Cubas provision of free health services to the entire population via neighborhood-based family doctors produced dramatic health gains and achieved a relative state of health equality. Since 1989, however, the termination of Soviet trade, a grave economic crisis, intensification of the US embargo, welfare reductions, and population aging have placed Cubas health successes and elder care services in jeopardy. Little independent research, though, has focused on the influence of post-Cold War circumstances on citizen attitudes about health programs and resources targeting Cubas older population. This research examined global and domestic factors since 1989 that have most influenced perceptions of the equitability and inequitability of health resources among older Cubans. Its multi-layered design drew on new International Political Economy, crystallization, and aspects of Grounded Theory. In-depth narrative interviews were conducted with Cubans age 60 years or older, their families and community support group members, family physicians and other medical personnel, and key health and government informants. Perceptions of health equity were found to correspond most with the geographic proximity and nearly unhindered physical access of older patients to their family doctors and the temporal availability of family physicians to their older patients. Conversely, perceptions of health inequity corresponded most with the older persons experience of medicine shortages and health resource rationing following global socio-political-economic change and domestic policy shifts after 1989. Furthermore, the life course influences of the pre- and post-revolutionary eras and pre-1989 and post-Cold War period were seminal in shaping the perceptions and expectations of the older participants regarding health care, the leadership, and Cuban socialism. The findings have added to the international health and cross-cultural gerontology literature. Decision-makers and health practitioners in Cuba and elsewhere have been informed about the importance of popular perceptions of the impact of health and elder policy change in an era of globalized social relations and capital. The research also has contributed a gerontological dimension and a narrative perspective to further the development of new International Political Economy.

Introduction: Past studies have indicated that nursing support reduces parental stress and anxiety during a child’s NICU hospitalisation and therefore fosters the parents’ abilities to cope with the difficulties they are facing. The importance of parental support has been emphasised in numerous studies in Western countries, however the nursing support which is responsive to the parents may vary between different cultures. The cultural norms of medical and nursing care environments can affect parental stress-related experiences as well as nursing roles in the NICUs across different countries. The aims of this study are, first, to compare the medical and nursing care environments of the two NICUs. Second, the study establishes any similarities and differences in sources of parental stress in the two NICUs. Third, the study illustrates the underlying philosophy of Doane and Varcoe’s (2005) relational approach to family nursing and highlights the importance of relational inquiry in the process of determining the parental support which best responds to individual families’ needs in the NICU. Methods: This study analyses the nursing roles that support parents of children hospitalised in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). It is a cross-cultural comparison between two NICUs, one in Christchurch, New Zealand and the other in Tokyo, Japan, with both quantitative and qualitative components. Thirty-one families participated voluntarily in the study from each NICU (n=121). The three main sources of data were a NICU staff interview, parental interview, and parental questionnaire using the Parental Stress Scale: Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (PSS: NICU) (Miles, 2002). A thematic analysis was used in order to examine parental comments. Results: The differences between the two NICUs in terms of the NICU care environment, including NICU regulations and routine nursing care, were identified by the staff interviews, highlighting the contrasting dominant ideologies of individualism and collectivism reflected in each culture. The three sources of parental stress, measured by PSS: NICU: Sights and Sounds; Baby’s Appearance and Behaviour; the Parental Role Alteration, were examined. The sources most responsible for parental stress differed between the four groups of parents. Overall, The Tokyo parents seemed to be most concerned about the infant’s condition. The Christchurch parents, however, perceived the change in parental role to be most stressful. Additionally, only the Tokyo fathers experienced stress in association with Sights and Sounds more often than other areas of stress. The infant’s medical/nursing care requirements, oxygen therapy and/or tube feeding, were associated with a high degree of stress for each of the parents’ groups except that of the Christchurch fathers. There was a positive relationship between parental NICU visiting and stress level among the Tokyo parents while this was not the case for the Christchurch parents. The infants’ and parental characteristics were found to be associated with stress level for the Tokyo mothers and Christchurch fathers only. The thematic analysis of interview data revealed three key themes of NICU parental experiences: Uncertainty, NICU contexts and Communication with staff. These themes were identical between the two NICUs. Discussion: This study highlighted the influence of the norms of each NICU, particularly the NICU regulations and nursing care on parental stress-related experiences, and the importance of reflecting upon these norms to critique those professional beliefs which may hamper parental coping abilities. The areas of parental support needing attention were different between the two NICUs. These areas were: the establishment of oral feeding, and infants’ nursing care-related decision-making for the Christchurch NICU whilst parental information/involvement in the early stage of hospitalisation, the influence of visiting regulations, and importing Western-based NICU intervention for the Tokyo NICU. In providing these areas of parental support, the importance of effective, meaningful communication between parents and staff was equally evident in the two NICU settings. In the light of the relational approach to family nursing, this study demonstrated that how nurses communicate with families is not universal: one way to reach across the differences is to listen to parents, and this, it is clear, is crucial to the role of nurses in NICU settings.

This study examined the relation among ethnic group membership, ethnic identity, collectivism and individualism in a sample of European American and African American college students. Findings suggest that African Americans are more collectivist than European Americans only in reference to their ethnic group. There were no significant differences between ethnic groups in collectivism toward friends, family, strangers or colleagues. Contrary to findings of previous research, there was no significant moderating effect of gender on collectivism differences between ethnic groups. In congruence with previous research, ethnic identity mediated the relation between ethnic group membership and collectivism toward the ethnic group. African Americans were also significantly higher on overall individualism when compared to European Americans and this relation was not mediated by ethnic identity. In addition to these findings, discussion focuses on issues regarding the measurement of individualism, collectivism, and ethnic identity.

Despite the recognized importance of leadership perception and individual differences in various cultures, our understanding of each of these variables is limited. The influence of fundamental cognitive styles (context dependent vs. independent) in different cultures and individual differences within culture has rarely been discussed. Current leadership perception research typically depends on surveys which cannot capture spontaneous responses that reflect both automatic and controlled processes. To better understand cross-cultural leadership perception, this study recruited two cultural groups (e.g., Americans and East Asians) and employed both qualitative (e.g., picture recognition tasks) and quantitative (Conditional Reasoning Tests) methods to examine the effect of culture and individual differences (power motive) on leadership perception. Findings and implications for future research are discussed.

The purpose of this study was to examine attitudes toward physical activity and patterns of involvement among Chinese and American children. Participants were children in grades 3 and 8 in Central China (n=170) and in the Midwestern United States (n=100). Data were obtained by administering a revised inventory for children's attitudes toward physical activity (CATPA), a new CATPA inventory appropriate for grade 3, and a physical activity questionnaire. Separate 2 (Country) X 2 (Gender) X 2 (Age) MANOVAS, follow-up ANOVAs and descriptive statistics were employed to analyze the data. Unlike previous findings, this study indicated that Chinese participants have more positive attitudes toward physical activity while American participants reported more involvement in physical activity. Age and gender differences in attitudes toward physical activity were also found with younger children and girls expressing more positive attitudes. Marked gender and nationality differences in both participation patterns andphysical activity preferences were also evident. The results of the present study supported previous findings that attitude is a function of age and gender. / School of Physical Education

While it is well known that multicultural issues have garnered recent prevalence in the field of counseling, the concerns faced by Native Americans continue to be under researched (Garrett & Pinchette, 2000). Although there are now several multicultural competency measures that are continuously undergoing validation research (see review by Constantine & Ladany, 2001; Ponterotto, Reiger, Barrett, & Sparks, 1994;) these instruments fail to consider specific counseling competencies when providing psychological services to Native American clients, their families, and communities. The purpose of this study was to identify the multicultural competencies a mental health professional should possess when working with Native American clients. These competencies were identified via the Delphi technique and qualitative methods were utilized to analyze the data. A panel of three expert checkers was used to reduce researcher bias when summarizing and interpreting each Delphi Round. Nominations for a panel of experts were solicited from the APA Monitor, counseling and psychology list serves (both national and local), anthropology list serves, personal contacts, and via nominations, self or other. Invitation letters were sent to those who expressed interest in the project and a final panel of thirteen experts agreed to participate in the project. Over the course of two years, only one panelist dropped out of the project. Three Delphi Rounds were completed and the results yielded numerous areas for consideration when assessing a mental health professional's competency when working with Native American clients. These included an understanding of heterogeneity amongst and between Native Americans, understanding historical and socio-political factors that influence the counseling process, and a demonstration of core counseling competencies necessary for any successful therapeutic course of treatment. The panel's consensus was that construction of a scale measuring counseling competencies with Native American clients was not feasible. Instead, several areas for further investigation were offered as well as more qualitative forms of investigation in the area of assessing counseling competencies when helping Native American clients. Theoretical, empirical, and applied implications are offered in an effort to further define the meaning of cultural competencies when assisting Native American mental health clients. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

The purpose of this ethnographic case study was to explore how different distance learning modes and environments affect the design and implementation of a crosscultural, university-level, distance education course. The case chosen was a U.S. -Taiwan collaboration that used H.323 videoconferencing and Web 2.0 technologies. Through participant observation, document analysis and interview, this study investigated the factors that influence the instructor's pedagogical practice with new technologies in relation to the cross-cultural aspects. It also examined the various types of interactions that occurred as consequences of the distance learning modes and the contexts of the course. The findings provided a portrait of factors and relationships that affected the implementation of the curriculum and the enablement of technology affordances. They suggested that the instructor’s personal value and intrinsic motivation, well-supported technology framework, and a long stable international partnership helped sustain her engagement in cross-cultural distance education (CCDE). While the instructor’s high self-efficacy prompted her to idealize technology affordances in the CCDE course, her limited technology literacy hindered the enablement of these affordances and resulted in different outcomes. In addition, difference in the teaching styles between the instructor and her international partner, unbalanced learner preparedness, and the Western valueladen learning environment were also factors that contributed to the gap between the idealization and the realization of the CCDE course. Implications and suggestions for future practice and research were provided in relation to the literature, as well as the contexts of cross-cultural/international distance education. / Access to thesis and accompanying PDF permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Studies

Interactions between business counterparts have become increasingly free from boundaries, as technological innovation brings the world closer together (Adler, 2002). Locally, the typical South African organisation employs workers from a multitude of cultural backgrounds, at various levels of acculturation. Organisational coaches must be prepared to engage with diverse national and international client populations. Coaching bodies such as the Worldwide Association of Business Coaches (WABC, 2008) and the locally-based Coaches and Mentors of South Africa (COMENSA, 2009; COMENSA, 2010), require coaches to provide culturally responsive services to coachees. If the coach differs culturally from the coachee, he/she may incorrectly use his/her own understanding of what is appropriate for a situation to make sense of the coachee’s behaviour, possibly leading to the misinterpretation of the diverse coachee’s situation. In addition, the coach may also project his/her own cultural bias and stereotypes onto the coachee. This in turn may lead to barriers in communication, and ultimately to the inhibition of efficiency of the coaching process as possible outcomes. Inefficient coaching may not allow for the achievement of the desired results, leading to financial losses for the company. Therefore, it is imperative that the coach is aware of his/her own culturally-laden values, beliefs and expectations which may include biases, prejudices and stereotypes held about the coachee, i.e. his/ her cultural self-awareness. The purpose of the current research study was to explore and describe the experiences and perceptions of South African organisational coaches in terms of cultural self-awareness. Specifically the study investigated how eight South African organisational coaches (N = 8) develop, maintain and promote cultural self-awareness, and what the perceived consequences of such awareness were. The study was conducted within the constructivist research paradigm and utilised a qualitative research approach. The multiple case study research strategy employed in-depth interviews to collect the research data. A grounded theory research methodology was used to analyse and explore the experiences and perceptions of South African organisational coaches in developing and utilising cultural self-awareness. Eight findings were obtained from the interviews, namely: the cultural self-awareness cultivated during coaching developed as part of a general process of cultural self-awareness, which in turn formed part of the participants’ personal development; both intentional strategies and happenstance led to the coaches’ cultural self-awareness; situational and internal factors contributed to changes in their cultural self-awareness; cultural self-awareness is maintained through self-management involving internal and external strategies; future cultural self-awareness is promoted through pursuing experiences that would cause them to question bias; a change in cultural self-awareness held consequences for the personal developmental process as well as for the coachee, and the coaching process; the meaning of cultural self-awareness was explained by using metaphors. The most prominent metaphors the coaches used were ‘sight’, ‘the past’, ‘internal work’, and ‘managing’; additional psychosocial processes that occur during intercultural coaching which can be grouped under macro, meso and micro issues, contextualised the process of cultural self-awareness during intercultural coaching. The findings were interpreted to show that various levels, developmental paths, and applications of cultural self-awareness exist amongst organisational coaches. On the basis of the results obtained from the research study, recommendations were made for future research, coaching education and training programmes, coaching clients, and current or prospective coaches. / Thesis (MA (Industrial Psychology))--North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

The researcher conducted an ethnographic study looking at how employers can build more inclusive workplaces and support the adaptation of immigrants into the Canadian workplace culture. The research consisted of ethnographic interviews with 15 immigrant employees living and working in British Columbia. The focus of the research study was to investigate how the various aspects of the employer-sponsored programs influence the cross-cultural adaptation from the perspective of the immigrant employee. Results from the study support that immigrant friendly practices and initiatives facilitate the adaptation process of immigrant employees. Practical implications and recommendations for employers are also discussed in the study.