Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / People often do not want to hear, talk or read about cancer. Cancer is arguably one of the most feared illnesses and maybe rightly so for it is usually associated with pain, fear,uncertainty, anxiety, long uncomfortable treatments and death. To receive a diagnosis of cancer must be absolutely devastating especially when you are in a developmental stage where you are already battling with issues such as self-esteem, body image, independence and career choices. The current study explored the lived experiences of adolescents who have or had cancer and how this experience impacted on their lives. Six adolescent cancer patients from the cancer unit in a public hospital were interviewed. The sample was purposively drawn and the majority of the interviews were conducted at the homes of the participants. Phenomenology was used both as a theoretical framework as well as a means of analysing data. Using the descriptive phenomenological method employed by Giorgi,four essential themes emerged from the data. The themes included (1) Unexpected change of everyday life means experiencing the unfamiliar (2) Experiencing a changed body, (3) Experiencing the support of significant others and (4) Anticipating a future. The themes were explained in terms of the four existentials of Van Manen which is lived space, lived body, lived other and lived time. The study revealed that although the initial diagnosis of cancer came as a shock to the participants and their families, they were able to deal with the inevitable changes that accompanied the diagnosis mainly as a result of the support they received from family and friends. Their initial fear of death were replaced with an ardent pursue of their dreams for the future.

The landscape of cancer care is evolving and as a result nursing care continues to develop and respond to the changing needs of oncology patients and their families. There is a paucity of qualitative research examining the experience of being an oncology nurse on an inpatient unit. Therefore, a qualitative study using an interpretive phenomenological approach has been undertaken to discover the lived experience of being an oncology nurse. In-depth tape recorded interviews has been conducted with six oncology nurses who worked on two adult inpatient oncology units. Van Manen’s (1990) interpretive phenomenological approach has been used to analyze the data by subjecting the transcripts to an analysis both line by line and as a whole. The overarching theme of the interviews is: Investing to Make a Difference. The themes that reflect this overarching theme are: Caring for the Whole Person, Being an Advocate, Walking a Fine Line, and Feeling Like You are Part of Something Good. Oncology nurses provide care for their patients through a holistic lens that further enhances how they come to know their patients. Over time, relationships with patients and families develop and these nurses share that balancing the emotional aspects of their work is key in being able to continue to invest in their work and in these relationships. Their investment is further evident as oncology nurses continuously update their knowledge, for example, of treatment regimes, medication protocols, and as they champion their patients wishes and needs. As nurses develop their own identities as oncology nurses, they in turn enhance the team with their emerging skill and knowledge. These research findings serve to acknowledge the meaning of oncology nurses’ work and inform the profession’s understanding of what it means to be an oncology nurse.

The therapeutic relationship has been a cornerstone of the theory and practice of psychotherapy since it first emerged as a healing modality. Research has extensively reported on the therapeutic relationship and its role in the outcomes of psychotherapy. Despite the vast research on the therapeutic relationship, little qualitative exploration has focused on both patient and therapist lived experience. Using a hermeneutic phenomenological qualitative methodology, this study examined the lived experiences of both patients and therapists, within the same therapeutic relationship in a South African context. Three patients and three therapists (i.e. 3 patient-therapist dyads) were interviewed using in-depth semi-structured individual interviews (six interviews in total) to explore their experience of the relationship they developed during therapy, and the meanings that have been made of this. Through thematic analysis, using interpretation to deepen the analysis, several themes and subthemes were identified. Both patients’ and therapists’ lived experiences of the therapeutic relationship in psychodynamic psychotherapy clustered around three major and somewhat similar themes, with various sub-themes. Patients’ lived experiences of the therapeutic relationship centred around the following themes and sub-themes: therapist’s therapeutic approach (holding the patient in mind—knowing them; non-judgmental stance; providing an objective presence— perspective; and a consistent presence), facilitating therapeutic factors (mutuality; and therapist self-disclosure), and process within the relationship (describing the relationship—a lifeline; moment of meeting; change; and the relationship over time). Whilst therapist-participants’ experiences of the therapeutic relationship held somewhat similar themes with subtle differences, namely, patient qualities, facilitating therapeutic factors (holding and containing; theoretical orientation; use of technique; and supportive factors for therapists), and process within the relationship (describing the relationship—intimate yet formal; moment of meeting; change; and the relationship over time). Similarities and differences between patient and therapist experiences are examined that may influence the therapeutic relationship. Conclusions are discussed with a consideration of the limitations of the study as well as implications for future research, practice, and training. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2019. / Psychology / MA / Unrestricted

No description available.

The focus of this research is the study of unity in mission and coping with conflict as a way of being faithfully present. Researching unity in mission in a divided congregation is important because it may relate, not only to the congregation, but also, in a broader sense, to the experience in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Southern Africa (ELCSA) and other denominations. While the review of literature provided background information on the theology of faithful presence including the theologies of place and place presence, a further review was conducted on the theology of mission as reconciliation as a way of being faithfully present. The study addresses this gab in literature and research by investigating the role of mission in helping congregants cope with church conflict and staying faithfully present in their situation. To achieve this goal, congregants lived experience of their congregational life in the midst of conflict was revealed and analysed using phenomenology as the most suitable method for data gathering, analysis and interpretation. Phenomenological approach was chosen simple because of its capability of providing congregants’ personal account of their experience. The question that needed to be understood was whether congregants still had time, space and motivation to be with the people God is sending them to. The primary goal is to understand congregants lived experience under the influence of conflict and how these congregants remained faithfully present in their situation. The secondary aim is to recommend ways and means of reconciliation most relevant to their situation particularly where subjects are not role players in the conflict. The researcher was interested in finding out if using mission as reconciliation can, in meaningful ways, move the reconciliation process forward. The research found a direct correlation between conflict and the mission of the church. As the conflict continued to manifest, congregants developed a lack of trust in the leadership of the church, which motivated them to practice mission unilaterally outside the precincts of the church. As this unfolded, the congregation became irrelevant, its mission suffered and the congregational life became less meaningful. The congregation as a community of sent people, became too internally focused, losing its sting as a missional force in the neighbourhood. / Dissertation (MTh)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Science of Religion and Missiology / MTh / Unrestricted

Social work practice involves acknowledging the interconnection between the personal and professional. Organizations hiring Indigenous staff are responsible to recognize the lived experience that comes with being an Indigenous person. Critical reflections of who benefits in an employment relationship are important to address issues of tokenization and exploitation. The language of ‘lived experience’ is most commonly used in the social work field to imply that a professional has experienced trauma, hardship, and systemic violence similar to individuals receiving or accessing services. In the context of a helping role, ‘lived experience’ is better represented by ‘healing experience’ because it recognizes the responsibilities of leadership and staff in ensuring supports are healing-focused. Anti-oppressive, decolonizing, and Indigenist methods were used to speak with Indigenous staff who self-identified lived experience similar to the people who access services to learn how supervisors and organizational leadership can provide helpful support. The findings contributed to a supervision model based in the buffalo teachings of sharing, reciprocity, and valuing each aspect of a person as the starting place for relationship and good work. Building on this knowledge, changing the language from lived experience to healing experience offers a shift in the philosophical approach to recruitment and supervision. Each conversation naturally aligned with a quadrant of the Medicine Wheel where tangible insights into practice are shared into the spiritual, physical, emotional, and mental aspects of the self in an employment context. This study accounts for the non-Indigenous researcher’s personal journey to this topic, the importance of developing and contributing to the success of Indigenous social workers, and the ways organizations are responsible to their workforce beyond minimum legislated requirements. / Graduate

Magister Artium (Child and Family Studies) - MA(CFS) / HIV/AIDS is one of the major challenging illnesses globally and is increasingly recognised as an illness that affects families and not just the individual. While HIV/AIDS has brought many challenges to infected individuals and their families, the focus has primarily been on individuals with HIV/AIDS in relation to their needs. Families often provide most of the emotional and physical care to a family member with HIV/AIDS, placing a huge strain on them that could lead to tension between family members. There is a paucity of research exploring the phenomenon of being a member of a family affected by HIV/AIDS. Therefore, the aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of family members adjusting to HIV/AIDS disclosure within their families.

Single motherhood is a growing phenomenon in South Africa, as it is in the world at large. The concept and structure of a family have changed over the last few decades and no single definition will suffice to describe or define it anymore. Various factors impact on the psychological wellbeing of the single mother. The psychological wellbeing or mental health of the single mother can influence her parenting abilities. The aim of this study is to explore the lived experience of a single mother with three dependent children, to gain a deeper understanding of her experiences as a single mother and the meaning she attaches to it. The point of view of this research is from a constructivist-interpretivist paradigm and from an ecological systems theory approach. This qualitative research study uses a single case study method with unstructured interviews to explore the participant’s experiences. Interpretative phenomenological analysis is used to analyse data, to identify main and sub-themes from the collected data, and to compare these themes with identified themes on single motherhood from existing research. The participant’s lived experience reveals that financial hardship is not the main contributing factor to stress experienced by this single mother. The accumulative effect of diverse stressors and the lack of social support due to prejudice and stigma seem to have a greater effect. This study generates questions around the stigma of single motherhood in South Africa. The reading of this text could raise the reader’s awareness of the challenges faced by single mothers and of prejudice against them. Single mothers are not less capable as individuals of handling the challenges of motherhood and parenting, but they are often exposed to more demands and stressors, compared to partnered mothers. Changing our perspectives on single motherhood can reduce prejudice, offer more social support and improve access to other needed resources. / Dissertation (MA)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Psychology / unrestricted

Bakgrund: I Sverige drabbas årligen cirka 8000 till 9000 personer av hjärtstopp. De flesta överlever inte, men i takt med att allmänheten utbildats i hjärt- och lungräddning och fler hjärtstartare finns tillgängliga överlever fler personer hjärtstopp. Sjuksköterskan kan i yrkeslivet träffa patienter som överlevt hjärtstopp, varför det är av vikt att beskriva patienters erfarenheter av att överleva hjärtstopp. Det skapar förståelse för patientens upplevelse och därmed underlättar i mötet mellan patient och sjuksköterska.Syfte: Syftet var att beskriva patienters erfarenheter av att ha överlevt hjärtstopp.Metod: Denna studie har genomförts som en litteraturöversikt och baserades på elva kvalitativa och fyra kvantitativa artiklar publicerade mellan år 2005–2020. Sökningarna utfördes i databaserna CINAHL och PubMed. Artiklarna kvalitetsgranskades och analyserades sedan i fyra steg.Resultat: Resultatet mynnade i tre huvudkategorier: Behov av stöd och information, Existentiella frågor och Livsförändringar. Patienter som överlevt hjärtstopp har ofta behov av att bearbeta händelsen, de vill få information om vad som hänt under tiden de varit medvetslösa och hjälp av sjukvården att känna trygghet hemma. Hjärtstoppet väcker frågor om livet, döden och varför hjärtstoppet inträffat. Efter hjärtstoppet förändras kroppen i olika grad både fysiskt och psykiskt vilket leder till förändringar i livssituation och socialt. Patienter kan göra olika livsstilsförändringar för att anpassa till det nya livet efter hjärtstopp.Slutsats: Antalet personer som överlever hjärtstopp ökar för varje år vilket leder till ökade kunskapskrav på vårdpersonalen avseende denna patientgrupp. De fynd som gjorts i denna litteraturstudie kan skapa förståelse för patientens erfarenheter av att överleva hjärtstopp, vilket i sin tur kan användas för att optimera rehabiliteringen för dessa patienter. / Background: In Sweden, approximately 8,000 to 9,000 people suffer from cardiac arrest every year. As the general public increasingly are trained in cardiopulmonary resuscitation and defibrillators are more available, people who survive cardiac arrest are a rising crowd. The nurse can in the professional life meet these patients, which is why it is important to describe patients' experiences of surviving cardiac arrest. It creates an understanding of the patient's experience and thus facilitates the meeting between patient and nurse.Aim: The aim of this literature review was to describe the patients experience of surviving cardiac arrest.Method: This study has been conducted as a literature review. It was based on eleven qualitative and four quantitative articles published between year 2005 and 2020. The articles were searched through the databases CINAHL and PubMed. The articles have been quality reviewed and then analyzed in four steps.Result: The result fell into three main categories: Need for support and information, Existential issues, and Life changes. Patients who have survived cardiac arrest have a need to process the event, they want information about what happened during the time they were unconscious and help to feel safe at home. The cardiac arrest raises questions about life, death and why the cardiac arrest happened. After the cardiac arrest, the body changes in varying degrees both physically and mentally, which leads to changes in life situation and socially. Patients can do lifestyle changes to adapt to the new life situation.Conclusion: The number of cardiac arrest survivors are increasing which leads to higher knowledge requirements for healthcare professionals. The findings of this literature review can create understanding for patients experiences after surviving cardiac arrest, which can be used to improve the recovery process for these patients.

This thesis explores how women experience their friendships with other women. The aim is to investigate the experience of female friendship through a feminist perspective and what meaning these relationships have for the women involved. To critically discuss the role it plays in their everyday lives, how norms and different power structures such as gender and class affect how women create and experience female friendships. Qualitative and semi-structured interviews with seven women were utilised to analyse how friendships are experienced. The women are all white, middle-class, between 25 and 68 years old and they have been interviewed individually.  The thesis applies a phenomenological perspective and focus on the lived experience of friendship throughout both the data collection and the analysis. The thesis discusses how friendship is experienced in different stages of the participants lives, using theory about temporality and life schedules. Friendships are expected to be central relationships in some stages of our lives, but then expected to be subordinate to romantic relationships at other times. This affects the temporality of friendships, forcing it to be among our most flexible relationships. Drawing on theories of class, social and cultural capital this thesis also explores how friendship relates to surrounding power structures. These become central in the women’s understanding of who they can become friends with, how the friendship is organized, as well as the temporality of friendship. The thesis also discusses how negative friendships are experienced, and how women negotiate these relationships. How the temporality of friendship also allows for ways and strategies to end friendships.