Seven cerebral palsied children living in the home and their mothers were involved in this study. The mothers attended eight weekly sessions and were instructed in basic nutrition and feeding skill development. A Food and Nutrition Education Curriculum was developed for this instruction. Each of the eight lessons in the curriculum included discussions of nutrition based on the Basic Four Food Groups and the development of a feeding skill. Certain measurements were made before and after the nutrition education intervention to determine the benefits to the cerebral palsied children. These included a 24-hour dietary recall, food frequency check, height and weight measurements and a feeding evaluation. The mothers' nutrition knowledge was determined before and after the nutrition classes by way of a practical nutrition quiz. Nutrient intakes were compared to the 1974 Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDA). Intakes above 67% of the RDA were considered adequate. Energy intakes were compared to a suggested requirement based on height in centimeters. Height and weight measurements were plotted on the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) Growth Charts (1976). Five subjects, three girls and two boys fell below the 5th percentile on the NCHS Growth Charts. Intakes of five subjects exceeded two-thirds of the RDA for protein, calcium, iron, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin and ascorbic acid both before and after the nutrition education classes for their mothers. Protein and vitamin A intakes exceeded 100% of the RDA in many cases. The feeding evaluation was divided into three categories: gross motor skills, oral skills and eye-hand coordination. All seven subjects made improvements in the post test. The group as a whole made significant improvements (P <. 05) in gross motor skills. Significant improvements (P <. 05) were made by the mothers as a group in the practical nutrition quiz post test. / Graduation date: 1977

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 309-325). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

This study explores the coping mechanisms of mothers caring for adolescent children with cerebral palsy. This study attempted to address a gap in the literature pertaining to understanding negative and positive ways of coping related to mothers and the specific pr oblems they have to deal with when caring for adolescents with cerebral palsy . The qualitative study foc uses on experiences and feelings directly obtained from mothers and it looked at what coping mechanisms benefit mothers whilst they are caring for their adolescent child with cerebral p alsy, what factors could compromise the mother’s coping style and how adolescence impacts on the mother’s ways of coping. The research revealed that mothers tended to use either emotion - focused ways of coping which was more maladaptive, or problem - focused ways of coping which were more adaptive ways of coping. A number of coping mechanisms were identified which appeared to benefit mothers, some of these include obtaining support from the medical profession as well as obtaining so cial support. The findings illustrated that there were particular ‘poor’ facilitative factors that could compromise the mothers coping style. Facilitative factors either influenced mothers to use more problem - focused ways of coping or more emotion - focused ways of coping. It was found that both these ways of coping were link ed to different defenc e mechan isms. This study found that adolescence placed more stress on the mother since new issues relating to adolescence emerged and had to be managed. The implications of these findings for management and care of mothers in these situations are discussed. It i s hoped that the present findings will contribute to assisting clinicians in being able to focus on the important areas when working in this field. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The purpose of this focused ethnographic study was to describe the patterns of a good death held by elderly Japanese Americans living in Hawaii. Eighteen "healthy active" elderly Japanese Americans were interviewed individually. In addition, supplementary data, such as interviews with experts and field observations were collected for triangulation of the data. Four themes were derived from 1224 keywords, 56 categories, and 13 patterns. These were: being a burden to the family, process of life and death, individual views on death, and Japanese culture in Hawaii. Being a burden to the family was the largest concern in the participants' idea of dying a good death. Having secure financial resources were key for adequate preparation. The elderly Japanese Americans believed that suffering at the end-of-life should be avoided in order to achieve a good death. Their concept of suffering included: unmanageable pain, being ill for a long time, and being bedridden. Several participants preferred a sudden type of death because they would not have to suffer and not be burdens their family. Contentment in life was also an important aspect of a good death. There was a common belief that the way a person lived was connected with the way he/she died. A number of the participants preferred to die in their own home. Hospitals and retirement homes were other alternatives for the place of death. Individual views on death contributed to establish the concept of good death among elderly Japanese American participants. They shared similar attitudes toward death which were a part of life and inevitable. These attitudes were influenced by religious beliefs and past experiences with death. Different generations of elderly Japanese Americans had different views. The Shin-Issei (first generation who immigrated after World War II) and the Nisei (second generation) held more Japanese views compared to the Sansei (third generation) who were more acculturated. Although the Japanese American parents and children might have different views on life and death, the importance of close family relations and family support was passed on to younger generations.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

Paper (M.S.)--Minnesota State University Moorhead, 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49, 23-25).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 196-199). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-150). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-150). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.