Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Queensland, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2003. / Title from first page of PDF file. Document formatted into pages; contains xiii, 183 p. Includes abstract and vita. Advisor: Bruce S. Growick, College of Education. Includes bibliographical references (p. 180-183).

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2002. / Includes bibliographical references.

AbstractIntroduction Persons with disabilities are among the most vulnerable groups in every society and the World Health Organisation (WHO) has introduced Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) with the intention of decreasing this vulnerability. In Oaxaca, Mexico, the Piña Palmera CBR program is working with persons with disabilities from rural communities to improve their quality of life.Objective The objectives of this qualitative study were to explore what motivates people to engage in the Piña Palmera CBR program, the expected and perceived benefits of participation, and future hopes and ideas for the program among program participants and their family members.Method Data was collected in the state of Oaxaca in southern Mexico during November-December 2014, in the form of 8 semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the data collected in the interviews was done by using thematic analysis.Findings The analysis of the data resulted in four themes regarding motivations for and perceived benefits of participation: Piña Palmera is a place for learning, You feel part of a group in Piña Palmera, Piña Palmera is improving the situation for persons with disabilities, and No other place works like Piña Palmera.Conclusion That Piña Palmera is a place where you get opportunities to learn, that one feels a part of a group, and that the program is different from other options in the way they work can make them an important resource for persons with disabilities in Oaxaca, decreasing problems with unemployment, discrimination, and lacking governmental support for persons with disabilities.

published_or_final_version / Medicine / Doctoral / Doctor of Philosophy

In view of the increasing prevalence of female breast cancer in the global and local arenas, this disease has become a critical problem affecting women’s physical, psychological, spiritual and social conditions. With medical technology advancements, women can receive early diagnosis and effective treatment. However, maladjusted rehabilitation affects women’s long-term recovery. In order to improve women’s rehabilitation, more attention is being paid to breast cancer survivorship care after treatment. Therefore, how women experience and perceive breast cancer during the transition period is the important information for us to understand women’s breast cancer survivorship. The present study aims to explore how women perceive their breast cancer experiences during the transition period from a holistic perspective. This study adopted the qualitative inquiry approach. Movement-based focus group design was the present research design, in which dance/movement activities and group discussions were included. It is based on the belief that expressing through dance/movement enables an individual to reveal the experiences which have been stored in the body. Four focus groups were used, with a total of twenty recruited informants. Data collected from the focus group interviews included verbal (transcriptions) and non-verbal (writing/drawing and created body shapes) expressions. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using the ATLAS.ti 7 qualitative data analysis software. The findings indicated that women's descriptions of their experiences during the transition period were associated with bodily, emotional, cognitive, spiritual, and self and social relational perspectives. Five domains (bodily, emotional, cognitive, spiritual and self and social relational experiences) were generated after data processing. Analysis of the contents in each domain reveals the body-mind-spirit connection. During this period, women consider their health and exercise to be important, they were relaxed and happy, they reflected more, they searched for purpose and meaning in life, and they appreciated developing relationships with others and self. Furthermore, the results showed that these women attained self-growth through their breast cancer experiences. Nevertheless, the self-growth areas and pace were different for each individual. The results also revealed that the non-verbal information (writing/drawings and created body shapes) enriched the women’s expression by illustrating their in-depth or hidden breast cancer experiences. The results provide practitioners with insight and direction into designing rehabilitation programmes for breast cancer survivors. Therefore, the contents of the programme include not only psychosocial aspects but also bodily, cognitive and spiritual perspectives. Furthermore, the present movement-based focus group demonstrated the use of non-verbal expressions, as well as dance/movement, to enhance communication. To conclude, this study sheds light on our understanding of women’s breast cancer experiences during the transition period, as well as on the use of the movement-based focus group research method. The present practice and experiences may contribute to qualitative research and psychosocial oncology research. Further research with larger sample size is recommended. The present methodology can also be extended to other cancer populations such as cervical cancer survivors. Furthermore, studies examining the additional benefits of using movement in focus group interview are also recommended. / published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Master / Master of Philosophy

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published_or_final_version / abstract / toc / Clinical Psychology / Master / Master of Social Sciences

The purpose of this study was to examine whether or not there was a relationship between the worldviews of people with chronic pain and the health care choices that they make. The background of the study included evidence of a cultural shift toward integration of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) with conventional health care practices. The justification for the study was established with regard to previous research indicating that people with chronic health conditions, demographic predictors, and philosophical differences might contribute to characteristics associated with CAM use. In the literature review, two premises were established: (1) that healing is the psychophysiological response to underlying beliefs, and (2) that Pepper's worldviews (Pepper, 1942) characterize beliefs and expectancies underlying cognitive processes. The study involved a survey packet mailed to prospective subjects who were clients at a traditional teaching hospital clinic specializing in pain management. The survey packet included a list of demographic characteristics, the Health Care Choice List, and the World Hypotheses Scale as measurement of Pepperian worldviews. The data were analyzed by using multiple linear regression, correlation coefficients, and Chi-square Crosstabs procedure. Overall, results of the present study indicated that the combination of age and formistic (categorical) worldview were statistically significant predictors of conventional health care choices by participants in this study. Subjects who were older were less likely to use CAM; and subjects who identified with formism as a dominant worldview were less likely to use CAM. Although formistic worldview was the only statistically significant predictor of health care choices among the worldview categories, there were directional trends of health care choices in relation to worldviews. Subjects endorsing formistic (categorical) and mechanistic (cause and effect) worldviews were more likely to use conventional methods, and subjects with contextualistic (cause and effect relative to context), organismic (interactive whole) worldviews, and equal scores in two worldview categories, were more likely to use CAM methods.

No description available.