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Oral presentation No. 48 Giving advice to families with a new-born child during Christina Baggens, RNT, MSc., doctoral student & Department of Communication Studies, Linköping University |
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Abstract |
When a child is born in Sweden, the parents are offered a visit in their home from the district nurse at the Child Health Center. The task of staff at the Child Health Center is to promote health in the family. The aim of the study was to describe the dialogue between couples, who have just become parents, and the district nurse, during the first home visit, with a special focus on the advice given during the visit. The theoretical perspective is within aspects of communication theory and the approach taken is that it is through verbal dialogues that we construct reality and that reality is not something separate from our way of structuring it through language. Thus the dialogue between the parents and the staff is a joint construction of action and meaning, and does not take place in a social vacuum. Method. Data collection consisted of audiotapes of dialogues between parents and district nurses during five home visits made by three district nurses to parents with a new-born child and interviews with the parents as well as the district nurses. Three of these home visits were also videotaped. The analysis focuses on the data from the dialogue during the home visits and was based on the content and the structure. The interviews were used to confirm the results from the dialogue during the home visits.The results showed that fifty-one pieces of advice appeared in the dialogues, most of them initiated by the district nurses. The most frequent advice given concerned feeding the child. It emerged that the district nurse chose her words to suit each individual family and the situation, by usin strategies. The strategies found were anonymizing, sustaining professional cautiousness and choosing the right opportunity. These strategies used in dialogues are qualitative aspects of the interaction. |
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Keywords |
Parents, child, District nurse, First home visit, i, Advice, Interaction |
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Contact |
Baggens Christina |
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Institution |
Department of Communication Studies, Linköping University |
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Postaddress |
Department of Communication Studies, Linköping University |
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City |
SE 581 83 Linköping |
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Country |
Sweden |
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chrba@tema.liu.se |
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Phone |
+ 46 13 282233 |
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Fax |
+ 46 13 282299 |