Parenting twins is typically portrayed as more stressful than is parenting single children and, therefore, more of a strain on the marital relationship. With this in mind, the present study examined the contribution of infant characteristics and mother's internal resources (attachment style) and external resources (maternal and paternal grandmothers' perceived support) to their marital adaptation during the first month following delivery, comparing mothers of twins (n = 88) with mothers of singletons (n = 82). The findings indicate that both internal and external resources contribute to the marital adaptation of the two groups, even beyond the contribution of specific circumstances. Thus, it seems that the birth of twins and the birth of a single child are normative life events that have more in common than previously acknowledged. The implications for the focus of social work interventions, particularly in the case of the birth of twins, are discussed.
Objective: To examine the associations of patients' characteristics, hospitalization factors, and the patients' or family assessment of the discharge planning process, with their evaluation of adequacy of the discharge plan. Method: A prospective study. Social workers from 11 acute care hospitals in Israel provided data on 1426 discharged patients. At 2-week postdischarge, 407 patients and 659 family members evaluated the discharge planning process (information received, involvement, influence) and adequacy. Results: More family (77%) than patients (62%) assessed the discharge planning to be adequate. Discharge process variables contributed more than patient or hospitalization characteristics to evaluation of adequacy but had a negligible mediation effect. Factors significantly associated with higher adequacy of plans were: hospital ward, receiving information, high family involvement, and discharge destination among patients; receiving of information and high patient and family involvement among family respondents. Conclusions: Social workers should actively involve patients and family in discharge planning.
A man’s transition to fatherhood is one of the most significant changes in his life. The birth of the baby prematurely makes this transition a difficult experience. Study objectives included a better understanding of the range of experiences of fathers of premature infants and building new work procedures according to our findings. We used a qualitative content analysis design. We interviewed 26 fathers just prior to their infant’s discharge from the neonatal intensive care unit. Our findings reveal a growing trend of the father taking on a more significant role in the care of the infant and equal division of tasks with the mother. Although this is the trend, there are fathers who prefer to keep to the traditional paternal role of standing aside or behind the mother. Pursuant to these findings, specific work procedures for fathers were formulated, and information booklets for fathers and mothers were planned.
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