ABSTRACT
This study examined perceived family functioning and depression in bereaved parents 18 months after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake. This was a cross-sectional study with 190 bereaved parents sampled using a multistage stratified sampling method. The instruments used in the study included Family APGAR Index and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale-17. The results indicated that the prevalence of family dysfunction was 59.5%. All the respondents experienced depression with 79.5% of the respondents reporting very severe depression. Being female, being at an advanced age, being divorced or widowed, being directly exposed to the death of their children, not having another baby after the earthquake, and poorer family functioning were significant predictors for more severe depression. Strategies can be designed in post-disaster recovery programs for bereaved parents at high risk for more severe depression, particularly for those with poorer family functioning.
Subject(s)
Bereavement , Depressive Disorder/ethnology , Depressive Disorder/nursing , Disasters , Earthquakes , Family Conflict/ethnology , Family Conflict/psychology , Parent-Child Relations , Parents/psychology , Adult , Age Factors , Child , China , Cross-Sectional Studies , Depressive Disorder/diagnosis , Depressive Disorder/psychology , Female , Follow-Up Studies , Grief , Humans , Male , Personality Inventory/statistics & numerical data , Psychometrics , Sex Factors , Socioeconomic FactorsABSTRACT
AIM: This paper is a report of a study to evaluate the influence of interdisciplinary seminars for undergraduate nursing and social work students on development of their understanding of the meaning of caring. BACKGROUND: There is growing international interest in interprofessional education, which is believed to have the potential to improve patient care. If interprofessional education and subsequent collaboration are truly to be patient-centred, it is important to identify a value base which creates a healthcare professional identity that facilitates collaboration. Caring, as a humanistic value, is found in both nursing and social work professionals. METHOD: A mixed method approach, primarily qualitative but with a quantitative component, was chosen for evaluation of the interprofessional seminars. The data were collected between 2007-2008 by videotape recordings of the sessions, follow-up telephone interviews and a questionnaire. FINDINGS: There was cultivation in the nursing students of a deeper understanding of caring based on openness and a non-judgmental approach, learned from their social work counterparts. Reciprocally, social work students learned about the nursing students' daily activities as they observed the natural process of trust and communication in the context of caring. CONCLUSION: Enhanced understanding of caring in practice is not possible via learning through a uni-professional approach. Students' reflections and dialogue enable their development of relation-centred caring, particularly in the realm of biomedical and technical environments.
