Being a child and going to school is taken as a parcel of the same thing by most people but this is not the same for children with physical conditions, who cannot avoid absence from school for significant periods of time rather prolonged or recurrent/intermittent. What matters in this context is not primarily the seriousness of the child's condition but how much and in what way schooling affects his or her ability to fully benefit from the provided opportunities. Participation in school activities promotes children's interaction and collaboration educationally and socially. Their involvement and sense of belonging can be affected considerably owing to a physical condition, not least because of prolonged absence. Staying connected to school contributes to their sense of normality towards daily life routine, increase hope and distract their attention from the invasion of medical treatment (Wilkie & Jones, 2010). Additionally, keeping children connected to school and learning during absence from school is very important to ensure that these children do not prematurely disengage from their expected educational journeys (Hopkins et al., 2014). These children may have many individual requirements but like their healthy peers, they share the desire for equal access to the same educational outcomes, both academically and socially. If their needs are not timely taken care of, the school can become a place of failure, both academically and socially, in no time. Considering mainstream primary schools, my research has studied the opinions of teachers and other educators about the provision available for children who miss more than 50% of school over a 3 months' period due to a physical condition. The research question for this proposal originated from my own experience as a mother of a precious child with a physical condition. The current research has 52 research participants, 45 questionnaire respondents and 7 interviewees, having different roles as educational professionals. Using a mixed methods approach, this research aims to provide a more comprehensive description of the ways in which teachers and educational professionals in Wales and England provide academic continuity to the children in Key Stage 2 (age 7-11) with physical conditions during their prolonged absence. Since similar themes cut across the two sets of data, I have combined the findings from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews that suggest that teachers and other professionals are aware of the impact of physical conditions on children's school life. Also, ii they focus on the main barriers in Wales and England which hinder the appropriate academic continuity of this group of children, including issues such as: muddled understanding of accepting roles and responsibility among professionals, limited awareness and professional training for teachers, compromised quality education at home and in mainstream schools and the absence of clear guidelines on medication, first aid procedures and prolonged absence in schools. The findings also suggest that the four means of supporting academic continuity, considered in this research i.e. using technology, individualized instruction, bed-side teaching in hospital and home tutoring for children's academic continuity are not regularly practiced in the schools in Wales and England. Based on the findings of my research, it is recommended that teachers should be provided regular trainings to support the academic continuity of these children. Further, it is important for every primary school to develop a personalized policy statement for this group of children that is accessible to every staff member and is referred in full when dealing with issues in this area.

Late 19th century and until 1978, it was only the physical work environment that has been regulated in the legal text. It was only when the Work Environment Act came into force in 1978 that the psychosocial issues came to be included in the legal text. Today, most of the sick leave is due to the psychosocial work environment in the workplace. The work environment is regulated in the Work Environment Act and through the Swedish Work Environment Authority's statutes. Sweden's membership of the EU must take into account Council Directive 89/391/EEC of 12 June 1989 on the introduction of measures to encourage improvements in the safety and health of workers at work. It is the employer who is responsible for the work environment and the law's starting point is that the employer must ensure that the work environment is a safe place without ill health and accidents. This through systematic work environment work can prevent ill health and accidents even before they occur and also know what measures need to be taken. Work Environment Act places very extensive demands on the employer regarding measures to be taken to prevent ill health and accidents at the workplace, while the law does not state how it is to be conducted. Therefore, the Swedish Work Environment Authority has issued a large number of statutes that will give the law a more concrete nature

Firefighters providing emergency services to the public are involved with some of the most tragic aspects of the boundary between life and death, often in a context over which they have little or no control. The outcome of this may be that stress at work and at home are without doubt the reason that highly qualified and loyal firefighters give themselves over to alcohol or drug abuse, extramarital relationships and suicidal thoughts. The general aim of the research is to evaluate job and family stress amongst firefighters in the South African context, and to use the results in developing a developmental/counselling programme for firefighters and their families. The research is quantitative and qualitative, consisting of a survey design and a phenomenological design. Three measuring instruments were used, namely the Biographical questionnaire, the Experience of Work and Life Circumstances questionnaire, and the Stress questionnaire. Task characteristics, organisational functioning, physical working conditions and job equipment, career and social matters, remuneration, fringe benefits and personnel policy were identified as causes of job stress originating within the work situation. Interviews were conducted to determine how these firefighters experience job and family stress. Marital dysfunction and divorce, limited time with the family, problems with children, alcohol and drug abuse, lack of exercise, suicide, anger aimed at family members, physical and emotional exhaustion, lonely marital partners, unavailability to help the family when needed and depression were identified as causes of family stress arising outside the work situation. The main recommendation is to implement a developmental/counselling job and family stress programme. The programme can be instituted to enhance the wellness and psychological health of firefighters and their families, or for counselling of firefighters and their families who are experiencing job and/or family stress. The multi-dimensionality and flexibility make this programme unique and one of its kind in the South African context. / Indust & Org Psychology / DLITT ET PHIL (IND & ORG PS)

Firefighters providing emergency services to the public are involved with some of the most tragic aspects of the boundary between life and death, often in a context over which they have little or no control. The outcome of this may be that stress at work and at home are without doubt the reason that highly qualified and loyal firefighters give themselves over to alcohol or drug abuse, extramarital relationships and suicidal thoughts. The general aim of the research is to evaluate job and family stress amongst firefighters in the South African context, and to use the results in developing a developmental/counselling programme for firefighters and their families. The research is quantitative and qualitative, consisting of a survey design and a phenomenological design. Three measuring instruments were used, namely the Biographical questionnaire, the Experience of Work and Life Circumstances questionnaire, and the Stress questionnaire. Task characteristics, organisational functioning, physical working conditions and job equipment, career and social matters, remuneration, fringe benefits and personnel policy were identified as causes of job stress originating within the work situation. Interviews were conducted to determine how these firefighters experience job and family stress. Marital dysfunction and divorce, limited time with the family, problems with children, alcohol and drug abuse, lack of exercise, suicide, anger aimed at family members, physical and emotional exhaustion, lonely marital partners, unavailability to help the family when needed and depression were identified as causes of family stress arising outside the work situation. The main recommendation is to implement a developmental/counselling job and family stress programme. The programme can be instituted to enhance the wellness and psychological health of firefighters and their families, or for counselling of firefighters and their families who are experiencing job and/or family stress. The multi-dimensionality and flexibility make this programme unique and one of its kind in the South African context. / Indust and Org Psychology / DLITT ET PHIL (IND & ORG PS)