Bakgrund: Stigmatisering har påtagliga negativa konsekvenser för individer inom autismspektrumtillstånd (AST). De har ett beteende som stämplas som normbrytande eftersom de inte följer de sociala normerna. Det gör att individer inom AST blir exkluderade, stämplade och diskriminerade för att de beter sig annorlunda, jämförelsevis med en “neurotypisk”, en individ utan diagnos inom AST. Dessa negativa stämplar och stereotyper från omgivningen gör att individer inom AST har högre risk att få en psykisk ohälsa än de “neurotypiska” och de hamnar i att stigmatisera sig själva, d.v.s. självstigmatisering. Syftet: Syftet är att ta reda på vilken kunskap som finns kring stigmatiseringsprocessen och stigmatiseringens konsekvenser. Metod: Jag har använt mig av en scoping study för att kartlägga den forskning som har gjorts kring stigmatiseringens konsekvenser för individer inom AST. Resultat: Stigmatisering har negativa konsekvenser för individer inom AST. Deras livsvillkor försämras när de blir stigmatiserade och lever i större utsatthet för exkludering på arbetsmarknaden, bostadsmarknaden, inom vården, ekonomisk utsatthet och socialt utanförskap. De lägger stor vikt på att kamouflera sig i sociala sammanhang vilket ökar risken för utmattning och psykisk ohälsa. Genom kamouflering bidrar det till instabil identitet och lägre självkänsla. Den instabila identiteten medför en sämre självbild och försöker istället att uppfylla de stereotyper som finns kring AST. / Background: Stigmatization has tangible negative consequences for individuals with autism spectrum conditions (AST). They have behavior that is labeled as norm-breaking because they do not follow the social norms. This means that individuals within AST are excluded, labeled and discriminated against because they behave differently, compared to a "neurotypical", an individual without a diagnosis within AST. These negative labels and stereotypes from the environment mean that individuals within AST have a higher risk of getting a mental illness than the "neurotypical" and they end up stigmatizing themselves, i.e. self-stigmatization. The purpose: The purpose is to find out what knowledge exists about the stigmatization process and the consequences of stigmatization. Method: I have used a scoping study to map the research that has been done around the consequences of stigma for individuals within AST. Results: Stigmatization has negative consequences for individuals within AST. Their living conditions deteriorate when they become stigmatized and live in greater vulnerability to exclusion in the labor market, the housing market, in healthcare, economic vulnerability and social exclusion. They place great emphasis on camouflaging themselves in social contexts, which increases the risk of exhaustion and mental illness. Through camouflage, it contributes to a disturbed identity and lower self-esteem. The identity disturbance leads to a worse self-image and instead tries to fulfill the stereotypes that exist around AST.

Bakgrund: Ländryggssmärta är den globalt ledande orsaken till levda år med funktionsnedsättning. Långvarig ländryggssmärta (LLRS) är ett komplext tillstånd där patienterna har ett behov av att bemötas utifrån ett biopsykosocialt perspektiv. Det finns kvalitativa studier som undersökt patienters upplevelser av att leva med LLRS men få som utforskat hur dessa patienter upplever bemötandet inom vården. Syfte: Att på två olika primärvårdsmottagningar i Sverige undersöka hur patienter i arbetsför ålder med LLRS upplevde att de i vårdmötet blivit bemötta av vårdpersonal när de sökt vård för sin LLRS. Metod: Kvalitativ intervjustudie med induktiv ansats. Tio informanter i arbetsför ålder intervjuades med en semistrukturerad intervjuguide. Intervjuerna transkriberades ordagrant och analyserades med tematisk semantisk analys. Resultat: Analysen resulterade i två huvudteman: Det personliga mötet och Vårdens premisser. Dessa kännetecknades av patienternas önskemål om att få berätta sin historia, få en förklaring, bli kliniskt undersökta och möta vårdpersonal som respekterar och bekräftar dem. Tidsbrist, en känsla av att vara i underläge samt önskan om ökad delaktighet, samarbete och planering var ytterligare upplevelser som belystes. Slutsats: Denna studie visar att vårdpersonalens bemötande påverkar patienterna i stor utsträckning vilket belyser vikten av ett gott bemötande i vårdmötet samt nödvändigheten av att arbeta personcentrerat och utifrån ett biopsykosocialt perspektiv. / Background: Low back pain is the globally leading cause of years lived with disability. Long-term low back pain (LLBP) is a complex condition where patients have a need of being treated from a biopsychosocial perspective. There are qualitative studies which examine patients' experiences of living with LLBP, but only a few exploring how these patients experience the treatment in healthcare. Purpose: To investigate at two different primary health care clinics in Sweden how patients of working age with LLBP experienced that they were treated in the healthcare meeting by the healthcare professional when seeking healthcare for their LLBP. Method: A qualitative interview study with inductive approach. Ten men and women of working age were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide. The interviews were transcribed literally and analysed with thematic semantic analysis. Results: The analysis resulted in two main themes: ”The personal meeting” and “The premises of healthcare”. These were characterised by the patients' desire to be able to tell their story, get an explanation, be clinically examined, and meet healthcare professionals who respect and acknowledge them. Lack of time, a feeling of being at a disadvantage and the desire for increased participation, cooperation, and planning were additional experiences highlighted. Conclusion: This study shows that the treatment by healthcare professionals affects patients widely which highlights the importance of a good treatment in healthcare and the necessity of working person-centred and from a biopsychosocial perspective.

Although aggression as social phenomenon is widely researched, this research study aimed to illuminate the importance of early identification of excessively aggressive children specifically. The aim was to explore and gain an in-depth understanding of excessive aggressive behaviour during the preschool years. A qualitative research methodology was employed consisting of a parent interview, observations of the research participant and numerous play sessions consisting of various activities including free drawings; ‘Draw-a-Person ‘, a family drawing; the ‘Children’s Apperception Test’, and free play activities. The study explored various factors possibly leading to the onset and continuation of excessive aggressive behaviour. It seems clear that no single factor is responsible for the display of excessive aggression, but rather, multiple factors contribute to the problem of aggression as a whole. Play therapy is suggested as an effective method in the assessment and counselling of excessive aggressive behaviour in preschool children / Psychology / M.Sc. (Psychology)

The aim of this study was to explore temperament, psychopathology and quality of life (QOL) in adolescents born at extremely low birth weight (ELBW), i.e., < 1000g. ELBW adolescents (N = 15) completed the Revised Cheek and Buss Scale and Mini International Neuropsychiatric Interview 5.0.0 (M.I.N.I.), while their legal guardians completed a biographical questionnaire and the Short Form 12 version 2. The median age of the sample was 13 SD = 2.526 years (60% male) and all participants spoke English. ELBW adolescents with social phobia (n = 6) were more shy (p = .041) and had poorer mental health-related QOL (p = .041) than those without such symptoms. The results suggest that ELBW could be a predisposing factor for increased shyness and psychological disorders including social phobia. Planning of interventions for ELBW individuals should therefore include strategies to prevent or mitigate the effects of these factors in adolescence / Psychology / M.A. (Clinical Psychology)

The outputs that form the basis of this PhD submission include a web site that summarises a unique collection of over 200 Court Judgments in personal injury claims for work-related upper limb disorders heard in the UK, together with a number of more conventional publications. Individually, these outputs all address upper limb disorders associated with work although they each had slightly different objectives and the audiences for which they were produced significantly influenced the type of publication in which they appeared. Together, they help illustrate when, how and, to some extent, why upper limb disorders associated with keyboard use became the issue it did in the UK in the late 1980s and 1990s. While many might now regard keyboard or computer use as an innocuous task, in the late 1980s and 1990s upper limb disorders associated with keyboard use, particularly computer use, became the subject of litigation, legislation, industrial disputes and widespread publicity. The outputs on which this submission is based, together, suggest that following the importation of the concept of repetitive strain injuries (RSI) from Australia in the later 1980s, the activities of trades unions and journalists in the UK promoted work-relevant upper limb symptoms and disorders associated with keyboard use as work-induced injuries. Subsequently, a small number of successful, union-backed, personal injury claims, which involved contentious medical evidence and perhaps an element of iatrogenesis, were widely promoted as proof that computer use causes injury. Around the same time, the government chose to implement flawed Regulations relating to the design and use of computer workstations, which failed to distinguish between that which might give rise to discomfort, fatigue and frustration and that which might give rise to injury. The existence of these Regulations, which among other things require regular, individual risk assessments of computer users, unlike any other type of work, could be interpreted as further 'proof' that computer use causes injury. The approach to the prevention and management of musculoskeletal disorders advocated in current HSE guidance, including the risk assessment strategy, remain capable of generating distorted perceptions of the risks arising from keyboard and computer use.

From a BPS perspective, COPD and other chronic diseases may have a significant negative impact on those living with them and may be associated with higher rates of depression and anxiety and lower levels of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Certain factors, such as spirituality, may influence the negative impact of chronic disease on the relationship between mood and functional independence and HRQOL. Also, gender may influence the relationship between mood, spirituality, and HRQOL for men and women living with chronic diseases. The current study included 136 patients undergoing physical rehabilitation at an IRF. Anxiety, depression, spirituality, HRQOL, and functional independence were evaluated for all. Mediation models were tested to determine the impact of spirituality on the relationships between mood and HRQOL and functional independence, and moderation models were tested to evaluate the impact of gender on the relationships between mood, spirituality, functional independence, and HRQOL. The current study yielded some inconclusive results but did evidence that COPD patients in acute inpatient physical rehabilitation facilities (IRF) have higher levels of anxiety than patients without COPD and also revealed that men with COPD have better HRQOL than do women with COPD. Spirituality was found to partially mediate the relationship between depression and HRQOL in IRF patients with COPD, but gender did not appear to moderate the relationships between mood, spirituality, functional independence, or HRQOL in IRF patients. As few studies on IRF patients with chronic diseases exist, continuing to evaluate patients in IRFs is important to enhance our BPS understanding of chronic disease.

Introduction: There has been a continuous development of new technologies in healthcare that are derived from national quality registries. However, this innovation needs to be translated into the workflow of healthcare delivery, to enable children with long-term conditions to get the best support possible to manage their health during everyday life. Since children living with long-term conditions experience different interference levels in their lives, healthcare professionals need to assess the impact of care on children’s day-to-day lives, as a complement to biomedical assessments. Aim: The overall aim of this thesis was to explore and describe the use of instruments about health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in outpatient care for children with long-term conditions on the basis of a national quality registry system. Methods: The research was conducted by using comparative, cross-sectional and explorative designs and data collection was performed by using different methods. The questionnaire DISABKIDS Chronic Generic Measure -37 was used as well as semi-structured interviews and video-recordings from consultations. Altogether, 156 children (8–18 years) and nine healthcare professionals participated in the studies. Children with Type 1 Diabetes (T1D) (n 131) answered the questionnaire DISABKIDS and children with rheumatic diseases, kidney diseases and T1D (n 25) were interviewed after their consultation at the outpatient clinic after the web-DISABKIDS had been used. In total, nine healthcare professionals used the HRQOL instrument as an assessment tool during the encounters which was video-recorded (n 21). Quantitative deductive content analysis was used to describe content in different HRQOL instruments. Statistical inference was used to analyse results from DISABKIDS and qualitative content analysis was used to analyse the interviews and video-recordings. Results: The findings showed that based on a biopsychosocial perspective, both generic and disease-specific instruments should be used to gain a comprehensive evaluation of the child’s HRQOL. The DISABKIDS instrument is applicable when describing different aspects of health concerning children with T1D. When DISABKIDS was used in the encounters, children expressed positive experiences about sharing their results with the healthcare professional. It was discovered that different approaches led to different outcomes for the child when the healthcare professionals were using DISABKIDS during the encounter. When an instructing approach is used, the child’s ability to learn more about their health and how to improve their health is limited. When an inviting or engaging approach is used by the professional, the child may become more involved during the conversations. Conclusions: It could be argued that instruments of HRQOL could be used as a complement to biomedical variables, to promote a biopsychosocial perspective on the child’s health. According to the children in this thesis, feedback on their results after answering to web-DISABKIDS is important, which implies that healthcare professionals need to prioritize time for discussions about results from HRQOL instruments in the encounters. If healthcare professionals involve the child in the discussion of the results of the HRQOL, misinterpreted answers could be corrected during the conversation. Concurrently, this claims that healthcare professionals invite and engage the child.

<p>The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of a back education programme on biomechanical knowledge, back beliefs, the occurrence of LBP, disability, and work loss among employees at an industrial setting in Cape Town, South Africa. Furthermore, the study sought to determine the perceptions of back education that are held by industrial<br /> employees.</p>

<p>The objectives of this study were to determine the effects of a back education programme on biomechanical knowledge, back beliefs, the occurrence of LBP, disability, and work loss among employees at an industrial setting in Cape Town, South Africa. Furthermore, the study sought to determine the perceptions of back education that are held by industrial<br /> employees.</p>

This thesis explores some of the themes and issues that social workers may wish to consider when investigating and addressing matters pertaining to wellness in individuals with sex-variances. Foundational literature includes writings by John Money, the Chicago Consensus, and the clinical guidelines of the Intersex Society of North America. A three pillars model is introduced as a potential means for fostering better understanding and diversity in relation to sex, gender, and sexuality. Semi-structured interviews surrounding wellness are conducted with four individuals who have sex-variances. Interview results are analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Recommendations are put forth in a manner designed to allow social workers to work collaboratively with individuals who have sex-variances and their families, as well as with other medical and health professionals who provide services thereof. The analyses and recommendations presented in this thesis are situated within a context of evidence-based anti-oppressive practice.