Mini-dissertation in partial compliance with the requirements for the Masters Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, 2010. / Background: Many previous South African studies exploring the relationship between the public, chiropractic and other health care professionals have indicated a poor level of knowledge and perception between the researched populations. The aim of this study was to determine the knowledge and perceptions of second and third year medical students at The Nelson Mandela School of Medicine towards chiropractic. Objectives: The objectives of this study were firstly, to document the demographic details of the second and third year participants, secondly, to determine the level of knowledge and exposure of the second and third year participants to chiropractic, thirdly, to determine the perceptions of second and third year participants regarding chiropractic and to compare this between second and third year participants, fourthly, to determine the utilization of chiropractic by second and third year participants, and finally, to determine any relationship between demographic factors, knowledge, perception and utilization of chiropractic. Method: A survey method was employed with the measuring tool being a questionnaire. It was decided that only second and third year medical students would be included in the study. Results: The response rate of the study was 42.5%. It was found that the majority of participants were female, of Black ethnicity and all participants were younger than 33 years old. Participants had a wide range, and a relatively satisfactory level of knowledge of chiropractic, however, the 3rd year participants had a significantly higher mean knowledge score than the second years. There was a wide range of perceptions of chiropractic, but a relatively negative level of perception. There were no significant differences in perception scores between the groups (p=0.859). III The third year participants seemed to have a better view of the scope of chiropractic than second year participants. The utilization of chiropractic by the participants, their friends and family was found to be low. A few areas of concern, with regards to the limited exposure that medical students at The Nelson Mandela School of Medicine have towards chiropractic, were raised. Conclusion and recommendations: It can be concluded that second and third year medical students from The Nelson Mandela School of Medicine had a generally poor knowledge and perception of the chiropractic profession, which may be a possible reason for the poor communication between chiropractors and qualified medical practitioners. The presence of chiropractic students, who served as human anatomy demonstrators at The Nelson Mandela School of Medicine, may have had an impact on the results of the study. It is therefore recommended that further studies be done to investigate the effect that these demonstrators have at The Nelson Mandela School of Medicine. Basic information on chiropractic should also be included at The Nelson Mandela School of Medicine to educate medical students on chiropractic.

Mini-dissertation submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master’s Degree in Technology: Homoeopathy, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / Introduction This descriptive, quantitative perception survey aimed to determine the opinions and treatment regimes of registered South African homoeopaths, regarding childhood vaccinations. Purpose / Aim The purpose of this survey was to determine if there is a coherent treatment protocol amongst homoeopaths when dealing with childhood vaccinations. Methodology The researcher used a questionnaire (Appendix B), aimed at homoeopaths registered with the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA), as primary health care practitioners, to view their patient management techniques regarding vaccinations. This study aimed to document the intervention protocols offered concurrently or as an alternative to orthodox vaccinations. A participant information letter (Appendix A) and a questionnaire (Appendix B) were faxed or e-mailed to all homoeopaths. After a two week time lapse, an independent third party contacted the participants who had not returned the questionnaires to ensure they had received the questionnaire. A further 2 weeks were allowed to lapse for the return of the outstanding questionnaires, after which time the non-complying candidates were excluded from the study. v Anonymity was maintained as the 93 completed questionnaires were returned to the third party. All personal details were removed before the researcher was allowed access to the questionnaires. The data accumulated was evaluated and statistically analyzed using Pearson’s chi-square tests, frequency tables, bar charts, analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Bonferroni post hoc multiple comparison tests. A p-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results Polio was the only disease that participants felt should be vaccinated against (40%) and only 10.1% of participants rated vaccinations as very important. Half (55.3%) of the participants thought there was not enough scientific proof that vaccinations prevent infectious disease. The participants rated improved sanitization (82.9%); nutrition (72%); access to healthcare (65%); healthcare (64.6%) and education (64.2%) as the most important interventions contributing to the decline of infectious diseases. Conclusions The assumption that most homoeopaths disagree with vaccinations held true as 72% of the participants were not in favor of vaccinations. However, 44.4% felt that the risks of vaccinations did not outweigh the benefits. Results indicate that the majority of participants did not support the use of vaccinations although their treatment protocols and general opinions regarding vaccinations varied tremendously. vi In conclusion, the homoeopathic profession can use this information to decide what steps should be taken to rectify any misconceptions, improve general knowledge and attitudes regarding homoeopaths’ opinions and intervention protocols with regards to childhood vaccinations.

Consumers' attitudes towards established brands were tested using implicit and explicit measures. In particular, late positive potential (LPP) effects were assessed as an implicit physiological measure of motivational significance. The implicit Association Test (IAT) was used as an implicit behavioural measure of valence-related aspects (affective content) of brand attitude. We constructed individualised stimulus lists of liked and disliked brand types from participants' subjective pre-assessment. Participants then re-rated these visually presented brands whilst brain potential changes were recorded via electroencephalography (EEG). First, self-report measures during the test confirmed pre-assessed attitudes underlining consistent explicit rating performance. Second, liked brands elicited significantly more positive going waveforms (LPPs) than disliked brands over right parietal cortical areas starting at about 800 ms post stimulus onset (reaching statistical significance at around 1000 ms) and lasting until the end of the recording epoch (2000 ms). In accordance to the literature this finding is interpreted as reflecting positive affect-related motivational aspects of liked brands. Finally, the IAT revealed that both liked and disliked brands indeed are associated with affect-related valence. The increased levels of motivation associated with liked brands is interpreted as potentially reflecting increased purchasing intention, but this is of course only speculation at this stage. (authors' abstract)

Luxury consumption is more and more common in China with the rapid economic development today. Chinese consumers are becoming a main purchasing power of the fashion luxury brands.Chinese women accounted for 45 percent of Chinese luxury goods consumption at the end of 2012. There is no denying that the female Chinese consumers are playing an increasingly important role in the global luxury goods market. Chinese female luxury consumers between 30 and 50 are considered to be called Chinese Dama. The influences of this group of people on fashion luxuries market is becoming more significant. However, no research seems to have noticed the middle aged female luxury consumers group named Chinese Dama.The purpose of our research is to find out the reasons why this group of people, who are so called “Chinese Dama”, are consuming fashion luxuries. We want to define and identify this special fashion luxury consuming group. Hopefully, the findings in our thesis can inspire some fashion luxury companies to notice this new purchasing power and to come up with better sale and product strategies for Chinese Dama.A qualitative research method was developed to meet the purpose of collecting relevant data. Interviews were made with Chinese Dama we met in Gothenburg airport and a Munich fashion luxury shopping mall. We also made a content analysis on articles collected that explain the issue of who are Chinese Dama and the features and lifestyle of Chinese Dama for the empirical study.The findings of our research can provide information for marketers in the luxury market, which concludes that Chinese females have different type of attitudes and motivations including those found by other scholars and the new motivations and attitudes that were discovered in our investigation towards purchasing fashion luxuries, which are brand awareness, materialism, social comparison for attitudes and guanxi, saving face and reselling to make profit. We not only confirm common acknowledge about Chinese Dama, which is known by everyone in China, but also obtain a better understanding of Chinese Dama. We also concluded that the expression Chinese Dama is no longer appropriate.

The aim of this study is to examine educator’s attitudes regarding the youngest children’s influence. The target group for this study is educator’s that currently is working with children that are 1-3 years of age. To be able to answer the aim of this study semi-structured interview were conducted. I have performed interviews with five educator’s that currently work in two different preschool that is situated in a small city, in Sweden. The results show that the educator’s attitudes should be open and flexible and thereby allow the children more influence. The educator’s also talk about support, that they shall function as a supporter for the children and be there for them when needed. Responsive and empathetic is also important for the teachers in this study.

Introduction: The evidence-base for the effectiveness of music on people with dementia is unclear, yet music is frequently used in the care of people with dementia. Little is known about formal dementia caregivers’ views on the use of music in their ward. The aim of this study was to investigate the attitudes of formal dementia caregivers towards the use of music in people with dementia through the development of a new attitudes scale, and to investigate if these attitudes may be related to staff attitudes to people with dementia and burnout. Method: 101 formal caregivers from NHS wards which accommodate people with dementia completed a survey consisting of the Staff Attitudes to Music questionnaire–Dementia version (SAM-D), translated and validated for the purposes of this study, the Approaches to Dementia Questionnaire and the Maslach Burnout Inventory. Data were analysed using exploratory factor analysis, reliability analysis and a series of correlational and multiple regression analyses. Results: The SAM-D is a useful measure of formal caregiver attitudes to the use of music for their patients, with three subscales, ‘Positive effects’, ‘Organisational facilitation’ and ‘Negative effects’. Most participants had positive attitudes to the use of music as a non-pharmacological intervention. Attitudes to dementia is a significant predictor of attitudes to the use of music, whereas burnout is not related to attitudes to music. Discussion: Alongside the evidence-base for music, staff attitudes should also be investigated, although development of an attitudes scale can be challenging. There are furthermore clinical implications for the use of music in people with dementia and caregiver attitudes. Future research may help assess the SAM-D’s psychometric properties further and investigate differences in attitudes of different professionals in various settings.

Mini-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: Homeopathy, 2008. / A survey method was employed to investigate the perceptions of nurses in eThekwini towards homeopathy. The aim of this study was to answer the following questions: What does the nursing community in the eThekwini region know of homeopathy? Does homeopathy have a role to play in a hospital setting in the context of South Africa? The study population was all nurses with 5 years experience or more working in hospitals in the eThekwini region. The sample was drawn from 6 public and 5 private hospitals and included staff nurses and professional nurses. A total of 330 questionnaires were distributed and a total of 200 questionnaires were returned (60.6%). A total of 93 nurses (46.5%) responded from the public sector and 107 nurses (53.5%) from the private sector. The study was carried out using a questionnaire as a measuring tool. The data was analysed using descriptive statistics using frequency tables and bar charts. The Pearson’s Chi Square Test was used on selected data. The majority of respondents were female (94%) and were between the ages of 26-35 and 36-45 years. Most of the respondents had been practising for 6-10 years and 11-15years. 19% of the total number of respondents had never heard of homeopathy and 10% indicated that they were quite familiar with the homeopathic profession. Of those respondents who had never heard of homeopathy, 71.1% were in the public sector and 28.9% in the private sector. Of those respondents who answered that they were quite familiar with homeopathy, 14.3% were in the public sector and 85.7% in the private sector. With regards to legitimacy of homeopathy most nurses working in the private hospitals (60.1%) perceived homeopathy to be a legitimate form of health care as compared to nurses working in public hospitals (39.9%). Generally, both groups considered communication and co-operation with homeopaths to be very poor. In total 79.49% of respondents said it would be beneficial to improve communication between the professions. The majority of respondents (70.06%) perceived that homeopathy does have a role to play in a hospital setting. Only 29.94% of respondents perceived that homeopathy had no role to play in a hospital setting. This indicates that many respondents perceive that integrated medicine is needed in a hospital setting. This study reveals that the respondents had a positive view of homeopathy in general, and were open to learning more about it, and to cooperate with homeopaths. The finding that knowledge of homeopathy is low, and communication between the two professions is poor, can be addressed through suitable publicity and education programmes. / M

published_or_final_version / abstract / Education / Master / Master of Philosophy

published_or_final_version / Community Medicine / Master / Master of Public Health

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Philosophy