Rebecca E. Olson

Interprofessional education in allied health: a systematic review.

During the past decade, several studies have systematically reviewed interprofessional education (IPE), but few have inclusively reviewed this literature. None has focused primarily on IPE in allied health, despite differences in recruitment and socialisation across the health professions. This systematic review seeks to uncover the best approach to pre‐licensure, university‐based allied health IPE to determine which aspects require modification in which contexts to provide optimal learning experiences.

A Rough Road Map to Reflexivity in Qualitative Research into Emotions

In qualitative research into emotions, researchers and participants share emotion-laden interactions. Few demonstrate how the analytic value of emotions may be harnessed. In this article we provide an account of our emotional experiences conducting research with two groups: adults living with cystic fibrosis and spouse caregivers of cancer patients. We describe our emotion work during research interviews, and discuss its methodological and theoretical implications. Reflections depict competing emotion norms in qualitative research. Experiences of vulnerability and involuntary “emotional callusing” illustrate the insight into participants’ experiences afforded to us through emotion work. This prompted us to extend Hochschild’s theory to incorporate unconscious activity mediated through habitus, allowing us to demonstrate how the “emotional” nature of emotions research can galvanize analytic insight.

Is cancer care dependant on informal carers

Over the past half century, medical care has become less institutionalised, more autonomous, equitable and less costly. This has led to a shift from hospital-based delivery to community care. This paper examines the experiences of Canberra-based carers following this shift using interview data from a longitudinal qualitative study of 32 informal carers of a spouse with cancer. Cancer patients experienced poorly coordinated care. When carers observed the effects of errors and miscommunication on patients, they felt compelled to coordinate patient care. Interview data suggest that informal carers of cancer patients are relied upon to manage patient care at home and in hospitals, but are not supported in undertaking this responsibility. This implies that carers should be a far more central focus in cancer care reform strategies.

How would an egalitarian health care system operate? Power and conflict in interprofessional education.

Recently, I initiated a study into interprofessional education (IPE) that involved the qualitative evaluation of an interdisciplinary team simulation. Recruitment of allied health and nursing students was straightforward; we approached teaching staff about advertising the study on their unit websites and in lectures. Recruitment of medical students was more difficult. Although I had secured ethics approval from the University, the School of Medicine required additional approval by an internal committee. For the team competition, we successfully included students from a range of health professions, such as nursing, physiotherapy, podiatry, Chinese medicine, medicine and psychology. However, no medical students volunteered for the qualitative portion of the study.Recently, I initiated a study into interprofessional education (IPE) that involved the qualitative evaluation of an interdisciplinary team simulation. Recruitment of allied health and nursing students was straightforward; we approached teaching staff about advertising the study on their unit websites and in lectures. Recruitment of medical students was more difficult. Although I had secured ethics approval from the University, the School of Medicine required additional approval by an internal committee. For the team competition, we successfully included students from a range of health professions, such as nursing, physiotherapy, podiatry, Chinese medicine, medicine and psychology. However, no medical students volunteered for the qualitative portion of the study.

Introduction: Methodological Innovations in the Sociology of Emotions Part Two – Methods

An ongoing challenge within the sociology of emotions is the accurate capture, measurement, and understanding of emotions in social contexts. Situated emotions can be fleeting, and elude recall. They reflect both individual feelings and cultural expectations; and they incorporate physiological and bodily changes that can occur beyond awareness. However, our empirical methods often rely on memory, and our analyses are largely narrative, thematic, and discursive. This special section, the second of two on methodological innovations in the sociology of emotions, offers practical responses to these difficulties by examining methods for studying emotions in real time as social phenomena. Contributors break away from predefined lists of emotions, avoiding methods that rely solely on recall. Bellocchi (2015), Patulny (2015), and Roach Anleu, Bergman Blix, and Mack (2015) underscore the importance of sequential and mixed methods for accessing subjects’ emotional experiences. In following on from our first section’s emphasis on the significance of researchers’ own emotions (Fitzpatrick & Olson, 2015; Holmes, 2015; Iedema & Carroll, 2015), the authors here examine the researchers’ statuses as insider and outsider in accessing emotions that might otherwise be denied by participants or unrecognizable to researchers (Godbold, 2015; Roach Anleu et al., 2015). Prosser (2015) extends the distinction between research on and research with emotions, offering “mythopoetic” suggestions for treating participants and researchers as involved in a coconstruction of emotion. Several articles employ emergent technologies and survey methodologies to study social emotions, taking advantage of opportunities provided by video (Bellocchi, 2015) and online groups (Godbold, 2015). Following cutting-edge advances within neuroscience and bio-physiology, Clay-Warner and Robinson (2015) use infrared thermography to access both physiological and interactionist measurements of emotions. And Patulny (2015) employs new methods in the measurement of time and emotions in social contexts using national survey data. The result is a range of new ways to access data on emotions. Lively (2015) describes the collection as capturing four key factors of emotion: meaning, expression, label, and physiology. As the sociology of emotions “mature[s]” (von Scheve & von Luede, 2005, p. 303), new methods are required to foster its development, ensuring theoretical and empirical cross-fertilization. Together with our previous special section, we aim to foster this advancement.

Why few older adults participate in complex motor skills: a qualitative study of older adults’ perceptions of difficulty and challenge

BackgroundMaintaining neuromotor fitness across the life course is imperative. It can reduce falls in older individuals and improve/maintain physical and cognitive functioning. Complex motor skills (CMS) are involved in many physical activities (e.g., ball games, dance), which can improve neuromotor fitness. However, few older adults participate in CMS. This study aimed to understand how older adults perceive the degree of difficulty and challenge, using Gentile’s taxonomy of motor skills as a framework.MethodsSix focus groups (FGs) were conducted with older adults (aged 61–92 years; N = 36) using a semi-structured question guide, to explore older adults’ perceptions of difficulty and challenges associated with physical activity types. FGs were conducted in three villages and community groups in Sydney, Australia. Verbatim transcripts were coded inductively following a grounded theory approach to analysis to discover categories and concepts based on participants’ views.ResultsOlder adults perceived physical effort and pace as influencing difficulty where as challenging activities were not found to hinder older adults’ willingness to participate. Other challenges in performing activities were attributed to: skill level, environment conditions (e.g., pool versus ocean swimming) and variations influencing complexity. Social and interpersonal issues, such as embarrassment, rapport with instructors, prior experience/ familiarity, in addition to physical effort, were other central features of older adults’ perceptions of physical activities. Themes that appeared to increase the likelihood of participation in CMS were: age appropriate modification; enjoyment; social aspects; past experience; and having experienced instructors.ConclusionsThis study offers recommendations for increasing participation in CMS. Modifying activities to suit ability and age and increasing exposure during the life span may help maintain participation into old age. Gentile’s taxonomy provides an appropriate framework for classifying activities as simple or complex, which were recognised by participants on a descriptive level. Existing and new sports, which have been modified for old age, should be made available to older adults. Within the motor learning literature, the focus on older adults is limited. If activity complexity translates to improved cognitive abilities as well as improved individual neuromotor performance, the challenge of modifying activities to suit older adults’ preferences needs to be addressed.

Developing cultural competence through self-reflection in interprofessional education: Findings from an Australian university

ABSTRACT Interprofessional education and cultural competence are both necessary for health professionals working in interprofessional teams serving diverse populations. Using a pre–post-survey case series design, this study evaluates a novel learning activity designed to encourage self-reflection and cultural competence in an Australian interprofessional education context. Undergraduate health professional students in a large subject viewed three 7–15 minute videos featuring interviews with persons of a minority cultural, linguistic, or sexual group who were living with a disability or managing a health condition. Immediately afterwards, students in interprofessional groups completed a structured activity designed to promote interprofessional and cultural reflection. A localised version of a validated scale measured cultural competence before and after the learning activity. Results suggest the value of video-based learning activities based on real-life examples for improving cultural competence. Despite initially rating themselves highly, 64% of students (n = 273) improved their overall cultural competence, though only by M = 0.13, SD = 0.08, of a 5-point rating-scale interval. A nuanced approach to interpreting results is warranted; even slight increases may indicate improved cultural competence. Suggestions for improving the effectiveness of video-based cultural competence learning activities, based on qualitative findings, are provided. Overall the findings attest to the merit of group discussion in cultural competence learning activities in interprofessional education settings. However, the inclusion of group discussions within such learning activities should hinge on group dynamics.

Changes in professional human care work: The case of nurse practitioners in Australia

Abstract Recently, the Australian Government has provided significant support for the expansion of Nurse Practitioner services in the community. As a result, the emerging role and ongoing retention of these professionals is an area for policy investigation. However, there is also a broader significance in the Nurse Practitioner role for which sociological perspectives can provide insight. Sociologists identify two key characteristics of late-modernism as the rise in service work and the emphasis on service worker knowledge as a commodity. This paper argues that the Nurse Practitioner role is an embodiment of these trends. Specifically, the paper considers the expanding Nurse Practitioner role as an example of the shifting boundaries between human care professionals. The paper argues that these changes point to a need for renewed consideration of identity, interaction, negotiation and emotion in relation to professional human care work. It concludes by considering conceptual resources that could support new sociological understandings of the Nurse Practitioner role in the future.

Reimagining health professional socialisation: an interactionist study of interprofessional education

ABSTRACT The literature on interprofessional education (IPE) in allied health has historically been atheoretical and dominated by interventionist approaches using survey-based methods. Little is known about the social and contextual factors underpinning university-based interprofessional socialisation across allied health degrees. Using Holland et al.’s theory of ‘identities as practice’ and in-depth interview data from 19 students, we analyse first year Australian allied health students’ experiences of university-based IPE. Doing so unlocks a reimagination of IPE as both a top-down and bottom-up process of ongoing professional self-discovery mediated by university contexts and health curricula. This contradicts the preliminary sociological theorisation that has been employed in understanding IPE thus far, depicting professional socialisation as inculcation. Furthermore, findings highlight the importance of student and context characteristics beyond profession to understanding variations in allied health students’ experiences of IPE. These characteristics include friendships, age, distance from campus and curriculum design. Thus, this article demonstrates the merits of shifting the gaze within studies of IPE to incorporate interactionist conceptualisations of the overt and ‘hidden curricula’. It demonstrates the benefits of qualitative analysis to advancing the social and health care change agendas underpinning IPE.

The sociology of emotions: A meta-reflexive review of a theoretical tradition in flux

Based in a novel ‘meta-reflexive’ review of sociology of emotions (SoE) articles, we suggest that there are two primary SoE theoretical traditions that function within geographic silos: the USA is distinctly social psychological, while in the UK and Australia, SoE is more aligned with the humanities. In both traditions, parallel calls are emerging for interdisciplinarity and further engagement with physiological and pre-personal elements of emotion. Based in Archer’s and Bourdieu’s concepts of reflexivity, we assert the merits of reflexively examining SoE, and then identify key changes in SoE that have emerged across time and geography. Using Kuhn’s work on paradigm shifts, we conclude that SoE is entering a stage of growth and change, and raise important questions about the subdiscipline’s future direction.