<p><font face="Times-Roman"> <p align="left">According to the findings of this study, childcare workers caring for HIV-positive children working in a residential care setting, have similar experiences and challenges to nurses, community-based caregivers and primary caregivers, such as coping with loss and contagion fear. Nonetheless, caring for HIV-positive children poses unique challenges for the caregiver, calling for flexibility and situation-dependent coping strategies.</p> </font></p>

<p><font face="Times-Roman"> <p align="left">According to the findings of this study, childcare workers caring for HIV-positive children working in a residential care setting, have similar experiences and challenges to nurses, community-based caregivers and primary caregivers, such as coping with loss and contagion fear. Nonetheless, caring for HIV-positive children poses unique challenges for the caregiver, calling for flexibility and situation-dependent coping strategies.</p> </font></p>

Home Based Childcare (HBC) workers have demanding work conditions, enjoy no or few social benefits, are paid less than the national average wage, and many of them intend to leave this occupation (Doherty, Lero, Goelman, Tougas, Lagrange, 2000). The available studies on early childcare workers in Canada have often excluded HBC workers from their analyses or grouped them with other types of early childcare workers in their analyses, which make it difficult to tackle the particularities of this specific subgroup of workers. In light of the limited studies on regulated HBC workers in the Canadian context, this thesis aimed to provide insight on these workers' health and broader social determinants of health in two Canadian provinces where they are the most concentrated. The overall purpose of this thesis is to document the perceived health and chronic conditions of HBC workers, highlighting the broader social determinants of their health (e.g. work, lifestyle). This thesis had four objectives: 1. Assess regulated HBC workers' health-related quality of life and investigate the relationships with socio-demographic characteristics. 2. Examine chronic health conditions affecting regulated HBC workers and identify the social determinants of health factors associated with chronic conditions. 3. Draw an overview on broader social determinants of health factors among regulated HBC workers using the Dahlgren and Whitehead model. 4. Undertake a job analysis of regulated HBC workers In the first Manuscript, the perceived health-related quality of life of home-based childcare workers in two Canadian provinces, Quebec and Ontario, was assessed using survey methods. Results show that HBC workers in Quebec positively perceive their overall physical health and negatively perceive their overall mental health. Those working in Ontario report both good overall physical and mental health-related quality of life and also report better mental and physical health-related quality of life compared to those in Quebec. That is, they have fewer problems with work or other daily activities due to their health, feel less physical pain, less fatigue, less nervousness, and are less depressed than workers in Quebec. HBC workers experience more pain, more fatigue, more interference of health problems with social activities, and more psychosocial distress compared to Canadian women in general. Finally, our study supports that being over 40 years old, being married or in a common-law union, and working in Ontario were factors relating positively to the perceived health-related quality of life among HBC workers when controlling for the level of education and the annual gross income. In the second manuscript, chronic health conditions affecting regulated HBC workers in Quebec and in Ontario and the broader social determinants of health factors associated with these were examined using survey methods. The study revealed that one out of two HBC workers had a chronic condition. Chronic back pain, asthma, hypertension, skin diseases, and arthritis are the main five chronic conditions among HBC workers. Also, five out of ten HBC workers with a chronic condition report chronic back pain as their main health condition. Finally, workers over 40 years of age, those who were somewhat physically active or inactive, having poor relationships with their supervisors or parents of children, and working for five years or more reported more chronic conditions as diagnosed by a health professional. In the third manuscript, the broader social determinants of health among regulated HBC workers in Quebec and in Ontario were examined using a mixed methods approach. Results showed significant differences in social determinants of health between HBC workers in Quebec and in Ontario in terms of age and factors related to individual lifestyles, social and community networks, structural factors, and general socio-economic conditions. In the fourth manuscript, HBC workers’ job content, context, and requirements were described and factors that affect their health and well-being were identified using qualitative methods and emphasizing the workers’ perspectives. Results showed that HBC workers’ job differs from centre-based childcare workers. They perform business administration tasks and more housekeeping and domestic work than workers in the centre-based childcare, which affect their health and well-being. They are paid on a per child basis but their level of education, experience or input into care is not taken into consideration. In addition, HBC workers reported factors related to the context and the content of their job such as the high physical and mental efforts, the absence of contact with other adults during working hours, the lack of external help during working hours, the difficulty of filling available spots, the exposure to noise and bad odours, the interference of work with personal and family life, the low and precarious remuneration and the lack of benefits as potential factors that may affect their health. Finally, the thesis conclusion provides an overview of HBC workers’ health and determinants of their health identifying remaining gaps in our knowledge of HBC workers’ health and determinants of health where future research is required. Future studies are encouraged to consider using multiple approaches (e.g. online surveys, paper survey, etc.) and multiple languages (e.g. Chinese) to reach a larger number of participants. Stakeholders and decision makers are encouraged to consider provincial differences in social determinants of health to implement interventions to reduce disparities and health inequities among HBC workers.

Background: Since the 1980’s incidents of workplace violence have been recognised as a serious problem within social care. It has been found to be particularly rife within residential settings and children’s homes in particular have been found to be one of the most violence-prone settings. And yet, there is a lack of literature on the prevalence and psychosocial impact of workplace violence on staff in residential units for looked after and accommodated children (LAAC). Method: Given the limited literature on residential childcare workers a systematic review was conducted on research of violence towards social workers in child and family services to achieve a better understand of violence within child and family social care generally. An empirical study was also conducted with staff of Local Authority residential units within Central Scotland. The aim of the empirical study was to explore staffs’ experience of workplace violence perpetrated by LAAC in residential settings, using the qualitative methodology Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). Results: The systematic review showed that studies were mostly of medium methodological quality; verbal aggression towards social workers in child and family services was common place; physical violence was comparatively rare; and that all forms of violence impacted on wellbeing and practice. The empirical study had similar findings, but also provided new insights into how staff cope with workplace violence, particularly in the context of young peoples’ life experiences. Conclusion: Violence perpetrated by LAAC in residential units appeared to be lessening and a move towards more behaviour management was aiding staff to better understand the roots of violence. This in turn was found to help staff cope better with the emotional impact of violence. Management need to be mindful of the impact violence has on staff and continue providing training programs to better equip staff to understand violence and support LAAC to manage their aggression.

No description available.

Detta arbete utgår ifrån den diskussion som förts i det svenska samhället vad gäller förskollärarnas ansvar som synliggjorts i den reviderade läroplanen samt införandet av lärarlegitimation. Arbetet syftar på att förstå, genom kvalitativa intervjuer, vad fyra verksamma pedagoger inom förskolan har för tankar omkring arbetets huvudfrågor: Samarbete, ledarskap och ansvar, erfarenhet och praktisk kunskap samt teoretisk kunskap. Vidare finns viss historik omkring förskolan och förskollärarens bakgrund. Målet med denna undersökning är att lyfta upp frågan om samverkan mellan praktisk kunskap och teoretisk kunskap och diskutera samarbetet mellan yrkesgrupperna samt stärka betydelsen av att inneha båda dessa kunskaper. I resultatdelen ämnas de fyra intervjuade pedagogernas åsikter framföras och sedan diskuteras i förhållande till begreppen och tidigare forskning. Samtliga pedagoger är och har varit aktiva i förskolan under minst fem år. Genom studien har resultatet pekat allt tydligare på att de två förskollärarna och de två barnskötarna har olika syn på de olika arbetsrollerna. Sammanfattningsvis menar jag att förskollärarna verkar tycka att ansvar och ledarskap till viss del är deras uppgifter men att arbetslaget, innefattande både förskollärare och barnskötare, bör samarbeta och man kan ana att de inte vill ta hela ansvaret själva. Barnskötarna, å andra sidan, eftersöker mer ledarskap av förskollärarna och vill att de tar det ansvar som de har utbildning och får lön för. De två barnskötarna är inte lika strikta i sin linje vad gäller rollfördelningen, den ena barnskötaren uttrycker att många pedagoger på förskolan gör ett bra arbete oavsett teoretisk kunskap. Som resultat vill jag lyfta fram att det alltså är de som saknar akademisk utbildning som lyfter fram att det är den teoretiska kunskapen är avgörande för ansvarsbiten. Detta trots att samtliga fyra pedagoger menar att den praktiska kunskapen är viktig. Slutligen innefattar arbetet förslag på vidare studier inom ämnet: då särskilt, varför tycker förskollärarna och barnskötarna i denna undersökning så olika beroende av egen utbildningsgrad? / This study departs from the discussion in Swedish society concerning preschool teachers’ responsibilities as visualized in the revised curriculum and the introduction of teacher license registration.The study is aimed at understanding, through qualitative interviews, what four active pedagogues involved in pre-school feels about the changes, which are this study’s main issues: the concept of cooperation, leadership and responsibility, experience and practical knowledge and theoretical knowledge. Further, there is some history about kindergarten and preschool teachers’ background. The purpose of this study is to highlight the issue of interaction between practical knowledge and theoretical knowledge as well as the cooperation of the people involved in preschool.The results section is dealing with the four pedagogues, who are and have been active in pre-school for at least five years, to be presented and then discussed in relation to the concepts and previous research. The study results have indicated more clearly that the two preschool teachers and the two childminders have different views on the differing roles. In sum I believe that preschool teachers find that responsibility and leadership in some way lies on their shoulders, but they’re pointing more to the team, including both preschool teachers and childcare workers, for cooperation. You can sense that they do not want to take full responsibility themselves. Childcare workers are on the other hand looking for more leadership from the preschool teachers and expect that they should take the responsibility they have been educated and are paid for. The two childcare workers are not as strict in the terms of roles. One of them expresses that many teachers in the preschool are doing a good job regardless of theoretical knowledge. As a result, I would highlight that it is the pedagogues without theoretical knowledge that emphasizes that theoretical knowledge is crucial for the responsibility part, despite the fact that all four teachers believe that practical knowledge is important. Finally, this study includes suggestions for further studies in the subject: on particular, why do preschool teachers and childcare workers in this study feel so different depending on their own level of education?

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / According to the findings of this study, childcare workers caring for HIV-positive children working in a residential care setting, have similar experiences and challenges to nurses, community-based caregivers and primary caregivers, such as coping with loss and contagion fear. Nonetheless, caring for HIV-positive children poses unique challenges for the caregiver, calling for flexibility and situation-dependent coping strategies.

South African child and youth care programmes have been challenged to transform to address the needs of vulnerable and/or orphaned young people affected and/or infected by HIV/AIDS. The Isibindi programme was designed by the National Association of Child Care Workers to respond to this challenge to provide viable community child and youth care programmes. Supervision of staff plays a critical part in child and youth care programmes. This study explores the model of supervision being implemented in the Isibindi programme, identifies the elements of this model and stipulates which of these need to be strengthened for effective and efficient services. The research findings indicate that the Isibindi model of supervision reflects the practice of child and youth care services being delivered in the programme. Common child and youth care elements were identified as being essential to the efficient delivery of this model of supervision. / Health Studies / (M. Tech. (Child and Youth Care))

South African child and youth care programmes have been challenged to transform to address the needs of vulnerable and/or orphaned young people affected and/or infected by HIV/AIDS. The Isibindi programme was designed by the National Association of Child Care Workers to respond to this challenge to provide viable community child and youth care programmes. Supervision of staff plays a critical part in child and youth care programmes. This study explores the model of supervision being implemented in the Isibindi programme, identifies the elements of this model and stipulates which of these need to be strengthened for effective and efficient services. The research findings indicate that the Isibindi model of supervision reflects the practice of child and youth care services being delivered in the programme. Common child and youth care elements were identified as being essential to the efficient delivery of this model of supervision. / Health Studies / (M. Tech. (Child and Youth Care))