College Women's Experiences with Physically Forced,Alcohol- or Other Drug-Enabled,and Drug-Facilitated Sexual Assault Before and Since Entering College

Objective: Research has shown associations between college women's alcohol and/or drug consumption and the risk of sexual assault, but few studies have measured the various means by which sexual assault is achieved.

Participants: The authors' Campus Sexual Assault Study obtained self-report data from a random sample of undergraduate women (N = 5,446).

Methods: The authors collected data on sexual assault victimization by using a cross-sectional, Web-based survey, and they conducted analyses assessing the role of substance use. The authors also compared victimizations before and during college, and across years of study.

Results: Findings indicate that almost 20% of undergraduate women experienced some type of completed sexual assault since entering college. Most sexual assaults occurred after women voluntarily consumed alcohol, whereas few occurred after women had been given a drug without their knowledge or consent.

Conclusions: The authors discuss implications for campus sexual assault prevention programs, including the need for integrated substance use and sexual victimization prevention programming.     

Women from refugee backgrounds and their experiences of attending a specialist antenatal clinic. Narratives from an Australian setting

ProblemIn response to an identified need, a specialist antenatal clinic for women from refugee backgrounds was introduced in 2008, with an evaluation planned and completed in 2010.QuestionCan maternity care experiences for women from refugee backgrounds, attending a specialist antenatal clinic in a tertiary Australian public hospital, be improved?MethodsThe evaluation employed mixed methods, generating qualitative and quantitative data from two hospital databases, a chart audit, surveys and interviews with service users, providers and stakeholders. Contributions were received from 202 participants.FindingsThe clinic was highly regarded by all participants. Continuity of care throughout the antenatal period was particularly valued by newly arrived women as it afforded them security and support to negotiate an unfamiliar Western maternity system. Positive experiences decreased however; as women transitioned from the clinic to labour and postnatal wards where they reported that their traditional birthing and recuperative practices were often interrupted by the imposition of Western biomedical notions of appropriate care. The centrally located clinic was problematic, frequently requiring complex travel arrangements. Appointment schedules often impacted negatively on traditional spousal and family obligations.ConclusionsProviding comprehensive and culturally responsive maternity care for women from refugee backgrounds is achievable, however it is also resource intensive. The production of translated information which is high quality in terms of production and content, whilst also taking account of languages which are only rarely encountered, is problematic. Cultural competency programmes for staff, ideally online, require regular updating in light of new knowledge and changing political sensitivities.     

Space,place and the midwife: Exploring the relationship between the birth environment,neurobiology and midwifery practice

BackgroundResearch indicates that midwives and their practice are influenced by space and place and that midwives practice differently in different places. It is possible that one mechanism through which space and place influence midwifery practice is via neurobiological responses such as the production and release of oxytocin, which can be triggered by experiences and perceptions of the physical environment.AimTo articulate the significance of space and place to midwifery and explore the relationship between the birth environment, neurobiology and midwifery practice.DiscussionQuality midwifery care requires the facilitation of trusting social relationships and the provision of emotionally sensitive care to childbearing women. The neuropeptide oxytocin plays a critical role in human social and emotional behaviour by increasing trust, reducing stress and heightening empathy, reciprocity and generosity.Principle conclusionThrough its role as a trigger for oxytocin release, the birth environment may play a direct role in the provision of quality midwifery care.     

A Regression Analysis of Motivations for Saudi University Male Student Volunteers

Abstract

As a major national asset for promoting social development, volunteer groups have grown rapidly worldwide and have brought significant benefits to individuals, communities, and society in general. Volunteering is encouraged and common among Muslims in the Middle East, but there is rare study on why they volunteer. This study used multiple regression to explore what motivates Saudi male university students to volunteer with a sample of 223 subjects. The results show that all predictor variables such as pro-social personality, values function, career function, social function, enhancement function, protective function, and learning function of volunteering, community identity, institutional facilitation, and Islamic cultural motivation, are statistically significantly correlated to students’ volunteering intentions, but these factors contribute to the ordinary least square regression model at different levels. Only career (B?=?0.217), social (B?=?0.212), learning (B?=?0.280), and enhancement functions (B?=?0.230) of volunteering have statistically significant influence on Saudi university male students’ volunteering intention. Findings highlight a need for a focus on instrumental needs of volunteers by government and NGOs. In regards to future research, gender and educational impacts on volunteers’ motive should be explored.     

Work-self balance: A longitudinal study on the effects of job demands and resources on personal functioning in Japanese working parents

Abstract

In work-family research the effects on the individual, or the “self”, in terms of personal interests independent of the work and family domains, have been largely neglected. This longitudinal study on 471 Japanese employees with young children investigated how job demands and job resources may have an impact on well-being by facilitating or hindering personal functioning. It was hypothesized that workload would have an unfavourable impact on work-to-self conflict, while supervisor support would have a favourable impact on work-to-self facilitation. In addition, we hypothesized that work–self conflict would diminish well-being (psychological distress and happiness), while work–self facilitation would enhance well-being over time. Structural equation modelling analyses using a full panel design showed that work overload was positively related to work–self conflict over time, whereas supervisor support was positively related to work–self facilitation. Furthermore, work–self conflict predicted psychological distress and happiness at T2, one year later, after controlling for T1 levels. These findings suggest that the demands and resources encountered at work can spill over to the home domain and have an impact on personal functioning and context-free well-being. Further research is needed to determine the importance of work-self constructs in relation to work-family constructs.     

Midwife experiences of providing continuity of carer: A qualitative systematic review

ProblemContinuity of carer models present positives and challenges for midwives working in them, and are difficult to sustain.BackgroundResearch shows midwifery continuity of carer improves perinatal outcomes and experiences, and is considered the optimal model of care.AimTo synthesise existing research on midwives’ experiences of providing continuity of carer and generate further understanding of what sustains them in practice.MethodsProtocol for the review was developed using PRISMA guidelines and registered with PROSPERO. 22 studies were included with original themes and findings extracted using JBI tools and synthesised using meta-ethnographic techniques. GRADE CERQual assessment of review findings showed high confidence.FindingsMidwives identified working in continuity of carer models as both fulfilling and challenging. Professional autonomy and ability to develop meaningful relationships were the most commonly cited positives, while lack of work life balance and conflict with the wider maternity team were the main challenges. 15 studies identified strategies employed by midwives which sustained them in practice.DiscussionMidwife experiences of providing continuity are impacted by personal and professional factors. Of paramount importance to sustainability of the model is the support of the wider organisation, and their alignment with principles of person-centred, relational care.ConclusionRelational models of care are desired by midwives, service users and are recommended in policy. Relational models of care must be responsive to midwives needs as well as birthing people, and therefore need to be designed and managed by those working in them and supported by the whole organisation to be sustainable.     

Midwives must,obstetricians may: An ethnographic exploration of how policy documents organise intrapartum fetal monitoring practice

BackgroundThe capacity for midwifery to improve maternity care is under-utilised. Midwives have expressed limits on their autonomy to provide quality care in relation to intrapartum fetal heart rate monitoring.AimTo explore how the work of midwives and obstetricians was textually structured by policy documents related to intrapartum fetal heart rate monitoring.MethodsInstitutional Ethnography, a critical qualitative approach was used. Data were collected in an Australian hospital with a central fetal monitoring system. Midwives (n = 34) and obstetricians (n = 16) with experience working with the central fetal monitoring system were interviewed and observed. Policy documents were collected and analysed.FindingsMidwives’ work was strongly structured by policy documents that required escalation of care for any CTG abnormality. Prior to being able to escalate care, midwives were often interrupted by other clinicians uninvited entry into the room in response to the CTG seen at the central monitoring station. While the same collection of documents guided the work of both obstetricians and midwives, they generated the expectation that midwives must perform certain tasks while obstetricians may perform others. Midwifery work was textually invisible.Discussion and conclusionOur findings provide a concrete example of the way policy documents both reflect and generate power imbalances in maternity care. Obstetric ways of knowing and doing are reinforced within these documents and continue to diminish the visibility and autonomy of midwifery. Midwifery organisations are well placed to co-lead policy development and reform in collaboration with maternity consumer and obstetric organisations.