The purpose of this study was to determine the profile of parents with children in Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres using Over the Counter (OTC) homeopathic remedies, specific to the Pretoria East region. Secondary objectives included determining the extent of use of OTC homeopathic remedies, the perceptions of parents regarding homeopathy and natural remedies as well as the positioning of homeopathy. The research was designed around descriptive and exploratory methods using quantitative research techniques. Aspects such as demographic information and the general health of families, attitudes, perceptions and opinions specific to homeopathy, natural remedies and conventional medicine, as well as details on remedy usage and brands, were addressed. From the findings of the study a clear profile could be identified. Further to the profile, the perceptions of respondents regarding OTC homeopathic remedies as well as reasons for using these remedies are discussed. The positioning of OTC homeopathic remedies was done based on spider graphs, exploratory factor analysis, cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling. Several recommendations were made to the homeopathic industry, the Ministry of Health, medical professionals, Medical Aid Schemes, pharmacists and the pharmaceutical industry, as well as the Department of Social Development. The study concludes with details specific to the limitations of the study and further research suggestions. / Economics / M.A. Commerce (Business Management)

Esta pesquisa discute a Comunicação em Saúde no contexto das Práticas Integrativas e Complementares (PIC) no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), no que concerne ao tratamento do câncer realizado num hospital público de Campinas. O arcabouço teórico se debruça sobre as diretrizes do ideário da Promoção da Saúde e sobre as discussões da Educação em Saúde, por serem premissas fundamentais para que a Comunicação em Saúde seja participativa e democrática, e que a Comunicação das PIC conquiste maior espaço na Saúde Pública. O objetivo geral foi investigar o processo de comunicação entre profissionais de saúde e usuários do SUS participantes do Projeto de Construção do Cuidado Integrativo (PCCI). A metodologia utilizada foi a qualitativa tendo como instrumentos pesquisa documental e entrevistas semi-estruturadas para a coleta dos dados. Os participantes do estudo foram usuários que fizeram parte do grupo de Acupuntura e de Fitoterapia e usaram práticas complementares ao tratamento convencional do câncer, e também os profissionais de saúde envolvidos no PCCI realizado no Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)/SP. Os dados foram analisados por meio da análise temática de conteúdo de Bardin, que permitiu identificar as seguintes categorias: Medo da intervenção, Analgesia como resultado, Continuidade do tratamento, Falta de informação e Divulgação das práticas. Os resultados mostraram que houve dificuldades de comunicação, indicando lacunas importantes em relação à infraestrutura, à falta de divulgação e continuidade do tratamento complementar com as PIC, a falta de valorização da participação popular e estímulo à autonomia como preconiza o ideário da Promoção da Saúde. Concluiu-se que o modelo de saúde vigente, de base biomédica, não tem permitido a participação dos usuários, e, mais ainda, tem dificultado o desenvolvimento da comunicação democrática, humanizada e solidária. O Projeto (PCCI) foi importante em sua execução, uma vez que trouxe resultados positivos com o uso das PIC por melhorar as condições da qualidade de vida dos usuários e ter promovido analgesia, conferido maior disposição e recuperação dos movimentos. Entretanto, o Projeto (PCCI) não teve potencial o suficiente para provocar uma mudança na lógica do tratamento convencional que está hegemonicamente imerso no modelo biomédico, com isso limitando a inserção e a comunicação das PIC na Saúde Pública e dificultando a abertura para o diálogo entre os diferentes saberes. Entende-se que este é um dos principais desafios da Medicina Tradicional e Complementar (MTC). / In this research is discussed Health Communication in the light of Integrative and Complementary Practices (PIC) of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), regarding cancer treatment performed in a public hospital in Campinas. The rationale is Health Promotion as an idealistic guideline, as well as the discussions of Health Education. These are fundamental premises to guarantee Health Communication in a participatory and democratic manner, and that the communication of PIC conquers more space in Public Health. The overall objective was to investigate the process of communication between health professionals and users of the Unified Health System (SUS) that participate in the Construction of Integrative Care Project (Projeto de Construção do Cuidado Integrativo - PCCI). The methodology was qualitative having as documentary research tools and semi-structured interviews for data collection. Study participants were users part of the Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine Group, which used the practices complementing the conventional cancer treatment, and also the health professionals involved in the PCCI conducted at the Clinical Hospital of the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) / SP. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis of content (Bardin), which identified the following categories: \"Intervention Fear\", \"Analgesia as a Result\", \"Follow-up Care\", \"Lack of Information\" and \"Propagation of Practices\". The results showed that there were communication difficulties, indicating significant gaps in relation to infrastructure, lack of propagation and continuity of complementary treatment with PIC, and yet no proper appreciation of popular participation neither the encouragement of autonomy advocated by the ideas of Health Promotion. Concluding, the current Public Health policy, which is biomedical based, has not yet allowed the participation of users and, even more, has hindered the development of democratic, humane and supportive communication. The Project (PCCI) was important in its execution as it brought positive results regarding the use of PIC to improve the quality of life of users, promote analgesia, confer greater willingness and recovery of movement. However, the project (PCCI) did not have enough potential, yet, to promote a change in the logic of conventional treatment, which is hegemonic immersed in the biomedical model, thereby limiting the inclusion and communication of PIC in Public Health, and hindering an opening for dialogue between different knowledge. This is one of the main challenges of Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM).

Esta pesquisa discute a Comunicação em Saúde no contexto das Práticas Integrativas e Complementares (PIC) no Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS), no que concerne ao tratamento do câncer realizado num hospital público de Campinas. O arcabouço teórico se debruça sobre as diretrizes do ideário da Promoção da Saúde e sobre as discussões da Educação em Saúde, por serem premissas fundamentais para que a Comunicação em Saúde seja participativa e democrática, e que a Comunicação das PIC conquiste maior espaço na Saúde Pública. O objetivo geral foi investigar o processo de comunicação entre profissionais de saúde e usuários do SUS participantes do Projeto de Construção do Cuidado Integrativo (PCCI). A metodologia utilizada foi a qualitativa tendo como instrumentos pesquisa documental e entrevistas semi-estruturadas para a coleta dos dados. Os participantes do estudo foram usuários que fizeram parte do grupo de Acupuntura e de Fitoterapia e usaram práticas complementares ao tratamento convencional do câncer, e também os profissionais de saúde envolvidos no PCCI realizado no Hospital de Clínicas da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP)/SP. Os dados foram analisados por meio da análise temática de conteúdo de Bardin, que permitiu identificar as seguintes categorias: Medo da intervenção, Analgesia como resultado, Continuidade do tratamento, Falta de informação e Divulgação das práticas. Os resultados mostraram que houve dificuldades de comunicação, indicando lacunas importantes em relação à infraestrutura, à falta de divulgação e continuidade do tratamento complementar com as PIC, a falta de valorização da participação popular e estímulo à autonomia como preconiza o ideário da Promoção da Saúde. Concluiu-se que o modelo de saúde vigente, de base biomédica, não tem permitido a participação dos usuários, e, mais ainda, tem dificultado o desenvolvimento da comunicação democrática, humanizada e solidária. O Projeto (PCCI) foi importante em sua execução, uma vez que trouxe resultados positivos com o uso das PIC por melhorar as condições da qualidade de vida dos usuários e ter promovido analgesia, conferido maior disposição e recuperação dos movimentos. Entretanto, o Projeto (PCCI) não teve potencial o suficiente para provocar uma mudança na lógica do tratamento convencional que está hegemonicamente imerso no modelo biomédico, com isso limitando a inserção e a comunicação das PIC na Saúde Pública e dificultando a abertura para o diálogo entre os diferentes saberes. Entende-se que este é um dos principais desafios da Medicina Tradicional e Complementar (MTC). / In this research is discussed Health Communication in the light of Integrative and Complementary Practices (PIC) of the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), regarding cancer treatment performed in a public hospital in Campinas. The rationale is Health Promotion as an idealistic guideline, as well as the discussions of Health Education. These are fundamental premises to guarantee Health Communication in a participatory and democratic manner, and that the communication of PIC conquers more space in Public Health. The overall objective was to investigate the process of communication between health professionals and users of the Unified Health System (SUS) that participate in the Construction of Integrative Care Project (Projeto de Construção do Cuidado Integrativo - PCCI). The methodology was qualitative having as documentary research tools and semi-structured interviews for data collection. Study participants were users part of the Acupuncture and Herbal Medicine Group, which used the practices complementing the conventional cancer treatment, and also the health professionals involved in the PCCI conducted at the Clinical Hospital of the State University of Campinas (Unicamp) / SP. The data were analyzed using thematic analysis of content (Bardin), which identified the following categories: \"Intervention Fear\", \"Analgesia as a Result\", \"Follow-up Care\", \"Lack of Information\" and \"Propagation of Practices\". The results showed that there were communication difficulties, indicating significant gaps in relation to infrastructure, lack of propagation and continuity of complementary treatment with PIC, and yet no proper appreciation of popular participation neither the encouragement of autonomy advocated by the ideas of Health Promotion. Concluding, the current Public Health policy, which is biomedical based, has not yet allowed the participation of users and, even more, has hindered the development of democratic, humane and supportive communication. The Project (PCCI) was important in its execution as it brought positive results regarding the use of PIC to improve the quality of life of users, promote analgesia, confer greater willingness and recovery of movement. However, the project (PCCI) did not have enough potential, yet, to promote a change in the logic of conventional treatment, which is hegemonic immersed in the biomedical model, thereby limiting the inclusion and communication of PIC in Public Health, and hindering an opening for dialogue between different knowledge. This is one of the main challenges of Traditional and Complementary Medicine (TCM).

Breast cancer mortality is mainly due to distant recurrence of the disease arising from dormant tumor cells established by cancer therapies. Patients who initially respond to cancer therapies often succumb to distant recurrence of the disease. It is not clear why people with the same type of breast cancer respond to treatments differently; some escape from dormancy and relapse earlier than others. In addition, some tumor clones respond to immunotherapy while others do not. We investigated how autophagy plays a role in accelerating or delaying recurrence of neu overexpressing mouse mammary carcinoma (MMC) following adriamycin (ADR) treatment, and in affecting response to immunotherapy. We explored two strategies: 1) transient blockade of autophagy with chloroquine (CQ), which blocks fusion of autophagosomes and lysosomes during ADR treatment, and 2) permanent inhibition of autophagy by a stable knockdown of ATG5 (ATG5KD), which inhibits the formation of autophagosomes in MMC during and after ADR treatment. We found that while CQ prolonged tumor dormancy, but that stable knockdown of autophagy resulted in early escape from dormancy and recurrence. Interestingly, ATG5KD MMC contained an increased frequency of ADR-induced polyploid-like cells and rendered MMC resistant to immunotherapy. On the other hand, a transient blockade of autophagy did not affect the sensitivity of MMC to immunotherapy. Our observations suggest that while chemotherapy-induced autophagy may facilitate tumor relapse, cell-intrinsic autophagy delays tumor relapse, in part, by inhibiting the formation of polyploid-like tumor dormancy. Although immunotherapy of breast cancer by means of anti-HER2 antibodies prolongs survival of breast cancer patients, disease recurrence remains a major challenge. On the other hand administration of human vaccines against infectious disease in a preventive setting or during latency/dormancy has been successful in offering a cure. Here, we sought to use adoptive immunotherapy (AIT) at the time of tumor dormancy in order to prevent progression of breast cancer. We used a low dose immunogenic chemotherapy by means of 5-FU, Adriamycin, and Cyclophosphamide (FAC) in order to stabilize tumor progression prior to AIT using autologous tumor-reactive lymphocytes. Low dose FAC established local tumor dormancy, inhibited distant tumor dormancy occurring long before distant metastasis, and induced predominate a Ki67- quiescent type of tumor dormancy, which is less susceptible to tumor immunoediting. Dormant tumor cells expressed the cell survival pathways, including the endothelin receptor/ligand (ETRA, ETRB and ET-1) and PD-L1, thereby protecting them from elimination by AIT. In addition, tumor-reactive CD8+ T cells also produced ET-1 as a survival ligand for ETRA positive tumor cells. A combination of AIT with the blockade of tumor cell survival pathways resulted in a significant improvement of AIT against tumor dormancy. We also showed that the inhibition Bcl-xL downstream of the tumor cell survival pathways is specifically effective against dormant tumor cells, suggesting a combination of AIT with small molecules inhibitors of Bcl-xL. Altogether, we showed that distant tumor dormancy is established long before distant recurrence of breast cancer, and that the expression of several tumor cell survival pathways in dormant cells protects them from immunotherapy. Our results suggest that immunotherapeutic targeting of tumor dormancy combined with the blockade of a common downstream cell survival pathway could prevent tumor progression and recurrence of the disease.

<p>Den här studien fokuserar på komplementärmedicin ur fyra informanters perspektiv och med kopplingar till aktuella vetenskapliga diskussioner och strömningar. Bakgrunden till studien är en ökande användning av komplementärmedicin i samhället och livliga debatter kring dess vetenskapliga status. Syftet är att genom kvalitativa metoder belysa viktiga aspekter av informanternas användning av komplementärmedicin. Mycket uppmärksamhet ägnas åt informanternas syn på de olika metodernas effektivitet, hur denna definieras och vilka konkreta resultat informanterna strävar efter eller upplever.</p> / <p>This study focuses on complementary medicine from the perspectives of four informants, and with reference to topical scientific discussions and currents. The background of this study is to be found in the growing use of complementary medicine in the society. The main goal is to shed light on important aspects of the informants’ use of complementary medicine. Much attention is focused on their views regarding the efficacy of the various methods, how it is defined and what concrete results they are striving for, or experiencing.</p>

Den här studien fokuserar på komplementärmedicin ur fyra informanters perspektiv och med kopplingar till aktuella vetenskapliga diskussioner och strömningar. Bakgrunden till studien är en ökande användning av komplementärmedicin i samhället och livliga debatter kring dess vetenskapliga status. Syftet är att genom kvalitativa metoder belysa viktiga aspekter av informanternas användning av komplementärmedicin. Mycket uppmärksamhet ägnas åt informanternas syn på de olika metodernas effektivitet, hur denna definieras och vilka konkreta resultat informanterna strävar efter eller upplever. / This study focuses on complementary medicine from the perspectives of four informants, and with reference to topical scientific discussions and currents. The background of this study is to be found in the growing use of complementary medicine in the society. The main goal is to shed light on important aspects of the informants’ use of complementary medicine. Much attention is focused on their views regarding the efficacy of the various methods, how it is defined and what concrete results they are striving for, or experiencing.

The purpose of this study was to determine the profile of parents with children in Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres using Over the Counter (OTC) homeopathic remedies, specific to the Pretoria East region. Secondary objectives included determining the extent of use of OTC homeopathic remedies, the perceptions of parents regarding homeopathy and natural remedies as well as the positioning of homeopathy. The research was designed around descriptive and exploratory methods using quantitative research techniques. Aspects such as demographic information and the general health of families, attitudes, perceptions and opinions specific to homeopathy, natural remedies and conventional medicine, as well as details on remedy usage and brands, were addressed. From the findings of the study a clear profile could be identified. Further to the profile, the perceptions of respondents regarding OTC homeopathic remedies as well as reasons for using these remedies are discussed. The positioning of OTC homeopathic remedies was done based on spider graphs, exploratory factor analysis, cluster analysis and multidimensional scaling. Several recommendations were made to the homeopathic industry, the Ministry of Health, medical professionals, Medical Aid Schemes, pharmacists and the pharmaceutical industry, as well as the Department of Social Development. The study concludes with details specific to the limitations of the study and further research suggestions. / Economics / M.A. Commerce (Business Management)

That people should take responsibility for their health is a prominent contemporary idea. But what does such responsibility actually entail, and what demands are being put on people? The objective of the dissertation is to describe and critically examine various ideas on personal responsibility for health. In the first step, I identify and describe a wide variation of uses of responsibility and in the second step, I problematize them. The analyzed material consists of Swedish government reports and various types of health advice literature, including medical books and alternative medicine literature. I employ a framework of philosophical, social scientific, and developmental psychology theories on responsibility to critically examine the material. The study shows that taking responsibility involves both body and mind. Common ideas are that it requires maintaining a healthy lifestyle and managing one's self-care. But it is also considered important to take responsibility for beliefs and emotions and to adopt an accepting attitude. Another idea is that spiritual insights expand the scope of responsibility. Some important abilities required to take responsibility are conscious healthy choices, self-knowledge, and critical thinking. The view of responsibility is also influenced by individual factors, cultural beliefs about health and disease, and social structures. In the literature, health responsibility is regarded both as a social duty and as a never-ending task performed by an active individual. Finally, I use Robert Kegan's theory of adult development to show that taking responsibility imposes psychological demands on people's awareness. The demands are often higher than many people can manage. Some of the stress and poor health that people experience may be the product of an inability to manage all of life's demands. The developmental perspective also asserts that people can develop the requisite capacity. One conceivable conclusion of the study is that if we want people to take more responsibility, we should not only invest resources in health information, but also in measures that generate self-knowledge, reflection, and personal development.

Les médecines complémentaires sont nombreuses et variées, leur recours est largement répandu et en hausse. Selon les pratiques, les données d’évaluation sont plus ou moins riches, mais il y a peu de conclusions consensuelles quant à leur efficacité, même en cas de littérature abondante. Nous commencerons par un état des lieux de l’adéquation des méthodes conventionnelles utilisées pour l’évaluation du médicament, à savoir de l’essai contrôlé randomisé (ECR) et des méta-analyses, pour l’évaluation des médecines complémentaires.A travers trois applications pratiques, nous réfléchirons ensuite à l’apport d’autres méthodes, moins reconnues à ce jour dans le champ de l’evidence based medecine mais pouvant apporter d’autres éclairages. En particulier, nous discuterons de l’intérêt des méthodes mixtes, des études qualitatives et de l’exploitation des grandes bases de données médico-administratives. Nous réaliserons une revue mixte sur l’évaluation de l’hypnose pour le travail et l’accouchement, une étude qualitative sur l’expérience du qi gong par des patientes hospitalisées pour anorexie mentale sévère, et nous étudierons le potentiel d’exploitation du Système National d'Information Inter Régimes de l'Assurance Maladie (SNIIRAM) pour évaluer les médecines complémentaires. Les deux premiers axes nous amèneront à questionner le choix des critères de jugement et des instruments de mesure utilisés dans les ECR et nous inciteront à accorder davantage de place et de légitimité à la perspective du patient. Plus largement, cela nous invitera à remettre en cause la suprématie traditionnellement accordée aux études quantitatives pour la remplacer par une vision non hiérarchique mais synergique des approches qualitatives et quantitatives. Le troisième axe nous permettra d’identifier les limites actuelles à l’exploitation du SNIIRAM pour l’évaluation des médecines complémentaires, à la fois sur le plan technique et sur le plan de la représentativité. Nous proposerons des mesures concrètes pour rendre possible et pertinente son exploitation dans le champ de l'évaluation des médecines complémentaires.Enfin, dans la discussion générale, nous tiendrons compte du fait que l’évaluation des médecines complémentaires n’a pas pour but d’autoriser ou non une mise sur le marché. Ainsi, contrairement à l'évaluation des médicaments, l'évaluation des médecines complémentaires ne s'inscrit pas toujours dans une visée de prise de décision. Nous soulignerons l’importance de tenir compte de la visée (visée de connaissance ou visée de décision) dans l’élaboration d’une stratégie de recherche et nous proposerons deux stratégies différentes en nous appuyant sur la littérature et les résultats issus de nos trois exemples d'application. Concernant la stratégie de recherche à visée de prise de décision, nous montrerons l’importance des étapes de définition de l’intervention, d’identification des critères de jugement pertinents, et d’optimisation de l’intervention, avant la réalisation d’essais pragmatiques visant à évaluer l’efficacité en vie réelle. Nous verrons comment la volonté d’évaluer ces pratiques nous renvoie à des défis en terme de réglementation et nous soulignerons par ailleurs la nécessité d’évaluer la sécurité de ces pratiques en développant des systèmes de surveillance adaptés. / Complementary medicines are numerous and varied, their use is widespread and increasing.Quality and quantity of evaluation data depend on the type of complementary medicines, but there are few consensual conclusions about their effectiveness, even in the case of abundant literature. We will start with an inventory of the adequacy of the conventional methods used for drug evaluation, namely randomized controlled trials (RCT) and meta-analyzes, for the evaluation of complementary medicines. Through three practical applications, we will then consider the contribution of other methods, less recognized to date in the field of evidence-based medicine but potentially contributive to shed light on other perspectives. In particular, we will discuss the advantages of mixed methods, qualitative studies and the exploitation of large health administrative databases. We will conduct a mixed-method review of the assessment of hypnosis for labor and childbirth, a qualitative study on the experience of qi gong by patients hospitalized for severe anorexia nervosa and we will study the potential of the French national health insurance database (SNIIRAM) to evaluate complementary medicines. The first two axis will lead us to question the choice of outcomes and measurement tools used in RCTs and to value and legitimate the patient's perspective. More broadly, it will invite us to question the hierarchical vision of qualitative and quantitative research that traditionally attributes supremacy to quantitative studies. It will encourage us to replace it with a synergistic vision of qualitative and quantitative approaches. The third axis will enable us to identify the current limits to the use of SNIIRAM for the evaluation of complementary medicines, both technically and in terms of representativeness. We will propose concrete measures to make its exploitation possible and relevant in the field of evaluation of complementary medicines.Finally, in the general discussion, we shall take account of the fact that the evaluation of complementary medicines is not part of a marketing authorization process. Thus, contrary to drug evaluation, complementary medicines evaluation does not always imply decision making. We will emphasize the importance of considering the aim (aim of knowledge or aim of decision) in the development of a research strategy. We will propose two different strategies based on the literature and the results from our three examples. Concerning the research strategy aimed at decision-making, we will show the importance of defining the intervention, identifying the relevant outcomes, and optimizing the intervention first, before carrying out pragmatic clinical trials to evaluate its effectiveness. We will discuss the regulatory challenges complementary medicine evaluation confronts us to, and stress the need to assess the safety of these practices by developing appropriate monitoring systems.

This paper examines the correspondence, manuscripts, and speeches of ex-mental patient activists. I chronicle the activities of the emergent psychiatric survivors movement from its beginnings in the early 1970’s focusing on the work of the Boston based activist, Judi Chamberlin (1944-2010). This paper examines how mental patients in post-war America began to organize in order to have their voices included in the process of their own recovery. I present Chamberlin’s experience as a mental patient as being representative of the “rootlessness” that many post-war women experienced. Chamberlin’s work as an ex-patient activist presented one aspect of the overall struggle on the part of mental patients to claim their place in a wider society. I also pay attention to interdisciplinary scholarly analyses of madness to investigate how discussion of the subject influenced ex-patient activists, as well as whether or not the ex-patients’ narrative reciprocally influenced the scholarly discussion about madness. In the final chapters, I also look at how the successes of this social movement ironically led to the prevalence of today’s diagnostic models of treatment that rely heavily on pharmacological methods and highly regimented evidence-based psychotherapies while still excluding patients’ voices. The voices of mental patients both in the asylum era and today have been excluded from the treatment process.