TTLA: Self-care in middle-aged women: a social work approach (Case study of Hanoi city and Quang Ninh province)

1. Full name of PhD student: Luong Bich Thuy 2. Gender: Female
3. Date of birth: December 24, 1987 4. Place of birth: Quang Ninh
5. Decision on recognition of PhD students No. 4618/2016/QD-XHNV dated December 29, 2016 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
6. Changes in the training process:
- Decision No. 4961/QD-XHNV-DT on extending the study period of PhD students of course QH-2016-X, dated December 31, 2019 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
- Decision No. 1901/QD-XHNV-DT on extending the study period of PhD students of course QH-2016-X, dated October 13, 2020 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
- Decision No. 2393/QD-XHNV-DT on changing the title of doctoral dissertation of graduate students, dated November 12, 2021 of the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
7. Thesis topic: “Self-care for middle-aged women: Social work approach (Case study of Hanoi city and Quang Ninh province)”
8. Major: Social Work 9. Code: 9760101.01
10. Scientific advisor: Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha
11. Summary of new results of the thesis:
- The thesis has added a new approach from the perspective of Social Work in the field of research on health care in general, and self-health care in particular for middle-aged women - one of the vulnerable groups in terms of health.
- With the combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, the thesis analyzed the status of self-care of middle-aged women in two locations, Hanoi and Quang Ninh province, considering three aspects of health: physical, mental and social. In which, self-care of mental health has the highest level of practice, followed by self-care of social health and finally self-care of physical health. The level of practice also varies by target group. Middle-aged women with advantages in socio-economic status have a better level of self-care practice. At the same time, people with good socio-economic status also face fewer barriers and have more resources to serve self-care activities.
- The thesis analyzed the groups of barriers and their predicted level of influence on self-care activities. Middle-aged women face many barriers in terms of economic conditions, time, family, and service, cultural, and information barriers to self-care. The groups of economic, time, and family barriers predict influence on all self-care activities. Barriers from the self only predict influence on physical self-care activities; Service, cultural, and information barriers within the scope of this study do not predict influence on the mental and social self-care of middle-aged women.
- In terms of support resources, the thesis results show that: middle-aged women receive the most support from micro-resources including family, friends, and colleagues. Micro, meso, and peripheral resource groups predict the impact on all self-care activities. Macro-resource systems and time do not predict the impact on physical self-care, but do affect mental and social self-care activities.
- The results of the thesis also show that Social Work services in the field of primary health care are not really clear in the two research areas. Many people have never accessed this service. Activities guiding preventive health care are still a gap at present.
- From the analysis of the above situation, the thesis has made recommendations from the perspective of Social Work to enhance the ability to self-care for middle-aged women, minimize the impact of barriers and increase the support of resources and support services for this activity.
12. Practical application:
Health and Social Work administrators can refer to the research results of the thesis, thereby creating a basis for developing policies and social work and health services for middle-aged women based on the principles of empowerment and promoting strengths, emphasizing the preventive function to limit risks in health care.
The research results also help members of the interdisciplinary health care team at medical facilities as well as in the community better understand the psycho-social characteristics of middle-aged women, thereby providing more appropriate interventions and support for them.
13. Further research directions:
- Building a mindful self-care model for middle-aged women
- Developing Social Work services in supporting self-health care in the community in a preventive direction.
14. Published works related to the thesis:
- Luong Bich Thuy (2018), “Research summary on personal health care from the perspective of Social Work”, Proceedings of the International Conference: Orientation for the development of Social Work profession in Vietnam: The role of law - training - practice, Hue University Publishing House (ISBN 978-604-912-913-1), pp. 305-317.
- Luong Bich Thuy (2020), “Self-care of middle-aged women's health”, Journal of Psychology 1, pp.49-61.
- Luong Bich Thuy (2021), "Some self-care activities of middle-aged women", Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 77 (2b), pp. 270-284.
- Luong Bich Thuy, Nguyen Thi Thu Ha (2021), “Impact of Supportive Resources on Middle-Aged Women's Self-Care Activities: A Study in The Vietnamese Context”, Asian Social Work Journal 6 (5), pp. 25-32. answer:https://doi.org/10.47405/aswj.v6i5.189.
- Luong Bich Thuy, Truong Quang Lam (2021), “Vietnamese middle-aged women's mindful relaxation activities and their relationship with utilized optimal resources”, The International Journal of Humanities and Social Studies9 (11), pp.247-254. DOI No.: 10.24940/theijhss/2021/v9/i11/HS2111-051.
 

1. Full name: Luong Bich Thuy 2. Sex: Female
3. Date of birth: December 24, 1987 4. Place of birth: Quang Ninh
5. Admission decision number 4618/2016/QD-XHNV Date December 29, 2016 by Headmaster of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
6. Changes in academic process:
- Decision No. 4961/QD-XHNV-DT on extending the training period for PhD students in the course no. QH-2016-X; dated December 31th, 2019 by Headmaster of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
- Decision No. 1901/QD-XHNV-DT on extending the training period for PhD students in the course no. QH-2016-X; dated October 13th, 2020 by Headmaster of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
- Decision No. 2393/QD-XHNV-ĐT on changing the name of the PhD thesis topic of the PhD student, dated November 12, 2021 by Headmaster of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
7. Official thesis title: “Self-care in middle-aged women: Social work approach (Case study of Hanoi city and Quang Ninh province)”
8. Major: Social work 9. Code: 9760101.01
10. Supervisor: Assoc.Prof.Dr. Nguyen Thi Thu Ha
11. Summary of the new findings of the thesis:
- The thesis has added a new approach from the perspective of social work in the field of research on health care in general, and self-care in particular for middle-aged women - one of the health hazard groups.
- With the combination of quantitative and qualitative research methods, the thesis has analyzed the self-care status of middle-aged women in two areas of Hanoi city and Quang Ninh province, considering three aspects of health: physical, mental and social. In which, self-care for mental health has the highest level of practice, followed by self-care for social health and finally self-care for physical health. The level of practice varies by target group. Middle-aged women with advantages in socio-economic status have a better level of self-care practice. At the same time, people with good socio-economic status also face fewer barriers and have more resources for self-care activities.
- The thesis has analyzed groups of barriers and their predicted impact on self-care activities. Middle-aged women face many barriers in terms of economic conditions, time, family and service, cultural, and information barriers to self-care. Economic, time, and family barriers are expected to affect all self-care activities. The self-barrier is only predictive of the impact on physical self-care; Service, cultural, and information barriers within the scope of this study did not predict an impact on middle-aged women's mental and social self-care.
- In terms of support resources, the results of the thesis show that middle-aged women receive the most support from micro-resources including the family system, friends and colleagues. The group of micro-resources, meso-exosystem resources, is forecast to affect all self-care activities. Macro-chronosystem resources did not predict an effect on physical self-care, but an effect on mental and social self-care activities.
- The results of the thesis also show that social work services in the field of primary health care have not really developed clearly in the two survey areas. Many people have never had access to this service. There is still a gap in the current health care guidance activities.
- From the analysis of the above situation, the thesis has made recommendations from the perspective of social work to enhance the ability to take care of health for middle-aged women, minimize the impact of barriers and at the same time strengthen the support of resources and support services for this activity.
12. Practical applicability, if any:
Health and social work administrators can refer to the research results of the thesis, thereby serving as a basis for formulating policies and social work and health services for middle-aged women based on the principle of empowerment and promotion of strengths, which emphasizes the preventive function to limit the risks in health care.
The results of the study also help members of the interdisciplinary health care team at health facilities as well as in the community better understand the psycho-social characteristics of middle-aged women, from There are more appropriate interventions and support for them
13. Further research directions, if any:
- Build a model of mindful self-care for middle-aged women
- Developing social work services in support of self-care in the community in the direction of prevention.
14. Thesis-related publications:
- Luong Bich Thuy (2018), “Review of research on individual self-care from a social work perspective”, Proceedings of the International Conference: Toward advancement of Social work profession in Vietnam: Role of Policy - Education - Practice, Hue University Publishing House (ISBN 978-604-912-913-1), pp. 305-317.
- Luong Bich Thuy (2020), "Self-care for middle-aged women", Journal of Psychology 1, pp.49-61.
- Luong Bich Thuy (2021), "Some self-care activities of middle-aged women", Journal of Social Sciences and Humanities 77 (2b), pp. 270-284.
- Luong Bich Thuy, Nguyen Thi Thu Ha (2021), “Impact of Supportive Resources on Middle-Aged Women's Self-Care Activities: A Study in The Vietnamese Context”, Asian Social Work Journal 6 (5), pp. 25-32. answer:https://doi.org/10.47405/aswj.v6i5.189.
- Luong Bich Thuy, Truong Quang Lam (2021), “Vietnamese middle-aged women's mindful relaxation activities and their relationship with utilized optimal resources”, The International Journal of Humanities and Social Studies9 (11), pp.247-254. DOI No.: 10.24940/theijhss/2021/v9/i11/HS2111-051.