In children, life-threatening illnesses (LTIs) present with both physical and psychosocial side effects, which seem to contribute to the perpetuation of hopelessness and fear among the children and their families. Children with LTIs often experience regular and painful treatment routines. A LTI not only impacts on the child but also on the family. LTIs put families in a critical and vulnerable situation, evoking emotions such as shock, disbelief and fear. Hope and coping strategies appear to be crucial for both children and their families when facing the effects of a LTI on a child. While medical intervention strategies are used to alleviate physical side effects, psychosocial intervention strategies (as referred to in this research study) that are focused on improving the well-being of the child and family, appear to be limited. Psychosocial interventions are defined as any intervention that emphasizes psychological or social factors, rather than biological factors. Psychosocial intervention strategies, such as „dream-come-true‟ projects, appear to ameliorate distress, offer respite, decrease isolation, empower individuals, increase self-confidence and give the children unique opportunities to connect with their families in a positive, normal way. Such a psychosocial intervention strategy is offered by the Reach For A Dream Foundation (RFAD) in South Africa. The experiences of the recipients of RFAD „dream-come-true‟ projects were the focus of this study. The goal of this research study was to study the „dream-come-true‟ psychosocial experiences of children/adolescents and their families, by means of a narrative enquiry design. This design allowed participants to tell their stories truthfully, giving the researcher the opportunity to immerse herself in the personal experience of each participant. Participants were purposively, and then randomly, selected from an RFAD client list. A total of six children/adolescents, between the ages of 8 and 18 years, were randomly selected from Johannesburg and the surrounding areas. The children/adolescents and both parents were interviewed, except for one father who was not present (17 participants in total). Child/adolescent interviews included the use of fun, tactile emotive cushions to assist the participants to recognize emotions they had felt „pre-dream‟, during the „dream‟, and „postdream‟. Semi-structured, individual in-depth interviews were used to interview parent participants. The parent‟s story was not interrupted, thereby providing the opportunity for a fluid narrative. In addition to interviews, the researcher made field notes of the participant‟s reactions, body language and emotions after each interview. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Tesch‟s (1990) approach was used to identify, analyse and report patterns within the data. The findings of this study suggest that intervention strategies improve emotional health and overall wellness in participants. „Pre-dream‟ feelings of fear, sadness, loneliness and a lack of normality in everyday life, were prominent themes. Participating parents expressed anger, helplessness and guilt about being unable to help their children. During the „dream-come-true‟ experience, the predominant themes that emerged were excitement, amazement and gratitude. The theme of disbelief in the reality and experience of the „dream‟ was also prominent. „Post-dream‟, the participants reported a more positive, confident and hopeful outlook. This research appeared to yield some important information on the possible benefits of psychosocial intervention strategies, as they seemed helpful in addressing the challenges presented by LTIs in children/adolescents. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

In children, life-threatening illnesses (LTIs) present with both physical and psychosocial side effects, which seem to contribute to the perpetuation of hopelessness and fear among the children and their families. Children with LTIs often experience regular and painful treatment routines. A LTI not only impacts on the child but also on the family. LTIs put families in a critical and vulnerable situation, evoking emotions such as shock, disbelief and fear. Hope and coping strategies appear to be crucial for both children and their families when facing the effects of a LTI on a child. While medical intervention strategies are used to alleviate physical side effects, psychosocial intervention strategies (as referred to in this research study) that are focused on improving the well-being of the child and family, appear to be limited. Psychosocial interventions are defined as any intervention that emphasizes psychological or social factors, rather than biological factors. Psychosocial intervention strategies, such as „dream-come-true‟ projects, appear to ameliorate distress, offer respite, decrease isolation, empower individuals, increase self-confidence and give the children unique opportunities to connect with their families in a positive, normal way. Such a psychosocial intervention strategy is offered by the Reach For A Dream Foundation (RFAD) in South Africa. The experiences of the recipients of RFAD „dream-come-true‟ projects were the focus of this study. The goal of this research study was to study the „dream-come-true‟ psychosocial experiences of children/adolescents and their families, by means of a narrative enquiry design. This design allowed participants to tell their stories truthfully, giving the researcher the opportunity to immerse herself in the personal experience of each participant. Participants were purposively, and then randomly, selected from an RFAD client list. A total of six children/adolescents, between the ages of 8 and 18 years, were randomly selected from Johannesburg and the surrounding areas. The children/adolescents and both parents were interviewed, except for one father who was not present (17 participants in total). Child/adolescent interviews included the use of fun, tactile emotive cushions to assist the participants to recognize emotions they had felt „pre-dream‟, during the „dream‟, and „postdream‟. Semi-structured, individual in-depth interviews were used to interview parent participants. The parent‟s story was not interrupted, thereby providing the opportunity for a fluid narrative. In addition to interviews, the researcher made field notes of the participant‟s reactions, body language and emotions after each interview. All interviews were recorded and transcribed. Tesch‟s (1990) approach was used to identify, analyse and report patterns within the data. The findings of this study suggest that intervention strategies improve emotional health and overall wellness in participants. „Pre-dream‟ feelings of fear, sadness, loneliness and a lack of normality in everyday life, were prominent themes. Participating parents expressed anger, helplessness and guilt about being unable to help their children. During the „dream-come-true‟ experience, the predominant themes that emerged were excitement, amazement and gratitude. The theme of disbelief in the reality and experience of the „dream‟ was also prominent. „Post-dream‟, the participants reported a more positive, confident and hopeful outlook. This research appeared to yield some important information on the possible benefits of psychosocial intervention strategies, as they seemed helpful in addressing the challenges presented by LTIs in children/adolescents. / MA (Psychology), North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2015

Work is focused on life style and physical activity in older school-age children. The aim of the work is to demonstrate improvement with regular volleyball training. They were used for tampering INDARES test of physical activite and questionnaire of life style. The total number of tested persons was 60 persons.

In a world which continuously becomes more globalised, the need to adapt one's language depending on context becomes increasingly important. This is acknowledged in the Swedish syllabus for the upper-secondary school, which emphasises communicative competence and the need to adapt to situation and hearer. This study uses a foundation based on politeness theory, where the act of requesting is considered a threat to the notion of face. The concept of face that is being used is based on the work of Brown and Levinson (1987) and the idea is that everyone has a positive- and negative face where the former is the need for one’s self-image to be respected and the latter is the freedom to act without imposition from others. By role-playing different scenarios, the participants of the study, all students of the English 7 course, were asked to perform requests which varied in imposition and which targeted hearers of different statuses. The results were analysed using a qualitative approach, which leads to the conclusion that half of the six participants adapted their language appropriately to the communicative situation. Those three had managed to show an increase in face-saving acts where the imposition was greater, or the hearer was of a higher status. That only half of the participants managed to do this shows a lack of success in teaching the students the necessary pragmatic skills encoded in the syllabus and more focused studies in this area are recommended to address this issue. Due to the small number of participants, further studies are needed to fully confirm the results presented in this study.

Due to the social context of engineering classrooms, stereotype threat (STT) may play an essential role in the dearth of African American females in engineering. Empirical studies have confirmed the deleterious effects STT has on students' performance. However, acceptance of STT as more than a laboratory phenomenon necessitates an in-depth understanding of how stigmatized groups experience being socially devalued and negatively stereotyped. In this qualitative investigation, Intersectionality and the Critical Race Theory tenet of counter-storytelling were applied to capture the voices of 10 African American women to comprehend how they resisted or overcame STT and persisted in engineering degree programs. Data were triangulated from two different semi-structured interviews and reading reactions submitted by each participant. Findings reveal four characteristic themes shared by the participants: (a)Proof Stereotype Threat Exists; (b) Primary Contributors of Stereotype Threat; (c) Secondary Factors; and (d) Tools for Persisting. Based on participants’ narratives, 6 recommendations are offered to assist African American female students combat STT and persist in engineering.

<p>Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att beskriva hur sjuksköterskor kan samtala om döden och döendet med barn som har livshotande sjukdomar. Litteratursökningen genomfördes i databaserna Medline (via PubMed) och Cinahl samt via manuell sökning. Tio artiklar som mötte inklusionskriterierna granskades. Resultatet bearbetades och presenterades utifrån de nio grundelementen i professionell, omvårdnadsorienterad kommunikation. Resultatet visade att en förutsättning för att sjuksköterskor ska kunna samtala om döden och döendet med barn är att de visar <em>empati</em>, har <em>yrkeskunskap</em> samt <em>ett mål</em> för samtalet. Relationen mellan sjuksköterskor och barnet måste bygga på <em>känslor</em>, <em>förnuftigt tänkande</em> samt en <em>etiskt reflekterande </em>vård. Sjuksköterskor måste se på <em>nuet</em> samtidigt som de har barnets <em>förflutna</em> i åtanke och föreställer sig hur barnets <em>framtid</em> kan gestalta sig. Genom att använda teckningar som kommunikationshjälpmedel kan sjuksköterskor åskådliggöra barnets känslor, tankar, drömmar och frågor samt förstå barnets livsupplevelser. Slutsatsen är att det finns stöd för att samtalet om döden och döendet med barn som har livshotande sjukdomar kan bygga på de nio grundelementen i professionell, omvårdnadsorienterad kommunikation.</p> / <p>The aim of the present literature review was to describe how nurses can talk about death and dying with children who have life-threatening diseases. A literature search was conducted in the databases Medline (through PubMed) and Cinahl, and through manual search. Ten articles that met the inclusion criteria were reviewed. The results were processed and presented on the basis of the nine basic elements of professional, caring-oriented communications. The result showed that a condition for nurses to be able to talk about death and dying with children is that they show <em>empathy</em>, have <em>professional knowledge</em> and <em>a target</em> for the conversation. The relationship between nurses and the child must be based on <em>emotions</em>, <em>rational thinking</em> and an <em>ethically reflective</em> care. Nurses must look at the <em>present moment</em>, while they have the child's <em>past</em> in mind and imagine how the child's <em>future</em> can turn out. To use drawings as a communication tool can help nurses to visualize the child's feelings, thoughts, dreams and questions, as well as understand the child's life experiences. The conclusion is that there is evidence for that conversation about death and dying with children who have life-threatening diseases could be based on the nine basic elements of professional, caring-oriented communications.</p>

Att få en livshotande sjukdom kan vara en stor kris och är ett lidande. Tidigare forskning är till stor del fokuserad på patienters upplevelser i ett terminalt skede och visar vikten av en öppen kommunikation, att leva ett aktivt normalt liv och att människors uppfattning om döden är olika. Syftet med denna studie var att beskriva hur det är att leva med en livshotande sjukdom i det vardagliga livet vilket har studerats med hjälp av självbiografier. Studien har en kvalitativ ansats, baserad på sex självbiografier. Resultatet beskrivs i form av fem teman, som illustreras och förtydligas med citat. Resultatet visar att upplevelsen av att leva med en livshotande sjukdom involverar ett behov av att leva ett så vardagligt liv som möjligt för att få ett större välbefinnande. Framtiden är oviss och personerna upplever en konstant oro och rädsla. Att ha någon att dela sina upplevelser med, ett bra stöd och förtroende från vårdpersonal är viktigt. I diskussionen diskuteras hur individens hela livssituation påverkas till följd av en livshotande sjukdom och hur viktigt det är att vårdpersonalen bekräftar patienternas känslor. / A life-threatening disease is a crisis and a suffering. Previous research are focused on terminally ill patients experiences and shows the importance of open communication, to live a active normal life and that peoples apprehension about death is different. The aim of this study was to describe how it is to live with a life-threatening disease in a every day life, based on autobiographies. The study is based on a qualitative approach and a analysis of six autobiographies. The results is presented in five themes. Each theme is described separately with help from quotation from the autobiographies. The results shows that the experiences of living with a life- threatening disease involves a need to live a every day life as it used to be, to get a increased well-being. It even includes a uncertainty future and a constant anxiety and fear. To have someone to share the experience with, a good support and to feel confidence from nursing staff is important. How peoples life situation are influenced by the life-threatening disease and how important it is that nursing staff confirm patients experience are discussed.

The purpose of this naturalistic inquiry was to describe, interpret, and link through voices of parents the lived experience of caring for a child with a lifelimiting and lifethreatening diagnosis within the context of existing social polices. Critical ethnology and Habermas critical theory framework together provided a broad framework from which to delve beneath the surface of everyday appearances and to produce theoretically informed accounts of social phenomena grounded in parents perceptions of caring for children who have palliative care needs. This framework provided the means to deconstruct power structures and relationships to reveal and redress oppression by unlocking silent discourses, emancipating voices, and empowering families. The stories of six parents were captured and presented a critical discourse concerning outcomes of the operationalized welfare state within a liberal paradigm that celebrates the autonomous individual as the appropriate unit of political analysis. <p>Four themes emerged that illuminated and provided a fuller understanding of the lived experiences of parenting a child with a lifelimiting and lifethreatening diagnosis. The initial theme, Mother as Caregiver, described the profound effect that assuming the caregiving role had on the lives of these mothers. The theme, Respite and Coping, explored and identified the overwhelming need for parents to obtain relief through respite, so they could parent better. The third theme, Surviving Past Expectancy, explained how their child, outliving their initial diagnosis, placed yet another new stress and burden on the family. The final theme, Getting Everyone on the Same Page, described frustrations parents experienced on a regular basis trying to find services and then act as coordinator for their child and family.<p>This study provided a unique and valuable optic to an untapped data source, which until now has remained silent. Results demonstrate the significance and meaning of the identified themes and their interrelatedness, and the study concludes with a discussion of the findings and policy implications. The main findings were the untapped resilience and strength of each participant, the uniqueness of each of their stories, and the reality that the harms associated with having a child with a lifelimiting and lifethreatening diagnosis can certainly be lessened through social polices that direct the provision and access to pediatric palliative care services to all who require them. A researchedbased understanding of the lived experience and the contextual nature of parents perceptions provides policymakers, politicians, and health care professionals an opportunity to offer specialized services and programs to children with lifelimiting and lifethreatening diagnosis and their families.

The purpose of this naturalistic inquiry was to describe, interpret, and link through voices of parents the lived experience of caring for a child with a lifelimiting and lifethreatening diagnosis within the context of existing social polices. Critical ethnology and Habermas critical theory framework together provided a broad framework from which to delve beneath the surface of everyday appearances and to produce theoretically informed accounts of social phenomena grounded in parents perceptions of caring for children who have palliative care needs. This framework provided the means to deconstruct power structures and relationships to reveal and redress oppression by unlocking silent discourses, emancipating voices, and empowering families. The stories of six parents were captured and presented a critical discourse concerning outcomes of the operationalized welfare state within a liberal paradigm that celebrates the autonomous individual as the appropriate unit of political analysis. <p>Four themes emerged that illuminated and provided a fuller understanding of the lived experiences of parenting a child with a lifelimiting and lifethreatening diagnosis. The initial theme, Mother as Caregiver, described the profound effect that assuming the caregiving role had on the lives of these mothers. The theme, Respite and Coping, explored and identified the overwhelming need for parents to obtain relief through respite, so they could parent better. The third theme, Surviving Past Expectancy, explained how their child, outliving their initial diagnosis, placed yet another new stress and burden on the family. The final theme, Getting Everyone on the Same Page, described frustrations parents experienced on a regular basis trying to find services and then act as coordinator for their child and family.<p>This study provided a unique and valuable optic to an untapped data source, which until now has remained silent. Results demonstrate the significance and meaning of the identified themes and their interrelatedness, and the study concludes with a discussion of the findings and policy implications. The main findings were the untapped resilience and strength of each participant, the uniqueness of each of their stories, and the reality that the harms associated with having a child with a lifelimiting and lifethreatening diagnosis can certainly be lessened through social polices that direct the provision and access to pediatric palliative care services to all who require them. A researchedbased understanding of the lived experience and the contextual nature of parents perceptions provides policymakers, politicians, and health care professionals an opportunity to offer specialized services and programs to children with lifelimiting and lifethreatening diagnosis and their families.

Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att beskriva hur sjuksköterskor kan samtala om döden och döendet med barn som har livshotande sjukdomar. Litteratursökningen genomfördes i databaserna Medline (via PubMed) och Cinahl samt via manuell sökning. Tio artiklar som mötte inklusionskriterierna granskades. Resultatet bearbetades och presenterades utifrån de nio grundelementen i professionell, omvårdnadsorienterad kommunikation. Resultatet visade att en förutsättning för att sjuksköterskor ska kunna samtala om döden och döendet med barn är att de visar empati, har yrkeskunskap samt ett mål för samtalet. Relationen mellan sjuksköterskor och barnet måste bygga på känslor, förnuftigt tänkande samt en etiskt reflekterande vård. Sjuksköterskor måste se på nuet samtidigt som de har barnets förflutna i åtanke och föreställer sig hur barnets framtid kan gestalta sig. Genom att använda teckningar som kommunikationshjälpmedel kan sjuksköterskor åskådliggöra barnets känslor, tankar, drömmar och frågor samt förstå barnets livsupplevelser. Slutsatsen är att det finns stöd för att samtalet om döden och döendet med barn som har livshotande sjukdomar kan bygga på de nio grundelementen i professionell, omvårdnadsorienterad kommunikation. / The aim of the present literature review was to describe how nurses can talk about death and dying with children who have life-threatening diseases. A literature search was conducted in the databases Medline (through PubMed) and Cinahl, and through manual search. Ten articles that met the inclusion criteria were reviewed. The results were processed and presented on the basis of the nine basic elements of professional, caring-oriented communications. The result showed that a condition for nurses to be able to talk about death and dying with children is that they show empathy, have professional knowledge and a target for the conversation. The relationship between nurses and the child must be based on emotions, rational thinking and an ethically reflective care. Nurses must look at the present moment, while they have the child's past in mind and imagine how the child's future can turn out. To use drawings as a communication tool can help nurses to visualize the child's feelings, thoughts, dreams and questions, as well as understand the child's life experiences. The conclusion is that there is evidence for that conversation about death and dying with children who have life-threatening diseases could be based on the nine basic elements of professional, caring-oriented communications.