Objective. Coronary heart disease has been on the rise in poorer countries and decreasing in developed countries over the last twenty years. However, the cardiac-related health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in poorer countries has not been studied. This study aimed to compare HRQOL following heart attack in a developing country in the East with that of a developed country in the West. Using the self-regulation of health and illness behaviour, the relationships between illness beliefs, coping cognitions and HRQOL are studied. Design. This study was a cross-sectional correlational survey and data were collected shortly before myocardial infarction patients were discharged from hospital. Methods. A sample of 243 individuals from the UK and Indonesia were recruited. Illness beliefs were assessed with the B-IPQ, along with coping cognitions (Brief-COPE) and health-related quality of life (MacNew questionnaire). Results. Illness beliefs and coping cognitions predicted HRQOL in the combined sample. Some aspects of socio-demographic and clinical variables were concurrently associated with HRQOL. Conclusion. The results demonstrate that people in the East have low illness beliefs and these are associated with worse HRQOL compared with those in the West. The findings suggest that there is an urgent need for smoking cessation campaigns in the East, while the West could benefit more from tailored-cardiac rehabilitation programme.

ABSTRACT The purpose of the present study was to explore the effects inclusion-exclusion on the job-related attitudes of the organizational workforce. These attitudes included job satisfaction, organizational commitment, burnout, and turnover intention. A quantitative survey was conducted using a sample of employees of a social service organization in San Bernardino County. Participants include employees from all levels and program areas of the social service organization. Study data was collected through the use of a self-report questionnaire. Measures were used to explore commitment to the organization, diversity perception, job satisfaction, turnover intention and burnout, the dependent variables. Using SPSS software to analyze data, descriptive statistics, correlation, and Mann-Whitney U analysis were conducted. More than half of the survey participants, as presented in Table 1 (see Appendix D), identified as women (n=35, 85.4%) and five (12.2%) accounted for the participants that identified as men. Results showed that Inclusion was significantly related to all job related attitudes except burnout, gender and race. Results were consistent with the literature in that inclusion is related to positive work-related attitudes, but inconsistent in regards to its relation with gender and race.

Two decades of event-related potential (ERP) research have established that the most consistent correlates of the onset of visual consciousness are the early visual awareness negativity (VAN), a negative component in the N2 time range over posterior electrode sites, and the late positivity (LP), a positive component in the P3 time range over fronto-parietal electrode sites. A review by Koivisto & Revonsuo (2010) had looked at 39 studies and concluded that the VAN is the earliest and most reliable correlate of visual phenomenal consciousness, whereas the LP probably reflects later processes associated with reflective/access consciousness. However, an “early” vs. “late” debate still persists. This thesis provides an update to that earlier review. All ERP and MEG studies that have appeared since 2010 and directly compared ERPs of aware and unaware conditions are considered. The result corroborates the view that VAN is the earliest and most consistent signature of visual phenomenal consciousness, and casts further doubt on the LP as an ERP correlate of consciousness. Important new methodological, empirical, and theoretical developments in the field are described, and the empirical results are related to the theoretical background debates.

<p>Bakgrund: Statliga och kommunala myndigheter, liksom privata företag och ickevinstdrivande organisationer verkar idag för att bekämpa samhällsproblem och negativa beteenden såsom drogberoende, rökning och dåliga matvanor. För att påverka samhället i en positiv inriktning kommuniceras hälsofrämjande och sociala budskap på olika sätt, dock med varierande framgång. Detta beror på organisationernas natur och verksamhetssyfte, men framför allt på de varierande resurser de olika aktörerna har att tillgå. Kännetecknande för icke-vinstdrivande organisationer är det ideella syftet och bidragsberoende från såväl privatpersoner, företag som statliga bidrag. På senare år har konkurrensen om givarnas pengar ökat, vilket har fått till följd att de icke-vinstdrivande organisationerna har utvecklat och fördjupat sitt engagemang i företagssamarbete. Samtidigt har det för företag blivit allt viktigare att visa på ett socialt ansvarstagande. Sociala allianser är en samarbetsform av marknadsföringskaraktär mellan en icke-vinstdrivande organisation och ett företag. Till grund för samarbetet ligger den icke-vinstdrivande organisationens mission och en social allians präglas av långsiktighet och ömsesidiga förtjänster.</p><p>Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att identifiera faktorer som är väsentliga för ingåendet och vidmakthållandet av en social allians.</p><p>Genomförande: Den empiriska studien är en kvalitativ undersökning bestående av sex intervjuer med representanter från Hjärt-Lungfonden och deras samarbetspartners Unilever och Choice Hotels som har direkt anknytning till de sociala allianserna.</p><p>Resultat: Studien tyder på att ett gemensamt mål är grundläggande för den sociala alliansens existens. Valet av samarbetspartner är ytterligare en grundläggande faktor vid ingåendet av en social allians. Detta bör ske med hänsyn till en rad matchningsdimensioner med utgångspunkt i parternas mission, mål och värderingar. Därtill är motiv, engagemang och kommunikation väsentliga faktorer för ett förtjänstfullt samarbete. Maktbalansen ger inte upphov till några konkreta förtjänster i sig men är en förutsättning för ett framgångsrikt samarbete.</p> / <p>Background: Today there are several actors that, by preventing and fighting against social issues such as drug addiction, smoking and bad eating habits, are working to create a better society. The different actors try to influence society and their specific target group by communicating social messages. The success of this communication varies depending on the nature and the object of the actor’s operations, but first and foremost it depends on the</p><p>resources available to the organization in question. Non-profit organizations are characterized by an ideal purpose and depend on private gifts and governmental funding. As their external environment has changed, non-profit organizations have been forced to reach beyond traditional sources and modes of funding their activities. At the same time, it has become more common for corporations to become good social citizens by engaging in social</p><p>activities. A social alliance is a type of co-operation that spans the for-profit/non-profit boundary and it is a close, mutually beneficial, long-term partnership designed to accomplish strategic goals for both entities. The objectives of the alliance generally include a mutual marketing objective and a fund-raising objective on the part of the non-profit.</p><p>Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to identify the essential factors for the agreement of entering and the upholding of a social alliance.</p><p>Method: The empirical study is a qualitative investigation. Six interviews have been carried out with representatives from the non-profit Hjärt-Lungfonden, and their collaborators Unilever and Choice Hotels, who all are directly involved in the two social alliances.</p><p>Results: The study indicates that a common goal is fundamental to the existence of the social alliance. The choice of collaborator is another fundamental issue when entering a social alliance. It should take place with consideration taken to an array of matching dimensions starting with the parties’ mission, objectives and values. Motives, commitment and communication are further factors that contribute to a meritorious collaboration. The power balance does not seem to cause any concrete benefits, it is however a significant prerequisite.</p>

<p>The appeal of Allport&rsquo / s Contact Hypothesis lies in the simplicity of its core principle, which holds that contact between different groups may serve to reduce prejudices. Contact needs to meet key conditions, i.e. equal power, cooperation towards a common goal and institutional support. Support has been found for the Contact Hypothesis in its original form and for those contacts which fail to meet the specified conditions. This study sought to explore whether contact, in forms different to those traditionally defined by the Contact Hypothesis, i.e. exposure, had any bearing on group prejudice. The prejudice and its underlying negative attitudes of interest, were those informed by HIV and AIDS stigma. HIV and AIDS stigma, defined as a discrediting quality and informed by social processes, is of particular concern as it impedes prevention, treatment and care efforts in South Africa&rsquo / s response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic. The health care context is often an area where Persons Living with HIV (PLHIV) are confronted with HIV and AIDS stigma. The research aims were thus to explore the extent of HIV and AIDS stigma amongst health care workers, the forms of exposure to PLHIV and the relationship between exposure and HIV and AIDS stigma. A quantitative, survey design was employed to accomplish these aims and to test formulated hypotheses, which were based on current literature and the core principle of the Contact Hypothesis. The sample consisted of 202 health care workers in the Cape Town metropole. Data analyses revealed the existence of low to moderate levels of HIV and AIDS stigma and also found that most of the sample had exposure to PLHIV in either its individual forms or overall form. Bivariate correlations revealed negative relationships between forms of exposure, overall exposure and stigma.</p>

<p>This study aimed at identifying the factors contributing towards work related neck pain amongst university administrative staff, its impact on everyday life activities and in turn its prevalence. A quantitative descriptive cross sectional study design was used amongst the administrative staff at the University of The Western Cape, South Africa. Data collection was carried out with the help of a questionnaire which was administered by the researcher in person. Data was analysed with both descriptive and inferential statistics using SPSS and SAS for windows. Chi-square test and logistic regression analysis was done. The results of this study revealed a very high prevalence of work related neck pain amongst university administrative staff. </p>

Extensive changes are taking place in working life and creating new and important areas for research. New knowledge is needed in order for individuals and organizations to be able to maintain long-term development. The aim of this thesis is to increase our understanding of how change and (im)mobility in the labor market are related to employees’ health, wellbeing, and work-related attitudes. The thesis comprises three studies, based on questionnaire data from different samples. Study I examined the potential consequences of downsizing in two organizations that had implemented change in two different ways (proactively and reactively). A proactive approach seems to lessen change-related demands and provide an opportunity for increased participation, which helps lessen the negative effects on employee work attitudes and wellbeing. The descriptive data from a representative sample in Study II revealed that 28 percent of the permanent and 50 percent of the temporary employees did not work in their preferred occupations. The results indicate that those individuals who were involuntarily embedded (locked-in position), especially among the permanent employees, had more health problems and less development at work. Study III utilizes a newly developed construct (work-related health attributions) that focuses on the individual’s perception of the relation between work and health. The results indicate that it seems to be a promising construct for predicting job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and turnover intention. For employees to have the opportunity to participate in organizational change, as well as the opportunity to exercise mobility and alter their circumstances when the organization, occupation, or job is not contributing to their better health appear to be factors that help improve health and sustainability for both employees and organizations.

Bakgrund: Statliga och kommunala myndigheter, liksom privata företag och ickevinstdrivande organisationer verkar idag för att bekämpa samhällsproblem och negativa beteenden såsom drogberoende, rökning och dåliga matvanor. För att påverka samhället i en positiv inriktning kommuniceras hälsofrämjande och sociala budskap på olika sätt, dock med varierande framgång. Detta beror på organisationernas natur och verksamhetssyfte, men framför allt på de varierande resurser de olika aktörerna har att tillgå. Kännetecknande för icke-vinstdrivande organisationer är det ideella syftet och bidragsberoende från såväl privatpersoner, företag som statliga bidrag. På senare år har konkurrensen om givarnas pengar ökat, vilket har fått till följd att de icke-vinstdrivande organisationerna har utvecklat och fördjupat sitt engagemang i företagssamarbete. Samtidigt har det för företag blivit allt viktigare att visa på ett socialt ansvarstagande. Sociala allianser är en samarbetsform av marknadsföringskaraktär mellan en icke-vinstdrivande organisation och ett företag. Till grund för samarbetet ligger den icke-vinstdrivande organisationens mission och en social allians präglas av långsiktighet och ömsesidiga förtjänster. Syfte: Syftet med denna uppsats är att identifiera faktorer som är väsentliga för ingåendet och vidmakthållandet av en social allians. Genomförande: Den empiriska studien är en kvalitativ undersökning bestående av sex intervjuer med representanter från Hjärt-Lungfonden och deras samarbetspartners Unilever och Choice Hotels som har direkt anknytning till de sociala allianserna. Resultat: Studien tyder på att ett gemensamt mål är grundläggande för den sociala alliansens existens. Valet av samarbetspartner är ytterligare en grundläggande faktor vid ingåendet av en social allians. Detta bör ske med hänsyn till en rad matchningsdimensioner med utgångspunkt i parternas mission, mål och värderingar. Därtill är motiv, engagemang och kommunikation väsentliga faktorer för ett förtjänstfullt samarbete. Maktbalansen ger inte upphov till några konkreta förtjänster i sig men är en förutsättning för ett framgångsrikt samarbete. / Background: Today there are several actors that, by preventing and fighting against social issues such as drug addiction, smoking and bad eating habits, are working to create a better society. The different actors try to influence society and their specific target group by communicating social messages. The success of this communication varies depending on the nature and the object of the actor’s operations, but first and foremost it depends on the resources available to the organization in question. Non-profit organizations are characterized by an ideal purpose and depend on private gifts and governmental funding. As their external environment has changed, non-profit organizations have been forced to reach beyond traditional sources and modes of funding their activities. At the same time, it has become more common for corporations to become good social citizens by engaging in social activities. A social alliance is a type of co-operation that spans the for-profit/non-profit boundary and it is a close, mutually beneficial, long-term partnership designed to accomplish strategic goals for both entities. The objectives of the alliance generally include a mutual marketing objective and a fund-raising objective on the part of the non-profit. Purpose: The purpose of the thesis is to identify the essential factors for the agreement of entering and the upholding of a social alliance. Method: The empirical study is a qualitative investigation. Six interviews have been carried out with representatives from the non-profit Hjärt-Lungfonden, and their collaborators Unilever and Choice Hotels, who all are directly involved in the two social alliances. Results: The study indicates that a common goal is fundamental to the existence of the social alliance. The choice of collaborator is another fundamental issue when entering a social alliance. It should take place with consideration taken to an array of matching dimensions starting with the parties’ mission, objectives and values. Motives, commitment and communication are further factors that contribute to a meritorious collaboration. The power balance does not seem to cause any concrete benefits, it is however a significant prerequisite.

The purpose of this study was to conduct a qualitative study with a case study research design, where we studied social workers and politicians view on honor-related problems of underage girls and boys in the age 13-17. We need knowledge about honor related violence and oppression in the political community and social services to work with honor-related problems. Political decisions affect how social work is developed around the honor problem; therefore, it is also important to highlight this direction for the work. It requires a knowledge complement of honor-related problems not to risk exposing the child to further risk from the family (Hedersförtryck, 2009). This is to live up to, for example the law of Social Services, school law and Human Rights (Hussein &amp; Kinuka-Svedberg, 2010). We conducted semi-structured interviews with two social workers, a social worker at the women's shelter, a women's safety coordinator and a chairman of the Social Welfare Committee in the selected commune. When we analyzed the results, we made a hermeneutic analysis with interpretation from an intersectional perspective based in postmodern feminist theory. The result that we have reached as regards the design of the work with honor-related problem is that it is highly influenced by the decisions of women's safety coordinator and politicians. The respondents mentioned the concepts controlling, limiting young people, married off by the family, and that they have little autonomy. Also the patriarchal family pyramid was raised in the definition and that there may be integration problems as a result of the norm-breaking lifestyle that comes with their own culture. The viewpoints which the respondents had on the honor problem we have seen influence how they wish to work. They said that they wanted to educate and inform the newly arrived adults who immigrate to the country, about Swedish laws and regulations. Social workers said that in time they have learned to apply the youth perspective as much as the family perspective which is more than they did before when they rather applied more of a youth perspective.

Few would disagree that the media landscape has undergone significant changes the last decade. From bulky computers and plain mobile phones to portable High-Definition computers and multi-functional smartphones. Other media, such as newspapers and music, have evolved and prospered in a digitalized environment. The constant urge to digitalize aspects and functions of our daily lives seems almost instinctive. Television has taken further steps into this environment as it is now accepted and featured via the Internet. This essay investigates in the ways the new platforms of television will affect the traditional one. More specifically, whether the Internet Streaming Media functions as an extension or as a replacement to the current form of television.  Furthermore, this essay explores age- and gender-related content-preferences in Streaming, as well as speculating on the subject of the consequences of Streaming consumption.  The method in acquiring the empirical data is through a quantitative one, in a survey.  The conclusions made are that the survey respondents, at this current time, are using Streaming as an extension to traditional TV, that there are, in some genres, significant gender-related content preferences when watching TV over the Internet (these include: Drama, reality and sports) and that there are age-related content preference when using Streaming; as the younger age-groups watch “entertainment-shows” more than the older age-groups but neither of the groups do so exclusively. When it then comes to the discussion concerning increased individualization it is, at this point in time, too early to speculate since the respondents mostly use Streaming as an extension to the traditional television.