Text in English / Cervical cancer accounts for 34.6% of all the female cancers in Zimbabwe. The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of female student nurses regarding cervical cancer in Zimbabwe using the Health Belief Model (HBM) as a theoretical framework. The ultimate aim was to analyse female student nurses’ risk perception of contracting cervical cancer. A quantitative, cross-sectional descriptive research design was used, using a structured questionnaire for data collection. One hundred and thirty-two (132) respondents were conveniently selected. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 software program. The study revealed that 57.9% of the respondents perceive that they are at risk of developing cervical cancer. They believe that screening for cervical cancer is not embarrassing. Knowledge improved with increase in the level of study, there was lack of knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer link. More emphasis on cervical cancer should be put on curricula taught in undergraduate education earlier on in the programme. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

The thesis provides a comprehensive overview of key issues affecting practice, policy and patients, in current efforts for colorectal cancer (CRC) disease control. The global burden of CRC is expected to increase by 60% to more than 2.2 million new cases and 1.1 million deaths by 2030. CRC incidence and mortality rates vary up to 10-fold worldwide, which is thought to reflect variation in lifestyles, especially diet. Better primary prevention, and more effective early detection, in screening and surveillance, are needed to reduce the number of patients with CRC in future1. The risk factors for CRC development include genetic, behavioural, environmental and socio-economic factors. Changes to surveillance, which offer non-invasive testing and provide primary prevention interventions represent promising opportunities to improve outcomes and personalise care in those at risk of CRC. By systematic review of the literature, I highlight the gaps in comparative effectiveness analyses of post-polypectomy surveillance. Using micro-simulation methods I assess the role of non-invasive, faecal immunochemical testing in surveillance programmes, to optimise post-polypectomy surveillance programmes, and in an accompanying sub-study, I explore the value of adding an adjunct diet and lifestyle intervention. The acceptability of such revisions is exposed to patient preference evaluation by discrete choice experiment methods. These preferences are accompanied by evidence generated from the prospective evaluation of the health literacy, numeracy, sedentary behaviour levels, body mass index (BMI) and information provision about cancer risk factors, to highlight the potential opportunities for personalisation and optimisation of surveillance. Additional analysis examines the optimisation of a screening programme facing colonoscopy constraints, highlighting the attendant potential to reduce costs and save lives within current capacity.

Tang, Shing Tung. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-126). / Abstracts in English and Chinese; some appendixes in Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Background --- p.5 / HPV Vaccination and Cervical Cancer --- p.5 / Overview of HPV Vaccination in the West and Asia --- p.6 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Literature Review --- p.9 / Applying the Theory of Planned Behavior in Vaccination Context --- p.9 / Effects of Mass and Interpersonal Communication --- p.22 / Relationship between Mass and Interpersonal Communication --- p.33 / Differential Effects of Mass and Interpersonal Communication --- p.39 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Methodology --- p.45 / Participants and Procedure --- p.45 / Measures --- p.49 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Results --- p.54 / Model Fit and Adjustments --- p.54 / Testing the Alternative Model --- p.56 / Evaluating Individual and Contextual Predictors --- p.59 / Examining the Context-to-intention Pathways --- p.60 / Summary of Findings --- p.61 / Chapter Chapter 6: --- Discussion --- p.63 / Comparing the Proposed and Alternative Model --- p.63 / Evaluating the TPB in Vaccination Context --- p.65 / Evaluating Mass and Interpersonal Communication as Contextual Predictors --- p.73 / Further Exploration on the Differential Effects --- p.76 / Theoretical Contributions and Practical Implications --- p.80 / Chapter Chapter 7: --- Limitations and Directions for Future Research --- p.85 / Limitations --- p.85 / Directions for Future Research --- p.90 / Chapter Chapter 8: --- Conclusion --- p.93 / Appendix --- p.96 / References --- p.114

In eastern Kentucky, as in much of central Appalachia, current local storylines narrate the frictions and contradictions involved in the structural transition from a post-WWII Fordist industrial economy and a Keynesian welfare state to a Post-Fordist service economy and Neoliberal hollow state, starving for energy to sustain consumer indulgence (Jessop, 1993; Harvey, 2003; 2005). Neoliberalism is the ideological force redefining the “societal infrastructure of language” that legitimates this transition, in part by redefining the key terms of democracy and citizenship, as well as valorizing the market, the individual, and technocratic innovation (Chouliaraki & Fairclough, 1999; Harvey, 2005). This project develops a perspective that understands cancer prevention and control in Appalachiaas part of the structural transition that is realigning community social ties in relation to ideological forces deployed as “commonsense” storylines that “lubricate” frictions that complicates the transition.

Text in English / Cervical cancer accounts for 34.6% of all the female cancers in Zimbabwe. The purpose of this study was to explore the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of female student nurses regarding cervical cancer in Zimbabwe using the Health Belief Model (HBM) as a theoretical framework. The ultimate aim was to analyse female student nurses’ risk perception of contracting cervical cancer. A quantitative, cross-sectional descriptive research design was used, using a structured questionnaire for data collection. One hundred and thirty-two (132) respondents were conveniently selected. Descriptive and inferential statistics were calculated using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 21 software program. The study revealed that 57.9% of the respondents perceive that they are at risk of developing cervical cancer. They believe that screening for cervical cancer is not embarrassing. Knowledge improved with increase in the level of study, there was lack of knowledge of HPV and cervical cancer link. More emphasis on cervical cancer should be put on curricula taught in undergraduate education earlier on in the programme. / Health Studies / M.A. (Nursing Science)

MCur / Department of Advanced Nursing Science / Historically, cancer is regarded as a disease with very devastating effects on human beings because it leads to many deaths across the world, compared to AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria collectively. Cancer diagnosis has impacted negatively on patients and their immediate families and has caused unbearable consequences. Unlike other chronic diseases, cancer patients undergo different types of treatments which affect their well-being and as a result they tend to have different experiences to those of other chronic diseases sufferers. The study design used was a quantitative cross sectional survey. The purpose was to investigate the impact of cancer diagnosis on cancer patients in Vhembe district. The target population included all patients in the Vhembe District of Limpopo, South Africa who have been diagnosed with cancer in the past six months. Using a probability simple random, a sample of 207 patients diagnosed with cancer, from seven selected hospitals in Vhembe District were selected as respondents and a self -administered questionnaire was used to collect data. Data was analysed using a software package for descriptive statistics (SPSS version 23). Graphs, tables and charts were used to display the results visually and chi-square to compare variables. Ethical principles of privacy, anonymity, informed consent were considered. The findings revealed that cancer diagnosis has negative outcomes as patients experience physical hardship, psychological stress, financial difficulties, as well as interference with family and social life. The study recommended that cancer patients and their families, be supported through the cancer journey. / NRF