Hepatitis C is a fast growing infectious disease in Australia and is often associated with related psycho-social and mental health problems. The conventional treatment process for hepatitis C is challenging due to a number of reasons. This study explored social workers’ perceptions of the contribution of their role in hepatitis C treatment centres in relation to the treatment experience of patients. The roles that social workers fulfill, their contribution to the multidisciplinary team and towards a culturally competent service, were explored. Furthermore the knowledge, skills and values required for providing a competent service in a hepatitis C treatment setting was explored. The broad theoretical frameworks that inform social work practice were considered, especially the biopsycho-social model, the strengths perspective, the critically reflexive approach and communications theory. This qualitative study used a semi-structured interview method for data collection. Ten social workers in hepatitis C treatment clinics participated in the study. The findings highlight the needs of patients and how social worker participants described helping to address and meet these needs by employing their knowledge, skills and values through their social work roles and interventions in a team context in a multicultural and multi-faceted work environment. A major challenge that social workers described was to keep patients on treatment despite debilitating side effects that diminish patients' motivation to complete treatment. A shortcoming in the service was described to be the limited psychiatric support available at many treatment centres. The findings lead to a number of recommendations to improve social work services in hepatitis C treatment settings. More research was recommended in areas such as motivational techniques, psychiatric support, and effective group work strategies. The need for increased funding for social work positions in the hepatitis C field was also highlighted. It is anticipated that findings of this study can be applied to hepatitis C treatment in broader settings such as prisons, drug and alcohol settings and general practice. This research will contribute to literature in the field of hepatitis C treatment models and in the field of social work practice in hepatitis C contexts.

<p><font size="3"> <p>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 &quot / acting senior school social worker.&quot / 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.</p> </font></p>

Hepatitis C is a fast growing infectious disease in Australia and is often associated with related psycho-social and mental health problems. The conventional treatment process for hepatitis C is challenging due to a number of reasons. This study explored social workers’ perceptions of the contribution of their role in hepatitis C treatment centres in relation to the treatment experience of patients. The roles that social workers fulfill, their contribution to the multidisciplinary team and towards a culturally competent service, were explored. Furthermore the knowledge, skills and values required for providing a competent service in a hepatitis C treatment setting was explored. The broad theoretical frameworks that inform social work practice were considered, especially the biopsycho-social model, the strengths perspective, the critically reflexive approach and communications theory. This qualitative study used a semi-structured interview method for data collection. Ten social workers in hepatitis C treatment clinics participated in the study. The findings highlight the needs of patients and how social worker participants described helping to address and meet these needs by employing their knowledge, skills and values through their social work roles and interventions in a team context in a multicultural and multi-faceted work environment. A major challenge that social workers described was to keep patients on treatment despite debilitating side effects that diminish patients' motivation to complete treatment. A shortcoming in the service was described to be the limited psychiatric support available at many treatment centres. The findings lead to a number of recommendations to improve social work services in hepatitis C treatment settings. More research was recommended in areas such as motivational techniques, psychiatric support, and effective group work strategies. The need for increased funding for social work positions in the hepatitis C field was also highlighted. It is anticipated that findings of this study can be applied to hepatitis C treatment in broader settings such as prisons, drug and alcohol settings and general practice. This research will contribute to literature in the field of hepatitis C treatment models and in the field of social work practice in hepatitis C contexts.

Aim: The existing literature on the experiences of individuals who have undertaken Problem-Based Learning (PBL) as part of their doctoral Clinical Psychology training in the UK is scarce, particularly from the perspective of qualitative peer research. The aim of the present study was to construct and articulate a deeper account of such experiences, and in particular, to explore how individuals make sense of these experiences. It is hoped that the findings of the present study will increase awareness within Clinical Psychology training programmes of the experiences, perspectives and needs of trainees who undertake PBL. Method: A qualitative approach was adopted. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight Trainee Clinical Psychologists who have undertaken PBL at a Clinical Psychology training programme in South-East England. Their accounts were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA), which endeavours to illuminate the lived experiences of small samples of individuals who have experienced a particular phenomenon. Results: The analytic procedure highlighted four main themes emerging within participants’ accounts: Intensity of the experience; Striving towards connection versus fear of disconnection; Responses to manage the experience(s) can be unhelpful and helpful; and Trying to make sense of PBL. Implications: Participants characterised PBL as a challenging yet invaluable process through which they made significant gains, both professionally and personally. Facilitators were noted to play a key role in helping to create safe spaces in which trainees are supported to engage with issues that may arise for them in relation to their professional and personal development. Implications and recommendations are outlined for the benefit of Clinical Psychology training programmes that may wish to incorporate or alter PBL within their syllabuses.

A quantitative, descriptive, explorative design was applied to study the problems that hindered the Primary Health Care (PHC) nurses in rendering quality health care in the health facilities in Limpopo province South Africa. The sample consisted of 53 PHC nurses who completed a pre-tested questionnaire which covered various aspects related to the provision of quality PHC services. The data were analysed by computer using SPSS version 15 soft ware. The findings revealed that most of the problems could be attributed to financial constraints, poor budgeting, and shortage of staff to manage large number of patients, lack of enough support from other professional staff, unreliable referral systems and communication networks. PHC nurses work under difficult conditions and often have to improvise to care for patients, but unless more funds are allocated to rural health care facilities and these problems are addressed, more nurses will work under difficult circumstances. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

The diploma thesis is dedicated to the way of using and way of functioning of the coordinated rehabilitation and the multi-disciplinary team in the organization Focus in Pelhřimov which works with the people with mental disorders. The thesis is divided in the theoretical and practical part. The theoretical part describes the history and function of the coordinated rehabilitation, mental health care history, psychiatric reform and multi-disciplinary cooperation functioning. There is used the strategy of quality analysis in the research part. It was done by the questionnaire and the technique of half-structured interview. The results coming out of the interview were focused on the functioning of multi-disciplinary team in the institution and the cooperating subjects in the first part. The second part was dedicated to the basic parts of the coordinated rehabilitation provided in the organization in view of the fact that there were other participating professionals and non-formal participants during the care of the person with mental disorder. The aim of the research was to map the sectors of the coordinated rehabilitation used by the individuals with mental disorders in the organization Focus in Pelhřimov. The research team was created with the help of the method of the snow ball and basic criteria was employment of an "communication partner" in the particular organization. Their ability to evaluate their job and take part in the lead interview depended on their experience in Focus. In connection with the thesis aim there was also set the main research question: What parts of the coordinated rehabilitation are used in the organization Focus in Pelhřimov? Partial questions were devolved from that which were connected to the particular parts of the coordinated rehabilitation and the function of the multi-disciplinary team. The first contact and the next cooperation is developed by the seriousness, necessity and wishes of the client. The work with the client with mental disorder is based on the philosophy of recuperation, not recovery. In the relationship and the concentration, the work is done in all sectors of the coordinated rehabilitation. The client has the closest relationship to the key worker who provides the care in the multi-disciplinary team and other professionals in the organization. There is the conclusion from the results that there was an agreement that the coordinated rehabilitation is used in this institution and no other from the basic sectors can be omitted. The results of the diploma thesis can be used as feedback for the organization Focus in the practice where it can be useful for mapping of the sectors of coordinated rehabilitation and making clear the needs of the individuals with mental disorder. Taking into consideration the recommendation to use the feedback of the respondents about information sharing, to prefer common space of the whole team and bigger promotion.

A quantitative, descriptive, explorative design was applied to study the problems that hindered the Primary Health Care (PHC) nurses in rendering quality health care in the health facilities in Limpopo province South Africa. The sample consisted of 53 PHC nurses who completed a pre-tested questionnaire which covered various aspects related to the provision of quality PHC services. The data were analysed by computer using SPSS version 15 soft ware. The findings revealed that most of the problems could be attributed to financial constraints, poor budgeting, and shortage of staff to manage large number of patients, lack of enough support from other professional staff, unreliable referral systems and communication networks. PHC nurses work under difficult conditions and often have to improvise to care for patients, but unless more funds are allocated to rural health care facilities and these problems are addressed, more nurses will work under difficult circumstances. / Health Studies / M.A. (Health Studies)

Malnutrition is one of the serious childhood problems that affect children under five (5) years of age, and is common in developing countries Botswana included. The aim of this study was to explore the perceptions of mothers of children diagnosed with malnutrition in Botswana, specifically at Sekgoma Memorial Hospital, Serowe. The said hospital is a district hospital which renders services to Serowe community and the surrounding villages, as such; participants in this study were from Serowe and other surrounding villages like Mabou, Tshimoyapula, Mmashoro and Mogorosi. Applied research was used as a type of research because it is associated with the researcher’s motivation to assist in solving a particular problem facing a particular community. Collective case study was used as a research design. The researcher explored the perceptions of mothers regarding child malnutrition; through the use of semi-structured interviews. Twelve (12) mothers of children with malnutrition were interviewed using systematic random sampling method and subsequently data was analysed according to Creswell’s model. Literature study was done and the following aspects were discussed: Child malnutrition in developing countries; child malnutrition in Botswana; description of child malnutrition; causes of child malnutrition; symptoms of child malnutrition; treatment of child malnutrition; prevention of child malnutrition; psychosocial implications of child malnutrition on the patient, family and community and social work intervention (therapy and prevention). Literature was also compared with research findings when analysing data. The study revealed that mothers had limited knowledge on malnutrition as a condition, the signs and symptoms thereof; causes; prevention and treatment of child malnutrition. This lack of knowledge made mothers to have wrong perceptions about child malnutrition. It was revealed that mothers did not perceive malnutrition as a serious problem that can result in admission for treatment in a hospital, they expected a different diagnosis. They perceive malnutrition as a secondary diagnosis. The majority of mothers had a Setswana diagnosis for their children’s condition. Mothers perceived the signs and symptoms of malnutrition as those of Thibamo, Phogwana (fontanel), or Ntsana. They interpret malnutrition as a Setswana ailment that can be treated traditionally. Factors that were identified to be contributing to malnutrition among children at Sekgoma Memorial Hospital in Serowe were found to be; lack of knowledge about malnutrition, wrong perceptions of malnutrition by mothers, illiteracy and unemployment, and cultural factors like taking a child to a traditional healer instead of a medical health facility. The study shows that mothers’ social functioning is disrupted by their children’s illness and hospitalization and thus a need for support from the hospital multi-disciplinary team, especially the social worker who is a trained counselor. The social worker should provide ongoing supportive counseling during the process of the child’s illness. / Dissertation (MSW)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Social Work and Criminology / Unrestricted

This study addresses the effectiveness of communication between the team (doctors, sisters and social workers) and patients at the Breast Cancer Clinic of the Johannesburg Hospital. Tue needs of patients were highlighted, as well as the role of care-giver, both as a group and in their separate disciplines, in attempting to meet these needs. Tue empirical survey was carried out through the use of questionnaires as well as interview schedules. Patients, doctors, nurses and social workers were used as respondents. Results indicated that the majority of patients' needs for information and support were met by the team in general; however, a need for further social work intervention seemed to be apparent. In addition, several barriers were found to inhibit both team-patient and inter-team communication. Tue researcher used the information gathered in this study to make recommendations that will facilitate improved communication in the clinic, with specific reference to the role of the social worker. / Social Work / M.A.(Social Science: Mental Health)

Many child and youth care organisations in South Africa struggle to implement adequate supervision structures for their child and youth care workers. If supervisors in this field had adequate knowledge and skills, they could enable child and youth care workers to grow and develop competently and provide more professional services to troubled young people in South Africa, This qualitative research sought to identify what knowledge and skills supervisors need in child and youth care settings in South Africa to provide effective supervision to workers. This research confirmed that there are specific skills and knowledge required by supervisors in child and youth care settings in South Africa and while there is an awareness of these in some settings, they are not being fully utilised in organised supervision structures. / Social Work / M.Tech. (Child and Youth Care)