published_or_final_version / Community Medicine / Master / Master of Philosophy

Exploratory case studies investigated the day care benefit from the multiple perspectives of the person with dementia, caregiver, and day care worker. The routines, daily processes, and factors promoting benefit were reported. The day care client was also queried to explore their ability to contribute useful information about their care environment. The adult day care is primarily a social occasion for its clients, who enjoy the benefits of companionship and interaction. Day cares were differentiated by the environmental features: worker:client ratio, size, suitability of the site for intended purpose, quality of client-worker relationships, and quality of the activities offered. The quality of each of these features is an important component in the day care environment. All components at their highest quality are not necessary for the environment to be beneficial. The most important factors contributing to day care quality were workers who (1) communicated safety to the client through a relaxed, uncritical environment, and (2) facilitated client stimulation through activity and personal interaction, satisfying the clients’ basic needs to be safe and occupied. This evaluation was comprised of: two sets of case studies. Each evaluation was concurrently conducted and consistently designed. Participant observation and survey were the primary methods of data collection. Informed consent was sought from day care clients with dementia, family caregivers, and day care workers.

This research provides a feminist perspective on the lowest paid sector of the United States long-term care industry, Certified Nursing Assistants. This research adds to current feminist scholarship on the modern professional caregiving industry by focusing on the perspective of the workers. As the population of older adults requiring care is expected to increase over the coming decades, the demand for paid caregivers will increase as well. Historically, care work was an expected duty done freely by the women of the family, but today much of the vital intimate caring labor is relegated to paid caregivers. I examine how alternative social, political and economic frameworks can transform United States society’s attitude towards the increasingly relevant issue of caring labor. I argue that incorporating a feminist perspective will be helpful in developing a sustainable model for caring labor that acknowledges the dignity of both patients and their caregivers. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2016. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Ministering in the face of HIV and AIDS has posed many challenges. The work of ministers before HIV and AIDS experienced many problems which resulted in ministry burnout. HIV and AIDS have increased the demand for ministers because of the sick, the dying and the grieving people. The increase number of funerals means that a minister conducts many funerals over the weekend and sometimes during the week. This is not the only task of the minister; there are other duties such as house visitation, administration matters, counseling, Sunday services, confirmations and teachings in the church. Furthermore, ministers are often most intensively involved with people in times of crisis and distress. This research deals with the ways ministers are coping or not coping with ministry burnout which may be a result of ministering to people suffering from HIV and those dying of AIDS. This study recognises that an understanding of the minister's problems, as well as helping them to cope, by all who are involved in the church as a vocational system is necessary in the face of HIV and AIDS. The major beneficiary of care and support to ministers will be pastoral ministry itself and the church. Interest in this study therefore stems from both academic and pastoral concerns. Academically, one would like to see the discipline of pastoral care making a scientific and academic contribution that is capable of helping ministers. As for the pastoral concern, one believes that this study and similar studies are ways by which ministry can be strengthened and supported. There is need to equip the church to observe, listen to and respond to ministers in pain more knowledgeably and sympathetically. The researcher endeavours to describe these phenomena accurately through narrative type descriptions, interviews and pastoral conversations. Furthermore, Rediger created a model for avoiding burnout called AIM, which has led to a creation of a model to cope with ministry burnout in the face of HIV and AIDS, which is AIMS: A-Awareness, 1- Impose, M-Management, S-Support. The model has been created in the face of the emotional involvement of ministers in HIV and AIDS / Thesis (M.Th.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2006.

This thesis explores the history of AIDS activism 'from both sides of the bed', by doctors and gay patients, in the 1980s and early 1990s. Such AIDS activism was formed in opposition to dominant racist and homophobic framings of the epidemic and the AIDS-related discrimination that these representations caused. Moreover, links between both groups of AIDS activists have their origins in this period. This history has emerged through oral interviews conducted with AIDS activists and an analysis of archival material held at the South African History Archive and the Centre for Health Policy at the University of the Witwatersrand. Evidence reveals that AIDS activism was politically overshadowed in the 1980s by the overwhelming need to respond to apartheid. Although the Gay Association of South Africa (GASA) resisted AIDS-related homophobia, it was politically conservative, which later led to its demise, and then the creation of new, more militant anti-apartheid gay AIDS activism. By contrast, the anti-apartheid doctor organisations such as the National Medical and Dental Association (NAMDA) and the National Progressive Primary Health Care Network (PPHC) were militantly anti-apartheid, but did not seriously address AIDS in the 1980s. In the early 1990s, in the new transitional context, AIDS activists framed the epidemic in terms of human rights to combat AIDS-related discrimination in AIDS policy. Simultaneously, doctor activists in NAMDA and PPHC mobilised around AIDS in the early 1990s, but both organisations disbanded after 1994. Meanwhile, gay AIDS activists remained prominent in AIDS activism, as some who were living with HIV adopted the strategy of openness about their HIV status. On the other hand, AIDS-related stigma remained widespread in the transition era with important implications for post-apartheid AIDS activism and policy-making. Ultimately, this history has significantly shaped post-apartheid, rights-based AIDS activism and its recent disputes with the government over AIDS policy. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2004.

Social science research on HIV and AIDS has tended to focus on the statistics regarding the spread of the pandemic and the prevention awareness campaigns. However, there has not been much research on the impact that the pandemic has on families and communities at large. Furthermore, although there are international studies very little research has been conducted on caregivers’ education and training locally. Therefore, the current study was done to bridge the gap between literature and practice by conveying findings that are based on a local South African context. The study was conducted in Mpophomeni Township, in Kwazulu-Natal. The research participants consisted of twelve home-based caregivers. The purpose of the study was to explore the informal learning experiences of home-based caregivers from a non-governmental organisation, Siyasiza, in KwaZulu-Natal. The study tried to establish what informed the informal learning experiences of caregivers. The study further investigated how the informal learning experiences were made explicit to inform further learning and also tried to find out what caregivers did with shared information to inform their practices. In order to achieve the objectives of the study a basic qualitative research design was deemed most suitable. The situated and experiential learning theories informed the study and were also used as lenses in the thematic analysis of data collected through observation, focus group discussions and in depth interviews. The findings of the study showed that caregivers’ informal learning experiences were informed by both intrinsic and extrinsic factors. The loss of own family members influenced caregivers to join the community home-based caregiving initiative to assist families affected by the pandemic. Furthermore, caregivers’ informal learning experiences were driven by career-directed ambition, exemplary learning and second chance learning. The findings further indicated that, for some caregivers, once new information was obtained, it was compared with the related prior knowledge, looked at for similarities or differences, and the value added to the previous experiences was determined. The study also found that caregivers valued and appreciated the information sharing sessions which improved their future practices and so made their jobs a bit easier. Lastly, the study found that caregivers played a huge role in supporting the families affected by HIV and AIDS since they mediated between homes and hospital by providing basic health services. / Thesis (M.Ed.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2014.

Text in English / It is common knowledge that the social work profession in Africa, including its theories, methods, and models, has been implanted from the global North (Europe) and North America. Scholarship within social work has confirmed that there are challenges of relevance and appropriateness of Westernised social work interventions, and consequently, their effectiveness in a context outside the Euro-North American axis. It is against this backdrop that the researcher explored the African family, its experiences, and its coping strategies when raising a child with Down syndrome as well as the nature of social work services they received and whether such services were congruent with the family’s existential condition and subjectivities. A retrospective qualitative study following a phenomenological design was conducted. Research data were collected from a sample drawn using purposive and snowball techniques, through the use of semi-structured interviews. Qualitative data analysis process adapted from Terre Blanche, Durrheim and Painter (2006:33) was used. The findings revealed the existence of a paradoxical relationship between Eurocentrism underlying social work practice and the Afrocentric worldview. The typical African family raising a child with DS was found to be characterised by a unique form and structure consistent with a clan system different from the conventional Eurocentric concept of family. It was also found that despite the pressure and assault exerted by modernity, colonization and apartheid on the traditional African clan system, it remained resilient and retained its unique character distinct from the western nuclear family system. In relation to dealing with challenges associated with raising a child with DS, the African clan’s concerns were found to transcend pre-occupation with the etiology and treatment of the condition as emphasized in the western paradigm. Without discounting the significance of the etiology and treatment of the condition, the African clan draws on its spirituality and affection to consider the purpose and function of the condition in the bigger scheme of things. Social work as a helping profession seemed to be unpopular amongst African clans raising children with DS. The findings were used to develop indigenised social work practice guidelines for social workers assisting African families raising children with DS. / Social Work / Ph. D. (Social Work)

Compassionate care is a crucial component of patient care in nursing practice in the broad context of holistic care. However, it is seemingly difficult for nurses to identify what exactly comprises compassionate care and how to provide it to patients. The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences of professional nurses on how they provide compassionate patient care. A qualitative descriptive study design based on narrative analysis was used. Thirteen professional nurses (PNs) from a private hospital were purposefully recruited to participate. Data was collected using written stories and professional lifelines. Data was analysed using thematic and narrative analysis. The following themes were identified such as treating the patient as a whole, inadequate knowledge and skills, and barriers to providing compassionate care. Future research using quantitative approach and large samples was recommended. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Background: Literature has shown that negative attitudes and unwillingness to care for HIV-infected patients are prevailing among healthcare workers. This study aimed to assess the attitudes and willingness of student nurses towards caring for HIV-infected patients in some public hospitals in Gert Sibande district, Mpumalanga. Method: A contextual exploratory quantitative descriptive survey was conducted among student nurses enrolled for a four-year nursing qualification in a nursing college at Mpumalanga province. Self-administered questionnaires were completed after obtaining an informed consent. Results: A total of 122 (70.9%) students participated in this survey. Findings showed that most participants had positive attitudes 66 (52.7%) and were willing 121 (99.1%) to care for HIV-infected patients. Significant associations were revealed between participants’ previous HIV testing (p=0.012), age group (p=0.009), and their willingness to provide care to HIV-infected patients. Conclusion: Results showed a generally positive attitude and willingness by participants to care for HIV-infected patients. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

A quantitative study was conducted to determine the socio-economic outcomes for the beneficiaries of the Expanded Child Survival Initiative in Uganda. The population comprised of all orphans and vulnerable children who were trained under the Expanded Child Survival Initiative of which a sample of 102 respondents were included in the structured data collection process. The outcomes that were explored were employment, income, assets and family support to siblings and other dependants by the primary beneficiaries. The findings show that the outcomes of the Expanded Child Survival Initiative were positive and benefited socio economic lives of the respondents and their family members. The majority of the respondents were using the skills obtained from the training and were employed. The employment provided a source of income and the income earned facilitates the respondents in providing the basic needs of the family members. They were able to provide adequately for most of their basic needs. The findings also show that the respondents had accumulated some assets. A number of factors influenced the utilisation of the newly acquired skills including having tool kits, start-up capital and business management skills. It is recommended that training providers should provide start-up support to the apprentices in order to facilitate them to utilise the skills obtained from apprenticeship trainings. / Public Health / Thesis (M.A. (Public Health))