Magister Scientiae (Physiotherapy) - MSc(Physio) / Introduction: The majority of University of the Western Cape coaches believe that in most sport codes, many female and male athletes get injured at least once a season. Consequently, occurrence of injuries signifies many set-backs in any team sports. University of the Western Cape sports injury intervention and rehabilitation strategies are relatively under-developed, and have not been systematically implemented, despite their proven effectiveness. However, due to intensive training, local and national league competitions, the number of injured athletes at University of the Western Cape has increased, and so delays of athletes’ recovery are caused. Thus, it is assumed that University of the Western Cape efforts may have lack of the necessary injury precautions on prevention and rehabilitation such as proactive injury treatment, paying special attention to the therapeutic process, including other necessary mechanisms. The current study has explored facilitating factors and some of the barriers on the implementation of injury prevention strategies, and determined the effectiveness of rehabilitation within University of the Western Cape sport teams in views of athletes, coaches, and medical staff. Methods: This study used a sequential exploratory design which entailed an initial phase of quantitative data collection and analysis, followed by a phase of qualitative data collection and analysis. This study used a close-ended survey and semi-structured interviews to identify the barriers and facilitators associated with the implementation of injury prevention strategies among sports clubs at the University of the Western Cape. Results: Data were collected on the general knowledge of players and team coaches about injury prevention as well as their sources of information regarding injury prevention. Football players were 49.5% while 15.8% were basketball players in this study. Cricket players were 10.9% while rugby players were 9.9%. Sources of players’ knowledge of injury prevention included doctor/physiotherapist, coaches and the media. Sources of coaches’ knowledge of injury prevention included doctor/physiotherapist, media and seminars. Most players and coaches agreed that there is a greater chance of sustaining an injury during a competitive match than during training. Players and coaches also agree that the risk of injury is reduced by wearing preferred protective clothing and thoroughly warming up and stretching prior to training or competition. Barriers to the implementation of an injury prevention strategy include not having enough time, being too tired after training, no advice given on such techniques, the notion that nobody else does it and lack of proper equipment. Facilitators of an injury prevention strategy include availability of medical staff (doctors and physiotherapists), players’ understanding of the coach’s instructions, and injury prevention facilities at University of the Western Cape, services accessibility and quality, injury discovery and follow-up, and injury prevention policy at University of the Western Cape. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this study, the following recommendations were made: (i) Intervention directed at players and coaches in the form of health promotion programmes through education to increase their knowledge and support in implementation of all prevention strategies either in training or in competition; (ii) Governing bodies at University of the Western Cape should develop and disseminate written sports safety policies and guidelines and supervise clubs in their development programmes.

The profession of law enforcement is an inherently stressful job. Although the physical stress of the job is often discussed, the mental health impact on officers is often ignored, resulting in poor mental health and increased risk for suicide. The purpose of the current study was to investigate factors related to the reluctance of law enforcement officers (LEOs) to seeking treatment, as well as to gain an understanding of the prevalence rates of disorders in a law enforcement population. Convenience sampling was used to recruit participants (N = 306) across a variety of agencies. Correlation, moderated regression analysis, and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used in order to model barriers to care among officers. Findings suggest that the presence of psychological disorders was not predictive of willingness to seek treatment. However, perceived stigma did predict lower willingness to seek treatment. General conclusions suggest that increasing unit cohesion and unit support may make a positive impact in decreasing stigma and increasing officers’ willingness to seek treatment.

This thesis examined how the sustainability of laminated and coated textile barriers can be compared by analysing them through an environmental and functional perspective. This was done by building an evaluation model in which an analysis of the functional performance and an analysis of the environmental performance was combined and applied on a case study of a laminated and a coated material used for workwear. A Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) was used to evaluate the environmental impact. To evaluate the functional performance a series of material testing was made for tear strength, waterproofness and permeability. The LCA measured the environmental impact in terms of water use, climate change, and human toxicity. The results showed a similar impact on climate change and water use for both barriers. The assessment of human toxicity showed that the solvent dimethylformamide, used in the coating paste, meant a potential risk for human health. From the material testing it could be stated that the coating performed better in terms of tear resistance and waterproofness, but that the laminate showed more even results and higher breathability. To conclude, the study showed that the production of the coated textile barrier had the largest environmental impact due to the use of a toxic solvent, but that the functional performance generally was better for this coated material. The use of an evaluation model to compare coated and laminated textiles demanded knowledge and experience of LCA to be used. Though with the right LCA knowledge, the combined methods of functional testing and environmental impact may lead to conclusions which would otherwise go unnoticed. / I den här rapporten undersöktes hur hållbarheten hos laminerade och textila barriärer kan jämföras genom både ett funktionellt och ett miljömässigt perspektiv. Det gjordes genom att bygga en utvärderingsmodell inom vilken en analys av den funktionella prestandan och en analys av den miljömässiga prestandan kombinerades för att appliceras på en fallstudie av ett laminat och en beläggning som används för arbetskläder. En livscykelanalys (LCA) användes för att analysera den miljömässiga prestandan. För att analysera den funktionell prestandan utfördes en serie materialtester i rivstyrka, vattentäthet och permeabilitet.LCAn mätte miljömässig prestanda genom påverkanskategorierna klimatförändring, vattenanvändning och humantoxicitet. Resultaten visade liknande påverkan avseende klimatförändring och vattenanvändning för materialen. Utvärdering av påverkan gällande humantoxicitet visade att lösningsmedlet dimetylformamid, som används i beläggningspastan, innebär en risk för människors hälsa. I materialtesterna gav beläggning bättre resultat i rivstyrka och vattentäthet, men laminatet visade en mindre spridning i resultaten och en högre permeabilitet. Efter viss förslitning och tvätt uppvisade materialen dock mer liknande värden.Sammanfattningsvis visade studien att det belagda materialet hade störst miljöpåverkan på grund av utsläpp av det toxiska lösningsmedlet, men att det belagda materialet generellt hade bättre funktionell prestanda. Nackdelen med utvärderingsmodellen som togs fram för jämförelsen av materialen, var att den krävde kunskap och erfarenhet av LCA för att kunna användas. Med det sagt är en LCA det bästa verktyget tillgängligt för att mäta miljöpåverkan, och med den rätta kunskapen om LCA kan den kombinerade modellen leda till insikter som annars skulle missas. Därför kan utvärderingsmodellen vara ett framgångsrikt verktyg för att jämföra textila barriärer, och även utgöra ett steg på vägen i arbetet mot att kunna mäta hållbarhet.

The population of Latino/a individuals and students in the United States continues to rise (US Census Bureau, 2012). Moreover, Latino/a students have been shown to have increased concern for dropping out, and for not believing they can achieve positive career outcomes (Pew Hispanic Center Report, 2009). As a result of these concerns in this increasing population, it is important to further explore the career-related concerns, specifically supports and barriers, among Latino/a students. The present study utilized qualitative interviews as a means of gaining a greater understanding of how rural middle school Latino/a students perceive their futures, including supportive factors to their career development, as well as barriers that may impede them from achieving their career goals. The data were analyzed using Consensual Qualitative Research (Hill, 2012). Results indicate that while students perceived potential barriers in their future, they also believed that they would be able to pursue and achieve their desired futures, and were able to generate individuals and resources that could help them to do so. These findings contrast previous research regarding Latino/a career development, and also highlight the potential importance of career interventions for rural Latino/a youth.

Heart failure is a chronic disease and a common cause of hospitalizations and readmissions within 30-days of discharge. To decrease the cost of care for patients with heart failure, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services initiated the Readmissions Reduction Program that reduces payment to hospitals with preventable readmissions. Among the causes for readmissions of patients with heart failure are concurrent behavioral health issues that can lead to decreased medication compliance and increased risk for disease progression. The prevalence of comorbid depression is as high as 77% among patients with heart failure and may be an important factor in readmissions. Although cardiac nurses in the emergency room, intensive care unit, and the progressive care units at a community hospital were perceived by managers to be in optimal settings to assess for behavioral health issues and make referrals as appropriate, assessments were not being conducted. The purpose of the project was to determine the barriers nurses faced in completing the assessments. Four audiotaped focus groups with a total of 18 cardiac nurses were held and the data were transcribed for analysis. Using Kalcaba's comfort contexts (physical, psychospiritual, social, and environmental), the barriers identified by the nurses were categorized into a fishbone diagram and a Pareto chart. The nurses identified lack of a standardized screening tool, lack of priority given to behavioral health assessments, lack of time to conduct the assessments, and lack of a clear facility policy related to the assessments as barriers. A positive social change resulting from the project is an initiative to address the barriers and ensure that patients with heart failure are cared for in a holistic manner that addresses physical and behavioral health issues.

Teachers at an urban high school in the Southeast have failed to see an increase in classroom achievement or standardized test scores despite efforts to increase passing rates. If achievement rates do not increase, school restructuring will occur. While the site has implemented programs to reduce academic failure, data exists that external barriers may be affecting student achievement. Guided by Bandura's (1986) theory of metacognitive beliefs and self-efficacy as the conceptual framework, this qualitative case study explored teachers' perceptions about the root causes of poor student achievement. This study examines how to identify those causes to help students improve academically, while providing teacher recommendations to reducing the effects of those causes in order to improve student success. Five teachers were selected from the math and science content areas to participate in 1-on-1 interviews to identify external barriers to student success. Thematic coding and member checks allowed for data triangulation to analyze the findings. Seven themes emerged to increase student success by helping close the achievement gap through fostering support between teachers and the families of all students involved: socioeconomic status, ability of goal setting, having encouragement and motivation, seeing another environment, lacking parental support, building relationships with parents, and stress of taking state tests. Developing resources that will help students to overcome issues outside of the school day that leads to increased student academic achievement and graduation rates creates social change.

People with physical disabilities face challenges each day when trying to navigate a world filled with environmental and architectural barriers. Research indicates that environmental barriers isolate and prevent many people with physical disabilities from accessing and participating in the community and society. This research study directly applied quantifiable investigative methods through the dissemination of anonymous, online surveys that obtained a total of 363 participants who met the requirements of being between the ages of 18 and 65, and who have a medically diagnosed physical disability in order to identify key factors leading to the isolation among physically disabled persons. This study also discovers a relationship between environmental barriers and isolation among people with physical disabilities, and effectively establishes that the majority of participants identified environmental barriers as being the leading cause of their isolation and exclusion from society. Moreover, research acquired through this study uncovers the previously concealed realization that many individuals do not feel there is an effort being made to ensure that buildings and environments are accessible for people with physical disabilities; and further examines the colossal need for advocacy and change within ADA guidelines to create a more acceptable and adaptable solution for reducing or eliminating environmental and architectural barriers.

The research question of this study explores beliefs helping professionals have about caregiving services. The survey provided to participants of this study examined beliefs concerning what services are most important for caregivers to have access to, as well as what are the most significant barriers caregivers may experience when attempting to access or receive such services. Findings from this study indicate that the most important respite care services for caregivers to have access to include overnight/weekend care, access to short breaks and socialization, access to training/education, and support with providing activities of daily living for the care recipient. Findings from this study also indicate the most significant barriers to caregivers accessing or receiving services are misgivings about trusting another individual with the care of a loved one, feeling overwhelmed, and not being adequately prepared for the responsibilities of being a caregiver at discharge from a hospital setting. It is important for Social Work practitioners to be aware of the respite needs of caregivers, as well as potential barriers to accessing services that would help to address those needs.

ABSTRACT In the United States, Hispanics have the same prevalence of mental illness as any other group however researchers have found that they are less likely to seek mental health services. This population’s lack of mental health utilization is due to various barriers hindering the population’s need for help, a substantial for social work practitioners. To better understand the factors that lead up to that, the current study explored and identified perceptions toward seeking and receiving mental health services among Hispanic members. Using a qualitative data collection, ten participants were interviewed to elicit their perceptions about mental health services ranging from what they believed addressed their lack of seeking services and what they thought about services. Data analysis revealed five core themes among the participants’ responses: Closeness to Family as a reason for people not seeking professional help. Another theme found was environment as a reason for Mental Illness making them feel that there is no need to seek services since they can simply remove the environmental stressor and the illness will seize to exist. Existing support systems were found such as involvement in church as a form of therapy, they talked about their faith providing them a form of support for stressors. Shared culture was a theme that was found to be a necessity for therapy, they felt they did not seek services because they felt mental health practitioners would not validate their culture. The final theme was access and that theme encompassed : not knowing mental health services existed in their community, to lack of Spanish speaking clinicians. The recognition of these themes could potentially guide social work practitioners’ when they are trying to engage the Hispanic community to receive mental health services. Social workers can be aware of the obstacles toward engaging this population into professional therapy, by having an understanding of what they believe about therapy and helping to alleviate or use some of those perceptions as a form of engagement and validating existing strengths that the population has causing them to feel professional services are not needed.

Military service members are a subpopulation of the postsecondary student body. Many service members report symptoms of depression and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Yet, practical and stigma-related barriers prevent these service members from seeking treatment, often when treatment services are available as part of post-enlistment benefits. Using a variety of surveys, the present thesis assessed the demographics, self-reported symptoms of PTSD and depression, perceptions of treatment, and treatment utilization among military-affiliated students on a postsecondary campus. Correlational analyses revealed that severity of PTSD and depression symptoms were positively correlated with overall treatment utilization. However, practical and stigma-related barriers were not significantly associated with treatment utilization. Multiple regression analyses revealed that stigma-related and practical barriers did not moderate the relationship between symptoms of PTSD or depressive symptoms and treatment utilization. Post-hoc analyses showed a positive correlation between reported practical barriers and on-campus treatment utilization, and also revealed that on-campus treatment utilization was positively correlated with overall treatment utilization and positively correlated with utilization of community-based health services. The impact of these findings is discussed.