The diagnosis of HIV is a life-changing event that requires people to deal with the disease, as well as cope with HIV stigma. Both people living with HIV or AIDS (PLHA) and their close family members (CFM) are stigmatized, but CFM also stigmatizes PLHA. This interaction affects the relationship between PLHA and their CFM. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of a comprehensive community-based HIV stigma reduction intervention on PLHA and their CFM as well as to explore and describe their experiences during and after the intervention. A holistic multiple case study design as well as a qualitative description approach was used. The study was conducted in both an urban and a rural setting. Purposive sampling was used for the PLHA and snowball sampling for the CFM. The case record for the case study consisted of several sources. In-depth-interviews were used to explore their experiences. The data was analysed using open coding and text document analysis. Both groups gained a richer understanding of HIV stigma and coping with it. The relationships enriched by PLHA feeling more supported and CFM realizing how they stigmatized and that they should be more supportive. Leadership was activated through the project. Bringing PLHA and CFM together during an intervention, proved to be affective, Recommendations focus on the inclusion of HIV-related stigma reduction awareness interventions in the curriculum of student nurses and the implementation thereof in the community, through community based nursing. It would be of benefit if the programme could also be offered as a workshop to traditional healers in the community. Nurses in clinics working with PLHA should invite PLHA and CFM to participate in groups to support each other in reducing HIV-related stigma and share problem-solving coping strategies. The researcher believes that the results of the current study have important implications for further research in HIV-related stigma reduction interventions in other countries and demographic groups. It has the potential to be used for long-term monitoring studies of HIV stigma reduction interventions and the change over time. / Thesis (MCur)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013

This study was conducted in the Heuningvlei community in the Kgalagadi District Municipality in the Northern Cape Province. This study was part of the "Tshwaragano Project" with the general aim of empowering the disadvantaged communities in rural areas. The aim of this research was to develop, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a community-based disability programme for poverty stricken families in rural areas of the Northern Cape Province. To achieve this aim, the following objectives needed to be attained: w> To study the interrelation between health, poverty and disability? This objective was achieved by means of a critical review and analysis of the relevant literature. It can therefore be concluded that the interrelation between health, poverty and disability is significant. Poverty makes people more vulnerable to disability and disability can lead to isolation, lack of support and lack of resources. Many people still remain ill-fed, ill-housed, under-educated and defenceless to preventable diseases. To establish what the bio-psychosocial needs of the Heuningvlei community with regard to a community-based disability programme are? The researcher also established a profile on the community members with disabilities in the Heuningvlei community. The study showed that the highest prevalence of disabilities involves physical disabilities, with hearing, blindness and mental impairments also represented. The causes of disabilities are mostly illness related causes, substance abuse and natural causes. All three aspects which could, on the whole be prevented through general health awareness and a healthier lifestyle. It was also palpable that crucial disability management- and support services lack in this rural area. Partnership working between government organizations and Non Government Organizations (NGO's) seems a foreign affair and the community members with disabilities and their families an elapsed entity. To design and implement a community-based disability programme for rural areas. This programme was presented successfulfy over a stretch of five group sessions to ten community members with the aim to improve their knowledge regarding disability matters. They also received skills to start their own food garden. By means of this programme the members of the group also enhanced their social functioning and showed great interest in disability awareness and management. To evaluate the effectiveness of this community-based disability programme in empowering community members with disabilities, their care-takers and the wider community to manage disability related matters in a poverty stricken area. The evaluation by utilizing a focus group with the identified key role players in the community. The results obtained through this evaluation indicated that the programme had brought a significant change in the lives of the members. It can therefore be concluded that the programme was very successful and effective in the sense that members felt that there was a transition in their lives. In summary it can be stated that proof has emerged from this research that a scientifically founded, well-planned community-based disability programme can undoubtedly be applied to improve the social functioning of poverty stricken rural families. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Social Work))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

This study was conducted in the Heuningvlei community in the Kgalagadi District Municipality in the Northern Cape Province. This study was part of the "Tshwaragano Project" with the general aim of empowering the disadvantaged communities in rural areas. The aim of this research was to develop, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of a community-based disability programme for poverty stricken families in rural areas of the Northern Cape Province. To achieve this aim, the following objectives needed to be attained: w> To study the interrelation between health, poverty and disability? This objective was achieved by means of a critical review and analysis of the relevant literature. It can therefore be concluded that the interrelation between health, poverty and disability is significant. Poverty makes people more vulnerable to disability and disability can lead to isolation, lack of support and lack of resources. Many people still remain ill-fed, ill-housed, under-educated and defenceless to preventable diseases. To establish what the bio-psychosocial needs of the Heuningvlei community with regard to a community-based disability programme are? The researcher also established a profile on the community members with disabilities in the Heuningvlei community. The study showed that the highest prevalence of disabilities involves physical disabilities, with hearing, blindness and mental impairments also represented. The causes of disabilities are mostly illness related causes, substance abuse and natural causes. All three aspects which could, on the whole be prevented through general health awareness and a healthier lifestyle. It was also palpable that crucial disability management- and support services lack in this rural area. Partnership working between government organizations and Non Government Organizations (NGO's) seems a foreign affair and the community members with disabilities and their families an elapsed entity. To design and implement a community-based disability programme for rural areas. This programme was presented successfulfy over a stretch of five group sessions to ten community members with the aim to improve their knowledge regarding disability matters. They also received skills to start their own food garden. By means of this programme the members of the group also enhanced their social functioning and showed great interest in disability awareness and management. To evaluate the effectiveness of this community-based disability programme in empowering community members with disabilities, their care-takers and the wider community to manage disability related matters in a poverty stricken area. The evaluation by utilizing a focus group with the identified key role players in the community. The results obtained through this evaluation indicated that the programme had brought a significant change in the lives of the members. It can therefore be concluded that the programme was very successful and effective in the sense that members felt that there was a transition in their lives. In summary it can be stated that proof has emerged from this research that a scientifically founded, well-planned community-based disability programme can undoubtedly be applied to improve the social functioning of poverty stricken rural families. / Thesis (Ph.D. (Social Work))--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2010.

In the last 20 years, linguists and community members engaged in fieldwork with endangered languages have become increasingly aware of and vocal about the ethical dilemmas that potentially can, and often do, arise in work of this nature. One result of this can be seen in the reconceptualization of best practices and methodologies in linguistic fieldwork. There is a strong push towards collaborative, community-driven, and interdisciplinary forms of research, and a concomitant shift in the roles taken on by academic and community-based researchers. The shifts in roles in turn have led academics and community-members to rethink the responsibilities associated with these roles. The purpose of this thesis is threefold: firstly, to provide a description of a highly collaborative, community-driven project involving, as one of its components, the documentation of language associated with Traditional Ecological Knowledge (TEK); secondly, to consider and illustrate how the relative roles of academics and community participants have shifted and thirdly, to discuss responsibilities associated with the protection of the TEK documented through this work – knowledge that would not have been documented to the same extent if the project had not been collaborative and community-driven. These topics evolved from the knowledge and guidance of Kʷakʷaka'wakʷ Clan Chief Kʷaxsistalla (Adam Dick), as well as the ethnoecological/linguistic projects that this thesis is centred on. I propose that a) collaborative research that is community-steered can be supported by the Community-Based Language Research model developed by Czaykowska-Higgins (2009), b) within this emerging research framework unconventional research roles can be assumed by all participants, c) it is important to respect and protect the Traditional Ecological Knowledge recorded in research with Indigenous experts, and d) existing systems of Intellectual Property fall short in adequately protecting and respecting TEK. I conclude this study by relating these issues to larger movements occurring within linguistics and social science and humanities research in general. I suggest a move away from subscribing to the Intellectual Property system, and towards approaching language research through a human rights framework. The result of this thesis is an analysis of collaborative community-based language research with and within an Indigenous community in Canada. It will contribute to the ongoing discussions and evaluations of changing roles and responsibilities in field research in linguistics. / Graduate

This thesis explores the relationship between funding practices and the non-profit sector through a case study of one community-based organization, called Ma Mawi wi Chi Itata Centre, located in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The thesis traces implications of the shift to project funding models and outcomes-based management for the communitybased organizations (CBOs). The research draws on Foucault’s governmentality analytic to illuminate how funding practices relate to neoliberal discourses and traces the tensions and resistances that are created by funding policy interventions at the point of practice. I argue tensions arise between: competition and collaboration; textual accountability and community need; reporting, learning, and teaching; different problem solving approaches; and individualism and community building practices. CBOs are intimately wrapped up in the project of governing. They are not either, a symbol of citizen engagement or a symptom of a decimated state; rather they are both, part and parcel of a system in which we are both governed and govern. / Graduate

Severe acute malnutrition (SAM) threatens the lives of millions of children globally. In developing countries, 15% of the population is undernourished; and half of the mortality for children younger than 5 years old is associated to undernutrition (UNICEF, 2008), the most vulnerable population to malnutrition. Overall, Haiti reports 19.2% of children are undernourished, 11.4% are underweight, and 10.3% are wasted (Lutter et al., 2011; DHS, 2005, CWW-proposal, 2007). The treatment for the management of SAM has evolved over the decades (Lancet, 2006). The Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) is an evidence-based intervention with proven effectiveness for treating children with SAM (Collins, 2007). The CMAM intervention reduces infant mortality related to SAM (Lancet, 2006, Collins, 2007; WHO, 2001; UNICEF, 2009). The CMAM intervention was validated in 2007 through the United Nations agencies for the management of SAM. Nevertheless, it has had limited reach and poor public health impact in some of the developing countries (e.g.; Haiti) where it was implemented. Concern Worldwide is a non-profit humanitarian organization, which pioneered in the creation of the CMAM intervention. Concern introduced the CMAM interventions in Haiti in October 2007 as a pilot program. The program was implemented in close to 20 health institutions in the metropolitan Port-au-Prince. As is the case with any other public health program, there were many challenges to the CMAM intervention implementation in Haiti. Concern’s CMAM intervention was not sustainable after it retracted the technical support in 2012 (UNICEF-Haiti country report, 2014). The purpose of this paper is to first review the Concern Worldwide CMAM program implementation in five communes of Port-au-Prince. Then, a suggested plan is outlined for the revitalization of the intervention’s activities and long-term sustainability once revitalized.

There is a marked absence in the Canadian literature about what types of programs and programming characteristics are available to women in conflict with the law when they return to the community after a period of incarceration. There is a need to document the programming options available as well as the characteristics of these programs and their perceived ability to help assist women in conflict with the law find a place in the community. This research is based on a case study conducted with Elizabeth Fry Toronto. The results of this study are based on eight semi-structured interviews that were conducted with the staff and volunteers at this agency. Drawing on the sociological perspectives of multiple marginalities, pathways to crime, stigma and impression management, this study explores the following: (1) the key program elements that are perceived to assist with women’s reintegration back into the community; (2) the ways in which the program elements represent characteristics of successful programs as identified in the literature; and, (3) the challenges Elizabeth Fry Toronto faces in delivering or implementing key program strategies. Findings provide support for the categories and themes of the three sociological perspectives. Also, the results of this research are consistent with what the existing literature identifies as innovative and effective program responses for female offenders in the community. Finally, this study finds that Elizabeth Fry Toronto faces four challenges in assisting women offenders find a place in the community after a period of incarceration: issues surrounding housing arrangements, fiscal restraints, potential clients are unaware of the services available to them, and the perceptions of society regarding women offenders. The results from this study can be used to improve policy and practice as well as add a much needed Canadian perspective to the characteristics and programming options available to women in conflict in the law in the community. This study can possibly inform policy makers with the knowledge, perspectives and theories needed to improve the social conditions for women offenders both in prison and in the community. The findings from this case study illustrate successful program elements, from the perspective of those who work with these women, and the challenges faced by clients and the organization for one community-based agency.

District energy systems are a key component to addressing reductions in green house gases, encouraging compact settlement form and ensuring reliable community energy delivery. System development can also generate local economic benefits like aggregated energy pricing and employment creation. This research focuses on an exploration of Ontario’s planning framework with respect to energy generation and thermal energy distribution, providing broad recommendations to municipalities intended to help facilitate the development of district energy systems. In summary, this research was designed to accomplish the following objectives: 1. To craft a set of transferrable recommendations that will help Ontario municipalities facilitate the development of district energy systems where appropriate. 2. To add to the literature available on district energy system development from a municipal planning perspective. 3. To examine the tools available to planning practitioners to help engage communities and municipalities in planning for local energy generation and delivery. The methodological approach employed for this research is qualitative in nature, relying on an inductive style building from particulars to general themes. The characteristics of a qualitative study are best suited to address the research questions and objectives because community energy planning and land use planning are largely unexplored in conjunction, and this methodology provides a framework to explore where the fields have integrated in practice as well as reveal some of the challenges and potential solutions. Case studies were used to examine the development of two different Ontario district energy systems. Additionally, key informant interviews provide insights from planners, system operators, customers and industry experts to provide a practice based foundation of information to development transferable recommendations. The findings suggest that the development of a district energy system is a very complex process, requiring the expertise of many specialists, and the support from local stakeholders. There are planning implications for the implementation of district energy systems, which require forethought at the beginning of the planning process and opportunities to support community based energy solutions through policy. The adoption of a planning regulatory framework will ensure adequate consideration is given to community energy management in conjunction with land use and urban form. Going forward, accounting for the conservation of energy in land use will be imperative for achieving local, regional and provincial goals associated with infrastructure, the environment, and energy resource management.

Thesis (MPsy(Forensic))--University of South Australia, 2001.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of participation in the Otago Exercise Programme (OEP) on strength and balance. The change in a number of balance and strength measures were compared between a group of community dwelling women over the age of 80 years participating in the OEP and a control group matched by gender and age.Study design: A cohort study of two independent groups.Participants: Nineteen women over the age of 80 years who were community dwelling and participating in the OEP and 18 age matched community dwelling women who continued with their normal activities of daily living.Main outcome measures: Participants' strength and balance was measured using the timed up and go test, the step test, the 30 second chair stand test and gait velocity. Participants' fear of falling was measured with the Modified Falls Efficacy Scale and falls were monitored using a falls diary.Results: There were no statistically significant improvements in strength and balance in the OEP group and no statistically significant differences between the OEP and control group, after participating in the OEP for 6 months. The only statistically significant change in the OEP group was a slowing of gait velocity, all other outcome measures remained unchanged for both the OEP group and the control group.Conclusions: There were no statistically significant improvements in strength and balance after participating in the OEP. These results are consistent with those of the original Otago trial and the subsequent meta-analysis of all the Otago trials. The results from this study need to be interpreted with caution, as due to the small sample size the study was underpowered. The critical components of the OEP remain unknown.