Background Migrant mothers in high-income countries often encounter more complications during pregnancy, delivery, and the postpartum period. To enlighten health care providers concerning potential barriers, the objective of this study was to explore positive and negative experiences with maternal health services in the University Hospitals of Geneva and Zurich and to describe barriers to maternity services from a qualitative perspective. Methods In this qualitative study, six focus groups (FGs) were conducted involving 33 women aged 21 to 40 years. All FG discussions were audio-recorded and later transcribed. Data were analysed using a thematic analysis approach assisted by the Atlas.ti qualitative data management software. Results Positive experiences included not only the availability of maternity services, especially during emergency situations and the postpartum period, but also the availability of specific maternity services for undocumented migrants in Geneva. Negative experiences were classified into either personal or structural barriers. On the personal level, the main barriers were a lack of social support and a lack of health literacy, whereas the main themes on the structural level were language barriers and a lack of information. Conclusion Structural adaptation is necessary to meet the needs of the extremely diverse population. The needs include (1) the provision of specific information for migrant women in multiple languages, (2) the availability of trained interpreters who are easily accessible to health care providers, (3) specifically trained nurses or social assistance providers to guide migrants through the health system, and (4) a cultural competence-training programme for health care providers.

BackgroundMigrant mothers in developed countries often experience more complicated pregnancy outcomes and less fewer women access preventive gynecology services. To enlighten health care providers to potential barriers, the objective of this paper is to explore barriers to reproductive health services in Geneva described by migrant women from a qualitative perspective.MethodsIn this qualitative study, thirteen focus groups (FG) involving 78 women aged 18 to 66 years were conducted in seven languages. All the FG discussions were audio-recorded and later transcribed. The data was classified, after which the main themes and sub-themes were manually extracted and analyzed.ResultsBarriers were classified either into structural or personal barriers aiming to describe factors influencing the accessibility of reproductive health services vs. those influencing client satisfaction. The five main themes that emerged were financial accessibility, language barriers, real or perceived discrimination, lack of information and embarrassment.ConclusionStructural improvements which might meet the needs of the emergent extremely diverse population are the (1) provision of informative material that is easy to understand and available in multiple languages, (2) provision of sensitive cultural training including competence skill for all health professionals, (3) provision of specifically trained nurses or social assistance to guide migrants through the health system and (4) inclusion of monitoring and evaluation programs for the prevention of personal and systemic discrimination.

Background Madagascar's maternal health mortality ratio in 2013 was 478 deaths per 100,000 live births. Most deaths are related to direct complications during pregnancy and childbirth and could be reduced by providing comprehensive antenatal care (ANC). Objective The objective of the study was to assess the usability and feasibility of a mobile health system (mHealth) to provide high-quality ANC, according to World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations. Methods PANDA (Pregnancy And Newborn Diagnostic Assessment) is an easy-to-use mHealth system that uses affordable communications technology to support diagnosis and health care worker decision-making regarding ANC. From January to March 2015, a cross-sectional pilot study was conducted in Ambanja District, Madagascar, in which ANC using PANDA was provided to 100 pregnant women. The collected data were transmitted to a database in the referral hospital to create individual electronic patient records. Accuracy and completeness of the data were closely controlled. The PANDA software was assessed and the number of abnormal results, treatments performed, and participants requiring referral to health care facilities were monitored. Results The PANDA system facilitated creation of individual electronic patient records that included socio-demographic and medical data for 100 participants. Duration of ANC visits averaged 29.6 min. Health care providers were able to collect all variables (100%) describing personal and medical data. No major technical problems were encountered and no data were lost. During 17 ANC visits (17%), an alert function was generated to highlight abnormal clinical results requiring therapy or referral to an affiliated hospital. Participants' acceptability of the system was very high. Conclusion This pilot study proved the usability and feasibility of the PANDA mHealth system to conduct complete and standardised ANC visits according to WHO guidelines, thus providing a promising solution to increase access to high-quality and standardised ANC for pregnant women in remote areas.

Despite the high costs, use of MD-ARVs, such as HAART, for PMTCT offer societal savings because fewer perinatally acquired infections are anticipated to require treatment.

Durch die Migrationsströme der letzten Jahre sehen Gynäkologinnen und Gynäkologen in deutschen Kliniken und Praxen zunehmend Frauen, die von einer weiblichen Genitalverstümmelung betroffen sind. Fachwissen hierüber wird bisher in der ärztlichen Ausbildung nicht immer ausreichend vermittelt. Der folgende Artikel soll einen Überblick zum Thema FGM geben und Wissen für den Umgang mit betroffenen Frauen in der Praxis vermitteln.

Corpus-based language teaching is one area of second language (L2) pedagogy in which L2 teachers may benefit from extensive guidance on how to integrate digital tools into pedagogical practices. Direct corpus approaches like data-driven learning (DDL) cultivate learner engagement and language discovery. However, second language writing (SLW) teachers face significant challenges using corpora in the classroom, and these challenges often go unaddressed in language teacher education, particularly for in-service teachers. This paper reports on a case study in which six university SLW teachers participated in an online corpus-based pedagogy workshop. Teachers developed DDL activity plans and wrote in reflective diaries. The analysis of these artifacts shows that the teachers tended to follow one of two paths toward knowledge integration, as either Planners or Seekers, when implementing corpus activities in their classrooms. The teachers also reported increased confidence in applying direct corpus methods to their lessons by the end of the workshops, though they expressed the need for continued, long-term support.

Higher education today is still constructed through discipline-based approaches. To build a true interdisciplinary curriculum, instructional designers must begin with student needs and expected learning outcomes, which are not discipline specific. It is our hope that, in the near future, instructional design and technology programs will become more visible in the university settings as fine examples of interdisciplinary teaching and research..

Before second language writing (SLW) teachers’ digital practices can be supported, their needs must first be understood. To accomplish effective technology-enhanced instruction, SLW teachers must blend their knowledge of composition theory, second language acquisition, and multimodal composition technologies. However, many teachers struggle to do this, which highlights the need for research addressing the cognitive aspects that influence digital instruction. This case study reports on an investigation of three in-service university SLW teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) during a digital reflective portfolio module. Data from an online survey, instructional content, classroom observations, and semistructured interviews were triangulated to uncover the nature of SLW teachers’ TPACK, including which factors supported and constrained their use of technology. Findings suggest that pedagogical content knowledge played a dominant role in how the teachers used technology. The teachers’ TPACK was enhanced by professional beliefs about the importance of multimodality and contextual factors involving institutional support and communities of practice. However, it was constrained by limited self-efficacy and pedagogical beliefs concerning the influence of technology on student learning and student engagement. This study contributes to a growing body of research on how to support language teachers in their digitally mediated practices. Avant de pouvoir soutenir les pratiques numériques des enseignantes et enseignants d’expression écrite en langue seconde (SLW), il faut commencer par en comprendre les besoins. Pour être à même de dispenser efficacement un enseignement enrichi par la technologie, les enseignantes et enseignants d’expression écrite en langue seconde doivent amalgamer leurs connaissances dans les domaines de la théorie de la composition, de l’acquisition d’une langue seconde et des technologies de composition multimodale. Beaucoup d’enseignantes et d’enseignants, toutefois, arrivent mal à le faire, ce qui souligne le besoin de recherches sur les facteurs cognitifs qui ont une incidence sur l’enseignement numérique. La présente étude de cas fait état de recherches menées auprès de trois enseignants (un homme et deux femmes) d’expression écrite en langue seconde en cours de service au niveau universitaire dans le cadre TPACK (Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge). Des données issues d’un sondage en ligne, un contenu pédagogique, des observations faites en salle de classe et des entrevues semi-structurées ont été triangulés pour lever le voile sur la nature des connaissances des enseignantes et enseignants d’expression écrite en langue seconde dans le cadre TPACK, y compris la question de savoir quels facteurs soutiennent ou restreignent leur recours à la technologie. Les constatations suggèrent que la connaissance du contenu pédagogique joue un rôle prépondérant dans la façon dont les enseignantes et enseignants utilisent la technologie. Leurs connaissances sont par ailleurs renforcées par des convictions professionnelles concernant l’importance de l’intermodalité ainsi que par des facteurs contextuels impliquant le soutien institutionnel et les communautés de pratique. Elles se sont toutefois avérées limitées par l’auto-efficacité réduite des enseignantes et enseignants et leurs croyances pédagogiques relativement à l’influence de la technologie sur l’apprentissage et l’engagement des étudiantes et étudiants. Cette étude s’ajoute à un corpus croissant de recherches sur la façon de soutenir les professeurs de langue dans leurs pratiques numériques.