Magister Curationis - MCur / Research reported that it is very challenging for mental health care users to quit smoking and the risk of relapsing after quitting is high. However, tobacco dependence treatment is possible and potentially lifesaving for people. The delivery of tobacco dependence treatment by nurses is influenced by a variety of factors, including lack of knowledge and skills, limited professional leadership, and smoking within the profession. There is a strong link between mental illness and smoking-related diseases, including cancer, respiratory diseases and heart diseases that are linked with depression. There is a high incidence of cancer in people with bipolar mood disorder and schizophrenia due to smoking. In spite of this, smoking is regarded as part of the culture of psychiatric institutions and tobacco is seen as “necessary self- medication for the mentally ill”.

Magister Curationis - MCur / Research reported that it is very challenging for mental health care users to quit smoking and the risk of relapsing after quitting is high. However, tobacco dependence treatment is possible and potentially lifesaving for people. The delivery of tobacco dependence treatment by nurses is influenced by a variety of factors, including lack of knowledge and skills, limited professional leadership, and smoking within the profession. There is a strong link between mental illness and smoking-related diseases, including cancer, respiratory diseases and heart diseases that are linked with depression. There is a high incidence of cancer in people with bipolar mood disorder and schizophrenia due to smoking. In spite of this, smoking is regarded as part of the culture of psychiatric institutions and tobacco is seen as “necessary self- medication for the mentally ill”. Historically, cigarettes have been used for behavioural reinforcement within the psychiatric setting. Mental health nurses also have the highest rate of smoking behaviour, which is coupled with permissive attitudes towards smoking among Mental health care users. It is also reported that nurses lack knowledge regarding the interaction of tobacco dependence with treatment of mental disorders. Nurses are also regarded as role models and therefore, nurses’ beliefs and attitudes regarding the smoking behaviour of mental health care users have an influence on any smoking cessation interventions. The psychiatric institution where the researcher was employed had recently implemented a smoke-free policy in the wards. The aim of this study was to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practices of mental health nurses related to tobacco dependence among MHCUs in a psychiatric institution in the Western Cape. The researcher used a descriptive survey design to carry out this study at a selected government-funded tertiary psychiatric hospital in theWestern Cape, South Africa. The target population comprised all mental health nurses permanently employed at this institution (169) and all-inclusive sampling was used. Data was analysed using SPSS Statistics version 24. The findings of the study reveal mental health nurses had good knowledge on tobacco dependence among MHCUs and that they had positive attitudes regarding the need to combat tobacco dependence among MHCUs. This is revealed through their knowledge on the dangers of smoking to MHCUs. The quality of training influences knowledge, which in turn cultivates a positive attitude regarding the need to combat tobacco and smoking addiction among MHCUs. There is also difference between the attitudes of non-smokers and those of smokers regarding the treatment of nicotine and tobacco dependence in MHCUs. For instance, mental health nurses who smoke perceive smoking as a necessary element for creating relationships with their patients, and therefore they tend to have a relaxed attitude towards treating smoking addiction among patients. Those who do not smoke tend to perceive combating nicotine dependence as essential. A recommendation is that some form of training for mental health nurses is needed to cultivate positive attitudes towards strategies meant to curb smoking addiction.

The current report was an exploratory case study that utilsed a mixed mehtodology to consider the HIV and Aids wellness context of a South African small to Medium Enterprise (SME), hereafter called company A. This study aimed to investigate company A by observing the knowledge. Attitude and practices (KAP) of emmployees, as well as their reported behaviours on disclosure of HIV status. HIV and AIDS are critical issues, with South Africa, having the highest rate in the world (UNAIDS, 2010). While various projects are in place to promote prevention and decrease infection rate, infection statistics plateaued at a high leve. The situation in South Africa thus needs to be examined from a different perspective, approaching the epidemic as a case study, rather than through the systematic models and interventions used in the past. A KAP survey and open ended questionnaire were used, as they formed the forefront of the assumptions usally in interventions that look at behaviour change model such as the Health belief model (HBM) and social cognitive theory (SCT) and the relationship between knowledge, attitude and practices and dissclosure of HIV status. The research observed that while no clear cut relationships can be found between knowwledge, attitude, practices, and the decisin of whether to dissclose the HIV status, the context and experience of the epidemic is far from straightforward, and needs to be tackled in it`s entiriety. While the intention of policies and interventions may be good, without the requisite investigation of the context, the attempts may not be as successfull as they could be.

BACKGROUND: Malaria in pregnant women continues to be a public health problem in India. The prevalence of malaria in pregnancy is particularly high in the tribal conflict areas of India such as Chhattisgarh. Pregnant women have less acquired immunity protecting them against malaria than non-pregnant women of child bearing age. The decreased immunity results in a much more severe presentation of malaria symptoms, and potential death of both mother and fetus during malaria in pregnancy. Recognizing the need for effective malaria interventions in pregnant women, global and national malaria prevention and treatment guidelines have been established. Practice of these guidelines has been found to be inadequate in the Asian Pacific Region. LITERATURE REVIEW FINDINGS: Qualitative studies on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of malaria interventions have demonstrated that meeting communities at their level of understanding is essential in circumventing malaria spread. In an effort to create a synergy between health care workers, national and global malaria control strategies and pregnant women, there is the need to identify pregnant women’s knowledge, attitudes and practices of malaria interventions. Currently, there is no data on the knowledge, attitudes and practices of pregnant women in the conflict districts of Chhattisgarh, India, where malaria prevalence and related symptoms have been identified to be significantly high. PROPOSED PROJECT: This study seeks to assess the knowledge, attitudes and practices of malaria prevention and treatment in pregnant women in the conflict areas of Chhattisgarh, India, using a cross-sectional qualitative research design. This study will highlight the understanding of malaria transmission, perceptions of cause, recognition of signs and symptoms, treatment-seeking behaviors, preventive measures and practices of pregnant women who visit the antenatal clinic and those who do not. CONCLUSION: If this study demonstrates knowledge and attitudes that favor customary or unproven methods of malaria interventions as shown in previous studies, then this may explain the present rate of MIP in these districts and hence the need for specific mediations for controlling and preventing malaria in this populace. SIGNIFICANCE: Findings from this study will help inform malaria education programs, health policies and practices that are tailored or targeted towards pregnant women in Chhattisgarh, India.

Au début des années 2000 un phénomène de transgression des représentations corporelles conventionnelles envahit les scènes chorégraphiques. Autonomie, indiscipline, réflexivité, expérimentation, tendance protéiforme, performativité, intégration sociale et attitude participative, ne sont que quelques dimensions que le corps dansant favorise. D’où provient-il ce phénomène ?Cette thèse, en mettant la question en perspective historique, examine comment les revendications chorégraphiques à orientation politico-artistique du milieu des années 1990, qui visaient à défier les limites propres de la danse, les limites entre les autres arts, mais aussi entre l’artiste, l’œuvre et le spectateur, la danse et les schémas institutionnels du pays, ont trouvé toute leur légitimité et porté leurs fruits dans les années 2000.Dans la lignée de l’analyse critique qui a récemment élargi son champ d’intérêt, interrogeant les frontières traditionnelles de la danse, cette thèse propose d’explorer les transformations du corps, de la pensée, de l’image et du regard, opérées dans le champ chorégraphique, en examinant : la (ré)formation du corps dansant, le processus d’historicisation du domaine, la mutation du visuel due aux démarches transdisciplinaires et transversales, ainsi que le projet de démocratisation de la discipline qui engendre des (ré)formations du corps-public. Trois questions principales traversent l’étude : Quel corps ? Quelle danse ? Qui danse ? A la fois panoramique et monographique, cette thèse développe une méthodologie qui se prête à offrir une sensibilisation à l’analyse pluridimensionnelle du domaine ainsi que des outils adéquats pour une historiographie des œuvres. / In the early 2000s, a phenomenon of transgression in the conventional representations of bodies invades the choreographic scenes. Autonomy, indiscipline, reflexivity, experimentation, protean tendency, performativity, social integration and participative attitude are some of the dimensions favored by the dancing body. Where does this phenomenon come from? Within a historical perspective, this PhD thesis examines how these choreographic claims with a politico-artistic orientation of the middle 1990s, aiming to challenge the proper limits of the dance, the boundaries among the other arts, the frontiers between the artist, his work and the audience, as well as the dance and the French institutional frame, found their legitimacy and started showing results in the years 2000. In line with the critical analysis which recently expanded its field of interest by questioning the traditional borders of the dance, this PhD thesis proposes to explore the transformations of the body, the thinking, the image and the view by examining: the (re)formation of the dancing body, the process of historicisation of the domain, the mutation of visuals stemming from transdisciplinary and transversal approaches, as well as the discipline’s democratisation which generates the (re)formation of the audience. This study deals with three main questions: Which body? Which dance? Who is dancing?Panoramic as well as monographic, this research develops a methodology which intends to raise awareness in favour of the multidimensional analysis of dance, as well as for the most adequate tools for the historiography of related works.

Selon le World Risk Report publié par United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, les Philippines occupent la troisième place mondiale pour l’exposition aux risques naturels. L’impact de ses inondations sur la santé publique des communautés en fonction de leur vulnérabilité sociale a été très peu étudié jusqu’à présent faute de données systématiques. La méthodologie est basée sur une évaluation de la connaissance, de l’attitude et des pratiques (KAP) des populations inondées et de leur résilience vis à vis de leur exposition à des pathogènes tels que E.coli, Leptospirosis and la dengue qui peuvent se développer à la suite d’un typhon. Ces indicateurs intègrent le profil socio-démographique, les conditions de logement, l'environnement physique ainsi que la gouvernance locale. Une investigation de terrain a été effectuée dans la ville de Dumaguete, Philippines, de mars 2013 à juillet 2013. Un total de 357 familles réparties dans 12 communautés ont été interrogés. L’analyse de ces données a permis de révéler une vulnérabilité synthétisée dans un indice (IVF) qui s’établit en moyenne à 39,34 %. Le secteur de Barangay Tabuc-tubig présente un indice de 53,39 % et s’avère le site le plus vulnérable. L’indice de vulnérabilité est basé sur 5 composants: hydroclimatique, social, économique, socio-comportementale et politico-administratif. Les résultats démontrent que l'indice de vulnérabilité reste faible malgré des indicateurs d’exposition élevée. Cette recherche, l'indice de vulnérabilité est lié aux variables intervenant dans la caractérisation de la résilience. / According to the World Risk Report released by the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security, the Philippines is ranked third globally in terms of disaster risk. Public health risks and understanding social vulnerability are usually overlooked and very little attention is given. Thus, this research work focuses on. This research was an exploratory step and a rapid assessment of the Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices (KAP) of the community people towards flood vulnerability and resilience and their exposure to microorganisms such as E.coli, Leptospirosis and the Dengue Fever mosquito. Appropriate community-based indicators were formulated and developed. Their socio-demographic profile, housing conditions, physical environment and governance were also included. The survey was done from March 2013 to July 2013 to capture the dry and wet season for bacterial sampling. A total of 357 household respondents from the 12 communities and 30 respondents from the LGU and NGO were surveyed. Results of the study revealed an overall Flood Vulnerability Index (FVI) of 39.34%. Barangay Tabuc-tubig (53.39%) topping from all the 12 communities surveyed using the newly developed 36 community-based flood vulnerability indicators with its corresponding 5 major components namely; hydro-climatic, social, economic, socio-behavioral and the politico-administrative. It is interesting to note that FVI remains low in spite that the exposure indicators are high. The low FVI can be attributed to the community’s high resilience in its coping and adaptation strategies. In this research work, the FVI is significantly sensitive to susceptibility and flood resilience variables.

Background Food handlers knowledge and related attitude and practices towards food hygiene plays a significant role in reducing food-borne disease, which represents a growing concern for public health interest. Aim To explore the knowledge, attitudes and practices of food hygiene among food handlers in Bangladeshi homes located in urban areas exposed to climate change. Methodology A descriptive cross sectional study was conducted to perform this study. An online questionnaire survey was used as a tool for data collection. Food handlers were selected through convenience sampling method. Data were statistically analyzed using SPSS software version 27. Results In case of food hygiene knowledge, attitudes and practices, study participants had good knowledge (78.77%), moderate attitude (57.4%) and good practice level (88.82%) in food hygiene at home. There is no significant difference between men and women in their knowledge level but had significant difference in their attitude and practice level. Besides, there is no significant difference in food hygiene knowledge of food handlers based on their educational level but results showed significant difference in their attitude and practices of food hygiene. Conclusion Food handlers in Bangladeshi homes were knowledgeable with moderate attitude and good practice level. Continuous food safety education, health education and media campaigns will help them to reduce the risk of diarrhea and food-borne illness.