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A descriptive design was utilized to identify the relationship between perceived cardiac rehabilitation at the time of discharge and perceived self-care three months later. Perceived cardiac rehabilitation was indicated by perceived quality of the cardiac rehabilitation program, perceived understanding of self-care, and satisfaction with hospital care. Perceived self-care was indicated by self-reported self-care related exercise, stress management, and medication. Fifty-three patients from a community hospital voluntarily participated in the study by responding to four questionnaires. A low positive relationship was found between (a) perceived quality of the cardiac rehabilitation program and self-reported stress management, (b) perceived understanding of self-care and self-reported exercise and stress management, and (c) satisfaction with hospital care and self-reported exercise and medication administration. These findings of post-hospital care are useful in the evaluation of the effectiveness of one nurse-coordinated cardiac rehabilitation program.

Various forms of trauma are regularly reported across the spectrum of counseling settings and the potential negative psychological effects on counselors who are repeatedly exposed to traumatic material are well documented. However, many researchers suggest that vicarious traumatization can be prevented and mitigated with personal and professional self-care strategies. The American Counseling Association (ACA) Code of Ethics indicates that counselors have a professional responsibility to engage in self-care activities, as efforts to ensure the psychological health of counselors will have a direct effect on their ability to help clients. The purpose of this mixed-method, descriptive, correlational research was to explore what types of educational preparation and training counselors have received regarding self-care and what types of self-care strategies counselors are using. The efficacy of those training methods and self-care strategies when implemented were also measured, from the perspective of the participants. The Self-Care Training and Implementation Questionnaire (STIQ), a 19-item, structured and semi-structured questionnaire developed for this research, was electronically sent to 3000 randomly selected members of ACA, resulting in 310 responses, 286 of which were deemed appropriate for inclusion. Analysis included descriptive analyses (quantitative data) and content and theme analyses (qualitative data). The results of this study indicated that counselors recognized the value of self-care and participated in activities that promoted a healthy lifestyle and mitigated stress, thus working toward a balance that fostered effective work performance. However, the findings demonstrated that most counselors do not receive formal self-care training and self-care has been an endeavor pursued independently, outside of education and work settings. Implications for counselor education, training, policy and research are discussed.

Low literacy remains a problem across the developed world. Health literacy has emerged as a specialist literacy, although its conceptualisation and measurement overlap with those of functional literacy. The social practice view, which conceptualises literacy as an activity rather than a skill, is useful in examining literacy-related practices and demands in healthcare contexts. Associations between low functional or health literacy and poorer health outcomes have been established in the research literature but studies have included participants whose low literacy may be obvious to healthcare providers and others. This thesis presents first a systematic review that focuses on literacy and health outcomes in the ‘hidden population’ with low literacy, defined as those of working age whose first language is that of their resident country but who score low on literacy measures. The review concludes that there is a link between low literacy and poorer health in this ‘hidden population’ but that potential pathways have not been explored to any extent. The thesis then presents a primary research study which sought to explore links between low literacy and poor health from the perspectives of people with low literacy; and how the health service might respond to address the issues raised. The findings from 25 in-depth interviews and 2 focus groups with adult learners highlighted the various ways that people with low literacy struggle with written and spoken communication in clinical encounters and in self-care activities. They further revealed that stigma frequently plays a central role in the social practices of those with low literacy, affecting their mental wellbeing and social relationships, including those with healthcare staff. The potential solutions identified for service providers would benefit from piloting and evaluation to help create a literacy-sensitive health service, which could improve engagement; enable self-care and enhance capabilities for health in those with low literacy.

Child welfare social workers have extremely demanding jobs, which may often lead to burnout and compassion fatigue. The purpose of this research study was to explore self-care methods implemented by child welfare social workers, the methods that work best for them and the ways in which these practices assist in preventing and reducing the risks of compassion fatigue and burnout. This research study also explored the ways in which child welfare social workers have been able to cope and prevent compassion fatigue and burnout. This research study utilized a qualitative, exploratory research approach. Face-to-face interviews with fifteen participants were taken place at the Department of Children and Family Services (DCFS) offices within Los Angeles County. These interviews took place at various times and days. One major key finding from this study was the need for improvement in organizational support. Another key finding was the importance of self-care when coping with the daily stressors in the workplace and the ways in which self-care provides an outlet for preventing compassion fatigue and burnout. Participants all had different forms of self-care that worked best for their own wellbeing. It was determined that self-care strategies effectiveness depended on each individual’s response to the approach. Determining the best ways for social workers to cope with traumatic experiences in the workplace allows for administration to strengthen policies, such as ongoing training and supervision, while also being aware of the signs that child welfare social workers may display when they are experiencing compassion fatigue and burnout.

The focus of this project is to consider U.S. immigration policy as a critical domain in the political management of populations in advanced liberal states. Rather than seeking to understand how discourses over U.S. immigration policy function to construct identity (national, ethnic, and/or immigrant), this project seeks to understand how debates over U.S. immigration policy function to shape, manage, and direct the conduct of migrants, immigrants, and citizens. The project avoids the emphasis in much of the extant scholarship on U.S. immigration policy on the question of identity in favor of an ethos of investigation indebted to Foucault's concept of governmentality. Studies of governmentality eschew grand theories or unitary conceptions of the state in favor of empirical studies of techniques, programs, strategies and technologies that seek to guide, shape, and direct the conduct of others. While much of the interest of governmentality studies centers on mundane mechanisms that shape conduct, I argue that debates over immigration policy function as critical sites where the state is articulated into activities of government. The state, therefore, is not conceptualized as a source of power to be smashed. As such, policy debates are not mere deliberations by politicians and experts about the merits of particular courses of action; they are sites at which populations are made visible and particular mechanisms for shaping conduct are elevated. As such, the project attends to policy discussions featured as part of an overall strategic shift in U.S. immigration policy from apprehension to deterrence which began in the early 1990s. The new strategy sought to prevent migrants from entering the U.S. rather than apprehending them once they were here. Analyzing congressional hearings and floor debates, this project argues that discussions of immigration control policies (ranging from the enhanced border policing initiatives, to measures aimed at eliminating the employment and social services magnets, to official English legislation), function as part of a complex of programs, techniques, procedures through which authorities embody and give effect to particular ways of governing that seek to manage the conduct of populations both within and outside of the United States.

This thesis addresses how personal therapy for therapists, with specific focus on social workers, is personally and professionally beneficial. A thorough review of the literature highlights the efficacy of psychotherapy, risks facing mental health professionals, and an examination of the relationships between personal improvement and professional development. My own research into the attitudes toward and experiences with personal therapy among MSW's in South Dakota expands upon the existing literature, further discussing the association between personal and professional as shown in the quantitative and qualitative data that emerged from my study. Finally, this paper explores the ways in which the personal value of self-care and the professional value of care-for-clients interact vis-à-vis ethical obligations to self, client, and colleagues, and competent social work practice.

<p>Shorter hospital stays increases the need for well functioning post hospital aftercare. Persons close to the patient are often involved in the aftercare and need information about self-care. This need is frequently not satisfied. <strong>The aim</strong> of this study was to investigate if the next-of-kin of patients cared for at the thoracic clinic at Uppsala University hospital, have received information about self-care and how they perceive the information they have been given. <strong>METHOD: </strong>To investigate this, questionnaires were sent out by mail. <strong>MAIN RESULT: </strong>Most of the respondent’s<strong> </strong>states that they have not received enough information but that they consider it important to get information. Those who state that they have been given information say that they are pleased with the information received.  <strong>CONCLUSION: </strong>A tendency in<strong> </strong>the results shows that the information that is given at the clinic is satisfying, but that not everybody receive it. There is also shown that the next-of-kin’s thinks that it is important to be given information about the patients self-care.</p> / <p>Kortare vårdtider ökar behovet av en välfungerande posthospital eftervård. Närstående är ofta inblandade i patientens egenvård i hemmet och har stort behov av information inför utskrivning. Detta behov är ofta inte tillfredställt. <strong>Syftet </strong>med denna studie var att undersöka om närstående till patienter på thoraxkliniken vid Akademiska sjukhuset i Uppsala, anser sig ha fått information inför utskrivning och hur de uppfattar den. <strong>METOD:</strong> För att undersöka detta skickades studiespecifika enkäter ut per post. <strong>HUVUDRESULTAT: </strong>De flesta svarar att de inte fått tillräckligt med information men att de tycker det är viktigt med information. De som anger att de fått information är generellt nöjda med den information de fått.<strong> SLUTSATS: </strong>Resultaten tyder på att den information som ges på kliniken är bra men att inte alla får ta del av den samt att de närstående anser att det är viktigt att få information om patientens egenvård.<strong></strong></p>

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Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri--Columbia, 2001. / "December 2001." Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 163-171). Also available on the Internet.