Qualitative research in medicine & healthcare最新文献

{"title":"Lived experiences of women with chronic migraine: A phenomenological study.","authors":"Mikko Patovirta, Kitty M Suddick, Riku Nikander, Marja-Liisa Sumelahti, Pirjo Vuoskoski","doi":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100051","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100051","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>While quantitative research has yielded valuable insights into the prevalence, triggers, and treatment efficacy of chronic migraine, the embodied experience of the condition remains underexplored. This study portrays chronic migraine as a lived bodily condition, aiming to illuminate how such disruptions are experienced in everyday life.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Data were collected from eight female participants through in-depth, open-ended phenomenological interviews. The data were analyzed using Giorgi's descriptive phenomenological method.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The analysis revealed a unifying structure of the lived-through phenomenon comprising four key constituents: (1) sense of agency, (2) sense of bodily control, (3) sense of bodily exhaustion, and (4) sense of adaptation. Participants described recurring migraine attacks as involving disrupted sensations intertwined with a diminished sense of bodily control and agency. The persistent presence of pain and the anticipation of attacks were experienced as part of an ongoing state of vigilance and exhaustion. Participants expressed a tension between feeling unsafe and engaging in adaptive efforts to reconnect with their sense of agency and control.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study combines clinical relevance with phenomenological depth, emphasizing the subjective, pre-reflective, and partly unrecognized experiences of living with chronic migraine. Greater attention to bodily experience may support clinical encounters in which patients' descriptions of bodily unpredictability, exhaustion, and fluctuating agency are more fully acknowledged. From a clinical perspective, attending to such experiences, as reflecting a disruption of bodily experience, may foster more responsive and person-centered approaches to rehabilitation and care in chronic migraine.</p>","PeriodicalId":74623,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative research in medicine & healthcare","volume":"10 ","pages":"100051"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13693065/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149278505","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Inflammatory bowel disease and the psychological difficulties of partners; An interpretative phenomenological analysis.","authors":"Tobias Stark, Anke Erdmann, Claudia Bozzaro","doi":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100052","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Introduction: </strong>Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) affects not only the patients, but also their partners. This article addresses psychological difficulties for partners and the subsequent need for support.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Seven partners of IBD patients were, <i>inter alia</i>, asked about the effects of the illness on their mental wellbeing in semi-structured qualitative interviews. They were also asked about any potential need for support. The data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Participants reported psychological difficulties because of the depression that often accompanies IBD. They experienced stress, a sense of helplessness, concerns about the future, and tension between self-care and supporting their partners. From the participants' point of view, offers of support or help for partners of IBD patients are needed.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>This is the first study in Germany to examine the effects of IBD on partners. The results are mainly consistent with those from other international studies dealing with this research question. These have already described most of the psychological difficulties mentioned in this study; however, the tension between self-care and support for the participants' loved ones suffering from IBD is described in this study for the first time. Medical staff should be sensitive to the effects that IBD has on partners and ask for those effects in order to detect psychological difficulties early and take further steps if necessary. Further offers of support for partners should be considered.</p>","PeriodicalId":74623,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative research in medicine & healthcare","volume":"10 ","pages":"100052"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13718811/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"149302896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Living and working through health uncertainty: An analytic autoethnography of identity, strain, and future-making.","authors":"Mehmed Zahid Çögenli","doi":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100049","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100049","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Prolonged health uncertainty extends beyond diagnostic processes and clinical encounters into everyday life, reshaping work, relationships, self-understanding, and the capacity to imagine a stable future. Yet the occupational and relational burden of living under uncertainty often remains hidden when outward functioning is preserved.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>This analytic autoethnography examined how prolonged health uncertainty was lived and negotiated across work, family life, and selfhood. The analysis drew on a curated archive of self-authored materials, including contemporaneous written reflections, retrospective accounts, and selected self-narrative documents. Materials were interpreted thematically through the lens of biographical disruption.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Four interrelated themes were identified: 1) health uncertainty beyond the clinic, 2) carrying competence under strain, 3) silence, disclosure, and institutional vulnerability, and 4) rebuilding a livable future. The findings show that uncertainty became embedded in the ordinary structure of life rather than remaining a purely medical issue. Continued functioning at work depended on self-monitoring, emotional containment, selective silence, and repeated efforts to preserve a coherent professional self. Uncertainty remained unresolved, but was incorporated into a more fragile, still livable continuity.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Prolonged health uncertainty should be understood as both a medical problem awaiting clarification and a disruptive occupational and relational condition. This article highlights the hidden labor involved in remaining apparently functional while living and working through uncertainty.</p>","PeriodicalId":74623,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative research in medicine & healthcare","volume":"10 ","pages":"100049"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13564121/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148957487","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Dual perspectives: Navigating the roles of physician and ethnographer in sensitive spaces.","authors":"David Wenzel","doi":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100048","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100048","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Positionality is central to ethnographic research because knowledge is produced through situated and relational encounters. Clinician-ethnographers occupy complex insider-outsider positions, as their professional identity may shape access, behavior, disclosure, and interpretation within the field. In this article, I explore the multiple positionalities of the physician-ethnographer in acute hospital settings and argue that professional identity should not be perceived as bias to be neutralized, but as an interpretive resource.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>I draw on reflexive episodes from ethnographic fieldwork examining non-invasive advanced respiratory support. I consider moments of intervention and restraint, emotional steadiness, and shifting self-presentation to examine how professional identity and authority are experienced and negotiated in practice.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The withholding and expression of professional authority made visible how positionality reshaped interlocutor behavior, disclosure, and the stabilization of knowledge. When I was recognized as a physician, interactions were often organized around clinical credibility and technical knowledge. When positioned as a student or outsider, interlocutors more readily articulated uncertainty, emotional labor, and the relational dimensions of care. Professional authority persisted even when unexercised, and both intervention and restraint reorganized interactions within the field. Holding multiple positionalities revealed hierarchies and moral negotiations that structure acute care.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>The physician-ethnographer's multiple positionalities should not be understood as a methodological liability to be minimized. By reframing clinician positionality as analytically generative, I demonstrate how reflexive practice can reveal the relational and symbolic organization of clinical care. Professional identity is not external to ethnographic data, but forms part of the conditions through which knowledge is produced.</p>","PeriodicalId":74623,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative research in medicine & healthcare","volume":"10 ","pages":"100048"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-08-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13507539/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148835616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Perspectives on Lyme disease among persons of color in the United States: Qualitative research findings.","authors":"Stephanie A Duench, L Hannah Gould, Alexandra Kissling, Kathleen Beusterien, Lewis Kopenhafer, Gabriela Burgos","doi":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100047","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100047","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Objectives: </strong>Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne illness in the United States, with an estimated 476,000 cases diagnosed and treated annually. Although incidence is highest among White individuals, people of color are more likely to experience severe or disseminated manifestations. This study explored factors contributing to this disparity by examining experiences of people of color diagnosed with Lyme disease.</p><p><strong>Setting: </strong>Participants resided in high-incidence U.S. states.</p><p><strong>Participants: </strong>Self-identified people of color diagnosed with Lyme disease within the past 12 months.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Fifteen participants completed in-depth interviews analyzed using inductive and deductive qualitative content analysis. Follow-up focus groups supported consensus-building and thematic refinement.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Key themes included limited awareness that people of color are at risk for Lyme disease, perceived discrimination in healthcare encounters, diagnostic delays attributed to the characteristic erythema migrans (EM) rash being less visible on darker skin, and insufficient physician knowledge regarding diverse clinical presentations. Participants also expressed a preference for racially concordant providers. Lyme disease affected physical health, emotional well-being, social relationships, and engagement in outdoor activities.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>People of color may face distinct challenges in Lyme disease recognition and management, contributing to disparities in outcomes. Findings underscore the need for targeted education for at-risk populations, patients, and providers and for equitable prevention and diagnostic strategies.</p>","PeriodicalId":74623,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative research in medicine & healthcare","volume":"10 ","pages":"100047"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-07-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13564120/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"148957519","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Beyond the screen: Lived experiences and coping strategies of educators facing digital eye strain in a Philippine university.","authors":"Alex S Borromeo","doi":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100046","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100046","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Purpose: </strong>Prolonged digital screen exposure among university educators has led to increased cases of digital eye strain (DES), a growing occupational health concern in the academic sector. This study explored the lived experiences and coping strategies of faculty members facing moderate-to-severe DES at a Philippine university.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A descriptive phenomenological approach guided this qualitative inquiry. Nine faculty members were purposively selected based on moderate-to-severe DES scores from a prior university-wide quantitative survey. Semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using phenomenological analysis following Creswell's descriptive phenomenological steps, including identification of significant statements, formulation of meaning units, and synthesis of themes describing the essence of the experience.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>The findings revealed four major themes: digital health and resilience, workstation and environmental ergonomics, work-life integration, and health services, policy supports, and system-level enablers. Participants described the paradox of digital tools that enhance teaching while contributing to physical strain and technostress.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>This study underscores the urgency for educational institutions to integrate ocular health and ergonomic practices into workplace policies. Targeted interventions, such as regulated screen breaks, eye care programs, and digital wellness education, are essential. The findings contribute to sustainable development goals (SDGs) and advocate for a safer, health-conscious academic environment.</p>","PeriodicalId":74623,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative research in medicine & healthcare","volume":"10 ","pages":"100046"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-03-12","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13104348/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147791616","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Editor's introduction: The function of emotion in qualitative healthcare research.","authors":"Warren Bareiss","doi":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100035","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2026.100035","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":74623,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative research in medicine & healthcare","volume":"9 3","pages":"100035"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2026-01-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12878577/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146145052","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Younger adult women who had a stroke or at high stroke risk: Exploration of their experiences and needs.","authors":"Sarah Ibrahim, Emine Kocabas, Lindsey Zhang, Angela Verven, Syeda Hashmi, Sharon Ng, Troy Francis, Aleksandra Stanimirovic, Judith Coulson, Jasper R Senff, Jonathan Rosand, Sanjula D Singh, Valeria E Rac, Aleksandra Pikula","doi":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2025.100034","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qrmh.2025.100034","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Worldwide, women, particularly younger and middle-aged (≤65 years), are disproportionately affected by stroke. Although the adoption of healthy lifestyle habits is integral for stroke risk factor modification, little is known about younger adult women who had a stroke or are at high risk of stroke-their lifestyle-related knowledge, behaviors, associated and influencing facilitators, and barriers to support brain health, which this study aimed to address.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>A qualitative interpretivist design was employed that was part of a larger quality improvement mixed-methods study. Data was collected through virtual, semi-structured focus groups. Inductive thematic analysis was performed and analyzed using the intersectionality framework.</p><p><strong>Results: </strong>A total of 11 women comprised the study sample who were of high stroke risk or had a stroke (mean age 53 years, 54.5 % stroke). A total of six themes emerged from the analysis: (1) lifestyle habits supporting holistic post-stroke recovery, (2) parenting-not being the same mother as before, (3) professional expectations-having to leave career behind and pressures to return, (4) societal expectations of women and permission to self-care, (5) psychological safety and comfort from women-centered interventions, and (6) experience in the healthcare system-not feeling seen, heard, or considered as a woman.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>Study findings have implications on three levels: 1) <i>micro</i>, through the development of intensive, long-term educational, behavioral, peer-led, group-based and theory-informed interventions that focus on holistic and incremental lifestyle changes and involve family and social support; 2) <i>meso</i>, through the use of practical tools in clinical practice, integration of motivational interviewing and health coaching, and services for children in health care and school systems, and 3) <i>macro</i>, through the incorporation of case management and psychosocial support in the current model of stroke care.</p>","PeriodicalId":74623,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative research in medicine & healthcare","volume":"9 3","pages":"100034"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-16","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12835591/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146094517","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Reimagining the role of emotion in healthcare research.","authors":"Rebekah Cole","doi":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2025.100033","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2025.100033","url":null,"abstract":"<p><strong>Background: </strong>Qualitative healthcare research often involves emotionally charged topics, such as trauma, illness, loss, moral injury, that profoundly affect researchers as well as participants. Yet the personal and emotional experiences of researchers are frequently excluded from formal training, ethical oversight, and methodological discourse.</p><p><strong>Objective: </strong>This commentary explores emotional reflexivity as a core methodological, ethical, and pedagogical dimension of qualitative research in health care. It asserts that researcher emotions are vital sources of insight, ethical awareness, and relational depth, particularly in clinical, psychological, and trauma-informed research settings.</p><p><strong>Methods: </strong>Drawing from feminist standpoint theory, affect theory, and post-qualitative inquiry, this paper synthesizes conceptual literature, cross-disciplinary insights, and a personal fieldwork vignette from qualitative research with Ukrainian military healthcare professionals. Finally, it presents a framework for emotional engagement throughout the research process.</p><p><strong>Results and key insights: </strong>Emotions shape every stage of qualitative research. When unacknowledged, emotions may contribute to researcher distress or burnout. This commentary highlights the need for emotionally responsive training models, research team practices, and IRB protocols that address participant and researcher vulnerability. It also offers pedagogical strategies and draws parallels to emotionally intensive fields such as counseling, chaplaincy, and medicine.</p><p><strong>Conclusion: </strong>Emotionally reflexive practice enhances ethical clarity, deepens qualitative rigor, and promotes long-term sustainability in health research careers. As qualitative inquiry continues to shape healthcare policy, education, and practice, researcher emotional engagement must be reimagined as an ethical and methodological asset.</p>","PeriodicalId":74623,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative research in medicine & healthcare","volume":"9 3","pages":"100033"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12813594/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146013900","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Burnout in practice: A qualitative study of the impact of organizational factors on burnout and patient care among VA mental health providers.","authors":"Molly Harrod, Linda Takamine, Kristen Abraham, Veronica Ortolan, Jennifer Burgess, Peter P Grau, Rebecca Sripada, Kara Zivin","doi":"10.1016/j.qrmh.2025.100032","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.qrmh.2025.100032","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Organizational causes of burnout among mental health providers (MHPs) are extensively documented in the literature. Additionally, several studies have established a relationship between higher burnout rates and poorer patient care. However, it remains unclear whether worse patient care results from organizational causes of burnout, MHP burnout itself, or a combination of both. Therefore, an in-depth qualitative exploration of MHPs' experiences with organizational causes of burnout and their perceptions of how these causes may affect patient care was conducted. Fifty-four MHPs (i.e., social workers, psychologists and psychiatrists) across nine Veteran Health Administration (VA) medical centers participated in semi-structured interviews. Content analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings revealed a complex relationship between organizational factors and individual behaviors influenced by burnout, and their potential impact on patient care. MHPs' acknowledged that their burnout could impact the quality of care provided to Veterans. The behaviors associated with burnout, such as disengagement, lack of empathy, distraction, lack of preparedness, and procrastination, may inadvertently compromise the therapeutic alliance and the overall efficacy of treatment. Findings also indicated that MHP experienced moral distress from the dissonance between the desire to provide high-quality care and the reality of institutional constraints. Additionally, MHP burnout impacted Veterans' trust and engagement with the VA mental health care system. Therefore, addressing burnout requires a multifaceted approach including organizational reforms, support and resources for MHPs, and dedicated support for MHPs to deliver high quality care. Our findings emphasize the critical need for organizational-level interventions that prioritize clinical care over bureaucratic demands.</p>","PeriodicalId":74623,"journal":{"name":"Qualitative research in medicine & healthcare","volume":"9 3","pages":"100032"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0,"publicationDate":"2025-12-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12835596/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146095227","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}