Patients' use of medicines is widely recognised as sub-optimal with a high proportion of patients with a long-term condition not taking their medicines as prescribed. Research and policy guidance emphasise the importance of partnership within the patient-prescriber encounter in enhancing patients' use of medicines. There is however considerable evidence that this is not usually achieved by medical prescribers, limiting the extent to which shared decision-making occurs about prescribed medicines. There is a general assumption that nurse prescribers, who within the United Kingdom have comparable prescribing rights to medical doctors, demonstrate greater abilities in collaborative working with patients leading to an enhanced use of medicines. Research evidence is however limited, particularly in relation to the ways in which patients' use of medicines is discussed and negotiated within the patient-nurse prescriber encounter. This study focused on the management of patients' use of medicines within the patient-nurse prescriber encounter. Seven nurse prescribers, working within a number of clinical specialities in both primary and secondary care settings, were recruited to the study together with their patients who were living with one or more long-term conditions (n=21). Data collection involved the non-participant observation of out-patient consultations to examine the management of patients' use of medicines within the encounter and semi-structured interviews with both patients and prescribers. Discourse analysis was undertaken to examine underpinning assumptions, views and beliefs regarding the management of patients' use of medicines. Asymmetry was evident within the encounters with prescribers controlling the agenda for discussion and interrupting patients' attempts to demonstrate their knowledge. Patient accounts of the moral approach adopted in managing their condition in the context of their everyday lives were also ignored. Biomedical and contrasting moral discourses are examined. An interpretive framework derived from the work of Michel Foucault is used to explain the operation of disciplinary, pastoral and bio-political power within the encounter and the extent to which subjugation of patients' knowledge and resistance were evident. Foucault's concept of technologies of the self is examined to explore its potential application in enhancing patients' medicines use.

Mexico and China established official diplomatic relations in 1972. Since then, their mutual economic, political and social links have been developed in an unprecedented way. However, from the perspective of International Relations, the analytical richness of the relationship is obscured by hegemonic conceptualisations of global power, materiality or teleological truths. The literature dealing with the relation in itself has not prioritised a theoretical or holistic approach. Through an analysis of the discursive production of a series of diplomatic, media and academic sources, this thesis demonstrates that, embedded in the great technological and political transformations of the contemporary world, Mexico‐China relations have embodied a complex process of knowledge formation out of the confrontation of their socially constructed conceptions of time, space and otherness: a cultural encounter. During the period from 1972‐2012, not only did Mexico‐China relations involve state and trade interactions, but also a complex intellectual construction of the world and of themselves ranging from the formation of a common anti‐Western identity and the erection of binary oppositions between them, to the formulation of rich proposals for self-criticism and cultural learning. Mexico-China cultural encounter, therefore, provides a fundamental case for understanding world politics and human interaction from a truly global perspective beyond reductionist views of materiality.

Cultural diversity in a global community demands our tolerant understanding of one another. Participatory art projects can be instrumental in facilitating equal-footing en­counters and creative communication between people from different cultures that transcend language barriers. Used as a methodology for synergistic exchange and exploration, they represent a useful tool for the study and advancement of alternative solutions to development-related themes, particularly where non-verbal communication is either essential or advantageous.This report considers an independent arts-based project, “How to Talk to Dragons”, which was carried out in Phnom Penh, Cambodia by cultural workers from Berlin. The inter-cultural project chose the art form of shadow puppetry to explore the country’s culture and the experiences of its people, and to exchange ideas and perspectives in an engaging and socially just forum. The question guiding this cultural voyage of discovery was how the symbolic dragon, a mythical creature with a global resonance but subject to different perceptions in Europe and Asia, might be used as an agent for opening the way to revealing insights into human nature.The report also explores the links between How to Talk to Dragons and ComDev practices and, by incorporating an auto-ethnographic approach, considers how this method can serve to provide a better understanding of practice and add value to project analysis from a practitioner's perspective.It finds that open concept projects offer an exceptional flexibility to adapt to local and cultural conditions and makes the case for the Cambodian shadow theatre known as Sbek Touch (literal meaning: small leather) as a valuable emancipatory tool for promoting communication across social, economic and cultural borders. It recommends further studies into its potential for raising and identifying sometimes controversial issues in a humorous manner and for uncovering collective solutions, particularly among marginalized communities and classes. Ultimately, the report points to Hooks’ “Practice of Love” as an overarching concept that can inform and transform activities designed to engage with and embrace diversity.

This qualitative study of a migrant self-organisation in Bologna, Italy analyses the power relations between immigrants and supporters within the field of voluntary work in the migration sector. Based on eight semi-structured interviews it explores the perception of power relations of the members of the intercultural association Spazio per tutti. The material was analysed with the help of thematic analysis and a postcolonial and intersectional perspective. In the first part of the discussion, it is demonstrated, along the theory of “strange encounters” of Sara Ahmed (2000), how dominant norms, such as the invisible norm of whiteness, are still present in the association and immigrants are confronted with the paradigm of integration. The second part of the analysis shows instead, with the help of Homi Bhabha’s theory of the third space (1994), how the association creates a space where fixed identities and roles can be challenged and negotiated. By taking the intersectional approach into account, it gets further clear that the internal power relations are more complex for being grasped along binary categories (e.g. immigrants and non-immigrants), as they for example do not reflect the special subject position of Black women. In a nutshell, the present case study demonstrates the need to draw the attention to the political dimension of social work with immigrants and to create more awareness for intersectional justice, also within organisations that already follow an empowerment approach.

No description available.

Excerpts from classroom interaction in video recorded music lessons is analysed for dialogical structure and evidenced degree of shared topics. Each single turn is analysed according to agent, modality and function. It is suggested, that this analytical approach can be used both for comparative studies and as a means for teachers to improve their teaching.

The contemporary office environment is facing new type of challanges both when it comes to be an attractive place for employees and an efficiant, as well as an econommic sustainable space from an employer's perspective. The rapid change of of hybrid ways of working is creating more remote contact with with the physical office. Research points out that there could be social consequences connected to this. This thesis sees the contemporary office as a potential space for enabling contacts between people, normaly not meeting, being in their personal sphere.  The thesis introduces findings connected to research in the field of spatial and urban design as well as architecture, developing a spatial guideline, in how to enable those situations in an office environment.  With help of literature as well as expertise in the field, and an observation of an activity-based office environment different themes is deceted and presented. The outcome of used methods is captured with analyses connected to the connected themes.  Concrete examples in how to enable social contact situations and support informal meetings is visualized in a spatial guideline.

Bakgrund: Endometrios är en kronisk inflammatorisk sjukdom som drabbar en av tio kvinnor i fertil ålder. Vanliga symtom är intensiv smärta i samband med menstruation, kraftiga och oregelbundna blödningar, samlagssmärta och infertilitet. Det tar ofta flera år innan kvinnor får en diagnos vilket medför ett stort lidande. Forskning om endometrios går framåt men det finns fortfarande okunskap inom vården och vårdpersonalen behöver fortbildning för att kunna ge stöd och råd. Den teoretiska referensram som användes var Joyce Travelbees omvårdnadsteori samt personcentrerad omvårdnad. Syfte: Att belysa hur kvinnor med endometrios upplever bemötandet i vården. Metod: Litteraturstudien genomfördes med en kvalitativ ansats. Efter kvalitetsgranskningen återstod tio artiklar som användes i litteraturstudien. Resultat: De tio artiklar som ligger till grund för resultatet kommer från Sverige, Ungern, Australien, Storbritannien och Nederländerna. Dataanalysen genererade i tre kategorier: Vårdpersonalens förminskande attityd, Kunskap och information samt Fertilitet, med sex subkategorier som representerade olika aspekter av upplevelsen av bemötandet i vården. Kvinnorna upplevde att de fört en kamp under flera år för att få en diagnos, vårdpersonalen tog dem inte på allvar samt normaliserade deras symtom. Kvinnorna upplevde även att vårdpersonalen hade bristande kunskaper om sjukdomen samt fokuserade för mycket på fertiliteten. Positiva upplevelser var när vårdpersonalen lyssnade och bekräftade dem. Konklusion: Kvinnorna hade övervägande negativa upplevelser av bemötandet i vården och saknade stöd från vårdpersonalen. Det är viktigt att höja kunskapsnivån för att minska det långdragna lidandet. Sjuksköterskan behöver arbeta empatiskt och personcentrerat för att kunna tillgodose kvinnornas behov. / Background: Endometriosis is a chronic inflammatory disease that affects one in ten women in their fertile age. Typical symptoms of endometriosis are dysmenorrhea, heavy irregular bleedings, dyspareunia and infertility. The diagnostic delay is often many years, which could cause suffering. Research of endometriosis is progressing, yet there still exists ignorance in health care and health care staff need training to be able to provide support. The theoretical frameworks used were the nursing theory by Joyce Travelbee and person-centered nursing. Aim: To illustrate how women with endometriosis experience health care encounters. Method: The literature review was performed with a qualitative approach. After the quality review ten articles remained that were included in the literature review. Results: The ten articles used in the literature review came from Sweden, Hungary, Australia, United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The data analysis generated three categories: Health care provider ́s diminishing attitude, Knowledge and information and Fertility, with six subcategories that represented different aspects of the experience in the health care encounter. The women fought several years to get a diagnosis, health care providers did not take them seriously and normalized their symptoms. The women also felt that the health care providers lacked knowledge about the disease and focused too much on fertility. Positive health care encounters were when the health care providers listened and confirmed them. Conclusion: Women mostly had negative experiences of health care encounters and lacked support from the health care staff. It is significant to raise the level of knowledge in order to reduce women’s suffering from the disease. The nurse needs to work empathically with a person-centered approach to be able to meet the women’s needs.

No description available.

Det existentiella lidandet återfinns i samband med frågor som rör människans frihet, tillvarons mening, känslor av ensamhet och isolering i livssituationen samt i mötet med döden. Dessa frågor är universellt mänskliga och uppträder därför oavsett människans bekännande till eller avståndstagande från andlighet eller religiositet. Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var dels att beskriva hur det existentiella lidandet tar sig uttryck hos cancerpatienter i kurativ vård men också att beskriva sjuksköterskors bemötanden gentemot dessa patienter och de möten som uppstår mellan patienter och sjuksköterskor. De resultat som framkom av studien visade på att det existentiella lidandet karaktäriseras av förändringar och är en stor del av det totala lidande som cancerpatienter utstår. Samtidigt är emellertid sjuksköterskor, till följd av rädsla och okunskap, i många fall oförmögna att möta de förväntningar och behov som patienterna har. Den teoretiska referensram som använts utgörs av valda delar av Katie Erikssons omvårdnadsteori. / The existential suffering is found in relation to questions about human freedom, meaning of existence, feelings of loneliness and isolation in life and encountering death. These questions are of a universal human character and are therefore to appear irrespective of human confession to or dissociation from spirituality or religiosity. The aim of this review was partly to describe the existential suffering in cancer patients in curative care, partly to describe nurses´ treatments to these patients and the encounters that arise between patients and nurses. The findings emerging in the study revealed that the existential suffering is characterized by changes and is a great part of the total suffering that cancer patients endure. At the same time are nurses, as a result of fear and ignorance, in many cases unable to encounter the patients´ experiences and needs. The theoretical framework used, consist of selected parts of Katie Eriksson´s nursing theory.