Thesis PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references.

Magistro darbe išskirtos svarbiausios Plungės rajono kaimo bendruomenių plėtros galimybės ir prioritetai bei numatytos priemonės jų įgyvendinimui. Išanalizuoti ir susisteminti įvairių Lietuvos ir užsienio autorių teoriniai kaimo bendruomenių plėtros tyrimai. Identifikuotos Plungės rajono kaimo stiprybes, silpnybes, galimybes ir grėsmes bei gyventojų poreikiai. Išanalizuota Plungės rajone registruotų kaimo bendruomenių veikla, jų problemos ir galimybės. Patvirtinama autoriaus suformuluota mokslinio tyrimo hipotezė, kad kaimo bendruomenės plečia savo veiklą, siekia gerinti vietos gyventojų gyvenimo kokybę, įtakoja paslaugų teikimą, tačiau plėtros procesą lėtina gyventojų pasyvumas, nepasitikėjimas savo galimybėmis, nesugebėjimas sutelkti žmogiškąjį ir socialinį kapitalą. / In this master’s final paper have been distinguished possibilities and priorities of the development of rural communities in Plunge area and have been formulated the means for their implementation. The theoretical aspects of the development of rural communities of different Lithuanian and foreign authors was analyzed and systematized in the Master’s Paper. After identification of needs and problems of rural areas of Plungė, analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats was prepared. The activity of rural communities in Plungė area, their possibilities and problems was analyzed. The hypothesis formulated by the author is confirmed: rural communities expand their activity, aim to improve the quality of life of local inhabitants, influence services, however, the passivity, the distrust in their capabilities have been noticed in the activity of rural communities.

The thesis deals with a most topical issue which is the staff evaluation relating to the remuneration. The purpose of the thesis is to propose a staff evaluation system. The first part gives a definition of the evaluation, a detailed description of the meaning and the goals of the evaluation, the best-known methods of the evaluation and component steps leading to the implementation of the evaluation system. The research represents a proposed evaluation system which was introduced to a company. The proposal was gradually modified according to the requirements of the owners and managers. Some reactions and pieces of knowledge relating to the evaluation system were found out during the process itself. The evaluation system has been completely worked out and is prepared to be implemented. The thesis is a kind of qualitative research. The design is represented by an action research.

Background: Addiction affects the whole family and not only the individual dealing with it. The reason being that family is usually closest to the individual. The family is mainly affected by the unpredictable behaviour of the addicted member and this behaviour then affects the whole running of the family and sooner or later other members become co- dependent. There is not much support provided for these people. A suitable alternative can be the self-help group Al-Anon. Aims: The aim of the research is to analyse the needs of individuals struggling with the problem of alcohol use of their close ones. The second goal is to describe the form and course of the meeting of the self-help group and the characteristics of the participants who attend this meeting. The third goal is to investigate the level of satisfaction of participants with meetings and description of recommendations for expert care. Methods: To obtain the data, a qualitative method was used by intentional selection through institutions. A total of 12 respondents (10 women and 2 men) participated in the research. The method of searching and marking relations, the method of simple enumeration and the method of contrasts and comparisons were used for the analysis of data. Results: Although expert care is the first choice of respondents,...

Introduction: As medical treatment has improved, patients with heart failure (HF) now live longer and care mostly takes place at home with partners providing the main assistance. Taking care of an ill or disabled individual imposes a well-documented burden on the partner’s healthrelated quality of life. The awareness of partners’ burdensome situation is increasing, but few interventions have targeted the needs of patientpartner dyads with HF. The results have been inconclusive and give no clear guidance on how interventional programmes should be designed to improve both patient and partner outcomes. Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to evaluate the effects of a psychoeducational intervention delivered to patient-partner dyads with HF during long-term follow-up, and to explore the dyads’ perceived caring needs. Methods: The thesis is based on four papers that used both quantitative and qualitative data. Study I and II used a randomized controlled design with a follow-up assessment after 24 months including 155 patientpartner dyads. The control group received care as usual. The intervention group received care as usual, and in addition they participated in the nurse-led psycho-educational intervention. Data was collected using questionnaires before and 24 months after the intervention, in order to determine the long-term effects on patients and partners regarding health related quality of life, perceived control, symptoms of depression and partners’ caregiver burden (I, II). A conceptual health promotion model inspired the intervention. To describe how the model was applied, a qualitative approach analysing nurses’ documentation of the sessions with 71 dyads in the intervention group (III) was used. Study IV has an explorative design. To further explore the dyads’ perceived caring needs, focus groups interviews with 19 patient-partner dyads with heart failure (IV) were performed. Results: The intervention did not have any significant effect on physical or mental health- related quality of life, depressive symptoms, or perceived control over the heart failure among the dyads (I) or caregiver burden in the partners (II) after 24 months. Furthermore, time to first event did not differ significantly between the dyads in the intervention group and the control group (I, II). As for the partners, both the intervention and control group reported decreased physical health between the baseline assessment and the 24-month follow-up (I). The intervention was composed of three components; 1) cognitive 2) supportive, and 3) behavioural component. The analysis of the nurses’ documentation confirmed the coverage of all the components and the analysis revealed a vide range of caring needs among the dyads (III). The dyads described a need to learn about HF to be able to manage everyday life. Regular outpatient clinic visits and access to telephone support were vital and both the patient and the partner need to be present at the clinic visits. Meeting others who are in the same situation and sharing the burden in nurse-led group sessions was proposed as an opportunity to support each other and others (IV). Conclusions: Over the 24-month follow-up period, the intervention had a neutral effect on health- related quality of life, depressive symptoms and perceived control over the HF among the dyads, and on partners’ caregiver burden. Considering the fact that partners serve as a critical extension of the formal healthcare system, and that both patients and partners ask for more support, it will become crucial to find new ways to support dyads affected by heart failure. This thesis may be viewed as a first step in trying to understand dyads’ perceived caring needs, and it can serve as a guide in clinical work and when designing new dyadic interventions.