The 2008 World Health Report emphasises that we need “primary health care (PHC) now more than ever”. Competent primary health care providers who “put people first” are required in the front line in order to make a difference. The need for widely accessible, competent and caring professional nurses thus places expectations on training programmes and health services. In South Africa, a number of studies have been conducted on primary health care and methods of teaching clinical competence to nursing students (Truscott 2010; Magobe et al. 2010; Naledi et al. 2010) but not on the experiences of nursing students during PHC practice. The researcher observed that the emphasis on the positive, supportive and helpful experiences of nursing students in coping with challenges during their clinical practice was distinctly lacking. The objective of the study was to explore and describe the experiences of nursing students during the clinical practice in PHC settings. It was expected that this information will enable the researcher to formulate recommendations to support nursing students to cope with challenges during clinical practice in a PHC setting. A qualitative descriptive inquiry, with an appreciative approach was used. Five semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted to obtain data. The population comprised of 4th year nursing students who were selected using purposive sampling with the assistance of a mediator, namely the Head of the Department for PHC at a Nursing College. The sample size was determined by data saturation. Data analysis was carried out simultaneously with the collection of data. Fifteen main themes were identified during a consensus discussion between the researcher and the co-coder. The main findings related to the meaning students attached to being placed in a PHC clinic; positive, supportive and helpful experiences; how they can be supported and what help them cope irrespective of challenges they experienced. Conclusions were drawn which pertained to: placement in a PHC setting for clinical practice; positive, supportive and helpful experiences; support when placed at a PHC setting for clinical practice and coping measures when placed at a PHC setting for clinical practice; and recommendations were formulated for nursing education, nursing research and nursing practice that focused on supporting and empowering nursing students to cope with challenges experienced at a PHC setting. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The 2008 World Health Report emphasises that we need “primary health care (PHC) now more than ever”. Competent primary health care providers who “put people first” are required in the front line in order to make a difference. The need for widely accessible, competent and caring professional nurses thus places expectations on training programmes and health services. In South Africa, a number of studies have been conducted on primary health care and methods of teaching clinical competence to nursing students (Truscott 2010; Magobe et al. 2010; Naledi et al. 2010) but not on the experiences of nursing students during PHC practice. The researcher observed that the emphasis on the positive, supportive and helpful experiences of nursing students in coping with challenges during their clinical practice was distinctly lacking. The objective of the study was to explore and describe the experiences of nursing students during the clinical practice in PHC settings. It was expected that this information will enable the researcher to formulate recommendations to support nursing students to cope with challenges during clinical practice in a PHC setting. A qualitative descriptive inquiry, with an appreciative approach was used. Five semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted to obtain data. The population comprised of 4th year nursing students who were selected using purposive sampling with the assistance of a mediator, namely the Head of the Department for PHC at a Nursing College. The sample size was determined by data saturation. Data analysis was carried out simultaneously with the collection of data. Fifteen main themes were identified during a consensus discussion between the researcher and the co-coder. The main findings related to the meaning students attached to being placed in a PHC clinic; positive, supportive and helpful experiences; how they can be supported and what help them cope irrespective of challenges they experienced. Conclusions were drawn which pertained to: placement in a PHC setting for clinical practice; positive, supportive and helpful experiences; support when placed at a PHC setting for clinical practice and coping measures when placed at a PHC setting for clinical practice; and recommendations were formulated for nursing education, nursing research and nursing practice that focused on supporting and empowering nursing students to cope with challenges experienced at a PHC setting. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

The aim of this study was to explore how effectively educators in primary schools in the Thabo Mofutsanyana district (rural QwaQwa area, Free State province) affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic can be supported to cope more resiliently with the pandemic's challenges, using the Resilient Educators programme (REds). REds has been piloted with urban educators previously, but not with rural educators. In order for me to achieve this aim, I used mixed methods to gather data: qualitative and quantitative data were gathered in the pre- and post-tests (before and after the implementation of REds) to comment on participant empowerment. I interpreted the data to comment on whether and how the REds programme supported educators affected by HIV/AIDS. Previous Reds piloting was done with urban educators. My piloting would explore if and how REds would enable rural educators. To actualise the study, I recruited ten participants (two males and eight females), but only the eight females completed the study. My participants were Sesotho-speaking educators frorn one of the primary schools in the rural area in the Thabo Mofutsanyana district (QwaQwa area) and all were affected by the pandemic. My findings indicated that REds was a meaningful intervention, but that it needs to be improved as regards the following: • Facilitators should take note of the strengths that participants have relating to HIV/AIDS. • Future REds should encourage positive interpersonal relationships. • The entire staff and different stakeholders in the community should be involved in future REds participation. • REds should be an ongoing intervention strategy for supporting infected educators and those otherwise affected by the pandemic. / M.Ed., North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2010

Streetism is a world-wide, socio-economic problem and vulnerable children continue to migrate to the streets due to personal and contextual reasons. Attempts have been made to prevent streetism however; these interventions tend to ignore the need to recognise and incorporate the views of street children. In other words, current interventions are based on the views of adults (adultist views) working in the field of social work and psychology excepting the views of street children themselves. This is where this study is located. The study sought to explore the views of street children on how streetism can be prevented. This study was a qualitative, phenomenological study in which semi-structured focus group interviews were used as data collection methods. Twenty street children volunteered to participate in this study. All of the children fell into the category of children on the streets who still had connections with their parents and guardians. Their ages ranged between 10 and 16, and were all attending school. The following themes emerged from the data: families should be strengthened to prevent streetism, sound peer support can prevent streetism, schools can be used to prevent streetism, having access to social services can prevent streetism, churches can prevent streetism, a supportive community can prevent streetism and access to government services can prevent streetism. These findings provide insight into how, according to the views of street children, streetism can be prevented. The findings add to theory and have implications for practice. / MEd (Educational Psychology), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2014

Interest in the concept of 'wellbeing' is gaining prominence among academic researchers, policy makers and planning bodies within the UK and internationally. This emerging agenda is often in the context of efforts to promote sustainable communities through environmental initiatives, such as community gardening, which aim to link communal activities with individualised lifestyle preferences and behaviours. This thesis explores the ways in which health, wellbeing and social development are intricately implicated in sustainable living initiatives, and how such initiatives can be applied to enhance health, wellbeing and social development at both individual and community levels through exposure to greenspace in the form of community gardens. This thesis takes an ethnographic approach into the study of community gardens in areas of social disadvantage in Plymouth. Findings provide empirical evidence showing that active participation in the community gardens result in health, wellbeing and social development impacts for individual participants directly involved within the garden. Findings at the community level were more mixed, providing insights into barriers to exclusion and inequalities in and across communities within the study area. The results of this thesis provide a greater appreciation of how sustainable living initiatives can provide social and economic opportunities which can promote health and wellbeing for individuals and communities and contribute towards sustainable design of urban areas with the use of green infrastructure. Stemming from these results is the call for increased collaboration between public health officials and spatial planners to incorporate and utilise green space community initiatives in urban areas to enable health and wellbeing impacts to become realised and sustained at an individual and community level.

This thesis contributes towards understanding the dynamic phenomenon of entrepreneurship by exploring how entrepreneurs developed resilience within institutional constraints at the lived experience level. This is a qualitative research based on several assumptions of the phenomenological paradigm. The research describes the experiences of thirty-four participants - twenty-three practising entrepreneurs, and eleven Directors whose institutions support entrepreneurship, particularly the dimensions of the institutional profile, as well as how they developed resilience within institutional constraints. The study proposes that entrepreneurial resilience development is dynamic reflecting the context in which it arises. Institutions determine the rule of the game for entrepreneurs, in that entrepreneurs fit within the limitations provided by the institutional framework (North, 1990). The institutions shape opportunity fields for entrepreneurship, determine the ease and transaction cost of entrepreneurship, determine the stability and certainty of the environment, guide the strategic activities of entrepreneurs, confer legitimacy on entrepreneurs, (re)allocate entrepreneurship, and counter market failures for entrepreneurs. The experiences of the individuals indicate such constraint limits what the entrepreneurs are capable of doing. The research therefore focuses on how the entrepreneurs survived within such constraints, especially operating within underdeveloped institutions. In particular, the participants described how they were able to survive within such institutional constraints. The term 'resilience' can sometimes be trivialized to mean 'ego-resilience', which basically talks about certain characteristics that individuals' exhibit to show their resilience. Instead, apart from individuals exhibiting certain characteristics, there are several contextual activities that must be put in place to ensure survival or recovery within institutional constraints. These activities represent the resilience strategies that the entrepreneurs designed and implemented so as to survive institutional constraints - breakthrough, circumvent, destructive, and other strategies. The study concludes that entrepreneurial resilience strategy occupies a central role within three complex, interactive and interdependent processes - institutions, entrepreneurship, and resilience. Furthermore, entrepreneurship is engulfed in institutions, which act as the "determinant", "promoter", and "inhibitor" of entrepreneurial activities. Hence, entrepreneurs need to develop resilience through preventative, reactive or agility strategies, so as to be able to survive the institutional arrangements. The research therefore works towards a more integrated perspective of entrepreneurship development.

Over recent years, community resilience has been increasing in popularity as a topic for detailed study. During that time, academic researchers have been working to untangle the complex network of social relationships that define the concept. In parallel, some institutions have set the achievement of enhanced community resilience as a policy goal. This research has sought to assist in both areas: first, by contributing to the academic debate and second, to build a clearer understanding of how institutions can tailor policies to ensure success in their goal of enhancing community resilience. A case study approach was adopted for the research, centring on three communities in the Teign Estuary of South Devon (Newton Abbot, Teignmouth and Shaldon). All three communities were vulnerable to tidal flooding and links between the communities and institutions responsible for managing flood risk (FRM framework) were analysed. In the analysis, a specific form of social capital was studied: social capital derived from community-institution links (CISC). CISC was found to be effective in revealing links with the greatest potential to enhance the resilience of communities against flood risks. To assess resilience at the individual and community level, a maturity based model was used. The assessment found disparities between how resilience matures at the community level compared to the individual level. Specifically, resilience maturity in communities was revealed as a less linear process. As such, the case study communities were able to exhibit traits associated with low resilience maturity at the same time as exhibiting traits associated with high resilience maturity. This research concluded that the UK FRM policy framework was robust, aligning well with academic theory. However, the FRM system was revealed as being dominated by expert elites. These elites are mainly public sector based and were judged to be stifling the engagement of the private sector at the local level. To enhance their resilience, this study determined that communities need to investment in CISC, but that investment must not just be targeted at public sector FRM institutions alone, it also needs to target private sector FRM institutions.

Detta arbete syftar till att undersöka hur blå-grön infrastruktur kan användas som en metod för översvämningsskydd vid hamnomvandlingar av industriområden som en del i att öka städers resilience. Forskningsdesignen som används är en fallstudie av fenomenen blå-grön infrastruktur och urban flooding. Arbetets teoretiska ramverk utgörs av non-equilibrium-paradigmets syn på begreppet resilience. Resilience definieras här som ett system som påverkas av externa och interna processer samtidigt som det har en förmåga till kontinuerlig anpassning samt en fortlöpande funktionalitet. Av arbetets analys framkommer att vid implementering av blå-grön infrastruktur är helheten större än summan av delarna. Det är därför centralt att alla delar av det blå-gröna infrastruktursystemet fyller en funktion i sig själva så väl som i förhållande till varandra. Detta är den viktigaste aspekten som måste uppfyllas om blå-grön infrastruktur ska kunna möta de krav som urban flooding och havsnära exploatering ställer. / This studie aim to investegate how blue-green infrastructure can be used as a method for urban flood-prevention in redevelopments of former harbors as a part of increasing the resilience capacity of urban areas. The method is a case study of the fenomenon blu-green infrastructure and urban flooding. The studies theoretical framework is the non-equilibrium paradigm view of resilience. In this studie resilience is viewed as a system that is influenced by internal and external processes as well as retaining the capacity of constant adaptation and functionality.  As a result of the studies analysis it is shown that when implementing blue-green infrastructure the idea of that the whole is bigger than total of the parts is vital. The system that aims to cope with urban flooding has to be functional as a cohesive system as well as in the separate parts. This is the most important idea if blu-green infrastructure is to be useful in coping with the consequences of urban flooding as well as ensuring a more resilient future.

<p>The goal of this dissertation is two-fold: 1) to identify novel biological pathways implicating individual differences in reward and threat processing in the emergence of risk and resilience for psychopathology, 2) to identify novel genetic and epigenetic predictors of the inter-individual variability in these biological pathways. Four specific studies are reported wherein blood oxygen-level dependent functional magnetic resonance imaging (BOLD fMRI) was used to measure individual differences in threat-related amygdala reactivity and reward-related ventral striatum (VS) reactivity; self-report was used to measure of mood and psychopathology as well as the experience of stressful life events. In addition, DNA was derived from peripheral tissues to identify specific genetic and epigenetic markers.</p><p>Results from Study 1 demonstrate that individuals with relatively low reward-related VS reactivity show stress-related reductions in positive affect, while those with high VS reactivity remain resilient to these potentially depressogenic effects. Heightened VS reactivity was, however, associated with stress-related increases in problem drinking in Study 2. Importantly, this effect only occurred in individuals showing concomitantly reduced threat-related amygdala reactivity. Study 3 demonstrates that using a multilocus genetic profile capturing the cumulative impact of five functional polymorphic loci on dopamine signaling increases power to explain variability in reward-related VS reactivity relative to an approach considering each locus independently. Finally, Study 4 provides evidence that methylation in the proximal promoter of the serotonin transporter gene is negatively correlated with gene expression and positively correlated with threat-related amygdala reactivity above and beyond the effects of commonly studied functional DNA-sequence based variation in the same genomic vicinity.</p><p>The results from these studies implicate novel biological pathways, namely reward-related VS reactivity and threat-related amygdala reactivity, as predictors of relative risk or resilience for psychopathology particularly in response to stressful life events. Moreover, the results suggest that genetic and epigenetic markers may serve as easily accessible peripheral tissue proxies for these neural phenotypes and, ultimately, risk and resilience. Such markers may eventually be harnessed to identify vulnerable individuals and facilitate targeted early intervention or prevention efforts.</p> / Dissertation

Rural communities that depend on tourism for their economic well being, such as Barra de Valizas, Uruguay, rely on their social and ecological integrity to attract tourists to their communities. Peak tourist seasons and associated augmented consumption patterns can saturate the solid waste systems of these tourist destinations. Peak periods of waste production in these communities can lead to the degradation of ecological and social integrity, and can pose the threat of reduced tourist visitation rates and consequent downturns in the local economy. The degradation and worries for the local economy can generate awareness about the implications of increased waste production and can thus be a driver to develop waste reduction and diversion strategies. As part of developing this thesis, I implemented a case study of the waste management system in Barra de Valizas, Uruguay. The condition of interest in this study is communities that are economically dependent on tourism, have a small permanent resident population, experience peak periods of tourist visitation, and have difficulty managing their fluctuating waste system. This case study, founded in Participatory Action Research, identified waste system components and processes and determined some feasible improvements by way of iterative processes of research and action. Seven semi-structured interviews, 54 household structured interviews, four focus groups and community mapping were applied with diverse stakeholders to collaboratively develop and implement waste system improvement strategies. The implementation of these strategies elucidated upon waste system components, processes, linkages and general state. This research demonstrated that permanent residents of Barra de Valizas consume more packaged goods during the tourist season and as such produce, on average, four times more waste during the peak tourist season as compared to the off season. Peak periods of waste production, associated with the peak tourist visitation period, were found to saturate the local waste management system and weaken local social and ecological integrity. Research participants highlighted awareness building, improved waste containment, and waste diversion as key strategies for reducing this saturation. / Graduate / 0366 / rhianna@uvic.ca