Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / Burns are a major problem in Low-Income Countries (LIC) and Low-Middle Income Countries (LMIC). Children in LIC have been identified as a burn injury at-risk group. Individuals experience severe psychological and physical distress as a result of burn injuries. However, burns are a systemic problem and their impact is not limited to the individual but impacts the family system as a whole. Therefore, effective post burn interventions for families of child burn survivors are key in order to assist the child burn survivor’s well-being and recovery. The present study hopes to 1) address some of the gaps in knowledge in burn interventions for families of child burn survivors and 2) identify promising psychosocial interventions. A systematic review of literature was conducted that focused on identifying burn interventions for families of child burn survivors. These interventions were evaluated in order to establish which interventions showed promise. This systematic review was conducted following the guidelines of the PRISMA Statement for Systematic Reviews. An integrated quantitative and qualitative appraisal tool was used to review the identified studies. All the available English-medium literature between 1990 and 2019 was reviewed for this study. A literature search was performed in EBSCOhost, Academic Search Complete, PsychArticles, CINAHL plus, Medline, ERIC, SocIndex and Health Source: Nursing/Academic edition. Five studies were identified which included psychosocial interventions for families of child burn survivors. Of these studies only two were of quantitative nature and indicated sufficient evidence with regards to outcomes and efficacy. Three studies were of qualitative nature and indicated subjective evaluation measures to assess efficacy. Interventions identified included a family burns camp, a support group for parents, a support website, a parent participation program during acute paediatric burns management, and a teaching manual. All five studies indicated a degree of efficacy however, support groups in conjunction with psycho-education groups with systemic focus appeared to show the most promise. It is recommended that researchers focus on using quantitative measures in future intervention studies to assist in measuring efficacy. Furthermore, context specific interventions for LIC should be considered.

Magister Chirurgiae Dentium (MChD) / Objectives: Previous studies have indicated that most of the older adult population has poor oral health but only a few of them demand care for their problems. The reason for this discrepancy has never been explained adequately. The obj ectives of the study were, first, to assess the perceived oral health needs (with regards to social, functional and psychological impacts of oral diseases) of older adults aged 55 years and above, second, to assess the oral health status (periodontal disease, dental caries and oral mucosal lesions ) in an adult population aged 55 years and above.Third, compare the relationship between normative and perceived need. Methods: This was a quantitative cross-sectional, descriptive study and consisted of 100 older adults who were randomly selected from three areas in Guguletu. These areas included the home for the aged Ekumphumleni, NYl and NY2 clinics. Participants aged 55 years and above were interviewed using a structured questionnaire consisting of 32 questions and a clinical examination done. Frequency tables were computed and analysed. The relationship between variables like oral health status, perceived need and a variety of socio-demographic variables and measures of psycho-social impact of oral diseases were analysed by using the chi square test and odds ratio. Results: The ability to perceive that they had a problem and the recency of the last visit to the dentist was associated with perceived need for dental care. There was a significant relationship between the presence of symptoms which were painful and perceived need for dental care (mouth, p value=0.015; gums, pvalue=O.OOl; teeth, p value=0.0006) The positive attitude towards dental care and regular dental hygiene was an indicator of positive attitudes towards oral health care. In this study a substantial difference between perceived and normative need was also observed. 88% of the respondents perceived a need for dental care and 99% were assessed as needing treatment (normative need) but only 29% demanded the care. 63% were dissatisfied with their functional ability to chew and expressed a need for dentures. Conclusion: The aim of this study was to assess the oral health status and perceived oral health needs among older adults in Guguletu. The oral health status was poor in most of the participants and the demand for care was low even though perceived need was high. The study has shown that social, functional and psychological factors influence the demand for care in this adult population. The cost for dental care and access to these services are major barriers to the demand of care.Perceived oral health needs and the impact of oral diseases are important influences in the assessment of oral health needs in the elderly. The assessment of oral health needs as perceived by the elderly facilitates the planning and implementation of dental services with special consideration on the cost and accessibility of oral health care.

The purpose of this study was to report on the sustainability of school-based psycho-social support projects that have been initiated in a school in the Eastern Cape. More specifically, the study explored how insights into sustainable psycho-social support by teachers might inform knowledge on resilience in schools. The study forms part of the broad STAR (Supportive Teachers, Assets and Resilience) research project that has been ongoing since 2003. The current study utilised Interpretivism as metatheory and Participatory Reflection and Action (PRA) as methodological paradigm. A case study design was selected, with eight purposefully selected primary school teachers as participants, who have been involved in the STAR project since 2003. Two field visits were undertaken for data collection purposes. The participants took part in two PRA-based workshops, with the second workshop taking the form of a member checking session. In addition to the PRA-based workshops, I relied on observations, field notes, photographs, audio-recordings and a research diary as data collection and documentation strategies. Subsequent to thematic data analysis four main themes emerged. Firstly the importance of teamwork in sustaining psycho-social support initiatives was identified, with the various roles and responsibilities within the team, and school management acting as a silent partner emerging as sub-themes. Secondly, participants highlighted collaboration (with the University of Pretoria, community and other schools) as underlying reasons for sustaining support efforts. Thirdly, participants regarded acknowledgement by others as motivating factors, with reference to acknowledgement on multiple levels and acknowledgement resulting in self-confidence as sub-themes. Finally, participants focused on teacher identity as the determining factor for sustaining psycho-social support initiatives, referring to being in a caring profession, putting children first, being change agents in the community and being committed and dedicated. Based on the findings of the study, I can conclude that sustaining psycho-social support seemed to establish the school as a protective resource to promote resilience. The acknowledgement of teachers’ abilities and capabilities similarly had a positive effect on teachers’ identification and mobilisation of assets and resources in collaboration with community partners, which in turn positively impacted teachers’ confidence. Additional information available on a CD stored at the Merensky Library on Level 3 / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

The findings of this study indicated, contrary to expectations, that irrigation farmers who expressed needs for water did not engage in certain types of goal-oriented behavior designed to resolve those needs any more so than did those who did not express these needs. There were four measures of goal-orientation which included: Attendance at meetings about the Bear River Project, actively seeking information about said Project and positive attitude toward development of the Bear River. There were significant relationships, however, between expressed water needs and worries over the water supply, the experiencing of human problems related to water use and perceived threats associated with the possibility of losing water. It was discovered that the farmers' belief that surplus water exists in the Bear River was a major factor associated with both their attitude toward development of the Bear River and their perception of benefits of the Project. This would suggest that farmers perceive that development must first be possible by the existence of reserve water in the Bear River. An incidental yet important finding of the study was that a good portion of the farmers who favored some kind of development felt that the Project as planned would be a hindrance to the water situation in their areas.

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There are negative personal, psychological, and professional implications of working with individuals who have suffered from trauma, to include secondary trauma. A significant research gap exists in regard to how secondary trauma bears on psychosocial assistants (PAs). Bukavu, in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has a shortage of trained and licensed mental health providers, and as a result, mental health services have been shifted to PAs. Using Bandura's social cognitive theory and Orem's theory of self-care, this qualitative phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of secondary trauma, through face to face interviews with 13 PAs in Bukavu. The collected data was analyzed using Bryman's four stages of coding. This study found that PAs experienced symptoms of secondary trauma. In talking about their experiences, the themes that emerged included personal changes, perseverance, fear and insecurity, suffering, "thinking too much," nervousness, feeling lost, conflict of compassion, hopelessness, helplessness, religion, faith, the role of God and conflict. PAs had limited knowledge of secondary trauma, its effects and how to manage it. Loneliness, strength, faith, time, money and self-protection, were prominent themes around PAs' discussion of their training and experiences with coping. The findings of this research add to the understanding of secondary trauma of these PAs and may influence the personal and professional wellbeing of PAs through gaining knowledge about their experiences. Understanding secondary trauma in PAs may impact social change in the DRC through influencing the structuring of policies and delivery of mental health services to protect workers and beneficiaries.

This thesis examines data and theory about how the system of law (SL) operates and evolves: it contrasts data from social workers and attorneys working in the juvenile dependency court with theories about how individuals and social systems evolve. The analysis is based on research conducted in San Diego and revolves around a theory about human development, or the "individual as a system" (HD), and a theory about social systems, such as the autopoietic theory of law and its self-reproducing system (LA). It is suggested that together, the theories of HD+LA help to examine how professionals and law operate and evolve in the legal system. Overall, the thesis rejects the autopoietic systems theory that law reproduces itself, by itself. Instead, analysis in this study supports the finding that law is defined and operates through a dialectic of the individual and the social (or the organic and the mechanistic respectively) such that each gives rise to the other. On the basis of this system connection, aspects from systems theory about legal autopoiesis are integrated into concepts from constructive-developmental theory (HDLA), thus providing a new framework through which to examine how law and its system functions. The new framework is built around an equation that emerged some time after data analysis and theoretical development: SL=HDLA+DSA . The equation states that: The evolution of the system of law involves processes of human development and to some but a much lesser degree, the autopoietic nature of law. The extent of this evolution is best determined by analyzing data from a court setting. The dialectical relationship between individual and social influences in the evolution of law is facilitated by the accumulation of social action � such as activity from media and advocacy groups � and the individual meaning that professionals make about this action, which in turn has an influence on the formal and informal operations that they perform when operating law. The nature of these interacting dynamics will be shown through two interconnected tools of analysis: one is a typology of individual, professional and system self-concepts; the typology helps to show how a cycle of system change (human development giving rise to legal change and vice versa) occurs in the court; the other is the operative structure (or culture) of systems for law and social work in child abuse cases � which unite in court operations. These two interconnected tools help to show how the court operates and how social action (SA) for change contributes to professional and system change in the evolution of law.

The opportunities of the information communication technologies in the art lessons in the education of the teenagers’ social abilities are discussed in this work. In the introduction of the work the urgency of the theme is argued. As nowadays in the school of the general education it is important to use the information communication technologies (ICT) as much positive as possible using them as benevolent medium to the psycho social development of a teenager and taking into account every teenager’s cultural and social experience, abilities and individual opportunities. In the introduction the problems of this work are formed, the hypothesis is risen and the methods which were adapted in the work are indicated. In order to ground the aiming of the information communication technologies in the art lessons, upbringing teenagers’ social abilities theoretically, the understanding of upbringing and the understanding of the information communication technologies and information communication technologies as the development of the social form which shows teenagers’ psycho social development is benevolent time for using ICT. All this lets us to make the precondition that socialization problem is very urgent this time and positive, productive, creative teenagers’ communication should be induced and trained in every possible way, including art lessons which form peculiarly benevolent socialization conditions. In the second part of this work the opportunities in the content of the... [to full text]