published_or_final_version / Community Medicine / Master / Master of Public Health

published_or_final_version / Urban Planning and Design / Master / Master of Urban Design

published_or_final_version / Chinese / Master / Master of Arts

published_or_final_version / Community Medicine / Master / Master of Public Health

published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

published_or_final_version / Community Medicine / Master / Master of Public Health

Affective domain is believed globally to be one of the main areas of human experience and development. While affective education is generally valued as a significant aspect of education, its interpretation and realization may vary across countries and cultures. The primary purpose of the present research is to investigate how affective education is conceptualized and implemented in contemporary China. To achieve such an aim, a qualitative case study was conducted in the capital city of Guangdong Province- Guangzhou. A middle school in the city with uniqueness in its practice of affective education was selected as the case school for study. Fieldwork was carried out from the year of 2005 to 2007 to investigate the perceptions of school leaders, teachers and students about the concept and practice of affective education. Multiple methods were employed in this research. Data were drawn from in-depth interviews with the present and former school principal, Communist Party Secretary at school, teachers and students of the school. Evidence was also collected via on-site observations, analysis of textbooks, learning materials and school documents. A shadowing approach of observation to the principal was also launched. A total of 42 informants were interviewed and 25 sessions of participant and non-participant observations were conducted in the campus. Different sources of the data were categorized, thematically analyzed, and triangulated. The functions, content elements and the practice of affective education were identified. Findings showed that affective education was implemented in the name of Meiyu which meant aesthetic education in its broadest sense. The salient functions and content of Meiyu as affective education were closely related to character formation and Chinese traditional values as well as political ideology. An essential feature of centralized management of affective education in a collectivistic culture was also illuminated in the study. The findings revealed the essential class teachers’ pastoral task of being role models for character development and providing comprehensive care and support to individual student and at class level. It was also affirmed that time-honoured moral values were particularly dominant for creating school climate in a Chinese context. The provision of affective education as shown in this study involved a direct concern for the moral development of students. Playing the role as an agent imparting moral values, affective education in China cultivates a unique affective experience- Chinese affect to nurture moral individuals with the ultimate goal of serving the interests of the collective. The unique approach of implementing affective education in a Chinese pastoral care structure also witnesses the tension of regulation of self versus liberation of self. While this study reaffirms mainland theorists’ framework about affective moral education, it also informs the extant theories of affective education that though affective education in the East and the West are concerned about enhancing students’ affective development, they differ much in their emphasis. / published_or_final_version / Education / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

China's internal migration has drawn extensive interest since the 1980s, and numerous studies have focused on migrant workers who are employed by the "world’s factories". However, less attention has been paid to migrant workers participating in the informal economy in urban China. In fact, the informal economy, which refers to income-generating activities that are not regulated by the state, has been estimated to have expanded dramatically over the past two decades, and migrant workers comprise the overwhelming majority of participants in the informal sector. These informals are mostly self-employed or paid employees working for informal factories hidden in the urban villages. This study, taking an urban village known as Kangle village in Guangzhou as its research site, adopts an ethnographic method to understand the lives of China's migrant workers engaged in the informal economy. It attempts to (1) examine the institutional environment for the expansion of the informal economy in urban China, (2) understand the individual choices of migrant workers in terms of being formal or informal, (3) explore their economic performance and (4) discover whether the informal economy could represent an alternative for migrant workers to achieve upward mobility in receiving cities. It is found that institutional factors, including policy practices of the state, regulation enforcement by local government and the relative autonomy of the migrant enclave all contribute to the development of the informal economy in urban China. Individual choices in being formal or informal are based primarily on participants' rational calculations comparing costs and benefits; howbeit these choices have actually been largely affected by the social networks of migrant workers. Migrant workers engaged in the informal economy receive relatively higher incomes than their counterparts in the formal sector. However, the higher monthly incomes for the wage employees in the informal economy can also be viewed as compensation for their willingness to undertake the risky, dirty, long-hour informal jobs. Social networks have also played an essential role in the economic performance of migrant workers in the informal economy. For instance, the strong social ties of migrant workers largely facilitate the process of becoming self-employed or migrant entrepreneurs by providing market information, financial support and labor resources. Also, the use of social networks reduces the transaction costs between different business owners in the informal sector where formal contracts are absent. Economic stratification among the migrant workers in the urban village is obvious, and a small number of migrants have achieved economic success by becoming self-employed or migrant entrepreneurs. Nonetheless, migrant entrepreneurship cannot continue to be a sustainable alternative for the majority of migrant workers to achieve upward mobility due to the vulnerability of the informal economy and the absence of institutional inclusion for the participants in the informal economy. It is thus suggested that society and government rethink and adjust current institutional settings to improve work conditions, promote entrepreneurship, and facilitate the formalization of the informal economy on the one hand; meanwhile initiate top-down reforms for the integration of migrant workers in both the formal and informal sectors. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

Background: Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is carbohydrate intolerance resulting in hyperglycemia of variable severity with onset or first recognition during pregnancy. Although GDM is asymptomatic in most patients, it will lead to adverse perinatal outcomes such as macrosomia and postpartum hemorrhage, birth injury and increased cesarean section rate. Identifying populations at high risk of GDM will allow for proper interventions and may thus improve the adverse perinatal outcomes. In 2010, the International Association of Diabetes and Pregnancy Study Groups (IADPSG) developed new diagnostic criteria for GDM. Mild hyperglycemia according to the previous criteria such as the WHO criteria and NDDG criteria is now categorized as GDM by the IADPSG Criteria. However, there are more and more controversies on the effectiveness of the IADPSG Criteria since it was implemented. China has relatively high prevalence of GDM, and the prevalence will be much higher by using the IADPSG Criteria. Given the uncertainty of the effectiveness of the IADPSG Criteria, it is important to examine the potential harms or benefits of the IADPSG Criteria in China by examining the adverse perinatal outcomes. Objectives:(1) To assess the difference in pregnancy outcomes in a cohort of Chinese women before and another cohort after implementing the IADPSG Criteria.(2) To examine whether the intervention to the mild hyperglycemia group improved pregnancy outcomes. Setting: Guangzhou Women and Children’s Medical Center (GZWCMC). Methods: A historical cohort study was conducted to investigate the difference of adverse pregnancy outcomes of the GDM patients after the IADPSG Criteria was adopted in the GZWCMC. 114 pregnant women with overt diabetes and 244 pregnant women with mild hyperglycemia in 2010 were sampled from the cohort of 2010 when the IADPSG Criteria had not been applied. 121 pregnant women with overt diabetes and 195 pregnant women with mild hyperglycemia were sampled from the cohort of 2012 when the IADPSG Criteria had been applied. Data was collected from the medical records in the medical center. Comparison of adverse pregnancy outcomes between the overt diabetes patients in 2010 and in 2012 was performed to examine the variation of GDM outcomes over time. Comparison of adverse pregnancy outcomes between the mild hyperglycemic subjects in 2010 and 2012 was performed to examine the effectiveness of the interventions to the mild hyperglycemic subjects, because mild hyperglycemic subjects in 2010 did not receive interventions. Primary outcomes were large for gestational infant (LGA) and primary cesarean section. Binary logistic regression model was used to examine the differences of adverse outcomes with adjustment for potential confounders. Odds ratios (ORs) and P-values were used to demonstrate the relative risk and the significance of the results. Results: Baseline characteristics varied between the cohort of 2010 and cohort of 2012. Subjects in the 2012 cohort had lower body mass index (BMI), lower blood glucose and were diagnosed earlier. No differences of primary outcomes between the overt diabetes patients in 2010 and in 2012 were found after adjustment for maternal age, BMI, parity and gestational age at oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). The OR for LGA and primary cesarean was 0.58 (95% confidence interval (CI):0.10-3.35, P=0.54) and 0.68 (95% CI: 0.33-1.39,P=0.29), respectively, suggesting that LGA and primary cesarean in overt diabetes patients did not vary over time. No differences of LGA and primary cesarean between the mild hyperglycemic subjects in 2010 and 2012 were observed after adjustment for maternal age, BMI, parity and gestational age at OGTT. The OR for LGA and primary cesarean section was 1.25 (95% CI: 0.46-3.40, P=0.66) and 0.78 (95% CI: 0.47-1.29, P=0.33), respectively. Compared with those with mild hyperglycemia in 2010, a lower risk for postpartum hemorrhage in those with mild hyperglycemia in 2012 was found (OR=0.05, 95% CI: 0.01-0.41). Conclusions: Our study has provided some evidence that the risks for most of the adverse pregnancy outcomes except postpartum hemorrhage, including LGA, primary cesarean, gestational hypertension, preterm birth, macrosomia and mean birth weight in pregnant women with mild hyperglycemia did not have significant differences before and after the IADPSG Criteria was adopted. Given the small sample size of the current study, we have yet to draw a definite conclusion that intervention to pregnant women with mild hyperglycemia improved adverse pregnancy outcomes from the results. Further large studies are needed to examine both the benefits and harms of implementing the IADPSG Criteria. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health

Objectives: To identify factors that are important for parental decisions on vaccinating their children against seasonal influenza based on a modified health belief model. Study design: Cross-sectional study Subjects: A total of 325 parents who had at least one child aged between 6 months and 3 years were recruited from a women and children’s hospital in Guangzhou, China Methods: Eligible subjects were identified by doctors when parents took their children to the outpatient clinic for regular body examination. Each eligible subject was invited for a face-to-face interview based on a standardized questionnaire. Hierarchical logistic regression models were conducted to identify factors associated with parents' intention to vaccinate their children and children’s actual vaccination uptake against seasonal influenza on the basis of a modified health belief model. Results: Uptake of seasonal influenza within the preceding 12 months among the target children who aged between 6 and 36 months was 47.7%. Around 62.4% parents indicated as being “likely/very likely” to take their children for seasonal influenza vaccination in the next 12 months. The hierarchical logistic regression model showed that children’s age (OR=2.59, 95%CI: 1.43-4.68), social norm (OR=2.08, 95%CI: 1.06-4.06) and perceived control (OR=2.96, 95%CI: 1.60-5.50) were significantly and positively associated with children’s vaccination uptake within the preceding 12 months; children with a history of taking seasonal influenza vaccine (OR=2.50, 95%CI: 1.31-4.76), perceived children’s health status (OR=3.36, 95%CI: 1.68-6.74), worry/anxious about their children influenza infection (OR=2.31, 95%CI: 1.19-4.48) and perceived control (OR=3.21, 95%CI: 1.65-6.22) were positively association with parental intention to vaccinate their children in the future 12 months. However, anticipated more regret about taking children for the vaccination was associated with less likely to vaccinate children within the preceding 12 months (OR=0.21, 95%CI: 0.08-0.52). Conclusions: The modified health belief model provided a good theoretical basic for understanding factors associated with parents’ decisions on their children's vaccination against seasonal influenza. It is important to provide sufficient information related to influenza vaccination benefit and improve parents' confidence to access the seasonal influenza vaccine to promote parents' intention to vaccinate their children against seasonal influenza. Providing information cues such as advice from other parents whose children have been vaccinated to increase adherence to positive social norms would be effective to encourage seasonal influenza vaccination uptake among children. Information communication should also target on reducing anticipated regret about the negative consequence of vaccinating children. / published_or_final_version / Public Health / Master / Master of Public Health