Biomedical subjects

D Ezzy

Publications and source records attributed to D Ezzy.

6 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed2001

Are qualitative methods misunderstood?

Qualitative research methods are increasingly utilised by health researchers. Along with this the criteria for assessing the quality of qualitative research are changing from a natural science model to an interpretative social science model. This is a product of the realisation by health researchers that qualitative methods utilise a different epistemology to statistical methods. I demonstrate that a recent article in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health draws on a now outdated natural science methodology of assessing bias in focus groups. Drawing on interpretativist social science theory and recent work in the British Medical Joumal I argue for the importance of examining the social contexts through which qualitative data is produced.

Anecdotes as Topic↗

PubMed2000

Illness narratives: time, hope and HIV.

Life threatening illness, such as HIV/AIDS, also threaten people's sense of identity and taken-for-granted assumptions about the temporal framing of their lives. In response, people often experience transformations in values, spirituality and life priorities. Drawing on a combined quantitative and qualitative study of people living with HIV/AIDS in Australia, three different narratives that people use to make sense of their illness experience are identified: linear restitution narratives, linear chaotic narratives and polyphonic narratives. Linear illness narratives colonise the future, assuming that the future can be controlled through human action. They emphasise a faith in medical science, tend to be secular and self-centred and assume the end of life to be in the distant future. Hope is focused on concrete outcomes such as improved health or material possessions. Linear narratives can be either restitutive or chaotic. Restitutive linear narratives anticipate a life that will mirror the narrative. Chaotic linear narratives anticipate a life that will fail to meet the linear ideal resulting in despair and depression. In contrast, polyphonic illness narratives are oriented toward the present, emphasising the unpredictability of the future. These narratives tend to include spiritual experiences, a communally oriented value system, and to recount increased self-understanding and the gaining of new insights as a consequence of their illness. Hope in polyphonic narratives is more abstract and focused on a celebration of mystery, surprise and creativity.

HIV Infections↗

PubMed2000

Alternative or complementary? Nonallopathic therapies for HIV/AIDS.

CONTEXT: Many people with HIV/AIDS use alternative therapies. Do they choose alternative therapies instead of allopathic therapies? OBJECTIVE: To examine patterns of use of allopathic therapies and alternative therapies among people living with HIV/AIDS. DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey of convenience sample. SETTING: Nonclinical setting in Australia. PARTICIPANTS: 925 men and women living with HIV/AIDS in Australia. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Correlates of choice of therapy included demographic variables, sources of information about treatment, and attitudes toward treatments and health management. RESULTS: 56% of people living with HIV/AIDS in Australia use alternative therapies. Attitudes toward both allopathic and alternative therapies were positive. The choice of allopathic and/or alternative therapies was related to disease progression. Choice of therapy was also related to attitudes toward allopathic and alternative therapies. Many users of alternative therapies believe that such therapies can alleviate the side effects of antiretroviral drugs. CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study suggest that rather than being used as an alternative to allopathic medicine, nonallopathic therapies are used by people living with HIV/AIDS as complementary therapies.

Adult↗

PubMed1999

Poverty, disease progression and employment among people living with HIV/AIDS in Australia.

A national survey of 925 people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Australia is used to examine the relationship between disease progression, employment status, poverty and economic hardship. While disease progression has some impact on economic hardship, employment status is found to be the strongest determinant of both poverty and economic hardship. The most commonly cited reasons for leaving work were psychosocial (71%), with declining health cited by half of respondents. It is therefore argued that psychosocial issues are at least as important as changes in health in causing unemployment and therefore poverty and economic hardship among PLWHA in Australia.

Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗

PubMed1998

Employment, accommodation, finances and combination therapy: the social consequences of living with HIV/AIDS in Australia.

The research reported here is of a study of the psychosocial impact of living with HIV/AIDS in Australia focusing on employment, accommodation and income in the environment of new treatments for HIV/AIDS. Many people experience profound changes to their lifestyle as a result of living with HIV/AIDS. In addition to detrimental changes in their health, many people experience major changes in their employment, accommodation, finances and relationships. The research highlights the significance of psychosocial factors along with changes in physical health in shaping PLWHAs (People Living with HIV/AIDS) changes in employment and accommodations. The new treatments now available for HIV/AIDS are further transforming people's attitudes, with many PLWHA considering returning to employment.

Adult↗

PubMed1993

Unemployment and mental health: a critical review.

Existing theoretical explanations of the mental health consequences of unemployment are outlined, critically reviewed and an alternative theory proposed. Theories reviewed include the rehabilitation approach, the stages model, Jahoda's functional model, Warr's vitamin model and Fryer's agency critique. A discussion of the effects of moderating variables--including the quality of work, work commitment and age--is used to assess the usefulness of these theoretical explanations. Most theories are found to deal inadequately with the temporal aspects of unemployment, the relationship between subjective experience and objective location and the complexity of the effects of moderating variables. In response to these inadequacies and in contrast to the predominant empiricist, psychological orientation, a middle range theory is proposed informed by a sociological perspective. The proposed theory conceptualises unemployment as a type of status passage and suggests an explanation of changes in mental health derived from identity theory.

Adaptation, Psychological↗