Thesis (M. Dev.) -- University of Limpopo, 2016 / This study aims to give insights into the nature and extent of professional teacher development by the department of education through class visits, and subsequently its impact on professional teacher development in the white hazy circuit in Mpumalanga province. This study further examines measures and recommendations to be put in place which can help to improve the programme (class visits), also the effectiveness of this programme in professional teacher development. The study further highlights key issues regarding class visits with regard to professional teacher development. The study further highlights strategies that can be put in place to enhancing class visits as a programme for professional teacher development. The study further highlights key recommendations to be put in place to enhance class visits as professional teacher development programme. KEY WORDS Professional Teacher Development; Development Appraisal System; Integrated Quality Management Systems; development support group; Continuing Professional Teacher Development.

The aim of this study was to evaluate a 24-week support group intervention programme which was designed to enhance adaptive behaviour of latent-phase children affected by maternal HIV/Aids. The meta-theoretical paradigms underlying the study were pragmatism and realism. The study was embedded in a concurrent nested (QUALquan) mixed-method design. The quantitative approach in the main study followed a quasi-experimental research design whereas the qualitative approach in this study, contributing to the largest part of the analysis in the study, followed a nested multiple case study design. The theory-driven outcome programme evaluation model applied in this study was the integrative process/outcome evaluation approach. The participants (n=139) were purposefully selected from among previously identified HIV-positive women (n=220) with children between the ages of 6 and 10 years at clinics in the Tshwane region, South Africa. Data were collected over a period of five years in multiple waves of intervention implementation. Prolonged, in-depth engagement by the researcher with participants was prioritized. The data collection strategies comprised of mother-and-child psychological questionnaires, group process notes, careworker focus groups, quality assurance questionnaires and field notes. The data were quantitatively analysed by means of a paired-sample t-test for within-group comparisons and descriptive statistics were furthermore applied. The qualitative text and narration obtained through the interviews, documents and focus groups were coded and analysed for themes. The themes of the emergent concepts were re-coded to establish improved defined categories. The different data sampling strategies assisted the researcher in triangulating the data for increased evaluation reliability. The PhD-study was conducted within a broader longitudinal study on resilience in South African mothers and children affected by HIV/Aids – the Promoting Resilience in Young Children Study. The findings of the Child Support Group Evaluation Study (e.g. PhD) showed that the content, methods and processes employed in the group-based sessions were effective and culturally sensitive. The intervention sessions enhanced the children’s coping skills, internalised and externalised behaviour and daily living, communication and socialisation skills. The group provided a buffer for the children and supported them in coping with their mothers’ illness. The children displayed normative values through their religious coping styles, their quest for and display of respect and their unambiguous assertion of right and wrong. A specific finding of this study was that the children created a sphere or space in which to order their thoughts, behaviours and emotions within the intervention. This provided them with parameters in their adverse circumstances to display adaptive behaviour or resilience which they could use to function adequately. The study suggests that the use of support groups should be incorporated into intervention programmes dealing with latent-phase children affected by HIV/Aids. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Educational Psychology / unrestricted

This doctoral dissertation's topic is mourning in people with intellectual disabilities who have lost a loved one. The research focuses mainly on the loss of parents, but also includes the loss of other people, such as grandparents. By loss we mean death, but the results of the work can also be used for losses of a different nature. The aim of this work is to understand grief in people with intellectual disabilities and to suggest appropriate ways to support their grieving process, with emphasis on grief support groups. As part of the research, we set up and implemented 2 support groups for grieving people with intellectual disabilities, each lasting at least 2 months and meeting once a week. At the very beginning of our research, we carried out one support group of the same length as a pilot study. The pilot study was first evaluated and the proposal of the support group according to the original foreign script was modified to better meet the needs of Czech citizens with intellectual disabilities. After the pilot study, we enriched the research with a questionnaire test of our own design, capturing a possible change in process of mourning in people involved in our support groups. We presented the questionnaire test to the participants before the start of the support groups and immediately after...

The diploma thesis deals with families who face sudden separation of a loved one due to imprisonment. From previous experience the work differs in focusing primarily focused on the family, not prisoners. Theoretical part is devoted to conceptual and legislative definition, the negative effects of imprisonment and the specific needs of the prisoners families as an object of help. Thesis marginally touches on recidivism in the chapter about the family as an entity assist in the reintegration of prisoners and also highlights the potential risks that may family for imprisoned in the process mean. It results from foreign experience, which is traditionally ahead. The empirical part of the qualitative research carried out within of self-help groups of prisoners families provides insight into the specific experiences of families. Its purpose is both to draw attention to this marginalized social group and its needs, as well as outline effective assistance, which would deal with this life situation the best. POTOCKÁ, Veronika. Prisoner's family as an object of social work. Prague, 2014. 121 pages. The diploma thesis. Charles University in Prague, Department of social work. Supervisor: Andrea Matoušková

Research has shown that individual members of traditional support groups gain a sense of identity and community and feelings of respect and support. Online support groups provide individuals avenues to find medical information and thus learn more about a given condition or illness. Little has been studied about the learning and instruction that occurs in online social support groups, especially in groups about chronic pain. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions and experiences of members who participated in one open social support group. Siemen's constructivism theory served as the basis for comprehending the learning and instruction that took place in this group, and the research questions focused on the support group members' perceptions of this learning and instruction. Data were collected from 10 individuals who participated in a Facebook Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy support group. Yin's case study framework provided additional support data analysis. Data were collected through individual, semistructured telephone interviews and observations of online discussions. A combination of open and axial coding was used to support content analysis. Themes identified were learning, knowledge, persuasion, and acceptance of underlying negativity. Online social support group participation involved shared experiences that facilitated learning and instruction; these findings could influence the structures of other support groups. Positive social change occurs when individuals are knowledgeable and well educated about social support groups because it is in these groups that trends, issues, and new information are learned. Informal learning occurs with the increased digital skills, especially within a person's virtual support networks

[pt] Esta dissertação tem como objetivo apresentar e analisar as experiências, sentimentos e expectativas de casais em processo de adoção legal na região metropolitana do Rio de Janeiro. Foram acompanhados diversos casais e entrevistados em profundidade três deles, os quais se encontravam em momentos distintos dos processos legais de adoção de cada um. Através de observação participante foram identificadas e acompanhadas algumas fases recorrentes no processo de adoção, em que se destacam dois momentos ou etapas significativas que se superpõem: o processo de habilitação de pretendentes à adoção, onde é mandatório seguir um curso destinado aos candidatos à adoção, e que é conduzido e certificado pelos Grupos de Apoio à Adoção, autorizados pelas Varas de Infância, Juventude e do Idoso de cada comarca / município; o outro momento e observado corresponde às visitas a abrigos de crianças e jovens sob a tutela do Estado. Ao analisar esse material, foram encontradas semelhanças e diferenças entre as experiências dos casais, cada qual marcada por um sentimento e questão particulares. A partir de suas narrativas foram observadas diferenças na atuação dos operadores técnicos – Grupos de Apoio, Juizados e abrigos institucionais – que contradizem uma impressão inicial dos participantes, de que o processo legal seria um caminho reto e menos complicado para o tão sonhado filho. / [en] This dissertation aims to present and analyze the experiences, feelings, and expectations of some couples in the process of legal adoption in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Several couples were monitored and three of them were interviewed in depth; they were, each one, at different times in the legal processes of adopting. Through participant observation, some recurring stages in the adoption process were identified, especially two significant moments or stages that overlap: the process of qualifying applicants for adoption, where it is mandatory to follow a course for candidates for adoption, which is conducted and certified by the Adoption Support Groups, authorized by the Child, Youth and Elderly Courts of each district / municipality; the other moment corresponds to visits to shelters for children and young people under the tutelage of the State. When analyzing this material, similarities and differences were found between the couples experiences, each marked by a particular feeling and issue. From their narratives, differences were observed in the performance of the technical operators – Support Groups, Courts, and institutional shelters - which contradict the initial impression of the participants, that the legal process would be a straight and less complicated path for the long-dreamed son.

No description available.

Samtalsgrupper anordnas av PatientForum tillsammans med olika vårdavdelningar på UMAS och vänder sig till personer som blivit nydiagnostiserade med en kronisk sjukdom. Reumatoid Artrit, RA är en autoimmunsjukdom och det finns idag inget botemedel mot den. Data inhämtades genom sju intervjuer med samtalsdeltagare. Syftet med studien var att undersöka vad det betyder för en individ med RA, att delta i en samtalsgrupp samt hur deltagaren upplever det att få diagnosen RA.Resultatet visade att deltagarna tyckte att samtalsgruppen kan vara en positiv aspekt i behandlingen av RA. I samtalsgruppen fann deltagarna en trygghet och gemenskap. Tillsammans kunde man bearbeta och förstå sin sjukdom. Gemenskapen var en stor del som bidrog till att deltagarna tyckte att samtalsgruppen var bra. I gemenskapen kände den enskilda individen sig starkare och tillsammans med andra fick han/hon en bättre förståelse över sin egen situation. / Support groups are arranged by Patient’s Forum in cooperation with different units at UMAS (Malmö University Hospital). The opportunity of participating in this support group was given to patients recently diagnosed with a chronic disease. The purpose of this study was to investigate how patients who have been given the diagnosis Rheumatoid Artritis, RA, experience the participation in a support group and how the participator felt when he received the diagnosis RA. Data was collected by the use of interviews with seven patients. The results illuminated how patients experience the participation of support group as a positive aspect in the treatment of RA. The patients felt safe and developed a fellowship within the group. Participating in the support group also seemed to develop a better understanding of the situation. Using Antonovsky´s conception sense of coherence, this seems to be strengthened by participating in the support group.

According to the 1 991 Annual Report of the Department of Health and Social Services of former Bophuthatswana, there were 364 reported malignant conditions found in women with cancer of the breast and cervix being the most prevalent. What causes great concern is t.he fact that patients present for the first time at health facilities during advanced stages of these diseases thus making the prognosis poor. Black patients in this study were found to present with cancer of the breast at an earlier age than their white counterparts. In addition to the above named problems, no facility exists for the treatment of cancer in the area of study and patients have to be referred to other areas. It was on the strength of the above observations that the researcher embarked upon this study to establish the effects of the diagnosis cancer and mastectomy on the victims. The aims of the study therefore were: to explore and describe the psycho-social effects of the diagnosis and treatment on Black women; develop guidelines for oncology nurses and doctors to assist with the adaptation of these patients to the diagnosis and treatment; and provide information that could lead to better training of oncology personnel as well as develop a proper support system to facilitate adjustment of the mastectomised patient to the disease and its treatment. Data were collected using the qualitative and quantitative approaches with individual in-depth interviews forming the main strategy. The findings revealed that the diagnosis cancer of the breast was equated with death among all respondents. The mastectomy added more stress for the patient, which was further compounded by chemo- and radiotherapy. The latter was described as causing more pain than the tumour itself. Problems experienced by the patients were reported to include: financial difficulties; general weakness; fear of recurrence and metastasis; concern for dependent children and fear of unemployment. All respondents in this study expressed the need for the formation of a voluntary care group, which could assist them with adaptation to the disease and its treatment. / Advanced Nursing Sciences / D. Lit. et Phil. (Advanced Nursing Sciences)

The effectiveness of psychoeducation and peer support programs for children of mentally ill parents is frequently measured by demonstrating children’s ability to meet program goals according to pre-defined categories determined by adults. Little is known about how children respond to these goals, whether they share them, and how, or if, their needs are met. I conducted an ethnographic study of one such group for school-aged children. I examined how specific discourses framed the content of the program manual designed to educate and support children and I observed how children responded to the program. My study is rooted in Goffman’s (1959) dramaturgical analyses of the reciprocal influence individuals have on one another in face-to-face encounters. From a critical dramaturgical perspective the participants were expected to conform to behavioural expectations of the setting, itself framed by broader arenas of interaction in which shared institutionalized meanings govern (often idealized) presentations of self. Data collection included: 1. a critical discourse analysis of the program manual; 2. participant observation of interactions during the eight-week program; and 3. children’s evaluations of the program in a separate group interview. Being identified as “as all in the same boat” was meaningful and consequential for children who were expected to learn mental health/illness information because, “knowledge is power”, and to express difficult feelings about being a child of a mentally ill parent. Children could be said to have achieved the goals of the program because they developed a mutual understanding about how to interpret and give meaning to their circumstances; “recognizing” unpredictable behaviours as signs of illness and becoming responsible for managing only how “their own story would go”. Children were not expected to care for ill parents, even when they wanted some responsibility, and were strongly discouraged from turning to friends for support. Children strategized to negotiate and resist group expectations and challenge assumptions about being “all in the same boat”. Suggestions are made for determining what constitutes “good” mental health literacy based on children’s preferences for explaining their circumstances in ways they find relevant and for supporting children’s competencies to manage relationships that are important to them.