Exploring perceptions of mental health clients and professionals about Buddhism‐based therapies at mental health hospitals in Vietnam

With 80% of Vietnamese people holding key Buddhist beliefs, Buddhism has great impact on the thoughts, emotions, and behavior of Vietnamese people. However, almost no Buddhism‐based psychosocial interventions are offered at formal psychiatric hospitals across Vietnam, nor is there any plan to incorporate these interventions into mental health care. This exploratory study examines the perceptions of mental health clients and staff regarding the effectiveness of Buddhism‐based therapies (BBTs) in mental health treatment in Vietnam, using ethnographic observation and in‐depth interviews with 24 patients and eight professionals at the only psychiatric hospital employing BBT. Participants strongly believed in the positive impact of BBT to help clients manage or improve their symptoms. However, clients and staff advised that BBT should not be used alone; rather it should be used in combination with medication and was best employed for stress‐related disorders. They unanimously supported incorporating BBT into the formal mental health system, especially if the therapies were well developed through collaboration between Buddhist monastics and mental health professionals. Results of the paper suggest that Vietnam should think strategically about developing and incorporating BBT into the formal mental health care system.     

“She was accused of colluding with the mother”; the training and support needs of parent‐and‐child foster carers: A qualitative study

Parent‐and‐child foster placements are used to accommodate parents with their children, either when the mother is a looked‐after child or as a setting for a parenting assessment. Despite this being a specialized role with significant potential for affecting outcomes for disadvantaged families, there is currently a lack of accessible learning opportunities for foster carers on the physical and mental well‐being of women with complex needs such as a history of domestic abuse, substance abuse, perinatal mental ill‐health, or having a learning disability. Parent‐and‐child carers experience some unique stresses and value the support of others with similar experiences; this kind of peer support is currently largely absent. This qualitative study has used ten focus groups with foster carers, eight interviews with mothers, and nine interviews with supervising social workers, to inform the development of an online learning resource and a social media‐based peer support network for parent‐and‐child foster carers.     

Different Effects of Acculturative Stress and Family Life Stress on Depressive Symptoms among Married Vietnamese Immigrant Women in South Korea

Married Vietnamese immigrant women often face multiple stressors related to sociocultural adaptation and new family lives in South Korea. The purpose of this paper is to identify the different influences of acculturative and family life stress on depressive symptoms among Vietnamese immigrant wives. Data were collected through a questionnaire survey of 301 married Vietnamese immigrant women residing in South Korea. The study utilized linear regression analysis to test the relationships between the variables. The findings show that both acculturative and family life stress are positively related to depressive symptoms. Family life stress influences depressive symptoms to a greater extent than acculturative stress. The study emphasizes the significance of family‐related stress on mental health among married Vietnamese immigrant women in Korea and provides some implications for research, clinical practice, and policy.     

Drawing out strengths and building capacity in social work with troubled young women

This paper compares the experiences of a group of marginalized young women with two groups that remained socially engaged. Drawing from a qualitative study of young women aged between 13 and 15 years, we identify four areas (understandings and experiences of well‐being, use of space, making wishes, and emotional and household labour) that illuminated the ways in which marginalized young women articulated their experiences differently from those young women who were still engaged in mainstream social life. Drawing on Ungar's work we consider the ways in which marginalized behaviours, which are typically interpreted as socially disruptive and troubled, can also be read as efforts by young women to create a consistent set of social meanings in their lives and to cement reliable relationships around them. Rather than wholly negative, we suggest that these socially disruptive and troubled behaviours should be understood as having health‐enhancing qualities, given the wider contextual challenges the young women faced, and as being the best choices they could make given their circumstances. Social work and support that assists young women on the margins needs to actively engage with these health‐enhancing qualities and to come to a sensitized understanding of the way in which these young women understand their interpersonal worlds.     

WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A GRANDPARENT IN A NEW COUNTRY: THE LIVED EXPERIENCE AND EMOTIONAL WELL‐BEING OF AUSTRALIAN‐VIETNAMESE GRANDPARENTS

This study attempts to understand the lived experience and emotional well‐being of Australian‐Vietnamese grandparenthood. Thirty‐six grandparents participated in four focus group interviews while three grandparents took part in individual in‐depth interviews where the experiences of the grandparents were further clarified. The findings reveal that Vietnamese grandparents encounter many changes in their lives and their relationships with their children and grandchildren in their new homeland. However, many still seem to play important roles in the family, creating a vital bridge to grandchildren. According to our participants, the grandparents' most important roles are the maintenance of good emotional relationships and support, and the construction of harmony and continuity in their modified extended families. To be able to assume these roles, grandparents need to actively explore and consider accepting new values. For many, a successful grandparenthood brings happiness to the family, positively influences grandparents' life satisfaction and emotional well‐being, and this in turn enhances their quality of life.     

Social Contexts and Coping Strategies of Foreign Wives in Korea: Using a Conceptual Framework of Social Identity Theory

This study aimed to address the social contexts of Korean society in which diverse social interactions of foreign wives take place and to identify coping strategies to construct positive social identities. Social identities are often reconstructed as a result of dynamic interactions with various situations. Using the conceptual framework of social identity theory, this study attempted to uncover the social contexts that shape foreign wives' social identities. This study, using the qualitative approach, selected nine Filipino and Vietnamese participants who were married to Korean men. The data were collected by in‐depth interviews, a focus group with three Vietnamese participants, field notes, participant observation, and photo documents. In the section on study findings, this study addressed Korean social contexts, in which Korean government has been providing a variety of multicultural policies and services for helping foreign wives successfully adapt to Korea. This study also found various forms of stereotypes and discrimination against foreign wives and presented their discrimination experiences. Diverse ways to cope with such negative experiences are presented in the last section. Given the findings, the researcher suggests that policies and programs should promote foreign wives' integration in Korean society.     

THE IMPACT OF ILLICIT DRUG USE ON NON‐USING SIBLINGS IN THE VIETNAMESE COMMUNITY

This study explored the issues facing young Vietnamese who have a sibling with an illicit drug addiction and the coping strategies that they and their families employ. This paper concentrated on the results from interviews/focus groups of Vietnamese parents and young people. There were some areas of commonality between the responses of the parent and youth cohorts. Issues of shame, guilt, grief and lack of support were raised by both groups. The reactions of parents and siblings change over time, as the negative impact of the user's behaviour intensified and family systems become strained. There were significant differences in the responses of the two cohorts in relation to parental behaviour. The youth cohort generally was critical of parental behaviour towards both children who are using illicit drugs and their non‐using siblings.     

Well‐being among employed and non‐employed caregiving women in Taiwan

Chou Y‐C, Kröger T, Chiao C, Pu C‐Y. Well‐being among employed and non‐employed caregiving women in Taiwan This study addressed various groups of non‐employed/employed and non‐caring/caring women in Taiwan. Data from the 2006 National Taiwanese Women Survey (at age 16–64, n= 6,017) were analysed to determine whether there are differences in terms of well‐being, as measured by self‐rated health and family life satisfaction, between women who work and/or care and between different carer groups. Other factors associated with well‐being of carers of young children (n= 1,697) were also analysed. The results showed that non‐employed carers of disabled adults stood out as the most disadvantaged group. However, the importance of work has been replaced by support among carers of young children. This study suggests that unpaid carers, particularly carers of disabled adults who are non‐employed, ought to be supported by policies. To improve carers' well‐being, care–work reconciliation among working‐age women needs to be included in the future care scheme in Taiwan.     

Voluntary social insurance for Vietnamese laborers in the informal economic sector

Voluntary social insurance (VSI), a type of social insurance organized by the Government, allows participants, who work in the informal sector with unstable jobs and income, to choose the premium and payment methods in accordance with their income for their retirement plan. The rate of Vietnamese laborers participating in VSI is low. This study aims to examine the current situation of VSI participation of laborers, as well as their perception of VSI visibility and assessment of VSI policies and utilization. Results from survey with 293 laborers, including 144 VSI participants and 149 VSI non‐participants, and semi‐structured interviews with 60 stakeholders in two districts in Northern Vietnam show the lack of awareness of VSI existence among non‐VSI participants, and limited knowledge of VSI policies among VSI participants. Although participants endorsed beneficiaries and premium in the retirement plan, they were concerned about the long 20‐year premium payment duration in the situation of unstable jobs and income, and the lack of other benefits, for example, maternity leave and unemployment benefit. Results recommend better propagandas, distributed documents, and educational sessions on VSI policies on mass and social media, as well as at VSI conferences and their workplace.     

Women's Experience of the Workers Compensation System

A phenomenological study was undertaken to understand women's experience of the workers compensation system. Eleven women were interviewed. They ranged in age from twenty‐five to sixty‐five years and represented diverse socio‐economic and educational backgrounds. All women were from a non‐indigenous background. The initial question to women was “Can you tell me what it is like to be involved in the workers' compensation system?” The narratives were analysed and interpreted using Hycner's (1985) phenomenological guidelines. The knowledge embedded in the interviews, expressed through core stories and themes, was essential to making women's voices visible and provide insight into service delivery based on women's experiences and needs. Four core themes were found: negative versus positive experiences, the workplace response and role in the process, women's experiences of payouts, and reasons why women may not claim workers' compensation. The women indicated that the workers compensation process was a disincentive to making a claim. WorkCover was viewed as siding with the employer, bureaucratic in nature and lacking values associated with empathy, sympathy and caring. Recommendations for improvements to the workers compensation system included to establish legal obligations and enforcement of occupational health and safety responsibilities to injured and to ill workers; adoption of occupational health and safety values by employers; change the attitudes of employers (recognising women as breadwinners and that workers are not disposable); a single case manager to advocate for injured or ill workers; recognition of mental and emotional consequences of an injury or illness; provision of rehabilitation that recognises mental and emotional factors as well as the importance of family participation; greater involvement of employers and employees in the rehabilitation process; and finally, improved service delivery that involves consistency, ethics, clarity (regarding the WorkCover process for injured workers and employers), accountability and involvement of all parties.     

Health and community services for trafficked women: an exploratory study of policy and practice

The trafficking of women has attracted considerable international and national policy attention, particularly since the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (2000), of which the Australian Government has been a signatory since 2005. The provision of health and community services for trafficked women is a central feature of this Protocol, but in Australia service provision is made difficult by how trafficked women are understood and treated in policy and legal terms. This study aimed to explore the provision of health and community services for trafficked women in the Greater Sydney region through a series of interviews with government and non‐government organisations. The findings reveal that services have been inaccessible as a result of sparse, uncoordinated, and poorly funded provision. The major obstacle to adequate and appropriate service provision has been a national policy approach focusing on ‘border protection’ and criminalisation rather than on trafficked women and their human rights. We conclude that further policy development needs to focus on the practical implications of how such rights can be translated into the delivery of health and community services that trafficked women can access and be supported by more effectively.     

The governance of primary mental health planning by Primary Health Networks

The establishment of Primary Health Networks (PHNs) was accompanied by assignment of responsibility for funding for primary mental healthcare. To ensure this funding is spent in line with government priorities, the Federal government developed a planning document with established priorities and guidance documents for how the planning document should be completed. This paper examines how these documents shape service delivery through enabling some activities and excluding others and identifies the assumptions that underpin these documents. Data were drawn from discourse and content analysis of completed planning documents from the PHNs and of the guidance documents and from reflection upon mental health planning from 55 interviews with key personnel from six PHNs. Service delivery is shaped by outcome measures that promote service access, cost‐effectiveness and clinical effectiveness, contributing to service options that favour self‐management for mild mental illness and clinical (but not social) services for people with severe mental illness. There is also limited scope for mental health promotion with prevention activities focused upon populations identified by the government as being at‐risk. This occurs to the detriment of other at‐risk populations.     

Working with children in women's refuges

At a time when there is increasing interest amongst child care professionals in how to respond to children living with domestic violence, this paper derives from a study of a specialist context for such work: child work in women's refuges. The qualitative aspect of the research, which is reported on here, consisted of in-depth visits to eight refuges. Group and individual interviews with children, women and workers covered the needs (and also the strengths) presented by a wide range of children, and the scope of work undertaken with them and their mothers.A child-centred and non-violent ethos was found to be offering high levels of support to children and young people, despite low levels of resourcing. Certain groups were identified as still requiring developments in particular responses to their needs. Greater recognition of refuge child work is called for from statutory agencies, including those with access to funding.     

Roadmap to recovery: Reporting on a research taskforce supporting Indigenous responses to COVID‐19 in Australia

In April 2020 a Group of Eight Taskforce was convened, consisting of over 100 researchers, to provide independent, research‐based recommendations to the Commonwealth Government on a “Roadmap to Recovery” from COVID‐19. The report covered issues ranging from pandemic control and relaxation of social distancing measures, to well‐being and special considerations for vulnerable populations. Our work focused on the critical needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities; this paper presents an overview of our recommendations to the Roadmap report. In addressing the global challenges posed by pandemics for citizens around the world, Indigenous people are recognised as highly vulnerable. At the time of writing Australia's First Nations Peoples have been largely spared from COVID‐19 in comparison to other Indigenous populations globally. Our recommendations emphasise self‐determination and equitable needs‐based funding to support Indigenous communities to recover from COVID‐19, addressing persistent overcrowded housing, and a focus on workforce, especially for regional and remote communities. These latter two issues have been highlighted as major issues of risk for Indigenous communities in Australia It remains to be seen how governments across Australia take up these recommendations to support Indigenous peoples' health and healing journey through yet another, potentially catastrophic, health crisis.     

Postpartum depression and its correlates in middle‐class women in Hunan,China

Postpartum depression (PPD) has a negative impact on both infants and women. The middle‐class group is rapidly expanding with increased but unmet psychological needs. To determine the risk and its correlates of PPD in middle‐class women in Hunan, China. A sample of 306 middle‐class puerperae from obstetric wards of a large general hospital was enrolled in the study. Our results showed 55.6% middle‐class women were suspected PPD. Related risk factors included a history of complications, pregnancy stress, subjective support, and interaction effect between objective support and negative coping. The protective factors included objective support and an interaction effect between subjective support and negative coping. Early assessment and individualized guidance in terms of social support and coping to identify and prevent PPD in this population are required.     

Thrown back: Reintegration experiences of National Guard/Reserve mothers of young children

Few studies have examined the experiences and perceptions of servicewoman mothers and their children, even as an increasing number of them have experienced deployment and combat exposure. The present paper describes a qualitative study that explored National Guard/Reserve (NG/R) mothers' experiences with mothering and co‐parenting during reintegration and their perceived priorities, supports, challenges and needs. Interpretive phenomenological analysis of seven in‐depth qualitative interviews produced themes including reunion and loneliness, the importance of time, help seeking and gendered experiences. Notably, all participants transitioned immediately back into primary caregiver roles upon homecoming, and several described how difficult it was to readjust while privately dealing with unmet mental health needs. Findings underscore the importance of a flexible suite of service options that meet key needs, most importantly, child care, social–emotional support for children and peer‐based parenting support specific to servicewoman mothers. For NG/R mothers, who may live far from base, community‐based services are essential, but as participants described, civilian social workers and other professionals must develop specialized knowledge, skills and experience to provide appropriate support.     

Foster carer perceptions of support and training in the context of high burden of care

The challenges of providing sensitive and structured care for children in foster care go well beyond normative experiences of parenting. The present paper describes a mixed‐methods study of foster carers' perceived need for support and training, referenced to estimates of their burden of care. Semi‐structured interviews were conducted with 17 foster carers in the Canterbury region of New Zealand. Carers' perceived need for support and training were identified through qualitative analysis of interviews using domain analysis method. Carers' burden of care was estimated from the Parenting Stress Index and from a measure of carers' encounters with children's emotional, behavioural and relationship difficulties that was designed for the present study (the Caregiver Behavioural Encounters Index). Foster carers reported substantive, unmet needs for support and training. Foster carers also reported high parenting stress and encounters with a wide range of children's mental health difficulties, including both uncommon and severe difficulties, which together represent an exceptional burden of care. Carers' highest priority need was for training and support on managing and responding to children's mental health difficulties, while their greatest existing support came from Caregiver Liaison Social Workers and other carers. The findings suggest a number of critical implications for practice.     

The bumpy road to ‘becoming’: capturing the stories that teenage mothers told about their journey into motherhood

Understanding the experience of women who become mothers during their teenage years is central to ensuring that the support that is offered is appropriate to meet their needs. This paper reports on a small part of a larger ethnographic study that captured the lived experience of young mothers who were between the ages of 16 and 19 years that potentially typifies and illuminates the experiences of young women who become mothers in their teenage years. By collecting data from narrative interviews as well as participant and non‐participant observations over an extended period of time it was possible to identify how the young women experienced a range of difficulties as they made their transition into motherhood. Drawing on the findings, this paper argues that this transition for teenage mothers can be significantly different from the experience of older mothers, and it identifies the importance of appropriate support to mediate the challenges that they face. Understanding the young women's journey to ‘becoming’ is critical when planning services because if their experience of support is negative, it can lead to increased levels of maternal stress and reluctance to engage with support services.     

Caregiver involvement in behavioural health services in the context of child welfare service referrals: a qualitative study

Human service agencies serve a growing number of adults with behavioural health needs. Despite these agencies' key role in identifying need and facilitating services, many individuals do not receive care or end services prematurely. Few studies have explored the experiences of families referred to behavioural health services by such agencies or the extent to which families' perceptions of service need align with those of treatment providers and frontline workers. This study presents findings from a qualitative study of caregivers involved with child welfare agencies who were referred to behavioural health services. Researchers reviewed agencies' case records and conducted in‐depth interviews with 16 caregivers, 9 child welfare caseworkers and 12 behavioural health treatment counsellors. Findings suggest that when deciding to engage in services, caregivers weigh not only their individual and family behavioural health needs but also potential agency intervention, including loss of child custody. Many professionals reported that involvement with a child welfare agency hindered the caregiver's disclosure of behavioural healthcare needs. Implications for managers and practitioners are discussed.     

Addressing Unmet Needs in Incarcerated Women With Co-occurring Disorders

ABSTRACT

This article will present findings related to critical needs in a group of 281 incarcerated women with co-occurring disorders. The women completed interviews while incarcerated and again at various time points after community reentry. Findings revealed that the number of basic needs increased over time, and a low level of social support was related to negative outcomes. Recommendations for this population include holistic evaluation assessments and integrated treatment plans that encourage staff to comprehensively assess clients at intake and link them to support services during and after incarceration. Implications of this female empowerment model will be discussed.