This study explores and describes the perceived needs of women living with HIV/AIDS in Saskatchewan. A purposive sample was used to recruit women to participate in three focus groups. A total of eleven women from urban and rural areas of Saskatchewan participated. Based on seroprevalence estimates this number may represent one third to one half of all expected cases of women with HIV/AIDS in Saskatchewan. Recursive analysis was used to validate the themes identified in the first two focus groups with participants in a third focus group. Content analysis of the data identified four themes from the women's experiences: 1) medical needs, 2) economic needs, 3) mental health needs, and 4) service needs. The results support previous studies which indicate that women with HIV have a number of unmet heeds. Women from rural areas were found to have more unmet needs and limited access to appropriate services and supports than urban women. Three types of coping strategies were found to be used by the women in getting their needs met: avoidance, maintenance, and mastery. Those who utilized a mastery coping strategy were more successful in having their needs met than those who did not. A number of individual, organizational, systemic, and policy interventions are identified to assist women in moving towards mastery coping strategies. Social workers can work at the clinical, family group, and policy levels to improve the situation for women living with HIV/AIDS in Saskatchewan.

One of the greatest social injustices is that people who are marginalized experience more illnesses, disability, and shorter lives than those who are more affluent (Benzeval, Judge, and Whitehead, 1995). In this dissertation I critique the notion that health is affected by poverty through primarily material factors. In fact, poor women are systematically excluded from resources and opportunities to pursue their health. This feminist action research project addressed how poverty and exclusion influenced poor women's health, examined how a group of women negotiated their experiences of poverty and health, and developed action strategies to address their shared concerns. For 1 V2 years I worked with a group of 30 poor women and gathered qualitative data from 15 meetings, 32 interviews, and 30 sets of fieldnotes. The women lived in material deprivation and could not afford the most basic living necessities. They felt stereotyped, excluded, and invisible in their every day lives. The stereotype of the "welfare recipient" fueled institutional stigmatization and surveillance. Welfare, health care, and community recreation workers were threatening, withheld important information, and limited the women's access to services through chscriminatory practices and policies. The women had limited access to health-promoting resources, and their interactions with authorities were shaming which negatively influenced their psychosocial health through stress, depression, low self-esteem, and anger. Services that were meant to help them labelled them as poor and hurniliated them. The women's shame, material scarcity, and limited access to resources engendered feelings of lack of control and hopelessness and influenced their health. The women's varied discourses of poverty and health reflected attempts at finding legitimacy in a society that systematically excluded and de-legitimized them. Through their conversations and our feminist action research work together, they uncovered legitimate identities within experiences of poverty and ill-health and advocated action and social change. They cited a "livable" income, accessible health-promoting resources, and redressing stigmatizing practices and policies as changes required to improve their health. These findings confirmed that the social determinants of health must be reframed to better understand the effects of exclusion on poor women's health and that inclusion, respect, and dignity are fundamental conditions for promoting health.

Although menstruation is a biological process that occurs for women of a sexually mature age, many cultures associate it with symbols that shape and affect women's lives within these societies. This thesis examines orthodox Hindu beliefs about the origin and meaning of menstruation, which is fundamentally viewed negatively (i.e., adharmically). Drawing upon sources from the earliest to more recent Dharmasastra literature, the thesis demonstrates that orthodox Hindu menstrual taboos derive from menstruation's adharmic associations, which in turn affect attitudes towards women. The Dharmasastras also attempt to realign women with dharma by prescribing appropriate roles for them and act in tandem with the Hindu goddess tradition. Orthodox interpretations of Hindu goddesses configure these deities to serve as dharmic models "for" and " o f women, thereby transmitting dharma to women in ways that are perhaps more meaningful, accessible, and effective than the sastric literature alone. iv / viii, 102 leaves , 3 leaves of plates : ill. ; 29 cm

This thesis undertakes an in-depth examination of the power of human rights advocacy in combating women's vulnerability to HIV/AIDS. Focusing on sub-Saharan Africa, the thesis explores the gender discrimination that lies at the core of women's susceptibility to the virus. Culturally-imposed social roles are depicted as the fundamental cause of the violation of women's human rights, including their right to health. The objective of the thesis is to analyze the potential of using a human rights approach to address this issue. It adopts the assumption that "the mobilization of shame" triggered by civil society's actors can alter states' human rights practices. Looking at a specific type of actors, namely the transnational advocacy networks, the thesis concludes that "the human rights approach to HIV/AIDS" can be an efficient and effective strategy to pressurize governments to implement their international human rights obligations.

There is no abstract available for this thesis. / Department of Family and Consumer Sciences

Introduction: Cardiovascular disease affects a greater proportion of females than it does males, and is responsible for an estimated 52 percent of female deaths per annum, globally. Due to the loss of oestrogen associated with the menopause, post-menopausal females are at elevated risk for hypercholesterolaemia which is a primary risk factor for cardiovascular disease. It has not yet been conclusively established whether resistance training can be used to ameliorate hypercholesterolaemia. Aim: This randomized controlled trial investigated what effect 12 weeks of progressive resistance training would have on plasma lipoproteins in a sample of post-menopausal females. Methods: Caucasian women (n=30 intervention and n=18 control) between the ages of 55 and 65 years who were not taking hormone replacement therapy were recruited. Participants did not smoke, were sedentary, were not taking any form of cholesterol-lowering medication, had at least one cholesterol abnormality at baseline but were otherwise healthy and able to participate in a strength training programme. Following extensive medical pre-screening, information dissemination and voluntary consent, the sample was divided into two groups. The exercise sample undertook 12 weeks of resistance training on five days of the week. The control group received no intervention. Measurements were obtained at baseline and every four weeks thereafter and included measures of strength, biochemistry (oestradiol, testosterone, full blood lipid profile, glycated haemoglobin and sex hormone binding globulin), anthropometry, morphology and self-reports (dietary intake, energy expenditure and the profile of mood states questionnaire). Results: There was no change to low density lipoprotein cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, triglyceride content or total cholesterol as a result of the intervention. Back, chest and leg strength increased significantly (p<0.01) (increases of 51 percent, 35 percent and 43 percent respectively from baseline); waist circumference dropped (p<0.01) by 5 percent overall and diastolic blood pressure decreased significantly (-9 percent, p<0.01) in the exercise cohort but no change was noted in the matched control. Dietary intake, energy expenditure and body mass remained unchanged in both samples. Morphology (sum of skinfolds, estimated body fat content and girth measures) did not change and nor did other biochemical measures (HbA1c and sex hormone binding globulin) or hormone levels (oestradiol and testosterone). Despite the lack of overall change, an important finding was noted in individual results where a clear indication of ‘responders’ and ‘non-responders’ emerged. Conclusion: Overall mean results suggest that 12 weeks resistance training undertaken five days of the week was ineffective in reducing hypercholesterolaemia in this sample. Despite there being no identifying characteristics determined in this sample, evidence of responders and non-responders to the intervention indicates that reliance on mean data may not be sufficient when analysing data from exercise interventions. Therefore, while progressive resistance training had a positive effect on strength, waist circumference and diastolic blood pressure, it did not positively influence the plasma lipoproteins in this cohort of post-menopausal women. / Maiden name: Kelly, Janet Erica

The main purpose of this study was to assess the effect of progressive resistance training on the blood lipid profile in post-menopausal women. Thirty-four female subjects aged 50 to 75 years were selected from the population of Grahamstown, South Africa. All participants were previously sedentary and possessed at least one lipid profile abnormality but were otherwise healthy. Pre-tests included a sub-maximal stress Electrocardiogram, measures of stature, mass, central and limb girths as well as an oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT) and a total blood lipid profile. Participants took part in a 24-week progressive resistance training programme, consisting of three supervised sessions per week, each lasting 45 minutes and were not permitted to lose more than 10% of initial body mass during the 24-week study. All pre-test measures, excluding the stress ECG and the OGTT, were repeated every four weeks for the duration of the study. Results were that body mass, body mass index and waist-to-hip ratio did not change. Girth measures at mid-humerus, chest, waist, hip, mid-quadricep and mid-gastrocnemius all decreased significantly (p=0.05). LDL-cholesterol increased significantly over the course of 24 weeks (3.61mmol.L-1 to 4.07mmol.L-1) as did total cholesterol (5.81mmol.L-1 to 6.24mmol.L-1). Triglyceride concentration remained unchanged and HDL-cholesterol decreased significantly between the pre-test measure (1.55mmol.L-1) and the measure after six months (1.42mmol.L-1). It can be concluded that the blood lipid profile in a sample of post-menopausal women was not positively affected by a progressive resistance training programme over a 24 week period. / Maiden name: Kelly, Janet Erica

Text in English / Monthly breast self-examination (BSE) is an extremely important part of health care for all women in every stage of life as a primary tool in the prevention of breast cancer. The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge and practice of BSE among women at a private clinic in Zimbabwe. A non-experimental cross-sectional descriptive research design was used. The accessible population was one hundred women admitted to the selected private clinic. Data collection was done using a questionnaire which consisted of three parts: socio-demographic characteristics, knowledge about BSE and practices of BSE. Data obtained was analysed using EPI INFO version 3.3.2. Results showed that respondents were knowledgeable about breast cancer early warning signs and symptoms and BSE. About 28% of the respondents were aware of when to initiate BSE and 74% performed BSE, but their practice was poor. Educational materials should be freely available at hospitals and schools to enhance BSE awareness. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Thesis (MTech (Biomedical Sciences))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2015. / BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Group B Streptococci (GBS) can asymptomatically colonise the vagina and rectum of women. Studies have shown that this bacterium is the leading cause of septicemia, meningitis and pneumonia in neonates. In Namibia no known studies have investigated GBS colonisation and the antibiotic resistance profile of GBS isolates in pregnant women. This study accessed the GBS colonisation rate amongst the pregnant women who attended the Windhoek Central Hospital Antenatal Clinic (Khomas region), in Namibia for a period of 13 months. Furthermore, using the VITEK 2 system, the GBS isolates were tested against the following antimicrobial substances; benzylpenicillin, ampicillin, clindamycin, erythromycin, tetracycline, vancomycin, cefotaxime, ceftriaxone, linezolid and trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole. Penicillin G is the drug of choice in the majority of studies, and seems to be the most effective drug for intrapartum antibiotic prophylaxis (IAP). All the GBS isolates found in this study were also analysed for the presence of selected genes known to be associated with resistance to key antibiotics using specific primers within a polymerase chain reaction (PCR).

O transplante cardíaco representa a última alternativa de tratamento e única possibilidade de sobrevivência do paciente com insuficiência cardíaca (IC) terminal. É indicado quando todos os procedimentos foram considerados ou excluídos no tratamento da cardiopatia grave. Atualmente, os resultados obtidos com a cirurgia de enxerto indicam possibilidade de aumento de sobrevida do transplantado que, de outro modo, iria a óbito. Em aproximadamente 80% dos transplantes de coração hoje realizados, os pacientes estão vivos dois anos após a cirurgia. Devido à escassez de trabalhos encontrados na literatura, a presente pesquisa foi realizada com mulheres cardiopatas indicadas à cirurgia de enxerto. Questiona-se a interferência de relações objetais estabelecidas pelas pacientes na decisão de submissão à cirurgia e adesão aos cuidados do pós-operatório. O objetivo principal foi verificar a dinâmica emocional de mulheres candidatas ao transplante cardíaco. Foram utilizados como instrumentos o Teste de Relações Objetais de Phillipson (TRO), interpretado através de investigações sobre o Sistema Tensional Inconsciente Dominante (STID), e a entrevista clínica classificada a partir da Escala Diagnóstica Adaptativa Operacionalizada (EDAO), aplicados em sete pacientes encaminhadas à avaliação psicológica pelo Setor de Transplante Cardíaco do Instituto Dante Pazzanese de Cardiologia (IDPC), em São Paulo. A análise dos achados se deu à luz da teoria psicanalítica das Relações Objetais de Melanie Klein. Constatou-se que as mulheres indicadas ao transplante de coração, participantes da presente pesquisa, estabelecem relações objetais persecutórias correspondentes às fases mais arcaicas do desenvolvimento esquizoparanóide e viscocárica. Agindo como fator tensional, a doença cardíaca terminal pode ser vivida como perigo interno, induzindo a excessiva pressão das forças de morte e agravando tendências à negação e abandono do tratamento. / The cardiac transplantation represents the last alternative of treatment and an unique possibility of surviving for the patient with terminal cardiac insufficiency (CI). It is indicated when all other procedures were considerate or excluded for the treatment of serious cardiomyopathy. Currently, the results archieved with the graft surgery indicate the possibility of growth in overlife of patients that submitted for a transplant which, otherwise, would die. In approximately 80% of the cases of heart transplantations today, the patients are still alive two years after the procedure. Due to the lack of studies found in literature, the current research was made with cardiomyopathy women that submitted for a graft surgery. It is questioned the interference of object relations established by the patients in the decision to submit for the surgery and in the adhesion to the pos-operatory cares. The main objective was to verify the emotional dynamic of women applying for a cardiac transplantation. Where used as instruments the Object Relations Test (ORT), by Herbert Phillipson, interpreted by investigations over Unconscious Tensional System, and clinical interviews using the Adaptive and Operationalized Diagnostic Scale (AODS), applied in seven patients sent to psychological analysis at the cardiac transplantation sector of Dante Pazzanese Institute (IDPC), in São Paulo. The analyses of the results were made using Melanie Klein´s psychoanalytical theory. The women investigated who applied to the transplantation established persecutory object relations corresponding to the more archaic phases of the development. Acting as a tensional factor, the terminal cardiac disease can be lived as an intern danger, inducting to excessive pressure of forces of death and aggravating tendencies to treatment denial and abandonment.