Detta är en fallstudie som handlar om de varierande uppfattningar som en arbetsgrupp vid en vårdavdelning har haft av ett påbörjat arbete med grupputveckling. Denna grupp gavs möjlighet för forskaren att studera under hösten 2013 och en studie av denna arbetsmetod är idag aktuell. Arbetet med grupputveckling har skett genom en modell innehållande hälsopromotion. För att ta reda på gruppens uppfattningar av denna metod genomfördes kvalitativa enskilda intervjuer med dem. Materialet har till en början inspirerats av en fenomenografisk analysmetod. Därefter förändrades valet av analysmetod till en blandad metod istället. Detta för att kunna visa en så rättvis bild som möjligt av informanternas uppfattningar. Fenomenografin är fördelaktig gällande analysen av det syfte som är formulerat, vilket är att förstå på vilka olika sätt som deltagarna har uppfattat den aktuella grupputvecklingsmetoden. Resultatet som visade sig i studien var att arbetsmetoden för grupputveckling till viss del har gett ett positivt resultat. Dock visade det sig att alla uppgifter som skulle genomföras inte ännu hade hunnit fullföljas. Detta på grund av svårigheter med att finna vikarier till en slimmad vårdavdelning. Tidsaspekten för denna studie har varit 10 veckor.

Research evidence suggests that engaging with nature can promote health by reducing stress, improving cognition, fostering social connectivity, and supporting healthy behaviours such as physical activity, healthy eating, and pro-environmental practices. Yet there are empirical data gaps about how community members engage with nature in their local context, what facilitates or inhibits access to outdoor places , and how health practitioners and decision-makers use evidence on the linkages between health and nature to inform their work. Using a participatory, community-based research design and adapting photographic methods from the fields of ecological restoration and health care, this dissertation study addressed these critical gaps. The study was conducted in rural Nova Scotia, a site that offered considerable access to natural environments. In phase one, an aggregate group of parents with young children (n=8) participated in photo narration and photo elicitation interviews and focus groups to explore how they engage with nature to promote their individual and family health. In phase two, local practitioners and decision-makers (n=16) engaged in photo elicitation focus groups to discuss and expand the analytic themes from phase one and to examine how they use evidence on the health benefits of engaging with nature to design community-based health promotion interventions. Critical analytic themes emerged from the dialectical analysis of data from both phases and offered insight into the value of restorative places and experiences in nature, the barriers and facilitators to connecting with the natural world, the ties between engaging with nature and ecological citizenship, and the proposed shifts in practice and policy norms and governance processes needed across sectors and citizen groups to simultaneously promote and protect the health of people and the natural world. The findings provided a unique view of ecologically-sound everyday access to restorative outdoor places as critical to the promotion of health. This paper-based dissertation details study findings and implications for research, practice, and policy through five manuscripts that together confer conceptual, evidence-informed, and analytic views of nature-based health promotion and provide insight into rigorous participatory photographic research methods for community engagement in mutual generation and exchange of knowledge.

This research focuses on the work of the Urban Aboriginal Community Kitchen Garden Project (the Garden Project). The Garden Project aims to be a culturally appropriate health promotion project with urban Aboriginal people, drawing on traditional Indigenous approaches to health and healing, and rooted in community food work. The project is situated within the context of colonialism, the destruction of traditional foodways, and subsequent increased need for Indigenous people to rely on a dominant food system that is seen as destructive to human and ecological health. The purpose of my research is to describe the Garden Project’s main goals and achievements from the perspective of project leaders, project participants as well as through my own observations and experiences. The research methodology was guided by participatory and community based approaches to research and qualitative methods were employed, focusing primarily on semi-structured interviews with project participants and project leaders. I also participated in and observed the project for two years, from September 2006-September 2008. Data collection and analysis happened through an iterative process of action and reflection. Based on my time with the Garden Project, I suggest that it can be seen simultaneously as a community food security, health promotion, and Indigenous health project. It connects participants with food as a natural product, builds skills around cooking and growing food, and increases knowledge about food system issues. Drawing on the health promotion discourse, it can be seen building community and social support networks, treating the whole person, and empowering participants to take actions around their own health needs. It is rooted in Indigenous approaches to health and healing in the way it promotes individuals’ physical, mental/emotional and spiritual health, the health of the community through cultural revitalization, and the health of the Universe through the opportunity it provides for awareness about ecosystem health. This research project was very site specific. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that food work with urban Indigenous people, carried out in a culturally sensitive manner, may be a powerful leverage point for promoting health with this population. These types of projects can also be vehicles for social change.

No description available.

Bibliography: leaves 406-473. / x, 473 leaves : ill., map ; 30 cm. / Title page, contents and abstract only. The complete thesis in print form is available from the University Library. / Following an exploration of health and illness from an occupational perspective, the position of occupational therapists as agents for promoting health according to their view of occupation is considered. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Adelaide, Dept. of Community Medicine, 1996

Physical activity is now a key strategy for preventing or minimising numerous chronic diseases. Worksites are an ideal location to promote regular physical activity. For workers, a large portion of waking hours is spent at work where numerous opportunities exist to accumulate physical activity. Consequently, the aims of this thesis were to: 1) systematically review worksite physical activity literature, especially in the New Zealand context; 2) identify the contribution of worksite activity to total activity levels, and the correlates contributing to physical activity levels for professional occupations; and 3) objectively measure physical activity changes with point of decision prompt visibility in professional worksites. Accordingly the thesis incorporated one systematic review and two separate studies.Effect sizes calculated in an analysis of previous worksite physical activity health promotion studies show inconclusive evidence for increased employee retention and job satisfaction, and no evidence of reduced absenteeism or productivity increases. A major criticism of worksite research is that many unvalidated and unreliable designs are used, limiting study efficacy. Research initiatives need to identify the determinants of physical activity for different occupations, ethnicities, and gender in New Zealand worksites.Study 1 (N=56) consisted of participants wearing two pedometers over a three-day block, and subsequently completing a Three-Day Physical Activity Recall (3DPAR). A moderate, positive Spearman correlation (r=0.28) existed between the METs (3DPAR) and total pedometer values. Contributions of (mean + SD)worksite (14 283 +4761), non-work (12 516 +4 172), and total (26 798 +8 933) pedometer values were analysed. The sample was divided into tertiles according to total step counts. The high activity group (HAG) achieved more physical activity outside the workday (56%) when compared to the lowest activity group (LAG) (29%). Physical activity correlates were identified using binary logistic regression and simple correlation analyses. Relationships between physical activity and active transport, manual work, sport and exercise, and individual exercise were shown.Study 2 evaluated the National Heart Foundation (NHF) point of decision prompts for increasing physical activity levels in professional worksites. Forty-six participants (27 men and 19 women) wore two pedometers for three days, over four occasions to monitor changes in physical activity. The study was a crossover design with Worksite 1 receiving the treatment for three weeks, followed by a six-week wash out period, then a three-week control. Worksite 2 was given the control prior to the treatment period. Results indicate that the NHF point of decision prompts were ineffective at increasing objectively measured work and total physical activity levels, showing trivial positive (0.04) to moderate negative Cohen effect sizes (-0.79). When point of decision prompts were visible in the worksites overall mean step counts decreased. On the basis of these findings, the NHF's point of decision prompts had no effect, or were potentially detrimental to physical activity.Nevertheless, both studies were limited by some traditional worksite design problems, including low participation and sample contamination. However, by incorporating an objective measure of physical activity (pedometers) and a robust study design, these findings are the first objective measures of worksite physical activity, and the effects of point of decision prompts in a confined sample.

The potential role of local government in NSW to address public health nutrition issues has received encouraging reports. This treatise deals with the question of whether intersectoral collaboration theory is useful to assist development of a relationship with local government to develop food and nutrition policy. Intersectoral collaboration theory describes six conditions necessary for successful action: necessity, opportunity, capacity, relationships, planned action, and sustained outcomes. The project was a feasibility study carried out in a densely populated and multicultural local government area in Sydney�s southwest during April 1998. Eight Council employees and one elected representative were interviewed using the semi-structured questionnaire to collect a range of opinions and knowledge about Council�s involvement in a food and nutrition policy. Conceptual frameworks for the study included the Ottawa Charter and the food and nutrition system. Theoretical underpinning�s were provided by intersectoral collaboration theory and organisational change theory. Using intersectoral collaboration theory, analysis of the interviews revealed that participants were very concerned with conditions of necessity, opportunity and capacity to develop food and nutrition policy. Intersectoral collaboration theory correctly predicted that the action proposed would have to assist Council to achieve their core business, gain social and political support and be possible within the current economic environment and level of other resources available. Participants were not able to identify how a food and nutrition policy would meet these conditions and be feasible within the current capacity of the organisation, and therefore did not become fully engaged in the feasibility study. The health sector needs to develop arguments for local government involvement from their perspective. Organisational change within the heath sector is required to develop capacity for intersectoral partnerships, as an effective strategy to address public health nutrition issues.

Thesis ([Ph. D.])--University of Jyväskylä, 2006. / Originally issued in series: Studies in sport, physical education and health ; 118 Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-91). Also available online (PDF file) by a subscription to the set or by purchasing the individual file.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karol. inst., 2005. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Diss. Linköping : Linköpings universitet, 2005.