Publications

48 entries « ‹ 2 of 3 › »

2024

Asad Islam; Gita Kusnadi; Jahen Rezki; Armand Sim; Giovanni van Empel; Michael Vlassopoulos; Yves Zenou

Addressing vaccine hesitancy using local ambassadors: A randomized controlled trial in Indonesia Journal Article

In: European Economic Review, vol. 163, 2024, ISSN: 0014-2921.

Annika Molenaar; Dickson Lukose; Linda Brennan; Eva L Jenkins; Tracy A McCaffrey

Using Natural Language Processing to Explore Social Media Opinions on Food Security: Sentiment Analysis and Topic Modeling Study Journal Article

In: J Med Internet Res, vol. 26, 2024, ISSN: 1438-8871.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:

@article{Molenaar2024,

title = {Using Natural Language Processing to Explore Social Media Opinions on Food Security: Sentiment Analysis and Topic Modeling Study},

author = {Annika Molenaar and Dickson Lukose and Linda Brennan and Eva L Jenkins and Tracy A McCaffrey},

doi = {10.2196/47826},

issn = {1438-8871},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-03-21},

journal = {J Med Internet Res},

volume = {26},

publisher = {JMIR Publications Inc.},

abstract = {

            Background

            Social media has the potential to be of great value in understanding patterns in public health using large-scale analysis approaches (eg, data science and natural language processing [NLP]), 2 of which have been used in public health: sentiment analysis and topic modeling; however, their use in the area of food security and public health nutrition is limited.

          

          

            Objective

            This study aims to explore the potential use of NLP tools to gather insights from real-world social media data on the public health issue of food security.

          

          

            Methods

            A search strategy for obtaining tweets was developed using food security terms. Tweets were collected using the Twitter application programming interface from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2021, filtered for Australia-based users only. Sentiment analysis of the tweets was performed using the Valence Aware Dictionary and Sentiment Reasoner. Topic modeling exploring the content of tweets was conducted using latent Dirichlet allocation with BigML (BigML, Inc). Sentiment, topic, and engagement (the sum of likes, retweets, quotations, and replies) were compared across years.

          

          

            Results

            In total, 38,070 tweets were collected from 14,880 Twitter users. Overall, the sentiment when discussing food security was positive, although this varied across the 3 years. Positive sentiment remained higher during the COVID-19 lockdown periods in Australia. The topic model contained 10 topics (in order from highest to lowest probability in the data set): “Global production,” “Food insecurity and health,” “Use of food banks,” “Giving to food banks,” “Family poverty,” “Food relief provision,” “Global food insecurity,” “Climate change,” “Australian food insecurity,” and “Human rights.” The topic “Giving to food banks,” which focused on support and donation, had the highest proportion of positive sentiment, and “Global food insecurity,” which covered food insecurity prevalence worldwide, had the highest proportion of negative sentiment. When compared with news, there were some events, such as COVID-19 support payment introduction and bushfires across Australia, that were associated with high periods of positive or negative sentiment. Topics related to food insecurity prevalence, poverty, and food relief in Australia were not consistently more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic than before the pandemic. Negative tweets received substantially higher engagement across 2019 and 2020. There was no clear relationship between topics that were more likely to be positive or negative and have higher or lower engagement, indicating that the identified topics are discrete issues.

          

          

            Conclusions

            In this study, we demonstrated the potential use of sentiment analysis and topic modeling to explore evolution in conversations on food security using social media data. Future use of NLP in food security requires the context of and interpretation by public health experts and the use of broader data sets, with the potential to track dimensions or events related to food security to inform evidence-based decision-making in this area.

          },

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

Background
Social media has the potential to be of great value in understanding patterns in public health using large-scale analysis approaches (eg, data science and natural language processing [NLP]), 2 of which have been used in public health: sentiment analysis and topic modeling; however, their use in the area of food security and public health nutrition is limited.

Objective
This study aims to explore the potential use of NLP tools to gather insights from real-world social media data on the public health issue of food security.

Methods
A search strategy for obtaining tweets was developed using food security terms. Tweets were collected using the Twitter application programming interface from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2021, filtered for Australia-based users only. Sentiment analysis of the tweets was performed using the Valence Aware Dictionary and Sentiment Reasoner. Topic modeling exploring the content of tweets was conducted using latent Dirichlet allocation with BigML (BigML, Inc). Sentiment, topic, and engagement (the sum of likes, retweets, quotations, and replies) were compared across years.

Results
In total, 38,070 tweets were collected from 14,880 Twitter users. Overall, the sentiment when discussing food security was positive, although this varied across the 3 years. Positive sentiment remained higher during the COVID-19 lockdown periods in Australia. The topic model contained 10 topics (in order from highest to lowest probability in the data set): “Global production,” “Food insecurity and health,” “Use of food banks,” “Giving to food banks,” “Family poverty,” “Food relief provision,” “Global food insecurity,” “Climate change,” “Australian food insecurity,” and “Human rights.” The topic “Giving to food banks,” which focused on support and donation, had the highest proportion of positive sentiment, and “Global food insecurity,” which covered food insecurity prevalence worldwide, had the highest proportion of negative sentiment. When compared with news, there were some events, such as COVID-19 support payment introduction and bushfires across Australia, that were associated with high periods of positive or negative sentiment. Topics related to food insecurity prevalence, poverty, and food relief in Australia were not consistently more prominent during the COVID-19 pandemic than before the pandemic. Negative tweets received substantially higher engagement across 2019 and 2020. There was no clear relationship between topics that were more likely to be positive or negative and have higher or lower engagement, indicating that the identified topics are discrete issues.

Conclusions
In this study, we demonstrated the potential use of sentiment analysis and topic modeling to explore evolution in conversations on food security using social media data. Future use of NLP in food security requires the context of and interpretation by public health experts and the use of broader data sets, with the potential to track dimensions or events related to food security to inform evidence-based decision-making in this area.

Mladen Raković; Yuheng Li; Navid Mohammadi Foumani; Mahsa Salehi; Levin Kuhlmann; Geoffrey Mackellar; Roberto Martinez-Maldonado; Gholamreza Haffari; Zachari Swiecki; Xinyu Li; Guanliang Chen; Dragan Gašević

Measuring Affective and Motivational States as Conditions for Cognitive and Metacognitive Processing in Self-Regulated Learning Working paper

2024.

Links | BibTeX | Tags:

Sarah Pink; Emma Quilty; John Grundy; Rashina Hoda

Trust, artificial intelligence and software practitioners: an interdisciplinary agenda Journal Article

In: AI & Soc, 2024, ISSN: 1435-5655.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:

Jane Fisher; Karin Stanzel; Hau Nguyen; Patsy Thean; Danielle French; Sally Popplestone; Thach Tran

Impact of a private sector residential early parenting program on clinically significant postnatal depressive symptoms experienced by women: Audit of routinely collected data Journal Article

In: Acta Psychiatr Scand, 2024, ISSN: 1600-0447.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:

@article{Fisher2024,

title = {Impact of a private sector residential early parenting program on clinically significant postnatal depressive symptoms experienced by women: Audit of routinely collected data},

author = {Jane Fisher and Karin Stanzel and Hau Nguyen and Patsy Thean and Danielle French and Sally Popplestone and Thach Tran},

doi = {10.1111/acps.13668},

issn = {1600-0447},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-02-26},

journal = {Acta Psychiatr Scand},

publisher = {Wiley},

abstract = {AbstractIntroductionEarly parenting services in Australia offer brief structured residential programs to address moderate to severe non‐psychotic mental health problems among women and unsettled infant/toddler behaviours. The aims were to (1) estimate the immediate and medium‐term impact of a five‐night psychoeducational residential early parenting program on postpartum depressive symptoms and (2) identify the factors associated with improvement or worsening of postpartum depressive symptoms after completing the program and six weeks post‐discharge.MethodsAudit of routinely collected medical record data from pre‐admission, pre‐discharge and post‐discharge assessments of a consecutive cohort of women admitted, with their infants/toddlers in a 15‐month period to Masada Private Hospital Early Parenting Centre. Data included structured questions assessing: demographic characteristics, access to family and social support, past and current mental health problems, reproductive and obstetric health, chronic health conditions, breastfeeding problems, coincidental major life events, health risk behaviours and infant/toddler feeding, sleeping and crying behaviours. Standardised instruments included the Partner Interaction after Birth Scale (PIBS), the MacLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (MSI‐BPD), Modified Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS) and selected items from the Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale. The primary outcomes were Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale scores at pre‐discharge and follow up assessments. Data were analysed using multinomial logistic regression models in which individual and psychosocial characteristics at pre‐admission were included as predictors of the likelihood of the changes of the outcomes from pre‐admission to pre‐discharge and follow up.ResultsComplete data from 1220 of 1290 (95%) eligible women were available to assess pre‐admission to pre‐discharge and from 559 (45.8%) to assess pre‐discharge to six‐week follow‐up changes. The mean pre‐admission EPDS score was 11.7 (95% CI: 11.5; 12.0), pre‐discharge it was 7.1 (95% CI: 6.9; 7.4) and at six‐week follow up it was 5.7 (95% CI: 5.3; 6.1). We found that almost all women experienced a clinically meaningful and rapid improvement in depressive symptoms of at least this magnitude (reduction in mean EPDS scores of 4.6 points from pre‐admission to pre‐discharge (five nights) and a further reduction of 1.2 points pre‐discharge to follow up) (six weeks) and we identified an interpretable set of risk factors for symptoms that did not improve or worsened. The adverse outcomes were associated with having symptoms of borderline personality disorder, a partner experienced as lacking kindness and care, coincidental adverse events and having a child younger than six months.ConclusionResidential early parenting programs, which take a psycho‐educational approach to strengthening caregiving skills, maximising agency, and reducing helplessness, have a rapid beneficial effect on women's postpartum depressive symptoms. These programs provide a valuable and effective component of comprehensive mental health services. Long‐term dialectical behaviour therapy is indicated for women with borderline personality disorder traits for whom early parenting programs alone are insufficient to improve depressive symptoms.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

AbstractIntroductionEarly parenting services in Australia offer brief structured residential programs to address moderate to severe non‐psychotic mental health problems among women and unsettled infant/toddler behaviours. The aims were to (1) estimate the immediate and medium‐term impact of a five‐night psychoeducational residential early parenting program on postpartum depressive symptoms and (2) identify the factors associated with improvement or worsening of postpartum depressive symptoms after completing the program and six weeks post‐discharge.MethodsAudit of routinely collected medical record data from pre‐admission, pre‐discharge and post‐discharge assessments of a consecutive cohort of women admitted, with their infants/toddlers in a 15‐month period to Masada Private Hospital Early Parenting Centre. Data included structured questions assessing: demographic characteristics, access to family and social support, past and current mental health problems, reproductive and obstetric health, chronic health conditions, breastfeeding problems, coincidental major life events, health risk behaviours and infant/toddler feeding, sleeping and crying behaviours. Standardised instruments included the Partner Interaction after Birth Scale (PIBS), the MacLean Screening Instrument for Borderline Personality Disorder (MSI‐BPD), Modified Fatigue Assessment Scale (FAS) and selected items from the Karitane Parenting Confidence Scale. The primary outcomes were Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale scores at pre‐discharge and follow up assessments. Data were analysed using multinomial logistic regression models in which individual and psychosocial characteristics at pre‐admission were included as predictors of the likelihood of the changes of the outcomes from pre‐admission to pre‐discharge and follow up.ResultsComplete data from 1220 of 1290 (95%) eligible women were available to assess pre‐admission to pre‐discharge and from 559 (45.8%) to assess pre‐discharge to six‐week follow‐up changes. The mean pre‐admission EPDS score was 11.7 (95% CI: 11.5; 12.0), pre‐discharge it was 7.1 (95% CI: 6.9; 7.4) and at six‐week follow up it was 5.7 (95% CI: 5.3; 6.1). We found that almost all women experienced a clinically meaningful and rapid improvement in depressive symptoms of at least this magnitude (reduction in mean EPDS scores of 4.6 points from pre‐admission to pre‐discharge (five nights) and a further reduction of 1.2 points pre‐discharge to follow up) (six weeks) and we identified an interpretable set of risk factors for symptoms that did not improve or worsened. The adverse outcomes were associated with having symptoms of borderline personality disorder, a partner experienced as lacking kindness and care, coincidental adverse events and having a child younger than six months.ConclusionResidential early parenting programs, which take a psycho‐educational approach to strengthening caregiving skills, maximising agency, and reducing helplessness, have a rapid beneficial effect on women's postpartum depressive symptoms. These programs provide a valuable and effective component of comprehensive mental health services. Long‐term dialectical behaviour therapy is indicated for women with borderline personality disorder traits for whom early parenting programs alone are insufficient to improve depressive symptoms.

Karin Aggestam; Jacqui True

Foreign Policy Analysis and Feminism Book Chapter

In: The Oxford Handbook of Foreign Policy Analysis, pp. 79–96, Oxford University Press, 2024, ISBN: 9780191878961.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:

Mary Iliadis; Bridget Harris

Police body-worn camera technologies in responses to domestic and family violence: A national study of victim-survivor perspectives and experiences Technical Report

2024.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:

Mary Iliadis; Bridget Harris; Zarina Vakhitova; Delanie Woodlock; Asher Flynn; Danielle Tyson

How police body-worn cameras can facilitate misidentification in domestic and family violence responses Journal Article

In: 2024.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:

Natasha Davidson; Karin Hammarberg; Jane Fisher

‘If I'm not sick, I'm not going to see the doctor’: Access to preventive sexual and reproductive health care for Karen women from refugee backgrounds living in Melbourne, Australia—A qualitative study Journal Article

In: Health Prom J of Aust, 2024, ISSN: 2201-1617.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:

@article{Davidson2024,

title = {‘If I'm not sick, I'm not going to see the doctor’: Access to preventive sexual and reproductive health care for Karen women from refugee backgrounds living in Melbourne, Australia—A qualitative study},

author = {Natasha Davidson and Karin Hammarberg and Jane Fisher},

doi = {10.1002/hpja.844},

issn = {2201-1617},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-02-07},

journal = {Health Prom J of Aust},

publisher = {Wiley},

abstract = {AbstractIssue AddressedWomen from refugee backgrounds have poorer health outcomes than host country populations. People from Myanmar, most of whom are from the Karen ethnic minority constitute one of the largest groups of humanitarian visa entrants to Australia since 2015. Barriers to and enablers of preventive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) for this group of women are poorly understood. The objective is to establish the preventive SRH care needs and experiences of Karen women from refugee backgrounds living in Australia.MethodsA qualitative study using semi‐structured interviews was conducted with a purposive sample of Karen women. A bi‐cultural worker assisted in recruitment and interpreting during data collection. All interviews were conducted in Karen language with a bi‐cultural worker interpreting into English during the interview. Audio recordings of English dialogue were transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was used to analyse and report data.ResultsThirteen women were interviewed. Five major themes were identified: (1) prevention awareness including lack of access to education and knowledge of services pre‐arrival; appreciation of the new health system; limited vaccination knowledge, (2) perceived need for prevention including consequences of not screening; health care provider (HCP) attendance, (3) health information seeking including providing a comprehensive approach to information delivery; trusted sources of information, (4) barriers including missed opportunities; communication, language, illiteracy; lack of continuity of care and, (5) enablers including HCP’ characteristics; peer support and individual responsibility.ConclusionFindings from this study indicate that to improve access to preventive SRH services a multi‐component strategy is needed. Provision of preventive SRH information using a multi‐pronged approach; peer and community support interventions; and HCPs offering services and information opportunistically would benefit Karen women unfamiliar with preventive SRH care.So What?Primary prevention services and education codesigned with community members may be effective in improving Karen women's access to SRH care.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

AbstractIssue AddressedWomen from refugee backgrounds have poorer health outcomes than host country populations. People from Myanmar, most of whom are from the Karen ethnic minority constitute one of the largest groups of humanitarian visa entrants to Australia since 2015. Barriers to and enablers of preventive sexual and reproductive health (SRH) for this group of women are poorly understood. The objective is to establish the preventive SRH care needs and experiences of Karen women from refugee backgrounds living in Australia.MethodsA qualitative study using semi‐structured interviews was conducted with a purposive sample of Karen women. A bi‐cultural worker assisted in recruitment and interpreting during data collection. All interviews were conducted in Karen language with a bi‐cultural worker interpreting into English during the interview. Audio recordings of English dialogue were transcribed verbatim. Thematic analysis was used to analyse and report data.ResultsThirteen women were interviewed. Five major themes were identified: (1) prevention awareness including lack of access to education and knowledge of services pre‐arrival; appreciation of the new health system; limited vaccination knowledge, (2) perceived need for prevention including consequences of not screening; health care provider (HCP) attendance, (3) health information seeking including providing a comprehensive approach to information delivery; trusted sources of information, (4) barriers including missed opportunities; communication, language, illiteracy; lack of continuity of care and, (5) enablers including HCP’ characteristics; peer support and individual responsibility.ConclusionFindings from this study indicate that to improve access to preventive SRH services a multi‐component strategy is needed. Provision of preventive SRH information using a multi‐pronged approach; peer and community support interventions; and HCPs offering services and information opportunistically would benefit Karen women unfamiliar with preventive SRH care.So What?Primary prevention services and education codesigned with community members may be effective in improving Karen women's access to SRH care.

Farkhondeh Akbari; Jacqui True

Bargaining with Patriarchy in Peacemaking: The Failure of Women, Peace, and Security in Afghanistan Journal Article

In: vol. 4, no. 1, 2024, ISSN: 2634-3797.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:

Thach Tran; Karin Stanzel; Hau Nguyen; Patsy Thean; Danielle French; Sally Popplestone; Jane Fisher

Effects of a residential psychoeducational parenting program on maternal anxiety and fatigue symptoms Journal Article

In: Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, pp. 1–17, 2024, ISSN: 1469-672X.

Links | BibTeX | Tags:

Harish Kalra; Thach Tran; Lorena Romero; Rajesh Sagar; Jane Fisher

National policies and programs for perinatal mental health in India: A systematic review Journal Article

In: Asian Journal of Psychiatry, vol. 91, 2024, ISSN: 1876-2018.

Links | BibTeX | Tags:

Sheikh Jamal Hossain; Jena Derakhshani Hamadani; Fahmida Tofail; Jane Fisher; Md. Anisur Rahman; Syed Moshfiqur Rahman

Factors associated with children's cognitive, language, and motor development in deprived urban settings in Bangladesh Journal Article

In: Child, vol. 50, no. 1, 2024, ISSN: 1365-2214.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:

@article{Hossain2024b,

title = {Factors associated with children's cognitive, language, and motor development in deprived urban settings in Bangladesh},

author = {Sheikh Jamal Hossain and Jena Derakhshani Hamadani and Fahmida Tofail and Jane Fisher and Md. Anisur Rahman and Syed Moshfiqur Rahman},

doi = {10.1111/cch.13225},

issn = {1365-2214},

year  = {2024},

date = {2024-01-00},

journal = {Child},

volume = {50},

number = {1},

publisher = {Wiley},

abstract = {AbstractBackgroundChildren's development is multifactorial. Although there have been several studies exploring the association of children's development with maternal, child, and environmental factors, we are unaware of any study that assessed those factors in children whose mothers were enrolled in a social safety net programme in low‐ and middle‐income countries. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with disadvantaged children's cognitive, language, and motor development at age 6–16 months in deprived settings of urban Bangladesh and to identify relative importance of these factors of children's development. We also explored if there were any gender differences in child development.MethodsThis cross‐sectional study was conducted in a deprived setting of urban Bangladesh. Bayley III was used for assessing children's cognitive, language, and motor development. Multivariable linear regression model was used to find the factors associated with children's development, and dominance analysis was used to explore the relative importance of the factors.ResultsOut of the total 599 mother–child dyads, 303 (50.58%) were girls. The factors associated with children's development were length‐for‐age Z‐score (cognitive: B = 1.21 [95% CI = 0.31, 2.11], P = 0.008; language: 1.67 [0.79, 2.55] P < 0.001; motor: 2.15 [1.01, 3.29] P < 0.001) and home environment (cognitive: 0.58 [0.27, 0.89] P < 0.001; language: 0.59 [0.27, 0.92], P < 0.001; motor: 0.44 [0.09, 0.79] P = 0.013). Girls had higher cognitive (1.90 [0.17, 3.6], P = 0.031) and language (2.53 [0.55, 4.51], P = 0.013) development compared with boys. Families with a higher number of under five children within the households had lower language (−1.57 [−2.78, −0.36], P = 0.011) development. Violence against the mother and the families' food security status were not associated with the children's development. Children's length‐for‐age Z‐score (27%) and home stimulation environment (23%) were the most important factors of cognitive development.ConclusionChildren's nutritional status and home environment are important factors for disadvantaged children's development in deprived urban settings of Bangladesh. Both early child development‐focussed parenting and nutrition interventions should be considered when designing child development programmes in urban settings in low‐ and middle‐income countries.},

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

AbstractBackgroundChildren's development is multifactorial. Although there have been several studies exploring the association of children's development with maternal, child, and environmental factors, we are unaware of any study that assessed those factors in children whose mothers were enrolled in a social safety net programme in low‐ and middle‐income countries. This study aimed to identify the factors associated with disadvantaged children's cognitive, language, and motor development at age 6–16 months in deprived settings of urban Bangladesh and to identify relative importance of these factors of children's development. We also explored if there were any gender differences in child development.MethodsThis cross‐sectional study was conducted in a deprived setting of urban Bangladesh. Bayley III was used for assessing children's cognitive, language, and motor development. Multivariable linear regression model was used to find the factors associated with children's development, and dominance analysis was used to explore the relative importance of the factors.ResultsOut of the total 599 mother–child dyads, 303 (50.58%) were girls. The factors associated with children's development were length‐for‐age Z‐score (cognitive: B = 1.21 [95% CI = 0.31, 2.11], P = 0.008; language: 1.67 [0.79, 2.55] P < 0.001; motor: 2.15 [1.01, 3.29] P < 0.001) and home environment (cognitive: 0.58 [0.27, 0.89] P < 0.001; language: 0.59 [0.27, 0.92], P < 0.001; motor: 0.44 [0.09, 0.79] P = 0.013). Girls had higher cognitive (1.90 [0.17, 3.6], P = 0.031) and language (2.53 [0.55, 4.51], P = 0.013) development compared with boys. Families with a higher number of under five children within the households had lower language (−1.57 [−2.78, −0.36], P = 0.011) development. Violence against the mother and the families' food security status were not associated with the children's development. Children's length‐for‐age Z‐score (27%) and home stimulation environment (23%) were the most important factors of cognitive development.ConclusionChildren's nutritional status and home environment are important factors for disadvantaged children's development in deprived urban settings of Bangladesh. Both early child development‐focussed parenting and nutrition interventions should be considered when designing child development programmes in urban settings in low‐ and middle‐income countries.

2023

Ellen Reeves; Kate Fitz-Gibbon; Silke Meyer; Sandra Walklate

Incredible Women: Legal Systems Abuse, Coercive Control, and the Credibility of Victim-Survivors Journal Article

In: Violence Against Women, 2023, ISSN: 1552-8448.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:

Naomi Pfitzner; Jasmine McGowan

Locked out or let in? Learning from victim-survivors’ remote help-seeking experiences during COVID-19 Journal Article

In: pp. 1–20, 2023, ISSN: 2398-6816.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:

Angie Bone; Prabhleen Kaur; Anthony Capon; Vivian Kwang‐wen Lin; Sione Tu'itahi; Kathryn Bowen; Nick Watts; Jane RW Fisher; Paul J Stewart; Helen Evans; Selina Namchee Lo

Advancing the Australian global health community's commitment to climate change and global health Journal Article

In: Medical Journal of Australia, vol. 219, no. 11, pp. 533–534, 2023, ISSN: 1326-5377.

Links | BibTeX | Tags:

Shelly Makleff; Madeleine Belfrage; Sethini Wickramasinghe; Jane Fisher; Deborah Bateson; Kirsten I. Black

Typologies of interactions between abortion seekers and healthcare workers in Australia: a qualitative study exploring the impact of stigma on quality of care Journal Article

In: BMC Pregnancy Childbirth, vol. 23, no. 1, 2023, ISSN: 1471-2393.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:

@article{Makleff2023,

title = {Typologies of interactions between abortion seekers and healthcare workers in Australia: a qualitative study exploring the impact of stigma on quality of care},

author = {Shelly Makleff and Madeleine Belfrage and Sethini Wickramasinghe and Jane Fisher and Deborah Bateson and Kirsten I. Black},

doi = {10.1186/s12884-023-05902-0},

issn = {1471-2393},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-12-00},

journal = {BMC Pregnancy Childbirth},

volume = {23},

number = {1},

publisher = {Springer Science and Business Media LLC},

abstract = {Abstract

                Background

                Abortion stigma involves the stereotyping of, discrimination against, and delegitimization of those who seek and provide abortion. Experiences of abortion care are shaped by stigma at the meso (e.g., lack of local providers) and macro (e.g., abortion regulations) levels. Yet abortion stigma and quality of care are often examined separately. This study sought to articulate the impact of abortion stigma on quality of care in the context of healthcare interactions. It did so by characterizing the features of stigmatizing and non-stigmatizing care in the context of macro-level stigma and other structural factors that influence abortion-seeking experiences, including the coronavirus pandemic’s influence on the health system.

              

                Methods

                This qualitative study comprised in-depth interviews with people who sought abortion across Australia between March 2020 and November 2022, recruited through social media and flyers in clinics. Thematic analysis drew on concepts of micro, meso, and macro stigma and person-centered care. We developed typologies of the interactions between abortion seekers and healthcare workers by analytically grouping together negative and positive experiences to characterize features of stigmatizing and and non-stigmatizing care in the context of macro-level influences.

              

                Results

                We interviewed 24 abortion seekers and developed five typologies of stigmatizing care: creating barriers; judging; ignoring emotional and information needs; making assumptions; and minimizing interactions. There are five corresponding positive typologies. Macro-level factors, from abortion regulations to rural and pandemic-related health system pressures, contributed to poor experiences in care.

              

                Conclusions

                The positive experiences in this study illustrate how a lack of stigma enables patient-centered care. The negative experiences reflect the interrelationship between stigmatizing beliefs among healthcare workers, macro-level (policy and regulatory) abortion stigma, and structural health service limitations exacerbated during the pandemic. Interventions are needed to reduce stigmatizing interactions between abortion seekers and healthcare workers, and should also consider macro-level factors that influence the behaviors of healthcare workers and experiences of abortion seekers. Without addressing stigma at multiple levels, equitable access to high-quality abortion care will be difficult to achieve. Efforts to integrate stigma reduction into quality improvement have relevance for maternal and reproductive health services globally.

              },

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}

Abstract
Background
Abortion stigma involves the stereotyping of, discrimination against, and delegitimization of those who seek and provide abortion. Experiences of abortion care are shaped by stigma at the meso (e.g., lack of local providers) and macro (e.g., abortion regulations) levels. Yet abortion stigma and quality of care are often examined separately. This study sought to articulate the impact of abortion stigma on quality of care in the context of healthcare interactions. It did so by characterizing the features of stigmatizing and non-stigmatizing care in the context of macro-level stigma and other structural factors that influence abortion-seeking experiences, including the coronavirus pandemic’s influence on the health system.

Methods
This qualitative study comprised in-depth interviews with people who sought abortion across Australia between March 2020 and November 2022, recruited through social media and flyers in clinics. Thematic analysis drew on concepts of micro, meso, and macro stigma and person-centered care. We developed typologies of the interactions between abortion seekers and healthcare workers by analytically grouping together negative and positive experiences to characterize features of stigmatizing and and non-stigmatizing care in the context of macro-level influences.

Results
We interviewed 24 abortion seekers and developed five typologies of stigmatizing care: creating barriers; judging; ignoring emotional and information needs; making assumptions; and minimizing interactions. There are five corresponding positive typologies. Macro-level factors, from abortion regulations to rural and pandemic-related health system pressures, contributed to poor experiences in care.

Conclusions
The positive experiences in this study illustrate how a lack of stigma enables patient-centered care. The negative experiences reflect the interrelationship between stigmatizing beliefs among healthcare workers, macro-level (policy and regulatory) abortion stigma, and structural health service limitations exacerbated during the pandemic. Interventions are needed to reduce stigmatizing interactions between abortion seekers and healthcare workers, and should also consider macro-level factors that influence the behaviors of healthcare workers and experiences of abortion seekers. Without addressing stigma at multiple levels, equitable access to high-quality abortion care will be difficult to achieve. Efforts to integrate stigma reduction into quality improvement have relevance for maternal and reproductive health services globally.

Seye Abimbola; Selina Namchee Lo; Paul Stewart; Brendan Crabb; Janine Mohamed; Helen Evans; Anushka Patel; Jane Fisher; Ian Anderson

Enshrining a First Nations Voice to Australian Parliament will advance global health equity Journal Article

In: The Lancet Global Health, vol. 11, no. 12, pp. e1844–e1846, 2023, ISSN: 2214-109X.

Links | BibTeX | Tags:

Maggie Kirkman; Amy Dobson; Karalyn McDonald; Amy Webster; Pramasari Wijaya; Jane Fisher

Health professionals’ and beauty therapists’ perspectives on female genital cosmetic surgery: an interview study Journal Article

In: BMC Women's Health, vol. 23, no. 1, 2023, ISSN: 1472-6874.

Abstract | Links | BibTeX | Tags:

@article{Kirkman2023,

title = {Health professionals’ and beauty therapists’ perspectives on female genital cosmetic surgery: an interview study},

author = {Maggie Kirkman and Amy Dobson and Karalyn McDonald and Amy Webster and Pramasari Wijaya and Jane Fisher},

doi = {10.1186/s12905-023-02744-y},

issn = {1472-6874},

year  = {2023},

date = {2023-12-00},

journal = {BMC Women's Health},

volume = {23},

number = {1},

publisher = {Springer Science and Business Media LLC},

abstract = {Abstract

                Background

                Female genital cosmetic surgery (FGCS) changes the structure and appearance of healthy external genitalia. We aimed to identify discourses that help explain and rationalise FGCS and to derive from them possibilities for informing clinical education.

              

                Methods

                We interviewed 16 health professionals and 5 non-health professionals who deal with women’s bodies using a study-specific semi-structured interview guide. We analysed transcripts using a three-step iterative process: identifying themes relevant to indications for FGCS, identifying the discourses within which they were positioned, and categorising and theorising discourses.

              

                Results

                We identified discourses that we categorised within four themes: Diversity and the Normal Vulva (diversity was both acknowledged and rejected); Indications for FGCS (Functional, Psychological, Appearance); Ethical Perspectives; and Reasons Women Seek FGCS (Pubic Depilation, Media Representation, Pornography, Advertising Regulations, Social Pressure, Genital Unfamiliarity).

              

                Conclusions

                Vulvar aesthetics constitute a social construct to which medical practice and opinion contribute and by which they are influenced; education and reform need to occur on all fronts. Resources that not only establish genital diversity but also challenge limited vulvar aesthetics could be developed in consultation with women, healthcare practitioners, mental health specialists, and others with knowledge of social constructs of women’s bodies.

              },

keywords = {},

pubstate = {published},

tppubtype = {article}

}