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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Perceived Stigma Among Family Members Of Persons Suffering From Mental Illness: A Narrative Exploration From West Bengal, India, Bidisha Banerjee, Shikha Dixit Apr 2021

Perceived Stigma Among Family Members Of Persons Suffering From Mental Illness: A Narrative Exploration From West Bengal, India, Bidisha Banerjee, Shikha Dixit

The Qualitative Report

In this paper, we report the findings of a qualitative study that, aims to understand the family members’ subjective experiences with perceived stigma of mental illness. The theoretical standpoint and the research method for the study employed are social constructivist theory and narrative inquiry respectively. We conducted semi-structured and in-depth interviews with family members and others accompanying patients to an outpatient unit of a psychiatric clinic. The professionals and the administrative staff at the clinic gave additional interviews. The constant comparative method was employed for the analysis of the narratives. The findings suggest the existence of perceived and direct stigma …


A Phenomenological Study Of The Language Ideology, Language Management, And Language Practice In English-Medium Universities In Bangladesh: Lecturers’ And Students’ Voices, John Paul Shimanto Sarkar, Abdul Karim, Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan, Shahin Sultana Apr 2021

A Phenomenological Study Of The Language Ideology, Language Management, And Language Practice In English-Medium Universities In Bangladesh: Lecturers’ And Students’ Voices, John Paul Shimanto Sarkar, Abdul Karim, Muhammad Kamarul Kabilan, Shahin Sultana

The Qualitative Report

English Medium Instruction (EMI) is a commonly observed phenomenon in higher education (HE) in the countries where English is mandated as a second or foreign language. The globally conducted studies reported the prospect, practice, problems, and eventualities of EMI in HE. Numbering around 105, private universities in Bangladesh also adopted EMI. Being guided by Cooper (1989) and Spolsky (2009), this phenomenological study explored the language ideology of lecturers and students regarding the benefits of EMI, their remarks about the language management to achieve compatibility for adopting EMI, and their opinion concerning the implementation (language practice) of EMI in the classrooms …


Remembering Postpartum Depression In Later Life: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Walker Ladd Phd Apr 2021

Remembering Postpartum Depression In Later Life: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Walker Ladd Phd

The Qualitative Report

Postpartum depression (PPD) occurs in as many as 1 in 7 women (Gavin et al., 2005). PPD remains underdiagnosed and largely untreated, contributing to high societal costs and increased maternal mortality. Despite the wealth of research reporting the adverse effects of PPD on childbearing women and their offspring, little is known about how women who have experienced PPD describe or interpret the meaning of the experience in later life. I conducted semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample of 10 women self-identifying as having had PPD a minimum of 13 years in the past. Using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) I identified …


Helpless Mothers Dropping Out Of The Workplace: The Italian Case Of Voluntary Resignation, Valentina Manna, Fortuna Procentese, Immacolata Di Napoli, Caterina Arcidiacono Apr 2021

Helpless Mothers Dropping Out Of The Workplace: The Italian Case Of Voluntary Resignation, Valentina Manna, Fortuna Procentese, Immacolata Di Napoli, Caterina Arcidiacono

The Qualitative Report

In the Italian social context difficulties in remaining in the labor market characterizes working mothers, leading them sometimes to resign from their jobs. The aim of this research is to explore narratives of those women dropping out of the workforce during pregnancy and soon after childbirth and their experiences in these circumstances. The study analysed 30 interviews with working mothers with an average age of 35.4 years, living in Naples, Italy, who “spontaneously” left their jobs. Grounded Theory Methodology allowed a deeper understanding of these women’s thoughts, feelings, and experiences. The content of the interviews was categorized into 4 macro-areas: …


Data Collection In The Field: Lessons From Two Case Studies Conducted In Belize, Rico Kongsager Apr 2021

Data Collection In The Field: Lessons From Two Case Studies Conducted In Belize, Rico Kongsager

The Qualitative Report

There is a vast load of literature concerning how data collection can be conducted. This literature provides guidelines and recommendations on how data collection might be done, however, only a very limited part of this literature describes in detail how data actually are collected in the field. This paper is intended to be an example, where the methodology is explained in detail to assist and inspire other researchers, on their way to conduct interesting and important research. The data collection and fieldwork described in this paper were conducted to complete two case studies in Belize, Central America. The core of …


Over-Complexifying Social Reality: A Critical Exploration Of Systematicity And Rigidification In Ethnographic Practice And Writing, Anson Au Apr 2021

Over-Complexifying Social Reality: A Critical Exploration Of Systematicity And Rigidification In Ethnographic Practice And Writing, Anson Au

The Qualitative Report

Qualitative methodological development has produced canonical tendencies that over-complexify and fix a fluid and lived social world. Meanwhile, critical theory has produced critiques on methodology but without enough attention to the qualitative tradition. I bridge these gaps by using an Adornoian position to interrogate the concepts of systematicity, rigidification, complexification, and their problems in ethnographic research and qualitative methodology. I conduct an urban ethnography and autoethnography of the metropolitan blasé as a public attitude of indifference to articulate an alternative, quotidian approach to ethnography that better captures social embeddedness, meaning-creation, and how contexts should drive data collection, analysis, and method-selection.


Prisoners’ Perspectives On Limited Rehabilitative Program Opportunities, Kerry Edwards Phd Apr 2021

Prisoners’ Perspectives On Limited Rehabilitative Program Opportunities, Kerry Edwards Phd

The Qualitative Report

Approximately 1.5 million persons are incarcerated in American prisons (Carson, 2020), and the rate at which persons who have been incarcerated reoffend (recidivism) is high (Alper et al., 2018, p. 1). This has propelled the effort to help offenders change their trajectory. Rehabilitative programs are used to help prisoners gain skills and strengths necessary to succeed in the community after their release. Yet, these high recidivism rates persist. Why do some prisoners not benefit from these programs? Although many researchers have studied the efficacy of programs over the past six decades, less attention has been directed towards access to prison …


Distinctions And Something Between: An Inspection Of Eviatar Zerubavel’S Concept Driven Sociology, Krzysztof T. Konecki Apr 2021

Distinctions And Something Between: An Inspection Of Eviatar Zerubavel’S Concept Driven Sociology, Krzysztof T. Konecki

The Qualitative Report

The paper presents short summaries and analyses of two books by Eviatar Zerubavel (2018a; 2020) that are demonstrations of his approach to cognitive sociology. The first book (2018a) shows examples of the analysis in Zerubavelian cognitive sociology, and the second one is a methodological and theoretical elaboration of his approach described in formal terms. We analyze the approach presented at the end of the paper, showing that the analysis of distinctions and perceptive categories is essential in Zerubavel analysis. Still, there is an unclear dimension (in between) included in the contexts of perception, lived experiences, and perception of …


“Research For A Change”: A Book Review Of Norma R. A. Romm’S Responsible Research Practice: Revisiting Transformative Paradigm In Social Research, Daniel P. Wulff Apr 2021

“Research For A Change”: A Book Review Of Norma R. A. Romm’S Responsible Research Practice: Revisiting Transformative Paradigm In Social Research, Daniel P. Wulff

The Qualitative Report

In the book, Responsible Research Practice, the author, Norma Romm, makes the case for actively incorporating social justice initiatives within social research of any kind. Through numerous examples from around the world, using various research traditions, practices, and disciplines, she demonstrates how ethical practices can be implemented in research projects so participants are better off for having participated in the studies. This richly referenced book of research examples and supportive theoretical perspectives pushes the notion of ethical practice into a new gear. Readers of this book will be inspired and energized to see the realistic potential of active social research …


English As A Foreign Language Teachers’ Motivation: An Activity Theory Perspective, Teymour Rahmati, Karim Sadeghi Mar 2021

English As A Foreign Language Teachers’ Motivation: An Activity Theory Perspective, Teymour Rahmati, Karim Sadeghi

The Qualitative Report

Drawing upon Activity Theory, this mixed-methods study explored L2 teachers’ (de)motivation factors, motivation change, and voice in adopting strategies that could motivate L2 teachers. Semi-structured interviews, a motivational timeline diagram, and a researcher-developed scale were used to collect data from 226 in-service L2 teachers. The interview data collected from 15 participants were analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding using MAXQDA Analytics Pro version 12.3. Individual participants’ motivational timelines were also carried over into a collective diagram to illustrate motivational trajectories. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the quantitative data collected from 211 teachers. The findings identified a number of …


Becoming Holistic Teachers And Learners: A Review Of Teaching Qualitative Research: Strategies For Engaging Emerging Scholars, Viviane Klen-Alves Mar 2021

Becoming Holistic Teachers And Learners: A Review Of Teaching Qualitative Research: Strategies For Engaging Emerging Scholars, Viviane Klen-Alves

The Qualitative Report

In this review I offer an alternative perspective on the book Teaching Qualitative Research: Strategies for Engaging Emerging Scholars by emphasizing how the authors propose a holistic approach to learning qualitative research. Departing from the point of view of an emerging scholar, this piece was written as I was transitioning from a doctoral program to the professional world, learning with the authors what it is to teach qualitative research methods while being socialized as a scholar in the doing of qualitative research.


Designed Generalization From Qualitative Research, Ian H. Falk, John Guenther Mar 2021

Designed Generalization From Qualitative Research, Ian H. Falk, John Guenther

The Qualitative Report

In our earlier work on generalizing from qualitative research (GQR) we identified our two-decade struggle to have qualitative research outcomes formally “listened to” by policy personnel and bureaucratic systems in general, with mixed success. The policy sector often seems reluctant to acknowledge that qualitative research findings can be generalized, so impacts tend to be informal or simply ignored. The “official” methodological literature on generalizing from qualitative research is epitomized by Lincoln and Guba’s (1985) still oft quoted, “The only generalization is: there is no generalization” (p. 110). We now understand there are many alternative possibilities for generalizing. In this paper …


Proximity To Power: The Challenges And Strategies Of Interviewing Elites In Higher Education Research, Kevin Mcclure, Jon L. Mcnaughtan Mar 2021

Proximity To Power: The Challenges And Strategies Of Interviewing Elites In Higher Education Research, Kevin Mcclure, Jon L. Mcnaughtan

The Qualitative Report

Presidents, provosts, deans, and other upper-level administrators in higher education fit common definitions of “elites” in the context of qualitative research. Scholarship on methods specific to the field of higher education has not identified or described the unique challenges of interviewing these and other elites. The purpose of this paper is to examine challenges and share strategies for elite interviewing, with specific application to qualitative research in the field of higher education. We provide three examples of empirical studies involving elite interviewing and, using literature from other fields, highlight challenges and strategies. By anticipating challenges and implementing these strategies, researchers …


Emotional Overload! A Dialogic Autoethnography Of Scholar-Participant-Consumer Reactions To The Marketing Of Thanatourism, Elizabeth Lloyd-Parkes, Jonathan H. Deacon, Alec J. Grant Phd, Simon Thomas Mar 2021

Emotional Overload! A Dialogic Autoethnography Of Scholar-Participant-Consumer Reactions To The Marketing Of Thanatourism, Elizabeth Lloyd-Parkes, Jonathan H. Deacon, Alec J. Grant Phd, Simon Thomas

The Qualitative Report

The terms “thanatourism” and “dark tourism” relate to visiting places of human tragedy, which are increasingly developed as tourist destinations. There is a need to trouble thanatouristic assumptions through sharing and discussing lived experiences. These challenge the simplistic mechanistic marketing and conventional research practices of thanatourism. This dialogic autoethnographic study responds to this need, addressing thanatourism from the subjective and emotional perspectives of “insider” scholar-participant-consumers. Two interactive dialogic stories are presented by the lead and second authors, with the fourth providing a theoretically informed response. In the final section, the third author, an experienced autoethnographer and outsider to the thanatouristic …


Research Recruitment: A Case Study On Women With Substance Use Disorder, Kristy J. Cook Phd, Rn, Ibclc, Kim L. Larson Phd, Mph, Rn, Fnap Mar 2021

Research Recruitment: A Case Study On Women With Substance Use Disorder, Kristy J. Cook Phd, Rn, Ibclc, Kim L. Larson Phd, Mph, Rn, Fnap

The Qualitative Report

Women with substance use disorder may evade research participation because of individual and societal factors. Limited information exists on recruitment of women with substance use disorder. The purpose of this study was to delineate recruitment challenges among women with substance use disorder and identify successful recruitment strategies. An exploratory case study was used to examine recruitment of women with substance use disorder. This case study was informed by a pilot study in 2017-2018, where data were generated from 25 direct observations and three key informants from a drug rehabilitation treatment agency. Analysis took an explanation-building approach, which incorporated chronological field …


Someone Else’S Child: A Co-Constructed, Performance Autoethnography Of Adoption From Three Perspectives, Robin L. Danzak, Christina Gunther, Michelle Cole Mar 2021

Someone Else’S Child: A Co-Constructed, Performance Autoethnography Of Adoption From Three Perspectives, Robin L. Danzak, Christina Gunther, Michelle Cole

The Qualitative Report

Through a framework of reconciling the other, this collaborative autoethnographic performance co-constructs the adoption experience from three perspectives in three different families: a mother struggling with the ethical and emotional implications of the transnational adoption of her daughter; an adult reflecting on her childhood as an adoptee feeling loved, but different; and a woman who met her biological sister at age 28 after her parents revealed a lifelong secret. To develop individual adoption narratives, we applied autoethnographic tools of interactive interviews with family members, reflective writing, and document review (Ellis, 2004) of photos, letters, emails, and calendars. During one school …


The Use Of Online Data Sources In A Qualitative Analysis Learning Project, Sunny R. Winstead, Christopher J. Alterio Mar 2021

The Use Of Online Data Sources In A Qualitative Analysis Learning Project, Sunny R. Winstead, Christopher J. Alterio

The Qualitative Report

Our purpose in writing this article is to describe the use of online data sources (such as blogs and microblogs) in a qualitative analysis learning project for graduate occupational therapy students. The project was designed to meet the following learning objectives: (1) increase students’ understanding and appreciation for qualitative research principles and methods, (2) increase students’ ability to use thematic and narrative analysis procedures with authentic data sets, and (3) increase students’ ability to apply qualitative findings to occupational therapy practice. This article describes the project’s theoretical rationale, components, objectives, implementation, and informal outcomes, along with a discussion of strengths …


Social Representations Of Bogota - Colombia Inhabitants Regarding A Conditional Cash Transfer Policy, Juan S. Hernández, Wilson G. Jiménez-Barbosa, Johanna S. Acuña Mar 2021

Social Representations Of Bogota - Colombia Inhabitants Regarding A Conditional Cash Transfer Policy, Juan S. Hernández, Wilson G. Jiménez-Barbosa, Johanna S. Acuña

The Qualitative Report

The current article shows the development of a research process whose main objective was to explain the influence of the social representations of the inhabitants of Bogotá, Colombia in the implementation of the public policy of conditional cash transfers “Más Familias en Acción.” For this aim, a qualitative study of hermeneutic design was conducted with beneficiaries of the program and non-beneficiaries, in which, through the application of semi-structured interviews, the most frequent social representations about subsidies, policies, work, education, health, among other relevant issues related to this public policy were identified and once the information was coded by using the …


How Institutional Context Shapes The Accounts Of School Choice And Boundary-Making Among Middle Class Parents In An Urban School District, Paul Knudson Mar 2021

How Institutional Context Shapes The Accounts Of School Choice And Boundary-Making Among Middle Class Parents In An Urban School District, Paul Knudson

The Qualitative Report

This paper explores how urban middle-class parents with children at the elementary school level construct accounts about school choice in comparison to parents with children at the middle and high school levels. Previous studies have largely focused on the former. Data for this study come from in-depth interviews with 44 parents who enrolled their children in an urban school district. Findings suggest that parents’ choices and narratives concerning schools are affected by the school district’s institutional context. Parents with children at the elementary school level largely avoided their neighborhood-designated schools and secured spots in the city’s more desirable magnet schools. …


A Qualitative Description Investigation Of U.S. Higher Education Quantitative Datasets, Mia Ocean, Karon T. Hicks Mar 2021

A Qualitative Description Investigation Of U.S. Higher Education Quantitative Datasets, Mia Ocean, Karon T. Hicks

The Qualitative Report

Currently, the U.S. system of higher education is almost exclusively evaluated by quantitative data based on traditional student trajectories and university structured programs. This could be problematic for community colleges and post-traditional students, who are a growing population at all institutions. Therefore, we conducted a pilot, qualitative description analysis of three U.S. quantitative national datasets to assess their accuracy and identify factors that influence classifications. We interviewed individuals (n=13) who would qualitatively be considered success stories, specifically individuals who attended community colleges during their undergraduate studies and ultimately high ranking graduate programs, to gather information about their educational timelines. In …


Exploring Authentic Leadership Through Leadership Journey Of Gandhi, Beena Prakash Nair Ms., Prasad T Dr., Shreekumar K. Nair Dr. Mar 2021

Exploring Authentic Leadership Through Leadership Journey Of Gandhi, Beena Prakash Nair Ms., Prasad T Dr., Shreekumar K. Nair Dr.

The Qualitative Report

Leadership research will benefit from bringing in the subjective realities of becoming a leader by considering the leadership journey. Generating an understanding of how leaders turn episodes in time into meaningful subjective narratives helps shed light on the meaning-making process. We seek in this inquiry to understand self-awareness with a narrative meaning-making process. In this study, we adopt a narrative research approach for analyzing the autobiography of Mahatma Gandhi, who is widely acknowledged as an authentic leader. The study explores individual experiences of becoming a leader and factors leading to the manifestation of authentic leadership behaviour as well as followers’ …


Inequalities In Private Tutoring Of English: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study Based On Bangladeshi Higher Secondary Students, Monjurul M. Islam 8965323, Dr. Shams Hoque, Kazi Enamul Hoque Mar 2021

Inequalities In Private Tutoring Of English: A Phenomenological Qualitative Study Based On Bangladeshi Higher Secondary Students, Monjurul M. Islam 8965323, Dr. Shams Hoque, Kazi Enamul Hoque

The Qualitative Report

This phenomenological qualitative study analyzes the lived experiences of eleven Bangladeshi higher secondary students in mainstream schools to provide insight into their thoughts, feelings, beliefs, values, and assumptions of private tutoring in English (PT-E). The study also focused on PT-E that contribute to inequalities between students who have access to private tutoring and those who do not. Each participant participated in a one-to-one in-depth semi-structured interview. Using phenomenological analysis, 321 significant statements and three themes emerged. The data show that unequal practice, discrimination due to financial capability, and social psyche for PT-E that influences students to widen the negative impacts …


Washback Of An English Language Assessment System In A Malaysian University Foundation Programme, Umed Bokiev, Arshad Abd. Samad Feb 2021

Washback Of An English Language Assessment System In A Malaysian University Foundation Programme, Umed Bokiev, Arshad Abd. Samad

The Qualitative Report

Washback refers to the influence of language assessment on teaching and learning. In contrast to the wealth of studies involving external large-scale language examinations, scant research has been conducted to explore the influence of internal language assessment on instruction, particularly in the context of a university foundation programme. This qualitative study investigated the washback effects of an English language assessment system (ELAS) on the teaching and learning of English in a Malaysian university foundation programme. Apart from an in-depth analysis of official documents on the ELAS, we conducted individual semi-structured interviews with three curriculum and assessment developers, three English language …


Factors Affecting Successful Quality Assurance Implementation In Vietnamese Higher Education: A Qualitative Study, Loc Thi My Nguyen, Trung Tran, Thuan Van Pham, Tien-Trung Nguyen, Hien Thi Thu Le, Thao Thi Phuong Trinh, Thanh Thi Nghiem Feb 2021

Factors Affecting Successful Quality Assurance Implementation In Vietnamese Higher Education: A Qualitative Study, Loc Thi My Nguyen, Trung Tran, Thuan Van Pham, Tien-Trung Nguyen, Hien Thi Thu Le, Thao Thi Phuong Trinh, Thanh Thi Nghiem

The Qualitative Report

Quality assurance and accreditation was officially introduced into the higher education system in Vietnam over ten years ago. It is evident that quality assurance has resulted in positive impacts on university management, teaching, learning and research activities. This paper aims to explore factors that aid the successful implementation of higher education quality assurance and accreditation in Vietnam. Through semi-structured interviews with 32 participants, this study identified a number of factors that contributed to quality assurance processes, including awareness of the importance of quality assurance, better institutional manager leadership, support of university lecturers, staff, and students, and the vital responsibility of …


An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Token Resistance To Sex Amongst Nigerian Undergraduates, Alex Terver Igundunasse Dr, Nathan Odiase Mr Feb 2021

An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Token Resistance To Sex Amongst Nigerian Undergraduates, Alex Terver Igundunasse Dr, Nathan Odiase Mr

The Qualitative Report

It is apparent that existing social conventions unofficially mandates women to refuse sexual advances even when there may be the intention to engage. The adherence to this social script is what is referred to as token resistance or scripted refusal. Some studies have explored the subject of token resistance from a number of perspectives that attempt to identify the underlying reasons why women engaging in token resistance. However, there is very little research on this subject from the Nigerian perspective. This this study sought to explore token resistance further in order to understand the cultural cogency or peculiarity of the …


The Lived Experience Of Syrian Refugees In Canada: A Phenomenological Study, Khaldoun Aldiabat, Enam Alsrayheen, Catherine Aquino-Russell, Michael Clinton, Roger Russell Feb 2021

The Lived Experience Of Syrian Refugees In Canada: A Phenomenological Study, Khaldoun Aldiabat, Enam Alsrayheen, Catherine Aquino-Russell, Michael Clinton, Roger Russell

The Qualitative Report

Health care providers in Canada are expected to take care of people from a variety of cultural backgrounds, and it is difficult for health care providers to deeply understand the lived experiences of some individuals to provide them with culturally sensitive care. Syrian refugees comprise one such group of newcomers to Canada. This phenomenological study aimed to uncover the meaning of the lived experiences of Syrian refugees using Giorgi’s (2009) method. Seven participants’ descriptions were viewed through the lens of the social determinants of health model. Seven essences of the general structural description or the meaning Syrian refugees gave to …


From “Robot” To “Rejuvenating Warrior”: An Efl Learner’S Conceptual Metaphors During School Transition, Özgehan Uştuk Feb 2021

From “Robot” To “Rejuvenating Warrior”: An Efl Learner’S Conceptual Metaphors During School Transition, Özgehan Uştuk

The Qualitative Report

Drawing on conceptual metaphor theory, I investigated the school transition experience of an English as a foreign language (EFL) learner. In this narrative case study, the participant’s emotion labor was followed throughout his first semester at a high school in Turkey. Exploring narrative journals, conceptual metaphors, and interviews, I examined his dynamic emotional states. The findings revealed that school transition may entail inhibiting emotion labor for high school freshman EFL learners. Moreover, it was also shown that these emotions may force adolescent learners to reconceptualize foreign language learning with a negative perspective and develop surviving learner’s strategies that may support …


Survey Versus Interviews: Comparing Data Collection Tools For Exploratory Research, Neha Jain Feb 2021

Survey Versus Interviews: Comparing Data Collection Tools For Exploratory Research, Neha Jain

The Qualitative Report

The purpose of the paper is to offer a comparison between survey and face to face interviews as tools for data collection in qualitative exploratory research. This study aims at encouraging new researchers to experiment with different data collection tools and then select the one that fits best to the research. Memos documented during data collection served as the basis for analysis. The memos were analyzed using a systematic three-step coding process to identify the challenges and benefits of using each of the two data collection tools. Using content analysis of the memos and field notes that were documented during …


Exploring Lenses Used In Case Study Research In Literacy Over Time, Diane Barone Feb 2021

Exploring Lenses Used In Case Study Research In Literacy Over Time, Diane Barone

The Qualitative Report

This study is a case study analysis where book length case studies were aggregated for review. The review focused on the lenses that researchers used to analyze their data. The results indicated most case studies used a neutral lens where careful description of a literacy event was the goal. A few researchers moved to a critical lens of positioning theory to describe their results. Historical shifts and issues were shared that included a focus on participants and lenses and views of teachers.


Intermittent Catheter Reimbursement In The United States: The Experience Of Nine Stakeholders Through The Lens Of Actor-Network Theory, Manon M. Schladen, Amanda K. Rounds, Terrence Mcmanus, Alexandra Bennewith, Henry Claypool, Suzanne L. Groah Feb 2021

Intermittent Catheter Reimbursement In The United States: The Experience Of Nine Stakeholders Through The Lens Of Actor-Network Theory, Manon M. Schladen, Amanda K. Rounds, Terrence Mcmanus, Alexandra Bennewith, Henry Claypool, Suzanne L. Groah

The Qualitative Report

A narrow interpretation of “medical necessity” can result in poorer health as well as a more restricted life for people with disabilities. We examined the impact of US policy on reimbursement of intermittent catheters (ICs) on the lives of people with neurogenic bladder (NB) who require catheters to urinate. We conducted in-depth, longitudinal interviews with nine stakeholders. Actor-Network Theory was used to describe interactions among human agents, IC products, and policies in the reimbursement arena. Restrictions on the type and quantities of ICs reimbursed emerged as the most potent inhibitor to health and wellbeing among consumers with NB. IC suppliers, …