Developing coaching cultures: an exploration of the enacting practitioner perspective

This paper focuses on parental intra-family support of the child, encompassing all interactions between parents and child pertaining to education (proximal processes), occurring within the family. For the purposes of this paper, this support is hereby described by the term parental intra-family support of the child's primary education. The empirical part of the paper aims to address the construction of parental intra-family support of the child's primary education, adapted to the domestic context and parental perspective. Parental intra-family support of the child's education is placed within the paradigm of social constructivism, as viewed through the lens of the Bronfenbrenner bioecological process– person–context–time model and grounded in pedagogical perspective. By adopting a three- component structure of the theoretical framework, this research suggests that the parental construction of their intra-family support of the child's primary education is shaped not only by the characteristics of the parents and child, but also by various narratives conveyed to the parents through social structures that the parents actively process in line with the micro, meso, exo, macro and chrono-contextual factors. The research, based on the described theoretical grounds, has a twofold aim: 1. To identify and systematize a range of parental practices of intra-family support of the child's primary education 2. To describe narratives that dominate parental understanding of their own role in supporting the child's primary education in their microcontext. In this research, the term narratives implies a socially mediated and established understanding of optimal behavior of a parent as a person who supports the child's education within the family. The research originates from qualitative research values (critique of quantitative values, the researcher's subjectivity and reflexivity as a resource, knowledge and meaning as contextual, situated, partial) and the application of qualitative methods of data collection and data analysis. Two methods were applied to collect qualitative data in the study: a parent diary and individual, semi-structured in-depth interview. The combination of the parent diary and the first part of the interview was used to address the first part of the research objective, while the second part of the interview was used to address the second part of the research objective. Bronfenbrenner's process-person-context-time model was used as a guide for shaping the semi-structured interview protocol. The interview protocol itself was observed as developmental, and after each interview it was adjusted according to the reactions of previous participants and focusing on the objective of the research. The data collected in the parent diary and the first part of the interview were analyzed by inductive conventional content analysis according to the steps for conducting inductive content analysis described by Vears and Gillam (2022), where codes were derived directly from the data. The data collected through the second part of the interview were analyzed applying the six phases of reflexive thematic analysis as described by Braun and Clarke (2022a). A predominantly inductive approach to reflexive thematic analysis was applied, which implies open coding, but also a certain degree of deductive analysis, which ensured that the shaped themes would be relevant to the research objective. When identifying codes/themes, manifest and latent meanings were taken into account. In the coding process, within both methods, the NVivo qualitative data analysis software was used, to an extent that does not compromise the reflexive component of the thematic analysis, and Sonix software was used for the transcription of the interviews. The study involved 24 parents (20 mothers and 4 fathers) of primary education students from Primorje-Gorski Kotar county (N=21) and neighboring counties: Istria County (N=1) and Karlovac County (N=2). The basic criterion that the participants had to meet in order to participate in the survey was that they were parents of at least one primary education student in Primorje-Gorski Kotar, or neighboring counties. Therefore, a convenient participant recruitment strategy was applied, resulting in the desired variability across several key elements: parents' level of education, economic status, employment status, gender, and marital/family structure. However, it should be noted that among the study participants, individuals who had only completed primary school were not represented, nor were parents who assessed their economic status as below average. The final number of participants was within the previously defined range, which was determined using key elements of the pragmatic model to estimate the required number of participants in qualitative studies (Malterud et al., 2016). Potential participants received the Invitation to participate in the research (with an accompanying video) sent through representatives of the Parents' Council. The survey was conducted during the school year 2022/2023. All research phases have been continuously considered and adhered to current research ethics standards in the social sciences. In the research process, I reflexively identified my own assumptions, prejudices, values, personal background and choices, i.e. activities during the research process, and reported on reflexivity supported by the entire research and recording in the reflexive diary. An inductive conventional content analysis resulted in systematization of parental intra-family support of the child's primary education, consisting of four categories (with associated subcategories): 1. Supporting the development of the child's knowledge and skills; 2. Shaping the child's desired behavior; 3. Providing affective support to the child and 4. Supporting the child's interests and affinities. The results obtained by inductive conventional analysis suggest that the participants perceive the concept of education as what includes, but also what goes beyond the process of formal education, therefore they used a number of direct, but also subtle practices of intra-family support of the child's education. The results also suggest that, while there are certain tendencies for parents to adopt certain practices based on their gender, both fathers and mothers are actively engaged in supporting their child's education. The division of roles appears to be influenced more by individual preferences, affinities, and skills rather than strictly by sex/gender. Furthermore, the results showed that among the participants there is no difference in the adoption of certain practices based on the sex/gender of the child. Instead, parental practices appear to be influenced by other child characteristics and contextual factors. The systematization of parental practices identified among the subjects of this research confirmed some previously established systematizations (only partially coinciding with the other level of the Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler model, 2005). The consolidated systematization brought some new insights into the practices of the parents in the domestic (micro)context, distinguishing it from the existing systematizations/models. Reflexive thematic analysis resulted in a description of narratives that dominate parental understandings of their own role in three interrelated themes (with associated subthemes): Social construction of optimal parenting, Social intervention in parenting and Performative action of parents. Starting from a critical perspective to thematic analysis, I wondered what the analysis of parental understandings of their own role potentially tells us about the domestic context. The interpretative analysis of the participants' understandings, brought me to the realization that in the narratives of social structures of the domestic (micro)context, there is a tendency toward high expectations: 1. regarding the child’s competences and academic excellence and 2. regarding intensive parental engagement in the child’s education. This highlights the increasingly widespread ideology of intensive parenting, alongside the growing emphasis on inclusive fatherhood. The following conclusion pointed our that parenting, i.e. parental role in child’s education is a topic present in the social structures at all levels of Bronfenbrenner ecological systems, indicating an increased importance attached to the parental role in the context of child’s education, and consequently an increase in the social responsibilization of the parents. Despite the impact of individual social structures on participant’s beliefs and practices of intra-family support of child's primary education, it has been shown that their role is secondary, i.e. that parents in the target (micro)context still made decisions autonomously and constructed their own parental role and practices of intra-family support of the child's education, in accordance with their own beliefs and capabilities. It has been shown that parental selection of practices is primarily guided by the child’s needs, leading to the conclusion that there is a presence of mindful parenting patterns among the participants of the study.

The need to ensure adequate numbers of motivated health professionals is at the forefront of the modernisation of the UK NHS. The aim of this paper is to assess current understanding of the labour supply behaviour of nurses, and to propose an agenda for further research. In particular, the paper reviews American and British economics literature that focuses on empirical econometric studies based on the classical static labour supply model. American research could be classified into first generation, second generation and recent empirical evidence. Advances in methods mirror those in the general labour economics literature, and include the use of limited dependent variable models and the treatment of sample selection issues. However, there is considerable variation in results, which depends on the methods used, particularly on the effect of wages. Only one study was found that used UK data, although other studies examined the determinants of turnover, quit rates and job satisfaction. The agenda for further empirical research includes the analysis of discontinuities in the labour supply function, the relative importance of pecuniary and non-pecuniary job characteristics, and the application of dynamic and family labour supply models to nursing research. Such research is crucial to the development of evidence-based policies.

Since the publication of their inaugural paper on the topic in 2006, Braun and Clarke’s approach has arguably become one of the most thoroughly delineated methods of conducting thematic analysis (TA). However, confusion persists as to how to implement this specific approach to TA appropriately. The authors themselves have identified that many researchers who purport to adhere to this approach—and who reference their work as such—fail to adhere fully to the principles of ‘reflexive thematic analysis’ (RTA). Over the course of numerous publications, Braun and Clarke have elaborated significantly upon the constitution of RTA and attempted to clarify numerous misconceptions that they have found in the literature. This paper will offer a worked example of Braun and Clarke’s contemporary approach to reflexive thematic analysis with the aim of helping to dispel some of the confusion regarding the position of RTA among the numerous existing typologies of TA. While the data used in the worked example has been garnered from health and wellbeing education research and was examined to ascertain educators’ attitudes regarding such, the example offered of how to implement the RTA would be easily transferable to many other contexts and research topics.

Systematic analysis of interview data can provide important insights into how young people experience and interpret their emotions. Both human-led qualitative (e.g., thematic analysis) and machine-driven quantitative (e.g., natural language processing [NLP]) analytical approaches are available, but their solutions are rarely compared. Interview responses by 57 neurodivergent adolescents to questions about their emotions, previously analysed using reflexive thematic analysis (RTA), were submitted to Topic Modelling (TM). Topic labels were developed in collaboration with neurodivergent co-researchers to ground their meaning in the lived experience of neurodivergent communities. Topics were mapped to RTA themes or subthemes to examine their proximities. Topic-based cluster analysis was used to identify participant groupings with similar topic distributions. TM revealed 10 interpretable and meaningful emotion-related topics – some closely overlapping with and others differing from the RTA themes. TM topics differentiated the young people’s emotional experiences at school from those in other settings. TM and RTA resulted in overlapping and different insights into the meaning of neurodivergent young people’s accounts of their emotions. Our findings demonstrate the potential use of TM in interview analysis and might suggest a potential complementarity between the TM topics and RTA themes, to be further explored using more advanced algorithms and a more sophisticated NLP implementation.Supplementary InformationThe online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1038/s41598-025-34570-7.

: Thematic analysis (TA) is unique in that it does not come with a predetermined theoretical framework, leaving the researcher accountable to articulate methodological decisions made. As a community of qualitative scholars, we need to clearly articulate and define the theoretical foundations, assumptions, and parameters that guide our work and analysis. We also need to be transparent about our reflections during data analysis, sharing our tensions, struggles, and realizations. While the flexibility of TA can lead to poorly constructed and executed analysis, it also offers the ability to develop rich, detailed, and nuanced analysis. TA is not your ’simple go lucky‘ approach, rather the complexities, interaction, and creativity that reflexive TA offers is remarkable. While TA is one of the most commonly used methods to analyze qualitative data, there is considerable variability in how the method is understood and conducted. As a growing qualitative researcher, [Author A] was frustrated by the limited examples of the reflexive process of doing TA, and the lack of transparency of how the data analysis was carried out. She grappled with figuring outhowto conduct a high-quality TA. As an experienced qualitative researcher and a mentor to graduate students, [Author B] struggled to find ways to support and guide [Author A] to develop her craft. The experience brought her to reflect on her own use of TA and how her practice has evolved. In this manuscript, we use visual and written examples to show the active decisions made during analysis, struggles and rebounds, and how these aided us in understanding the process of reflexive TA.

Introduction: Gamification, the use of game elements in non-game contexts, has shown promise in enhancing engagement and motivation in educational settings. In military trauma training, simulations incorporating game elements can replicate austere conditions, providing a safe environment for medics to practise essential skills. Despite this potential, the literature remains inconsistent, with controversies likely arising from a lack of understanding of how game elements and their combinations work. This systematic review aims to examine the use of game elements in the design of military trauma simulations and to evaluate the outcomes reported. Methods: We systematically searched multiple databases, screening 1,168 abstracts and narrowing them down to 630 after removing duplicates. A total of 34 studies met our inclusion criteria. Two reviewers independently extracted data using a structured form. We coded game elements based on established gamification frameworks and assessed study quality using MERSQI and Côté and Turgeon’s tool. A reflexive thematic analysis was conducted to understand the motivations—both deliberate and unintentional—behind the use of these game elements in the included studies. Results: The reflexive thematic analysis identified five themes: Recognizing the World; Believing and Feeling; Play by Choice; Varying Challenges; and Keep on Playing. The game elements most frequently used were plot, scoring, time pressure, avatars, and imposed choice. Multimedia was commonly used to enhance immersion. Conclusion: The reflexive thematic analysis revealed that game elements in military trauma simulations are often motivated by the need to create realism, facilitate immersion, empower learner agency, promote variation, and sustain motivation. While some elements were included intentionally, many were integrated without a deliberate gamification strategy. Our results suggest that simulations could benefit from a more intentional approach to gamification, making them more flexible and engaging in supporting military trauma training.

International frameworks recognise Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) as both a right and an evidence-based necessity. This study explores how key stakeholders perceive its implementation in Greece, focusing on educational policy, teacher preparedness, barriers, and age-appropriate content, with the aim of informing future practice and addressing gaps in early-years provision. The research employed qualitative design, and data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis, drawing on semi-structured interviews with stakeholders whose professional roles and institutional positions enable them to influence or inform educational policy. Findings indicate that the effective implementation of CSE in Greece requires addressing interconnected pedagogical, institutional, and sociopolitical challenges. Although stakeholders widely acknowledge CSE as crucial for children’s rights, health, protection, and inclusion, current provision remains limited and fragmented. Insufficient teacher training, social conservatism, political hesitancy, and the influence of the Church continue to undermine the establishment of comprehensive, evidence-based sexuality education.

Attainment inequalities exist for ethnic minority students graduating from higher education institutes (HEIs) in the UK. Previous research has investigated the outcomes and experiences of students from ethnic minority backgrounds on health and social care programmes. However, studies exploring ethnic minority speech and language therapy (SLT) students' experiences have only focused on international students and were conducted in Australia. No known studies exploring the experiences of both home-domiciled and international SLT students from ethnic minority backgrounds have been conducted in the UK. To explore the experiences of home-domiciled and international ethnic minority students on a SLT training programme and to identify ways to improve these experiences. All SLT students attending a pre-registration postgraduate course who identified as being from an ethnic minority background were invited to participate. Two focus groups, one for three international students and one for six home students, were conducted. Data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Three themes were identified that illustrated students' current experiences and how experiences could be improved: (1) feeling an outsider, explores students' sense of belonging in SLT education; (2) finding ways to manage, describes the strategies used by students to cope with their experiences of marginalization, and how adopting these strategies impact on their well-being; and (3) promoting inclusion, explains how the training programme could be modified to improve the experience of ethnic minority students. A better understanding of the experiences of ethnic minority SLT students can help others to support them more effectively. The findings suggest that making changes to SLT training programmes could improve ethnic minority students' outcomes and experiences. These include: more training for staff and students, support groups for ethnic minority students, sharing lived experiences of students and experienced SLTs from ethnic minority backgrounds, and clearer ways of reporting racist incidents. International students would benefit from receiving more information on HEI support services and cultural practices in the UK. What is already known on this subject Previous studies have investigated the experiences of ethnic minority students on a range of HEI programmes, including those for students of physiotherapy and occupational therapy. The only studies investigating the experiences of ethnic minority SLT students are those exploring how international SLT students in Australia can be supported on professional placement. What this paper adds to the existing knowledge This study explores the experiences of home and international SLT students in the UK who identify as being from minority ethnic backgrounds. Findings suggest that these students feel like outsiders, affecting their sense of belonging. The need to find and implement strategies to manage their feelings of marginalization impacts on their well-being. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work? The findings suggest measures to promote the inclusion of ethnic minority SLT students to improve their experiences and support their well-being. These include more training for all staff and students and the creation of a 'lived experiences library' where students and experienced SLTs from ethnic minority backgrounds could share positive experiences as well as ways of dealing with challenges. Clearer ways of reporting racist incidents would be beneficial for all students. International students would benefit from receiving more information on HEI support services and cultural practices in the UK. It is important that ethnic minority SLT students are involved in developments that aim to improve their experiences.

Having a child out of wedlock does not guarantee the involvement of the father in the child’s life, especially in South Africa, where mothers and maternal families use cultural practices as a cover to restrict the father’s involvement in the life of the child. This paper sought to explore how lobola-related cultural practices influence the experiences of young unmarried fathers at Zeerust, South Africa, with specific attention to the violations of parental participation, family life, and access rights embedded within the cultural expectations. A qualitative exploratory research design was used to collect data from ten participants through face-to-face semistructured interviews. Reflexive thematic analysis was adopted to analyse the data. The study discovered that young unmarried fathers face parental challenges with having access to and being involved in the upbringing of their children when lobola or pregnancy damages have not been paid, resulting in the exclusion from caregiving and decision-making which is in violation of their parental rights as per the Children’s Act 38 of 2005. The lack of knowledge of fathers about laws that protect the rights of unmarried fathers aggravates these challenges. These findings are interpreted through the social role theory, stigma theory, and rights-based approach. The study concludes that culture has a significant impact on the experiences of young fathers raising children out of wedlock in South Africa. The study contributes a broad body of literature, wherein it creates awareness about the psychosocial challenges experienced by young unmarried fathers. The researchers recommend that social workers develop interventions that address the challenges of young unmarried fathers caused by cultural practices and societal expectations. Moreover, there should be educational programmes aimed at educating young unmarried fathers about their parental rights and responsibilities.

ObjectivesTo determine the feasibility and acceptability of ‘ACTing Minds’, a novel single-player adventure video game based on acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT).DesignA single-arm, mixed-methods repeated measures feasibility study.SettingIntervention and questionnaires...

BackgroundThe ageing of the working population and the sustainability of work throughout the life cycle represent a significant challenge for many European countries, particularly in relation to the implementation of legislation raising the retirement age.ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to examine the physical, psychological and social risk and protective factors that influence the sustainability of work during the ageing process.MethodsTwenty-five interviews were conducted, followed by a reflexive thematic analysis, with the aim of gathering the perspectives of a company's employees regarding factors related to ageing in the workplace.ResultsTwo key themes emerged from the analysis, encapsulating the participants' different perceptions of risk and protective factors. Among the physical risk factors were those related to stress caused by job characteristics, which affect physical health. In addition, the study identified continuous shift work as a significant risk factor, which affects both physical health and the ability to reconcile work and family life. In addition, the responsibility of caring for dependent elderly family members and childcare responsibilities were highlighted as social factors that may affect employees' well-being.ConclusionsThe study provides a useful basis for the implementation of company interventions to improve the work sustainability of older employees, with possible applications in other similar companies.

In 2019, NHS England launched the second version of the Saving Babies' Lives Care Bundle (SBLCBv2), recommendations that maternity providers are expected to fully implement, in an ongoing effort to reduce stillbirths and preterm births. Although stillbirth rates have seen an overall significant reduction since the inception of the SBLCB, experiences of maternity care in England are deteriorating. This study aimed to explore service users' experiences of SBLCBv2-informed maternity care to help understand the aspects of care they received positively and those needing improvement. This qualitative study captured service users' experiences of receiving maternity care across England between November 2022 and December 2023. Purposive sampling was employed to include service users from diverse backgrounds with a variety of experiences of each element of SBLCBv2. Participants (n=29) were 16 years or older, had given birth within the previous 12 months and could comprehend and speak English. Semi-structured interviews were conducted via video call and the data analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Four main themes with nine subthemes were developed: (1) feelings towards measuring and monitoring, (2) the importance of clear communication, (3) healthcare professionals' roles in decision-making and (4) belief in service users, trust in healthcare professionals. Each theme is discussed in relation to the five elements, and the 'Important Principles', of SBLCBv2. Our findings echo maternity care needs reported elsewhere in the literature, suggesting the interventions introduced in SBLCBv2 are generally acceptable but that information about SBLCBv2 must be personalised, and clearly presented, to each individual. Professionals play an important role in service users' decision-making, and participants' perceptions of how collaborative and supportive professionals were in decision-making processes varied. Believing service users and trusting professionals are of paramount importance for ensuring service users have positive maternity care experiences.

BackgroundHepatitis C virus reinfections in HIV-positive men-who-have-sex-with-men (MSM) challenge the effectiveness of antiviral treatment. To fight this problem, an adapted sexual risk reduction intervention was implemented within a hepatitis C treatment trial. Following this, the current study had two aims and describes 1) how the program was received by participants; and 2) their responses to the program regarding sexual risk taking. Based on the participants’ input, we hoped to judge the intervention’s potential for scale-up.MethodsSeventeen participants who received the sexual risk reduction intervention in addition to hepatitis C treatment were recruited for semi-structured interviews six to 12 months post-intervention. We evaluated the responses via reflexive thematic analysis and applied the concept of sense-making.ResultsGiving hepatitis C a place and living without it again illustrates how participants received the program and how their experiences were altered by the impact of sense-making. Based on their responses, we allocated participants to three groups: 1. Avoid risks: get rid of hepatitis C for life. For these men, hepatitis C remained a life-threatening disease: they actively modified their risk behavior and felt supported by the intervention in maintaining their behavioral changes. 2. Minimize risks: live as long as possible without hepatitis C. In contrast to group 1, these men saw hepatitis C as a manageable disease. The intervention facilitated reflection on risks and how to develop behavioral changes that suited them individually. 3. Accept risks; live with the risk of hepatitis C. These men perceived behavioral changes as much more difficult than “easy” medical treatment. They expected to either undergo repeated rounds of treatment or stay HCV re-infected.ConclusionThese results illustrate the diversity of men’s responses and their decisions regarding sexual risk behavior after participating in a combination of antiviral treatment and a sexual risk reduction intervention. Two major aspects were identified: 1) Teachable moments, particularly at the time of diagnosis/treatment, could offer an opportunity to develop openness for behavioral change; 2) adapting sexual risk reduction interventions to sense-making patterns could help to improve its effectiveness. Support for reducing infection risk and raising awareness of preventative measures are additional benefits.Trial registrationClinical Trial Number: NCT02785666, 30.05.2016.

The aim of this study is to explore the burdens on siblings prior to their siblings’ deaths. A qualitative approach using reflexive thematic analysis was chosen. Fourteen interviews were conducted. The research question for this study is as follows: What did the bereaved siblings’ efforts consist of while their siblings with problematic substance use were alive? The interviews had a retrospective focus; hence, participants were asked to discuss the time prior to their siblings’ drug‐related death. Three different tasks were identified using reflexive thematic analysis: (1) emotional support, (2) social inclusion and (3) practical support. The findings of this study are discussed in relation to homoeostasis. Homoeostasis refers to an understanding of the family as a system in which family rules contribute to maintaining the status quo.

Background:Primary Sjögren’s Disease (pSjD) has a major impact on sexual functioning, which is associated with anxiety, depression, relationship dissatisfaction and a lower mental quality of life.1 However, sexual functioning has...