Mixed Methods Explanatory Sequential Study Research Articles

Factors Influencing Instruction Competencies as Perceived by Technical and Vocational Education and Training Students in Malaysia

The purpose of the study was to identify and describe factors influencing instruction competencies as perceived by Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) students in Malaysia. The study described the students’ self-perceived level of knowledge and their perceived importance of instruction competencies for TVET courses conducted by a private vocational college in Kuala Lumpur and a public institution in Selangor. The study employed a mixed-method explanatory sequential study design. Data were gathered from a sample of 171 TVET students using the Instruction Competency Questionnaire (ICS). Descriptive statistics and Spearman correlation were used to analyses the data. This was followed by individual semi-structured interviews with 3 TVET students from the Selangor public institution. Feedback from the respondents of the ICS showed that 68.4% indicated that they had knowledge on scientific, interpretative, and critical paradigms. Significant correlations (p < .05) were reported (a) between perceived knowledge of experience in designing instruction and perceived knowledge of need for further education in instruction competence, and (b) between perceived importance of training on designing instruction and perceived importance of the need for further education in instruction competence. The study also showed that perceived importance of instruction competencies and perceived knowledge of instruction competencies were predictors for the need for further education on instruction competencies. The findings indicated that instruction competence was important for the overall quality of educational experience since it was shaped by expectations about the educational outcomes that students should manifest upon their graduation.

Health claims and information sources in relation to bean consumption in older adults

Bean consumption can reduce chronic disease risk and improve diet quality; however, bean consumption among North Americans is low. Since health claims and other information sources could increase bean consumption, their exploration is warranted, particularly among older adults, a population well positioned to benefit. The purpose of this study was to explore bean consumption among older adults (≥65 years old) in relation to health claims and other information sources. A mixed-methods explanatory sequential study design utilizing a between strategy data collection approach was used. Community-dwelling older adults (n = 250; 76.0% female) completed a validated researcher-administered questionnaire to explore bean consumption, awareness and reading of health claims, the likelihood of health claims influencing bean consumption, and current and preferred sources of nutrition and/or health information regarding beans. The questionnaire was followed up with 10 semi-structured focus groups (n = 46; 76.1% female). Awareness of nutrient content, nutrient function, therapeutic and disease risk reduction claims was reported by 94.4%, 64.0%, 79.6% and 77.2% of participants, respectively. Among those aware, these health claims were read by 91.5%, 85.6%, 87.9% and 88.6% of participants, respectively. The prevalence of bean consumption was 51.2% and participants (46.8%) most frequently indicated that all health claims would equally increase their likelihood of bean consumption. Participants (72.0%) reported that they would like more information about the nutrition and/or health properties of beans, with their most common preferred sources including food labels (54.8%), brochures (51.2%) and the internet (47.2%). This research advances the literature on how health claims relate to eating behaviour and can inform regulatory and food industry scientists about consumer perception to bean health claims, and healthcare professionals about preferred information sources for their clients.

Understanding Adolescent⁻Parent Interpersonal Relationships in Youth Sports: A Mixed-Methods Study.

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between participation in youth sport and adolescent–parent attachment. A mixed-method explanatory sequential study design was applied. In the first phase, 648 adolescent athletes and non-athletes completed the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment–Revised (IPPA–R). In the second phase, 15 adolescent athletes took part in semi-structured interviews. In the first, quantitative phase, three factors were predictors of adolescents’ attachment to parents and peers: trust, communication, and alienation. In the qualitative follow-up, three themes emerged: adolescents’ attachment to the sport; adolescent–parent attachment; adolescents’ thoughts about parents. The analysis of the adolescent–parent interpersonal relationship revealed that athlete adolescents’ relations and attachment to parents compared to non-athlete adolescents are more intensively expressed in all scales: trust, communication and alienation. Interviews with adolescent athletes revealed that parent–adolescent interpersonal relationship and attachment to parents is more important at the early period of sporting life, and becomes less appreciable or unwelcome when children gain sporting experience. The study indicated that the form and degree of parental involvement in children’s sporting activities impacts the effectiveness of parent–athlete interpersonal relationships. The degree and the form of parental involvement in children’s sports chosen by the parents are not always appropriate and encouraging, and they are not always supportive of adolescents’ opinions.

Links between Adolescent Athletes' Prosocial Behavior and Relationship with Parents: A Mixed Methods Study.

Adolescent relationships with parents are of the highest importance. The relationships likely reflect the nature of internal working models in youth sport that may well function as a psychological template during the construction of youth prosocial behavior. However, researchers’ focus to date has concerned specific aspects of parental practices in child-based sporting activities. There is a lack of research covering parent-athlete interpersonal relationships concerned with how the relationships affect adolescent prosocial behavior. The purpose of this mixed methods explanatory sequential study was to examine teenage athletes’ prosocial behavior and their relationships with parents. To achieve our purpose, we obtained quantitative data from 1348 athletes and non-athletes (ages 12–16), and qualitative data from 12 adolescent athletes and 12 youth sports parents. In the quantitative phase, we assessed adolescent prosocial behavior regarding the following six forms of prosocial behavior: public, anonymous, dire, compliant, altruistic and emotional. In the qualitative follow-up, three themes emerged from the adolescent athlete’s perspective: (1) sport as an escape; (2) parent-child relationships in youth sports; (3) adolescents’ desired behavior. Three themes emerged from the parental perspective: (1) sport as protection and as a school of life; (2) painful decisions to release a child; (3) understanding adolescent behavior. We found protection from delinquent behavior and increased prosocial behavior with securely attached young athletes who are actively involved in sports.

Understanding malaria treatment-seeking preferences within the public sector amongst mobile/migrant workers in a malaria elimination scenario: a mixed-methods study

BackgroundMigration flows and the emerging resistance to artemisinin-based combination therapy in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) create programmatic challenges to meeting the AD 2030 malaria elimination target in Myanmar. The National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) targeted migrant workers based mainly on the stability of their worksites (categories 1: permanent work-setting; categories 2 and 3: less stable work-settings). This study aims to assess the migration patterns, malaria treatment-seeking preferences, and challenges encountered by mobile/migrant workers at remote sites in a malaria-elimination setting.MethodsA mixed-methods explanatory sequential study retrospectively analysed the secondary data acquired through migrant mapping surveys (2013–2015) in six endemic regions (n = 9603). A multivariate logistic regression model was used to ascertain the contributing factors. A qualitative strand (2016–2017) was added by conducting five focus-group discussions (n = 50) and five in-depth interviews with migrant workers from less stable worksites in Shwegyin Township, Bago Region. The contiguous approach was used to integrate quantitative and qualitative findings.ResultsAmong others, migrant workers from Bago Region were significantly more likely to report the duration of stay ≥ 12 months (63% vs. 49%) and high seasonal mobility (40% vs. 35%). Particularly in less stable settings, a very low proportion of migrant workers (17%) preferred to seek malaria treatment from the public sector and was significantly influenced by the worksite stability (adjusted OR = 1.4 and 2.3, respectively for categories 2 and 1); longer duration of stay (adjusted OR = 3.5); and adjusted OR < 2 for received malaria messages, knowledge of malaria symptoms and awareness of means of malaria diagnosis. Qualitative data further elucidated their preference for the informal healthcare sector, due to convenience, trust and good relations, and put migrant workers at risk of substandard care. Moreover, the availability of cheap anti-malarial in unregistered small groceries encouraged self-medication. Infrequent or no contact with rural health centres and voluntary health workers worsened the situation.ConclusionsMitigating key drivers that favour poor utilization of public-sector services among highly mobile migrant workers in less stable work-settings should be given priority in a malaria-elimination setting. These issues are challenging for the NMCP in Myanmar and might be generalized to other countries in the GMS to achieve malaria-elimination goals. Further innovative out-reach programmes designed and implemented specific to the nature of mobile/migrant workers is crucial.

The experience of emotional wellbeing for patients with physical injury: A qualitative follow-up study

IntroductionTraumatic physical injury is abrupt, painful, debilitating, costly and life-altering. The experience of emotional wellbeing following traumatic physical injury has not been well investigated, and the role of health services and how services can support the emotional recovery of injured patients has not been well understood. This has impacted on care provision and contributed to a lack of evidence-informed guidance for clinicians to support patients’ emotional wellbeing. AimTo explore the patient experience of emotional wellbeing following injury and to understand how injured patients manage their emotional wellbeing. MethodThe study comprises the follow-up qualitative phase of a mixed-methods explanatory sequential study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a purposive sample of 14 participants admitted to hospital following physical injury. Participants were purposely selected where they had reported high levels of depression, anxiety and stress on the DASS-21 at 3 and 6-months after injury. The qualitative data were analysed using thematic analysis. ResultsThree main themes were identified: experiencing the many impacts of injury; facing the emotional journey following injury; and being supported and managing the impacts of injury. Key findings were the extreme negative emotional responses experienced many months after the injury; a strong physical link between the emotional and physical aspects of health; participant reluctance to seek emotional support; a lack of emotional support provision by the health service and a subsequent need for individual and group support in order to develop resilience in the injured person. Finally, male participants who reported extreme emotional responses after injury, including suicidality, were less likely to seek help for their symptoms. ConclusionInjured patients can experience substantial negative emotional responses following injury. The lack of support provided by health services to injured patients identified highlights the importance of in-hospital screening for emotional wellbeing and follow-up post-discharge, and a support network for patients to reduce the negative impacts of injury on their mental health. There is a need for anticipatory guidance frameworks for clinicians.

Iranian adolescents' insufficient physical activity: a mixed methods explanatory sequential study.

Adolescents' physical activity decreases from the stage of childhood to adulthood. This study was addressed to explain adolescents' insufficient physical activity (IPA) and its related factors. The subjects were 1201 adolescents in the quantitative phase and 25 adolescents in the quantitative phase. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design with follow-up explanations variant was used, which involved collecting quantitative data (1201 adolescents) first and then explaining the quantitative results with in-depth interviews and written narrative (25 adolescents) during a qualitative study. The quantitative results showed that 98.8% of adolescents did not have the recommended physical activity. Five themes were extracted in the qualitative phase including the inhibitory effect of the school environment and peers, as well as the inhibitory effect of the family environment, lack of availability and cultural barriers for the presence of girls in the community, the effect of self-feeling and self-understanding, and physical and mental exhaustion and permutation. According to the qualitative findings of the study, physical and mental exhaustion expressed the fact that, although adolescents had an unfavorable sense of IPA, they were under the effects of the intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The comparison of these themes indicates that this behavior is imposable but not optional.

The facilitators and barriers to nurses' participation in continuing education programs: a mixed method explanatory sequential study.

Background:Since several factors affect nurses’ participation in Continuing Education, and that nurses’ Continuing Education affects patients’ and community health status, it is essential to know facilitators and barriers of participation in Continuing Education programs and plan accordingly. This mixed approach study aimed to investigate the facilitators and barriers of nurses’ participation, to explore nurses’ perception of the most common facilitators and barriers.Methods:An explanatory sequential mixed methods design with follow up explanations variant were used, and it involved collecting quantitative data (361 nurses) first and then explaining the quantitative results with in-depth interviews during a qualitative study.Results:The results showed that the mean score of facilitators to nurses’ participation in Continuing Education was significantly higher than the mean score of barriers (61.99±10.85 versus 51.17±12.83; p<0.001, t=12.23). The highest mean score of facilitators of nurses’ participation in Continuing Education was related to “Update my knowledge”. By reviewing the handwritings in qualitative phase, two main levels of updating information and professional skills were extracted as the most common facilitators and lack of support as the most common barrier to nurses’ participation in continuing education program.Conclusion:According to important role Continuing Education on professional skills, nurse managers should facilitate the nurse’ participation in the Continues Education.