Administering Quantitative Instruments With Qualitative Interviews: A Mixed Research Approach

Assessing the Needs of Adolescents and Young Adults Receiving Cancer Treatment: A Mixed Methods Study

Purpose: This study was designed to assess the most salient health care needs of adolescents and young adults (AYAs) who undergo cancer treatment. Understanding their age-related needs helps providers offer appropriate support when support is vital: as they accept diagnosis and undergo treatment. Methods: A mixed methods design was used to obtain quantitative and qualitative data on the overall needs of AYA cancer patients. Participants, aged 16-29, who enrolled early in their cancer treatment, completed the Stanford Adolescent and Young Adult Cancer (SAYAC) Program survey and a subsequent one-on-one semistructured interview. Results: The quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed separately. The data revealed that AYAs adjusted and adapted to their cancer diagnosis to meet their health care needs. Three themes emerged from the data: acquisition of knowledge and experience, participation in decision-making and self-management behaviors, and gaining perspectives on life inside and outside of the hospital. The quantitative data revealed that the participants agreed or strongly agreed on the importance of being involved in the decision-making process, incorporating hopes and dreams into their treatment, and feeling supported by their family. Conclusion: Understanding the needs of AYAs who undergo cancer treatment is vital to their overall well-being. Using different data collection methods, including interviews, can clarify AYA needs and lead to improved individualized care.

Sleep in an At Risk Adolescent Group: A Qualitative Exploration of the Perspectives, Experiences and Needs of Youth Who Have Been Excluded From Mainstream Education

The sleep needs, experiences and viewpoints were explored for UK adolescents who have been excluded from mainstream education. Qualitative data was gathered through interviews with 9 participants, aged 11-15 years, who also completed questionnaires. The participants had symptoms of inadequate sleep, poor sleep hygiene behaviours and were not getting the recommended amount of sleep on school nights. Participants described sleep patterns involving often staying up late and having different sleep timing on weekends than weekdays and having difficulties with their sleep. Use of technology and the relevance of family were identified as important and associated with facilitating and hindering factors for sleep. Participants communicated that they lack control over aspects of their sleep and their lives. The experiences and views of the participants can inform professionals' understanding of how to collaborate with adolescents to improve their sleep and highlight that continued development of sleep education programmes is timely.

Accepting the inevitable: A mixed method approach with assessment and perceptions of well-being in very old persons within the northern Sweden Silver-MONICA study

BACKGROUND

As the group of very old persons will form an increasing part of society, the study of how well-being is described and affected by specific factors will be of importance to meet the future needs of these persons. The aim of the study was to increase knowledge of well-being in very old persons by combining assessments and perceptions using the Philadelphia Geriatric Morale Scale (PGCMS).

METHOD

In a mixed method, convergent parallel design, 52 persons 80 years or older were assessed and interviewed using the PGCMS to combine assessment of morale and descriptions of perceptions of well-being using a mixed method approach.

RESULTS

Quantitative and qualitative results converged in four areas: not feeling lonely and being included, rating and perceiving health as good, high physical function/ability and being physically active, living in own house and feeling at home. Areas perceived as important to well-being captured only in qualitative analysis were having freedom and engagement. An example of insights not achievable from the quantitative or qualitative analysis alone was that individuals with high morale expressed anxiety about losing their health due to potential ageing-related threats and that individuals with low morale struggled with acceptance. Acceptance was the key strategy for handling adverse consequences of ageing in all described areas.

CONCLUSION

When using standardized assessment scales in clinical practice, it could be useful to combine quantitative and qualitative data. Acceptance was key for well-being; however, acceptance could be resigned or reorienting in nature.

Delivering UN Sustainable Development Goals’ Impact on Infrastructure Projects: An Empirical Study of Senior Executives in the UK Construction Sector

Achievement of the United Nations’ 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) is of paramount importance for both business and society. Across the construction sector, despite evidence that suggests 88% of those surveyed want to measure the SDG impact at both the business and project levels, there continues to be major challenge in achieving this objective. This paper shares the results of a qualitative research study of 40 interviews with executives from the United Kingdom (UK) construction industry. It was supported by a text-based content analysis to strengthen the findings. The results indicate that SDG measurement practices are embraced in principle but are problematic in practice and that rarely does action match rhetoric. While the research was completed in the UK, the findings have broader applicability to other countries since most construction firms have extensive global business footprints. Researchers can use the findings to extend the current understanding of measuring outcomes and impact at project level, and, for practitioners, the study provides insights into the contextual preconditions necessary to achieve the intended outcomes of adopting a mechanism for the measurement of SDGs. The international relevance of this research is inherently linked to the global nature of the SDGs and therefore the results could be used outside of UK.

Meaning in Measurement: Evaluating Young Autistic Adults' Active Engagement and Expressed Interest in Quality-of-Life Goals

The need for support programs and meaningful measurement of outcomes with autistic adults is growing. To date, success in autism intervention has been defined based on changes in discretely defined, observable behaviors with limited consideration of the person's experience, motivations, or the complex contexts in which these skills are used. Behavioral skill-building interventions are effective at increasing or decreasing specific behaviors, but a purely behavioral focus is not enough for meaningful improvements in adult quality of life (QoL). To reflect real-life impact, intervention and measurement must go beyond quantitative estimates of changes in skills regardless of context of use and focus on enhancing and evaluating functional outcomes and adult QoL that includes active engagement with the adult and provides rigor in qualitative evaluation. This article reports on efforts to assess active engagement of verbally fluent young autistic adults in a supported university-based residential pilot program built around self-set wellness goals for healthy, engaged, responsible, and empowered adult living. Program evaluation used an exploratory process for evaluating QoL learning, while also being open to how future work can discern participant meanings in measurement. The pilot used a mixed-methods approach to measure entry skills and interests, codetermine personal wellness goals, inform program content with participants, and measure QoL learning in terms of active engagement, expressed interest, and changes in self-appraisal of competence, confidence, and identity. Participants' QoL learning, replication of QoL learning measurement methods, and further exploration of strategies to put participant meanings in QoL learning measurement are discussed.

Lay summary

Why was this study done?: This study piloted a measurement strategy for deciding what to measure and support in real-world contexts of independent living and on-campus experiences in a 3-week residential program for young autistic adults.What was the purpose of this study?: The study aimed to measure and support autistic adults' quality of life (QoL) learning in terms of the extent to which pursuing self-set wellness goals, with supports, positively impacted autistic adults' active engagement (e.g., participation in wellness activities), and expressed interest (e.g., willingness to participate).Why was this program developed?: The program was developed because more young adults on the spectrum are aging into adulthood without personalized, respectful, and meaningful supports to promote engaged adult living. We wanted to build on our experience and feedback from autistic adults, family, and partners who have engaged in weekly social engagement groups on a university campus and called for more comprehensive transition programs.What did the program do?: The project was a pilot of an on-campus program aimed at facilitating personally meaningful improvements in QoL through empowering autistic adults to act on their personal motivations, interests, and goals. It also emphasized learning through experiences in real-life contexts, in collaboration with other participants, campus resources, community members, and program staff.How did the researchers evaluate the new program?: The program team used both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative methods included standard self-report tools that autistic adults used to rate their safety needs, adult self-direction skills, autism-related self-concept, priority of self-set wellness goals, and confidence in abilities to achieve and learn more about one's own wellness goals. Predetermined qualitative methods included analysis of themes from participants' narrative data from their wellness interviews with participants and open-response items from self-report tools. The program was also responsive through a preprogram wellness interview with parents, staff's field notes about of participants' behaviors, conversational interactions with participants, and team discussions. Researchers contextualized and synthesized the data into narrative case studies about each participant's wellness journey.What were the early findings and what do they add to what was already known?: Results showed that the program was able to facilitate participants' QoL learning in personal wellness goals in collaboration with campus and community resources. Participants expressed meaningful changes in their expressed interests, active engagement, and self-concept through participating in this brief residential on-campus program.What are potential weaknesses of this pilot?: Weaknesses included a short time period of 3 weeks, a small participant count of 5, and the resource-intense supports needed for the program.What are the next steps?: The next steps are to adjust the program based on participant feedback and pursue creation of a multiyear program to continue piloting the measurement and support strategies for facilitating autistic adults' active wellness engagement and self-determined independent living.How will these findings and this work help autistic adults now or in the future?: This work informs future wellness interventions for measuring and supporting autistic adults' efforts to self-determine meaningful changes to their QoL.

Identifying Motives of Midlife Black Triathlete Women Using Survey Transformation to Guide Qualitative Inquiry

Demonstrating health disparities related to race, age, and gender, older Black women (BW) are the most sedentary demographic group in the United States. Increasing PA in mid-life is important, as it improves health as BW age into their later years. Advancing our understanding of the exercise motives of BW triathletes presents a "reverse engineering" opportunity to identify motives that could influence sedentary mid-life BW to increase their activity. The purposes of this study were to: (a) utilize an innovative survey transformation method to adapt a measure developed primarily in Caucasian males, i.e., the Motivations of Marathoners Scale for Triathletes (MOMS-T) into a qualitative interview guide for use with BW triathletes; (b) use this interview guide to identify culturally based motives for triathlon participation among BW not previously addressed by the MOMS-T and; (c) interpret the novel motivational domains of the MOMS-T discovered, in order to gain understanding and influence subsequent interventions. Purposive sampling was used to select 12 interview participants from 121 self-identified Black female US residents aged ≥36 years with recent experience completing or training for a triathlon. The interviews identified four culturally based themes, including improving body composition to become "more lean", physical attractiveness, triathlete family, and camaraderie. These novel themes were related to existing MOMS-T scales, but the current MOMS-T questions did not illuminate their culturally distinct aspects. The process of survey transformation provides a viable approach to identify important culturally based characteristics and to adapt surveys to cultural minority populations, particularly when study resources are limited.