Browsing by Subject "voimaantuminen"
Now showing items 1-2 of 2
-
(2013)Goals: The purpose of the study was to describe and analyse the content of online discussions and shared experiences among parents of children who suffer from epilepsy as well as parents' experiences with online peer support and its development. The goal was to deepen understanding of online peer support and the experiences of parents, and to develop the online activities of the Finnish Epilepsy Foundation based on the information gained. Previous studies about peer support have included group manifestations, personal experiences and peer support in community discussions. More and more peer support is available online, which has been seen in peer support studies from 2000 2009. Online peer support has been reported as both supporting and hindering empowering experiences. Previous studies have highlighted the significance of personal experiences. In this study, the concept of "experience" is defined from the standpoint of Dewey. Peer support is approached in the framework of empowerment. The study addresses four research questions. 1) What do parents of children with epilepsy write in online discussions? 2) What kind of experiences do they share in it? 3) What kind of experiences have parents had with online peer support, and which experiences further parents' empowerment? 4) How should online discussions be developed among parents? Methods: Study data was drawn from online discussions written by parents of children with epilepsy (the first message posted and the following message chain) and interviews with six (N = 6) parents who agreed to theme interviews. Web materials were written 15 June 13 December 2012. Data from theme interviews were gathered in February 2013 by interviewing parents by phone or in person. Web postings and interview content were handled using abductive content analysis, such that high rankings in the analysis utilised concepts of Siitonen's empowerment model (1999). Results and conclusions: The Internet offered parents of ill children an opportunity to share their experiences with other parents in similar life situations. In online discussions, parents shared their experiences about their children becoming ill, epilepsy treatments, support they had experienced as well as their emotions and mental images of the future. The significance of experiential data was highlighted in what parents wrote. Parents experienced the discussion environment as friendly, open, matter-of-fact and empathetic. From the standpoint of empowerment, it was significant that parents had the strength to support one another even in very difficult everyday life situations. The significance of experiences was affected by the environment of the online discussion, its content, parents' pre-conceived expectations as well as sharing emotional experiences and mental images of the future. Factors in the development of online discussions were related to briefing of the service, improved availability as well as active facilitation.
-
(2018)The important aspects of empowerment are good self-esteem and an ability to set goals for oneself. These are related to an optimistic view of the future and faith in one’s dreams. Empowerment is an individual process, but it can be supported by subtle solutions. Siitonen (1999) has developed a theory of empowerment which is classified into four sub-processes which are goals, capacity beliefs, context beliefs, and emotions. Doing things by hand, setting goals, feeling competent by succeeding, and getting positive feedback from others, are significant sources of satisfaction and they also support personal growth and empowerment. Today a lot of social interaction happens in social media and in virtual communities. Craft as a hobby has also found it’s place in virtual communities. The aim of this study was to understand and interprete empowerment through individuals experiences about hobby craft in virtual communities. Qualitative data was collected using electronic form during spring 2018. The form was shared through craft-themed Facebook-group called “Käsityön ystävien vinkkipankki”. The form included instructions about how to answer, backround questions, three open questions, supporting questions, and a possibility to share thoughts about the subject. The data was collected from 120 respondents and it was analyzed from 89 respondents with discretionary sample. The data was analyzed by content analysis and using Atlas.ti. –program. Data were compared to the empowerment theory by Siitonen (1999). The conclusion of this stydy is that crafts virtual communities have possibilities to empower individuals and crafts as a hobby have many meanings that support one’s empowerment process. For individual, the most important factors were feeling of success, setting goals, development of self-image by positive feedback ja development of one’s skills, as well as the meanings of craft as hobby that support mental health. In craft-themed virtual communities the most important factors for making empowerment possible for individual were sense of community, abetment, and positive feedback, as well as shared experiences that create sense of warm and safe atmosphere. Repondents also metioned that shared rules and boundaries were importat in creating a sense of community.
Now showing items 1-2 of 2