Abortion, much like pregnancy, can play a significant role in the course of a womans life. Even so, abortion is complicated by a number of barriers legal, financial, emotional, spiritual, religious, and physical -- with which women and men struggle beyond the mere complexity of undergoing a surgical procedure. Although abortion can be pivotal in a womans life, every individual is remarkably different, and for that reason so is every abortion experience. For over 30 years, Allegheny Reproductive Health Center (ARHC) has embraced a holistic approach that seeks to understand and address the needs of women and men seeking termination services. In 2008, ARHC erected a space, the Sanctuary, designed specifically to encourage personal reflection and quiet meditation among patients and abortion providers coping with the complex issues surrounding abortion. Thus, in order to understand the impact of the Sanctuary, this exploratory study investigates the various uses of the meditative space. Qualitative research was conducted through the use of semi-structured interviews with clinic workers and by asking visitors to the meditative space to respond to a short questionnaire, which upon completion was placed in a secure box installed within the Sanctuary. From the results, four overarching themes were identified: 1. To work within the abortion field is both complex and important; 2. The next step in abortion care is a holistic approach that addresses a patients specific needs; 3. The development of the Sanctuary is a step toward advancing abortion care for women and men; and 4. To establish an understanding of how the space is used by patients and clinic workers. These results imply that applying a holistic approach in abortion care, through the use of a space such as the Sanctuary, is respectful of the varability in womens and mens experiences related to pregnancy termination. Moreover, the findings indicate that participants support the placement and use of the Sanctuary, for themseleves as well as patients. In terms of public health relevance, professionals within the field can utilize this research to advance the understanding of how to assist women and men in managing the complexities of abortion.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:PITT/oai:PITTETD:etd-04022010-165201 |
| Date | 28 June 2010 |
| Creators | Vitriol, Anna Alpern |
| Contributors | Dr. Martha Ann Terry, Dr. Robin Grubs, Dr. Sara Goodkind |
| Publisher | University of Pittsburgh |
| Source Sets | University of Pittsburgh |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | http://etd.library.pitt.edu/ETD/available/etd-04022010-165201/ |
| Rights | restricted, I hereby certify that, if appropriate, I have obtained and attached hereto a written permission statement from the owner(s) of each third party copyrighted matter to be included in my thesis, dissertation, or project report, allowing distribution as specified below. I certify that the version I submitted is the same as that approved by my advisory committee. I hereby grant to University of Pittsburgh or its agents the non-exclusive license to archive and make accessible, under the conditions specified below, my thesis, dissertation, or project report in whole or in part in all forms of media, now or hereafter known. I retain all other ownership rights to the copyright of the thesis, dissertation or project report. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis, dissertation, or project report. |
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