Depression och psykisk ohälsa är idag ett stort hälsoproblem. Trots att motionens positiva hälsoeffekter är välkända är det få inom sjukvården som använder fysisk aktivitet som  kompletterande behandling vid depressionstillstånd. Syftet med denna kvalitativa studie var att identifiera och beskriva personalens erfarenhet och syn på fysisk aktivitet som en del av den psykiatriska omvårdnaden vid depressionstillstånd. Studien var en kvalitativ studie med strukturerande fokusgrupp intervjuer som analyserades med hjälp av innehållsanalys där ett huvudtema; Att ha kunskap och idéer men att inte få till det, två teman och sju subteman utgjorde resultatet. Resultatet från studien visade att vårdpersonalen upplevde att det var bättre förr då det var en mer strukturerad tillvaro med motion och planerade aktiviteter på varje avdelning som patienterna skulle delta i. Resultatet visade både på hinder och möjligheter när det gällde fysisk aktivitet som omvårdnadsåtgärd. Slutsatsen var att personalen hade stora kunskaper kring omvårdnadsåtgärder vid depression men det fanns ett stort behov av förbättrade rutiner för fysisk aktivitet vid depression för linneliggande patienter. / Depression and mental illness is now a major health problem. Although the physical health benefits are well known, there are few in health care that uses physical activity as complementary treatment of depression state. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identity and describe staff's experience and views on physical activity as part of psychiatric care for depression condition. The study was a qualitative study of structuring focus group interviews who were analyzed using content analysis in which a major theme; To have knowledge and ideas but not getting to it, two themes and seven subthemes, was the result. The results of the study showed that nursing staff felt that it was better before when it was a more structured life with exercise and planned activities of each department that the patients would participate in. The results showed both obstacles and opportunities in terms of physical activity as health care measure. The conclusion is that the staff has knowledge of care measures for depression but it is a great need for improved physical activity on depression for patients in psychiatric clinic.

<p>Sub-Saharan Africa is home to two thirds of the 33 million HIV infected individuals worldwide. In 2007 there were an estimated 1.5 million Kenyans infected with HIV, and 166 000 new infections in 2008. The introduction of antiretroviral therapy [ART] brought new hope to HIV patients. It has transformed a fatal disease to a chronic manageable condition. Kenya has made great strides in ensuring access to ART and by 2009, 308 610 patients in the country were receiving ART - which is the second highest number worldwide. The success of ART requires a sustained adherence rate to medication of more than 95% to prevent viral replication and the development of drug resistant HIV strains. Identifying the factors that influence adherence, is essential for the long-term success of public ART programmes. The current study explored patient, socio-economic, cultural, and religious and health systems factors that influence adherence to ART at the Coast Provincial General Hospital [CPGH] in Mombasa, Kenya.</p>

<p>Physical inactivity has become a global health concern and is among the 10 leading causes of death and disability. This has led to increased concern for chronic diseases of lifestyle (CDL).&nbsp / Studies have revealed that regular physical activity is effective in combating several CDL such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, hypertension and obesity. Physiotherapists are in a&nbsp / position to combat inactivity and effectively promote physical activity to their clients. Studies however have shown that participation in physical activity among physiotherapists could have an&nbsp / impact on the promotion of physical activity and their health practices. This study therefore sought to establish the relationship between physical activity levels of physiotherapists and their&nbsp / physical&nbsp / activity promotion strategies and barriers to promoting physical activity. Sequential Mixed Method Design was used in this study. Data was collected by means of a self administered&nbsp / questionnaire and a total of 92 physiotherapists voluntarily answered the questionnaire. A focus group discussion comprising of 10 purposively selected physiotherapists was conducted. The&nbsp / questionnaire assessed physical activity levels&nbsp / and physical activity promoting strategies of the participants while the focus groupdiscussion looked at the barriers to promoting physical&nbsp / activity. The Statistical Packages for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18 was used for data capturing and analysis. Descriptive statistics were employed to summarize demographic information&nbsp / as means, standard deviation, frequencies and percentages. Inferential statistics (chi-square) was used to test the associations between different categorical variables (p&lt / 0.05). For the qualitative data, focus group discussions were used to collect data. Tape recorded interviews were transcribed verbatim, field notes typed, sorting and arranging data was done and themes&nbsp / &nbsp / were generated. Thematic analysis was then done under the generated themes. Ethical issues pertaining to informed consent, anonymity, confidentiality and the right to withdraw from the&nbsp / study were respected in this current study. The findings in the current study revealed that a big number of the participants were physical active both at work and recreation domains. However,&nbsp / there was no statistically significant association between physical activity and the demographicvariables. The results in this study revealed that the majority of participants were good&nbsp / physical activity promoting practices, although there was no significant association between physical activity levels and the physical activity promoting practices. The finding in this study revealed that discussing physical&nbsp / activity and giving out information regarding physical activity to their clients were the most common methods used in promoting physical activity. However, participants also highlighted barriers they&nbsp / ace in promotion of physical activity such as policies on physical activity, cultural influence, nature of work, time management as well as environmental barriers. The study demonstrates the&nbsp / need for all stakeholders to come up with solutions to break the barriers to promotion of physical activity. In return it will bring about enormous health&nbsp / benefits to the general population.</p>

Syftet med studien är att utföra en receptionsstudie där fem stycken kampanjbilder från utländska organdonationsorganisationer studeras från ett mottagarperspektiv, i den här studien syftar det till en svensk målgrupp. Studien är uppdelad i två huvudmoment, en semiotisk bildanalys och fokusgruppsintervjuer. Med hjälp av dessa insamlingsmetoder besvaras studiens frågeställningar”Hur är de utvalda kampanjbilderna komponerade ur ett semiotiskt perspektiv?” samt ”Hur uppfattas de utvalda bilderna av en svensk målgrupp?”. Socialpsykologi utgör det teoretiska ramverket i studien och används för att nå en högre förklaringskraft i analysdiskussionen. Den semiotiska bildanalysen genomförs med de semiotiska begreppen konnotation, denotation, ikon, index och symbol. Fokusgruppsintervjuerna analyseras med hjälp av McGuires påverkansmodell och kompletteras med en relevansformel, omnämnd av Bo Bergström. Studiens resultat visar att den sociala kontexten har en stor inverkan på hur kampanjbilden mottages av den svenska målgruppen. Resultatet visar att det är av stor vikt att text och bild samspelar för att budskapet ska kommuniceras till mottagaren, annars finns en risk att budskapet inte uppnår den relevans som krävs för att bilden ska ha effekt. / The aim of this study is to examine five campaign images from foreign organ donation organizations studied from a user’s perspective, in this study it refers to the Swedish audience. The study is a perception analysis that is viewed from a receiver’s point of view. It is divided into two main parts, a semiotic analysis and interviews with focus groups. Using these methods the questions of the study "How are the selected campaign images composed from a semiotic perspective?" and "How is the selected images of a Swedish audience?" were answered. Social Psychology is the theoretical framework used to achieve a higher explanatory power in analysing the discussion. The semiotic image analysis is based on the semiotic concepts of connotation, denotation, icon, index and symbol. The focus group interviews were analysed by McGuire ́s model of influence and were supplemented by the formula of relevance, mentioned by Bo Bergström. Our findings suggested that the social context has a large impact on how the images are being interpreted by the Swedish audience. The result shows that it is of great importance that text and visual image are integrated for the message to be communicated to the receiver, otherwise there is a risk that the message does not reach the relevance required for the image to be effective.

Autismspektrumtillstånd (AST) är en neuropsykiatrisk funktionsnedsättning som kan påverka individens vardagsliv. Livsområden som kan vara problematiska är bland annat arbetsliv, familjeliv, relationer och områden som kräver social interaktion. Syftet med föreliggande studie var att undersöka vardaglig kommunikation hos vuxna med AST samt att genom deltagarnas personliga berättelser undersöka hur AST kan påverka en individs liv. Denna typ av studie är viktig för att generera en bättre förståelse för behoven hos vuxna med AST och därmed ge indikationer för vilka typer av anpassningar som kan behövas i samhället. Föreliggande studie baserades på en videoinspelad fokusgruppsdiskussion med fyra deltagare som i vuxen ålder har diagnostiserats med AST. Två olika analysmetoder användes för att studera materialet, nämligen samtalsanalys och innehållsanalys. Resultaten visade att deltagarna har kompetens för social interaktion och empatisk förmåga. Ett par av deltagarna uppfattades ha annorlunda blickanvändning, och oväntade ämnesbyten och avbrottsförsök observeras under diskussionen. Flertalet av deltagarna uppgav att de har haft psykiska svårigheter under sina liv och de ser diagnostiseringen som viktig för deras livskvalitet då den möjliggör kontaktskapande med likasinnade. Detta förefaller vara betydelsefullt för dem då de har svårt att bygga relationer. Resultaten i föreliggande studie kan bidra till en ökad förståelse för hur en neuropsykiatrisk diagnos kan påverka en individs liv. / Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) is a neuropsychiatric impairment that may affect an individual's everyday life. Life areas that may be problematic include work, family, relationships and areas that require social interaction. The aim of the present study was to investigate communication in everyday life amongst adults with ASD as well as, by listening to the participants' personal narratives, explore how AST can affect an individual's life. The study was based on a video recorded focus group discussion with four participants who in adulthood have been diagnosed with ASD. Conversation Analysis and Content analysis were used for analysis of the material. The results showed that the participants have skills for social interaction and empathy. Some of the participants were perceived as using their gaze in a deviant way, and unexpected changes in topics and attempted interruptions were observed during the discussion. The majority of the participants described periods of psychiatric problems during their lives, and that the diagnosis has been important for their quality of life as it enables them to create relationships with people with similar difficulties. This appears to be important to them since they have difficulties building relationships. The results contribute to a better understanding of how a neuropsychiatric diagnosis can affect an individual's life.

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Objectives: The objectives of the study was to describe how people who face partner violence against women, either as volunteers or as professionals in their everyday work, explain violence against women in intimate relationships and their suggestions for preventive activities. Methods: Twenty men and twenty women were strategically selected for five focus-group discussions. The interviews were analysed following the procedure for qualitative thematic content analysis. Findings: The study shows that the participants acknowledged violence against women as a multifaceted phenomenon grounded in the interplay betweenindividual, family-related factors and local community and socio-cultural factors. Men’s level of education, ‘social evils’, women challenging gender role expectations and women’s extensive work load were discussed as factors at individual and family level. Poverty in the local community and ‘feudal ideologies’ were referred to as explanatory factors at structural level. The informants suggested two main ways of preventing violence against women; improved gender equality through information, education and communication, and enforcing policies and law. Examples pertaining to different levels of society were given. Conclusions: This study shows that behind all of the explanations to intimate partner violence laid the culturally constructed messages about the proper roles of men and women mirroring gender inequality and women’s power disadvantage. A hesitation to intervene was found among some of the informants, the medical doctors, while all the others were eager to discuss activities but mainly those they were already undertaking and it seems the local level require further support to better handle this problem. / <p>ISBN 91-7997-161-x</p>

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Nearly 70% of process improvement projects are failing to provide the expected benefits (Grant 2002). The cost of process improvement projects can be quite substantial and the number of these projects occurring within organisations continues to increase. John Thorp (1998) describes an environment in which managers are struggling to demonstrate the connection between costs and expected business benefits. This eighteen month master's research project has identified a gap in both the academic literature and the business practices of most organisations. This thesis aims to make explicit the selection of processes to improve and to provide the link between process objectives and organisational goals (Davenport 1993; Hammer and Champy 1993). Published literature, coupled with the experience of the research team, has resulted in the development of a targeting methodology for defining and ranking critical processes, and then selecting which of those critical processes to improve first. Although the research team believes that the methodology is applicable to many industries, the research was undertaken in the application hosting centre (AHC) and application service provision (ASP) industry. A focus group and follow on Delphi study was used to ensure that the processes and functional area focused upon was of importance to the participants of the research. This research project was funded by the Australian Research Council's Linkage projects and undertaken with support by REALTECH. The participants included the top three information systems outsourcing companies in Australia and another in the top ten of this industry. The study commenced with identifying critical processes in the ASP environment. This involved both a focus group session and a Delphi study. The Delphi study was followed by four action learning cycles using case studies (action, observe, reflect and revise). These action learning cycles using case studies have revealed that the methodology (which includes the steps to implement the methodology) meets the needs of organisations to identify and select 'critical' processes for improvement. It provides business and researchers with a logical and explicit method to reduce the 'squeaky wheel' and 'latest fad' approaches to process improvement projects. These prior approaches improve processes not necessarily critical for achieving organisational goals consuming limited resources for little gain. The targeting method makes the alignment of process objectives with goals by explicitly linking processes to organisational goals possible. The limitations of this research project are that it does not intend to verify the achievement of business benefit, document the change to an organisation due to its use of the targeting methodology or determine the long term benefits to an organisation using the targeting methodology. These questions might be answered in a longer and larger study as this project is limited to an eighteen month time frame. As for generalisability, the study has focused on the AHC and ASP industries, and the participants, while operating within this industry, are quite different. For the different phases of this project the participants come from in-house providers, multinational outsourcing providers, commercialised government providers, specialist niche product providers, and enterprise system suppliers.

Abstract This thesis is both an empirical and theoretical contribution to the study of tax-compliance by taxi-operators and drivers. The exploratory case-study adopts a critical sociological perspective in assessing the limits of both the currently dominant academic literature and the industry-specific legislation on tax conformity, including the most recent strategies and explicit tax-compliance measures from the Australian Tax Office (ATO) with regard to Australian cab-drivers. The core premise of this thesis is that the social and economic activities (both legal and illicit) of cab-drivers are embedded within unique networks of social relations. The study utilises focus-group interviews to explore cabbies’ views on taxation, their perceptions of fairness and trust, and to elucidate how individual taxi-workers justify circumvention of Australian tax laws and regulatory measures in their actual work-practices. This exploration is achieved by analysing the verbal accounts and conversations among cab-drivers that involve their guilt-free justifications for non-compliance. The analysis presents further insights into their “vocabulary of motives” and “aligning actions” vis-à-vis non-compliant tax behaviour. The respondents’ views and perceptions about trust, and distributive and procedural justice, are compared and contrasted against the tax-regulator’s views and the ATO’s current enforcement measures. This study is semi-grounded and qualitative in approach, and is a first contribution to a field of inquiry that appears to be dominated by quantitatively-oriented criminological and social-psychological approaches. In contrast, the case-study presents a sociologically-inspired inquiry, by emphasising that cab-drivers are subjected to a multitude of structural arrangements and social control mechanisms, which influence their attitudes and actions with regard to non-compliance. Moreover, current regulatory initiatives towards diminishing non-compliance in the taxi-industry tend to neglect the concept of “mixed-embeddedness” and the inter-relatedness between tax rules, concomitant enforcement practices, and the nation’s broader legislative framework. The state’s regulation of tax-compliance behaviour of taxi-drivers cannot strictly be detached from other laws and regulatory measures in areas such as taxi-cab licensing, occupational health & safety (OH&S) or industrial & workplace relations, which affect every taxi-operator and contracted driver, albeit in different ways. A social-action approach that grasps more comprehensively the rich contexts and complexities involved in the informal behaviours of cabbies may be regarded as an additional and powerful information tool in the governance of modern taxation systems. The study will demonstrate how serious tensions and contradictory forces arise when tax regulators attempt to enforce a National Compliance Model which is, of itself, inherently mal-integrated and underpinned typically by a bureaucratic ‘one-size-fits-all’ enforcement approach in regard to local networks of taxi-drivers. It will be argued that legislative changes to the (legal) employment status of Australian taxi-drivers may produce a far more expedient and cost-effective way for curtailing the enduring and deeply imbued tax non-compliant modus operandi within this particular sector of Australia’s transport-services industry.