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<p>Children with autism typically present with sensory processing difficulties that affect their ability to relate to people. This qualitative study focused on exploring the sensory processing of children with autism and their mothers, using a frame of reference of sensory integration theory. The purpose of the study was to help mothers gain knowledge and understanding into their own sensory processing so that they could develop a better understanding of their child&rsquo / s sensory processing in order to facilitate better mother-child relationships. An evaluation tool, the Sensory Profiles by Dunn (1999) and the Adolescent/Adult Sensory Profile by Brown &amp / Dunn (2002) was used as the instrument for gathering information on sensory processing. The population consisted of ten sets of mothers and their children with autism who attend Vera School for Learners with Autism. The Sensory&nbsp / rofiles was completed to investigate the phenomenological issues regarding the sensory modulation aspects of the parent-child relationship. Each mother received individual feedback on their own and their child&rsquo / s sensory processing. Two focus groups were then conducted with the mothers to determine the value of the information gained from the&nbsp / rofiles. Data consisted of two audio taped feedback from the focus group. Data was analysed for emerging themes. The three major themes that emerged were, (a) You realize&nbsp / ow similar you are to your child, (b) I also have needs (c) They walk away and leave you with this wreck of a child. The findings of the study suggest that an understanding of&nbsp / ensory processing can influence the mother-child relationship positively.</p>

Introduktion: Under de senaste decennierna har det förts en diskussion om behovet av att omorientera hälso- och sjukvårdens verksamhet för att på ett effektivare sätt bidra till befolkningens hälsa. Detta togs också upp som ett av målen i 2003 års svenska nationella folkhälsopolitik som sedan uppdaterades 2008. Målet ”en mer hälso- främjande hälso- och sjukvård anger att ett hälsofrämjande och sjukdomsförebyggande perspektiv ska genomsyra hela hälso- och sjukvården och vara en självklar del i all vård och behandling. Vårdpersonalen förväntas spela en nyckelroll i genomförandet. Deras inställning till och kunskap om hälsofrämjande kommer sannolikt att ha en stor inverkan på hur målet kommer att tillämpas i framtiden. Det övergripande syftet med denna avhandling är, att utifrån professionernas perspektiv, analysera möjligheterna till att omorientera hälso- och sjukvården mot en mer hälsofrämjande inriktning. De specifika frågeställningar som avhandlingen avser att besvara är hur vårdpersonalen uppfattar begreppen hälsa och hälsofrämjande, hur de uppfattar den hälsofrämjande rollen samt hur de uppfattar hinder och möjligheter för att ha en hälsofrämjande roll i det dagliga kliniska arbetet. Metoder: Avhandlingen baseras på fyra delarbeten utgående från två dataset, ett kvalitativt och ett kvantitativt. Sju fokusgrupper genomfördes med totalt 34 informanter från primärvård och olika sjukhuskliniker. Informanterna representerade sju av vårdens stora yrkesgrupper. Data analyserades med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Uppfattningar och frågor som genererades av den kvalitativa datainsamlingen låg till grund för utformningen av en enkät, som pilottestades och användes i en undersökning. Av totalt 3.751 anställda som arbetade dagtid med kliniskt arbete i Västerbottens läns landsting inbjöds 1.810 att delta. Dessa representerade arbets- terapeuter, barnmorskor, dietister, kuratorer, läkare, sjukgymnaster, sjuksköterskor och psykologer. Huvudsakliga resultat och konklusion: Majoriteten av vårdpersonalen hade en holistisk syn på hälsa, samtidigt ansåg 40% att hälso- och sjukvården genomsyras av en biomedicinsk syn på hälsa. Begreppet hälsofrämjande framstod som diffust, svårgripbart och därmed svårt att tillämpa i praktiken. Detta var delvis kopplat till en brist på samsyn beträffande förhållandet mellan hälsofrämjande och sjukdoms- förebyggande. Avhandlingen visar att det finns ett starkt stöd för omorientering av hälso- och sjukvården mot en mer hälsofrämjande inriktning. Majoriteten av de tillfrågade ansåg att hälso- och sjukvården har stor betydelse när det gäller den långsiktiga hälso- utvecklingen i befolkningen och såg ett behov av att utveckla den hälsofrämjande och sjukdomsförebyggande rollen för att på sikt få en effektivare hälso- och sjukvård. Önskan att fokusera mer på hälsofrämjande och sjukdomsförebyggande rapporterades signifikant oftare av kvinnor än män och av primärvårdspersonal jämfört med sjukhus- personal. Speciellt viktigt att beakta är att män och läkare, dvs grupper som ofta har en hög maktposition, rapporterade mindre positiva attityder till en mer hälsofrämjande hälso- och sjukvård, samtidigt som psykologer, arbetsterapeuter och sjukgymnaster oftast rapporterade det motsatta. En medvetenhet om maktrelationerna spelar därför en strategisk roll i förändringsprocessen. De vanligaste hindren för att ha en hälso- främjande roll i det dagliga kliniska arbetet var en pressad arbetssituation, brist på riktlinjer och otydliga mål. Ledningens stöd är avgörande för tillgången till tid och andra resurser som krävs för vårdpersonal att bedriva hälsofrämjande och sjukdomsförebyggande arbete. / Introduction: There has been an on-going, active discussion about the need to re-orient health services to contribute more effectively to population health. This was addressed as one of the 2003 National Swedish public health policy goals, which demand health promotion and disease prevention be an integral part of the health care system and an important component of all care and treatment. Health care professionals are thus expected to play a key role in implementing the goal of “a more health-promoting health service”. Their approach to, and knowledge about, health promotion will consequently greatly influence how the goal will be applied in the future. The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyze the possibilities for re-orienting health services to more health promotion from the perspective of health professionals. The specific aims are to explore how health professionals interpret the concepts of health and health promotion, how they perceive their role in health-promoting practices, and how they view barriers and possibilities for having a health-promoting role in practice. Methods: The thesis is based on four studies with two sets of data. Seven focus group discussions were carried out with a total of 34 informants from both hospital and primary health care settings. The informants represented major professional groups. Data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Perceptions generated by the qualitative study resulted in formulation of a questionnaire that was pilot-tested and used in a survey. Out of a total of 3751 health professionals who work in daytime clinical practice in the province of Västerbotten, 1810 were invited to participate. They represented counselors, dieticians, midwives, nurses, occupational therapists, physical therapists, psychologists and physicians. Main findings and conclusions: The vast majority of informants hold holistic ideas about health. At the same time, 40% of the health professionals considered health services to be permeated by a biomedical perspective on health. The concept of health promotion appeared to be diffuse, elusive and difficult to apply in practice. This was partly linked to a lack of agreement about the relationship between health promotion and disease prevention. Thus, policy makers have to understand the need for clarification of concepts and the implications for practice. The thesis found strong support for a reorientation of health services in order to incorporate health promotion. The majority of the respondents believed that health services play a major role in long-term health development in the population and saw a need for health orientation as a strategy to provide more effective health care. Willingness to focus more on health promotion and disease prevention was reported significantly more often by women than men, and by primary health care personnel compared to hospital personnel. Especially noteworthy is that men and physicians, i.e., groups that often possess high positions of power, reported less positive attitudes to a more health-promoting health service, while psychologists, occupational therapists and physiotherapists most frequently reported the opposite. Therefore, awareness (analysis) of power relations must play a strategic role in the process of change. The most common barriers to health promotion roles in daily practice were reported to be heavy workloads, lack of guidelines, and unclear objectives. Management support is critical for the availability of time and other resources required for health professionals to engage in health promotion.

Die vorliegende Untersuchung behandelt die Fragestellung, welche grundlegenden Konzepte die Wahrnehmung von gesellschaftlicher Verantwortungsübernahme von Unternehmen (Corporate Social Responsibility) und deren Kommunikation beeinflussen. Am Beispiel der Energiebranche sowie einem qualitativen Forschungsansatz folgend, wurden mittels Experteninterviews, Inhalts- und Frameanalysen und Leitfadeninterviews die drei Konzepte ‚CSR als Freiwilligkeit’, ‚CSR als Verpflichtung’ und ‚CSR als Zweckorientierung’ identifiziert und deren Beziehungen untereinander herausgearbeitet. Durch die entsprechenden Zuschreibungen der drei Konzepte entstehen sowohl positive als auch negative Beziehungspfade, wobei erstere die ethische (Selbst-)Verpflichtung und die sinnstiftende Zweckorientierung hervorheben, während letztere den öffentlichen Druck auf Unternehmen und eine wahrgenommene Instrumentalisierung kommunikativer Maßnahmen thematisieren. Das daraus resultierende Wahrnehmungsmodell erklärt die Widersprüchlichkeiten und Gemeinsamkeiten der Konzepte und stellt einen Erklärungsansatz für die grundlegende Skepsis gegenüber CSR-Aktivitäten und insbesondere den entsprechenden Kommunikationskampagnen vor. / The presented analysis deals with the perception of strategic CSR-activities and CSR-communication campaigns. Using a qualitative approach and exploring the field of the energy sector in Germany, data was gathered from expert interviews (communication officers & CSR-experts), content and frame analysis (media resonance, blogosphere, online chats, website analysis) and guided interviews. Conclusively, three concepts were identified: CSR as a voluntary act (perceived self-commitment based on corporate ethics), CSR as an obligation (engagement based on public pressure) and CSR as an instrument (sense-making engagement, instrumentalization for reputational goals). The compiled model illustrates linkages and relationships between these concepts and offers an explanatory approach for the fundamental skepticism towards strategic CSR-activities and related communication campaigns.

Background and aim: In society there is a growing awareness that a vital factor for patientswith chronic diseases, such as head and neck cancer (HNC), is how well they are able tofunction in their everyday lives – a common, but often overlooked, public health issue. Theoverall aim of this thesis is to reach a deeper understanding of living with HNC and toidentify the experiences that patients felt promoted their health and well-being. It alsoexplores the patients’ experiences of contact and care from health professionals and whetherthese encounters could increase their feelings of health and well-being; salutogenic approach. Methods: This thesis engages a qualitative data design. On three occasions, 35 purposivelyselected patients were interviewed (31 from Sweden and one from Denmark, Finland, Island,and Norway). The first study was conducted in the Nordic counties (I), and the remainingstudies were conducted in Sweden (II, III, IV). Interviews were performed on a single basis(I, II, III) and then repeated (IV). The individual, semi-structured qualitative interviews usedopen-ended questions (n=53). Three different forms of analyses were used: critical incidenttechnique (I), thematic content analysis (II), latent content analysis (III), and interpretativedescriptive analysis (paper IV). Findings: Living with head and neck cancer was expressed as living in captivity, in the sensethat patients’ sometimes life-threatening symptoms were constant reminders of the disease.The patients experienced a threat against identity and existence. Patients struggled to findpower and control over everyday life, and if successful this appeared to offer them better health and well-being along with spiritual growth. The general understanding was that these patients had strong beliefs in the future despite living on a virtual rollercoaster. The patients went through a process of interplay of internal and external enabling that helped them acquire strength and feelings of better health and well-being. Consequently, they found power and control from inner strength and other health resources, e.g. social networks, nature, hobbies,activity, and health professionals. However, the findings also revealed the opposite; that somepatients were more vulnerable and felt powerless and faced everyday life with emotional andexistential loneliness. They were dependent on next of kin and health professionals. Having good interpersonal relationships and emotional support 24 hours a day from next of kin were crucial, as were health promoting contacts and care from health professionals. This healthpromoting contact and care built on working relationships with competent healthprofessionals that were available, engaged, respectful, validating, and, above all experiencedin the treatment phase. But many patients experienced not health promoting contact and care –and a sense of not being respected, or even believed. Added were the patients’ experiences ofinadequate coordination between phases of their lengthy illness trajectory. They felt lost andabandoned by health services, especially before and after treatment. Conclusions: Inner strength, good relationships with next of kin, nature, hobbies, andactivities could create strength and a sense of better health and well-being. Patientsexperienced a mutual working relationship during dialoguing and sensed co-operation andequality in encounters with competent health professionals. This could lead to enhancedpower and control i.e. empowerment in a patient’s everyday life. The findings highlightpsychosocial rehabilitation in a patient-centred organisation when health professionals supportpatients’ inner strength and health resources, and also offer long-term support to next of kin.Finally, this research suggests that if health professionals could gain a deeper understandingof the psychosocial, existential, social, and economic questions on patients’ minds, they couldbetter sense how patients feel and would be better equipped not only to offer greater support,but to raise their voices to improve health policy and health care for these patients. / Syfte och bakgrund: Avhandlingens övergripande syfte var att få en djupare förståelse förpersoner med huvud – halscancer vardagsliv samt vad som främjar deras hälsa ochvälbefinnande d v s ett salutogent synsätt. Kroniska sjukdomstillstånd såsom cancer räknasnumera till de stora folksjukdomarna och vid huvud – halscancer är vikten av ett fungerandevardagsliv emellertid ett ofta förbisett folkhälsoproblem. Metod: Avhandlingen omfattar fyra delarbeten baserade på kvalitativa data. Resultatenbaseras på semistrukturerade individuella intervjuer (n=53) som riktades till 35 utvaldapersoner. Den första studien (I) genomfördes i Danmark, Finland, Island, Norge och Sverigeoch de övriga i Sverige (II, III, IV). Intervjuerna genomfördes vid ett tillfälle (I, II, III) ochvid upprepade tillfälle (IV). Tre olika textanalyser användes, kritisk händelse teknik (I),tematisk innehålls analys (II), latent innehållsanalys (III) och tolkande beskrivande analys(IV). Resultat: Att leva med huvud - halscancer beskrevs som ett liv i fångenskap och upplevdessom att åka i berg och dalbana mellan hopp och förtvivlan. De ofta livshotande symtomenpåminde ständigt om sjukdomen och upplevdes som hot både mot existensen och motidentiteten. Detta till trots kom ibland en stark optimism och tro på framtiden till uttryck.Några av de intervjuades vardagsliv präglades dock av känslomässig och existentiellensamhet och upplevelser av sårbarhet och maktlöshet. Att ha makt och kontroll över denegna livssituationen liksom närståendes känslomässiga stöd, ibland dygnet runt, främjadehälsan. Hälsofrämjande kontakter med vårdpersonalen upplevdes främst under sjukhusvistelsen. Avgörande var en god och bekräftande patient vårdar relation samt att personalenhade hög kompetens och visade engagemang och respekt i vårdsituationen. Flera av deintervjuade beskrev dock allvarliga brister i kontakten med sjukvården. Upplevelser av bristpå respekt och att inte bli trodd i sin sjukdomsupplevelse beskrevs, vilket vanligast iperioderna före och efter sjukhusvistelsen. Samordningen mellan hälso- och sjukvårdens olikafunktioner upplevdes som bristfällig under hela sjukdomsförloppet. Konklusion Inre styrka, goda relationer med närstående, nära kontakt med naturen, hobbyeroch andra aktiviteter skapade upplevelser av hälsa och välbefinnande hos personer med huvud- halscancer. I dialog med kompetent vårdpersonal, där samverkan och jämlikhet var tydlig,upplevdes ömsesidiga, vänliga relationer som en hjälp för dem att få ökad egenmakt ochkontroll i vardagslivet. Resultatet visar på patienternas långvariga kamp med ett vardagslivmed ständig känslomässig, psykosocial, existentiell, social och ekonomisk oro. Resultatetpekar också på en brist på patientcentrerad organisation och psykosocial rehabilitering, därvårdpersonal stödjer patienters inre styrka och hälsoresurser. Förhoppningen är att resultatetkan leda till en ökad förståelse hos vårdpersonal för hur vardagslivet kan upplevas då man haren huvud- hals cancer, för att på så vis ge adekvat hjälp till dessa patienter och derasnärstående.

Background Studies on course and outcome of schizophrenia coming from low income countries are increasingly becoming important to challenge the existing dogma claiming good outcome in these countries. Besides clinical course and outcome, mortality is considered a very important outcome measure for schizophrenia. Culture and tradition play a significant role in the manifestations of severe mental illnesses (SMI). Khat is a culturally accepted plant endemic to Eastern Africa, which is chewed by people for its stimulating effect. It is believed that Khat influences the course and outcome of schizophrenia although systematic studies are scarce. Patients with SMI continue to chew khat despite advice from their doctors to desist. Reasons for this behavior were not fully investigated before. Objectives              -     To describe the 5-year clinical course and outcome and mortality of schizophrenia in Butajira. -       To explore traditional views on psychosis in the semi-nomadic Borana population. -       To describe the perceived causes and preferred treatment for SMI in the semi-nomadic Borana population -       To explore reasons for khat chewing behavior in people with SMI in Butajira. Methods The studies were done in two sites: Butajira and Borana. The Butajira study involved screening, using CIDI and Key Informants (KIs), of more than 68,000 adults aged 15-49. Of these, 321 people were diagnosed with schizophrenia and were followed-up for five years to look into their clinical course and outcome, including mortality. A qualitative study involving 37 men with SMI and 30 female caregivers was conducted in Butajira to study reasons why patients continue to chew khat despite their physicians’ advice against it. The Borana study of a remote semi-nomadic population in southern Ethiopia, used qualitative methods involving 56 KIs to identify descriptions of psychosis, perceived causes and preferred treatment in the community. Cases identified by the KIs also underwent SCAN interview for confirmatory diagnosis.   Results The five year follow-up of schizophrenia patients showed that 45% of participants were continuously symptomatic with 30.3% having had continuous psychotic episode. About 20% had experienced continuous remission. Being single (OR = 3.41, 95% CI = 1.08-10.82, P = 0.037), on antipsychotic treatment for at least 50% of follow up time (OR = 2.28, 95% CI = 1.12-4.62, P = 0.023), and having a diagnosis of paranoid subtype of schizophrenia (OR = 3.68, 95% CI = 1.30-10.44, P = 0.014) were associated with longer period of remission. A total of 38 (12.4%) patients, thirty four men (11.1%) and four women (1.3%) died during the 5-year follow-up period. The mean age (SD) of the deceased for both sexes was 35 (7.35): 35.3 (7.4) for men and 32.3 (6.8) for women. The most common cause of death was infection, 18/38 (47.4%) followed by severe malnutrition, 5/38 (13.2%) and suicide 4/38 (10.5%). The overall SMR was 5.98 (95% CI = 4.09 to 7.87): 6.27 (95% C I = 4.16 to 8.38) for men and 4.30 (95% CI = 1.02 to 8.52) for women. Patients residing in rural areas had lower mortality with adjusted HR of 0.30 (95% CI = 0.12-0.69) but those with insidious onset had higher mortality with adjusted HR 2.37 (95% CI = 1.04-5.41). Treatment with antipsychotics for less than 50% of the follow-up time was also associated with higher mortality, adjusted HR 2.66 (1.054-6.72). In the Borana study, the incongruity between local and psychiatric concepts in the CIDI lay mainly in the fact that KIs described characteristics of marata (madness) in terms of overt behavioral symptoms instead of thought disturbances. Following the focus group discussions, participants identified 8 individuals with schizophrenia and 13 with a psychotic mood disorder, confirmed by SCAN interview. Supernatural causes such as possession by evil spirits, curse, bewitchment, ‘exposure to wind’ and subsequent attack by evil spirits in postnatal women; bio-psycho-social causes such as infections (malaria), loss, ‘thinking too much’, and alcohol and khat abuse were mentioned as causes of SMI. The preferred treatments for severe mental illness included mainly traditional approaches, such as consulting Borana wise men or traditional healers, prayer, holy water treatment and, finally, seeking modern health care. Regarding khat and SMI in Butajira, reasons given by patients as well as caregivers were more or less congruent: social pressure, a means for survival by improving function, combating medication side effects, to experience pleasure and curbing appetite.  Conclusion Schizophrenia runs a chronic and non-remitting course and was associated with very high premature mortality in Butajira. Continued treatment with antipsychotics has been a consistent predictor of favorable outcome and reduced mortality. Case identification in studies of psychotic disorders in traditional communities are likely to benefit from combining structured interviews with the key informant method. Planning mental health care in traditional communities needs to involve influential people and traditional healers to increase acceptability of modern mental health care. Patients with SMI chewed khat for some important reasons that clinicians need to consider in their management.

This thesis contributes to the feminist economics' literature on caring labour with an empirical study of aged care nursing. This study critiques the positivist paradigm of neoclassical economics and argues that the Cartesian dualisms deeply embedded in both neoclassical economics and medicine result in an undervaluing of caring labour. Data was collected from nurses and managers working in residential aged care facilities in metropolitan Adelaide. Qualitative methods are utilised to uncover the role of nursing culture, underpinned by notions of gender, embedded in aged care nurses' work. This study explores how dualistic constructs such as love versus money and public versus private have become central to nursing work and impact on the way nurses' work is valued in residential aged care. The feminist economics' concept of provisioning provides a framework in which nurses' work can be valued. This framework is used to present a matrix to illustrate how nurses' work crosses these dualisms and uses a 'web of meaning' as a conceptual device to explain the inter-connectedness of nurses' work. The feminist economics' concept of provisioning is used as a means of overcoming the limitations that a dualistic world view has imposed on understanding the complexities of paid caring work. The empirical evidence presented in this thesis shows that aged care nurses do both nursing work and training in unpaid time and are vulnerable to exploitation. The remuneration they are paid is inadequate when the difficulty of the work they do and the level of responsibility they take is recognised. Their work contains a strongly non-commodified element, where the development of two-way relationships between nurses and the people they care for, their relatives and friends, other staff and the wider community are important. A key conclusion is that nurses focus on the intrinsic rewards of their work, which are undermined because aged care nursing is under-resourced. In particular, nurses do not have enough time to be caring which impacts negatively on their job satisfaction and the level of care they can provide.

The purpose of this inquiry is to examine weather Robert Putnam’s two-level game theory could be expanded to a third level. Furthermore, the study seeks to answer the question weather international negotiations can be played on three levels. For the purpose of the study, the two-level game theory will be applied to the ongoing negotiations between Bosnia and Hercegovina (BiH) and the European Union. The third level will be investigated by considering United States’ role and its frequent involvement in negotiations. The General Framework Dayton Peace Agreement (1995) that ended the four-year war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, along with additional political and economic involvement of the USA in BiH will be utilized to signify the existence of the third level. The argument of this paper has been developed using qualitative research methods, where interviews have been combined with an analysis of contents. The study’s findings have several implications for the existence of the third-level. First, results demonstrate that Bosnian political figures fail to recognize USA’s involvement in the negotiation process. Second, study indicates an indirect, but intense influence of the United States due to its strategic interests. Third, the study significantly contributes to the international negotiations by incorporating the events on all three levels that influence all negotiation outcomes. The use of qualitative methods in this study deepened theoretical understanding of the three-level game, provided useful application for practitioners and opened up an opportunity to provide even greater understanding of international negotiations as a whole.

The teaching and learning of Environmental Education as an integrated approach to education and training aims at a holistic modality. This requires a commitment by stakeholders to support formal and informal Environmental Education implementation. By means of descriptive qualitative and quantitative methods, I investigated local, national and global, past and present Environmental Education practices with a view to recommend criteria for a model for the integration of Environmental Education into the school curriculum of the Northern Province. The findings revealed that various countries have attempted to address the position and status of Environmental Education in the school curriculum. The one subject approach and a cross-curriculum approach emerge consistently as the options adopted. Neither of the two approaches are cited as completely successful. The integrated nature of Environmental Education issues are countered by country systemic constraints, for example the political climate, among other things. Other impediments to implementing Environmental Education are policy makers' lack of knowledge and negative attitudes, lack of resources, curriculum design deficiencies, inadequate pre-service and in-service teacher training and misconceptions about Environmental Education. The history, principles and the peculiarities of Environmental Education, the lessons learnt from other countries and the empirical investigation in the Northern Province give indicators that form the basis of the model recommended by this research. In view of the findings the recommendation is made that Environmental Education be integrated into the school curriculum of the Northern Province for General Education and Training and Further Education and Training for all school grades using a project approach, a discipline-specific thematic approach and as a discipline. / Educational Studies / D. Ed (Didactics)

Students struggle with publishing and uploading their thesis in DiVA - the Swedish digital archive for academic papers (Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet). In a mixed methods usability test of the publication form with 7 users, it was shown that the overall usability was low. Three aspects of usability were tested using the following metrics: efficiency by total task time, effectiveness by task completion and satisfaction by PSSUQ and SUS. 22 usability problems were found and prioritised using a 0-4 severity rating. Concepts for a new form were brainstormed and evaluated using a variation of a Pugh chart. From the concepts, sketches were created using form design guidelines and were evaluated using Nielsen’s heuristics. Usability problems from the heuristic evaluation were solved and the sketches were translated into a computer prototype which was subsequently usability tested using a mixed methods approach with 6 users. Task completion increased, total time on task decreased significantly, and PSSUQ and SUS increased. Taken together with the qualitative results, the usability of the new prototype was higher than the current system. Important qualities that increase the usability in forms for publishing academic student papers included a wizard structure, explaining terminology and focus on guiding the user. Further studies should include usability studies of other publication types and further validating guidelines for form design. / Studenter upplever problem när de ska publicera sina examensarbeten i det nationella Digitala Vetenskapliga Arkivet (DiVA). Det nuvarande formuläret testades med 7 användare i ett användbarhetstest med Tänka-högt protokoll och det visades att användbarheten var låg. De tre aspekterna av användbarhet representerades av följande kvalitativa mått: efficiency representerades av tid för uppgiften, effectiveness representerades av task completion och satisfaction representerades av PSSUQ och SUS. 22 användbarhetsproblem hittades och prioriterades med en allvarlighetsgrad mellan 0-4. Nya koncept togs fram och utvärderades med en variation av en Pugh-matris. Från koncepten skapades skisser i enlighet med tumregler för formulärsdesign och utvärderades med Nielsens tumregler. Problem som identifierades i DiVA löstes och en datorprototyp skapades varpå den testades med samma metod som det nuvarande formuläret med 6 användare. Task completion ökade, tiden för att lösa uppgiften minskade signifikant och PSSUQ och SUS minskade signifikant. Tillsammans med de kvantitativa resultaten är slutsatsen att användbarheten var högre i prototypen än i det nuvarande systemet. Kvaliteter som ökar användbarheten i formulär som används för att publicera akademiska studentarbeten är en stegvis struktur, förklarande av terminologi och fokus på att vägleda användaren. Framtida studier bör inkludera användbarhetstest för andra publikationstyper och validering av tumregler för formulärsdesign.