This thesis focuses on the issue of attention based on Noddings and Weil's perspectives. Inaddition, it describes a fictional example for attention. The fictional example critically examinesthe benefits and potential risks of care and attention in modern education. It uses the 2018 film"The Kindergarten Teacher" as an example to explore the ethical boundaries of providing care andattention. The film revolves around a teacher named Lisa Spinelli, who becomes deeply involvedin nurturing a student's exceptional poetic talent. I examine Lisa's behavior using Nel Noddings'theory of care and Simone Weil's notion of attention. Applying these frameworks aims to assessLisa's motivations and actions and gain insight into her conduct.Noddings emphasizes that attention and caring develop in a relationship is a continuous process,not just a single moment. For the relationship to be strong, it must involve mutual responses fromboth parties. When a strong relationship with attention is established, it aids in the learning processespecially for students and children. However, for this relationship to be effective, it needs to bedeep and trustworthy, with responsive interactions. Noddings also suggests that "modeling","dialogue", "practice", and "confirmation" are essential components that teachers and parents canuse to enhance their students' or children's attention within their relationships.Simone Weil's conception of attention is selfless and others-focused. It involves putting asidepersonal goals to meet the needs of others. Weil introduces "impersonality" through solitude,where individuals suspend their sense of self for the collective. True attention requires thedisappearance of self and focuses beyond comprehension, like an act of prayer. Love and desireare crucial, fostering a willingness to be attentive and forget oneself. Weil explores attention's rolein pursuing truth, beauty, and goodness. It is crucial for making supreme efforts and should be theprimary focus of education. She emphasizes observing visual representations withoutinterpretation to gain understanding. Maintaining attention amidst conflicting desires andobligations is challenging. Weil suggests enduring and resisting negative desires while focusing onthe good and virtuous. Individuals can elevate the quality of their attention by detaching fromtemporal concerns. Ultimately, Weil presents attention as a transformative practice that leads tolove, genuine values, and a deeper understanding of the world.

As medical students undergo their clinical years, they exhibit a well-documented loss of idealism, increasingly negative attitudes towards poor and underserved patients, and less interest in working with these patients. Here we describe the pilot year of a longitudinal service-learning requirement implemented as a part of the medical student pre-clinical curriculum. We hypothesized that increased non-clinical contact would decrease the formation of negative attitudes towards underserved patients. Students completed service hours at assigned community sites each semester along with written reflections. Surveys were administered to track attitudes towards the underserved. Written reflections were analyzed qualitatively for thematic content as well as feedback on the experience. The requirement was largely acceptable to medical students, and many found value and enjoyment in the experience. The most common critique was that the required hours were insufficient to develop continuity, and that students desired more thorough briefing beforehand to increase their effectiveness. Students reported practicing clinical skills and communication skills. They identified social determinants of health and learned about their patients. They reflected on their professional identity, motivations for entering medicine, and specialty choices. Students experienced moments of connection and belonging, as well as feelings of guilt, otherness, and awareness of privilege. We continue to explore how working collaboratively and learning reciprocally with community members outside of the hospital and clinic may teach students cultural humility and help insulate students from cynicism and negative views of poor and medically underserved patients. / Urban Bioethics

Studies have indicated that relapse is noted as a major problem facing mental health services both nationally and internationally whereby family members caring for mental health care users experience a serious burden. Factors commonly associated with relapse include poor adherence to treatment, substance abuse, co-morbid psychiatric illness, a co-morbid medical and or surgical condition, stressful life events and the treatment setting. Relapse prevention strategies have been identified and they include, empowering people with mental illness to recognize early warning signs of relapse in order to develop appropriate response plans as well as communication and understanding between the mentally ill person, their family, and specialist mental health system and community support services. The researcher was prompted by the problem of relapse faced by mental health services to explore and describe the strengths of families in assisting mental health care users to limit relapse and to formulate guidelines for psychiatric nurses to empower family members caring for mental health care users to limit relapse. A phenomenological design was used in this study and a purposive sampling technique was used to select participants who met the selection criteria. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with 15 family members. All interviews were recorded with an audio recorder after participants gave consent. Data saturation was achieved after 13 participants were interviewed and further two interviews confirmed data saturation. Field notes were written immediately after each interview. Data analysis was done according to Tesch as quoted by Creswell (2007:187) and the researcher and co-analyzer reached consensus on the themes in a meeting. The findings of research resulted in four main categories namely, accepting the condition of a mentally ill family member, having faith in God, involving a mentally ill family member in daily activities and being aware of what aggravates the mentally ill family member. The conclusion that can be made is that “acceptance through education” assisted family members in developing a positive attitude and acceptance of their feelings as well as the condition of their mentally ill family members. A strong spiritual base provides family members with strength and hope in times of adversity and teaches them how to have healthy relationships within the family unit and with others. It is also evident that sharing activities, as the things that all members of the family do together, reinforce and strengthen their togetherness and that if family members can be aware of what aggravates mentally ill family members by communicating well with them, that can bring harmony in families and ultimately limit relapse. Recommendations in this research are made for nursing education, nursing research and psychiatric nursing practice with guidelines for psychiatric nurses to empower families caring for mentally ill family members to use their strengths and contribute to limiting relapse. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

Studies have indicated that relapse is noted as a major problem facing mental health services both nationally and internationally whereby family members caring for mental health care users experience a serious burden. Factors commonly associated with relapse include poor adherence to treatment, substance abuse, co-morbid psychiatric illness, a co-morbid medical and or surgical condition, stressful life events and the treatment setting. Relapse prevention strategies have been identified and they include, empowering people with mental illness to recognize early warning signs of relapse in order to develop appropriate response plans as well as communication and understanding between the mentally ill person, their family, and specialist mental health system and community support services. The researcher was prompted by the problem of relapse faced by mental health services to explore and describe the strengths of families in assisting mental health care users to limit relapse and to formulate guidelines for psychiatric nurses to empower family members caring for mental health care users to limit relapse. A phenomenological design was used in this study and a purposive sampling technique was used to select participants who met the selection criteria. In-depth individual interviews were conducted with 15 family members. All interviews were recorded with an audio recorder after participants gave consent. Data saturation was achieved after 13 participants were interviewed and further two interviews confirmed data saturation. Field notes were written immediately after each interview. Data analysis was done according to Tesch as quoted by Creswell (2007:187) and the researcher and co-analyzer reached consensus on the themes in a meeting. The findings of research resulted in four main categories namely, accepting the condition of a mentally ill family member, having faith in God, involving a mentally ill family member in daily activities and being aware of what aggravates the mentally ill family member. The conclusion that can be made is that “acceptance through education” assisted family members in developing a positive attitude and acceptance of their feelings as well as the condition of their mentally ill family members. A strong spiritual base provides family members with strength and hope in times of adversity and teaches them how to have healthy relationships within the family unit and with others. It is also evident that sharing activities, as the things that all members of the family do together, reinforce and strengthen their togetherness and that if family members can be aware of what aggravates mentally ill family members by communicating well with them, that can bring harmony in families and ultimately limit relapse. Recommendations in this research are made for nursing education, nursing research and psychiatric nursing practice with guidelines for psychiatric nurses to empower families caring for mentally ill family members to use their strengths and contribute to limiting relapse. / MCur, North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2014

PHDPH / Department of Public Health / Family involvement in caring for mentally ill patients in long-term mental healthcare institutions is defined as a strategy in which family members and long-term healthcare professionals become partners to provide the best possible care for a person with mental illness. The study seeks to develop a model to promote family involvement in long-term mental health care institutions in Limpopo Province, South Africa. Mixed methods was used. Unstructured interviews were conducted with 21 family members and 6 focused group discussions with MHCUs in qualitative phase. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from 360 nurses in the quantitative phase. Data was analysed independently of which convergent analytic approach was used to merge the two data sets. iv The study reports that the MHCUs’ attitudes towards families contribute to poor involvement by family members in the care/visit of the MHCUs while admitted in long-term mental health care. The rejection of the MHCUs also came up strongly during data analysis. Nurses perceived that insufficient family involvement hinders the provision of mental health care services. Eight steps in the Walker and Avant Method were adapted to clarify and distinguish the definition of the main concepts. A model to promote family involvement was conceptualised using the six areas as described by Dickoff, James and Wiedenbach (1968). A model was validated against its rationale and purpose of the study. Justification on the contribution of the family involvement in mental health care revealed that “family involvement in caring for MHCUs” is an engagement and encourages family members to participate in the diagnosis, treatment and recovery process. Study recommended that a developed model should be implemented in health establishments providing mental health services. Policies should be reviewed to include activities which the families should be notified of immediately the mentally ill patient is declared to receive mental health care, treatment and rehabilitation. Developed model should be piloted and evaluated to identify areas that will further improve the quality of mental health services. / NRF

The thesis deals with the issue of cooperation between the health care and social care sectors in the framework of care for the elderly in the home environment. It focuses more closely on the case of the city of Prague. The aim of the thesis is to examine the current state of cooperation of the health care and social care sector in the city of Prague in the field of care for the elderly and to identify the impact of government decisions as well as decisions of individual city districts of Prague on the work of field workers. Attention is paid to the needs of field workers and to specific barriers that they have themselves identified and which, according to the workers, make it impossible to set up a functional cooperation system. On the basis of an analysis of national level documents, documents issued by the capital city of Prague or specific districts, good practice from European Union countries (namely Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium) a set appropriate ways of dealing with the issue has been proposed.

At Resuscitation Units and Intensive Care Units nurses face the issue of dying and death every day. Very often they are in contact with the dying and their immediate family and they are expected to have professional approach and provide comprehensive care. Stress that the nurses experience in these situations results into mental, emotional and physical exhaustion, and can be manifested by psychosomatic problems. Preparation of nurses to these situations and support of their management is therefore a key factor for the management of this demanding profession. The theoretical part of the thesis contains a description of the current state of the issue, characterizes resuscitation and intensive care, and deals with the issue of death and dying in Resuscitation Units nad Intensive Care Units, managing situations associated with death and the support of nurses in these situations. The work has four goals. The first objective is to determine what method of preparation of nurses is in practice ensured in Resuscitation Units and Intensive Care Units for the performance of high-quality nursing care for dying patients. Another objective is to determine whether and how the nurses are prepared and trained in the field of management of situations connected with the death of a patient in Resuscitation Units and Intensive Care Units. The third objective is, whether there is and what is the form of assistance to nurses in RU and ICU provided by the team and the management of the Department in case of deaths of patients, and the fourth objective is to determine what form and manner of support nurses expect and require. Research part of the thesis was carried out by quantitative investigation using an anonymous questionnaire. Respondents were answering 38 questions, 13 questions were closed, 21 half open and 4 were open. The support is most frequently understood as a psychological support, good teamwork, communication, supervision and representation where necessary. Management is expected primarily to provide support through education, ensuring supervision, corresponding financial support and professional psychological assistance where necessary. On the basis of this work?s results a proposal for the course for paramedical professions working in RS and ICU called ?Course of the Strategy of Difficult Situations Management in the Care for the Dying and Their Close Family in Intensive and Urgent Care?, was made.

The diploma thesis deals with the care of a girl with Rett syndrome (RTT) in the family. The six main chapters and individual subchapters present the issues of Rett syndrome, the family of a girl with RTT and area of care for a girl with RTT. The first chapter of the diploma thesis presents the fundamental issues related to Rett syndrome with an outline of the history, definition, causes and manifestations. The prevalence and incidence, diagnosis and manifestations of RTT are presented. The following subchapters are devoted to the individual stages of Rett syndrome, their course and the issue of RTT in boys. The second chapter focuses on the issue of the family caring for a child with a disability, presents a definition of the family and the stages of acceptance of a child with a disability. The following subchapters present the complex care for a child with a disability and present an overview of possible forms of support for families of children with disabilities. The third chapter deals with selected areas of care that parents of girls with RTT often have to provide. The individual subchapters include the following areas such as hygiene, sleep, diet, mobility, communication and health care. The fourth chapter is the research survey itself, conducted qualitatively. The research aimed to find out...

Master of Science / Department of Family Studies and Human Services / Anthony Jurich / This study explored the parents’ perspective of having a child with Autism living in the home. Specifically, the researcher was looking to explore the attachment style between the parent and child, as well as the process of the parents’ changing their expectations of their child, from the expectation of raising a normal child to raising a child with Autism. In order to understand the experience of both families interviewed, the researcher, through semi-structured, qualitative interviews, interviewed each parent separately. A multiple case study approach was used in order to allow for comparison within each family. Methods for analyzing the data included coding the data, so that the data could be analyzed from the individual interviews and also analyzed based on family response. For the parents interviewed in the study, four themes emerged that were similar for all parents. These themes included the diagnosis process, the differences in attachment before and after their child was diagnosed, the changing expectations of themselves, each other and their diagnosed child, and the parents’ views on getting professional help, such as therapy. Both families shared the experience of confusion during the diagnostic process, especially confusion surrounding the cause and prognosis of Autism. All parents in the study illustrated the attachment injury after their child’s diagnosis, in addition to when the child began showing the classic signs of Autism. The study also found that each parent’s expectations changed from higher ones of themselves, spouse and diagnosed child to more moderate and low expectations of their spouse and diagnosed child. Last, all parents interviewed expressed that seeking therapy would have helped them deal with the diagnostic process and better cope with having a child with Autism. It is believed by the researcher that these themes have emerged because of the families’ shared experience of raising an Autistic child.

Despite the feminisation of the workplace as one of the key developments of this domain, the meaning of work for women is little understood. A phenomenological approach was adopted in this study to gain in-depth understanding of the meaning ascribed to work by a sample of ten South African, women graduates. Literature was used to generate three models - a male-centred, stereotyped and contemporary conceptualisation. Unstructured interviews were conducted and the protocols analysed using the modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method (Creswell, 1998; Stones, 1985; 1986). Themes illustrated that the meaning of work for women is multifaceted and comprises a number of components including sense of identity and self-worth, meeting instrumental needs, social relatedness, serving others, intrinsic satisfaction and the exercise of power and authority. Findings suggested that the meaning women ascribe to work changes when they experience autonomy. Recommendations were made for future research and organisational practices. / Indust & Org Psychology / MA(IND AND ORG PSYCHOLOGY)