This research study was conducted to determine the need for an Employee Assistance Program (EAP) at Kalafong Hospital as a way of assisting troubled employees to deal with either personal or work-related problems they experienced. These problems affect their job performance negatively if left unattended. An EAP is effective in dealing with employees’ problems as it addresses all social problems that affect employees’ job performance. The aim of the study was to explore the feelings, experiences and needs of employees of Kalafong Hospital with regard to an EAP at Kalafong Hospital. Data was collected by means of semi-structured interviews utilising a schedule as a guideline for the researcher during the interviews. Twenty (20) respondents participated in the study. This investigation revealed that employees of this hospital experienced personal and work-related problems that, if left unattended, had a negative effect on their job performance. Methods currently used to help troubled employees of this hospital are not as effective as that of an EAP. Social workers provide very little help to employees as their services are earmarked for patients of this hospital. Supervisors and union representatives are also not formally trained to assist troubled employees and thus provide very little help to the employees. It is therefore concluded that there is a need for a structured Employee Assistance Program in this hospital, as it will provide comprehensive services to employees. / Dissertation (MSD (EAP))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Social Work and Criminology / Unrestricted

The goal of this research was to uncover the needs of adolescents, who had been orphaned by the death of both parents. The intention was to search for a deeper understanding of the needs of such adolescents, as well as to identify and discuss how service rendering to them can be improved. Therefore the research focused on adolescence as a developmental stage in the life-cycle and the impact of death on adolescents who have been orphaned by both parents. To attain and enhance the goal, empirical research was conducted by means of semi-structured interviews with male adolescents who have lost both parents. The research findings highlighted the final phases of the physiological, psychological, brain and moral development towards adulthood. It uncovered the devastating effects such as numbness and emotional exhaustion that death of both parents, may have on these children. The research indicated the negative effects of this trauma on their communication skills, pain, and feelings of loss, guilt and vulnerability. Furthermore, the research confirmed the fact that they are left alone without parents a factor which pushes them into adulthood before they are ready for it. The research uncovered further needs these children may have for example good care, the need to have a guardian, protection, education, support, a place to stay, toiletries, clothes, food, information about how to date girls and to show respect to others. These findings lead the researcher to formulate several recommendations. It is clear those social workers as well as all the other professionals who work in this field of practice need to understand the needs of adolescence as developmental phase. Training in this regard should thus include the life cycle with special reference to adolescence, the impact of death on adolescents and their special needs. Finally, it is clear from the study that the principle of the best interest of the child, should always be taken in consideration when any service is being rendered to these children. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / Social Work and Criminology / unrestricted

The rationale for this study arose from the researcher’s own practice as a children’s hospice counsellor, being given the challenge of providing emotional support to all those wishing to access a counselling service within a children’s hospice. How could one counsellor fulfil such a responsibility? What was meant by the term “support?” What part did the hospice’s multi-disciplinary team play within the provision of this support? Such questions, the researcher felt, needed to be put to a wider audience and the aim of this study was to examine children’s hospice counsellors’ practice of assessing needs and implementing pre and post bereavement support to children/young people and their families who access a U.K. children’s hospice service. A phenomenological approach was adopted and in-depth, semi-structured interviews with seven children’s hospice counsellors were transcribed verbatim. The researcher identified salient information and categorised forming themes using thematic analysis. Quotes were selected that captured the semantics of these themes.The main findings were that pre-bereavement support activities were being provided by members of the hospices’ multi-disciplinary teams. The assessment of needs during the this stage was found to be carried out by members of the nursing staff encompassing medical as well as psycho-social needs. It was also discovered that children’s hospice counsellors were more actively engaged in post-bereavement support and informally assessing bereavement needs. In addition, bereavement needs assessment was being carried out by a variety of professionals who had had some involvement with the family during the pre-bereavement stage.Implications of the findings suggested that counsellors could be more actively involved in pre-bereavement assessment of families’ needs. It was also indicated from the results that in-depth training on anticipatory grief and the grieving process, as well as supervision of other professionals supporting family members, could be delivered by children’s hospice counsellors.It was recommended that the subject of assessment of both pre and post bereavement needs of the diverse client groups accessing support services be opened up for wider debate and dialogue within the arena of children’s hospice services and paediatric palliative care.

Higher education institutions in South Africa are pressured to produce high quality and quantity research output. In order to produce research, information is needed. Very little research has been done on the information needs of veterinary science researchers and the role and services of veterinary libraries. The aim of this study was to determine what the information needs, information seeking behaviour and information use behaviour of veterinary researchers are, and how these needs are being met by the library. Researchers and information specialists at the Faculty of Veterinary Science, University of Pretoria, were used as a case study. Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected by means of questionnaires, focus group interviews, a citation analysis and LibQual results (only as additional information). Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis were used to analyse the data. The study found that the information needs of researchers are influenced by the research environment, they need access to information and information resources and prefer electronic information sources. Although many of the information needs are addressed by current library services, a number of potential areas of improvement were identified. These include technical support with accessing online collections, support with research methodology and publishing, improved collection building practices and dedicated library spaces for researchers. Findings revealed a considerable gap between researchers’ expectations from information specialists and their own perceptions of roles to fulfil. Researchers are often not aware of the information organising skills and expertise of information specialists. It is recommended that information specialists need to make researchers aware of their skills and expertise. The study contributes to the limited literature on the information behaviour of veterinary researchers and libraries supporting their needs. / Dissertation (MIS) -- University of Pretoria, 2015. / mn2015 / Information Science / Unrestricted

Magister Artium (Child and Family Studies) - MA(CFS) / Participation of diverse families in familial needs studies, assist in understanding and comparing their descriptive account of their families and experiences today. This descriptive study compared traditional and non-traditional families of public officials with a focus on (1) form and income, (2) familial needs as per key propositions, (3) families perceptions/experiences at community and broader societal levels and (4) familial needs government must assist them with. The study was contextualized within a contemporary family discourse. It was primarily influenced by a feminist perspective as well as a critique of the nuclear or traditional family grounded in functionalist theory. The public official, as focus, was framed in a human rights and an employee assistance policy discourse influenced by the South African public service context. The study used a quantitative research paradigm, whereby a survey was implemented. The survey was administered to 600 public officials and culminated in a final sample of 70 participants. The study indicated that public officials, as members of families, live in both traditional and non-traditional families. Public officials have familial needs similar to any other family and are also influenced by similar factors in broader society. As both rights holders and duty bearers they can improve their own family lives and also serve families in broader society better. However they too need to be supported with their own family needs. Public officials suggested the areas in which they needed help from the Provincial Government of the Western Cape.

Schools are one of the major services present in many rural communities in South Africa. Whole school development requires a broad set of participants, and a shared vision of what the school should be like in the future, looking at the whole system and not just the parts and the interaction between all parts. The shift in school development is from a deficiency-based model to a capacity building model. The research question is: What are the educational needs and assets of a primary school in a rural community in the Greater Sekhukhune District? The study is action research, a qualitative ethnographic study using a descriptive case study. Within the Emancipatory Action Research Model, the community action planning workshops were implemented for data collection using semi-structured interviews, silent observations and note-taking (all data were audiotaped). Data were analysed inductively which implied that data were transcribed, coded, categorised, and analysed. Findings reflect the educational needs and assets, and the community education programme. Twelve indicators of effective school-family-community partnership were identified and served as guidelines to develop the community education programme. A Logic Model of programme development was applied to design the identified school-family-community partnership programme. / Dissertation (M.Ed (Education for Community Building))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

Supporting learners with a severe intellectual disability (SID) who come from diverse language backgrounds presents teachers with complex choices and decisions regarding the language(s) they use in their classrooms. Understanding teachers' perceptions in this matter can assist all role players, such as administrators and policy makers as well as auxiliary support personnel such as speech-language therapists, to support teachers in their decisions and practices. This study aimed to investigate the perceptions of foundation phase teachers in schools for learners with SID, that have high linguistic diversity, about their language practices and choices. Specifically, the study aimed to: (i) describe the language(s) teachers use with the learners in their classrooms; (ii) to describe the factors that teachers take into account when deciding on which language(s) to use with their learners; and (iii) to explore teachers' beliefs and feelings about language practices and choices for learners with SID in their classes. / Mini Dissertation (MA AAC)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Centre for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (CAAC) / MA (AAC) / Unrestricted

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts (Counselling Psychology) in the Department of Psychology University of Zululand, 2005. / Programmes addressing psychosocial needs of children orphaned by HIV/AIDS already exist in Sub-Saharan countries (Germann, 2002), yet in South Africa, few if any, of the relief programmes take cognisance of psychological support. Failure to provide psychological support to children orphaned by HIV/AIDS may have negative, long lasting effects like mental illness, crime, street children and these can in turn result in dysfunctional societies. Thus the aims of the present study were to report on findings concerning available psychosocial intervention programmes and to provide information about the effectiveness of these programmes. Using purposive sampling to select research respondents, the researcher collected data personally. A questionnaire was administered to 19 female caregivers at Emoyeni Hospice in Northern Kwa-Zulu Natal to evaluate psychological support intervention in their programmes. The questionnaire was translated to Zulu in order to avoid any misunderstanding. Qualitative and quantitative data analysis was used in order to conclude about the state of psychological interventions for children orphaned by HIV/ AIDS at Emoyeni. Research findings led to the following conclusions: • Care-givers at Emoyeni Hospice do include the component of psychological intervention support in their intervention programme. • The care-givers at Emoyeni Hospice still need to be helped to recognize the importance of letter writing, and facilitating remembrance of the deceased parent/ parents as a technique of psychological intervention. The present study revealed that caregiyers consider spiritual and physical support as important aspects for inclusion in the psychological intervention programme in order to maximize psychological well-being.

A dissertation of limited scope submitted to the Faculty of Arts in partial of the requirements for course-work Master of Arts degree in the Centre for Recreation and Tourism at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1999. / The investigation has sought to establish if the people already involved in the tourism industry have undergone any training. If not in which areas do they feel they need training. These areas or aspects in which they fed they need to be trained in, constitute Tourism Training Needs. The investigation has also sought to establish the focus of Tourism Training Programmes in the two institutions, Damelin and Manpower Services Commission Private Colleges, found in the Newcastle Local Council Areas. It has further purported to establish whether these Tourism Training Programmes adequately equip students with all the skills and expertise valuable to the tourism industry job market. A descriptive survey has been chosen for use in this investigation. Data has been gathered through the use of questionnaires and interview schedules. Two sets of questionnaires with structured questions have been designed for the Frontline Staff and Tourism Students. Three sets of interview schedules have been designed containing semi-structured questions by which the interviewer has probed the interviewees. Tourism establishments and facilities from which respondents have been drawn have been selected on the basis that they have been within a ten kilometre radius from the Newcastle Central Business District (CBD) and have been accommodating five tourists and more. This investigation has established that the majority of the Frontline already in the industry are lacking in training and as such they have recommended the establishment of Department of Education and Training for Tourism, Tourism Training Needs have been found to exist and amongst others are communication skills, conflict resolution skills, hospitality skills, hygiene skills, public relations skills and serving skills. The investigation has further established that training (of whichever form/kind) so long as it is related to tourism, has great impact on the Marketing and Service Quality of the tourism establishment and facilities. Management has been found to have been trained in Non-Tourism management and consequently they feel they need contextualized management training, that is, Tourism Training Management. The researcher has discovered that Tourism Training Programmes of the two institutions (Damelin and MSC College) focus on Travel Tourism and train students to be employees in the Travel Agencies and Tour Operation Companies.

Researchers have identified that parenting styles affect limit setting behaviors in childrearing practice. There are gaps in the research pertaining to examining patterns of limit setting for parents of preschoolers with special needs and the behavioral outcomes for these children. This study examined quantitatively whether parental perceptions influenced limit setting in parent child interactions. Belsky's process model outlining determinants of parenting, Baumrind's theory of parenting styles and socio-developmental theories of attachment and parental response style provided the theoretical framework for this study. 25 parents of preschoolers with IEPs and 4 special education teachers participated in the survey design study in a low socio-economic area of the South Bronx, New York. Parents were asked to complete a brief demographic questionnaire, The Parent-Child Relationship Inventory and Parent Rating scale of the BASC-2. Teachers for the children identified were also asked to complete the Teacher Rating scale of the BASC-2. . Data were analyzed using correlations, regression analysis, and multivariate analysis. Analysis revealed that none of the null hypotheses could be rejected. However, a correlational analysis did reveal a positive correlation between a report of less limit setting for parents and higher incidents aggression in children at home. In identifying factors that continue to influence parenting behaviors and the social emotional functioning of preschoolers with special needs, this study supports the need for continuity of education and intervention for parents of special needs preschoolers, especially within communities of lower SES.