Educational Leaders’ Perceptions and Uses of School Climate Data

2021 ◽  
pp. 105268462110018
Author(s):  
Katrina J. Debnam ◽  
Kelly Edwards ◽  
Jennifer L. Maeng ◽  
Dewey Cornell

National interest in using school climate as an accountability measure makes it important to understand how school leaders view and make use of school climate data. The purpose of this study was to investigate how school and district administrators use climate data in Virginia, where a statewide school climate survey is annually administered. School principals ( N = 283) completed surveys concerning their use of the school climate results for their school. Simultaneously, semi-structured interviews were conducted with school division leaders and school administrators ( N = 10) to deepen our understanding of how the school climate results were being used. Qualitative content analysis was used to identify patterns in the data. Study results reflect a consensus by educational leaders on the utility of receiving school climate data in order to make data-based decisions to improve outcomes for students. Participants provided thoughtful and constructive feedback on the importance of student relationships, perceptions of student subgroups, comparing their data with other schools, and ways to facilitate data-based decision-making. Participants also expressed a desire for additional support in understanding statistical results and generating recommendations for school improvement. These findings suggest that increasing the clarity and comprehensiveness of school climate data reports and providing support for interpreting the results will increase educational leaders’ ability to use school climate surveys.

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hamid Safarpour ◽  
Saeideh Fooladlou ◽  
Meysam Safi Keykaleh ◽  
Somayyeh Mousavipour ◽  
Davoud Pirani ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Examining various problems after disasters is important for affected people. One of the most important problems after disasters is the management of humanitarian aid and donations among the affected people. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore Challenges and barriers of humanitarian aid management in 2017 Kermanshah Earthquake. Methods This study was conducted using conventional qualitative content analysis method. This study was carried out from November 2017 to January 2018. The data were collected through semi-structured interviews and purposeful sampling and continued until the saturation of the data. Data collection and analysis phases of research proceed simultaneously and with constant comparison. 21 people, including 6 humanitarian aid manager, 6 volunteers, 4 aid workers, and 5 affected people participated in the study. Results The findings of this study identified two categories and 12 sub-categories concerning challenges and barriers of humanitarian aid and donors’ management during the 2017 Kermanshah Earthquake. During the analysis process two main categories included management and policy barriers, and structural and operational barriers were extracted. Conclusions Effective management and proper policies in relation to humanitarian aid and the modifying of structural and operational barriers can resulted in improve performance and effective humanitarian aid management.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Sahlin

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine principals’ experience and sensemaking of collaboration with private companies, focussing on leadership and school improvement. Design/methodology/approach This paper is set against the backdrop of a project where three public Swedish schools collaborated with private companies within their communities. Data were collected over three years and consisted of semi-structured interviews, meeting notes, field observations, field notes and document analysis. A qualitative content analysis was performed using the Atlas.ti 6.2 software tool. Findings The study shows that important sensemaking for the principals in this collaboration between schools and private companies is related to the sense of collective responsibility and involvement, development of improvement culture and trust between key actors, and common improvement initiatives based on mutual interest. Challenges in the collaboration are related to principal changes, a lack of implementation of the collaboration, and that there was no clear vision of external collaboration in two out of three schools. In terms of possibilities, the collaboration was based on the needs of the school, a collaborative culture was developed, and the development/activities were undertaken between involved schools and private companies during the collaboration. Research limitations/implications Inevitably, there are limitations that need to be identified and recognised in this study. First, the small number of cases in this multiple case study, as well as the specific social context, limits the possibility of generalising the findings. Second, the study was not independently selected, and the findings and analyses are linked to national and local contexts, which can be seen as a limitation and strength. Notwithstanding, this study contributes with in-depth information about how a beyond-school collaboration with private companies is practised as well as how involved principals made sense of the collaboration from the perspective of school improvement. Originality/value The originality is the collaboration between schools and private companies. The paper contributes with new knowledge about how principals experience and make sense of this collaboration as a vehicle for school improvement.


Author(s):  
Parand Pourghane ◽  
Maryam Rajab pour Nikfam ◽  
Abbas Ebadi

The present study attempts to justify the factors inducing stress in the families of patients hospitalized in cardiac intensive care units in the east of Guilan province in Iran. The study aims at gaining an accurate understanding on these stressors for appropriate planning directed at removing or decreasing these tension-inducing components. The present study is a qualitative study based upon a conventional content analysis approach. The study population was selected through purposive sampling (28 family members of cardiac patients), and the data were gathered through semi-structured interviews. Data analysis was performed as per the stages recommended by Graneheim and Lundman (2004). The strength and scientific accuracy of the study was also established. The study yielded three main themes and seven sub-themes: Heavy shadow of illness (fear of loneliness on the caring path, fear of disease, poor personal knowledge); Hesitation in the treatment (doubting the efficiency of technology, ungenial healthcare providers); and Economic storm (high cost of treatment, potential economic problems). The study results indicated that patients’ families underwent stress in various areas, pointing to the need for providing adequate training and information on the disease to family members and caregivers, as well as the sympathy of healthcare providers on the treatment path for reducing the disease-associated tensions suffered by hospitalized patients’ families.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mahboobeh Asadi ◽  
Mahnaz Noroozi ◽  
Mousa Alavi

Abstract Background Numerous changes occur in different aspects of women’s lives in the postpartum period. Women’s adjusting with problems and taking advantage of this opportunity can develop their personality. In this regard, accurate knowledge of their experiences and feelings is necessary to help them to benefit from this period. Therefore, the present study aimed to explore the experiences related to postpartum changes in women. Methods In the present qualitative study, 23 participants, including women of childbearing age who gave birth and healthcare providers (midwives and obstetricians) in Isfahan, Iran were selected using purposive sampling with a maximum variation strategy. Data were collected through in-depth semi structured interviews, field notes, and daily notes, and simultaneously analyzed using the conventional qualitative content analysis. Results The data analysis results led to the extraction of three main categories including “feeling of decreased female attractiveness” (with two sub-categories of “ feeling of decreased beauty” and “feeling of decreased sexual function”), “feeling of insolvency and helplessness” (with two sub-categories of “physical burnout”, and “mental preoccupations”) and “beginning a new period in life” (with three sub-categories of “changing the meaning of life”, “feeling of maturity” and “deepening the communication”). Conclusions Findings of this study can provide a good context for designing interventions to improve the women’s quality of life by explaining and highlighting their experiences in the postpartum period. In this regard, providing sufficient empathy, social and psychological support from family members (especially husband), performing appropriate educational interventions and also regular assessment of women’s psychological state by healthcare providers in postpartum period can reduce their concerns and help to improve their health.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Åse Lundin ◽  
Anna Bergenheim

Abstract Background Suicide is a serious public health issue and one of the most common causes of death globally. Suicide has long-lasting impact on personal, relational, community and societal levels. Research has shown that patients often seek help in the primary healthcare system preceding a suicide. Studies exploring the experiences of encountering patients at risk for suicide have been performed among various categories of healthcare personnel, such as nurses and psychiatry residents as well as emergency room staff. There is a lack of research regarding primary healthcare rehabilitation staff, despite the fact that physiotherapists are the third largest health profession in the Western hemisphere and often work with patients experiencing mental health symptoms. The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of encountering patients at risk for suicide among physiotherapists working in a primary healthcare rehabilitation setting. Methods Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 13 physiotherapists working in primary healthcare rehabilitation clinics in the Gothenburg area, Sweden. The interviews were recorded on audio and transcribed into written text. A qualitative content analysis was performed on the material collected. Results The analysis of the material revealed an overarching theme, Through barriers and taboos – the physiotherapist finds a way, with five main categories: possibilities for identification, obstacles in meeting suicide, workplace environment matters, where does the patient belong? and education and experience are keys. Conclusions The present study indicates that physiotherapists in the primary healthcare system encounter patients experiencing suicidality, and they expressed a strong desire to care for both the physical and mental wellbeing of the patients. Despite reporting many barriers, the physiotherapists often found a way to form a meaningful therapeutic alliance with the patient and to ask about possible suicidality in their clinical practice. The result suggests that physiotherapists could play a larger role in working with patients experiencing suicidality in a primary healthcare setting and that they could be viewed as possible gatekeepers in identification as well as referral of these patients into other parts of the healthcare system.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M.-C. Audétat ◽  
S. Cairo Notari ◽  
J. Sader ◽  
C. Ritz ◽  
T. Fassier ◽  
...  

Abstract Background Primary care physicians are at the very heart of managing patients suffering from multimorbidity. However, several studies have highlighted that some physicians feel ill-equipped to manage these kinds of complex clinical situations. Few studies are available on the clinical reasoning processes at play during the long-term management and follow-up of patients suffering from multimorbidity. This study aims to contribute to a better understanding on how the clinical reasoning of primary care physicians is affected during follow-up consultations with these patients. Methods A qualitative research project based on semi-structured interviews with primary care physicians in an ambulatory setting will be carried out, using the video stimulated recall interview method. Participants will be filmed in their work environment during a standard consultation with a patient suffering from multimorbidity using a “button camera” (small camera) which will be pinned to their white coat. The recording will be used in a following semi-structured interview with physicians and the research team to instigate a stimulated recall. Stimulated recall is a research method that allows the investigation of cognitive processes by inviting participants to recall their concurrent thinking during an event when prompted by a video sequence recall. During this interview, participants will be prompted by different video sequence and asked to discuss them; the aim will be to encourage them to make their clinical reasoning processes explicit. Fifteen to twenty interviews are planned to reach data saturation. The interviews will be transcribed verbatim and data will be analysed according to a standard content analysis, using deductive and inductive approaches. Conclusion Study results will contribute to the scientific community’s overall understanding of clinical reasoning. This will subsequently allow future generation of primary care physicians to have access to more adequate trainings to manage patients suffering from multimorbidity in their practice. As a result, this will improve the quality of the patient’s care and treatments.


Author(s):  
Katharina Diehl ◽  
Tatiana Görig ◽  
Charlotte Jansen ◽  
Maike Carola Hruby ◽  
Annette B. Pfahlberg ◽  
...  

Pharmacists and pharmaceutical technicians play an important role in counselling customers regarding sunscreen use and sun protection measures. A potentially helpful tool that can be used during counselling is the ultraviolet index (UVI), which informs individuals when and what sun protection measures are needed at a specific place and time. Our aim in this qualitative study was to explore awareness, knowledge, and use of the UVI during counselling in pharmacies. We used semi-structured interviews with pharmacists and pharmaceutical technicians (n = 20) to answer our research questions. Interviews were audiotaped, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using qualitative content analysis. During the interviews pharmacists and pharmaceutical technicians revealed a lot of uncertainty and lack of knowledge regarding the UVI. Eight professionals were able to give a correct definition of UVI. Amongst others, the UVI was confused with sun protection factor. Overall, the UVI was hardly used during the counselling of customers. The UVI was developed to provide guidance when which type of sun protection is required to avoid detrimental effects of ultraviolet radiation. For effective implementation, both the general population and health professionals (e.g., pharmacists) have to increase their knowledge about the UVI. This would strengthen its use during professional counselling in pharmacies and may help to reduce the incidence of skin cancer over the long term.


2021 ◽  
pp. 030802262098847
Author(s):  
Tawanda Machingura ◽  
Chris Lloyd ◽  
Karen Murphy ◽  
Sarah Goulder ◽  
David Shum ◽  
...  

Introduction Current non-pharmacological treatment options for people with schizophrenia are limited. There is, however, emerging evidence that sensory modulation can be beneficial for this population. This study aimed to gain insight into sensory modulation from the user’s and the treating staff’s perspectives. Method A qualitative content analysis design was used. Transcripts from occupational therapists ( n=11) and patients with schizophrenia ( n=13) derived from in-depth semi-structured interviews were analysed for themes using content analysis. Results Five themes emerged from this study: Service user education on the sensory approach is the key; A variety of tools should be tried; Sensory modulation provides a valued treatment option; There are challenges of managing perceived risk at an organisational level; and There is a shortage of accessible and effective training. Conclusion People with schizophrenia and treating staff had congruent perceptions regarding the use of sensory modulation as a treatment option. The findings suggest that sensory modulation can be a valued addition to treatment options for people with schizophrenia. We suggest further research on sensory modulation intervention effectiveness using quantitative methods so these results can be further explored.


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