scholarly journals What Are the Positives? Exploring Positive Welfare Indicators in a Qualitative Interview Study with Livestock Farmers

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (9) ◽  
pp. 694 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Vigors ◽  
Alistair Lawrence

To support the furtherance of positive animal welfare, there is a need to develop meaningful and practical positive welfare indicators for on-farm welfare assessment. Considering the perspectives of farmers is arguably critical in this regard. Doing so helps ensure positive welfare indicators reflect farmers’ existing welfare norms and attitudes and, are thus, of practical relevance to them. However, a key issue for such development is the dearth of knowledge on farmers’ perspectives of positive welfare. To address this, this study uses qualitative interviews to directly examine livestock farmers’ perspectives of positive welfare. Findings reveal that farmers describe elements of positive welfare which are broadly in line with indicators suggested in the positive welfare literature. These elements include animal autonomy, play, positive affect, positive human-animal relationships, social interaction, and appropriate genetic selection. Additionally, this study finds that farmers construct the reduction of negative aspects of welfare as their primary management concern and mostly construct positive welfare as arising indirectly from this. Insights into the importance that farmers of different sectors and systems give to different aspects of positive welfare indicators are also explored. The implications of these findings and the similitudes between farmers’ perspectives and the positive welfare literature are discussed.

Animals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 147 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Vigors

Human perception can depend on how an individual frames information in thought and how information is framed in communication. For example, framing something positively, instead of negatively, can change an individual’s response. This is of relevance to ‘positive animal welfare’, which places greater emphasis on farm animals being provided with opportunities for positive experiences. However, little is known about how this framing of animal welfare may influence the perception of key animal welfare stakeholders. Through a qualitative interview study with farmers and citizens, undertaken in Scotland, UK, this paper explores what positive animal welfare evokes to these key welfare stakeholders and highlights the implications of such internal frames for effectively communicating positive welfare in society. Results indicate that citizens make sense of positive welfare by contrasting positive and negative aspects of welfare, and thus frame it as animals having ‘positive experiences’ or being ‘free from negative experiences’. Farmers draw from their existing frames of animal welfare to frame positive welfare as ‘good husbandry’, ‘proactive welfare improvement’ or the ‘animal’s point of view’. Implications of such internal frames (e.g., the triggering of ‘negative welfare’ associations by the word ‘positive’) for the effective communication of positive welfare are also presented.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 160940692096540
Author(s):  
S. T. Kulnik ◽  
J. Egbunike ◽  
J. Francois

As healthcare researchers conducting qualitative interviews, we might encounter participants who make remarks or display behaviors which go against principles of valuing diversity, equality and human rights; in other words, remarks and behaviors which could indicate racist, homophobic, xenophobic, islamophobic, sexist, misogynist, classist, etc. views and attitudes. In this article, we offer our reflections on how as researchers we might deal with such situations. We draw on methodological literature and on our own experiences as researchers, educators and practitioners in healthcare, to provide a critical discussion around researcher awareness and anticipation of emotional triggers, management and leadership of research, and understanding of ethics and legal frameworks of equality. We summarize and signpost toward methodological views under which such instances might be considered, including interpretivist and constructivist interpretations, and the concepts of positionality and adversarial discourse. Lastly, we offer practical suggestions for dealing with such occurrences in the context of qualitative research studies in healthcare, and for using researcher reflexivity as a strategy to surface and work through these situations. We hope that this article will provide accessible theoretical and practical guidance, for example to healthcare professionals who embark on their first qualitative interview study as part of a postgraduate course. Equally, we hope that this article will be of interest to more experienced researchers and invite further critical examination of the issues we highlight.


2019 ◽  
Vol 70 (691) ◽  
pp. e130-e137
Author(s):  
Mitesh Patel ◽  
Siang Ing Lee ◽  
Nick J Levell ◽  
Peter Smart ◽  
Joe Kai ◽  
...  

BackgroundCellulitis can sometimes be challenging for healthcare professionals to diagnose, with no validated diagnostic criteria available. Supporting healthcare professionals to make a more accurate diagnosis of cellulitis in different groups, such as those with lymphoedema, is a cellulitis research priority. However, to the authors knowledge, no previous studies have looked at the involvement of non-healthcare professionals in the diagnostic process.AimTo explore the experience of people with lymphoedema and recurrent cellulitis in the diagnosis of lower-limb cellulitis.Design and settingSingle, semi-structured, qualitative interviews carried out between 29 October and 19 December 2018.MethodAdults with a suspected episode of cellulitis who had been diagnosed in the last 12 months or had a history of recurrent cellulitis were interviewed.ResultsThree key themes emerged: the recurrent nature of cellulitis symptoms, participants’ experience of getting a cellulitis diagnosis, and participants’ suggestions of how cellulitis diagnosis might be improved. Generally, people with lymphoedema experienced similar clinical features during each of their own recurrent cellulitis episodes and were confident that they could make a self-diagnosis of cellulitis. This is also reflected in the participants’ perceived trust from the healthcare professional in being able to make a self-diagnosis. A diagnostic checklist and educational resources were suggested as methods to improve diagnosis.ConclusionSelected people with lymphoedema who have recurrent cellulitis are confident in self-diagnosing their own recurrent cellulitis episodes. There may be a role for greater involvement of people with lymphoedema in their cellulitis diagnosis.


Author(s):  
Ashley Brown ◽  
Rachel O’Donnell ◽  
Douglas Eadie ◽  
Allison Ford ◽  
Danielle Mitchell ◽  
...  

Abstract Introduction E-cigarettes were one measure introduced to help people in custody (PiC) to prepare for and cope with implementation of comprehensive smokefree policies in Scottish prisons. Our earlier study explored experiences of vaping when e-cigarettes were first introduced and most participants were dual tobacco and e-cigarette users. Here we present findings of a subsequent study of vaping among a different sample of PiC when use of tobacco was prohibited in prison, and smokefree policy had become the norm. Methods Twenty eight qualitative interviews were conducted with PiC who were current or former users of e-cigarettes in prison, 6-10 months after implementation of a smokefree policy. Data were managed and analysed using the framework approach. Results PiC reported that vaping helped with mandated smoking abstinence. However, findings suggest that some PiC may be susceptible to heavy e-cigarette use potentially as a consequence of high nicotine dependence and situational factors such as e-cigarette product choice and availability in prisons; issues with nicotine delivery; prison regimes; and use of e-cigarettes for managing negative emotions. These factors may act as barriers to cutting down or stopping use of e-cigarettes by PiC who want to make changes due to dissatisfaction with vaping or lack of interest in continued use of nicotine, cost and/or health concerns. Conclusions E-cigarettes helped PiC to cope with smokefree rules, although concerns about e-cigarette efficacy, cost and safety were raised. PiC may desire or benefit both from conventional smoking cessation programmes, and interventions to support reduction, or cessation, of vaping.


2019 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 764-783
Author(s):  
Frederike Ambagtsheer ◽  
Linde Van Balen

This article presents the results of a qualitative interview study amongst 41 Dutch transplant professionals. The overarching aim was to acquire in-depth understanding of transplant professionals’ experiences with and attitudes towards patients who purchase kidneys. We found that transplant professionals occasionally treat patients who are suspected of kidney purchases abroad. However, they turn a blind eye to their patients’ suspected purchases. Secrecy and silence function as a tacit agreement between patients and their caregivers that keeps the subject of kidney purchase at a safe distance and allows transplant professionals to ignore its suspected occurrence. They thus participate in the building of walls of secrecy and silence in the organ trade.


BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (7) ◽  
pp. e045469
Author(s):  
Rachel Stocker ◽  
Siân Russell ◽  
Jennifer Liddle ◽  
Robert O Barker ◽  
Adam Remmer ◽  
...  

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic has taken a heavy toll on the care home sector, with residents accounting for up to half of all deaths in Europe. The response to acute illness in care homes plays a particularly important role in the care of residents during a pandemic. Digital recording of a National Early Warning Score (NEWS), which involves the measurement of physical observations, started in care homes in one area of England in 2016. Implementation of a NEWS intervention (including equipment, training and support) was accelerated early in the pandemic, despite limited evidence for its use in the care home setting.ObjectivesTo understand how a NEWS intervention has been used in care homes in one area of North-East England during the COVID-19 pandemic, and how it has influenced resident care, from the perspective of stakeholders involved in care delivery and commissioning.MethodsA qualitative interview study with care home (n=10) and National Health Service (n=7) staff. Data were analysed using thematic analysis.ResultsUse of the NEWS intervention in care homes in this area accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Stakeholders felt that NEWS, and its associated education and support package, improved the response of care homes and healthcare professionals to deterioration in residents’ health during the pandemic. Healthcare professionals valued the ability to remotely monitor resident observations, which facilitated triage and treatment decisions. Care home staff felt empowered by NEWS, providing a common clinical language to communicate concerns with external services, acting as an adjunct to staff intuition of resident deterioration.ConclusionsThe NEWS intervention formed an important part of the care home response to COVID-19 in the study area. Positive staff perceptions now need to be supplemented with data on the impact on resident health and well-being, workload, and service utilisation, during the pandemic and beyond.


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