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<p dir="ltr"><a href="" target="_blank">The goal of this study was to contribute to the research on determinants of caregiving by exploring whether adult children’s health problems shape their involvement in their mothers’ care. Drawing from equity theory and contingent exchange theory (Davey & Eggebeen, 1998; Davey & Norris, 1998; Walster et al., 1978), I proposed that adult children with health problems would be less likely to be their mothers’ primary caregivers but more likely to be their mothers’ secondary caregivers compared to their healthier siblings. Additionally, based on gender role development theories (Chodorow, 1978; Gilligan, 1982; Leaper & Friedman, 2007), I hypothesized that health problems would reduce sons’, but not daughters’, likelihood of serving as their mothers’ primary caregivers. The results of both the quantitative and qualitative analyses revealed that from both the mothers’ and children’s perspectives, adult children with and without health problems were equally as likely to serve as their mothers’ primary or secondary caregivers. Furthermore, the results suggested that daughters were expected to provide care despite their own health obstacles, whereas this expectation was not present for sons. The findings suggested that adult children with health problems are still participants in their mothers’ care and should be included in conversations regarding planning for their mothers’ future care needs and current caregiving arrangements. Additionally, the findings highlighted how providing care comes at a higher cost for children with health problems compared to their healthier siblings. Future research should investigate how additional support to caregivers with health problems may lead to better caregiving outcomes for both the caregivers and care recipients.</a></p>

Title: Playing-related musculoskeletal disorders in drummers Objectives: The aim of this study is to collect literature resources focusing on the field of performing arts medicine in musicians with a special focus on drummers. The main focus will be directed on the therapeutic, preventive, educational and ergonomic influence of musculoskeletal disabilities. Methods: This is a literature review, written mainly from foreign sources in English. Electronic databases like Pubmed, Pedro, Science Direct, Springer and Wiley were used. Special attention was given to studies that describe health problems of musicians associated with playing drums. Instrument ergonomics, prevention and education in this field is also described. Results: 128 studies corresponded to the entry criteria. 88 of these studies were devoted to health problems of playing a musical instrument in general, 5 studies were directly addressing particular health risks associated with playing drums. Another 11 studies were describing percussionists within a larger sample of musicians. Conclusion: There are not many studies dealing with health issues associated with playing the drums. Their authors are often speaking from personal experience. On the internet, there is a number of websites containing information about the most common ailments...

The title of thesis: Influence of regular physical activities on the health of younger school children Aims of thesis: The main aim of this thesis is find out the reality, whether the regular physical activity influences on the health of younger school children. Nowadays, there is an increase of diseases caused by inactive way of life. It's because of today's hurried time and therefor there is a need to aware and stress the influence of regular physical activity on the health of each person, whether children or the adults. Hypokinetic way of life causes problems since the early childhood. At present, one third of people are obese and that's very alarming at these times where there is enough of healthy food and where every person has a chance to attend lots of sports centers. The next aims of this thesis is to find out children's attitude to sport and physical activities, whether they do any sport in their free time together with their parents and whether they are aware of influence of regular physical activity on their health. Method of thesis: A quantitative method was used to elaborate the research in this thesis, questionnaire that contained 15 questions. I distributed this questionnaire to the third and fourth grade pupils. The survey included closed, semi-closed, and open questions. A total of...

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Human health is multidimensional: apart from physical, mental, and social aspects, it also incorporates subjective perceptions of health, and functional status (FS). Given that elderly persons have very distinctive health and social needs, multidimensional assessment (MA) of health proves particularly useful in this age group.¶ Aboriginal populations suffer poor health, and there are relatively few studies addressing the health problems of older Aboriginal Australians, mainly because of their distinctive demographic structure, and the low proportion of their elderly. Also, there is no prior information available on MA of health in this Australian population group.¶ This thesis offers a MA of health in older Aboriginal persons from two, urban and rural/isolated, locations in the NT, Katherine and Lajamanu (the NT survey).¶ This thesis specifically addresses the following questions: - what is the physical health, FS, subjective perception of health, and social functioning amongst the NT survey participants? - what are the possible similarities and differences in various dimensions of health between the two major survey locations, what age and gender patterns are observed, and what are the reasons for these patterns, similarities and differences? - how do various dimensions of health relate to each other, and why? - how do current findings relate to broader Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal populations, and why? - what can MA add to a better understanding of various aspects of morbidity and health care use? - what are its possible implications for health planning?¶ Findings from this work indicate poor physical health amongst participants in almost all investigated aspects, comparable to information available from other Aboriginal populations. These are accompanied by low levels of ability for physical functioning. Despite this, subjective perception of health is rather optimistic amongst participants, and levels of social functioning high. Use of health services is mainly related to available health infrastructure. Important health differences exist between Katherine and Lajamanu, and they became particularly visible when all dimensions of health are considered together.¶ The Main conclusions from the current work are that 1) poor physical health is not necessarily accompanied by similar level of deterioration in other dimensions of health: even though participants from the isolated community of Lajamanu experience most chronic diseases, their ability for physical functioning is better, self-perceived health (SPH) more optimistic and levels of social functioning highest 2) institutionalised participants from Katherine suffer by far the worst health of all sample segments in this study; at least some of the poor health outcomes are potentially avoidable, and could be improved by more appropriate residential choices for Aboriginal elderly 3) better health infrastructure does not necessarily bring better health in all its dimensions, suggesting that other factors (primarily socio-economic and cultural) should be addressed in conjunction with this in solving complex health problems of Aboriginal Australians, and 4) it provides strong support that MA can become a useful tool in comprehensive health assessment of older Aboriginals.

La question des infections sexuellement transmissibles (IST) en Afrique a longtemps été négligée par des chercheurs africains spécialistes en sciences sociales, en raison notamment du tabou qui entoure la sexualité dans ce continent. Toutefois, les dernières décennies ont donné lieu à plusieurs recherches menées principalement par les Européens africanistes sur ces pathologies grâce à l’émergence de la pandémie actuelle du Sida. La plupart des travaux réalisés sont axés sur les facteurs de risque, les mécanismes de diffusion, les croyances et les attitudes populaires face à ces maladies, les politiques de lutte, etc. Mais les études historiques consacrées aux IST sont très rares. Celles qui existent ont surtout mis en évidence la dimension démographique axée sur le problème de la dénatalité en laissant dans l’ombre le contexte socio-historique et les conditions socio-épidémiologiques de propagation de ces affections. Au moment où le Sida fait des ravages dans le monde et tout particulièrement en Afrique subsaharienne, l’intérêt d’une réflexion historique sur les IST au Congo n’est plus à démontrer. Contrairement à une affirmation classiquement admise dans la littérature, selon laquelle la lutte contre les IST au sein de la population congolaise fut un franc succès pour les autorités coloniales surtout après la Deuxième Guerre mondiale, cette thèse montre plutôt l’augmentation de la prévalence des IST dans le temps. Les archives inédites et l’analyse des données révèlent que cette progression continue est la conséquence de l'urbanisation accélerée et de la monétarisation de la société et de la sexualité entraînant des modes de vie propres à la société coloniale urbaine. Les villes issues de ce processus deviendront non seulement des espaces d’acculturation et de modernité, mais aussi des lieux d’expansion de ces maladies. Le développement de la prostitution et la multiplicité des partenaires sexuels, à travers les unions plus libres et momentanées, sont les principaux facteurs explicatifs de cette observation. On présente généralement de manière panégyrique l’oeuvre sanitaire coloniale de la Belgique au Congo comme ‘‘modèle’’. Pourtant, aucune étude n’a déjà été menée pour examiner, de manière chiffrée, les aspets liés aux différences de santé entre les Congolais et les Blancs. Cette dissertation vient combler les lacunes existantes dans ce domaine. De ce point de vue, il en résulte de fortes inégalités et des déséquilibres persistants de santé entre ces deux types de populations. Les Congolais beaucoup plus nombreux, socialement défavorisés, ne bénéficient que d’une situation peu ou moins favorable ; tandis que les Blancs, socialement plus favorisés, bénéficient en général d’une meilleure situation sanitaire. Plusieurs indicateurs élaborés dans ce travail sont révélateurs de cette réalité coloniale, en termes d’équipements sanitaires, d’accès et d’utilisation de soins et d’état de santé différencié./ The issue of sexually transmitted infections (STI) in Africa has long been neglected by researchers African social scientists, particularly because of the taboo surrounding sexuality in Africa. However, recent decades have resulted in several research conducted mainly by the European Africanists on these diseases through the emergence of the current pandemic of AIDS. Most of studies are focused on risk factors, distribution mechanisms, the popular attitudes about these infections, control policies... But historical studies on STI are seldom examined. Those that exist are mainly concerning the demographic dimension focuses on the problem of declining birth, leaving the socio-historical and socio-epidemiological spread of such diseases. While AIDS is ravaging the world and especially in sub-Saharan Africa, one thing to mention is that the interest of historical reflection on STI in the Congo is obvious. Contrary to an assertion conventionally accepted in the literature, that the fight against gonorrhea and syphilis among the Congolese population was a success for the colonial authorities, especially after the Second World War, our thesis shows rather the increasing prevalence of STI. The archives and analysis of data indicates this continued progress is the result of special conditions of industrialization and urbanization colonial that make people vulnerable. Cities from this historical process will not only areas of acculturation and modernity, but also places for expansion of these diseases. The development of prostitution and multiple sexual partners through free and temporary unions are the main factors explaining this observation. It has generally praises how the actions of Belgian colonial health in the Congo as 'model'. However, no study has been conducted to establish or to compare quantitatively the health status between Blacks (Congolese) and Withes (Europeans in majority). This essay shows the social health inequalities among these two populations. The Congolese many in number, but more socially disadvantaged have only less favorable conditions to health. While the white people, socially privileged, generally have better health status. Several indicators developed in this study are revealing of the colonial reality in terms of sanitation, access and use of care and health status differential.

More than 16 years post-apartheid, South Africa is still regarded as the most unequal society in the world. The government is facing various obstacles and challenges in improving the standard of living and quality of life for all its citizens, for example in facilitating the access to clean drinking water and sanitation, building houses and providing basic education. In addition, the country is facing the world’s largest HIV/AIDS epidemic with a national prevalence rate of 18.1 %, equalling approximately 5.7 million people who are currently infected. (Pressly, 2009; UNAIDS, 2008c) Against this background, the aim of this thesis was to study the Madwaleni community, situated in a deeply rural area of the former apartheid homeland Transkei. Applying the Community Oriented Primary Care approach, a strategy of ‘community assessment and diagnosis’ was used to obtain a holistic community profile and to determine the perceptions of its community members regarding their health and social problems and needs, intending to make recommendations to health care providers working at Madwaleni Hospital regarding future health education and disease prevention programmes. (Brown and Fee, 2002) This research used a cross-sectional design. In a preliminary survey, qualitative data was collected in short interviews with health care providers working at Madwaleni Hospital (N=46). The information served as a basis to develop and design parts of the Madwaleni community survey questionnaire. The questionnaire consisted of 36 questions, complying with the aim and objectives of this thesis. It was used for the structured interviews with the main study population, all of whom were members of the Madwaleni community (N=200), whereas half of the main study population were men and half were women, then again, half were unaware of their HIV status and half were HIV+ and had joined the Madwaleni HIV/AIDS programme. Key findings 1) Madwaleni community profile and characteristics Thoughtful sexual behaviour: Particularly interesting in light of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, more than 90 % of the sexually active community members were monogamous at the time of the survey. While only 36.4 % of the men and women unaware of their HIV status used condoms, 76.5 % of the HIV+ community members claimed to do so, indicating that the Madwaleni HIV wellness programme and especially its counselling and health education components are adequate and valuable in serving their purpose. High rates of illiteracy and insufficient education: Only 56.5 % of the interviewed community members were ‘functionally literate’ at the time of the survey. Of those, only 8 % had received a matriculation and not one of the community members had received any higher degree. In addition, 19.5 % of the sampled men and women were not able to read at all. High rates of unemployment, poverty and dependency on welfare grants: Only 20 % of the Madwaleni community members were employed at the time of the survey. Taking the daily income per capita as a reference, one third of the community members suffered from ‘moderate poverty’, defined as an income of 1 to 2 US $ per day, while the other two thirds suffered from ‘extreme poverty’, defined as an income of less than 1 US $ per day, although more than 90 % of the corresponding households received at least one type of welfare grant already. Large household sizes and predominance of traditional dwellings: In the Madwaleni community, an average of eight people lived together per household at the time of the survey, whereas 95 % of the community members lived in traditional dwellings, constructed from freely occurring natural resources. In need of safe drinking water, sanitary systems and access to electricity: More than 80 % of the Madwaleni community members obtained their drinking water from rivers or stagnant dams, while only 6.5 % used rain water and 9.5 % had access to piped water. In addition, almost 70 % of the community members had no access to any sanitary systems, using nearby bushes instead. Furthermore, more than 90 % had no access to electricity. The majority used paraffin for cooking, candles for lighting and wood for heating their homes. Small-scale cultivation to provide an extra source of food: In the Madwaleni area, 90 % of the families owned a small garden patch attached to their houses, used for small-scale cultivation. In addition, almost 90 % owned livestock, mainly poultry, cattle and goats. Crops and animals were used to provide an extra source of food; however, not one of the households could solely live on subsistence farming. Difficulties in accessing health care facilities: On average, each of the community members needed three-quarters of an hour to access their closest clinic and almost one and a half hours to reach Madwaleni Hospital, with 40 % and 60 % respectively depending on public taxi transport to get there. No substantial improvement of the living circumstances since apartheid: Comparing the Madwaleni community characteristics with corresponding data from apartheid-times, no substantial improvement of the living circumstances and conditions could be noticed, proving that governmental and non-governmental actions, programmes and services have not yet reached all remote communities. Similar community characteristics in the neighbouring communities: Comparing these characteristics with corresponding features of communities in the immediate or surrounding areas, namely Cwebe, Ntubeni, Mboya, Shixini and Zithulele, various similarities could be detected, indicating that the living circumstances and conditions might be generalisable to a certain degree, at least to deeply rural communities in the former Transkei area. More disadvantaged than the general South African population: The Madwaleni community differed significantly from the general South African population in 75 % of the compared characteristics. For example, amongst the community members the illiteracy rate (21.7 % vs. 13.6 %, p = 0.002) and unemployment rate (80.5 % vs. 25.5 %, p < 0.001) were significantly higher. In addition, the ‘poverty headcount ratio of 2 US $ per day’ showed that significantly more people were suffering from poverty in the Madwaleni area (92.2 % vs. 34 %, p < 0.001). The Madwaleni community members were less likely to have access to clean drinking water, along with significantly higher proportions of them using river water as their main source of drinking water (75.5 % vs. 5.1 %, p < 0.001). Also, they were less likely to have access to any sanitation or toilet facilities (31.3 % vs. 91.8 %, p < 0.001) or to electricity (8.5 % vs. 80.2 %, p < 0.001). 2) Weightiest health and social problems as experienced by the Madwaleni community In the Madwaleni area, the three health problems with the highest impact on the community were TB, HIV/AIDS and hypertension. On the basis of the applied 3-to-0-point rating matrix, they were rated by more than 95 % of the community members as being relevant problems, with mean values of 2.33, 2.30 and 2.14 respectively. Interestingly, women rated HIV/AIDS higher than men. Musculoskeletal problems and headache were additional health problems with relevant impact on the Madwaleni community, rated by more than 90 %, with mean values above 1.80. While pain and discomfort experienced by PLWHA have been recognised and researched before, there are no corresponding studies on rural communities and further research is necessary to identify the contributing factors. Additional relevant health problems: Interestingly, six health problems were rated higher by HIV untested than by HIV+ community members, namely bilharzia/ schistosomiasis, epilepsy, Herpes Zoster, HIV/AIDS, lung infections and stroke. Since the HIV+ men and women were educated about and screened for all of those diseases within the Madwaleni HIV/AIDS programme, this might explain the deviating rating patterns between the different sub-samples. Moreover, these results demonstrate that health education and disease prevention programmes are able to reduce the perceived burden of health problems and might therefore serve as a substantial argument in their favour. Interestingly, for the Madwaleni community, social matters had a higher impact on their lives than health problems, whereas the three social problems with the highest impact on the community were alcohol abuse, dependency on social grants and smoking. They were rated by more than 98 % of the community members as being relevant problems, with mean values of 2.75, 2.73 and 2.72 respectively. In accordance with these findings, employment & lack of work opportunities, education & illiteracy, food supply and poverty were additional social problems with relevant impact in the Madwaleni area, rated by more than 90 %, with mean values above 2.00. 3) Recommendations for future health education and disease prevention programmes At the time of the survey, the three most relevant health education and disease prevention topics for the Madwaleni community were HIV/AIDS, TB and healthy nutrition. They were rated by more than 95 % of the community members as being relevant health education problems, with mean values of 2.65, 2.51 and 2.36 respectively. In addition, STIs, alcohol & drug-related problems, water & sanitation and body & muscle pain were rated as the subsequent issues of relevance, with mean values above 2.00, supporting the identified community characteristics as well as the listing of the weightiest health and social problems. In addition, valuable new insight could be gained. For instance, HIV untested men rated the topic HIV/AIDS lower than all other community members, which is particularly interesting since men only constitute a minority of 20 % of the people testing for HIV in the Madwaleni area. Besides, topics not previously considered, such as injury prevention and basic first aid, were in-fact relevant for more than 85 % of the community members and require further attention. Furthermore, deviating rating patterns between men and women and the corresponding need for gender-specific educational workshops became evident, for example, for men about prostate & testicular cancer check-up or erectile dysfunction and for women about breast & cervical cancer check-up & papsmears or nutrition & growth. In addition, HIV+ community members rated depression & stress and psychiatric diseases higher than HIV untested men and women, with further studies required to identify the underlying reasons for these deviating rating patterns. Taking all findings from this Madwaleni community survey into consideration, health care providers working at the hospital and its peripheral clinics should first and foremost concentrate their efforts on maintaining the existing programmes, particularly, the Madwaleni HIV/ARV programme and the workshops on hypertension and diabetes mellitus. In addition, if qualified and motivated personnel can be recruited and the necessary funding can be raised, future health education and disease prevention programmes should focus on TB, alcohol & substance abuse-related problems as well as water & sanitation.

Submitted by Guilherme Marini Perpétua null (geomarini@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-11-29T18:54:10Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Tese_Guilherme Marini Perpetua_Final.pdf: 7304127 bytes, checksum: 19caede8e6f62b2963332efe102acb12 (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Felipe Augusto Arakaki (arakaki@reitoria.unesp.br) on 2016-12-02T14:58:47Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 perpetua_gm_dr_prud.pdf: 7304127 bytes, checksum: 19caede8e6f62b2963332efe102acb12 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-12-02T14:58:47Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 perpetua_gm_dr_prud.pdf: 7304127 bytes, checksum: 19caede8e6f62b2963332efe102acb12 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-11-16 / Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) / O presente trabalho teve como objetivo compreender o processo de territorialização recente da produção de celulose associada ao monocultivo arbóreo (eucalipto) no Brasil, com ênfase em suas implicações para a segurança e a saúde dos trabalhadores(as). Com este intuito, foram analisados os mais novos megaempreendimentos do segmento no país, localizados em diferentes espaços regionais (Extremo Sul da Bahia, Oeste do Maranhão e Nordeste de Mato Grosso do Sul), os quais compuseram o recorte empírico da pesquisa. Em termos metodológicos, a pesquisa buscou combinar o uso de procedimentos quantitativos (levantamento e análise de dados secundários) àqueles de natureza qualitativa (análise documental, diário de campo, entrevistas semiestruturadas), de modo a considerar os aspectos estruturais sem deixar de enfocar o papel exercido pelos sujeitos sociais concretos. Os resultados alcançados permitem defender a tese de que, em função de suas características estruturais inerentes e nos moldes atuais, a produção de celulose só pode se dar na exata medida em que for capaz de se apropriar e exercer controle vertical e autoritário sobre territórios contíguos e de grande extensão, de modo a fruir de maneira monopolista dos recursos existentes. Para tanto, o capital tem lançado mão de uma estratégia deliberada e sistemática composta por um conjunto de táticas que, observadas à luz do materialismo dialético, revelam a combinação entre distintas formas de acumulação (primitiva, por espoliação e ampliada), dando corpo ao que chamamos de pilhagem territorial. Além da escassa geração de empregos mal remunerados e instáveis, para os trabalhadores o resultado não poderiam ser outro senão um trabalho visceralmente precário e degradante, contraditoriamente e até certa medida adequado às exigências de mercado (certificações internacionais) conformadoras das políticas internas de saúde e segurança do trabalho das grandes corporações do segmento. Tudo isso, no período analisado, foi ampla e generosamente assegurado de diversas formas (concessão de financiamentos, incentivos fiscais, investimentos em infraestrutura, flexibilização da legislação ambiental etc.) pelo modelo novo-desenvolvimentista fundado num verdadeiro pacto conciliatório de classes e adotado pelos governos do Partido dos Trabalhadores. / This study aimed to understand the recent territorialization process of pulp production associated to tree monoculture (eucalyptus) in Brazil, with emphasis on the implications for the safety and health of workers. To this end, the newest mega-enterprises of the segment in the country were analyzed, located in different regional areas (southernmost Bahia, West Maranhao and Northeast of Mato Grosso do Sul), which formed the empirical object of the research. In terms of methodology, the research sought to combine the use of quantitative procedures (survey and analysis of secondary data) to those of a qualitative nature (document analysis, field diary, semi-structured interviews), in order to consider the structural aspects while focusing on the role of concrete social subjects. The results obtained allow to make the case that, due to their inherent structural characteristics and current patterns, pulp production can only take place on the exact extent that it is able to appropriate and exert vertical and authoritarian control over contiguous territory and large extension, in order to enjoy the existing resources in a monopolist mode. Thus, the capital has made use of a deliberate and systematic strategy consisting of a set of tactics that, seen in the light of dialectical materialism, reveal the combination of different forms of accumulation (primitive by dispossession and expanded), forming what we called territorial plunder. In addition to the low generation of low-paid and unstable jobs to workers the result could not be other than a viscerally precarious and degrading, contradictory and even to a certain extent appropriate to market demands (international certifications) conforming internal health and safety policies of work of the large corporations of the segment. All this, in the analyzed period, was widely and generously provided in various forms (funding grant, tax incentives, infrastructure investments, easing of environmental legislation etc.) by the new development model based on a true conciliatory pact of classes and adopted by governments of the Workers' Party. / Este estudio tuvo como objetivo comprender el reciente proceso de territorialización de la producción de pulpa asociado con monocultivos de árboles (eucaliptos) en Brasil, con énfasis en sus implicaciones para la seguridad y salud de los trabajadores. Con este fin, se analizaron las mega-empresas más recientes del segmento en el país, que se encuentra en diferentes áreas regionales (extremo sur de Bahia, oeste de Maranhão y noreste de Mato Grosso do Sul), que formaron el objeto empírico de la investigación. En cuanto a la metodología, la investigación trató de combinar el uso de procedimientos cuantitativos (encuestas y análisis de datos secundarios) a los de carácter cualitativo (análisis de documentos, diario de campo, entrevistas semiestructuradas), a fin de considerar los aspectos estructurales mientras se centra en el papel ejercido por los sujetos sociales concretos. Los resultados obtenidos permiten defender la tesis de que, debido a sus características estructurales inherentes y los patrones actuales, la producción de pasta sólo puede ocurrir a la medida exacta que es capaz de apropiarse y ejercer el control vertical y autoritario sobre territorios contiguos y de gran extensión, con el fin de disfrutar de manera monopolista de los recursos existentes. De este modo, el capital ha usado una estrategia deliberada y sistemática compuesta de un conjunto de tácticas que, visto a la luz del materialismo dialéctico, revelan la combinación de diferentes formas de acumulación (primitivas por desposesión y ampliada), dando cuerpo a lo llamamos despojo territorial. Además de la baja generación de puestos de trabajo con salarios bajos e inestables a los trabajadores, el resultado no podría ser otro que un trabajo visceralmente precario y degradante, contradictoriamente y hasta cierto punto adecuado a los requisitos del mercado (certificaciones internacionales) conformadoras de las políticas de salud y seguridad del trabajo de las grandes corporaciones del segmento. Todo esto, en el período analizado, fue ampliamente y generosamente verificado de diversas formas (subvenciones, incentivos fiscales, inversiones en infraestructuras, flexibilización de la legislación ambiental, etc.) por el nuevo modelo de desarrollo basado en un verdadero pacto de conciliación de clases y adoptado por los gobiernos del Partido de los Trabajadores. / FAPESP: 2013/04638-0

Traditional Chinese medicine is one of the oldest curative methods in the world. It is focused particularly on the support of a body to recover balance and harmony that have become impaired. Owing to the growing number of the Chinese and the Vietnamese minorities in the Czech Republic, the medical staff providing healthcare may meet members of these minorities for whom this medicine may be of a large importance both when being ill and when being healthy. The new conception of the Czech nursing is outlined to provide every individual, regardless of the race, with the care which is able to satisfy their bio-psycho-social-religious needs. The nursing staff must possess a basic knowledge of the traditional Chinese medicine so that they are able to satisfy the needs of these patients/clients better. The objective of this diploma work is to ascertain what health problems are treated by members of the Chinese and the Vietnamese minorities through the traditional Chinese medicine, and what curative methods are used most frequently by them. The empirical part was processed in the form of a qualitative research. The data collection technique was a semi-structured interview of selected informants of the Chinese and the Vietnamese nationalities living in the Czech Republic. Based on the interviews of individual minorities, case studies were established and used as the research base for elaboration of categorization tables and charts presenting the most important results of the research. The main results of the research include the ascertained heath problems which are treated by means of the Chinese medicine by members of both minorities, and the ascertainment what curative methods are used most frequently, and whether the members of both minorities wish to make use of the medicine also during hospitalization. Based on the results of the research, the information material was elaborated that may be of use for the nursing staff in healthcare facilities and for other specialized public as a brief summary of methods of the Chinese medicine and of their application by the members of the Chinese and the Vietnamese minorities.