The concept of wellness has transformed over the decades with the ever-adapting lifestyle of society and thus can be broadly defined as the responsibility of the individual through practicing health-promoting lifestyle behaviour. There are various factors that contribute to an individual's sense of overall physical wellbeing which can be categorised into skill-related and health-related components which have been extensively investigated. However, there is a considerable lack of evidence regarding the integration of these components. This study thus sought to determine a means of integrating the various components of physical wellness to provide an indication of wellness state. This was approached from two avenues: the first (Study 1) explored a component of wellness to ascertain whether it can be used as a measure in determining overall physical wellness and the second (Study 2) assessed the influence of physical activity on various wellness parameters and utilised these wellness parameters in the derivation of an overall physical wellness indicator to determine an individual's state of overall wellbeing. Study 1 involved comparing Sports vision between sedentary and active work environments in a sample of 158 university students and 230 training recruits. The participants were subjected to various visual skill assessments to determine if an active environment transfers to visual proficiency. The results indicate that while the recruits were more proficient in some skills, students displayed a greater aptitude in other areas. The findings obtained in this study are in concert with previous research, indicating that individuals exposed to physical activity, even for a short period of time, tend to acquire superior visual skills. However, the skills are honed according to the field of expertise due to the transfer effect that occurs in the brain. Comparing physical wellness in sedentary and active work environments July 2013 ix The concept of Sports vision that was explored in this study provided insight into its role in wellness and it was suggested that these assessments can be utilised in assessing overall physical wellness. Study 2 delved into the area of overall physical wellness and explored the components and influence of an active work environment on these components. 165 undergraduate university students and 234 training recruits and law enforcement employees underwent several wellness assessments in a bid to compare overall physical wellness in sedentary and active work environments. The individual results were compared, and scored into risk areas that were ultimately compounded to formulate an overall physical wellness indicator. It was found that the students were superior in some areas of wellness; however the recruits possessed a greater state of overall physical wellness. This indicates that physical activity does contribute significantly to attaining a state of overall physical wellness and thus reduces the risk of developing lifestyle-related chronic conditions. The overall findings suggest that maintaining a healthy lifestyle through physical activity and health-promoting behaviour will result in a greater state of wellness. This area of research has unfolded a host of possibilities for future research, especially into the overall wellness indicator and the integration of the health and skill-related components of overall physical wellness. / Dissertation (MSc)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Physiology / unrestricted

Personer som utför skiftarbete ingår i en riskgrupp för hälsorelaterade påfrestningar som resultat av en svårighet att utveckla personliga rutiner för kost, vila och friskvård. Nautiker som arbetar på fartyg där tvåvaktssystem om sex timmar tillämpas ingår således i denna riskgrupp där arbetet i regel förläggs koncentrerat över en längre tidsperiod. I denna studie presenteras en undersökning om hur personer med erfarenhet av tvåvaktssystem upplever förutsättningarna för att skapa sunda rutiner för vila, kost och friskvård. Resultatet är en berättelse om upplevda förutsättningar och i det har följande två intressanta slutsatser framkommit: Respondenterna upplever att frivaktens teoretiska tidsrymd för återhämtning inte överensstämmer med verkligheten varpå sömn och kost prioriteras medan behovet av friskvård blir lidande. Personliga rutiner är avgörande men förutsättningarna för att skapa sunda rutiner för vila, kost och friskvård står i direkt relation till möjligheten att få sin frivakt ostörd från beordrade driftrelaterade arbetsmoment. / Persons that perform shift work are part of a risk group for health related stress as result of difficulties with developing personal routines for eating, sleeping and physical wellness. Sailors that work in ships where a two watch system with 6 hour watches is applied are therefore included in this risk group where work is generally concentrated over an extended period of time. This study presents an investigation on how people with experience in the two watch system with six hour watches, experience the conditions for creating healthy routines for sleep, diet and physical wellness. The result is a story about the perceived opportunities in which the following two interesting conclusions emerged: respondents feel that the off duty period's theoretical timeframe for regeneration doesn't correspond to reality in which the time does not suffice. Hence, sleep and nutrition is prioritized while the need for physical wellness suffers. Personal routines are essential, but prerequisites for developing healthy routines for sleep, diet and wellness are directly related to the possibility of having the off duty period undisturbed from ordered operational tasks.

This research is about bullying in schools. The aim of the study was to investigate how the problem of bullying is understood in schools, its causes, types, effects, general patterns and strategies to curb this bullying problem in schools derived from the bioecological theory, through interviewing teachers, learners and principals at secondary school level. Qualitative approach and a case study were used. This qualitative research was conducted at three inclusive secondary schools in Johannesburg North District in Gauteng province in South Africa through engaging eighteen learners in Grade Eleven and Twelve in focus groups. One focus group composed of six learners was conducted at each of three participating schools. Nine teachers, three from each of the three participating schools were involved in semi- structured interviews to solicit data on how they understand bullying, its causes, types, effects, general patterns and ways of addressing bullying in schools. Three principals, one from each of the selected schools also participated in this study. All the participants participated in this research through invitation to voluntary participation after being made aware of the purposes of the study by the researcher. Thus, a purposive sample of three principals, nine teachers and eighteen learners was used by the researcher. Semi- structured interviews and focus group interviews were used as research instruments in this study. Teachers and principals were engaged in semi- structured interviews and learners were involved in focus group interviews. The bio- ecological theory and the wellness theory were used as theoretical frameworks in this research to understand bullying, its causes, types, effects and general patterns, so as to come up with strategies to address bullying that target the learners’ social contexts rather than the learners themselves as is with the case with the psychological model. Before conducting this research, the researcher obtained ethics clearance from the University of South Africa’s ethics committee, clearance was also obtained from Gauteng Department of, clearance from Johannesburg North District as well as acceptance letters from participating inclusive secondary schools. The researcher also obtained assent from the eighteen Grade eleven and twelve learners who participated in this study. Assent was also obtained from parents of learners who participated in this research. Consent was also obtained from the nine teachers and three principals who participated in this research. After conducting focus group discussions and semi- structured interviews with teachers and principals, the researcher transcribed data verbatim for the purposes of analysing it. After transcribing data, it was colour coded, then categorised and categories were further fused into themes which were discussed in chapter five in relation to literature reviewed in chapter two. Some interesting findings were discovered in this research. Lack of resources, violence and violent video games were found to be causes of bullying in schools. ‘Gangsterism’ and peer influence were said to be general patterns of bullying in schools. Low academic performance and absenteeism were said to be effects of bullying in schools. Physical bullying, verbal bullying, emotional bullying, social bullying, sexual bullying, teacher- learner bullying, learner to learner bullying, gender based bullying and cyber bullying were said to be some types of bullying prevalent in schools. Working with various stakeholders in education such as organisations like Love Life, S.E.N.C.A, South African Police Services and Community Based Youth Centres as well as other professionals like social workers, psychologists and specialist teachers was found to be helpful address bullying in schools. Findings also indicated that involving parents and community leaders in school activities assist to address bullying in schools. Installing cameras and suggestion boxes, reporting all forms of bullying installing cameras, bullying awareness campaigns, training staff and having bullying lessons in the school timetable were mentioned effective methods of eradicating all forms of bullying in all schools. However, the study recommends that, teachers and principals be staff developed on issues related to how bullying is understood in schools in relation to its causes, types, effects, general patterns and strategies to stop it in school. / Inclusive Education / M. Ed. (Inclusive education)