Shows like The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, The Colbert Report, Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher, Saturday Night Live, and even South Park represent an underresearched subfield of discourse about political communication and persuasion. These shows manage to reach audiences not traditionally known for high levels of political engagement and draw them in with their comedic framework. This thesis investigates the impact of televised political satire on public perceptions of presidential candidates and campaign issues and the direct result these impacts may have on presidential elections. This thesis first gives some background in the types of communication and personalities of the front-men and women of these shows and then moves into a historical account of how the exigence for this recent explicit hybridization between comedy and news emerged. It then analyzes how these comedians view their own role within media and politics. It provides a thick account of the liberalizing force televised political satire has been for the American political climate so far, and where it will likely lead us in the near future with the growth of new communication technologies.

Lic.-avh. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2008. / Härtill 2 uppsatser.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 98-111).

Dementia is a syndrome characterized by multiple cognitive deficits, that are sufficient to interfere with daily living and social and occupational functioning (Gabrowski & Damasio, 2004). Alzheimer’s Dementia (AD) is the most common cause of dementia in adults and the risk of developing the disease increases with age. Alzheimer’s Dementia is a disease that is misunderstood in Nigeria because of the nature and time of onset of the condition; memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s Dementia is assumed to be a normal part of aging. This report investigates the quality of care that is provided to older adults with Alzheimer’s Dementia in Nigeria and offers recommendations for improved rehabilitation services / text

Thesis (M. Tech. degree in Journalism) -- Tshwane University of Technology 2009. / Provides a better understanding of the factors contributing to the overall success of the newspaper. A revised version of Machado's marketing mix model was used. The results showed how the elements of the marketing mix model had been successfully implemented.

To address some remaining questions in the extant family caregiving literature, the present study examined a specific care-recipient (CR) problematic behavior that could be the most critical to family caregiver (CG) emotional and physical well-being--CR-resistance or uncooperative behaviors vis-à-vis the CG. In order to provide detailed descriptions of CR-resistance and to determine the impact of CR-resistance on CG emotional and physical well-being, the present study applied a sequential quantitative-qualitative mixed method design approach with 8-day diary survey data on 63 family CGs and follow-up semi-structured interview data from 19 of those CGs.The quantitative data documented and revealed significant within- and between-person variance in CR-resistance. Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM) analyses results further revealed that neither the mean level nor the daily fluctuation of CR-resistance across 8 survey days by themselves appeared to have a significant impact on CG emotional or physical health. However, the combination of having relatively high mean level and daily fluctuation of CR-resistance brought had a significant impact on CG physical health; when CGs with relatively high mean level CR-resistance faced more than their usual amount of CR-resistance on a given day, they reported increases in physical health symptoms.The qualitative inductive thematic analyses revealed that based on the context in which CR-resistance occurred and the occurrence patterns, CR-resistance experiences could be divided into four types, and these four types of CR-resistance seem to pose different types and/or magnitude of impact on CG emotional well-being.Furthermore, informed by Social Cognitive Theory and Stress Theory, the present study also examined CG personal, interpersonal, and social resources as possible moderators of the link between CR-resistance and CG emotional/physical well-being. HLM analyses results revealed that CG sense of efficacy, community/professional service utilization, and family disagreement regarding care played significant moderating roles. The qualitative thematic analyses clearly suggested that specific CG cognitive resources--particularly those that were transferred and/or generalized from the CG's past professional or personal experiences--have a strong influence on CG resilience in the face of CR-resistance. The moderating results were interpreted light of theoretical frameworks and extant literature. Implications and future directions are discussed.

De senaste årens strukturella förändringar i svensk hälso- och sjukvård har påverkat vårdpersonalen i det sjukvårdande arbetet såväl fysiskt och psykiskt. Kontinuerlig återkoppling genom reflektion kan vara ett verktyg för avdelningschefen att leda utveckling, lärande och förnyelse i omvårdnadsarbetet. Studiens syfte var att genom fenomenografisk ansats beskriva avdelningschefers uppfattningar av reflektion i omvårdnadsarbete.Analysen av 15 intervjuer resulterade i fem beskrivningskategorier av reflektion: kunskapsintegrerande, bearbetande, utvecklande, arbetsledande och patientinriktad. Den kunskapsintegrerande reflektionen fångar studenternas utbildning som kan användas i omvårdnadsarbetet. Genom bearbetande reflektion skapas en fortlöpande tankeprocess av omvårdnadsarbetet. I utvecklande reflektion stärktes medarbetare genom att samtala med varandra. Arbetsledande reflektion beskrevs som ett eget forum för att bearbeta chefsrollen. Patientinriktad reflektion lyfte fram patientens delaktighet. Slutsatsen var att avdelningscheferna använde reflektion på olika nivåer och i olika sammanhang. Reflektionen visade sig betydelsefull för omvårdnadsarbetet. Studiens resultat kan bidra till ökad kunskap för att utveckla ledarskapet i riktning mot bättre arbetsmiljö och patientsäkerhet. Fortsatt forskning borde inriktas på interventionsstudier med reflektion i fokus. / Continuous feedback through reflection can be used as a tool by the department head for leading the development, learning and innovation in nursing work. The aim of the study was to describe the department heads´perceptions of reflection in nursing care by a phenomenographical approach. The analysis of 15 interviews resulted in five description categories of reflection. Knowledge integral reflection captures students´training that can be used in nursing work. Processing creates a continuous thought process in nursing work. Reflection development was reinforced among employees when talking to each orther. Managerial reflection was described as a separate forum in the process manager role. Patient-oriented reflection highlighted the patient´s participation. The conclusion was that department heads used reflection on different levels and in different contexts. Reflection proved important in nursing care. Study findings may help to increase knowledge in order to develop leadership whick leads to beter quality of care and patient safety. Continued research should focus on intervention studies with an emphasis on reflection.

Abstract      Background: Stroke, caused by a blood clot or a bleeding in the brain, is one of the large endemic diseases in Sweden. The symptoms are very individual and depend on where the stroke is located. The nurse is a key person due to the importance to individualize the rehabilitation of the patient. The consequences after a stroke are not only visible functions reductions but also cognitive and practical problems. Stroke often leads to extensive changes in life, and individuals who get a stroke have to adjust their daily life.   Aim: The aim of the study was to describe individuals’ experiences of changes in daily life, one year or more after a stroke.   Method: An inductive, qualitative approach was used. Six individuals with stroke were interviewed. An analysis of the tape-recorded interview material was carried out using qualitative content analysis.   Results:  Everything changed quickly in the informants’ life. Their life took a new course and they had to adjust it to the new circumstances. The informants’ physical- and cognitive disabilities limited their daily activities and they could not take care of themselves anymore. Despite their struggles in life, the informants had a strong will to maintain daily routines and they managed this by developing new strategies.   Conclusion: All the informants experience limits in daily life. They had to start an entirely new life due to their physical and cognitive limits. Despite all this they had to find a way to struggle on and to try to manage on there own.

The prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in Canada is on the rise, creating the need for evidence-based care practices designed to support individuals with AD and their care providers. Declines in memory, language, visual-spatial, executive abilities, and functional capacity associated with AD create the need for caregiver assistance during the completion of activities of daily living (ADLs). Unfortunately, assisting individuals with more advanced stages of AD is further complicated by communication breakdowns that occur in the dyad (i.e., caregiver and the individual with AD) established to meet a common goal: to complete ADLs. Clinically recommended communication strategies are the current solution used to support caregivers interacting with individuals with AD. However, there are limitations to these recommendations, including that the majority are based on caregiver experience, few are supported by empirical research, and little is known about which strategies are effective when assisting individuals with moderate to severe AD specifically during the context of completing ADLs. This dissertation presents novel research studies that systematically examined formal caregivers’ use of communication strategies while successfully assisting residents with moderate and severe AD during the completion of a representative ADL. Two observational studies and one focus group interview study were conducted to address our hypotheses and research objectives. Key findings from the studies comprising this dissertation were: (1) caregivers used a variety of verbal and nonverbal task-focused communication strategies when successfully assisting residents with AD during the completion of a representative ADL; (2) the task-focused communication strategies caregivers most frequently used were supported by empirical literature and included the use of one direction or idea (i.e., proposition) at a time, closed-ended questions, and paraphrased repetition; (3) when assisting residents with severe AD, caregivers used the resident’s name, one proposition, and paraphrased repetition significantly more than when assisting residents with moderate AD; and (4) the communication strategies that caregivers perceived to use in their care practice indicate that person-centered dementia care is a central aspect to facilitating the completion of ADLs. This research is an important step towards the development of evidence-based communication strategies for caregivers assisting individuals with AD during ADLs.

The prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in Canada is on the rise, creating the need for evidence-based care practices designed to support individuals with AD and their care providers. Declines in memory, language, visual-spatial, executive abilities, and functional capacity associated with AD create the need for caregiver assistance during the completion of activities of daily living (ADLs). Unfortunately, assisting individuals with more advanced stages of AD is further complicated by communication breakdowns that occur in the dyad (i.e., caregiver and the individual with AD) established to meet a common goal: to complete ADLs. Clinically recommended communication strategies are the current solution used to support caregivers interacting with individuals with AD. However, there are limitations to these recommendations, including that the majority are based on caregiver experience, few are supported by empirical research, and little is known about which strategies are effective when assisting individuals with moderate to severe AD specifically during the context of completing ADLs. This dissertation presents novel research studies that systematically examined formal caregivers’ use of communication strategies while successfully assisting residents with moderate and severe AD during the completion of a representative ADL. Two observational studies and one focus group interview study were conducted to address our hypotheses and research objectives. Key findings from the studies comprising this dissertation were: (1) caregivers used a variety of verbal and nonverbal task-focused communication strategies when successfully assisting residents with AD during the completion of a representative ADL; (2) the task-focused communication strategies caregivers most frequently used were supported by empirical literature and included the use of one direction or idea (i.e., proposition) at a time, closed-ended questions, and paraphrased repetition; (3) when assisting residents with severe AD, caregivers used the resident’s name, one proposition, and paraphrased repetition significantly more than when assisting residents with moderate AD; and (4) the communication strategies that caregivers perceived to use in their care practice indicate that person-centered dementia care is a central aspect to facilitating the completion of ADLs. This research is an important step towards the development of evidence-based communication strategies for caregivers assisting individuals with AD during ADLs.