Conectar
The Developmental Origin of Health and Disease framework emphasises the intergenerational influence of both maternal and paternal factors on the perinatal and longer-term outcomes of offspring. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have driven major advances in family and health research across Australia, including longitudinal studies grounded in community priorities. Despite this progress, few birth cohort studies have focused on Indigenous families and even fewer have examined the health and well-being of Indigenous fathers.
The Indigenous Queensland Family Cohort (I-QFC) study is a prospective, longitudinal birth cohort study that commenced in 2021, recruiting Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander families from the Mater Mothers’ Hospital in Brisbane, Australia. This feasibility study forms part of the larger QFC study to understand the acceptability and practical considerations of including Indigenous families in a birth cohort study. Participants include pregnant individuals, their partners (where applicable), and their infants, followed from pregnancy to 6 weeks post partum. Data collection involved self-administered and researcher-facilitated surveys, alongside biological sample collection.
The study enrolled 103 pregnant participants and 64 partners and outlined the study design and baseline characteristics. Survey completion rates were high for antenatal and birth-related data collection when facilitated by Indigenous research staff (>94%). In contrast, completion declined substantially at later time points and among partners, with only 35 mothers completing the 6-week survey post partum and progressive participant attrition observed across the study period. Variation in biological sample provision and longitudinal follow-up provided important insights into cultural, logistical and relational factors influencing engagement in family-based cohort research. Biological sample collection was more limited, with few participants contributing across multiple time points. Participants were influenced by cultural considerations, including the spiritual significance of placental tissue, as well as perceptions among male partners’ belief that their involvement in perinatal research was unnecessary.
By adopting a family-centred approach, I-QFC provides insights into culturally grounded research with Indigenous families, with the potential to strengthen health and well-being across generations. As such, these findings are currently used to inform the development of a forthcoming co-design birth cohort study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in Queensland, Australia.
To explore the lived experiences of nurses and patients co-producing evidence-based care for long-term conditions, and to understand how they make sense of this process within relational, emotional and organisational contexts.
A qualitative study using the Interpretative Phenomenological Approach.
Semistructured interviews were conducted with 20 participants, comprising 11 registered nurses and 9 adult patients living with at least one Long-Term Condition. Participants were recruited from primary and secondary care settings across the Midlands, England. Data were collected between February and August 2023 and analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Approach's iterative and inductive framework.
Five experiential themes were identified: (1) weaving together different knowledges, (2) the relational foundations of co-production, (3) organisational pressures and misalignments, (4) shifting identities and power dynamics and (5) emotional and ethical complexity in co-producing care. Participants described co-production as a deeply relational and negotiated process, shaped by trust, vulnerability and shared decision-making.
Co-producing evidence-based care in Long-Term Condition management involves more than implementing guidelines. It is a relational, emotional and contextual practice that requires shared interpretation of evidence, deep listening and responsiveness to individual lives. Findings suggest a need to reframe evidence-based practice as a co-creative process grounded in relational ethics and contextual awareness.
Findings emphasise the centrality of relational competence and organisational flexibility in enabling co-produced care. Findings call for educational and policy reforms that value emotional labour, professional humility and patient knowledge as essential to evidence-based nursing. Internationally, this work provides a grounded model for integrating person-centred approaches into chronic care delivery and policy.
The study offers a relational model of evidence-based practice that moves beyond protocol-driven care to one shaped through dialogue, empathy and contextual negotiation, offering practical insights for transforming professional roles and health systems globally.
Patient representatives contributed to study design, development of interview guides and interpretation of findings to ensure alignment with lived experiences.
This study follows the SRQR guideline.
Investigate the perception of male accessibility to the fields of nursing practice by those studying or teaching nursing in England.
Cross-sectional survey.
Online questionnaire with three closed-scale questions and two open-text questions designed to elicit perceptions on the accessibility of men to the fields of nursing practice. The questionnaire was distributed to the staff and students at 61 nursing schools in England. Inferential and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the closed questions data and inductive content analysis was used to analyse open-text questions data.
Students (n = 52) and staff (n = 51) responded to the survey. Adult (Mdn = 6, IQR = 2) and mental health (Mdn = 6, IQR = 2) were perceived as the most accessible fields of nursing practice to men, and child (Mdn = 4, IQR = 2) the least. Specialised practice areas in acute and emergency (Mdn = 6, IQR = 2), education (Mdn = 6, IQR = 2), leadership (Mdn = 7, IQR = 1), prison services (Mdn = 7, IQR = 1), and research (Mdn = 7, IQR = 2) were rated the most accessible to men and neonatal care (Mdn = 3, IQR = 3) the least. Societal stereotyping and stigma were seen as barriers to men entering the nursing profession. The perception that nursing is a feminised profession persists and a distrust of men is associated with child nursing. Men were viewed as progressing to leadership roles with greater ease than women.
Societal level stereotyping and stigma are perceived as prevalent in nursing practice areas considered less accessible to men entering the nursing profession.
This study adds insight into the gendered nature of nursing and highlights the barriers to men entering a profession with a workforce crisis.
STROBE cross-sectional studies guidelines. COREQ guidelines for content analysis.
No patient or public contribution.
FreshRSS 