Over the last 30 years there has been a paradigmatic shift in the field of disabilities towards assessing individual support needs in relation to social and environmental context rather than individual deficits. The capacity of existing assessment instruments to assess support needs is limited because most were designed to assess individual deficits and thereby determine eligibility for funding and/or services. Some instruments have been designed to assess support needs but there are several problems associated with these instruments including, suitability for use in only one disability type, susceptibility to rater bias, and failure to account for variations in support needs over time. This thesis attempted to contribute to addressing these deficiencies by examining the characteristics that are most predictive of support needs for people with psychiatric and intellectual disabilities and the methods by which changes in such support needs could be predicted. Two studies were used to address these aims. The first considered samples of people with primary psychiatric disabilities (N= 561) and intellectual disabilities (N =168), who lived in Supported Residential Facilities. These participants were assessed in regards not only to standard demographic and disability characteristics, and also personal characteristics, including functional abilities, and support needs. The data were analysed using ordinal logistic regression to determine which better predicted support needs and, accordingly, which characteristics were most important to include in the assessment of support needs. Analysis showed that personal characteristics, such as functional abilities such as showering/bathing and budgeting explained much more variance in support needs than either demographics or disability characteristics. This suggests that, for support needs assessments to be accurately assessed, they should include evaluations of these personal characteristics even though they may require more time and resources to obtain than demographic and disability data. The second study in this thesis aimed to investigate whether caregivers could predict changes in support needs over six-month periods accurately. Residents in supported accommodation with a primary psychiatric disability (N = 60; although some attrition among those with psychiatric disabilities), or primary intellectual disability (N = 57) and their caregivers were involved in this study. Caregivers were interviewed on three occasions at six-monthly intervals and asked to estimate any changes that they expected to occur in the next six months or that they believed had occurred in the preceding six months. Caregivers were also asked to complete two functional assessments for each resident at the three points in time. The functional assessments were used as the benchmark against which the accuracy of caregivers’ estimates was examined. Analysis found that caregivers were unable to predict accurately prospective changes in overall or specific support needs, nor were they able to report accurately such changes retrospectively. The results of this thesis contribute to the body of knowledge in the relatively new area of support needs assessment in terms of possible predictors of support needs and the assessment of changes in support needs. Recommendations for further research include; investigating some of the personal characteristics found to be predictors of support needs in greater detail and among other disability types, replication of these findings in other samples, and investigating ways to improve caregivers’ capacity to predict changes in support needs accurately. / Thesis (Ph.D.) -- University of Adelaide, School of Psychology, 2008

Secondary teachers face many challenges in balancing academic and transition priorities for students with extensive support needs. This panel will provide research-based strategies for designing instruction that addresses multiple priorities in literacy, science, and mathematics lessons. Learner Outcomes: (1) Participants will describe components of self-determination that have an impact on academic achievement for students with disabilities; (2) Participants will use transition-infused academic instruction to design IEPs and lessons that value student diversity; (3) Participants will identify research-based strategies for integrating transition and academic skill instruction across content areas

Studien syftade till att undersöka hur socialsekreterare beskriver familjehemsföräldrars behov av stöd vid sammanbrott samt vilka möjligheter de uppfattar sig ha att möta stödbehovet. Sju socialsekreterare deltog i studien och data samlades in genom en fokusgruppsdiskussion och tre enskilda intervjuer. Studiens teoretiska ansats var teorin om gräsrotsbyråkrati samt begreppet handlingsutrymme. Resultatet visade att de intervjuade socialsekreterarna upplevde en svårighet att prata om sammanbrottet utan att se till placeringen i sin helhet. Det blev också tydligt att ämnet var ovanligt för socialsekreterarna att reflektera över. Stödjande samtal uppfattades vara det främsta stödbehovet och socialsekreterarna beskrev en för familjehemsföräldrarna känslomässig process i samband med ett sammanbrott, vilken de bemötte med tid för återhämtning samt “ett lyssnande öra”. Organisatoriska förutsättningar i form av arbetets organisering och dess kultur, ledningens insyn och förtroende, hög arbetsbelastning samt geografiskt långa avstånd var aspekter vilka möjliggjorde eller begränsade socialsekreterarna. / The aim of the study was to examine how social workers describe foster parents’ need of support in the event of a placement breakdown and which opportunities the social workers perceived having to meet the parents’ needs. A focus group and three individual interviews were made, including totally seven social workers in the study. The theoretical approach was the theory of street-level bureaucracy with focus on the concept of discretion. The social workers described a difficulty to talk about placement breakdown without seeing the placement as a whole. It became obvious that identifying foster parents’ needs during or after a placement breakdown was not perceived as part of the social workers’ work tasks. Although, they expressed that foster parents’ may need support in this situation. The social workers described an emotional process for foster parents, which they responded to with listening as well as “giving time for recovery”. Organizational conditions affecting the work were discussed in terms of workplace culture and organization, the management’s insight and trust, a high workload and geographically long distance which enabled or limited the social workers.

Gastrointestinale Tumorpatienten leiden bei ihrer Akutaufnahme im Krankenhaus und in der sich anschließenden Chemotherapie unter somatischen, psychischen und sozialen Belastungen, die sie psychoonkologisch behandlungsbedürftig erscheinen lassen. Bei 60 % dieser Patienten wurde ein solcher Behandlungsbedarf festgestellt. Das Anliegen der Arbeit war es, neben der Ermittlung des psychoonkologischen Betreuungsbedarfs, die Teilnahmebereitschaft dieser Patienten an einer psychoonkologischen Intervention festzustellen und zwei unterschiedliche Therapieverfahren (kognitiv-verhaltenstherapeutisch ausgerichtete Gesprächstherapie und Entspannungstherapie in Form einer progressiven Muskelrelaxation) mit einer Kontrollgruppe (Darreichung von Informationsmaterial über das Krankheitsbild) zu vergleichen. Es konnte ein positiver Effekt der Intervention, besonders der Gesprächstherapie, auf die Reduktion der Angst und Depression bei hoch belasteten Tumorpatienten nachgewiesen werden. Der Betreuungsbedarf derjenigen Patienten, die nur Informationsmaterial über die bösartige Krankheit erhielten, veränderte sich dagegen in der Zeit ihrer Chemotherapie nicht. Verlaufsabhängig konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Veränderung des psychoonkologischen Betreuungsbedarfs bereits kurz nach der Intervention einsetzt. Es gab aber auch Patienten, die erst im Verlauf der Intervention während der Chemotherapie einen psychoonkologischen Betreuungsbedarf entwickelten, den sie zu Beginn der Untersuchung nicht hatten. Auch diese Patienten konnten durch die psychotherapeutischen Interventionsmaßnahmen erfolgreich behandelt werden. / Gastrointestinal cancer patients who are hospitalized and receiving chemotherapy suffer from somatic, psychological, and social stresses that can be counteracted with psycho-oncological treatment. In fact, 60% of this population has been found to be in need of such services. The aim of this study was to determine how many patients in need of these services would be willing to participate in a psychosocial intervention, and to compare the outcomes of groups receiving two different therapeutic approaches (cognitive behavioral talk therapy and relaxation therapy in the form of a progressive muscle relaxation) with those of a control group, who were simply given written materials about their illness that included information on relevant psychosocial issues. The interventions, especially the talk therapy, were observed to have a positive effect on alleviating depression and anxiety in highly burdened cancer patients. The patients who only received written information about their disease showed no changes in the degree to which they needed psycho-oncological support over the time they were receiving chemotherapy. While some patients experienced improvements soon after the interventions had begun, there were also cases of patients who hadn’t initially exhibited a need for psycho-oncological support but later came to develop this need over the course of undergoing chemotherapy. These patients were also successfully treated through the psychotherapeutic interventions.

The survival rate and life expectancy of infants with complex health needs have increased overthe last decades, and this increases the number of families who have to care for such infants at home. These families seek support in the community setting, and supporting them has a positive impact on the well-being of both the parents and the infant. In South Africa the needs of these parents are not known, and this fact makes it difficult to adequately support them in the community. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the needs of parents of infants with complex health needs in the community setting. Two objectives were set to reach the aim mentioned above: 1) to critically appraise and synthesise the best available evidence on the support needs of parents of infants with complex health needs and 2) to explore and describe parents’ emic perspective on their support needs as parents of infants with complex health needs in a South African context. A sequential mixed method approach was utilised in two phases, here discussed in five chapters. In an attempt to meet objective one, the support needs of parents of infants with complex health needs were determined by means of an integrative literature review from studies obtained through computerised searches of several electronic databases, supplemented by checking reference lists and consultation with experts. This was followed by individual face-to-face interviews with the stated parents in three different settings. The latter addressed the second objective of the study, namely to provide an emic perspective on the support needs of parents of infants with complex health needs in a South African context. The integrative literature review described five main themes on the support needs of parents of infants with complex health needs: need for information, need for parent-to-parent support, need for professional support, need for self-confidence in the care of the infant and need for social support. All of these themes were confirmed in the South African context through the interviews with parents. However, South African parents added an additional theme: the need for normality. The final chapter offers an evaluation of the study and discusses study limitations and recommendations for nursing practice, education and research. / Thesis (MCur)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

The survival rate and life expectancy of infants with complex health needs have increased overthe last decades, and this increases the number of families who have to care for such infants at home. These families seek support in the community setting, and supporting them has a positive impact on the well-being of both the parents and the infant. In South Africa the needs of these parents are not known, and this fact makes it difficult to adequately support them in the community. The aim of this study was to explore and describe the needs of parents of infants with complex health needs in the community setting. Two objectives were set to reach the aim mentioned above: 1) to critically appraise and synthesise the best available evidence on the support needs of parents of infants with complex health needs and 2) to explore and describe parents’ emic perspective on their support needs as parents of infants with complex health needs in a South African context. A sequential mixed method approach was utilised in two phases, here discussed in five chapters. In an attempt to meet objective one, the support needs of parents of infants with complex health needs were determined by means of an integrative literature review from studies obtained through computerised searches of several electronic databases, supplemented by checking reference lists and consultation with experts. This was followed by individual face-to-face interviews with the stated parents in three different settings. The latter addressed the second objective of the study, namely to provide an emic perspective on the support needs of parents of infants with complex health needs in a South African context. The integrative literature review described five main themes on the support needs of parents of infants with complex health needs: need for information, need for parent-to-parent support, need for professional support, need for self-confidence in the care of the infant and need for social support. All of these themes were confirmed in the South African context through the interviews with parents. However, South African parents added an additional theme: the need for normality. The final chapter offers an evaluation of the study and discusses study limitations and recommendations for nursing practice, education and research. / Thesis (MCur)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.

Antalet anhörigvårdare av personer med demens förväntas öka under de nästkommande tio åren i samband med att antalet personer som drabbas av demenssjukdom ökar, samtidigt som den offentliga omsorgen minskar. Anhörigvårdare av personer med demens har flera stödbehov som inte är uppfyllda på grund av en bristande förståelse av deras livssituation. Syftet med denna litteraturstudie är att skapa förståelse och belysa livssituationen för anhöriga som vårdar en närstående med en demenssjukdom. För att besvara syftet har en litteratursökning gjorts i tre databaser som har resulterat i identifieringen av 15 kvalitativa studier. Tematisk analys har tillämpats på studiernas resultatavsnitt. Tre huvudteman och fem underteman har identifierats. Teman belyser anhörigvårdarna av personer med demens, deras upplevelse samt de strategierna de använder för att klara av vardagen. Livssituationen för anhörigvårdare av personer med demens ser olika ut och stödbehoven är individualiserad och beror på deras livssituation innan insjuknandet samt på sjukdomens symtom. / Family caregiving of people with dementia is expected to increase due to a declining public care and a growing number of people suffering from dementia. There is a need for better understanding of the life situation of family caregivers in order to give them the right support. The aim of this literature study is to emphasize the life situation of relatives caring for persons with dementia disease.  The methodological approach is thematic analysis av 15 qualitative studies that have been identified after a literature search conducted in three databases. The results are presented in three main themes and five sub-themes. The themes highlight the family caregivers, their experience and the strategies they use to cope with everyday life. The study concludes that the life situation of the family caregivers is individualized. Their support needs are varying according to the development of the dementia disease and the circumstances before the illness.

Cochlear implantation is a proven and accepted option for young children with profound hearing loss. Cochlear implantation requires a professional team which should inform, guide, support and collaborate with parents constantly throughout the process. Existing programs for children with hearing loss and their families are generally designed on the basis of what experts believe they should contain, rather than on what parents actually wish to receive, which may often lead to a mismatch between the professionals view and the parents’ views of parental needs. In order to ensure that parental needs are appropriately addressed it is imperative that professionals investigate and understand the individual needs and desires of the parents with whom they collaborate. This can be managed by carefully tailoring information to their individual needs and presenting information in an accessible format at the time it is most appropriate and digestible. The aim of this research study was to develop a pre-implantation tool to rate the individual support and information needs of parents of young cochlear implant candidates. Within the context of applied research, a qualitative descriptive intervention research design was used in the study. Ten parents of children with cochlear implants participated in a semi-structured interview to investigate their need for information and support during the pre-implantation phase of cochlear implantation. Their responses were analysed and compared to relevant literature in order to develop the pre-implantation rating tool for parents of cochlear implant candidates. The rating tool consists of ten areas for information and support. These areas are as follows: general, technical, surgery, social support, financial, communication options, education, outcomes, rehabilitation and parental role. Parents are able to rate which areas of information and support is important to them and what they would like to discuss with the professional involved. Parents are also encouraged to identify any area of information and support that is not included in the rating tool that they would want information on from the cochlear implant team. This rating tool was evaluated by eight speech-language pathologist/audiologist working in six cochlear implant programmes in South Africa to determine the value of the rating tool. Positive responses were given about the adaptability of the tool to identify individual needs for support and information and the tool would be useful to guide speech-language pathologist/audiologists to identify needs of parents that should initially be addressed. Respondents agreed that the rating tool provides an opportunity to express parent’s individual needs for information and support; that the tool correlates with a family centered approach and would be useful to include in cochlear implant programs. The majority of participants felt the rating tool possibly will be effective in identifying information and support needs of parents before cochlear implantation and respondents would be willing to implement the rating tool in their cochlear implant programme. The positive response from professionals working in the field of cochlear implantation validates the effectiveness of the rating tool. AFRIKAANS : Kogleêre inplantering is ‘n beproefde en aanvaarde opsie vir jong kinders met ‘n uitermatige gehoorverlies. Kogleêre inplanting vereis dat ‘n professionele span ouers deur die proses inlig, lei en ondersteun. Huidige programme vir kinders met gehoorverlies en hulle gesinne, is oor die algemeen gebaseer op grond van inligting wat volgens kundiges belangrik is om in te sluit. Hierdie programme is nie noodwendig gebaseer op inligting ouers graag wil ontvang nie. Dit kan lei tot ‘n verskil tussen die perspektief van professionele persone teenoor die van die ouer oor ouer- behoeftes aan inligting. Om te verseker dat ouers se behoeftes effektief aangespreek word, is dit noodsaaklik om dit te ondersoek en die individuele behoeftes van ouers te verstaan. Dit kan gedoen word deur inligting aan te pas volgens die individuele behoeftes van ouers en die inligting te verskaf in ‘n toeganklike wyse op ‘n gepaste tyd wanneer dit geskik is en die ouer die inligting kan prosesseer. Die doel van hierdie navorsing studie was om ‘n pre-inplantering instrument te ontwikkel om die individuele behoeftes aan inligting en ondersteuning van ouers van jong kogleêre inplantings kandidate te bepaal. Binne die konteks van toegepaste navorsing is ‘n kwalitatiewe beskrywings intervensie navorsingsontwerp gebruik. Tien ouers van kinders met kogleêre inplantings het deelgeneem aan ‘n semi-gestruktureerde onderhoud. Die onderhoud het ouers se behoefte aan inligting en ondersteuning tydens die pre-inplanterings fase van kogleêre inplantasie ondersoek. Die resultate is geanaliseer en vergelyk met relevante literatuur om sodoende die pre-inplantering bepaling instrument vir ouers van kogleêre kandidate te ontwerp. Die instrument bestaan uit tien areas van inligting en ondersteuning. Hierdie areas is as volg: algemeen, tegnies, chirurgie, sosiale ondersteuning, finansieel, kommunikasie opsies, onderrig, rehabilitasie en ouer rol. Ouers kan bepaal watter areas van inligting en ondersteuning vir hulle belangrik is en wat hulle graag wil bespreek met die professionele persone betrokke by die kogleêre inplanting proses. Ouers word ook aangemoedig om enige area van inligting en ondersteuning te identifiseer wat moontlik nie ingesluit is in die instrument nie, maar wat hulle graag met die kogleêre span wil bespreek. Agt spraak-taal patoloë/oudioloë van ses kogleêre inplantings programme in Suid-Afrika het die instrument geëvalueer om die waarde daarvan te bepaal. Positiewe insette is gegee oor die aanpasbaarheid van die instrument om die individuele behoeftes vir inligting en ondersteuning te bepaal; dat die instrument betekenisvol is om die spraak-taal patoloog/oudioloog te lei om die behoeftes van ouers te identifiseer en aan te spreek; dat die instrument ooreenstem met ‘n familie- gesentreede benadering en dat die instrument effektief ingesluit kan word in kogleêre inplantings programme. Die meeste deelnemers het aangedui dat die instrument effektief sal wees in die identifisering van inligting en ondersteunings behoeftes van ouers voor ‘n kogleêre inplanting. Deelnemers het aangedui dat hulle bereid sal wees om die instrument te implementeer in hulle kogleêre inplantingsprogram. Die positiewe respons van spraak-taal patoloë en oudioloë dui op die geldigheid en effektiwiteit van die instrument. / Dissertation (MCommunication Pathology)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / unrestricted

Mäns våld mot kvinnor är idag ett omfattande samhällsproblem som nu börjar uppmärksammas mer inom media så väl som politik. Kvinnors utsatthet för våld är inte längre en privat sak utan ansvaret vilar på samhällets axlar. Svenska kvinnojourer är idag den enda möjligheten för skydd och organisationerna har lång erfarenhet med både stöd- och förebyggande arbete inom området våld i nära relation. Den rådande covid-19 pandemin har nu tagit sin plats på världskartan och har försvårat mycket av det viktiga arbete jourerna gör för utsatta kvinnor. Denna studie syftar på att undersöka upplevelser och erfarenheter personalen på svenska kvinnojourer har, av covid-19 pandemins påverkan på de våldsamma relationerna, samt deras möjlighet att erbjuda det livsviktiga stödet. Att försöka att skapa en bild av pandemins konsekvenser för kvinnorna som utsatts för detta våldsamma samhällsproblem var därtill också en huvudpoäng med studien. Den ökade isoleringen och den ökade frustrationen över situationen syns i studiens resultat att vara de största riskfaktorerna för intensifiering och ökningen av mäns kontrollerande och våldsamma beteende mot kvinnor. Därutöver har den sociala distanseringen försvårat kvinnojourernas arbete och därmed kontakten till de utsatta kvinnorna. Det förebyggande arbetet har mer eller mindre ställts in. Efterverkningarna av denna nya verklighet är fortfarande okänd men förväntas inte vara utan betydelse. / Men's violence against women is today a widespread societal problem, which is now beginning to receive more attention in the media as well as in politics. Women's exposure to violence is no longer a private matter, the responsibility now rests on the shoulders of the society. Swedish women shelters are today the only opportunity for protection, and the organizations have extensive experience and knowledge of both support and preventional work in the area of ​​intimate partner violence. The current covid-19 pandemic has now taken its place on the world map, and has made much of the important work the women shelters do for victimized women more difficult. This study aims to examine the experiences and perceptions of Swedish women shelters, on the impact of the covid-19 pandemic on violent relationships and their ability to offer vital support. The purpose of creating an image of the pandemic's consequences for the women who were exposed to this violent societal problem was also a main point of the study. The increased isolation, and the intensified frustration over the situation is shown in the study results as being the biggest risk factors for intensifying and increasing men's controlling and violent behavior towards women. In addition the social distancing has made the work of the women shelters and thus the contact with the victimized women more difficult. The preventive work has more or less been seized. The aftermath of this new reality is still unknown, but is not expected to be without significance.

The aim of this research was to uncover and understand the experiences, and the coping strategies employed by African teenagers in coming to terms with the death of a loved one, the support needs in relation to this, and the need to provide guidelines on how they would like to be supported by social workers. A qualitative research approach was employed, following an explorative, descriptive and contextual research design. The study was conducted in Cullinan near Pretoria in Gauteng Province. Data were collected, using structured interviews with a purposively selected sample of African teenagers who met the criteria for inclusion in the study. The data were analysed, according to the framework provided by Tesch to ensure the trustworthiness of the qualitative data was to be employed for the data verification. The findings included seven identified themes, the sub-themes and categories of which were supported by the extracts from the interview transcripts, and the literature reviewed for this research. The research report, together with the conclusions and recommendations, based on the conclusion, were drawn from the research- thereby, showing how the goals of the study were achieved. / Social Work / M. Soc. Sc. (Mental Health)