Adopting the Ecological Contextual Model of Acculturation and Adjustment (Birman, 1994; Trickett, 1996) and the Stress and Coping paradigm (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, 1986, 1991), the present thesis explored the psycho-social, work, and marital adjustment of 200 established older middle-aged refugees from the Former Yugoslavia living in the Ottawa area. More specifically, three studies were conducted to examine specific stressors and resources of relevance to the adjustment of Former Yugoslavian men and women, across the following three distinct life domains: psycho-social, work, and marital. Study I explored the potential buffering effects of interpersonal trust on the relational growth of Former Yugoslavian refugees. Results demonstrated that interpersonal trust moderated the negative effects of war-related trauma on the relational growth of Former Yugoslavian women. No such buffering effect was found for the men. Study II investigated Former Yugoslavians' work adjustment by exploring the influence of pre-migratory work-related expectations-outcome congruence, occupational mobility, work stress (general and discrimination), as well as personal (education, English language proficiency) and social resources (support at work) on their work satisfaction and distress. Results indicated that different factors emerged as significant predictors of work satisfaction and work distress for Former Yugoslavian men and women. Study III explored the potential moderating role of marital resilience on the relationship between marital stress (general and acculturative) and marital adjustment. Results showed that marital resilience moderated the negative effects of marital stress on the marital adjustment of Former Yugoslavian women. No protective effect of marital resilience was found for the men. Taken together, the results of the three studies provide support for the relevance and importance of studying the stress, resources, and adjustment of refugees across contexts and gender. Given that important gender differences were found in different adaptational domains, the need to study further the impact of gender in refugees is reinforced. The findings are discussed within the current gender and migration literatures as well as the multidimensional theories of cross-cultural adjustment. Theoretical, research, and clinical implications were presented, along with recommendations for future research.

Adopting the Ecological Contextual Model of Acculturation and Adjustment (Birman, 1994; Trickett, 1996) and the Stress and Coping paradigm (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984, 1986, 1991), the present thesis explored the psycho-social, work, and marital adjustment of 200 established older middle-aged refugees from the Former Yugoslavia living in the Ottawa area. More specifically, three studies were conducted to examine specific stressors and resources of relevance to the adjustment of Former Yugoslavian men and women, across the following three distinct life domains: psycho-social, work, and marital. Study I explored the potential buffering effects of interpersonal trust on the relational growth of Former Yugoslavian refugees. Results demonstrated that interpersonal trust moderated the negative effects of war-related trauma on the relational growth of Former Yugoslavian women. No such buffering effect was found for the men. Study II investigated Former Yugoslavians' work adjustment by exploring the influence of pre-migratory work-related expectations-outcome congruence, occupational mobility, work stress (general and discrimination), as well as personal (education, English language proficiency) and social resources (support at work) on their work satisfaction and distress. Results indicated that different factors emerged as significant predictors of work satisfaction and work distress for Former Yugoslavian men and women. Study III explored the potential moderating role of marital resilience on the relationship between marital stress (general and acculturative) and marital adjustment. Results showed that marital resilience moderated the negative effects of marital stress on the marital adjustment of Former Yugoslavian women. No protective effect of marital resilience was found for the men. Taken together, the results of the three studies provide support for the relevance and importance of studying the stress, resources, and adjustment of refugees across contexts and gender. Given that important gender differences were found in different adaptational domains, the need to study further the impact of gender in refugees is reinforced. The findings are discussed within the current gender and migration literatures as well as the multidimensional theories of cross-cultural adjustment. Theoretical, research, and clinical implications were presented, along with recommendations for future research.

Många anhöriga till officerare som tjänstgjort i internationell insats har upplevt negativa fysiska och psykiska besvär under och efter insatsen. Men hur påverkar detta officeren när denne ska återgå till det ordinarie arbetet eller åka på nästa insats, sett från en psykosocial arbetsmiljöaspekt? Och förändras detta med anledning av de nya lagstadgade kraven om tjänstgö-ringsskyldighet och uppföljningsansvar? Detta handlar en del av studien om. Den andra delen av studien beskriver hur ett framtida anhörigstöd kan utformas, kopplat till de nya kraven. Studien syftar till att ge en ökad förståelse till att officer och anhöriga tillsammans utgör en ge-mensam social ordning och att ge underlag till fortsatt forskning. Vidare syftar studien till att bidra med konkreta förslag till anhörigstöd till myndigheter och organisationer som idag arbetar med det. Studiens empiri erhålls genom djupintervjuer med sex långvariga partner till officerare som kom-pletteras med textempiri. Studien påvisar att det finns tendens till ett meningssamband mellan anhörigas upplevda välbefin-nande och officerens psykosociala arbetsmiljö. Studien föreslår vidare att det framtida anhörigstö-det utformas utifrån principerna erfarenhetsbaserat, flexibelt och tillgängligt, där en begränsad del föreslås bli obligatoriskt. / A lot of relatives to officers who has served in international operations have been af-fected by negative physical and psychological impacts. But in what way has this affected the officer when it’s time to readjust to the normal work or when preparing the next mission from a psychosocial working environment point-of-view? And does this change in accordance with new Swedish laws of official duty and rehabilitation responsibility? That´s the first issue in the essay. The other issue covers how the future Swedish relative support can be designed. The essay has shown a tendency to causality between the relatives’ perception of well-being and the officer´s psychosocial working environment. Further, the essay proposes that future relative support shall be based on the principles previous experienced, flexibility and availability with a limited mandatory part.

Depuis quelques années, et après que la catégorie de « souffrance » a occupé l’espace public français, de nouveaux mots occupent le devant de la scène pour décrire et souvent dénoncer les maux du travail. « Fatigue » « Stress », « burn out » ou encore « Risques psycho-sociaux » sont autant de nouvelles catégories aujourd’hui mobilisées pour nommer les maux des travailleurs. Alors que le débat sur les maux du travail revient régulièrement dans l’espace public, la question de l’origine de ce nouveau répertoire utilisé pour nommer les maux du travail interroge. Ces mots reflètent-ils réellement les conditions sociales des travailleurs? A quels enjeux discursifs et épistémologiques leurs usages peuvent-ils renvoyer ? Pour répondre à ces questions, cette thèse propose une analyse généalogique des répertoires sémantiques des maux du travail, en portant intérêt aux trajectoires sociales de ceux qui les ont promus. En identifiant les causes historique et épistémique possibles de ce répertoire, cette thèse apporte des outils méthodologique et théorique pour stabiliser et harmoniser notre pensée commune du travail. Elle contribue aussi, de cette manière, à éclairer les conditions d’émergence de la sociologie du travail en particulier, et celle des sciences des hommes et des femmes au travail de façon plus générale. / In recent years, following a period during which suffering occupied a predominant space as a category shaping French public debate, new words have begun to move to the fore when it comes to denouncing workplace ills. Fatigue, stress, burn out, and phsycho-social risks are examples of new categories used today to name worker-experienced harm. While public debate over worker suffering is regularly revisited, the question of the origin of this new repertoire of concepts is problematic. Do these words really reflect the social conditions in which people work? What is at stake discursively and epistemologically when these concepts are used ? To answer these questions, this thesis endeavors to analyze the genealogy of the semantic repertoire of workplace suffering, by bringing particular focus upon the social trajectories of the people who promoted some of its different constituent concepts. By identifying some of the different possible historical and epistemological causes of this repertoire, this thesis offers new methodological and theoretical tools to stabilize and harmonize our commun thinking about work. In this way, it also helps shed light upon the conditions under which a peculiarly sociological approach to work, along with a more general social-science approach, have been able to emerge.

A qualitative study was undertaken in Pietermaritzburg to unveil the experiences and challenges of WLWHIV as perceived by social workers as well as to explore and describe the experiences of social workers in rendering services to these women. Explorative, descriptive and contextual research designs were employed for the research process. Purposive and snowball sampling techniques were utilised to recruit participants who met the set criteria. Face-to-face semi-structured interviews were conducted with thirteen participants. Data obtained were transcribed and analysed applying Tesch‘s eight steps (Creswell, 2009). Data verification was guided by Guba‘s model (Krefting, 1991). The findings revealed the existence of strained relationships between WLWHIV and their partners and ineffective delivery of social work services to WLWHIV. Based on the findings, it is recommended that specialised training for social workers on issues related to death and dying and services for children of WLWHIV be incorporated in the guidelines for social work practice / Social Work / M.A. (social Work)

The purpose of this study is to explore the EAP environment and provide a better understanding of the related roles of the Employee Assistant Practitioners/Professionals (EAPs) in respect of their treatment of various forms of illnesses in the workplace – particularly HIV and AIDS. The EAP role is not aligned to any individual profession, as it is designed to match employees’ holistic needs. It is in this context that the repertoire of EAP roles would include caring, psycho-social, therapeutic and technical skills. The EAP role is therefore endowed with the potential to meet a range of inter-departmental and multi-disciplinary needs – such as Nursing, Allied Health Professions, and Healthcare Sciences. A generic Assistant Practitioners Performance Management system (scorecard) had to be developed and agreed to with the City of Johannesburg’s (CoJ) Management in order to maintain consistency when developing APE programmes and roles. Notwithstanding the fact that the Employee Assistant Practitioners do also address the growing HIV/AIDS concerns in the workplace – including psycho-social problems of employees and their families – there is minimal acknowledgment of the EAPs’ roles, and little recognition of their welfare and well-being programmes. Drawing eclectically from various inter-related disciplinary terrains, the study centripetally explores the roles of EAPs as well as HIV/AIDS frameworks in the workplace. Quantitative and qualitative descriptive research methods were employed to assess challenges encountered by the City of Johannesburg (C.o.J) employees and their dependants. Questionnaires were used for the data collection of this study. The repertoire of participants in the study (n=55) comprised of doctors, social workers, nurses, HR officers, and other CoJ employees themselves. vi The questionnaire became the pivotal quantitative data analysis reference point ias it focused on numbers or quantities, and less on the qualitative analysis, which focused on differences in quality. The results of the study are based on numeric analysis and statistics to quantify the qualitative analysis. The prevalence of fewer participants was largely influenced by the depth of the data collection process, which did not allow for large numbers of research participants. The findings of the study revealed, amongst other factors, that there was an unsurpassed need to integrate different HIV/AIDS frameworks in order that the roles of EAPs becomes more effectively and efficiently defined and executed. The roles of EAPs were hitherto not well defined, resulting in duplication and confusion of service delivery to some employees utilising the EAP services. However, some of the EAP roles are highly appreciated and increasingly supported by managers and employees. Based on the findings of the study, recommendations were made for clarifying and extending the criticality of EAP roles and functions. / Health Studies / Ph. D. (Health Studies)

The diploma thesis entitled Specific needs of patients during negative pressure wound therapy, consists of two main parts, a theoretical and a practical part. The theoretical part includes findings from research and publications dealing with the issues of wound healing through local application of vacuum therapy, treatment with other methods of wet healing, the impact of long-term non-healing wounds on human needs and the role of the nurse in this scenario. The practical part of the diploma thesis refers to the quantitative research carried out by 46 respondents who were treated with a negative vacuum method, another method of wet healing or a combined form.

This diploma thesis deals with the psychosocial problems of patients treated for chronic hepatitis C. The aim of the thesis was to map the problems arising during this treatment and to divide them into biological, psychological, and social problems and problems leading to a change in the patient's quality of life. The disease is also assessed in relation to risky behaviour - a history of substance dependence. The work should also show how the individual components of the multidisciplinary team are involved in intervention during treatment. In the first part of the thesis, I describe the theoretical issues of hepatitis C as a consequence of intravenous drug dependence, and I deal with quality of life, the multidisciplinary team and psychosocial care with the help of professional literature. In the empirical part, I chose qualitative research through the interviewing method using the semi-structured interview technique. The research sample consisted of eight clients of the infectious disease ward treated for or shortly after chronic hepatitis C. The data analysis was evaluated by the data categorization method. The results showed a very demanding, mainly physically, course of treatment with a significant impact on the mental and social function of the patient. The reason why the clients had turned to addictive substances was varied, from a curiosity in youth, through addiction as a consequence of trauma from sexual abuse in childhood, to addiction as a consequence of leaving a children's home without the adequate social preparedness and assistance. The components of the multidisciplinary team that intervened the most were healthcare, psychiatry, psychology - psychotherapy, the District Social Security Administration, and the Labour Office. This work identifies the issues that are not widely spoken of. It has shown us that not only addiction to addictive substances is dangerous for the individuals, but that the health problems do not end even after the treatment of their addiction, and the clients have to undergo a rather demanding treatment in order to eliminate these problems. However, on a society-wide level, it is desirable that as many of these clients as possible be treated with a positive result, even if they are drawing large amounts from the general health insurance. The results could serve as materials for the prevention of socio-pathological phenomena, for educational activities in schools or for institutions in, for example, K-centres, which provide help to addictive substance users.

Thesis describes the development and current state of Czech prison, psycho-social problems in prisons and psychosocial hygiene. Among prisoners and the Prison Service staff are examined views on psycho-social hygiene in prison in České Budějovice and Příbram prison and quality of life prisoners subject to health.

Abstract Currently, the issue of a growing extremist right-wing orientation in professional soldiers serving in the Army of the Czech Republic has acquired top priority. This diploma work should present a targeted proposal of changes in psycho-social tests and the whole selection system of candidates applying for the army professional status. The objective of my diploma work is thus summarised in its very name ?A Proposal of Health and Psycho-Social Criteria for the Purposes of Hiring New Professional Soldiers?. The significance or danger of right-wing extremist opinions in professional soldiers serving in the Army of the Czech Republic cannot be seen in its current massive occurrence but in the trend of the growth of such negative phenomena. Based on the experimental section of my diploma work consisting in the collection and evaluation of opinions and standpoints of experienced staff members responsible for the selection of the Ministry of Defence personnel, two hypotheses were established. H1. Current psychosocial test do not comply with the hiring reguirements related to candidates for a professional army career. H2. Health checks as a component of the hiring procedure do not include the detection of external marks or signs which would indicate right-wing extremist views. The respondents who have taken part in my research have dealt with the issue in a most responsible and reliable way. The opinions of former professional soldiers who have been dismissed from the army due to their right-wing extremist opinions and acts have also been of great significance. The conclusions of my diploma work shall be submitted as a proposal for an improved hiring procedure, predominantly as far as psycho-social tests and health examinations are concerned, with the aim of detecting potential latent right-wing extremist inclinations.