| Project title |
Living with Chronic Pancreatitis |
| Summary |
Abstract
Living with chronic pancreatitis: a hermeneutic inquiry
The purpose of this hermeneutic inquiry was to develop an understanding and construct a meaning of living with chronic pancreatitis. The study was conceived of the researcher's belief that little was known about how people with a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis and their families live and manage. Recent international literature acknowledges the impact of this progressive and debilitating disease on psychological and social well-being and efforts have been directed at assessing health-related quality of life. However, in Ireland no comparable work could be located and it was proposed that the plight of those with a diagnosis of chronic pancreatitis remains unknown and hidden. Therefore, it was proposed that through exposition of the everyday contextualised and culturally situated lives of individuals and their families who are living with the condition, a new understanding would be constructed that might have implications for healthcare professionals and the practice of caring for those who live with chronic pancreatitis.
Philosophical hermeneutics after Gadamer was chosen to guide and direct the study as its focus was in keeping with the aim of hermeneutics, which is to search for meaning in everyday human experiences and bring to the fore what is normally hidden. A purposeful sample was drawn from a population who were in the care of one hospital consultant and who had been diagnosed, and were living, with chronic pancreatitis. Family members who were willing to be included were identified by the primary participants. Fourteen primary participants and five family members were recruited to the study. Multiple, unstructured, formal interviews were the primary source of data and analysed using a hermeneutic analytical framework.
In this study, the meaning of living with chronic pancreatitis is 'enduring disruption’. Enduring, as it is represented has a two-fold meaning. It symbolises the perpetual or permanent nature of disruption that occurs at physiological, social and psychological levels and determined herein as ‘suffering’. Enduring, also means ‘to cope with’ and/or ‘to tolerate’ and encompasses how the participants and their families cope with the perceived restrictions arising from the condition, their capacity to tolerate them and the strategies developed to manage them, within the overall transition from well person to a person with chronic pancreatitis. Transition to being a person with chronic pancreatitis is a process of assimilation and acceptance of a life permanently altered and a realisation that a return to their ‘old’ normal is no longer possible. Together, suffering and transition form the whole of ‘enduring disruption’.
This is the first study in Ireland that has included those who live with chronic pancreatitis and although the findings achieve idiographic generalisability only, they have some relevance for those living with the condition and those involved in their care. Primarily, this study offers an alternative perspective to the previous quality of life research in chronic pancreatitis and presents a challenge to the emphasis on the management of the pathophysiological processes of disease and treatment that is decontextualised from the person’s everyday living. It expands understanding of the complex and multidimensional experience that is living with chronic pancreatitis and reflects the efforts individuals make to strive for an acceptable life quality. The findings also call for recognition of the condition at strategic and policy level in Ireland, if the needs of those living with it are to be met. Recommendations for service provision, education and the future direction of nursing research in this underdeveloped area of practice are made.
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| Funding Agency |
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| Programme |
MSc/PhD |
| Type of Project |
Hermeneutic Phenomenology |
| Date from |
April 2005 |
| Date to |
April 2009 |
| Person Months |
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| Project title |
The Experience and Needs of Former Family Carers |
| Summary |
Between Worlds: The Experiences and Needs of Former Family Carers
Study aim: Describe the experiences and needs of former family carers in the post-caring/care transitions period.
Definition: Former family carers are defined as family members who provided physical and/or social care to a family member with an illness or disability in the home for at least six months prior to nursing home/hospice placement or death.
Overarching research question: What are the experiences and needs of former family carers in the post-caring/care transitions period?
Specific research questions:
1. What are family carers’ needs in relation to the period following the cessation of caring?
2. What are family carers’ experiences in relation to the period following the cessation of caring?
3. What are family carers’ perceptions of factors affecting their life quality in the period following the cessation of caring?
4. What interventions do family carers believe would improve their life quality in the period following the cessation of caring?
Methodology
This was a qualitative study of the lived experience of former carers. With support from Care Alliance Ireland and the Carers Association, a total of 40 former family carers were identified and recruited. There were two groups: an initial group of 14 participants who formed a focus group and 26 additional carers were subsequently selected for individual interviews.
Sample: Seven male and 19 female former carers agreed to individual interviews; their mean age was 57 years but they ranged in age from 33 to 81 years old. The length of time spent caring for the care receiver ranged from six months to 27 years, with a mean of seven years nine months. Most were caring for either a parent or a spouse. Death of the care receiver was the reason for post-caring/care transitions for 25 of the 26 interviews. At the time of interview, the length of time since the post-caring/care transitions ranged from three months to six years with a mean of two years.
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| Funding Agency |
IRCHSS/Care Alliance Ireland |
| Programme |
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| Type of Project |
Qualitative Study |
| Date from |
Feb 2010 |
| Date to |
Dec 2010 |
| Person Months |
3 |
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| Project title |
Secondary analysis of Felt Stigma in Chronic Illness |
| Summary |
This project involves the analysis of data collected as part of two PhD studies; Living with Chronic Pancreatitis: A Hermeneutic Inquiry’ and ‘Dying to breathe: A Conversation at the Crossroads of Respiratory and Palliative Nursing Care – An Action Research Project’. The findings from both studies pointed to felt-stigma among the participants that may be associated with the perceived links between these two conditions and personal behaviour: high alcohol intake and smoking respectively. This secondary analysis will aid understanding of the role of stigma in illness experiences. It will also identify risk factors for delays in seeking treatment and will inform approaches to care. |
| Funding Agency |
None |
| Programme |
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| Type of Project |
Secondary Analysis |
| Date from |
June 2012 |
| Date to |
Ongoing |
| Person Months |
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| Project title |
An analysis of practice-based critical incidents identified by student nurses and midwives. |
| Summary |
The aim of this study is to undertake an analysis of the practice-based critical incidents identified by student nurses and midwives as part of their reflective learning with the overall purpose of gaining insight into areas of clinical practice that address or challenge them. The study is a qualitative descriptive analysis of the students’ chosen topics. All nursing (General, Intellectual Disability, Mental Health, Children’s) and midwifery students in their final year (n=235) were invited to participate. Data was collected by means of a self-administered questionnaire. The study is now in the data analysis phase. |
| Funding Agency |
None |
| Programme |
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| Type of Project |
Research Project |
| Date from |
September 2012 |
| Date to |
Ongoing |
| Person Months |
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Coughlan, M. Cronin, P. and Ryan, F., Doing a Literature Review in Nursing, Health and Social Care, 1st, London, Sage Publications, 2013, 1 - 168pp
Notes: [Published March 2013] |
Cronin, P., Begley, C., Living with Chronic Pancreatitis: A qualitative study. , Chronic Illness, epub ahead of print, 2012
Url |
| McCabe, C., Cronin, P. , Issues for researchers to consider when using health related quality of life outcomes in cancer research., European Journal of Cancer Care, 20, 2011, p563 - 569 |
| Nicol, M., Bavin, C., Cronin, P., Rawlings-Anderson, K, Essential Nursing Skills, 3rd, Edinburgh, Elsevier, 2008, 361pp |
| Cronin, P. and Rawlings-Anderson, K., Knowledge for contemporary nursing practice, Edinburgh, Mosby, 2004, 1-181pp |
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