally set within a healthcare context, oftentimes within an overarching medical logic. Historical depictions of nurses' uniforms still appeared as a signifier for nurses/nursing. The presentation of nurses/nursing might have potential implications on children's understanding of and for reputations of nurses/nursing in the long term as primary socialisation and related understandings of the (sub)world(s) are deeply rooted in humans.