The population of seniors in Canada is increasing, and the numbers of seniors who remain in or return to the workforce rather than retire are also on the rise. However, work experiences of older individuals have been understudied in research. This study explores the meaning of work to a group of individuals over age 65 in Thunder Bay, a city in Northwestern Ontario. The researcher conducted ten interviews following phenomenological methods of inquiry. Using identity theory, life course perspective, and continuity theory, the study also sought to understand the importance of continuity to older individuals’ experiences of work. Findings revealed eight themes that influenced older workers’ experiences: socio-historical trends, the work environment, health, financial circumstances, purpose, choice, life beyond work, and perceptions of age. Ultimately, continuity of behaviours, life stories, and self-understandings are important features of older workers’ experiences and may influence whether this important group will continue to work.

This thesis deals with the quality of e-learning from the perspective of employees in Czech companies. The aim of the study was to detect the most common shortcomings of current solutions and see which properties, methods, and practices improve the quality and efficiency. Based on these findings, the author makes recommendations to suppliers and creates e-learning courses that address these shortfalls. In the theoretical part, the concept of e-learning is defined, its forms, types, advantages, disadvantages, standards and development methods, such as ADDIE and Rapid e-learning are desribed. Research in the practical section showed that the quality, which has been calculated as mean of evaluated criteria, is 3.7 points out of 5. Potential improvement was observed especially in organisation-wide training (eg workflows) supplied as ready-made solutions. The author created a course for Microsoft Project 2013 in Articulate Storyline that demonstrates best practices and solutions to the problems revealed in the questionnaire.

No description available.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most commonly occurring form of dementia that affects African Americans at 2 to 3 times higher rate than other ethnic or racial groups in the United States. As the number of older African Americans with AD grows rapidly so will the need for daily supports; therefore, informal caregivers, such as an adult offspring, often assume the role of filial caregiver. Focusing on the unique patterns of caregiving among African Americans, this generic qualitative study may help explain the adult offspring’s perspective on sibling relationships as they function in the role of primary filial caregiver. Equity theory was the conceptual framework used to explore sibling relationships among African American adult filial caregivers. A purposeful sampling in conjunction with snowballing was used to recruit participants who provided filial caregiving to a home-bound parent with AD. For this generic qualitative study, 10 participants responded to 12 open-ended interview questions related to their sibling relationships and filial caregiving. After collecting and transcribing the data, I used a thematic analysis approach, resulting in the following 5 emergent themes: (a) perception of equity, (b) continuing a close sibling relationship, (c) strategies of communication and collaborative decision-making, (d) varying siblings supports, and (e) attitudes towards caregiving and siblings. The results from this study may enhance culturally sensitive or responsive interventions/strategies and family-centered programs supporting African American adult filial caregivers and their siblings as they navigate the demands of elder care, thereby informing perceptions of fairness related to caregiving responsibilities.

Unpaved roads comprise about 72 percent of the national and provincial road network in South Africa and substantially more of the total southern African road network. Significant costs are incurred annually by the authorities on the maintenance of these roads and enormous sums are associated with the cost of using these roads. Specifications for the use of materials for unpaved roads in southern Africa abound, the origin of most of these, however being rather obscure. It would appear that many of them have been transferred from other countries, mostly in the northern hemisphere. The geological materials used for construction in southern Africa, having been subjected to aeons of weathering and minimal major periods of recent glaciation, differ greatly from those in the northern hemisphere. One of the main objectives of this research was to investigate the performance of local geological materials used in wearing courses for unpaved roads and relate this to their geotechnical properties. This involved the sampling, testing and monitoring of 110 sections of unpaved road in the Transvaal and South West Africa over a period of more than three years. A large data base of gravel height, roughness, rut and corrugation measurements and the severity and extent of dustiness, stoniness, potholes, cracks, loose material, slipperiness and trafficability was compiled. The material and performance data were then used to develop performance related specifications and prediction models for roughness progression and gravel loss with the aim of providing improved unpaved roads and consequently reducing the road user and maintenance costs, in the national interest. Some of the savings will obviously be off-set to some extent by slightly increased materials location and construction costs. These costs are, however, shown to be minimal in comparison with the potential savings to the road user, the national economy and the generally improved quality of life of many road users in southern Africa. A good knowledge of the geotechnical properties of potential wearing course materials (which are significantly dependent on the geological origin) is necessary to differentiate good gravels from poor ones. / Ongeplaveide paaie maak ongeveer 72 persent uit van die nasionale en provinsiale padnetwerk in Suid Afrika en heelwat meer van die totale padnetwerk van suidelike Afrika. Groot kostes word jaarliks aangegaan deur die owerhede vir die instandhouding van hierdie paaie, asook enorme kosts wat in verband gebring kan word met die gebruik van hierdie paaie. Materiaalspesifikasies vir ongeplaveide paaie in suidelike Afrika is volop. Die oorsprong van die meeste hiervan is egter twyfelagtig en dit wil voorkom of dit uit ander lande, hoofsaaklik in die noordelike halfrond, afkomstig is. Die geologiese materiale gebruik vir padkonstruksie in suidelike Afrika verskil grootliks van die in die noordelike halfrond. Dit was onderwerp aan eeue se verwering en minimale groot-skaalse onlangse glasiale werking verskil grootliks van die. Een van die hoof doelwitte van hierdie navorsing was om ondersoek in te stel na die werkverrigting van plaaslike geologiese materiale wat gebruik word vir die slytlaag van ongeplaveide paaie en om dit in verband te bring met hul Geotegniese eienskappe. Dit het behels monsterneming en toets van materiale, asook monitering van 110 seksies ongeplaveide pad in Transvaal en Suid-Wes Afrika oor 'n tydperk van drie jaar. 'n Groot databasis bestaande uit inligting oor metings van gruishoogte, ongelykheid, spoor en sinkplaat asook inligting van graad en omvang van stof, klipperigheid, slaggate, krake, los materiaal, glibberigheid en rybaarheid is saamgestel. Die materiaal- en werkverrigtingsdata is toe gebruik om werkverrigtingsverwante spesifikasies op te stel, asook om modelle daar te stel om verswakking in gelykheid, en gruisverlies te voorspel. Die doel is om beter ongeplaveide paaie te voorsien en gevolglik die padverbruikers- en onderhoudskoste in nasionale belang te verminder. 'n Gedeelte van die besparing sal onvermydelik deur effens duurder konatruksiekoste en moontlike langer vervoerafstande van materiaal gekanselleer word. Hiedie koste is egter minimaal in verhouding tot die potensiele besparing vir die padgebruiker, die nasionale ekonomie en die algemene verbetering in lewenskwaliteit van baie padgebruikers in suidelike Afrika. 'n Goeie kennis van die geotegniese eienskappe van potensiele slytlaagmateriale (wat grootliks afhanklik is van geologiese oorsprong) is noodsaaklik om te differensieer tussen goeie an swak gruise. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 1989. / Civil Engineering / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 1989. / Unrestricted

Thesis advisor: Wen Fan / This thesis investigated the impact that cancer has on young adult survivors of childhood malignancies. Existing studies explore varying physical, psychosocial, and psychological, late effects experienced by survivors of childhood cancer. However, there exists a gap in survivorship literature; young adults, and young adult survivors of childhood cancer in particular, are understudied compared to adult and pediatric survivors. Moreover, most studies address objective, clinical, aspects of cancer survivorship. They rarely focus on survivors’ subjective experiences. Yet, previous research suggests that positive cognitive appraisals of adverse life events such as cancer mitigate detrimental psychosocial and psychological symptomologies later in life. This study adopted the life course perspective to investigate the subjective experiences of young adult survivors of childhood cancer. It examined how events such as cancer diagnoses and transitions back to school are interconnected throughout one’s entire life history, rather than analyzing these specific occurrences as isolated events. Participants were invited to fill out two existing quality of life surveys and take part in an interview to explore areas of survivorship previously identified as being specific to young adult survivors. An analysis of interview transcripts and survey data revealed three major events that occur after being diagnosed with a pediatric malignancy. Furthermore, each participant not only recalled positive subjective experiences over the course of these checkpoints, but ultimately found positive meaning from their cancer experience. This thesis suggests that positive subjective experiences soon after a cancer diagnosis are critical in ensuring that patients have favorable conceptions of their journeys and their aftermath. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Sociology.

Prior research demonstrates that military service disconnects men from past social and personal disadvantages and thus potentially alters normal life-course patterns of development. Much of this research, however, has been conducted only with World War II veterans. Relatively few studies have examined the influence of military service in Vietnam and its impact on altering individual trajectories of development. Through latent growth curve models, the authors examine the impact of military service in Vietnam on drug use and arrests across the life-course. Longitudinal data collected by the Marion County Youth study (1964-1979) were used to track a sample of men over a 15-year period. Analyses of these data revealed substantial nonrandom selection effects associated with service in Vietnam. Lower-class youths with already established delinquent patterns were significantly more likely to have served in Vietnam. It also appears, however, that service in Vietnam significantly increased individual drug use and, hence, offending rates.

In the United States, African American fathers are incarcerated at a disproportionate rate and have a poor prognosis of success. Although researchers have considered how crime, paternal abuse, poverty, and social disparities have affected African Americans, they have not adequately studied how formerly incarcerated African American fathers experience parenting. The purpose of this qualitative transcendental phenomenological study was to bridge this gap in knowledge by exploring the parenting experiences of formerly incarcerated African American fathers on parole. The research question focused on the parenting experiences of African American fathers obligated to mandatory supervision following an incarceration. A criterion-based sample of 9 African American fathers from the Midwestern region of the United States completed 2 in-depth interviews. Interviews were analyzed using phenomenological techniques, resulting in 9 central themes focused on social objectification, survival, change, the agency of fatherhood, and parent-child relations. Despite difficulties and challenges, the quality of the fathers' lives hinged on the quality of their relationship with their children. The findings and recommendations from this study may advance positive social change by stimulating and guiding the efforts of human service practitioners working to develop culturally relevant interventions, and raising the awareness of advocates working to influence legislators toward comprehensive policy reform. The application of this study's findings may provoke community members to strengthen their support for African American fathers returning to the community following incarceration.

Self-evaluation in home management and its relationship to achievement motivation was investigated . The discrepancy between student self-evaluation and adviser evaluation was correlated with achievement motivation. The sample consisted of 33 female students, residents of -the Home Management House during Spring Quarter of the 1968-69 school year and Fall and Winter Quarters of the 1969-70 school year. The instruments used were: (1) a background questionnaire; (2) Management Resource Scale, and (3) Litwin Decision-Making Test. The statistical test used was the Pearson r (correlation coefficient). No significant relationship was found between absolute discrepancy between student self-evaluation in home management, and adviser evaluation and achievement motivation. However, when directionality of evaluation-deviation scores was considered, a significant relationship was found at the .05 level. Subjects who received positive evaluation-deviation scores were lower in achievement motivation than were subjects who received negative evaluation-deviation scores.

Older adults who provide care for an adult child with a disability have rarely been considered in the planning and preparation literature. As they grow older, these adults face the challenge of arranging care for their dependent children and for themselves. This study investigated influences on planning for one's own future care. Results indicated that parents who prepared for their adult child's future care were more likely to prepare for their own care. When compared to adults without a dependent child, parents caring for an adult child with a disability were equally likely to plan for their own future care.