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Biomedical subjects

D Drevdahl

Publications and source records attributed to D Drevdahl.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2001

Reinvesting in social justice: a capital idea for public health nursing?

Social justice is a core ethical principle of public health nursing; yet, nurses' work as social activists has largely diminished over the past century. Reengagement in social justice activities is essential to change the current social, economic, and health differentials perpetuated by market justice ideologies. Social capital has emerged in the public health literature as a promising concept for developing community interventions that diminish disparities. Public health nurses, however, must be wary of uncritically adopting social capital as a panacea for inequalities; advocating for interventions seeking to build social capital may be as harmful as the inequalities themselves.

Ethics, Nursing↗
PubMed1999

Meanings of community in a community health center.

As health care organizations make communities the targets for their interventions, connections between "community" as theory for practice and community as setting for practice require examination. This study s purpose was to explore meanings given to community in a newly formed community health center, with particular emphasis on the relationship among women, community, and health. Using interpretive and emancipatory methodologies, interviews were conducted with clinic administrators and staff, and women who used the clinic. Data analysis revealed discrepancies in meanings of community. Clinic personnel referred to community as the target for their services, while clinic users spoke about community as the process that made feeling connected with others possible. Health center staff and administrators described the community they were serving as having limited economic, educational, physical, and psychological resources and saw little which could be labeled a community strength. Health center users however, spoke primarily of their abilities to support each other. These contradictory understandings of the meaning of community rendered different expectations regarding health care services. Meanings given to community may de-personalize, homogenize, and objectify, and ultimately distance nursing from those intended to be served.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1999

Sailing beyond: nursing theory and the person.

This article explores nursing's conceptualization of the person in terms of holism and uniqueness. These concepts raise concerns from postmodernist and feminist perspectives in terms of the unitary self, essentialism, culturalism, agency, and subjectivity. The use of holism and uniqueness in nursing theory appeals to the generic person, disregards interactions among the individual's race, class, and sex, and, thus, leaves larger institutional and societal issues unacknowledged, unexplored, and unchallenged. Nursing theories are needed that have social justice as their goal.

Culture↗
PubMed1998

Diamond necklaces: perspectives on power and the language of "community".

The relationship between power and the language of "community" is considered through findings from research conducted in a clinic in which clinic personnel and women who used the clinic discussed their understanding of "community." Analysis of the data was informed by critical social theory such as the work of Foucault which was used to understand "community" as a place of oppression, while feminist theory was applied in order to understand "community" as a place of resistance. Women who used the clinic were created and defined consonant with clinic practices. The exercise of power was evident through the types of objectives pursued by the clinic, the establishment of power relations, the system of differentiation between clinic personnel and users, and the forms of institutionalization. Counter-discourses were also constructed that served as points of resistance. "Community" became a mechanism by which clinic users challenged various enactments of clinic power through their health care choices and the stories they shared among each other. Findings point to "community" as emphasizing boundaries and divisions rather than similarities and unity.

Adult↗
PubMed1995

Coming to voice: the power of emancipatory community interventions.

Despite public and community health nursing's long history of social activism and the advocation of community collaborative and partnership ventures to enhance health status, most community interventions continue to focus on the individual. Larger social structures and institutions that create and support unhealthy behaviors and environments have not been seen as sites for nursing interventions. This article examines the challenges associated with community-level interventions. Community organization and participatory research are offered as models of emancipatory community-level interventions particularly germane to disenfranchised communities.

Community Health Nursing↗
PubMed1992

"Doing battle": a metaphorical analysis of diabetes mellitus among Navajo people.

Effective communication with patients and their family members forms the foundation of a therapeutic relationship. This is particularly important when the occupational therapist, other health professionals, and the patient are from different cultural backgrounds. This paper describes one aspect of the findings of a ethnographic study of chronic diabetes among the Navajo people (referred to here as Dine'). It focuses on the dominant metaphorical images that were used by the informants to describe their illness experiences. The data suggest that diabetes can be considered a metaphor for larger social changes in the life-style and traditions (e.g., away from sheepherding as a means of basic subsistence to obtaining urban-centered employment) of native Americans and their effects on the Dine'. Implications of our findings include the importance of metaphorical communication for perceptions of compliance, powerlessness, and patient and therapist satisfaction with the therapeutic relationship.

Arizona↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Increasing minority participation in biomedical and nursing research.

There is an increased need for minority representation in biomedical and nursing research. Factors such as lack of suitable mentors, inadequate academic preparation, and poor self-image contribute to minorities not seeking graduate education and careers in research. This article presents an overview of a federally funded research project, Minority Biomedical Research Support (MBRS), that provided opportunities for Native Americans to participate in and gain experience with a research project. The project involved a qualitative study that investigated diabetes mellitus in the Navajo and Hopi peoples. Students were trained in all aspects of the research process including data collection and analysis and the preparation of final reports. Some of the perplexing issues and concerns that surround minority participation in research are discussed. MBRS programs can provide a model and means for nurse researchers to conduct worthwhile investigations and provide research training for minority students. The authors use their experience with this study to encourage more involvement by nursing programs in projects such as this, thus enhancing minority opportunities in nursing research.

Adolescent↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Race and ethnicity as variables in Nursing Research, 1952-2000.

BACKGROUND: Although the use of race and ethnicity as variables in research has increased over the past five decades, there is confusion regarding the meaning of the terms, as well as how the words are defined and determined in scientific inquiry. OBJECTIVE: To review the use of race and ethnicity as variables in nursing research literature. METHODS: Original research articles published in Nursing Research in the years, 1952, 1955, and every 5 years thereafter through 2000 were reviewed. Those articles describing human characteristics (N = 337) were analyzed for content concerning: (a) frequency of racial and ethnic terms, (b) words used for racial and ethnic categories, (c) detinitions of racial and ethnic terms, and (d) how a study participant's race or ethnicity was determined. RESULTS: Racial and ethnic variables were mentioned in 167 of the 337 reviewed articles. Eighty-one terms and word phrases were used for these variables. In only five articles were the variables defined. Race and ethnic labels were often intermixed and the majority of studies provided no information about how categorization of the participant's race or ethnicity was made. In addition, there was relatively little growth in the number of studies that had racial/ethnic groups, other than Whites, as the majority of the sample. CONCLUSION: Racial and ethnic variables provide nurse researchers with many challenges. Although race and ethnicity were widely used in Nursing Research articles, the categories were not defined in the majority of papers, and methods used to determine a participant's race or ethnicity were unclear. In order to construct a common and consistent understanding of racial and ethnic categories, nurse researchers should be explicit regarding the rationale related to their use of the categories and the assumptions underlying particular racial and ethnic categorizations.

Bibliometrics↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Integrating principles of community-centered practice in a community health nursing practicum.

Using a service learning approach, registered nurse baccalaureate students apply the concepts of community- and population-centered practice through participation in a 10-week clinical practicum. Through this project, students experience community health theories in action, understand the sociopolitical processes that shape health, and think more broadly about clients within their particular clinical practice, and populations beyond those settings.

Attitude of Health Personnel↗