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The purpose of this study was to get a better understanding of how newly graduated social workers within the elderly care and the need assessment sector forms a professional identity through a focus on their experience of the socialization process. The main questions concerned how work place culture socialized the newly graduated social worker in respect of her or his professional identity. The study’s theoretical underpinning lies in Symbolic Interactionism. We have combined focus group interviews with follow-up personal interviews with the aim of deepening to our understanding of the socialization process of social workers and what it means for their professional identities. Three main results were generated. First, that a well planned introduction and the teams’ significance to the formation of professional identity were shown to be important. Second that a needs assessment organization with a controlled and standardized professional role were noted to be too restrictive as they allowed little possibility for the new social worker to shape their own ways of working. This was particularly the case where new social workers were unclear about how to go about their work assignment. These results also showed that relation building and dialogue with clients was underemphasised and taken for granted.

Background Young people constitute a fast growing group of Internet users and they are considered an important market segment. In Sweden, on average nearly 97 % of the people between the ages of 15-19 use Internet every day. A great deal of these people use online communities, and in order for these communities to succeed, it is vital to understand what content the youths perceive as valuable and useful. Furthermore, since using an online community takes time and effort, the community should fulfil a need among its users. Since it is no easy task to understand what motivates consumers, online communities should strive to reach a consensus in common characteristics among these individuals, in terms of what needs and wants they seek to satisfy in online communities. Purpose         The purpose of this thesis is to explore what needs and wants youths in Sweden seek to satisfy in online communities. To demonstrate the findings, Ungdomar.se will be evaluated, and given recommendations accordingly.  Method          In order to fulfil the purpose of this thesis, a descriptive and explorative study was conducted, consisting of both quantitative and qualitative data. The collection of data was made through a survey among youths, and by semi-structured interviews with Ungdomar.se and two people working at the Youth Centre Brunnen. Conclusion The authors have identified a set of needs and wants, that youths seek to satisfy in online communities. This has further been applied to the online community Ungdomar.se, and they have been provided with recommendations on how to satisfy these needs and wants.

Objective: Evaluation of surgical quality ensures consistency of care and facilitates improvements in the quality of care delivered. Methods: An overview of surgical quality measurement is presented. A system for monitoring thoracic morbidity and mortality (TM&M) at the Ottawa Hospital is introduced and evaluated. Results of a needs assessment survey on the involvement in thoracic surgical research and quality improvement initiatives are presented. Results: Structure, process, and outcomes reflect different viewpoints on how to evaluate surgical quality. The feasibility of the TM&M system is evaluated using descriptive and univariate statistics, while its inter-rater reliability is assessed amongst the Canadian Association of Thoracic Surgeons. Conclusions: Outcomes have been fundamental in the evaluation of surgical quality. TM&M classification system advocates for a practice of continuous quality improvement and provides standardized and reliable feedback on surgical outcomes. Results of the needs assessment have built a strong foundation of knowledge on prospective ways to enhance the monitoring of surgical quality.

The importance of psychological needs for optimal mental and physical well-being has been well documented within the literature. However, there remains little consensus on the definition of basic psychological needs, on which needs are most important or fundamental, and on how to best assess basic needs in individuals. The purpose of this dissertation was to develop and validate a comprehensive measure of fundamental psychological needs and to examine its predictive utility for both mental and physical health. To fulfil these objectives, measure construction and validation studies were conducted in 2 separate undergraduate student samples (N = 226; N = 283). Participants completed online self-report measures of emotional and psychological symptoms, negative life events, personality characteristics, and psychological needs. Factor Analyses of the Psychological Needs Questionnaire (PNQ) revealed that needs can be classified in a three-level multi-factorial confirmatory model and that self-worth and relationship types of psychological needs can be further divided into several, second-level factors. Results also indicated that the PNQ is reliable and possesses good construct validity as well as predictive utility for numerous psychological and physical problems. In addition, psychological needs moderated the relationship between depressive personality characteristics and mood. Future studies should examine the proposed needs-based model in a longitudinal fashion, both in community and clinical samples. In addition to functioning as a global introduction and providing an overview of the relevant literature, Chapter 1 proposes a new model of psychological needs. Chapter 2 describes in further detail the importance of each need identified by the new model, with a particular emphasis on the consequences associated with having each need unfulfilled. Chapter 3, 4, and 5 represent three academic journal articles resulting from the data collected in the current project. Finally, chapter 6 provides a global discussion of the entire dissertation.

The aim of this report is to understand the actual needs of older people who live in a nursing home in Sweden. Qualitative method was applied in order to collect data from interviews of both older people and staffs of the nursing home. Data analysis was performed by using hermeneutical circle. The results revealed the basic needs, the psychological needs, the self-fulfillment and the ‘needs and wants’ of older people. The results showed that the needs of older people were varied as individuals are unique. In general, the basic needs are for survival, and the needs of families, communications, personalized activities, and encouragement which might have the conductive function for older people to live a happy later life.

The aim with this study was to give awareness about the school situation for students living in the slum areas of Nairobi. The purpose was to raise the teachers’ perspectives about working with these students. Previous researches around the topic were studied to gain a better knowledge for the subject. The focus was put on Maslow’s hierarchy of basic needs, trauma with its effects and possible treatments in school and the home environment effects on the student´s learning. Since this was a qualitative study, the method used was open aimed interviews. Eleven teachers working in the slum areas in Nairobi were interviewed with these two main questions in mind; What do teachers think is important when working with students who come from the slum areas of Nairobi and how do teachers work with these students? All schools were located in or close to a children home in order for the teachers to have a wide range of experiences when working with students from the slum area. Some of the results that came up were that teachers saw it as important to provide students with their basic needs in school. The teachers also said that students had different reactions towards trauma and it was of great importance for students to be able to both channel their expressions after the trauma but also to forget the trauma for the moment to be able to concentrate in school. The teachers were disagreeing about whether to treat students equally or individually. Some of the teachers said that the student´s home environment affects their learning due to the quality and quantity of help that they can get with their homework. Some teachers felt adequate due to the extra work put on their shoulders in their work with the students from the slum areas.

Background: No spine-specific educational tool has been developed using input from all relevant stakeholders, including patients. Purpose: The objective of this study was to determine the information needs of lumbar microdiscectomy patients. Methods: Qualitative methods with thematic analysis was used. Focus groups were conducted with: 1) preoperative microdiscectomy patients; 2) postoperative microdiscectomy patients; 3) spine surgeons; 4) spine fellows; 5) orthopaedic surgery residents; 6) anesthesiologists; 7) surgeons’ administrative assistants; and, 8) preoperative assessment team. Results: Major information needs were related to: anesthesia, surgical procedure details and postoperative course. Patients desire information on postoperative course much more than surgeons perceive. Desired attributes of information tools as well as patient factors that influence the extent of information shared by surgeons were determined. Information resources should be given to patients as soon as they are deemed surgical candidates. Conclusions: Microdiscectomy patients desire more information than currently provided to them – in particular postoperative-related information.

This was a two part study. Part one was a retrospective chart review to ascertain the prevalence and predictors of peri-operative complications in PWD receiving their dental care under general anesthesia (GA). Part two was a prospective survey of parents/caregivers regarding their satisfaction with the service as well as to ascertain the prevalence of post-operative symptoms incurred by patients. In Part 1, the prevalence of complications in PWD was 4 times higher than the 6% stated in the literature for the general population. Time under GA, and no previous history of dental care under GA were significantly related to complications. In Part 2, 100% of patients experienced post-operative symptoms; nonetheless, 92.7% of parents/caregivers were satisfied with the service provided. There prevalence of complications in the PWD in this study was high. Prior to treatment under GA, adequate pre-operative medical evaluations must be completed and time under GA minimized.