Abstract The health system has been defined as all people, institutions and resources that undertake actions with the primary intent of improving health, while responsiveness of the health system refers to its objective of responding to the legitimate expectations of the population it serves. Although responsiveness is a non-health objective of the health system, it affects the health status of the population by influencing treatment compliance, patient-provider communication and health services utilization. Furthermore, responsiveness has a fundamental value as it concerns basic human rights of the individuals being served by the health system. This study was undertaken to determine how well the Pakistani federal health system was responding to the needs of 18-45 year old adults with physical disabilities living in Islamabad, and the barriers that were hindering the government from responding to this vulnerable sub-group of the population. The study employed a qualitative approach. Data were collected through focus group discussions with 18-45 year old physically disabled consumers of healthcare in the three federal government hospitals located in Islamabad. In-depth, face-to-face interviews were conducted with health care providers, managers, policy makers, and disability rights advocates who had been operating within the same system. Results of the study indicated that the federal health system falls short in responding to the needs of a large population of physically disabled adults living in the Islamabad Capital Territory. This research has identified barriers operating at multiple levels of the health system, and within the policy making, financing and federal human resource milieu. The main barriers to responsiveness of the health system included vulnerability of persons with disabilities, lack of provider training, lack of priority accorded to issues confronting the disabled at the highest policy making levels, and the lack of a referral system. The pluralistic Pakistani culture also posed a barrier to responsiveness of the health system especially in case of women. The researcher expects this study to contribute to informed policy making and spur further research on the needs of this oft-neglected sector of the Pakistani population. The results of this study will be shared at multiple forums including top policy making levels, as well as at the level of healthcare management and provision and disability rights advocacy to address the issue holistically. This study focused on the federal health system and included only the federal government hospitals located within Islamabad. Future research may focus on responsiveness of the larger provincial health departments through quantitative as well as qualitative methods. Furthermore, the effects of responsiveness on healthcare seeking behaviors in vulnerable populations may also be studied. Larger scale studies may be undertaken to ascertain the association between responsiveness, healthcare seeking patterns and health status of the vulnerable populations. Such studies will not only contribute to the knowledge in the field but also provide much needed input for evidence-based policy making in the country.

Thesis (PhD) -- University of Western Sydney, Nepean, 1999. / "A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education" Bibliography : leaves 234-256.

A case-comparative mixed methods approach was used to discover how faculty members’ teaching perspectives changed as they adopted an eportfolio tool (Pathbrite). Ten faculty members took the Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI) before and after using the tool during Fall semester 2015. Also, systems logs were collected and interviews were conducted after the post survey was completed. Interview data found that faculty members developed a broader view of the potential of eportfolios. Participants also appreciated the long-term benefits that eportfolios would have on their students. However, when use was associated with accreditation standards, gains in student-centered perspectives were minimal. The study suggests cognitive apprenticeship as a model that explains the discovered findings and provides recommendations to administrators who are implementing eportfolios.

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<p>The aim of the study was to explore the socio-cultural influences in decision making involving sexual behaviour among adolescents in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Cultural beliefs associated with adolescents&rsquo / decision to become sexually active were explored, as well as the social norms influences involved in adolescents&rsquo / sexual behaviour. The theoretical framework used for the study was Bronfenbrenner&rsquo / s ecological systems theory of development. The results indicated that adolescent pregnancy was perceived as unacceptable behaviour although found widespread in communities. Social influences such as peer influence, low socioeconomic status, alcohol use and lack of parental supervision were found to play a role in adolescents&rsquo / risky sexual behaviour. Cultural beliefs, cultural myths and social norms were identified as socio-cultural influences that endorsed issues such as gender disparities, which made adolescent mothers vulnerable. Findings from this study suggest that female adolescents are faced with sexual behaviour complexities.</p>

<p>The aim of the study was to explore the socio-cultural influences in decision making involving sexual behaviour among adolescents in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Cultural beliefs associated with adolescents&rsquo / decision to become sexually active were explored, as well as the social norms influences involved in adolescents&rsquo / sexual behaviour. The theoretical framework used for the study was Bronfenbrenner&rsquo / s ecological systems theory of development. The results indicated that adolescent pregnancy was perceived as unacceptable behaviour although found widespread in communities. Social influences such as peer influence, low socioeconomic status, alcohol use and lack of parental supervision were found to play a role in adolescents&rsquo / risky sexual behaviour. Cultural beliefs, cultural myths and social norms were identified as socio-cultural influences that endorsed issues such as gender disparities, which made adolescent mothers vulnerable. Findings from this study suggest that female adolescents are faced with sexual behaviour complexities.</p>

Research Doctorate - Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) / This doctoral thesis is called “Marriages, Microscopes and Missions: Three Women in Postwar Australia.” It takes the form of three stories and a research essay. The stories examine the lives of three Australian women in the decades following the Second World War, while the research essay discusses those lives and the influences that guided and informed the creative writing process. The stories are set in times that encompassed the White Australia Policy, fear of Communism, the Vietnam War, the feminist movement, the sexual revolution and the recent Northern Territory “Intervention.” After the war, women were expected to fit back into the roles prescribed for them before the war. “Populate or Perish” was the catchcry. A single woman was expected, because of her biology, to marry and start a family at a time when marriage often meant losing her job. But the war had changed women. Those who had had wartime jobs or joined the armed forces remembered the freedom, the pay packet and the realisation that they could do the job as well as a man. The old stereotype of women as handmaidens to men seemed out of step with the way women now saw themselves. But with men still in charge there was bound to be conflict ahead. The first story, “The Doctor’s Wife,” looks at a married woman in coastal New South Wales living the prescribed “dream.” The second, “The Drug Analyst,” shows a Sydney-based career woman attempting to live on her own terms. The third, “The Minister’s Maid,” explores the changing role of an Aboriginal woman in a remote semitraditional Northern Territory community. As each story unfolds within its own culture, physical landscape and carrying its history of conflict, the pressures placed on each woman to conform to her society’s expectations, become apparent. In one way or another, the women in these stories are part of my family. While they sometimes find their identities and self esteem under threat, each is sustained by her strong connection to family and community. At this time in our history, finding a sense of belonging is sometimes a difficult task for young people, both white and black Australians. Perhaps that is why family stories are important. They establish our identity and give us a place in history, a sense of belonging to an ongoing, unfolding narrative.

Magister Artium (Psychology) - MA(Psych) / The aim of the study was to explore the socio-cultural influences in decision making involving sexual behaviour among adolescents in Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Cultural beliefs associated with adolescents' decision to become sexually active were explored, as well as the social norms influences involved in adolescents' sexual behaviour. The theoretical framework used for the study was Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory of development. The results indicated that adolescent pregnancy was perceived as unacceptable behaviour although found widespread in communities. Social influences such as peer influence, low socioeconomic status, alcohol use and lack of parental supervision were found to play a role in adolescents' risky sexual behaviour. Cultural beliefs, cultural myths and social norms were identified as socio-cultural influences that endorsed issues such as gender disparities, which made adolescent mothers vulnerable. Findings from this study suggest that female adolescents are faced with sexual behaviour complexities. / South Africa

This research compares the energy performance of a code-built residential building within the moist climate zone classification in Canada, Europe, and the Northeastern United States. The primary objectives are to reveal how specific differences in code requirements in similar climates influence a building’s energy profile, offer a means to quantify and evaluate the extent of energy savings as a result of each requirement, and provide a comparison of each location’s building culture and how this affects the standards in place. Using the building energy simulation tool, DesignBuilder EnergyPlus Simulation, a model single-family home was created and input energy code requirements for each location. An evaluation of each location’s building culture is examined through such factors as the training of building professionals, commonly used materials and products, energy reduction goals, and cultural attitudes. The results of this study point to the need for more advanced building practices, stricter code mandates, and higher performing products based on energy savings achieved from buildings built to different standards in equivalent climate zones. This has the potential to drive the development and use of better performing building materials and assemblies in the future.

There is increasing concern about hepatitis C virus (HCV) and potential HIV transmission among ethnic Vietnamese injecting drug users (IDUs) in Australia. To date ethnic and cultural differences in vulnerability to blood-borne viruses (BBV) have received little attention and few studies have attempted to explore the role of cultural beliefs and values in influencing injection risk behaviour. This study aimed to systematically explore the cultural beliefs and behavioural practices that appear to place ethnic Vietnamese IDUs at increased risk of BBV infection, identify barriers to this group accessing health and preventive programs, and document antibody HIV and HCV prevalence and associated risk behaviours. The first component of the research consisted of an ethnographic study designed to explore underlying explanatory models of health and illness employed by Vietnamese IDUs and identify cultural influences on risk behaviours and vulnerability to BBVs. These data were subsequently used to inform the development of the instrument used in the second component ??? a cross-sectional survey and collection of capillary blood samples designed to assess risk behaviours and antibody HIV and antibody HCV prevalence. Analysis of data from both components indicates that cultural beliefs and practices influence risk-taking and health-seeking behaviours and suggests pathways through which this influence occurs. Relevant cultural characteristics include those pertaining to spiritual and religious beliefs, the role of the family and traditional Vietnamese family values, cultural scripts of self-control and stoicism, the importance of ???face??? and non-confrontational relationships, trust and obligation, and a reluctance to discuss problems with outsiders. Vulnerability to BBVs is influenced by these cultural characteristics, together with Vietnamese IDUs??? perceptions of risk, knowledge about HIV and HCV, and situational and environmental factors. Main factors contributing to the under-utilisation of health services include the use of self-managed care practices, ambivalence surrounding Western medicine, long waiting times, concerns in relation to confidentiality, stigmatisation of drug use, and limited knowledge of BBVs. The data indicate a need for interventions based on understanding of culturally specific meanings and contexts of health, illness and risk in order to better meet the needs of this vulnerable group.