Topic of the thesis is to clarify the aims of living and values of the handicapped people. In the theoretical part the work deals with definitions of the basic terms related to a corporal defect, course and model of crisis as a radical change regarding physical image of human being, it highlights the main crisis starter, thus stress, and emphasizes the factors which have the greatest effect on mental state of the handicapped patient. Also, this work refers to sources of one{\crq}s reason for living, right to life and possibilities of social assistance for the handicapped. The empirical part is focused to find out in what extent the handicapped people experience their life as a meaningful, in what extent they are satisfied with their life and what values they prefer.

In this diploma thesis deals with the issue of quality of life for children in primary school Zliv. The thesis is divided into two parts, theoretical and practical. The theoretical part focuses on characterizing the quality of life, a period of pubescence and the basic needs of children. In the practical part deals with research using questionnaires, which determines the value orientation and other areas of life-style, health and happiness. In the final stage, I present the results obtained, which are evaluated and graphically presented.

The dissertation work focuses on leisure time as an important aspect of seeking higher values like beauty, goodness and the importance of meaning of life at the beginning of the 21st century. The aim of this diploma thesis is to find out whether young people of ages between 20 and 30 are able to perceive the values of beauty, goodness and the meaning of life in their free time. The thesis is divided into six chapters. The first chapter defines the concept of leisure time and describes a brief history of leisure time. The second chapter deals with pedagogical trends based on existentialism and philosophy of education in relation to values. The third chapter classifies the values and expounds three specific values, which are essential for this work the beauty, the goodness and the importance of meaning of life. The fourth chapter describes the Czech society at the beginning of the 21st century with a focus on the values gained in the family and the society. The sixth chapter contains qualitative research, using a questionnaire with open questions that I then analyse and evaluate.

The intent of this study was to compare life value differences using the Life Values Inventory. Differences among non-psychedelic users and psychedelic users were examined. Participants, ranging from age 18 to 48 from the University of Central Florida (UCF), a large state university, were recruited on a voluntarily basis. This was primarily done through online message board, the Sona System, and classroom announcements. The study was presented through the Sona System provided by UCF. In addition, all participants were students of the university. Results indicated significant differences among three out of 14 life values measured. The three life values that were shown to be significantly different among the non-psychedelic users and psychedelic users were: 1) concern for others, 2) loyalty to family or group, and 3) responsibility. In addition, the life value of spirituality was only found to be marginally significant.

The topic of old age and ageing is wide-ranging. The position of senior citizens within a society and the solution of the questions connected with the consequences of their growing age represents an integral part of the natural life cycle. Apart from their material security the quality range of senior citizens{\crq} life is made up of their state of health, accessibility of both public and private health, social and other services, marital status, the quality of housing, the chance of further education and developing social contacts. The quality of life is a very subjective and individual phenomenon. It involves different impulses for various people in different periods. There is a general tendency towards rising demands on the quality of life within the population and it the same with the oncoming generation of senior citizens. It is always necessary to ask oneself a question whether the quality of senior citizens{\crq} lives in institutional facilities is on an appropriate level and which are the factors influencing the quality of their lives. Evaluating the quality of life can be also looked upon as a subjective individual{\crq}s view of the individual aspects of his life. However, it is highly important that the living environment meets and satisfies the senior citizens{\crq} corporal, psychic, social and spiritual needs. This diploma thesis represents a continuation of the bachelor{\crq}s thesis: The quality of senior citizens{\crq} life in institutional facilities. The basic aim is to compare the quality of senior citizens{\crq} life in the institutional facility {--} the Old People{\crq}s Home of Kůsov within a period of two years. I have chosen the topic of the thesis because I have been working in an institutional facility for more than 21 years, and the quality of senior citizens{\crq} life has made me think about this problem more thoroughly. The diploma thesis includes the present state of affairs of the problems in question, the specification of hypotheses, methodology, the results of the research, discussion, conclusion, the list of the sources, key words and supplements. The description of the present state of affairs comprises the characteristic features of the senior citizens{\crq} population, senior citizens{\crq} state of health, their self-sufficiency and activities. Another concept is the quality of life. Provided that we combine the word quality with that of life, we will face the fact that various people can have and usually do have different ideas about what in fact comprises the meaning of their life, what makes their life of high quality. The quality of life is looked upon as a multi-dimensional quantity and is usually defined as a ``subjective appraisal of one{\crq}s own conditions of life{\crqq}. Further on there are institutional facilities and the new Social Care Act No. 108/2006 digest mentioned in this part. There have two hypotheses been specified in this thesis, which have been confirmed by the research. The original research sample of the year 2004 included 100 respondents: 40 men and 60 women. Within the period of two years 22 respondents died, 8 men and 14 women. These respondents were taken away from the total sample and, as a result, a new representative sample has come into being comprising 78 respondents, 32 men ans 46 women. The research was carried out by means of the method of a controlled dialogue, using a questionnaire for the users of the old people{\crq}s home, the standardized SEIQoL questionnaire and an ADL test. The results were compiled in tabular and chart form, and subsequently processed by means of the STATISTICA statistical programme. The discussion includes a summary of the research knowledge in comparison with the sources used. The conclusion comprises a summary of the complete research part. We can conclude that nowadays the quality of life in an institutional facility can reach a high level.

The master thesis deals with life values of ecologically living people. It is divided into a theoretical and practical part. In its theoretical part it focuses on terms used in ecology, lifestyle and the description of values linked to the protection of environment. It deals with the concept of sustainable development and describes ecological farming. The practical part of the thesis analyses the qualitative research which was done in the form of semi-structured interviews with ecological farmers. The thesis focuses on values, opinions and sentiments of ecological farmers and whether these have undergone any change during their farming. Key Words: ecology, sustainable development, lifestyle, values, ecological farming, ecological farmers

The diploma work addresses the Work-Life Balance concept and identifies the various tools that can help to successfully balance work and personal life. Alternative work arrangements and the actual implementation in the Czech Republic and abroad are introduced. It focuses on the availability of child care facilities, maternity and parental leave and on the reintegration of parents into the work process. The analytical part examines the extent of the support offered by financial institutions for the harmonization of work and personal life. Programmes from selected institutions are presented as well as an analysis of employee job satisfaction in these companies conducted via a survey.

<p>The overall aims of this thesis were to prospectively investigate how specific challenges among patients with commonly occurring cancers are related to adaptation and well-being, to predict later well-being using a range of psychosocial aspects and to compare two ways of measuring coping with cancer. This was studied at diagnosis in patients with gastrointestinal cancers and their spouses and at termination of cancer treatment and during follow-up in a heterogeneous group of cancers. At <i>diagnosis,</i> higher levels of psychological distress were accompanied both by more coping attempts and less perceived control over the stressful events. Somatic aspects and Everyday concerns were frequent stressful events. The most frequently used coping strategies were emotion-focused. The Daily Coping Assessment (DCA) rendered a varied picture of ways of handling the stressful events (Study I). When studying coping as a process, the DCA has advantages compared to the commonly used measure MAC, since DCA better separates coping from both the stressful event and outcome. A comparison of the DCA and the MAC rendered differences regarding the usage of coping strategies (Study II). Patients with higher levels of anxiety/depression also had higher discrepancies between attainment and importance for most life values compared to patients with less anxiety/depression. For the patients, but not for the spouses, the discrepancies for several life values along with anxiety and depression decreased over time (Study III). Anxiety/depression at<i> termination of treatment</i> are strong predictors for anxiety/depression and QoL at follow-up. However, other variables like psychiatric history, the bother an event caused, the coping strategy Acceptance, the stressful event Thoughts/affects and emotional and instrumental aspects of social support contributed to the prediction (Study IV). Thus, it is concluded that detailed information regarding specific and frequent situations among cancer patients is possible to reveal and necessary for a better understanding of what influences well-being.</p>

<p>The present thesis is based on four empirical studies concerning risk factors related to musculoskeletal pain (MSP), disability, and sick leave among three non-clinical samples of health care staff. Initially, in Study I, cognitive, behavioural and environmental factors related to MSP of nurses' aides<b> </b>were explored. An experimental design including baseline, intervention and follow-ups among 29 nurses' aides<b> </b>working in a home for the elderly was used to evaluate effects of a workplace intervention based on cognitive behaviour (CB)- and conventional, symptom reduction principles. In Study II, a cross-sectional and correlational design was applied. A self-administered questionnaire was used to describe and investigate the relationship between risk factors and development of persistent pain, sick leave and long sick leave among 914 municipal health care staff. In Study III and IV, a longitudinal design was used among 200 registered nurses (RN) working in a county hospital to describe and predict pain, disability and sick leave. Data collection involved two self-administered questionnaires covering: 1) work and personal factors, pain, disability and sick leave at baseline and 2) valued life dimensions at baseline. The results showed that MSP was common among the staff. Study I showed positive effects among nurses' aides<b> </b>receiving the CB principles related to MSP compared with nurses' aides receiving the conventional principles. In Study II, pain severity and expectations to be working in 6 months were associated with persistent MSP and sick leave, respectively. In Study III, pain, disability and sick leave at baseline were the strongest predictors of pain, disability and sick leave at the three-year follow-up. In Study IV, the findings support the notion that individual values in different life domains are possible predictors of pain and disability. </p>

The overall aims of this thesis were to prospectively investigate how specific challenges among patients with commonly occurring cancers are related to adaptation and well-being, to predict later well-being using a range of psychosocial aspects and to compare two ways of measuring coping with cancer. This was studied at diagnosis in patients with gastrointestinal cancers and their spouses and at termination of cancer treatment and during follow-up in a heterogeneous group of cancers. At diagnosis, higher levels of psychological distress were accompanied both by more coping attempts and less perceived control over the stressful events. Somatic aspects and Everyday concerns were frequent stressful events. The most frequently used coping strategies were emotion-focused. The Daily Coping Assessment (DCA) rendered a varied picture of ways of handling the stressful events (Study I). When studying coping as a process, the DCA has advantages compared to the commonly used measure MAC, since DCA better separates coping from both the stressful event and outcome. A comparison of the DCA and the MAC rendered differences regarding the usage of coping strategies (Study II). Patients with higher levels of anxiety/depression also had higher discrepancies between attainment and importance for most life values compared to patients with less anxiety/depression. For the patients, but not for the spouses, the discrepancies for several life values along with anxiety and depression decreased over time (Study III). Anxiety/depression at termination of treatment are strong predictors for anxiety/depression and QoL at follow-up. However, other variables like psychiatric history, the bother an event caused, the coping strategy Acceptance, the stressful event Thoughts/affects and emotional and instrumental aspects of social support contributed to the prediction (Study IV). Thus, it is concluded that detailed information regarding specific and frequent situations among cancer patients is possible to reveal and necessary for a better understanding of what influences well-being.