The goal of my thesis I have chosen is to identify the way hospice care is perceived in the Telč region by family members of terminally ill patients. I based my thesis on available specialised literature, current legislation and internet sources dealing with home hospice care. In the first theoretical part, I deal with the definition of hospice care trying to explain the term of general and specialised care that have a common objective, namely dignified and tranquil dying. The second section deals with family in the context of palliative care that plays the key role in the patient care. If the family decides to care for the incurable patient at home, it is vital to support it. Moreover, in this section I define needs of family members summarised in three core topics. Including the care for the patient family that I included to the hospice care as not only the patient suffers from the illness but all his/her family does. That means that each family member needs palliative care. The end of this section deals with mourning of the survivors. The core point is not leaving them alone in their mourning, to have them accompanied by someone in their grief. The third chapter focuses on the role and position of the patient. It changes when a seriously ill human becomes dependent on third party´s help losing his/her capacity to fulfil his/her professional and family role. This enormously affects his/her physical and emotional condition. Moreover, I describe needs on terminally ill people that change when the patient approaches his/her death depending on his/her family and social situation. It changes also during his/her adaptation to adverse diagnoses and forecast and emergence of difficulties and complications. I describe four groups of needs: biological, psychological, social and spiritual. The fourth chapter characterises home hospice care that is described as specialised palliative care provided in the home environment amidst patient´s family and friends. I describe the history of Czech hospice care stating that before the WWII it was quite normal to care for terminally ill patients at home till the end. This trend emerges again in the 90s. I define objectives of the home hospice care and related activities. The fourth chapter includes the description of a multi-disciplinary team and funding of home hospice care. In the fifth chapter, I characterise the home care organisation that try to expand the range of services by including the home palliative care and also deal with the home care history, objectives, delimitation of the scope of activities, agency human resources management and home funding methods. In the sixth chapter, I represent the organisation Sdílení, o.p.s. Telč, services provided by it and basic duties according to the Act No.108/2006 Coll. as well as the mission and objectives of this organisation concentrating on help and support of seriously ill people and their family members/friends in such difficult life situation. The key objective of Sdílení is to preserve maximum possible self-sufficiency and dignity of seriously ill people and support of families that are able to find the courage and force to accompany a terminally ill family member to the end of his/her life. In the practical part of my thesis, I analyse data collected by means of qualitative research based on an inquiry in the form of semi-standardised and open-code processing. Who was included to the basic file were family members of terminally ill patients who were divided to two parts. The first group consists of 3 respondents who were entrusted to the care of the home hospice Sdílení. The second group are 3 respondents entrusted to the Home Care hospice. In the practical part, I describe the process of collection of data, record results of the interview process by the open-code method.

Abstract Applying the principles of user-centered development (UCD) in software development practice is not straightforward. In technology-push type software product development it is not clear how to match the new product innovation to the future needs of potential future users. Intensive collaboration between different organizational functions becomes essential. UCD provides valuable tools and practices as learning mechanisms both for users and for the company. The purpose of cross-functional interaction is to iteratively define the best possible market for the emerging new product. This study investigates cross-functional interaction during the early phases of a new software product. The roots of UCD are in traditional software engineering (SE). However, in a software product company it is necessary to take a broader new product development (NPD) perspective. The results indicate that the early phases of software NPD are actually a collaborative learning process in which representations of the new product are built iteratively, increasing multidisciplinary knowledge related to the evolving shared object of development. The cross-functionally shared object is more than the new software product. It is an emerging new vision for the whole new business area. Both the product and its users-customers-market develop iteratively. Traditionally this is considered to happen through communication within a cross-functional NPD team. Rather than one cross-functional team effort, software NPD seems to be a network of cross-functional activities. Furthermore, in software NPD practice the development of the new business unit may actually overlay the more established business organization. This has not been visible enough, and part of the problems with cross-functional interaction may be due to confusion between these two activity systems during every-day practices. Different mediating representations of the multidimensional object knowledge become crucial. The study starts with a summary of a three-year process improvement effort in one case company, providing the basis for theoretical reflections and analytical generalizations. SE and NPD literature is reviewed to situate the case within current theoretical understanding. The findings are synthesized using concepts from cultural-historical activity theory. This study will hopefully provoke the rethinking of some of the current taken-for-granted issues related to the management of new emerging software product businesses.

Doctor Philosophiae / School psychologists in South Africa are employed by the state to provide psychological services to schools. The role of school psychologists has been debated and contested nationally and internationally for many decades, with the need for a paradigm shift in school psychology practice and redefining the role of school psychologists being highlighted. In this study, the roles and practices of school psychologists are explored, with a focus on the nature of collaborative work engaged in when facilitating school development. In particular, challenges that emerge when school psychologists work with other sectors to facilitate school development are investigated. The overall research question was: What are the challenges that face school psychologists who facilitate school development through intersectoral collaboration and how can these challenges be addressed? / South Africa

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The significant increase of social problems experienced by youth such as, teenage pregnancy, child abuse, child sexual offenses, substance abuse and violence impacted adversely on optimal development including learning, retention and throughput within the school context. These social and psychological barriers to learning are commonly addressed by social workers in the course of their work with individuals, families and communities. Therefore it was a natural progression to consider the appointment of social workers in the Western Cape Education System to address the challenges presented by these problems. The practice of school social work has subsequently become essential within the Department of Education. Service delivery in the Western Cape Education Department is centralized and school social workers fall under the auspices of circuit teams with school psychologists, learning support advisors, curriculum advisors and other education officials. This multidisciplinary team is managed by circuit team managers who do not necessarily have training in the disciplines of the respective professionals in their team. This system is called the matrix management system and implies a dual management approach in which health professionals e.g. school social workers, also report to the Head of Specialized Learner and Educator Support (HSLES). The dual or matrix management of school social workers includes a circuit team manager and an “acting senior school social worker.” This study focused on assessing the realities of school social workers being managed under this system and sought to develop guidelines for the management of school social workers. To this end, the present study was conceptualized as Intervention Research within a modified Design and Development model. This form of applied research is used to design and develop interventions to improve social problems using participatory methods. The modification entailed four phases where each phase consisted of operational steps. The first phase focused on project planning that included problem analysis and information gathering as operational steps. This phase aimed to formulate the core problem or focus of the research through rigorous contextualization within the current body of literature on School Social Work and empirical validation using key informants including school social workers. Subsequently document analysis of literature and policies; as well as thematic analysis of interviews and focus groups were conducted. The results informed the core problem or focus for the research. The resultant finding was that dual management impacted negatively on staff morale, professional development, coordination of services, effective service delivery and more broadly posed ethical dilemmas where practices were not aligned to statutory requirements and policy prescriptions of the South Africa Council of Social Workers. The second phase, Design and development, focused on developing a set of management guidelines that would address the problems reported in the experiences of school social workers, specifically related to the dual or matrix management. During this phase data collection included a survey of SSWs, and interviews to inform the management guidelines along with the findings from Phase one. The third phase, Development and Evaluation, focused on testing the proposed guidelines for feasibility and relevance to the problems encountered in a focus group with SSWs. The core findings suggested that SSWs welcomed the statutory base for their work or scope and the explicit recommendations for line management. The participants also responded favorably to the intention, content and recommendations included in the draft guidelines. Clear recommendations were made that were incorporated into a revision of the management guidelines. The evaluation was participatory and resulted in valuable feedback that refined and modified the management guidelines for school social workers. The fourth phase, Dissemination, focused on presenting the iterative process of the research and how the core findings in each phase culminated in the management guidelines. For the purposes of the thesis, dissemination entails the formalized presentation of the development and evaluation process of the guidelines in the form of a doctoral dissertation. Appropriate summative comments are made with clear recommendations for the possible adoption of the guidelines in practice that would enable advanced evaluation in field testing.

The internship year is of paramount importance in the vocational training of clinical psychologists. This event assists the student in making the transition from trainee to professional. During the internship year intern psychologists undergo various transitions, for example a change in roles and a change in learning style. The motivation for this study arose from the researcher's own experience of the internship year in a psychiatric training hospital. The study aims at investigating other intern clinical psychologists' experience of their internship year. The intention of this study is to present descriptions of these experiences. The research design of this study is qualitative, using a phenomenological approach. A phenomenological approach has been followed to return to the phenomenon internship in an attempt to reach the lived world of the respondents. Emphasis is placed on the respondents' perceptions of their experience of the internship year. An informal, unstructured interview was conducted with each research participant. Audio tape recordings of the interviews were transcribed. On analysis of the protocols, several themes were extracted. Each respondent did not necessarily experience each of the identified themes. The themes are discussed in chapter four and linked to the existing literature. The following themes have been identified: the value of the learning experience, a sense of apprehension, the experience of stress, the importance of support, the importance of supervision and mentorship, a sense of not belonging, a sense of isolation from social contexts, the challenges concerning culture, and a sense of achievement. The researcher hopes to make a contribution towards the understanding of intern clinical psychologists’ experience of the internship year. It is also hoped that through this study, further research in this field will be encouraged. / Dissertation (MA (Clinical Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Psychology / unrestricted

Les systèmes mécatroniques sont caractérisés par la combinaison synergique de la mécanique, de l'électronique et de l'informatique en temps réel. Ils possèdent leur propre cycle de vie et doivent associer des expertises métiers et des technologies très variées, ce qui rend leur conception plus complexe et nécessairement plus intégrée. Afin de mettre en œuvre une approche permettant d’assurer une meilleure intégration fonctionnelle et spatiale des systèmes mécatroniques, et plus particulièrement sur l’axe développement de produit en assurant une meilleure combinaison des expertises métier, deux types de problématiques doivent être surmontés. La première problématique a trait aux données de conception alors que la seconde est relative aux processus. La contribution de nos travaux de thèse s’appuie sur deux concepts complémentaires. Le premier, un modèle d’interfaces multidisciplinaires, est proposé pour répondre à la problématique relative aux données de conception. Ces interfaces s’appuient sur l’architecture du système et précisent quels transferts existent entre les composants conçus par les différentes disciplines. Instanciées dans le modèle de données, les interfaces multidisciplinaires permettent d’échanger et de partager les informations entre les différentes disciplines. Le second concept concerne la méthode de conception basée sur le modèle d’interfaces multidisciplinaires. Cette méthode est définie pour pouvoir établir le processus d’ingénierie et permettre une meilleure intégration des expertises métiers tout au long de la conception des systèmes mécatroniques. Enfin, les deux propositions sont implémentées par l’intermédiaire d’un démonstrateur basé sur 3DEXPERIENCE Platform. Un système de mesure 3D, combinaison synergique de la mécanique, de l'électronique, de l'informatique et l’optique, est utilisé afin de démontrer et de valider les contributions par nos travaux en termes d'intégration multidisciplinaire des expertises métier lors de la conception des systèmes mécatroniques. / Mechatronic system is considered as a synergetic combination of mechanical engineering, electronic engineering and computer engineering. Such mechatronic system has its own lifecycle and should integrate different disciplines and various technologies. Therefore the design of mechatronic systems becomes increasing complex. In order to propose an approach to achieve a better functional and spatial integration of mechatronic systems, especially to achieve a higher integration of different disciplines during the design process of mechatronic systems, two kinds of problems must be overcome. The first problem is related to design data of mechatronic systems while the second is related to the design process. The contribution of the thesis is based on two complementary concepts. The first contribution, the multi-disciplinary interface model, is proposed to address the issue of design data. These interfaces are based on the system architecture and specify which transfers exist between components designed by the project teams of different disciplines. Instantiated in the data model, multi-disciplinary interfaces enables a better data exchange and sharing among the engineers of different disciplines. The second concept concerns the design method based on the multi-disciplinary interface model. This method is proposed to establish the process for mechatronic engineering in order to achieve a better multi-disciplinary integration for the design of mechatronic systems. Finally, the two propositions are then implemented in a demonstrator developed based on 3DEXPERIENCE Platform. A 3D measurement system, considered as a synergistic combination of mechanical engineering, electronic engineering, computer engineering and optical engineering, is used to demonstrate and validate the propositions of the thesis in terms of multi-disciplinary integration for the design of mechatronic systems.

Universal access to electricity stands high on the global agenda and is regarded as essential for positive development in sectors such as health care, education, poverty reduction, food production and climate change. Decentralized, off-grid electrification is deemed an important complement to centralized grid extension. By utilizing a renewable energy source, solar technology for the generation of electricity, photovoltaics (PV) is being considered as a way forward to minimize the environmental problems related to energy use. This thesis aims to contribute to improving the technical and social feasibility of PV and PV-diesel hybrid micro-grids for the purpose of providing access to electricity to people in rural areas of countries with low level access to electricity. In line with these general aims, the focus has been to address three questions related to challenges in three phases of rural electrification. The work has a multi-disciplinary approach, addressing mainly technical and social aspects of long-term sustainability of micro-grids, in a local context, and the changes these are intended to generate. One specific micro-grid in Tanzania has been used as a major case study. The thesis is developed through three papers, all presenting methodologies or aspects for investigation in rural electrification projects and studies in general, and for PV-diesel hybrid micro-grids in particular. Paper I puts forward a methodology to facilitate non-social scientific researchers to take social aspects increasingly into consideration. Paper II is a guideline to support system users to increasingly apply an evaluation based system operation. Paper III specifically highlights the importance to consider blackouts when investigating how an existing off-grid PV-diesel hybrid system shall be utilized when a national grid becomes available.

Les systèmes électroniques sont de plus en plus complexes et, dans le but de rapprocher le monde numérique et le monde physique, on observe l'émergence de systèmes multidisciplinaires interagissant de plus en plus avec leur environnement proche. Leur conception nécessite la connaissance de multiples disciplines scientifiques tendant à les définir comme systèmes hétérogènes. Le développement des systèmes à venir nécessite un environnement de conception et de simulation commun permettant de gérer la multidisciplinarité de ces composants de nature variés interagissant fortement les uns avec les autres. Nous explorons la possibilité de développer et déployer un environnement de prototypage virtuel unifié pour ces systèmes. Pour surpasser les contraintes liées à leur spécification et dimensionnement, cet environnement doit pouvoir simuler un système hétérogène dans son ensemble, où chaque composant est décrit et résolu en utilisant le MoC le plus approprié. Nous proposons un prototype de simulateur, SystemC MDVP, implémenté comme une extension de SystemC qui suit une approche correcte-par-construction, repose sur une représentation hiérarchique hétérogène et des interactions basées sur des sémantiques maitre-esclave afin de modéliser les systèmes hétérogènes. Des algorithmes génériques permettent l'élaboration, la simulation et le monitoring de tels systèmes. Une méthodologie pour incorporer de nouveaux MoCs est définie puis suivie afin d'ajouter le MoC SPH, qui permet la description de réseaux fluidique, à SystemC MDVP. Nous avons modélisé un système RFID passif en utilisant plusieurs MoCs. Les résultats sont comparés avec des mesures acquises sur un vrai prototype physique. / Current and future microelectronics systems are more and more complex. In a aim to bridge the gap between the cyber world and the physical world we observe the emergence of multi-disciplinary systems that interact more and more with their close surrounding environment. The conception of such systems requires the knowledge of multiple scientific disciplines which tends to define them as heterogeneous systems. Designers of the upcoming digital-centric systems are lacking a common design and simulation environment able to manage all the multi-disciplinary aspects of its components of various nature, which closely interact with each other. We explore the possibilities of developing and deploying a unified SystemC-based design environment for virtual prototyping of heterogeneous systems. To overcome the challenges related to their specification and dimensioning this environment must be able to simulate a heterogeneous system as a whole, for which each component is described and solved using the most appropriate MoC. We propose a simulator prototype called SystemC MDVP which is implemented as an extension of SystemC. It follows a correct-by-construction approach, relies on a hierarchical heterogeneity representation and interaction mechanisms with master-slave semantics in order to model heterogeneous systems. Generic algorithms allow for the elaboration, simulation and monitoring of such systems. A methodology to incorporate new MoCs within SystemC MDVP is defined and followed to add a SPH MoC that enables the description of fluidic network. We modeled a passive RFID reading system using several MoCs. We compare the results with measures acquired on a real physical prototype.

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