Lived Experiences Of Women Research Articles

Damsel in this Dress: an analysis of the character designs of women in post-secondary game design programs

ABSTRACT In this paper, we present a study of women (n = 10) in game design and game development programs in Ontario, Canada. The study, described herein, is an investigation of the lived experiences of women in these programs, their own experiences with gaming culture, and the kinds of female video game characters they design. Here, we are interested in whether women in post-secondary game programs are producing more nuanced playable female game characters than those typically seen in commercial video games. Preliminary results of this study indicate that women are producing generally more nuanced depictions of women in their character designs.

Meanings and perceptions of women regarding the practice of yoga in pregnancy: A qualitative study

Background and purposeConsidering that pregnancy triggers profound transformations in the life experience of women, among them the need to adapt to a body in a constant process of physiological, psychic, social and emotional change, it is important to identify to what extent yoga can contribute to this process. For this reason, the present study aimed to comprehend the meanings and perceptions of women regarding the practice of yoga during pregnancy. Materials and methodsA qualitative and descriptive study was carried out with nine women at different gestational ages who were practicing yoga in places with alternative and integrative therapies for pregnant women located in São Paulo, Brazil. Data collection was performed through semi-structured interviews and the women's statements were transcribed, analysed and grouped into three thematic categories. ResultsThe analysis of the interviews allowed the identification of three categories ‘Benefits of practicing yoga’, ‘Self-knowledge, autonomy and self-care’ and ‘Empowerment for the moment of the birth’. These findings allowed us to understand how the women perceived the practice of yoga in the pregnancy and considered it fundamental to the recognition that they were competent and skilled to manage and control their bodies during childbirth. ConclusionIt was concluded that the practice of yoga provided physical and psychosocial benefits for the women of this study, including strengthening of the pelvic floor, pain relief, improvement of breathing, reduction of stress and anxiety, and strengthening of self-confidence, self-esteem and autonomy in the management of the pregnancy and in caring for themselves.

Waiting like a girl? The temporal constitution of femininity as a factor in gender inequality.

This paper explores temporal constituents of the female self in terms of their role in underpinning ongoing gender inequality. Drawing on the work of Simone de Beauvoir and Iris Marion Young, together with sociological approaches to ambivalence, I suggest that these temporal subjectivities are embodied, arise from the split subjectivity associated with woman as simultaneously subject and object, and counterpose the neoliberal emphasis on "choice" and agency with a more traditional gendered "expectation," or "waiting" style. The dialectic between both temporalities, in which neither is hegemonic, results in a chronic state of ambivalence which impedes women's ability to fully project themselves into the future, a skill significant to planning and career ambition and the absence of which suspends women instead in an extended present. The paper aims to do two things in particular. In conceptual terms it aims to explore aspects of the configuration of the gendered self that underlie the stalling and slowing down of the gender revolution and which can be seen to provide a "missing link" between structures, institutions, and micro-cultures. In empirical terms, it suggests a future research agenda, of which this paper constitutes a beginning, through which such gendered temporalities can be explored in greater detail via ethnographies of women's lived experience of time throughout the life course.

THE EXPERIENCES OF WOMEN AND BARRIERS FOR CAREER ADVANCEMENT IN TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS IN A SOUTH AFRICAN CONTEXT

In 1994, South Africa became a democratic state and focused primarily on advancing and protecting human rights; however, these rights had to first be constitutionalised. As a result, the South African Constitution was adopted in 1996 with fundamental rights under its Bill of Rights, which ensures that government can be held accountable for the protection of citizens’ rights. One of the fundamental rights entrenched in the Constitution is gender equality, which aims at increasing access for women to the public sphere and opportunities. The right is supported by domestic legislation and binding international law instruments. There is, however, limited research on the lived experiences of women at various institutions in South Africa post the adoption of the various gender equality laws, prompting the question: are institutions implementing, practicing, and embracing gender equality? This article discusses the experiences of women and the challenges that they face in the education sector focusing specifically on tertiary institutions in the context of gender equality and women as staff. The article argues that although — legislatively — South Africa has committed to gender equality, by ensuring equal representation and access to opportunities for women, the challenges that women are facing in the higher institutions show that law is not enough to deal with gender equality: There is a need for government to focus on redressing the challenges that women still face in tertiary institutions.

The women's lived experience in contemporary conjugality: a phenomenological-existential perspective.

This article is the result of a master's research that aimed to understand how women experience the roles in contemporary conjugality and in the exercise of motherhood, and what the senses they attribute to these experiences. From the existential-phenomenology of Jean-Paul Sartre and the invaluable contributions of Simone de Beauvoir about the situation of women, it was possible to understand how is developed the being project of the collaborators of this study, middle-class women, workers, living a relationship, and with children, residents in Fortaleza, Ceará. For data collect, the phenomenological interview was used with a triggering question "how is being a woman?". For the analysis of the results, the Progressive-Regressive method was used. The results show that, even with a formal instruction and a financial independence of women, their roles in conjugal relationships have undergone few modifications in relation to the increase of responsibilities that fall on them. The idea that there is a feminine essence permeates the experience lived by these women in motherhood, in the contemporary conjugality and in the job market, pointing out that there are still many obstacles to solve social problems through the life history of these women.

Replaying Video Game History as a Mixtape of Black Feminist Thought

This article, a Black feminist mixtape, blends music, interviews, and critical analysis in order to demonstrate some of the ways in which Black women have impactfully engaged with the video game industry. Organized as musical “tracks,” it uses lyrics by Black women performers as a critical and cultural frame for understanding some of the work Black women have done with video games. In prioritizing the personal as not only political but also instructive for how we might think about digital media histories and feminism, each mixtape track focuses on Black women's lived experiences with games. As it argues throughout, Black feminism as defined and experienced by the Combahee River Collective of the 1970s has been an active and meaningful part of Black women's labor and play practices with video games.

Living with endometriosis: a phenomenological study

ABSTRACT Purpose: To explore and understand the lived experiences of women with endometriosis. Method: Qualitative study using Cohen phenomenology. Results: The data analysis identified four main themes and two sub-themes. The main themes are: delay in diagnosis, which includes the sub-theme of the misunderstanding of one’s state; worsening of one’s life, which includes the sub-theme of a painful life; disastrous intimate life with one’s partner; and uncertainty about being able to have one’s own children. Conclusions: The themes that emerged represent the starting point for further research and for the implementation of specific educational and support strategies that improve self-care, commitment and quality of life for women with endometriosis.

Reducing Fear of Childbirth Among Pregnant Women: Women's Lived Experience, Predictors, and Effects of Mindfulness-based Childbirth Education

Reducing Fear of Childbirth Among Pregnant Women: Women's Lived Experience, Predictors, and Effects of Mindfulness-based Childbirth Education

Reproductive Anxiety and Conditional Agency at the Intersections of Privilege: A Focus Group Study of Emerging Adults’ Perception of Long‐Acting Reversible Contraception

AbstractPublic health officials and major health care organizations in the United States have identified long‐acting reversible contraception (LARC) as the first‐line option for preventing unintended pregnancy. Existing research on LARC focuses on efficacy and usage rates, generally effacing women's lived experiences with these historically controversial devices. We take a critical, reproductive justice‐informed approach to LARC promotion efforts in this qualitative, focus group study. Across six groups of undergraduate women ages 18–24 (N = 30, majority White), we explore how the individuals targeted by contemporary LARC promotion efforts—emerging adult women who have never given birth—negotiate (not) acquiring these devices. We introduce reproductive anxiety and conditional agency as key terms through which our participants made meaning out of LARC. Though participants reflected socially normative discourses of empowerment and choice, our findings suggest that these relatively privileged respondents experienced their choices to use or not use LARC in neoliberal terms. Specifically, we suggest their responses avert attention from the multifarious ways that women's reproductive capacities are differentially disciplined by hegemonic norms. We conclude by suggesting that sexual and reproductive health policy must foreground issues of structural intersectionality—rather than cost or efficacy—so that health promotion efforts do not inadvertently exacerbate inequalities.

Contemporary Feminist Protest in Ireland: #MeToo in Irish Theatre

This essay draws upon the work of Judith Butler, Sara Ahmed, and Germaine Greer to consider the #MeToo movement and its reflection in the work of the author's students and the scandal at Dublin's Gate Theatre. Taking competing conceptions of freedom as they are materialised in this activism as it starting point, the essay questions intergenerational feminist ideas about the nature of freedom and its relationship to fear and to harassment. The essay returns to the feminist principle that ‘the personal is the political’ to reflect on women's lived experiences of threat and harassment, and young women's resistance to their objectification.

The experiences of seven women living with pelvic surgical mesh complications

This research sought to address a gap in the literature about women's lived experience of pelvic surgical mesh complications, conducted by an insider researcher. An increasing number of women who have pelvic mesh surgeries with a view to improving their lives are experiencing life-altering complications. Without knowledge of these experiences we cannot know how best to care for affected women and prevent harm to further women. Van Manen's hermeneutic phenomenological method was used. Seven women with pelvic mesh complications aged 43-69years were enrolled using criterion sampling. Four of the seven women had surgical mesh for both pelvic organ prolapse (POP) and stress urinary incontinence (SUI), one for POP only, and two for SUI only. The women completed a modified ICIQ-LUTSqol questionnaire pre-interview and answered a separate global spiritual question adapted from the HOPE tool, a framework for spiritual assessment. Women were interviewed once using a semi-structured approach. Data were analysed using Van Manen's selective reading technique and organized according to Lifeworld Existentials. Modified ICIQ-LUTSqol scores ranged between 43 and 76 (range 19-76), with a mean of 62.2 (SD + 10.011) demonstrating significant impact on quality of life. Themes emerging from the analysis were: (1) lived space: 1(a) feeling powerless in the medical space, 1(b) living in a shrinking world; (2) lived body: 2(a) living with unrelenting pain, 2(b) inhabiting a body that can no longer be relied on; (3) lived time: 3(a) living in the gap between what was and what could have been; (4) lived other: 4(a) suffering in silence, 4(b) finding absolute Other and others as a source of strength. Pelvic surgical mesh complications have an extensive adverse impact on the lifeworld of women experiencing complications. Failure to acknowledge mesh complications as treatment injury stalls the development of safer alternatives and changes needed to industry practices, regulation, clinical practice, and monitoring to keep women undergoing innovative urogynaecological procedures safe.

Mothers\u2019 experiences of quality of care and potential benefits of implementing the WHO safe childbirth checklist: a case study of Aceh Indonesia

BackgroundIn an effort to mitigate missed opportunities to provide high-quality care, the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed the Safe Childbirth Checklist (SCC) to support health providers perform essential tasks. Our qualitative study is a baseline assessment of quality of care (QoC) perceived by mothers who gave birth at health facilities aiming to highlight areas where implementing the SCC can potentially improve the QoC as well as areas that are not part of the SCC yet require improvement.MethodsAssessing the overall experience of care, our qualitative study focuses on 8 out of 29 items in the checklist that are related to the personal interactions between healthcare provider and mothers. Using a set of semi-structured questions, we interviewed 26 new mothers who gave institutional births in Aceh province in Indonesia.ResultsOur findings revealed some gaps where implementing the SCC can potentially improve safety and QoC. They include communicating danger signs at critical points during birth and after discharge, encouraging breastfeeding, and providing mothers with information on family planning. Moreover, taking a qualitative approach allowed us to identify additional aspects such as need for clarity at the point of admission, maintaining dignity, and protecting mothers’ rights in the decision-making process to be also essential for better QoC.ConclusionsOur study highlights the need to actively listen to and engage with the experiences of women in the adaptation and implementation of the checklist. While our findings indicate that implementing the SCC has the potential to improve the quality of maternal care and overall birth experience, a more holistic understanding of the lived experiences of women and the dynamics of their interactions with health facilities, care providers, and their birth companions can complement the implementation of the checklist.

Experiences of lifestyle change among women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM): A behavioural diagnosis using the COM-B model in a low-income setting.

BackgroundLifestyle change can reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes among women with prior gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM). While understanding women’s lived experiences and views around GDM is critical to the development of behaviour change interventions to reduce this risk, few studies have addressed this issue in low- and middle- income countries. The aim of the study was to explore women’s lived experiences of GDM and the feasibility of sustained lifestyle modification after GDM in a low-income setting.MethodsThis was a descriptive qualitative study on the lived experiences of women with prior GDM, who received antenatal care at a public sector tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. Nine focus groups and five in-depth interviews were conducted with a total of thirty-five women. Data were analysed using content analysis and the COM-B (Capabilities, Opportunities, Motivations and Behaviour) model to identify factors influencing lifestyle change during and beyond the GDM pregnancy.ResultsThe results suggest that the COM-B model’s concepts of capability (knowledge and skills for behaviour change), opportunity (resources for dietary change and physical activity) and motivation (perception of future diabetes risk) are relevant to lifestyle change among GDM women in South Africa. The results will contribute to the design of a postpartum health system intervention for women with recent GDM.ConclusionOur findings highlight the need for health services to improve counselling and education for women with GDM in South Africa. Support from family and health professionals is essential for women to achieve lifestyle change. The experience of GDM imposed a significant psychological burden on women, which affected motivation for lifestyle change. To achieve long-term lifestyle change, behaviour interventions for women with prior GDM need to address their capability, opportunity and motivation for lifestyle change during and beyond pregnancy.

“Everything Was Blood When It Comes to Me”: Understanding the Lived Experiences of Women with Inherited Bleeding Disorders

Introduction: Despite the manifold symptoms that women with inherited bleeding disorders may experience, no study has specifically sought to understand the lived experiences of these women, nor the barriers to care that they may face. Indeed, the literature on this topic remains sparse. A MEDLINE search assessing literature on access to care for women with inherited bleeding disorders yielded 526 abstracts; of these, only a small subset (N=12) focused on women's health, and less (N=2) made any note of potential barriers to care. Given the lack of data on this subject to date, the objective of this qualitative descriptive study was to understand women's lived experiences with inherited bleeding disorders, and their perceptions around access to care. Methods: A semi-structured qualitative interview guide was developed in conjunction with experienced hematologists (MS and RW), patient advocates from the Canadian Hemophilia Society (CHS; PW and DP), and a qualitative research expert (KD). Inclusion criteria for study enrollment included age ≥ 18 years old, English-speaking, and confirmed diagnosis of an inherited bleeding disorder. Women were recruited across Canada through identification by treating healthcare providers and study members of the CHS. They were then consented for telephone interview by SA. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using descriptive thematic analysis on NVIVO software. A random selection of interviews was coded by 2 team members (SA, KD) to ensure similar data interpretation. Results: Ten interviews with women with bleeding disorders were completed. Ages ranged from 24-70, and diagnoses included hemophilia B carriership (N=2), hemophilia A carriership (N=2), von Willebrand disease (N=2), disorders of platelet function (N=3) and dysfibrinogenemia (N=1). Common themes in the data included diagnostic uncertainty, affected family members, bleeding disorders' effect on life, the importance of treatment plans, experienced barriers, and access to care factors (Table 1). The most common barriers to care noted were healthcare provider dismissal of bleeding symptoms, lack of healthcare provider awareness, geographical barriers, and perceived barriers specific to women. Patients noted the importance of as-needed treatment, treatment for abnormal uterine bleeding, iron supplementation, and the need for family planning. They also highlighted the importance of access to clinic and treatment, and the need for self-advocacy. Discussion: To our knowledge, this is the first study to assess lived experiences and barriers to care for women with inherited bleeding disorders. Our data indicates that women often feel dismissed by healthcare providers, and feel disempowered by not feeling understood or heard. These results may have implications for the ways in which healthcare providers communicate with their patients, particularly in the face of diagnostic uncertainty or predominantly gynecologic-related bleeding symptoms. By better understanding patients' lived experiences, providers may be able to provide more comprehensive, person-centered care. Disclosures Teitel: Novo Nordisk: Consultancy; Octapharma: Consultancy; CSL Behring: Consultancy; Pfizer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Bayer: Consultancy, Research Funding; Shire: Consultancy; BioMarin: Consultancy. Sholzberg:Novartis: Honoraria; Amgen: Honoraria, Research Funding.

The Lived Experience of Australian Women Living with Breast Cancer: A Meta-Synthesis.

Background:Breast cancer is the second most common cancer among Australian women. In 2019, an estimated 19,000 women in Australia were diagnosed with breast cancer, with around 3,058 women dying from the disease in the same year. Although many qualitative studies published in Australia exist which examine breast cancer from various perspectives, only limited literature is available which addresses Australian women’s lived experience of breast cancer from diagnosis, treatment and beyond. Method:Meta-synthesis of qualitative studies. Participants who took part in either semi-structured interviews or surveys with open-ended questions were included. A thematic synthesis analysis approach was used. Results:Five themes and 13 sub themes emerged from the data analysis which illustrated the lived experience of Australian women diagnosed with breast cancer. Emotional burden and women’s response towards their breast cancer diagnosis were key themes. Experience of decision- making , social distress, symptoms beyond changes in their body, fertility considerations and their role as mothers were some of the challenges during their treatment. Women coped and adjusted with these challenges through the support of their family, and healthcare providers. Women developed greater empowerment by making their life choices after treatment. Life choices such as getting into a new relationship was challenging for single women. Conclusion:Although most women were emotionally supported following their diagnosis, there are still areas where women could be better supported such as when having to break the news of their breast cancer diagnosis to their children, provision of ongoing emotional support for caregivers of women with breast cancer, providing constant emotional and informational support at the point of diagnosis and during their treatment, tailoring treatments according to different stages of pregnancy, and discussion of fertility treatments in timely manner by healthcare professionals.

Patient experience of pregnancy-related venous thrombosis: A phenomenological study

This study used a descriptive phenomenological approach to explore the lived experience of women diagnosed with VTE in pregnancy and the perinatal period. The study setting was a London, university affiliated hospital. The sample consisted of nine women with deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism in pregnancy or up to six weeks post-partum, diagnosed in the last two years. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken using an interview guide. Interviews were transcribed and analysed using phenomenological descriptive analysis. Clustered invariant constituents that represented the lived experience of subjects emerged.The study revealed that the experience of pregnancy-related venous thrombosis is an overwhelmingly negative one with the journey through diagnosis and treatment being fraught with challenges, uncertainty and anxiety. Four main themes that contributed to the women's lived experience were identified: 1. Challenges in establishing a diagnosis; 2. Dealing with diagnosis; 3. Coping with treatment; and 4. Fears for the future.This is the first study to explore the experience of pregnancy-related venous thrombosis and offers valuable insight into the phenomenon. There is opportunity for clinicians to enhance the experience of pregnancy-related venous thromboembolism (PRVTE) by improving communication and information given to patients, clarifying diagnostic and treatment pathways and improving awareness of the condition.

Identifying Barriers and Facilitators to Breast Cancer Early Detection and Subsequent Treatment Engagement in Kenya: A Qualitative Approach.

Early detection and prompt access to quality treatment and palliative care are critical for good breast cancer outcomes. Interventions require understanding of identified barriers and facilitators to care. A hermeneutic phenomenological approach, whose purpose is to describe feelings and lived experiences of participants, can expand the existing scope of understanding of barriers and facilitators in accessing breast cancer care in Kenya. This is qualitative research applying focus groups and a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to identify barriers and facilitators to breast cancer care from the knowledge, perceptions, and lived experiences of women with and without a diagnosis of breast cancer in Kenya. We conducted four focus group discussions with 6-11 women aged 30-60 years in each. Groups were classified according to breast cancer diagnosis and socioeconomic status. The transcribed discussions were coded independently by two investigators. Together they reviewed the codes and identified themes. The key barriers were costs, inadequate knowledge, distance to health facilities, communication with health providers, medicines stockouts, long waiting periods, limited or no counseling at diagnosis, patient vulnerability, and limited access to rehabilitation items. Facilitators were dependable social support, periodical access to subsidized awareness, and early detection services and friendly caregivers. We found no marked differences in perceptions between groups by socioeconomic status. There is need for targeted awareness and education for health providers and the public, early detection services with onsite counseling and cost mitigation. Support from the society and religious organizations and persons may be leveraged as adjuncts to conventional management. Further interpretations are encouraged. Continuing cancer education for health providers in technical skills for early detection, treatment, and survivorship care, as well as nontechnical skills like communication, and an understanding of their patients' preferences and socioeconomic status may guide individualized management plans and positively affect patient experiences. Patients and the general public also need education on cancer to avoid misconceptions and inaccuracies that perpetuate fear, confusion, delayed presentation for treatment, and stigma. Critical analysis of the cancer care value chain and processes, development, and implementation of interventions to reduce costs while streamlining processes may improve client experiences.

Life Experiences of Women (Housewives) Diagnosed Hiv – Aids in Serang

Background: HIV transmitted to the housewives who are not in sexual high risk behavior affects to the complicated and unique problem. It does not only trigger psychological, physical, social and spirituality problems but also the problem of responsibility to take care of their children and family.
 Objective: To explore the experiences of housewives infected with HIV in order find the new insights. The findings are expected to be the references in either educational or health care service of HIV patients. Methods: The research is qualitative-and the study design is phenomenological. The data were collected by using in-depth interview method upon 7 HIV-infected women in coastal area of Serang and Rangkasbitung. The data analysis used Colaizzi.
 Results: The results of the study showed 3 themes, including the unknowing of HIV information, losing a partner and the desire to get married, self-stigmatized and child-discrimination concern, telling the family members regarding the patients’ HIV status and the treatment, and preparing for death. Several experiences of HIV-infected women covered physics, socio-psychology and spirituality. The new themes were discovered, including heredity, unknowing of HIV information before HIV-diagnosis, telling the family members regarding the patients’ HIV status and the treatment, and preparing for death.
 Conclusion: Therefore, it is important for counselors to provide holistic and complete care in order to develop aprogramorexploringadiscussiontopicofHIV-infected women in counseling program.
 

“When you have no water, it means you have no peace”: A mixed-methods, whole-population study of water insecurity and depression in rural Uganda

BackgroundLack of access to clean water has well known implications for communicable disease risks, but the broader construct of water insecurity is little studied, and its mental health impacts are even less well understood. Methods and findingsWe conducted a mixed-methods, whole-population study in rural Uganda to estimate the association between water insecurity and depression symptom severity, and to identify the mechanisms underlying the observed association. The whole-population sample included 1776 adults (response rate, 91.5%). Depression symptom severity was measured using a modified 15-item Hopkins Symptom Checklist for Depression. Water insecurity was measured with a locally validated 8-item Household Water Insecurity Access Scale. We fitted multivariable linear and Poisson regression models to the data to estimate the association between water insecurity and depression symptom severity, adjusting for age, marital status, self-reported overall health, household asset wealth, and educational attainment. These models showed that water insecurity was associated with depression symptom severity (b = 0.009; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.004–0.15) and that the estimated association was larger among men (b = 0.012; 95% CI, 0.008–0.015) than among women (b = 0.008; 95% CI, 0.004–0.012. We conducted qualitative interviews with a sub-group of 30 participants, focusing on women given their traditional role in household water procurement in the Ugandan context. Qualitative analysis, following an inductive approach, showed that water insecurity led to “choice-less-ness” and undesirable social outcomes, which in turn led to emotional distress. These pathways were amplified by gender-unequal norms. ConclusionsAmong men and women in rural Uganda, the association between water insecurity and depression symptom severity is statistically significant, substantive in magnitude, and robust to potential confounding. Data from the qualitative interviews provide key narratives that reveal the mechanisms through which women's lived experiences with water insecurity may lead to emotional distress.

Going on a ‘witch hunt’: investigating the lived experiences of women working in male team sports in regional Australia

Male dominated team sports potentially provide many opportunities for women, through both voluntary and paid employment. However, very few studies focus on the experiences of women at a regional (or rural) level in sport. By examining the experiences of women working with male team sports at this level, insight into why women choose to be involved within male dominated sporting spaces can be explored, including the benefits and the barriers faced within these spaces. Such information is pertinent to the wider discussions relating to women in sport in Australia. Therefore, the aim of this research was to study the lived experiences of female coaches, trainers, strappers, umpires, exercise scientists and administrators involved in regional male team sports in NSW. The lived experiences and perspectives of women working/volunteering in these sports (such as rugby league, Australian rules football, soccer and rugby union) will be explored using a third wave feminist lens.