Thesis (M.T.S.)--Catholic Theological Union at Chicago, 1991. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 93-94).

More than 6 million people are currently involved in the provision of informal care in the UK, with demand expected to rise exponentially over the next decades. The aim of this thesis is twofold.  First, to estimate and compare informal care time valuations using a number of methods, and second, to estimate econometrically the determinants of informal care provision.  The first aim is addressed using both new and existing secondary data, with comparison of values across opportunity cost, market replacement cost, compensating income variation, contingent valuation and discrete choice experiments methods.  The second aim is addressed using existing secondary data, where methods of dynamic panel estimation are employed to assess the influence of various socio-economic and demographic characteristics on the decision to provide care and on the level of provision. This is the first study that estimates and compares informal care time valuations using preference-based techniques for the UK and also it is the first time that the determinants of informal care are assessed using dynamic two-part data models. Findings suggest per hour valuations from £8.5 to £14 for most of the methods with the exception of the choice experiment (with values less than £1).  A great deal of heterogeneity can be found in the valuation, especially according to type of care provided.  Informal care is found to be a complement and/or a substitute for formal care, depending on the task in question, while at the same time it competes with other time intensive activities for the allocation of time.

Evidence has shown that Multisystemic Therapy (MST) an intensive family- and community-based intervention has been particularly effective in the treatment of youth with antisocial behaviour from ethnically diverse backgrounds. Although the process of change within MST has been explored, there is a dearth of research in looking at this for families from ethnic minority backgrounds. The current research aimed to address this gap by exploring the experiences of a sample of London based caregivers who had completed an MST intervention. A qualitative approach was adopted, using grounded theory methodology to explore ethnic minority caregiver experiences of MST and generate a model of the processes of engagement and change based on participants' accounts. Seven semi-structured interviews were carried out with caregivers from two London sites. The emergent model consisted of seven interacting theoretical codes. Three of these codes were organised around the process of engagement; deciding to engage with MST, becoming therapeutically aligned and considering cultural difference, and four related to the process of change; working within a safe and trusting relationship, therapist acting as cultural broker, empowering the parent and increased communication within and outside the family. The author makes novel suggestions relating to the specific mechanisms that are thought to underlie the process of engaging with MST, and highlights the importance of considering cultural difference in the initial stages of the MST intervention.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Aberdeen University, 2008. / Title from web page (viewed on Apr. 21, 2009). Includes bibliographical references.

Caring for the chronically ill is a growing phenomenon that deserves careful attention and research, since the quality of life of the palliative caregiver is threatened by the continuous exposure to psychological, physiological, as well as relational burdens. A hermeneutic phenomenological study was used to explore palliative caregivers‟ experiences of compassion fatigue when caring for chronically ill patients in a hospice setting. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with Bophelong Community Care Centre‟s palliative caregivers between the ages of 20 and 60 years who were employed in a hospice for a minimum of at least two years, thus well-placed to describe their experiences of compassion fatigue when caring for chronically ill patients in a hospice setting. Data was collected through individual interviews, recorded and transcribed. Using thematic analysis, meaningful patterns and themes of data were discovered to better understand compassion fatigue as a phenomenon of interest. The findings pointed to four categories, i.e. the effects of compassion fatigue on palliative caregivers‟ emotional wellbeing, personal and work relationships, physical discomfort, and spiritual awareness, that describe the experiences of palliative caregivers of compassion fatigue in a hospice setting, thus providing a holistic understanding of the complexity of compassion fatigue in a palliative care hospice setting. / Psychology / M. A. (Psychology)