Experiences Of Rural Women Research Articles

A qualitative study on\xa0rural women\u2019s experiences relating to the utilisation of birth care provided by skilled birth attendants in the rural areas of Bongo District in the Upper East Region of Ghana

BackgroundIncreasing skilled attendance during childbirth is well established in literature to play a significant role in averting the many preventable maternal deaths that occur in developing countries such as Ghana. Inadequate utilisation of skilled birth care services in Ghana is believed to be a major hindrance to efforts aimed at improving the health of women, especially during delivery. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the experiences of rural women regarding the utilisation of skilled birth care provided in the rural areas of Northern Ghana.MethodsThe study adopted a qualitative, exploratory, descriptive research approach, whereby individual interviews, observations and field notes were used to obtain a thick description of women’s experiences regarding the utilisation of skilled birth care services in the rural areas in Ghana. A purposive sampling approach was used to select 20 women who utilised skilled birth care in the rural areas of Bongo District of Ghana. Data collected from the interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed to identify themes.ResultsThe study identified three themes: The women had negative interactions with skilled birth attendants during delivery; women lacked confidence in skilled birth attendants’ abilities; skilled birth attendants disrespected the traditional beliefs of the women.ConclusionMost of the participants had negative experiences regarding the utilisation of skilled birth care. There is thus a need to develop strategies that could help address the above concerns of women to facilitate utilisation of skilled birth services in the rural areas in Ghana where there is low utilisation of skilled birth care.

Care-seeking pathways, care challenges, and coping experiences of rural women living with rheumatoid arthritis in Odisha, India.

The aim of the study was to explore the care-seeking pathway of rural women living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and attending a tertiary health-care facility in Odisha, India. RA is the third leading chronic health condition and causes severe pain and immense psychosocial stress. The prevalence of RA is three to four times higher in women than in men. Furthermore, in India, women delay care seeking due to the prevailing sociocultural norms. Women report more severe symptoms and greater disability; however, there is a lack of information on their care-seeking pathways. We conducted 113 in-depth interviews among RA patients those who visited specialists at the outpatients' Department of Rheumatology, SCB Medical College Hospital, a tertiary care hospital in Cuttack, Odisha, India. The grounded theory approaches were used for data analysis. The key findings included physical pain and psychosocial stress in relation to RA, cultural issues in relation to RA, mapping of the health-care providers for RA, the first point of cares and changes in care-seeking pathways, the perceived challenge for seeking health-care, and coping strategies of patients and social supports. This study explored that the RA patients seek care from multiple providers - untrained, trained and specialist without any gatekeeping. However, the primary health centers were the first point of care for maximum patients due to accessibility and affordability. Furthermore, follow-up care is significant to prevent complication among RA patients; the primary health centers are the gateway for keeping RA patients. Hence, the availability of RA trained providers at primary health center including interprofessional care, such as physiotherapy providers, and proper referral system is essential to convalesce care-seeking pathways.

Rethinking the Agency of Women in the Shea Industry

The agency of women in most African countries is often affected by the socio-economic and political policies that are almost always disadvantageous to women, especially women who have little to no knowledge of their rights. Using the shea industry in Ghana as a case study, I chronicle the challenges as recounted by rural women involved in this home-based work in the Northern Region of Ghana and critically analyse these challenges and their implications. Focusing mainly on the results of my recent field work, I present some of the accounts relating to the lack and exclusion of recognition of and respect for the experiences of rural women who are in fact the linchpin of the shea industry in Ghana. Initiatives and strategies of non-governmental organisations and some governmental policies have attempted to address these challenges that have implications for the livelihoods of rural women. Research and policies have only offered “band-aid solutions” to the economic disempowerment of rural women in the shea industry in Ghana as they have not dealt with the causes. This article seeks to refute the claim that equity exists by indicating the lack of equity and justice in the policies in the shea industry. In an attempt to provide an understanding of the economic disempowerment of women in this industry, I consider my field work as a good source as it exposes the experiences and everyday practices as narrated by rural women in the industry. This article seeks to analyse the existing discourses especially those pertaining to the contributions and experiences of rural women in the shea industry.

“I wouldn’t even know where to start”: unwanted pregnancy and abortion decision-making in Central Appalachia

How rurality relates to women’s abortion decision-making in the United States remains largely unexplored in existing literature. The present study relies on qualitative methods to analyze rural women’s experiences related to pregnancy decision-making and pathways to abortion services in Central Appalachia. This analysis examines narratives from 31 participants who disclosed experiencing an unwanted pregnancy, including those who continued and terminated a pregnancy. Results suggest that women living in rural communities deal with unwanted pregnancy in three phases: (1) the simultaneous assessment of the acceptability of continuing the pregnancy and the acceptability of terminating the pregnancy, (2) deciding whether to seek services, and (3) navigating a pathway to service. Many participants who experience an unwanted pregnancy ultimately decide not to seek abortion services. When women living in rural communities assess their pregnancy as unacceptable but abortion services do not appear feasible to obtain, they adjust their emotional orientation towards continuing pregnancy, shifting the continuation of pregnancy to be an acceptable outcome. The framework developed via this analysis expands the binary constructs around abortion access – for example, decide to seek an abortion/decide not to seek an abortion, obtain abortion services/do not obtain abortion services – and critically captures the dynamic, often internal, calculations women make around unwanted pregnancy. It captures the experiences of rural women, a gap in the current literature.

Women's perception about contraceptive use benefits towards empowerment: A phenomenological study in Southern Ethiopia

BackgroundDespite the availability of copious information regarding contraceptive use benefits and the factors that influence the uptake of the services, there is little evidence revealing the lived experiences of rural women. Thus, this study was conducted with the purpose of exploring the lived experiences of women regarding contraceptive use and related benefits towards women’s empowerment.MethodsInterpretative phenomenological qualitative methodology was employed to explore the lived experiences of women. Data were collected through focus group discussions and in-depth individual interviews and analyzed using an interpretive phenomenological framework including phases of data immersion, transcribing, coding, theme development and phenomenological interpretation through hermeneutic circle.ResultThe reported lived experiences of rural women revealed that their livelihoods greatly improved in different ways after they began to use contraceptives. The benefits included securing more time, energy and social engagements. Contraceptive use helped women postpone unwanted pregnancies and child births and engage in various income generation activities that not only boosted family incomes but also created opportunity to mobilize the resources for different expenses without waiting for the handouts from their husbands. The women’s experiences also indicated that contraceptive use improved the educational status of their daughters and they experienced improved self-image, better social standing and improved family relations. The experiences further illustrated that contraceptive use was not only emancipatory and transformative, but also created peace and stability in their lives.ConclusionThe study concludes that contraceptive use, which is part of a woman’s life experience, created remarkable opportunities and achievements. One of these was that women were able to control their bodies, reproduction and fertility which resulted in a higher degree of empowerment. The control of reproduction and fertility has liberated them from worries and entrapment of unplanned and unwanted pregnancies. Moreover, contraceptive use led to wider opportunities in the community, by improving their status and building a sense of empowerment. Creating awareness around the benefits of contraceptive use has the potential to improve community and national development. Based on the result, the study recommends that systems should be established to capitalize on the lessons learned about the lives of current users and expand the remarkable achievements and experiences to non-user counterparts.

"I wouldn’t even know where to start”: unwanted pregnancy and abortion decision making in Central Appalachia

How rurality relates to women's abortion decision-making in the United States remains largely unexplored in existing literature. The present study relies on qualitative methods to analyze rural women's experiences related to pregnancy decision-making and pathways to abortion services in Central Appalachia. This analysis examines narratives from 31 participants who disclosed experiencing an unwanted pregnancy, including those who continued and terminated a pregnancy. Results suggest that women living in rural communities deal with unwanted pregnancy in three phases: (1) the simultaneous assessment of the acceptability of continuing the pregnancy and the acceptability of terminating the pregnancy, (2) deciding whether to seek services, and (3) navigating a pathway to service. Many participants who experience an unwanted pregnancy ultimately decide not to seek abortion services. When women living in rural communities assess their pregnancy as unacceptable but abortion services do not appear feasible to obtain, they adjust their emotional orientation towards continuing pregnancy, shifting the continuation of pregnancy to be an acceptable outcome. The framework developed via this analysis expands the binary constructs around abortion access - for example, decide to seek an abortion/decide not to seek an abortion, obtain abortion services/do not obtain abortion services - and critically captures the dynamic, often internal, calculations women make around unwanted pregnancy. It captures the experiences of rural women, a gap in the current literature.

Rural Women's Experience of Living and Giving Birth in Relief Camps in Pakistan.

Background: Women are more vulnerable than men in the same natural disaster setting. Preexisting gender inequality, socio-cultural community dynamics and poverty puts women at significant risk of mortality. Pregnant women are particularly vulnerable because of their limited or no access to prenatal and obstetric care during any disaster or humanitarian emergency setting.Methods: In-depth interviews were conducted with 15 women who gave birth during the 2011 floods in Sindh Province, Pakistan. Thematic analysis explored women’s experiences of pregnancy and giving birth in natural disaster settings, the challenges they faced at this time and strategies they employed to cope with them. Results: Women were not afforded any control over decisions about their health and safety during the floods. Decisions about the family’s relocation prior to and during the floods were made by male kin and women made no contribution to that decision making process. There were no skilled birth attendants, ambulances, birthing or breastfeeding stations and postnatal care for women in the relief camps. Women sought the assistance of the traditional birth attendants when they gave birth in unhygienic conditions in the camps.Conclusion: The absence of skilled birth attendants and a clean physical space for childbirth put women and their newborn infants at risk of mortality. A clean physical space or birthing station with essential obstetric supplies managed by skilled birth attendants or community health workers can significantly reduce the risks of maternal morbidity and mortality in crisis situations.

The lived experiences of rural women diagnosed with the human immunodeficiency virus in the antenatal period

Background: In South Africa, pregnant women are diagnosed with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) at antenatal clinics and simultaneously initiated on antiretroviral treatment (ART). An HIV diagnosis together with the initiation of ART has an emotional impact that may influence how pregnant women cope with pregnancy and their adherence to a treatment plan. The aim of the study was to explore the lived experiences of women diagnosed with HIV in the antenatal period in a rural area in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. Methods: A qualitative approach with a descriptive phenomenological design was utilised. The study applied purposive sampling to select participants from a local community clinic in the Eastern Cape. Ten semistructured interviews were conducted, transcribed and analysed using Colaizzi's framework. Results: Four themes formed the essential structure of the phenomenon being investigated: a reality that hits raw, a loneliness that hurts, hope for a fractured tomorrow and support of a few. Although the participants had to accept the harsh reality of being diagnosed with HIV and experienced loneliness and the support of only a few people, they had hope to live and see the future of their children. Conclusion: Women diagnosed with HIV during pregnancy are ultimately concerned with the well-being of their unborn children, and this concern motivates their adherence to ART. Women's lived experiences are situated in their unique sociocultural context, and although some known challenges remain, counselling and support strategies need to be informed by exploring context-specific issues and involving the local community.

Intimate Violence against Rural Women: The Current and Future State of Feminist Empirical and Theoretical Contributions

AbstractRural crime in general ranks among the least studied social problems in the social sciences; however, a growing body of research shows that rural woman abuse is a major problem. The current state of progressive critical feminist social scientific knowledge enhances an empirical and theoretical understanding of intimate violence against rural women. Revealing the complexities of rural women's experiences and struggles with violent relationships reconstitutes violence against women as a public crisis that requires continued serious attention with regard research, theory, and policy. Three primary objectives of this article are as follows: (i) briefly review recent feminist social scientific literature on research, methodology, and theoretical contributions on violence against women in rural areas, (ii) suggest new directions in researching and theorizing rural women's experiences with intimate violence, and (iii) offer creative practical and policy solutions towards a broad vision of social change.

Barriers around access to abortion experienced by rural women in New South Wales, Australia

Little is known about Australian rural women's overall experiences of accessing an abortion service and the barriers they encounter. Approximately one in three Australian women access an abortion at some time in their lives. Most abortions are undertaken during the first trimester of pregnancy in private clinics. Although both medical and surgical abortions are uncomplicated medical procedures, abortion remains a contentious area of women's health. Whilst it is clear that rural women experience disparities in relation to access to health care, there is a gap in the evidence on rural women's experiences of accessing an abortion. The aim of the present study was to identify factors that women in rural New South Wales (NSW) experience in accessing abortion services and suggestions about how rural women could be better supported when seeking access to an abortion service. In-depth qualitative interviews were undertaken with rural women living in NSW who had had an abortion in the previous 15 years. Participants self-selected for a phone or face-to-face interview, in response to promotion of the study through women's services, community flyers and press releases. Rural women in this study experienced many barriers to accessing an abortion. Women travelled 1-9 hours one way to access an abortion in clinics. Several women borrowed money for the abortion fee. Five themes were identified: finding information about the provider; stigma, shame and secrecy; logistics involved in accessing the clinic related to travel, money and support; medical and surgical abortion; and ways rural women could be better supported in this process. Suggestions to improve rural women's access to abortion services included more affordable services that were 'closer to home' as a way to reduce travel and cost, and to normalise abortion as a women's health rights issue. Despite welcome legal and pharmaceutical reform in Australia, results from this small study indicate that there is a long way to go remove barriers on issues rural women experience in their process of accessing reproductive care, including the pervasiveness of abortion stigma. Services closer to home may help reduce inequities in access to health care experienced by rural women. Strategies such as broader use of tele-health and willingness of general practitioners to become authorised prescribers for medical abortions could help to reduce long distances to travel to services and the financial burden experienced by rural women.

Rural women's perspectives of maternity services in the Midland Region of New Zealand.

INTRODUCTION Rural women face many challenges with regards to maternity services. Many rural primary birthing facilities in New Zealand have closed. The Lead Maternity Carer (LMC) model of maternity care, introduced in 1990, has moved provision of rural maternity care from doctors to independent midwifery services. Shortages of rural midwives in the Midland region led to rural maternity care being seen as a vulnerable service. AIM To understand the views and experiences of rural women concerning maternity care, to inform the future design and provision of rural maternity services. METHODS Participants were drawn from areas purposively selected to represent the five District Health Boards comprising the Midland health region. A demographic questionnaire, focus groups and individual interviews explored rural women's perspectives of antenatal care provision. These were analysed thematically. RESULTS Sixty-two women were recruited. Key themes emerging from focus groups and interviews included: access to services, the importance of safety and quality of care, the need for appropriate information at different stages, and the role of partners, family and friends in the birthing journey. While most women were happy with access to services, quality of care, provision of information, and the role of family in their care, for some women, this experience could be enhanced. CONCLUSION Midwives are the frontline service for women seeking antenatal services. Support for rural midwives and for local birthing units is needed to ensure rural women receive services equal to that of their urban counterparts.

“We Have No Voice for That”: Land Rights, Power, and Gender in Rural Sierra Leone

Much attention has recently focused on the lease of land throughout the global south to nations and corporations in the global north. It is argued that local people's access to and relationships with the land are being redefined and that large segments of these populations are being denied their rights to land with potentially detrimental effects for their livelihoods and food security. This article explores one such project in Sierra Leone, focusing specifically on the experiences of rural women. The data illustrate how these women experience this 40,000 hectare bioenergy project as disempowering and disruptive. While these women may have the formal right to participate in land decisions and project benefits, they had no such right in practice. I argue here that this outcome is the result of compound disempowerment that results from the complex interaction of indigenous social and cultural dynamics and the supposedly gender-neutral logic of liberal economics.

Are Maternity Experiences of Rural Women Getting Better with Time? Results from a Survey in Tasmania

This study investigates the maternity experiences of rural women in Tasmania; and whether the childbirth experiences between women who have had childbirth experiences within the last five years and those more than five years ago are different due to closure of local maternity services. A questionnaire explored women’s experiences of rural maternity services from antenatal to postnatal care in six rural communities in Tasmania, Australia. 210 women completed the questionnaire with a response rate of 35%. Nearly 50% (n=100) of surveyed women did not have a choice where they could get antenatal care, while more than 50% (n=108) of participants lacked the choice about who would provide care during their pregnancy. Women who gave birth recently were more likely to have to travel further to the nearest maternity units. These women were less likely to experience continuity of care and to be satisfied with the antenatal care and care during labour. In contrast, the women who gave birth more than five years ago had shorter travel time to the nearest maternity units and were more likely to have experienced continuity of care and greater satisfaction with care given during their pregnancy, labour and delivery. Maternity experiences of Tasmanian rural women have not improved with time due to the closure of small rural maternity units. Reopening small rural maternity units would not be feasible with the current shortage of health workforce in Australia. However, in order to improve maternity experiences for rural women, it is recommended that basic services including antenatal and postnatal services should be provided in their local communities. The existing maternity health providers in rural communities such as GP obstetricians and multi-skilled rural nurses should be encouraged and provided with incentives to deliver greater antenatal and postnatal care for women. In addition, maternity health providers from major hospitals could come to a local hospital regularly to provide antenatal check-ups and antenatal classes. This will reduce the need of traveling to access services and increase opportunities for continuity of care which in turn may increase the satisfaction with care of rural women.

Breaking the walls of social exclusion of women rural by means of ICTs: The case of ‘digital divides’ in Galician

This paper examines the digital divides for women in rural areas within the Information Society, referring particularly to the Galician experience (Autonomous Region in the North West of Spain). In order to explore the barriers to social and labor exclusion it was elaborated a survey relating with the use and impact of ITC in social and labor experiences of rural women. The results showed that rural women are aware of the key role played for ITC on their way to achieve the participation on decision making process as well as in social life and labor. The main barriers to the Internet penetration in women social life were employment, education and income. From an individual point of view, the existence of non-users was explained by a combination of access problems, lack of ICT skills or rather negative attitudes towards ITC. Finally, a bunch of policy recommendations is proposed focus on providing better Internet access in rural areas and to sensitize the population, particularly the oldest, about the importance of gender equality in access to technology in order to avoid digital barriers for rural women and reduce social exclusion of this group.

Everyday Politics of (In)formal Marital Dissolution in Cambodia and Indonesia

ABSTRACTPlacing contemporary marriage and its dissolution at its heart, this paper explores rural women's experiences of customary and legal unions in Cambodia and Indonesia. We contend that women's navigation in-between ‘informal’ ethics and morals versus ‘formal’ state-sponsored legal doctrine constitute a form of ‘everyday politics’ that has been unduly neglected. Critiquing the taken-for-granted nature of marriage in academic scholarship, we show how the axiomatic notion that marriage registration is inherently beneficial to women is complicated by the nonlinear and mobile trajectories of conjugality in our two case study communities. In turn, we call for marriage and its breakdown to receive more sustained and nuanced analysis as the primary unit of Southeast Asian life.

Communicating about breast cancer: Rural women's experience of interacting with their surgeon

This study examined rural women's satisfaction with the interaction and communication with their surgeon during diagnosis and treatment planning for early breast cancer. Differences in satisfaction were investigated between treatment groups (mastectomy and breast conservation surgery) and demographic variables (age, marital status, education level, employment status and place of residence). Practice was compared with clinical practice guidelines. The study was designed as a cross-sectional survey. The study was set in Eastern regional Victoria, Australia. Seventy women diagnosed with early breast cancer participated in the study. The main outcome measures used by the study were satisfaction in three areas of practice: (i) telling a woman she has breast cancer; (ii) providing information and involving the woman in the decision-making; and (iii) preparing the woman for specific management. No differences in satisfaction were found between treatment groups and demographic variables. Overall, women in this study were highly satisfied (>93%) with the interaction and communication with their surgeon. Women reported that the surgeon created a supportive environment for discussion, that they were provided with adequate information and referrals, and that they were actively involved in the decision-making. Practice could have been improved for women who were alone at diagnosis as women without a partner made a quicker decision about treatment. Rural women in Victoria Australia were largely satisfied with the interaction and communication with their surgeon during diagnosis and treatment planning for early breast cancer. Current practice was predominately in line with clinical practice guidelines.

Spousal Support Experiences of Rural Women Living With Chronic Illness

From an examination of the spousal support experiences of rural women with chronic conditions who participated in a research-based, online support intervention, indications were that health care providers must recognize the need for and provide appropriate support/information related to the emotional, psychosocial, sexual, and relational impacts of chronic illness.

Disclosure among HIV-positive women: the role of HIV/AIDS support groups in rural Kenya

Disclosure by people living with HIV or AIDS is critical for HIV prevention and care. However, many women choose not to disclose their HIV status for fear of negative outcomes, such as blame and rejection. The World Health Organization suggests that HIV/AIDS support groups help to encourage women to disclose their status, but little is known about the role of such groups in Kenya. This study used qualitative research methods to gain insight into rural women's experience of disclosing a positive HIV status and it explores opinions about the role of support groups in relation to disclosure. Focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews were conducted with HIV/AIDS support group members and leaders. Thematic analysis showed that the women felt a sense of duty to inform others of their HIV status, particularly in order to prevent HIV transmission and to encourage sexual partners to be tested. There were multiple problems associated with disclosure, and negative outcomes such as blame and rejection were common. Support groups gave the women confidence and provided emotional support, which may have assisted them with coping with the negative outcomes of disclosure. The findings demonstrate that such support may improve women's experience of HIV-status disclosure and possibly even promote disclosure. However, initiatives such as these must protect those who disclose and therefore should take into account the local cultural and economic context.

"Not to Intrude": A Danish Perspective on Gender and Class in Nineteenth-Century Dairying

This study follows the thread of gender divisions in dairying in Denmark and the American Midwest in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Gender organization of dairying shifted at this time in diverse European and North American contexts. As agriculture mechanized and production scale increased, access to advanced education and international markets became critical. Women, who had been in the forefront of the development of dairying, ceded their leadership to men as these changes occurred. While some scholars see this shift as a strategic loss for women, this study finds that variables of class, marital status, rural demographics, and alternative occupations mediated the rural women's experience of change. Not all women experienced the change as a loss. The question of which women were invested in dairying is critical to understanding the course of change. Increasingly, middle-class farm women were turning away from the hard work of dairying and investing themselves in new ways in the upward mobility of their family farms. Rural life shaped distinct gender patterns in European and American history, and the rural experience shaped the larger trajectory of women's economic and political evolution, even though few rural women were involved in the organized women's movement.

From the Editor: The Experiences of Rural Women, Children, and Families of Color in U.S. and Global Communities

�� ��� f the nearly 6 billion people in the world, 3.14 billion are classified as rural. Many of these people dwell in the hills, mountains, and countrysides of developed and underdeveloped countries, including communities in the United States of America and in the rural enclaves and towns of Latin America and the Caribbean. However, the majority of these individuals and families live on the continents of Asia and Africa, and they live in the worse human conditions imaginable. While there are a few resourceful, rural families whose wealth is tied to landownership, business entrepreneurship, and property holding, the majority of rural individuals are victims of extreme poverty, and political and economic oppression has made it very difficult for them to feed, clothe, and house themselves. Many work for very little and have no real opportunity to increase their earning power. Research shows that, while global income is more than $31 trillion a year, 1.2 billion of the world’s rural population earns less than $1 a day, thereby creating an even larger gap between rich and poor and rural and urban populations. The livelihoods of people living in developing and undeveloped rural areas are strongly dependent on the environment. These people have to make a living from what nature provides in terms of oceans, land, and forests, as they earn their living from fishing, farming, forestry, mining, tourism, or related service industries. Rural populations mostly include a variety of families who are subsistence farmers and landless laborers, as well as femaleheaded households and minority groups who have been pushed onto cheap, marginal land. The majorities of the world’s poorest people who live in rural areas have little in reserve and are not able to help their families do more than simply survive.