no / The aim of this article is to assess the experiential learning environment of the African Study Visit (ASV). It presents a theoretically grounded analysis of the ASV. Although field visits are not a new phenomenon within Higher Education, they seem, but with few exceptions, to be considered as an add-on teaching method. By drawing from the experiential learning literature, we demonstrate that there are sound pedagogical reasons for incorporating field visits like the ASV into the curriculum as stand-alone components. Thus, the original contribution of this article is to place the ASV within the experiential learning literature such that the theoretical, practical and conceptual benefits for students are understood. Its significance is that this article offers a set of practices from an experiential learning perspective that can be used for deepening the levels of comprehension of political issues in Africa for international studies students.

Inledning: Primärvården i Sverige är i behov av förändring då dess struktur och resursfördelning behöver anpassas för att klara av att möta de framtida utmaningar som primärvården står inför med en befolkning som lever allt längre, kroniska sjukdomar samt multisjuka, där en möjlig lösning skulle kunna tänkas vara digitalisering av primärvården.  Syfte: Det här examensarbetet syftar till att undersöka digitala vårdcentralers möjligheter att bidra till en förbättrad tillgänglighet till primärvården i Sverige. Metod: En systematisk litteraturstudie har genomförts i flera olika databaser, där både kvalitativa och kvantitativa studier har inkluderats i studien. Resultat: Ur ett patientperspektiv rapporterade ett flertal studier en övergripande tillfredsställelse genom användning av digitala vårdbesök som ett alternativ till fysiskt besök på vårdcentral. Diskussion: Generellt ses digitala vårdcentraler som tillgängliggörare av vård för befolkningen, men det finns även osäkerheter som riskerar att påverka både patienter och skattemedel om resurserna används felaktigt och där de inte gör mest nytta. / Introduction: Primary care in Sweden is in need of change, and should recognize challenges related to structures of care, and use of resources, in order to adapt to future challenges faced by primary care. Sweden’s population is living longer, and population health will be increasingly affected by chronic diseases and people living with multiple illnesses. A possible solution could be the use of digitalization in primary care. Purpose: The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to investigate the possibility of digital healthcare providers to contribute to improved accessibility to primary care in Sweden. Method: A systematic literature study has been conducted through several different databases. Both qualitative and quantitative studies have been included in the study. Results: Findings suggest that there is overall patient satisfaction with digital healthcare visits as an alternative to physical visits to the healthcare center. Discussion: Generally speaking, digital care could be expanded but there are also uncertainties that may affect both patients and strain on resources. These issues need further exploring.

Submitted by Renata Lopes (renatasil82@gmail.com) on 2017-04-12T12:12:39Z No. of bitstreams: 1 vanessatonellidasilva.pdf: 6199894 bytes, checksum: 43b4ccd28a98286473cdb86af122f0ed (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Adriana Oliveira (adriana.oliveira@ufjf.edu.br) on 2017-04-18T13:03:11Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 vanessatonellidasilva.pdf: 6199894 bytes, checksum: 43b4ccd28a98286473cdb86af122f0ed (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-04-18T13:03:11Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 vanessatonellidasilva.pdf: 6199894 bytes, checksum: 43b4ccd28a98286473cdb86af122f0ed (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-02-16 / A presente pesquisa busca relacionar o contexto cultural convergente e participativo com algumas mudanças percebidas na atividade turística, a saber, na comunicação turística brasileira. Realizando um percurso que busca entender como a cultura atual propicia a troca de informação entre os próprios consumidores, criando mecanismos de busca e avaliação que acabam influenciando e reconfigurando a atividade turística. Buscamos refletir, também, que essa percepção evoca uma nova forma de comunicar os destinos turísticos. Para tal, utilizamos a semiótica de Charles Sanders Peirce, mais propriamente a Gramática Especulativa, no intuito de analisar como o portal Visit Brasil, do governo brasileiro, trabalha a imagem do país a partir de fotografias que ilustram as informações de destinos brasileiros. Também investigamos a forma como o portal se apropria de imagens produzidas pelos usuários em seu perfil do Instagram e o modo como se liga às percepções dadas a partir das imagens do website. / The present research seeks to relate the convergent and participatory cultural context with some perceived changes in tourism activity, specifically, in Brazilian tourism communication. Taking a course that seeks to understand how current culture provides the exchange of information among consumers themselves, creating search and evaluation mechanisms that end up influencing and reconfiguring tourism. We also intend to think about that this perception claims a new way of communicating tourist destinations. For this, we use the semiotics of Charles Sanders Peirce, more specifically the Speculative Grammar, in order to analyze how the Brazil portal Visit Brasil, construct the image of the country from photographs that illustrate the information of Brazilian destinations. We also investigate how the portal appropriates images produced by users in its Instagram profile and how it connects to the perceptions given from the images on the website.

Objective: Increased prenatal care satisfaction is associated with positive clinical and business outcomes. Despite a link between pre-visit preparation interventions and patient satisfaction, little is known about the development of digital pre-visit interventions to improve prenatal patient satisfaction. Methods: A two-phase approach was employed. In the first phase, a mixed-methods survey was deployed to establish determinants of patient satisfaction, to identify unmet patient needs, determine current preparation practices and determine what visit patients felt the least prepared for. A convenience sample of 87 prenatal patients completed a self-administered survey on a tablet within 4 weeks of their estimated due date. In the second phase, a combination of participant interviews and staff workshops followed a Design Thinking methodology to co-design a prototype intervention to help patients prepare for their visit. Results: Of the participants surveyed, 94.1% reported feeling satisfied with their prenatal care. Visit preparedness was found to be a statistically significant predictor of overall satisfaction. Preparedness was lowest in early pregnancy and for primigravida patients. Patients reported a mismatch between high informational needs and low visit frequency in early pregnancy. To fulfill their information needs, participants conducted frequent research on their pregnancy, often using digital resources such as websites, peer-forums, mobile applications and social media. Participants reported low satisfaction with system characteristics of their care, citing the wait time needed to see their provider, time spent in the waiting room and a lack of flexibility in appointment scheduling as pain points in their care. Utilizing a Design Thinking approach, a prototype digital on-boarding package was co-developed with patients and clinic staff. Conclusions for Practice: Implementation of a digital on-boarding package for patients ahead of their first visit has the potential to fulfill informational needs and set expectations for their care journey, which in turn can increase preparedness and satisfaction. / Thesis / Master of Science (MSc) / Satisfied patients are more likely to have better health outcomes, are more likely to provide a positive review about their care provider and are less likely to pursue malpractice claims. One possible way to make patients more satisfied is to better prepare them for visits with their doctor. This study explored the current pregnancy experience of patients at an obstetrics clinic in Niagara and combined patient and staff input to come up with potential ways to help them prepare. Most patients were satisfied with their care, especially ones who said they felt well prepared for their visits. Patients in their first pregnancy felt least prepared for their visits. Patients in early pregnancy shared that they had many questions and that they wished they could have seen their physician earlier. To help patients, a digital on-boarding package was designed to answer patients’ questions and connect them with trustworthy resources.

Huvudsyftet med denna uppsats är att förstå vad det finns för olika prioriteringar bland Visit Sweden och de regionala DMO:s när det kommer till en inriktning av den inkommande internationella turismen till Sverige. Vidare är vårt delsyfte att ta reda på hur samarbetet mellan Visit Sweden och de regionala destination managementorganisationer, s.k. DMO:s, förhåller sig och hör ihop med varandra. Vi har använt oss utav kvalitativ metod med olika former av intervjuer från de utförda intervjuerna med Visit Sweden och det regionala DMO:s samt även textmaterial från Visit Swedens webbsida. Teorierna är vetenskapliga artiklar som vi anser anknyter till det valda ämnet samt den insamlade empirin.  I resultaten utifrån den insamlade empiri framgår det att Visit Sweden inte ser själva att de väljer specifika marknader, men att de erkänner att de väljer fokusmarknader när det gäller de olika länderna. Visit Swedens val handlar bl.a. om de ser en potential att resenärer i respektive länder vill besöka Sverige. Detta kan ändras över tid beroende på interna och externa faktorer. De utgår främst utifrån deras målgrupp den Globala resenären som enligt deras marknadsanalyser kan appliceras på flera olika länder som inte ingår i deras fokusmarknader. Det som också styr deras val av marknader och marknadssegment är deras ägare svenska staten och svensk turism AB, men också olika turismaktörer såsom små och stora, som t.ex. hotell som efterfrågar att få hjälp med marknadsföring gentemot internationella turister. Gällande hur de regionala DMO:s prioriteringar ser ut i förhållande till Visit Sweden kan vi konstatera att de flesta prioriterar likartat i förhållande till Visit Sweden. Däremot ser vi ett mönster då de regionala DMO:s som inte delar samma val av fokusmarknader väljer att marknadsföra sig på andra sätt. Detta görs trots det finns en möjlighet för samarbete med Visit Sweden även om fokusmarknaden inte är densamma. / Our main purpose with this bachelor thesis is to get an understanding of which different orientations currently exists when it comes to the incoming international tourism to Sweden. Furthermore, we want to find out how the collaboration between Visit Sweden and the regional destinations management organizations, called DMO:s is structured in relation to each other. We have chosen a qualitative method which includes several different types of interviews with Visit Sweden and the regional DMO:s as well as text material from Visit Sweden's website. The theories are scientific articles which we consider are suitable to our chosen subject and empirical data.     The results based on the collected empirical evidence show that Visit Sweden does not see that they have choose specific markets, but they admit that they choose focus markets when it comes to countries. Among other things, Visit Sweden's choice is about when they see a potential that travelers in each country want to visit Sweden. This can change over time depending on internal and external factors. They are based primarily on their target group Global Traveler who according to their market analyzes can be applied to several different countries that are not included in their focus markets. What also controls the selection of markets and market segments are their owners the Swedish state and Swedish tourism AB, but also various tourism stakeholders such as small and large, for example hotels who seek help with marketing towards international tourists. When it comes to how regional DMO:s prioritize compared to Visit Sweden we can conclude that several of them prioritize in the same way as Visit Sweden. However, we see a pattern when regional DMO:s who do not share the same choice of focus markets choose to market themselves in other ways than cooperating with Visit Sweden. This happens despite of the fact that there is an opportunity for collaboration with Visit Sweden still even if their focus market is not the same.

Many women experience miscarriage every year. Every fourth woman who has given birth reports that she has previous experience of miscarriage. In a study of all women in the Swedish Medical Birth Register 1983-2003, we found that the number of cases of self reported miscarriage had increased in Sweden during this 21 year period. This increase can be explained by the introduction of sensitive pregnancy tests around 1990, as well as an increase in the mean age of the mothers, by approximately 3 years, during the observation period. The risk of miscarriage is 13% with the first child. With subsequent pregnancies, the risk of miscarriage is 8%, 6% and 4% with the second, third and fourth child, respectively. Thirteen of these women who had suffered a recent miscarriage were interviewed four months later, and their feelings of guilt and emptiness were explored. Their experience was that they wanted their questions to be answered, and that they wanted others to treat them as the mothers to be that they felt themselves to be. They also experienced the need for time to grieve their loss. Measurement of grief by means of the Perinatal Grief Scale (PGS) is used in research but has also been proposed for clinical use. We have translated this psychological instrument to Swedish, back-translated and tested it in a small pilot study. In a randomized controlled study, women with early miscarriage were allocated, either to a structured visit (study group) or a regular visit (control group) to a midwife. The structured visit was conducted according to the Swanson caring theory. We could conclude that the structured visit had no significant effect on grief compared to the regular visit, as measured using the PGS. However, women with the sub-diagnosis missed abortion have significantly more grief four months after early miscarriage, regardless of visit type. We also performed a content analysis of the tape-recorded structured follow-up visit. The code-key used was Bonanno and Kaltman’s general grief categorization. Women’s expression of grief after miscarriage was found to be very similar to the grief experienced following the death of a relative. Furthermore, the grief was found to be independent of number of children, women’s age, or earlier experience of miscarriage. Conclusions: Every fourth woman who gives birth reports that she has also experienced early miscarriage. The experience of these women is that they have suffered a substantial loss and their reaction is grief similar to that experienced following the death of a relative.

In the last few years, engagement in medical care among individuals living with HIV has become a major priority among HIV medical providers and public health researchers. Engagement in medical care is an important concept as it involves the process of linking newly diagnosed individuals into medical care and retaining those individuals in care throughout the course of their infection. Although there have been major advances in the management of HIV, like the advent of Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy, morbidity and mortality due to HIV cannot be fully reduced if the individual does not optimally retain in care. Retention in HIV medical care has become an emerging topic in HIV research, but there still remains a scarce amount of research on how to properly define retention, understand its predictors, and how it impacts HIV outcomes. The purpose of this dissertation was to evaluate retention in HIV medical care among individuals diagnosed with HIV and seeking care at an urban infectious disease clinic in Kentucky. The three specific aims of this dissertation were to: (1) compare methods in measuring retention in HIV medical care; (2) determine the predictors of poor retention in care and assess the effect of non-HIV related comorbidities have on retention over time; and (3) determine the impact early retention to medical care has on time to viral load suppression and rebound among individuals initiating Highly Active Antiretroviral Therapy. A retrospective cohort study was conducted employing a medical chart review, and patients who sought HIV care at the Bluegrass Care Clinic between January 1st 2003 and May 1st 2011 were eligible for the study. There were 1,358 patients included in the study and these individuals were followed until December 31st, 2011. The results suggested that individuals living with HIV should seek care at least once every six months (visit constancy) and that only 48.6% of the study population obtained optimal retention over time. Over time the rate of retention decreased among the study sample and those with optimal retention were more likely to suppress their viral loads compared to poor retainers.

Destination marketing organisations (DMO) är ett fenomen som går att studera utifrån flera aspekter. Vi valde att utgå från DMO positionering och distribution av turismprodukter vilket skapade frågeställningen: Hur förmedlas Norge som en nationell destination? Organisationen är komplex, och detta arbetets syfte är därför att få en ökad förståelse för DMOs arbete utifrån en egenskapad modell, DMOs framställningsprocess av en destination. En deduktiv ansats har används i studien, där teorierna DMO, platsmarkandsföring, kommersialisering samt destination image har behandlats. Dessa teorier har sedan applicerats på ett verkligt fenomen, som i detta fall har varit Norges DMO, Innovasjon Norge.   Arbetets empiriska material har samlats in från en mail intervju med Andreas Ørjasæter Solhaug på Innovasjon Norge. Även en semiotisk bildanalys har genomförts, där bilder i den officiella broschyr Innovasjon Norge publicerat år 2014 till den svenska marknaden studerats. Utifrån semiotik har en bildanalys genomförts med hjälp av ett kodningsschema samt en kodningsmanual som skapats. De värden Innovasjon Norge önskar att platsmarknadsföra och kommersialisera ut, har jämförts med de värden som faktiskt kommersialiseras ut till den svenska marknaden. Utifrån detta har sedan en slutsats dragits kring vilka indikationer som finns för den destination image potentiella besökare i Sverige har inför Norge. Då det i huvudsak är natur och aktiveter kopplade till naturen som kommersialiseras ut, visar detta en indikation på att de svenska besökarna också ser Norge som en destination som främst har naturupplevelser av olika slag att erbjuda.

Barn i åldrarna 4-9 år har tydliga önskemål kring hur de vill att deras restaurangbesök ska se ut. I samarbete med Barnens Bästa Bord har en kvalitativ studie gjorts med fokus på barns önskemål vid restaurangbesök. Syftet med uppsatsen var att undersöka barnens önskemål när de går på restaurang med hänsyn till hela måltidsupplevelsen gällande mat, miljö, meny och bemötande. Metoderna som har använts är bildövning där barn har ritat sin favoriträtt, fokusgruppintervjuer med barn samt enkätundersökningar med föräldrar.Resultatet visar att gemenskapen inom familjen är viktig för barnen vid restaurangmåltiden. Barnen är medvetna om att vid restaurangbesök önskas lugn och ro, dock är stillasittande ett problem för barnen. De efterfrågar lugna aktiviteter som kan genomföras vid bordet men även fysisk aktivitet. Det är viktigt för många barn att maten som serveras inte är blandad på tallriken och de önskar en roligare meny med färger, bilder och tydlig text. Föräldrarna önskar en mer varierad barnmeny med fler valmöjligheter och att maten kan anpassas efter barnens ålder och behov. Frukt och grönsaker ses som en viktig och naturlig del av måltiden, både för barn och för föräldrar. Föräldrar önskar även att barnen ska få en bra måltidsupplevelse. / Children between 4-9 years old have clear wishes about how they want their restaurant visits will be. In collaboration with “Barnens Bästa Bord” this qualitative study, focuses on the child’s wishes when visiting a restaurant. The aim is to take the entire meal experience regarding food, environment, customer service and menu into consideration. Methods used were a drawing exercise in which, children drew their favorite dish, focus group interviews with children and finally a questionnaire directed towards parents.Results show that community within the family is important for the children at restaurant visits. The children are aware that when eating they are expected to behave peacefully and quiet, although sedentary is a problem for the children and they are asking for silent activities at the table but also physical activities. It is important for many children that food is not mixed on the plate and they request a fun menu with color, pictures and distinct fonts. The parents request a bigger variation of the children’s menu and that the food can be adjusted according to age and needs. Fruits and vegetables are important and natural parts of the meal for both child and parent. Parents wish to give the children a pleasant meal experience. / Barnens Bästa Bord

OBJECTIVES: To identify the types of patients who talk with their physicians as a result of Direct-to-Consumer (DTC) advertising. METHODS: Data were taken from a national survey, "Public Health Impact of Direct-to-Consumer Advertising of Prescription Drugs, July 2001- January 2002", conducted by researchers from Harvard Medical School. Participants (n = 3000) were interviewed by telephone. We constructed a conceptual framework consisting of outcomes (3 types of physician visits), intervention (DTC experience) and five groups of explanatory factors (health beliefs, demographics, health status, socioeconomic status and market factors). Data were analyzed with three multivariate stepwise logistic regressions. The three dependent variables were whether an advertisement for a prescription drug had ever prompted the patient to: 1) visit to discuss prescription drug, 2) visit to discuss new condition, and 3) visit to discuss treatment change. RESULTS: Out of all independent variables, only six variables consistently showed significant effects on the three dependent variables after adjusting for other variables. They were: 1) taking medication on regular basis, 2) having anxiety, 3) having high advertisement attentiveness, 4) viewing media as the most important source prompting one to talk with physician, 5) believing that DTC advertisements increased awareness of new treatment, and 6) believing that DTC advertisements improved discussion with health professionals. The six variables were the strongest predictors for DTC-prompted physician visits.CONCLUSIONS: Our nationally representative study found multiple factors were associated with different types of physician visits prompted by DTC advertisements. This information could be used to target those patients most likely to talk to their physicians as a result of DTC advertisements.