Thesis (M.Psych.Org.) - University of Queensland, 2006. / Includes bibliography.

Thesis (MGeront)--University of South Australia, 1998

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Education, 1999. / Errata inserted facing title page. Bibliography: leaves 124-135.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Toronto, 2007. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 68-06, Section: A, page: 2350. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 140-151).

M.Tech.

M.A. (Clinical Psychology) / South African paramedics are thought to be exposed to a high number of critical incidents as compared to paramedics elsewhere (Ward, Lombard & Gwebushe, 2006). Therefore, South African paramedics are at particular risk of suffering from negative effects associated from the exposure to critical incidents. This study aimed to gain an in-depth understanding of the meaning which paramedics attach to the experience of “critical incidents” (Mitchell, 1983). This information may be beneficial for those working in Emergency Medical Services in South Africa to further understandings of paramedics’ experience of work related trauma. Five paramedics, sourced from both public and private ambulance service, between the ages of 27 and 36 years old, who have had between 8 to 12 years of working experience were interviewed regarding their lived experiences of critical incidents. The semi-structured interviews were transcribed and analysed based on the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) framework suggested by Smith and Osborn (2008). The analysis of each of the participant’s transcripts provided four master themes, some of which are supported by superordinate themes. The master themes are: 1) Experiencing the trauma of critical incidents, 2) Experiencing in the “World” of EMS, 3) Intrinsic factors and active attempts of coping with stress, and 4)Personal consequence of being a paramedic. For most of the participants, their narratives highlighted that the organisational variables were considered to be more important than the nature of the critical incidents they experienced. Critical incidents were deemed traumatic as there was a disparity between the participant’s expectations of what was expected and what they were confronted with in “reality”. In addition, the participants described forming an emotional bond with their patients or the patient’s family, which added to their distress. The participants’ narratives emphasised the importance of the role of the EMS organisation in influencing their experiences. Despite employing a number of coping strategies to mediate the effects of organisational as well as critical incident stress, the participants reported experiencing longterm negative psychological symptoms that have impacted on their personal and familial lives. These findings support the growing body of knowledge that demonstrates that organisational variables play an important role in either mediating or exacerbating posttrauma outcomes.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 74-75).

Dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences at The Durban University of Technology in partial compliance with the requirements for a Master's Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, 2008. / Objective: To determine the current knowledge and perceptions of biokineticists with respect to the chiropractic profession in South Africa. Design: A descriptive design was utilized in a qualitative questionnaire in order to evaluate, in a structured manner, the knowledge and perceptions of biokineticists with respect to Chiropractic. Subjects: The total population size used in the study was 657 (response rate n=78; 11.87%). Outcome Measures: These were based on a questionnaire which addressed biokineticists knowledge of Chiropractic, interaction with Chiropractic, Chiropractic terminology and scope of Chiropractic practice. Results: Of the 657 questionnaires that were mailed, only 78 questionnaires were returned and this gave a response rate of 11.87%. The most frequent view or attitude towards chiropractic was that it had a valuable role in the health care system (64%). About 50% of the respondents believed chiropractors to be greatly competent in examination and diagnosis whilst 40% felt that chiropractors were moderately competent in examination and diagnosis. Nevertheless, the rate of communication between biokineticists and chiropractors was found to be quite high, in this study. All together, 67% of biokineticists had communicated with chiropractors. Of those that had communicated, the communication was rated as positive (94.4%). Of those who had referred patients to chiropractors, 41.8% had received treatment feedback reports and of those who had received reports, 68.8% said they were concise and valuable. Conclusion: The results of this study show that the mean knowledge score was 60%. Thus the overall knowledge of chiropractic was high. The only factor that significantly affected respondents’ knowledge was their self reported knowledge of chiropractic. In congruence with this, the most common attitude towards chiropractic was that it had a valuable role to play in the health care system (64%).

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Masters of Arts, Johannesburg, 1990. / The prevailing understanding of burnout is firmly entrenched in, and has been fundamentally influenced by, the three component definition of the burnout concept proposed by Maslach and Jackson (1981), as evidenced in its almost exclusive application in the burnout research and theoretical developments (Maslach & Jackson, 1986; Shirorn, 1989). Although the construct validity of the three factor burnout structure is well established, no research could be found which has investigated the discriminant validny of this construct. Thus the aim of tha present study was to determine how emotional exhaustion, depersonalisation, and low feelings of personal accomplishment may relate differentially to conceptually related variables. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version] / MT2017