As hypothesized, survivors' memories cluster in self-positive, self-negative, and prosocial groupings consistent with the tripartite model of reminiscence functions.

The results of this study demonstrate how reminiscence serves many functions. Participants appear to have integrated memories of horror and loss as part of coherent life narratives. Resilience and memory are ongoing and intertwined processes whereby survivors juxtapose their early lives to the present.

Background: Reduction of health gaps between ethno-cultural groups has become a major concern for health services, with a strong emphasis on eliminating social and cultural barriers and improving accessibility for diverse populations. Methods: The study is based on a Participatory Action Research where an involved researcher accompanied the project for a decade, as well as on eleven in-depth interviews with Bedouin women-mediators working in a perinatal health promotion project in Israel. Results: The research analyzes the work of Bedouin women health mediators who mediate between their Bedouin community and institutional health services and bridge over cultural gaps. The study presents the complex task of transferring messages across cultures, dealing with socio-cultural imperatives and the intricacy of multilayered power relations. The findings reveal an evolving process, beginning with a pragmatic mediation model in which the mediators are limited to instruction of pre-defined health materials, toward a transformative model of creating a ground for encouraging the mediators to act creatively according to socio-cultural circumstances. Conclusion: The research elaborates on the adoption and implementation of the transformative approach in mediation and provides further understanding of the complexity of mediation role in sensitive issues such as pregnancy, birth and infant care.

To understand the pattern of utilization of ambulatory care by parents of children with special health care needs (CSHCN) and to explore parental challenges in coping with health maintenance of their infants after discharge from a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). CSHCN require frequent utilization of outpatient ambulatory clinics especially in their first years of life. Multiple barriers are faced by families in disadvantaged populations which might affect adherence to medical referrals. Our study attempts to go beyond quantitative assessment of adherence rates, and capture the influence of parental agency as a critical factor ensuring optimal utilization of healthcare for CSHCN. A prospective, mixed-methods, cohort study followed 158 Jewish and Bedouin-Arab infants in the first year post discharge from NICU in southern Israel. Rates of utilization of ambulatory clinics were obtained from medical records, and quantitative assessment of factors affecting it was based on structured interviews with parents at baseline. Qualitative analysis was based on home visits or telephone in-depth interviews conducted about 1 year post-discharge, to obtain a rich, multilayered, experiential perspectives and explained perceptions by parents. Adherence to post-discharge referrals was generally good, but environmental, cultural, and financial obstacles to healthcare, magnified by communication barriers, forced parents with limited resources to make difficult choices affecting utilization of healthcare services. Improving concordance between primary caregivers and health care providers is crucial, and further development of supportive healthcare for CSHCN in concordance with parental limitations and preferences is needed.