Recent interest in identifying and measuring health outcomes represents an advance in our understanding of how health care for individuals should be evaluated. However, the concept of health outcomes has mainly focussed on improvements in health status. Non-health outcomes of health care may also be important to patients. In this thesis, four tasks were undertaken with the aim of identifying non-health outcomes and establishing the extent of their relevance and importance to patients. First, the illness experience literature was reviewed to identify potential non-health outcomes. Seven categories of non-health outcomes were identified: information, being treated with dignity, being able to trust the health care provider, having distress recognised and supported, participating in decision making, legitimation and reassurance. Second, to gain an in-depth understanding of these concepts, topic-specific literature was reviewed and synthesised. Third, in order to confirm how relevant and important the concepts were to patients, a qualitative study was conducted with each of two different groups of health service users. Broadly, patients considered that all the non-health concepts were relevant, although the extent to which they were important varied. Fourth, to test the relative importance of the seven concepts, a Stated Preference Discrete Choice experiment in the context of general practice was conducted. This study showed that most people thought their GP demonstrated behaviour likely to result in the production of non-health outcomes. The results showed that although all the non-health outcomes were, to some extent, preferred by respondents, trust was most important, followed by legitimation and recognition of and support for emotional distress. Once again, these results point to the importance of context in the evaluation of health care from the patient's perspective. While still being perceived as positive aspects of health care, the provision of information and acting autonomously or participating in decisions about their health care were the non-health outcomes considered least important by patients

Recent interest in identifying and measuring health outcomes represents an advance in our understanding of how health care for individuals should be evaluated. However, the concept of health outcomes has mainly focussed on improvements in health status. Non-health outcomes of health care may also be important to patients. In this thesis, four tasks were undertaken with the aim of identifying non-health outcomes and establishing the extent of their relevance and importance to patients. First, the illness experience literature was reviewed to identify potential non-health outcomes. Seven categories of non-health outcomes were identified: information, being treated with dignity, being able to trust the health care provider, having distress recognised and supported, participating in decision making, legitimation and reassurance. Second, to gain an in-depth understanding of these concepts, topic-specific literature was reviewed and synthesised. Third, in order to confirm how relevant and important the concepts were to patients, a qualitative study was conducted with each of two different groups of health service users. Broadly, patients considered that all the non-health concepts were relevant, although the extent to which they were important varied. Fourth, to test the relative importance of the seven concepts, a Stated Preference Discrete Choice experiment in the context of general practice was conducted. This study showed that most people thought their GP demonstrated behaviour likely to result in the production of non-health outcomes. The results showed that although all the non-health outcomes were, to some extent, preferred by respondents, trust was most important, followed by legitimation and recognition of and support for emotional distress. Once again, these results point to the importance of context in the evaluation of health care from the patient's perspective. While still being perceived as positive aspects of health care, the provision of information and acting autonomously or participating in decisions about their health care were the non-health outcomes considered least important by patients

Submitted by Liliane Ferreira (ljuvencia30@gmail.com) on 2018-06-26T15:22:18Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Simone Hilário da Silva Brasileiro - 2018.pdf: 2495771 bytes, checksum: 5602d94f04f2286b718be3983d21eafe (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-06-27T10:30:16Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Simone Hilário da Silva Brasileiro - 2018.pdf: 2495771 bytes, checksum: 5602d94f04f2286b718be3983d21eafe (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-06-27T10:30:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Simone Hilário da Silva Brasileiro - 2018.pdf: 2495771 bytes, checksum: 5602d94f04f2286b718be3983d21eafe (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-05-17 / Behavior Analysis is one of the scientific fields that has dealt in a diversified way with the concepts related to the behavior of the individual, and that has produced studies that can allow the understanding of the choices in investment scenarios. Two articles were produced to investigate the effect of the independent variables, market attributes and rate of return on the invested value. The objective of study 1 is to analyze the effect of market attributes on the choice of Investments. While study 2 seeks to respond to the limitations presented in article 1, it aims to verify the effect of rates of return on the choice of investments together with the number of attributes of the markets, verifying the influence of these variables on the behavior of choice. The research was carried out with 48 university students who were divided in 2 groups with 24 participants each, combined with the independent variables. For the accomplishment of the experiment was programmed a Software, characterized as Invest 1.0, specific for the study. Through the software it was possible to simulate two Markets for investments, A and B, presenting in them four sectors: Bank, Electric, Mining and Oil. The results obtained in study 1 show that the preference of the participants was greater for the market that presented more attributes, even when the market did not present a return. With the exception of the Bank sector, in Group 2, where the participants followed the rate of return and not the attributes, contradicting the function of the number of attributes as reinforcers. While in study 2, it was found that in general the number of attributes together with the return determined the preference of the participants, but some participants presented inconsistent results, pointing out loopholes for later studies that seek to solve them. / A Análise do Comportamento é um dos campos científicos que tem tratado de forma diversificada os conceitos relacionados ao comportamento do indivíduo, e que tem produzido estudos que podem permitir a compreensão das escolhas em cenários de investimentos. Para a realização da pesquisa foram produzidos dois artigos que têm como objetivo investigar o efeito das variáveis independentes, atributos dos mercados e taxa de retorno sobre o valor investido. O objetivo do estudo 1 é analisar o efeito dos atributos dos mercados na escolha de Investimentos. Enquanto que o estudo 2 busca responder as limitações apresentadas no artigo 1, e tem como objetivo verificar o efeito das taxas de retorno sobre a escolha dos investimentos juntamente com o número de atributos dos mercados, verificando a influência destas variáveis no comportamento de escolha. A pesquisa foi realizada com 48 estudantes universitários que foram divididos em 2 grupos com 24 participantes cada, combinados com as variáveis independentes. Para a realização do experimento foi programado um Software, caracterizado como Invest 1.0, específico para o estudo. Através do software foi possível simular dois Mercados para investimentos, A e B, apresentando neles quatro setores: Banco, Elétrica, Mineradora e Petrolífera. Os resultados obtidos nos estudo 1 mostram que a preferência de escolha dos participantes foi maior pelo Mercado que apresentava maior número de atributos, mesmo quando o Mercado não apresentava retorno. Com exceção do setor Banco, no Grupo 2, em que os participantes acompanharam a taxa de retorno e não os atributos, contrariando a função do número de atributos como reforçadores. Enquanto que no estudo 2, verificou-se que em geral o número de atributos juntamente com o retorno determinaram a preferência de escolha dos participantes, mas alguns participantes apresentaram resultados inconsistentes, apontando brechas para estudos posteriores que busquem resolvê-los.

Natural populations exhibit a non-random mating behavior and it is assumed that mate preferences causing the non-random mating behavior play a role in sympatric speciation. In my thesis, I have proposed a new model of a mate preference that is based on ecological performance and I have named it fitness-based mating. Individuals that express this mate preference choose primarily fit partners. Fitness-based mating is modelled for haploid, diallelic populations. Individuals are distributed across two niches, and genomes are simplified to two loci. The first locus is subject to natural selection, and the second-locus genotype gives the strength of the mate preference. The population is separated into females and males, among which only females exhibit the mate preference. Ecological selection acts on both sexes alike. With the model I have investigated how female choosiness based on direct advantages offered by their partners can cause and maintain a polymorphic population. Fitness-based mating is an evolutionary successful mating strategy. It spreads in a population due to its amplifying effect on the reproductive success and on the attractiveness of its carriers. A polymorphism arises naturally in the model. The emergence of a stable polymorphism of traits underlying ecological selection is of special interest, because a polymorphism can be a precursor of speciation.