SEXUALLY TRANSMITTED THAT BECOME CHRONIC DISEASES 10
SexuallyTransmitted That Become Chronic Diseases How It EffectsPsychologically
TopicArea
Theprimary area of interest under consideration concerns how chronicdiseases have an impact on people psychologically. There aredifferent articles that provide knowledge on this research area andsome of the articles used in the topic and their synopsis are asprovided below
Hickman,R. L., & Douglas, S. L. (2010). Impact of Chronic CriticalIllness on the Psychological Outcomes of Family Members. AACNAdvanced Critical Care,21(1),80–91.
Thisarticle provides that chronic illness has an impact of exposing thefamily of the patient to high levels of psychological distress(Hickman & Douglas, 2010). The family members of the patienthaving chronic illness experience high levels of psychologicaldistress and have high risk for anxiety, depression, as well aspost-traumatic stress. Therefore, according to this article,researchers have indicated that chronic illnesses make the familymembers of the affected patients to have high levels of psychologicalimpacts (Hickman & Douglas, 2010). However, it fails to indicatewhether the patient having chronic illness is affectedpsychologically.
Turner,J., & Kelly, B. (2000). Emotional dimensions of chronic disease.WesternJournal of Medicine,172(2),124–128.
Thisarticle points out that patients having chronic conditions need toadjust to their aspirations and employment. Such patients are likelyto have affective disorders. The article also points out that chroniccondition is likely to affect the mood of the patients, which mayresult to these patients having distress as a depressive disorder(Turner & Kelly, 2000). Thus, this article indicates that chronicdiseases have an impact on the psychological effect of the patient.
Valerie,A.E. & Diane, M.Q. (2012). TheImpact of Stigma in Healthcare on People Living with ChronicIllnesses. Journalof Psychology,Vol. 17 (2) 157-168.
Thisarticle points out that around half of adults live with chronicdiseases and most of them may feel stigmatized by the chronicdiseases in varied contexts. Most of the patients’ psychologicaleffects are associated with the care that they receive in thehealthcare settings. Thus, from this article, it is apparent thatpatients who suffer from chronic diseases usually have psychologicaldistress (Valerie& Diane, 2012).Forinstance, these patients are pointed out to get psychologicaldistress from healthcare workers who attend to them.
ResearchQuestions and Hypothesis
Chronicdiseases have been questioned whether they have the ability ofimpacting people psychologically. This emanates from having a lot ofindividuals in society, who have chronic diseases, who becomeaffected psychologically. Thus, the research question in this case iswhether chronic diseases have an impact on people’s psychology. Thenull hypothesis and alternative hypothesis would be stated as
Nullhypothesis: Chronic diseases do not impact on people’s psychology
AlternativeHypothesis: Chronic diseases have an impact on people’s psychology
Indefining the independent and dependent variables in this case,chronic diseases would be classified as the independent variablesince chronic diseases would be assesses whether they have an impacton people’s psychology. Alternatively, psychological behavior wouldbe categorized as the dependent variable.
ResearchMethod
Inthis research, quantitative method would be preferred to qualitativemethod. The chief reason for selecting quantitative method in thisresearch is because this method emerges as more objective andreliable compared to the qualitative method. Besides, thequantitative method has the ability of testing hypothesis, and canuse statistics in generalizing a finding. Furthermore, thequantitative method would be selected for the research since it tendsto be less detailed compared to the qualitative approach (Burns,2000). The type of method that is proposed for this approach is thetrue experimental methodology. The reason for selecting thismethodology is that it offers the most accurate form of research asit tries to disapprove or prove the hypothesis mathematically becausestatistical analysis can be included. However, the true experimentaldesign has some limitations too. This approach has a limitation inthat it provides results that are almost too perfect this is basedon the argument that when humans are placed under experimentalconditions, there is no guarantee that they would exhibit normalbehavior (Burns, 2000). Thus, when using this approach is used, thereis the limitation of obtaining a complete acceptance or rejection ofa hypothesis since the standards of proof necessary are verydifficult to attain.
ResearchDesign
Roleof Researcher
Theresearcher will have different roles to perform in the research. Oneof the roles of the researcher would be to collect data theresearcher would be involved in collecting the data that would benecessary for testing the hypothesis. After collecting data, theresearcher would assume the role of recording the data, as well asanalyzing the data. In addition, the researcher would assume the roleof data interpretation following data analysis so as to make thenecessary presentation regarding the information or topic beinginvestigated. Since the researcher is expected to perform the aboveroles, it would be important for the researcher to have no personalinterest in the area of research so as to avoid influencing theoutcome of the research. In case any biases are expected, theresearcher would have the role of explicitly indicating the expectedbiases and how to deal with the biases. In case the researcher doesnot provide how to deal with the expected biases, then this wouldaffect the accuracy of the research findings. Also, the values of theresearcher would also be critical in determining the outcome of theresearch. The researcher is expected to have strong values ofintegrity in order to guard the accuracy of the information gatheredfrom the research. In case the researcher lacks values of integrity,the results of the study may be compromised because false informationmay be included by the researcher as being accurate, but may be falseor inaccurate in the real sense.
Population
Thepopulation that would be integrated in the research would bedistinguished by different characteristics, which are as described inthe following lines.
Age: the participants to be involved in the research will be required to have attained the minimum age of 18. This would be an important consideration because it would ensure that the participants involved in the research are capable of making individual decisions concerning the involvement in research.
Gender: this research would involve both males and females as participants because this would aid in eliminating gender bias, and offer results that are not dependent on one gender.
Ethnicity: in this research, there would be no ethnic division since the results of the study need not a generalization of a given ethnic group, but a general view independent of the ethnic background.
Educational level: education level would also not a discriminatory factor for participating in this research. Individuals participating in this research would be either literate or illiterate.
Cultural factors: the participants in this study would not be discriminated upon because of their cultural foundations, which imply that the participants would belong to diverse cultural backgrounds.
Health Condition: the participants need to be suffering from a chronic disease.
SampleSize
Themethod of sampling that will be used in the research would involverandom sampling. Through using this sampling method, it would bepossible to avoid bias that results from sample selection.
Sampleand Context
Thecharacteristics of the sample to be studied match with that of thepopulation to be studied characteristics, and would include thefollowing
Age: the participants to be involved in the research will be required to have attained the minimum age of 18. This would be an important consideration because it would ensure that the participants involved in the research are capable of making individual decisions concerning the involvement in research.
Gender: this research would involve both males and females as participants because this would aid in eliminating gender bias, and offer results that are not dependent on one gender.
Ethnicity: in this research, there would be no ethnic division since the results of the study need not a generalization of a given ethnic group, but a general view independent of the ethnic background.
Educational level: education level would also not a discriminatory factor for participating in this research. Individuals participating in this research would be either literate or illiterate.
Cultural factors: the participants in this study would not be discriminated upon because of their cultural foundations, which imply that the participants would belong to diverse cultural backgrounds.
Health Condition: the participants need to be suffering from a chronic disease.
Thesetting, where the sample having the above listed characteristicswould be obtained for the purposes of this research would be ahealthcare setting in the community offering outpatient services toindividuals having chronic diseases. The researcher would gain accessto the patients by informing the healthcare setting, and beingoffered an opportunity to hold meetings with the patients.
Procedures
Theresearcher would inform the healthcare setting of its intention tocollect data from patients having chronic diseases. In this case, theresearcher would be involved as the patients are attended to, andwould intervene in collecting different information concerning thepatient.
Measures
Indetermining the psychological behavior of the patients, there will bedifferent measures that will help in predicting whether chroniclediseases have an impact on the people’s psychological behavior. Oneof the measures would involve using the K6 scale, while the otherscale would be the K10 scale. The results of these two scales wouldbe compared when analyzing the outcomes for psychological distress inpatients. (See survey questions at the appendix).
EthicalProtection of Participants
Anethical issue that may emerge with this study is engagingparticipants, who have not offered consent (Gregory, 2003). Thisethical issue can be prevented by ensuring that the researcherinforms the patients about the purpose of the interview, or how thedata collected from the patients would be used by the researcher.Furthermore, the researcher should also ensure that he/she getsconsent from the patients.
References
Burns,R. B. (2000). Introductionto research methods.London: SAGE.
Gregory,I. (2003). Ethicsin research.London: Continuum.
Hickman,R. L., & Douglas, S. L. (2010). Impact of Chronic CriticalIllness on the Psychological Outcomes of Family Members. AACNAdvanced Critical Care,21(1),80–91.
Turner,J., & Kelly, B. (2000). Emotional dimensions of chronic disease.WesternJournal of Medicine,172(2),124–128.
Valerie,A.E. & Diane, M.Q. (2012). TheImpact of Stigma in Healthcare on People Living with ChronicIllnesses. Journalof Psychology,Vol. 17 (2) 157-168.
Appendix
SurveyQuestions
Activity | Yes(tick) | Yes(but with assistance) | No | Comment |
1.I can do my usual household activities | ||||
2.I can shop and/or do errands | ||||
3.a. I can use public transportation | ||||
3.b. I can drive a vehicle | ||||
4. I can work in my regular condition | ||||
5. I can participate in my usual community/recreational activities | ||||
6. I am able to maintain my social relationships | ||||
7. I am able to maintain my daily family responsibilities |