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The research reported here examined Chinese fathers' direct interaction or engagement in children's education both at home and in preschool during the early childhood years using a Hong Kong sample in two studies. In Study 1, comparisons between father and mother involvement practices and examination of the associations between family background variables and father involvement as well as between father involvement and school readiness were conducted. In Study 2, father and teacher focus-group interviews were conducted to explore fathers' and teachers' beliefs and practices concerning father involvement. Consistent with previous studies, the findings showed that teachers and fathers acknowledged the importance of fathering for children's positive development as well as supportive marital relationships. While fathers were found to be involved in various educational activities both at home and in preschool, the findings showed that the influence of family background may depend on the context of fathers' involvement. In particular, family income, parental education background, parental work status, and fathers' perception of child and teacher invitations were found to affect fathers' preschool-based involvement, but not fathers' home-based involvement. Finally, father involvement, however, was not found to associate with children's school readiness. These findings are likely to contribute to the literature on father involvement regarding its determinants and influence on child outcomes during the early years in Chinese culture, drawing important implications for father education, teacher education and family policy.

Background Foot health is an important aspect of general health, and it can be maintained and promoted through foot self-care. However, little is known about older people’s experiences of caring for their feet. The aim of this study was to gather knowledge about experiences of foot self-care from the perspective of healthy older people in order to improve their welfare and their management of foot health. Methods A qualitative descriptive design with focus groups was used. Seventeen older people recruited from daytime activity centres participated in the focus groups ( n  = 4). The data were analysed using inductive content analysis. Results The participants described their foot self-care as including various activities, but they were hindered by the following factors: physical (e.g. changes in nail structure), external (e.g. seeking help from multi-level professionals) and internal (e.g. related to ageing). Foot self-care was considered to be important, but it was not systematically carried out. The participants thought that health-care professionals neglected patients’ feet. Conclusions Older people use a variety of methods to care for their feet. However, several factors hinder their ability to do so. Older people need advice, education and support to maintain their foot health. Future research is needed to identify effective ways to support older people in foot self-care and improve their welfare as active citizens.

This paper explores how place and gender relations influence young people's ways of formulating their struggles and negotiations related to education, work, family, everyday life and achievement of certain life goals. In addition, the paper examines key municipal officials’ viewpoints, opening up a space for exchange and development at the interface of policy actions and young people's embodied lives. It is shown that young men and women alike are aware of the challenge to deconstruct hegemonic notions of gender. The focus is on societal changes and young people's educational and work strategies in Dalarna, Central Sweden. Historically, this county was dependent on steel, iron and paper industries: traditionally male employment sectors. Transformation of the labour market is involving new trends and expectations. A result is that gender relations associated with place‐specific, as well as general, assumptions about masculinity and femininity are becoming increasingly fluid while their discursive strength remains.

Focus groups are becoming increasingly popular in research, especially in parent and child research. Focus group interviews allow participants to tell their own stories, express their opinions, and even draw pictures without having to adhere to a strict sequence of questions. This method is very suitable for collecting data from children, youths, and parents. However, focus group interviews must be carefully planned and conducted. The literature on focus group interviews with adult participants is extensive, but there are no current summaries of the most important issues to consider when conducting focus group interviews with children, youths, or parents. This article outlines the use of focus groups in child, youth, and parent research and the important factors to be considered when planning, conducting, and analyzing focus groups with children, youths, or parents.

This article is part of a series on African Primary Care Research and focuses on the topic of qualitative interviewing in primary care. In particular it looks at issues of study design, sample size, sampling and interviewing in relation to individual and focus group interviews.There is a particular focus on helping postgraduate students at a Masters level to write their research proposals.

When the COVID-19 virus hit the world, immigrants were overrepresented among those infected. In Norway, throughout the pandemic, there were far higher infection rates in people of Somali and Pakistani descent than in the rest of the population. The first aim of this study is to explore the experiences and perceptions of immigrants from Somalia and Pakistan living in Oslo regarding the different sources of COVID-19 information that they referred to at the beginning of the pandemic. The second aim is to suggest and discuss measures to improve practice in the event of a new pandemic. Four semi-structured focus-group interviews were conducted with a total of 27 first-generation immigrants from Somalia and Pakistan. The results showed that the immigrants found various COVID-19 information sources to be important. These sources are further presented in three categories: (1) COVID-19 information from the authorities through mass communication; (2) family, friends, and local environments as sources of information; (3) information from religious communities and volunteer resource personnel. We conclude that the participants were active users of available information from different sources and channels. Stigmatization made a negative contribution and religion made a positive contribution to coping and to trust in the authorities.

Food production is associated with various environmental impacts and the production of meat is highlighted as a significant source of greenhouse gas emissions. A transition toward plant-based and low-meat diets has thus been emphasised as an important contribution to reducing climate change. By combining results from a consumer survey, focus group interviews and an in-store field experiment, this article investigates whether Norwegian consumers are ready to make food choices based on what is environmentally sustainable. We ask how consumers perceive the environmental impacts of food consumption, whether they are willing and able to change their food consumption in a more climate-friendly direction, and what influences their perceptions and positions. The results show that there is uncertainty among consumers regarding what constitutes climate- or environmentally friendly food choices and that few consumers are motivated to change their food consumption patterns for climate- or environmental reasons. Consumers’ support to initiatives, such as eating less meat and increasing the prices of meat, are partly determined by the consumers’ existing value orientation and their existing consumption practices. Finally, we find that although providing information about the climate benefits of eating less meat has an effect on vegetable purchases, this does not seem to mobilise consumer action any more than the provision of information about the health benefits of eating less meat does. The article concludes that environmental policies aiming to transfer part of the responsibility for reducing greenhouse gas emissions to food consumers is being challenged by the fact that most consumers are still not ready to make food choices based on what is best for the climate or environment.

The advancing power and capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI) have expanded the roles of AI in education and have created the possibility for teachers to collaborate with AI in classroom instruction. However, the potential types of teacher-AI collaboration (TAC) in classroom instruction and the benefits and challenges of implementing TAC are still elusive. This study, therefore, aimed to explore different types of TAC and the potential benefits and obstacles of TAC through Focus Group Interviews with 30 Chinese teachers. The study found that teachers anticipated six types of TAC, which are thematized as One Teach, One Observe; One Teach, One Assist; Co-teaching in Stations; Parallel Teaching in Online and Offline Classes; Differentiated Teaching; and Team Teaching. While teachers highlighted that TAC could support them in instructional design, teaching delivery, teacher professional development, and lowering grading load, they perceived a lack of explicit and consistent curriculum guidance, the dominance of commercial AI in schools, the absence of clear ethical guidelines, and teachers' negative attitude toward AI as obstacles to TAC. These findings enhance our understanding of how TAC could be structured at school levels and direct the implications for future development and practice to support TAC.

The concept of coworkership is widely established as a top-down communication strategy within organizations. However, interpretations may differ between organizational levels, and the employees’ point of view is still largely unexplored. The aim of this study was to explore and describe conceptions of coworkership among employees with different professions in a Swedish health care organization. Twelve focus group interviews were conducted with 68 employees, and the data were analyzed using phenomenography. Coworkership was experienced as a collective process, which included colleagues but not explicitly managers. Five categories emerged, representing different conceptions of coworkership: group coherence and striving toward a common goal, cooperation over professional and organizational boundaries, work experience and trusting each other’s competence, social climate and sense of community, and participation and influence. The collective process in terms of cooperation is closely related to team climate, which in turn influences the quality of patient care and a health-promoting work environment.

Prevention programmes targeting parents with ethnic minority backgrounds and aiming to strengthen their parenting practices is a developing field of intervention. The aim of this study was to gain understanding of how course leaders perceive working with Self-Assured Parents (SAP), a Swedish culturally informed parenting programme targeting immigrant mothers with teenage children living in disadvantaged neighbourhoods. We conducted four focus groups with 17 course leaders and analysed the interviews with Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis approach. Four themes were identified: general assessment of SAP, language issues, cultural adaptation, and emotional energy. Course leaders reported a high degree of programme acceptability, feasibility, and appropriateness. They found recruitment and use of interpreters the main challenges and perceived few challenges regarding cultural adaptation beyond language issues. The work with the programme and the social interactions with participants were described as producing feelings of enthusiasm comparable to the concept of emotional energy. The findings suggest the importance of creating social bonds and safe spaces in parenting programmes, which plausibly may lead to an increased motivation for immigrant mothers to engage in positive parenting practices. We suggest that attention to emotional energy on both practical and theoretical levels may further development of parenting programmes.