<p> The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experience of parents who have a child diagnosed with a developmental disability who received Early Intervention services in Thailand. A phenomenological approach was used in the design of the study. Open-ended interviews were conducted with eight participants who lived in Thailand and had a child with a developmental disability. Only participants whose children were 5 years old or younger at the time of the study were interviewed. Five themes emerged from the data, including the journey, helpful versus unhelpful attitudes and actions, systems and services in Early Intervention, challenges, and positive outcomes. Implications for professionals, policy-makers, and society are discussed, including areas for future research on Early Intervention in Thailand.</p><p>

<p> After decades of global intervention to conquer diseases, healthcare in many countries is still lacking. Assessments of medical laboratories in developing countries today find poor infrastructure conditions with no standardized processes or quality assurance to guarantee accurate results and enable quality healthcare. Bringing healthcare programs in developing countries up to international standards remains a challenge. </p><p> Currently, there is a scarcity of scientific research related to the determinants of success in implementing quality management systems (QMS). There has been little research dedicated to identifying the critical success factors for medical laboratories striving to improve the accuracy and reliability of their testing services in developing countries. </p><p> In over nine years of research, the author realized there was a need for incorporating Critical Success Factor (CFS) methodology into laboratory modernization efforts. This time frame included CDC sponsored trips to several African countries and collaborating with the Vietnam Administration for Medical Services/Ministry of Health (VAMS), Centers for Disease Control-Vietnam (CDC-vn) and seven universities to build laboratory capacity and initiate laboratory improvements to meet national and international laboratory standards. In 2017, VAMS approved a proposed study to identify CSFs in four laboratories in Vietnam. </p><p> The research question this study sought to answer was "What are the top five critical success factors for successful implementation of QMS into laboratories in Vietnam?" with an outcome of improved accuracy and reliability of testing results. This study utilized both qualitative and quantitative research methods employing principles of descriptive research. A demographic survey, semi-structured interview, content analysis, and benchmarking were utilized to identify the top five CSFs and barriers. Content analysis was employed to review CSF definitions and categorize all 220 listed CSFs into ten comprehensive and mutually exhaustive categories. Two research assistants assisted the researcher place each CSF into one of the ten categories. Rigorous and non-rigorous methods measured interrater reliability with the categorization of CSFs. Cohen Kappa values were > 0.85 indicating excellent reliability and accuracy between the assistants and the researcher. Chi-square values were all > 0.05 (p &lt; 0.05) indicating demographic variables did not statistically impact findings. </p><p> Qualitative responses were gathered through personal interviews, a demographic survey, and benchmarking. Using a stratified convenience sampling, participants represented four levels of stakeholders: laboratory staff, laboratory managers, hospital administrators, and clinicians utilizing laboratory services. </p><p> Data from this study found the top five CSFs were: staff knowledge of QMS, laboratory management leadership knowledge and skills, staff commitment to the QMS change process, mentorship, and hospital administration support. In addition to determining the top five CSFs, the study revealed information about encountered or perceived barriers to successful QMS implementation. The participants in this study identified lack of staff knowledge on QMS, lack of financial support from the hospital administration, ineffective laboratory manager leadership knowledge and skills, lack of laboratory infrastructure, and lack of sufficient resources. </p><p> The study&rsquo;s findings add to the body of knowledge in strengthening medical laboratory services and may serve as a basis for continued research in this area of health care. Local, national, and international partners may use this information to tailor training materials and activities to better meet the needs of participating laboratories across Vietnam.</p><p>

Little existing research examines how Vietnamese American individuals conceptualize wellness in relation to the community in which they live. Fewer studies examine the ways in which communities of Vietnamese expatriates form networks of support, based around community resources. Even fewer, if any, focus on these qualities within the context of Boston’s own Little Saigon – Fields Corner. This ethnography analyzes discussions with and observations of individuals living in a predominantly Vietnamese neighborhood in Boston who are a part of a support group for families of children with special needs. Through this analysis, two key themes emerge. First, through the learning of information and sharing of knowledge, this Network’s connections have impacts far beyond the four walls of their bi-weekly meeting space. Second, wellness for the parents in this group is directly tied to existing as a part of a community support network which allows them to successfully navigate three distinct institutions of care for their children – the medical and special education systems, as well as the expression of Vietnamese culture that exists in this neighborhood. I argue that in discussions with members of this support group, it is necessary to focus on channels alternative to biomedical mental health services when confronting the pursuit of a life worth living. This network acts as a site of social change through parental advocacy for their children’s flourishing within various institutions. Parents then act as vectors of consciousness to raise awareness for specific action. Within this context, parents are enabled to fight for their definition of a life worth living and their personal wellbeing.

The growing Thai community in Eastern Massachusetts has an unofficial ethnic enclave that surrounds the neighborhood of Allston/Brighton. Studies of Thai communities in the United States indicate that Thai-Americans have limited access to quality health care in the United States due to factors that contribute to health disparities such as language barriers and cultural beliefs. As a result, Thai people have different approaches to how they treat illnesses through traditional Thai medicine (TTM), Western medicine (also called biomedicine), or a mixture of both medical systems. This study examines healthways Thai/Thai Americans in Eastern Massachusetts draw on in response to different illnesses. In-depth stories of how this community engages in illness prevention and responses to the experiences of illness illuminated by Thai people’s approaches to different medical systems helps us understand how they present their values when seeking medical care. I argue that responses to various illness episodes experienced by members of the Thai community in Eastern Massachusetts influence perceived health and health-seeking behaviors. Factors that contribute to Thai-American health practices include: religion, sociocultural elements (cultural identity, generational differences, cross-cultural differences, structural violence), and Thai constructs of illness and well-being.

No description available.

Although the majority of Filipinos are Christian, recent developments reflect an upsurge in conversion to Islam, particularly in the northern Philippines. This dissertation examines one of the fastest growing religious phenomena in Southeast Asia, Balik-Islam, which means “reverts to Islam,” or the process of “returning to Islam.” The Balik-Islam movement has become popular since the 1970s, and its religious narratives on Muslim reversion challenge and complicate what we already know generally about conversion to new religions, including the impact of the external “non-religious” factors associated with it. This dissertation shows how a discourse of “reversion” among Balik-Islam members reveals complex realities about the appeal of Islam to Filipinos. While other scholars have used paradigms concerning “othering” and underlying “symbolic” forces to understanding the reasons why conflict and crisis might appear in conversion narratives, this characterization also tends to reify religion and position Christianity and Islam as polar opposites operating within a hostile environment. My approach is to understand how Balik-Islam members negotiate their transition to Islam by virtue of social and cultural settings that are both fluid and multifaceted. By critically assessing their “reversion” narratives, this dissertation reveals how their transition to Islam reflects a “symbolic negotiation,” or an act of reimagining the process of religious conversion itself, substituting it for a discourse of reversion that reflects a diverse set of spiritual and social needs. / Religion

This paper examines Free World articles covering anticommunism, modernization, decolonization, intra-regionalism, US foreign affairs, US foreign aid, and neocolonialism because the task of popularizing specific iterations of these ideas illustrated the implementation of the ideas formulated in NSC 48/5. Moreover, NSC 48/5 called non-communist Asia the location of “the most immediate threats to American National Security.” My paper seeks to answer the question of how American propaganda in Asia, seen through a case study of Free World, tried to accomplish this popularization objective. I argue that the United States Information Agency (USIA) masked America’s neocolonialist intentions and activities in East and Southeast Asia through a rhetoric of anticommunism, intra-regionalism, and modernization. / History

La quête de mobilité sociale s’est renforcée dans l’imaginaire collectif, les valeurs et l’identité japonaise depuis le décloisonnement territorial et social procuré par le changement radical des politiques lors de la Restauration Meiji. Ces nouveaux gains spatiaux et sociaux, en parallèle avec le développement d’une économie capitaliste, stimulent les mouvements humains et de capitaux, développant de nouveaux réseaux transitoires. Après la Seconde Guerre mondiale, le Japon vit à nouveau des transformations qui viennent bouleverser la gestion de l’espace et son système d’éducation. En effet, l’espace physique et social se voit être redéfini de sorte à prioriser les secteurs industriels qui correspondent aux nouveaux standards socioéconomiques de la société. Rapidement, le principe méritocratique s’installe dans le nouveau système d’éducation « égalitaire » pour répondre au désir grandissant de la population de mobilité. Enfin, l’éclatement de la bulle spéculative dans les années 1990 vient une fois de plus bouleverser les structures sociales et scolaires du Japon. Dans cette nouvelle réalité: l’éducation agit-elle comme une force sociale qui permet ou empêche le gain de mobilité; ou bien maintient-elle ou augmente-t-elle la position sociale des individus? Et quelle est l’influence des classes sur le phénomène de la reproduction sociale? Différentes thématiques seront abordées dans cette recherche, notamment l’effet des classes sociales sur les inégalités quant à l’accès à l’éducation; le rôle de l’éducation dans une société néo-libérale basée sur la certification (« diplômatie » – société des diplômes), créant un déséquilibre entre les établissements scolaires et les régions; et enfin l’influence des capitaux sur la position sociale d’un individu. Par ailleurs, une théorisation conceptuelle sera proposée afin de faire ressortir l’importance de la spatialité dans la mobilité sociale en tant que complément à la théorie des capitaux de Bourdieu. / The quest for social mobility has been reinforced in the Japanese collective imagination, values and identity since the territorial and social decompartmentalization provided by the radical change in policies during the Meiji Restoration. Such new spatial and social gains, paired with the development of a capitalist economy, fostered the movement of people and capital, developing new transitory networks. After the Second World War, Japan once again experienced transformations that disrupted the management of its territory and its education system. Indeed, the physical and social space was redefined in order to prioritize the industrial sectors that corresponded to the new socio-economic standards of the society. Soon, the meritocratic principle was established in the new "egalitarian" education system to respond to the population's growing desire for mobility. Finally, the bursting of the speculative bubble in the 1990s once again disrupted the social and educational structures of Japan. Considering this new reality: does education act as a social force that allows or prevents the gain of mobility; or does it maintain or strengthen the social position of individuals? And what is the influence of class on the phenomenon of social reproduction? Different themes will be addressed in this research, including the effect of social class on inequalities in access to education; the role of education in a neo-liberal society based on certification ("diplômatie" – Diploma system), creating an imbalance between schools and regions; and finally, the influence of capital on an individual's social position. Furthermore, a conceptual theorization will be proposed to highlight the importance of spatiality in social mobility as a complement to Bourdieu's capital theory.

Cette recherche de maîtrise s’intéresse au processus de périurbanisation à Yangon, métropole du Myanmar, dans un contexte de métropolisation et de libéralisation de la gestion des ressources foncières. Dans ce mémoire, je défends l’idée que la périurbanisation doit être considérée comme un processus de reconfiguration des espaces politiques et des dynamiques foncières marchandes alimentées par l’ensemble des acteurs des espaces périphériques de Yangon. Une approche de la périurbanisation par la géographie politique et une perspective relationnelle du concept de marchandisation permet de comprendre la complexité des relations de pouvoir et des dynamiques foncières marchandes qui contribuent à façonner les espaces périurbains de Yangon. Cette recherche s’appuie sur une étude des pratiques et stratégies foncières des acteurs locaux à Thanlyin, township périurbain de Yangon, dans un contexte de développement accéléré de son territoire. L’analyse produite dans cette recherche démontre que la périurbanisation est un processus complexe de territorialisation de la tension entre la formalité et l’informalité foncières, de formation d’agencements fonciers favorisant la marchandisation de la terre et de production de nouveaux espaces politiques multiscalaires. / This master’s research focuses on the process of peri-urbanization in Yangon, Myanmar’s metropolis, in a context of metropolization and liberalization of land resource management. In this thesis, I defend the idea that peri-urbanization must be considered as a process of reconfiguring political spaces and land commodification dynamics fueled by the actors of the peripheral areas of Yangon. An approach to peri-urbanization through political geography and a relational perspective of the concept of commodification allows us to understand the complexity of power relations and market land dynamics that help shape the peri-urban spaces of Yangon. This research is based on a study of land practices and strategies of local actors in Thanlyin, a peri-urban township of Yangon, in a context of accelerated development of its territory. The analysis produced in this research demonstrates that peri-urbanization is a complex process of territorialization of the tension between land formality and informality, of formation of land assemblage favoring land commodification and of new multi-scale political space production.

This research uses computational grounded theory to explore the human capital formation and stay/return migration experiences of well-educated Mong adults living in various rural/semi-rural Northern California localities within Butte, Yuba, and Sutter Counties. Rural vitality is dependent on the return of these well-educated rural-raised adults. Out-migration of rurality’s best and brightest contributes towards a brain drain and the hallowing out of rurality’s human capital. Findings of this research is conveyed using two research articles examining two different points on the continuum of rural vitality. The first article examines 19 Mong adults’ educational experiences within their rural communities and college education. The second article examines the experiences and factors for the same Mong adults to stay or return. The seven emerging themes describe Mong students’ social capital within their communities towards educational attainment and place affinity.