Background: Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) affects 6-10% of women and has a range of impacts on women’s reproductive, psychological, metabolic, and cardiovascular health. A lifelong condition, symptoms of PCOS may start in adolescence and extend into post-menopause. Despite being such a pervasive disorder, with significant burden of disease for some women, it may be underrecognized within the medical and general communities. Recent studies suggest that women with PCOS may not be diagnosed early or receive appropriate guidance and information from physicians. Little is known about women’s experiences in Canada. This thesis explores experiences with diagnosis and management in Canada and assesses the barriers and facilitators women face while seeking care for their condition. Methods: Research questions were addressed using a multi-methods approach. Participants were recruited from online PCOS groups on Facebook, Reddit, and stand-alone PCOS forums. An online questionnaire measured participants’ time to diagnosis, number of doctors seen, and satisfaction with information provided. Descriptive statistics, Chi-square tests, Fisher’s exact tests, and Spearman’s rank correlations assessed characteristics of the sample and correlations between demographic factors and satisfaction measures. Twenty-five follow-up interviews were held over the phone to elicit greater richness of experiences. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis and the interpretive description framework. Results: The e-survey was completed by 296 women aged 18-60 with a self-reported diagnosis of PCOS. Approximately a third (34%) of respondents waited for more than 2 years before attaining a diagnosis and 41% saw 3 or more doctors. Most participants were dissatisfied with the information provided to them about PCOS (66%). Many did not receive any information about lifestyle management (42%) or medical therapy (28%). Barriers to diagnosis and management included lack of knowledge and/or concern in physicians. Women received insufficient information about PCOS implications (including mental health) at the diagnosis and subsequent visits. Few participants had physicians who were involved with PCOS management. Peri- and post-menopausal women especially lacked support and medical information on how to manage symptoms. Facilitators to diagnosis and management included self-education, self-advocation, and social support. Women identified a need for greater PCOS awareness in primary care physicians and the general community. Few women had heard of PCOS prior to their diagnosis. Conclusion: This thesis found delays to diagnoses and dissatisfaction in women around the care and information they received from doctors. Perceived lack of knowledge and engagement in physicians resulted in most barriers to diagnosis and management. Few participants had physicians whom they could rely upon for information and guidance. Greater awareness of PCOS is needed in the medical community, particularly in primary care. Women and girls may benefit from greater PCOS awareness early in life in health class at the elementary and/or secondary levels.

In this study, we attempt to test whether more mechanics cause players to become more attached to a simulated pet over time. In order to find this out, we created a pet simulator game, split it into four versions with different levels of interaction for the player, going from no interaction to three discrete interactions. We had four groups of participants play the game for five consecutive days. In concert with this, the participants answered several surveys. The first was to establish their baseline attachment to the simulated pet and was delivered at the start of the study. The second and third were delivered at the end of the study, the second survey to characterise their attachment style and the third was a repeat of the first survey, allowing us to see what, if anything, had changed in their relationship to the simulated pet. Finally, we conducted semi-structured interviews with some participants whose responses were outlier or otherwise interesting. Our findings suggested loosely that the more interactions, the more likely a player forms an attachment but also that no interactions causes attachment to degrade over time.

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Naturläkemedel är ett område som väcker stort intresse idag och allt fler individer väljer att ta hand om sina åkommor på egen hand. Modern forskning visar på interaktioner mellan naturläkemedel och konventionella läkemedel. Eftersom naturläkemedel under lång tid uteslutande har använts i egenvårdssyfte har patienters användning av dessa produkter skett i stor utsträckning utan medverkan från den vanliga hälso- och sjukvården. Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka sjuksköterskors inställning till och kunskaper om naturläkemedel. Studien är av kvalitativ design och är baserad på sex intervjuer med sjuksköterskor verksamma vid två ortopediska vårdavdelningar i Södra Sverige. Resultatet visade att behovet av ökade kunskaper om naturläkemedel hos sjuksköterskor är stort och att naturläkemedel är något som diskuteras i mycket liten omfattning inom sjukvården. / Herbal remedies is an area that arouses great interest today and more individuals choose to take care of their symptoms on their own. Modern research shows interactions between herbal remedies and conventional medicines. Since herbal remedies for a long time been used exclusively in self-care purposes, the patients use of these products are made largely without the participation of the ordinary health care. The purpose of this study was to investigate nurses attitudes towards and knowledge of herbal remedies. The design of this study is qualitative and is based on six interviews with nurses working in two orthopedic departments in southern Sweden. The results showed that the need for increased knowledge of herbal remedies among nurses is high and that herbal remedies are discussed in a very small scale in health care.

For several decades, a growing realization has evolved that a single entity often cannot address complex issues. Collaboration has been touted as an effective approach to addressing such issues and is generally defined as multiple parties jointly identifying problems, developing a shared vision for addressing those problems, and sharing resources and responsibilities for a determined solution. In spite of the growing literature regarding collaboration, the predominant focus has been on advocacy, leaving a void in the literature concerning the processes and behaviors involved in establishing community collaboration. In essence, the importance of collaboration is widely recognized; how to collaborate is not as noted. Therefore, it is essential to examine the experience of community collaboration. The purpose of this study was to investigate a collaborative community experience in the context of extension education for children, youth, and families at risk in four localities in Virginia. The following research questions were addressed: a) What has been the nature and experience of collaboration for Extension Leadership councils (ELCs) involved with children, youth, and families at risk (CYFAR) projects; b) What has contributed to successful collaboration in Extension education with the CYFAR projects; and c) What have been the challenges to collaboration for the CYFAR projects? The qualitative case study design utilized in-depth face-to-face interviews with seventeen community representatives in the selected localities involved in the experience. The interviews were tape-recorded and transcriptions were analyzed to determine themes, patterns, and common ways of thinking. Findings, which revealed that ELCs were primarily involved in situation analysis, illuminated the following perceived contributions to successful collaboration: having a process for involvement, addressing a need, commitment of those involved, leadership, and paid staff. Challenges to collaboration were identified as lack of time to commit, lack of understanding of collaboration, and pre-existing ways of thinking and acting. The results have implications for Cooperative Extension understanding how ELC involvement can occur in programming and the collaborative nature of their educational process with the community. The findings will also contribute to human service providers' understanding of contributions and challenges to collaboration and to the emerging body of knowledge on collaboration. / Ph. D.

Industrial Design in China seldom addresses the issue of sustainability in mass production. Failure to incorporate sustainable design as a core principle will result in long term environmental and economic loss for both business and society. This research studies the current Industrial Design educational system in Mainland China and proposes a new educational framework to engage sustainability as a design objective. This study adopts the philosophical perspectives of constructivism, sustainable design theory, critical pedagogy, and systems thinking. Literature related to sustainability is collected and organized and overlaid with educational constraints identified through the interviews with educators, students, and practitioners of Industrial Design in four major cities of Mainland China. Using the grounded theory approach, from these two sources a new educational framework is proposed. The educational framework categorizes courses in a four year undergraduate Industrial Design educational program into four domains: ecological literacy, artistic, technological, and professional. Suggestions for the appropriate timeline, content, and pedagogical approaches for curriculum are also provided. The proposed framework was then critically reviewed Chinese educators that served as feedback for the final proposition. / Ph. D.

Six women participated in a qualitative study to understand women's experiences with abortion. The women ranged in age from 52 to 26, and were at least five years post-abortion. A questionnaire was developed using a stress and coping model as a guide to answer the following: relevant primary and reappraisal processes; problem-focused and emotion-focused coping strategies; resources; and personal and environmental constraints. The results give the women's individual experiences as well as the themes that were consistent for the participants. The women all appraised the situation of an unplanned pregnancy as stressful. All of the participants viewed having the child as a threat to their education, career, or relationship with family. Although all of the women thought some part of the procedure was more stressful than they had anticipated, all found ways to cope with differing levels of stress. The women saw their friends, family, ob-gyn physicians, priest, and clinic staff as resources during the experience. The women most often reported that religious beliefs constrained their abilities to cope. They also reported a lack of information about the abortion procedure and possible physical and emotional effects as environmental constraints. Overall, all but one participant would make the same decision, and all viewed themselves as coping well with a stressful life event. / Master of Science

The purpose of this work was to investigate how identity is transformed by the experience of immigration. Two research questions were conceptualized in order to address the essence of the inquiry. How do Mexican immigrant women living in the Roanoke Valley describe their lives back in Mexico? How do Mexican immigrant women living in the Roanoke Valley describe their lives in the United States? Interviews with three first-generation Mexican female immigrants currently living in Southwest Virginia formed the basis of the qualitative study presented in this work. The study was designed to understand Mexican women immigrants through their personal experiences and stories. The two main findings about their perceptions of life back in Mexico were related to lack of economic resources and the limited opportunities they had. Also, their memories of Mexico were paired with nostalgia of their loss in terms of family relations and cultural understanding. In general, the participants perceived themselves to be in a better economic position that encourages them to stay in the United States. An unexpected finding was that in all three cases domestic violence was a constant in the women's lives. However, despite the gender construction of Mexican women as passive females, the commonality in the three cases was that they looked for alternatives on how to resist violence by seeking support and resources to escape from it on either side of the border. / Master of Arts