The article reviewed in this report presents a qualitative research study aimed at exploring the perceptions and views of mothers of children aged 16 and below on health promotion recommendations provided by health promotion professionals. The study used several qualitative methods in recruiting participants into the study and in other aspects of the study such as data collection and data analysis.
Generally, the researchers used qualitative semi-structured interviews to collect data from 46 mothers who met the criteria for this study. The selection criterion was based on a variety of qualitative characteristics. Here, the researchers made an assumption that the participants drawn from a socio-economically deprived community will have poorer health, more distorted understandings of healthy diets, and more health-threatening behaviors (Wood et al., 2010).
As a result, the researchers conducted their study within Llanedeyrn community area because many community members are socio-economically deprived. More specifically, the researchers used the Townsend score, which is a criterion used to categorize people into different socioeconomic statuses in the United Kingdom.
Accordingly, the study used a total of four variables based on the Townsend score, including; unemployment, lack of wealth, low income, and poor living conditions to classify the participants into the category of socio-economically deprived people (Wood et al., 2010).
Furthermore, the study focused on women participants because they play a central role in planning the family’s diet. Besides, previous studies involving women participants from the same community had indicated that most women never prioritized healthy lifestyles.
On the other hand, the study used the social learning theory as the basis for data collection considering that the researchers were interested in the participants’ beliefs and perceptions regarding good health, health behavior changes, and healthy lifestyle changes. As a result, the qualitative semi-structured interviews were designed to measure the participants’ beliefs about the factors influencing good health and their perceived responsibilities in promoting good health within the community.
Moreover, the interviews were designed to measure the sources of dietary information among the participants and additional information regarding family diet and constraints to healthy eating. Generally, the interviews involved face-to-face conversations between the interviewer and the women participants, and all the interviews were recorded and transcribed verbatim (Wood et al., 2010).
Further, the data collected was analyzed using the principles of framework analysis, which involves five stages including familiarization, identification of thematic frameworks, indexing, charting, and mapping/interpretations (Wood et al., 2010). All these methods are common forms of qualitative data analysis. Accordingly, the study findings indicate that all the participants were familiar with the basic terms used in health promotion, and thus, they had incorporated them into their daily language.
Additionally, the study found out that time, money, family preferences, and the need to improve the quality of life were the major barriers to making health behavior changes among the participants. Further, the participants admitted to misunderstanding the messages concerning the significance of healthy diets, and hence, they were subject to making inappropriate dietary plans for their families.
On the other hand, most participants reported that they willfully interpreted the messages regarding dietary health promotion in such a way that fits their preferences and budget (Wood et al., 2010).
Therefore, based on the foregoing qualitative analyses and study findings, the researchers concluded that health promotion professionals should try to understand how different families perceive healthy diets and the way they interpret messages concerning good health in order to design appropriate health promotion programs.
Moreover, the study recommends that health professionals should provide dietary advice and information based on individual perceptions and understanding of healthy diets. Additionally, the researchers indicated that health professionals should consider individual family preferences and socio-economic circumstances in designing health promotion programs for the community (Wood et al., 2010).
Reference
Wood, F., Robling, M., Prout, H., Kinnersley, P., Houston, H., & Butler, C. (2010). A question of balance: A qualitative study of mother’s interpretations of dietary recommendations. Annals of Family Medicine, 8(1), 51-57.