Low-income women are less likely to initiate, continue and exclusively breastfeed. Limited Canadian research exists regarding the lived breastfeeding experience. A phenomenological study, utilizing a feminist approach and Fishbein’s Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction was conducted. Women recruited via purposeful, criterion sampling, who were eligible for the Manitoba Healthy Child Prenatal Benefit and had breastfed participated in 1:1 interviews (N=18). The essence of the experience was breastfeeding is “amazing and tough”. The themes of “life context”, “tough work”, and “persevering” emerged. Women who continued to breastfeed described breastfeeding becoming easier and ongoing breastfeeding variability in their experience. Those who discontinued breastfeeding noted it did not fit with their lifestyle, made the decision to breastfeed later, and interpreted breastfeeding problems differently. Researchers and practitioners need to explore the role of stress and consider this in providing individualized, coordinated breastfeeding and health care support to these women.

No description available.

In the context of Human Resource Management (HRM), organisations have been increasingly encouraged to implement a range of practices which, it is argued, will improve their competitiveness in the global market place. Thus, change initiatives within organisations follow one after the other. Yet, although there is apparent acceptance among practitioners and academics that evaluation is a crucial step in any process of continual improvement the reality is often that little has been done to assess the impact and degree of success of each initiative before organisations progress to the next. However, despite wide acknowledgement within the literature that is a significant problem there are few explanations offered and little evidence of any in-depth empirical exploration of the issues involved. This thesis reports on a study which sought to identify and explain the factors which created barriers to evaluation. Using a case study approach the research explored the reality of the evaluation process as it occurred in three UK public sector organisations, each of which was seeking to evaluate a Human Resource Management (HRM) change initiative. Two distinct types of barrier were found to exist which were labelled primary and secondary. As anticipated, there were barriers (secondary) that arose during an evaluation process that related to the choices made about purpose, process and responsibility and which made it difficult for 'good' (thorough, unbiased, relevant) evaluation to occur. However, of greater significance was the discovery in all three organisations of other factors (primary barriers) which, in combination, created a context in which the failure to undertake formal evaluation could be justified as a reasoned, and reasonable, action on the part of managers thereby offering an explanation for why such evaluations are rare. These primary barriers relate to the organisational and individual value placed on the act of evaluating and the learning that occurs as a result of any findings, including the way that it informs the change. Among those responsible for the initiation and implementation of the initiative (normally those who have control of the resources necessary to enable formal evaluation to take place), informal evaluation of the initiative and the context in which it occurred determined the perceived degree of need for formal evaluation to take place. Past experience, observation and shared perceptions suggested that formal evaluation activity was neither valued nor required by the organisation and was likely to have negative personal consequences. Matters are further clouded by an academic and practitioner literature which actively promotes the benefits of HRM strategies, supported by simplistic prescriptions for success, while the majority of empirical studies offer examples which substantiate these claims. In each of the cases reported here the nature of the chosen HRM initiative was assumed to be inherently good, something which would inevitably benefit the organisation in some way, by those responsible for its adoption and implementation thus making formal assessment unnecessary. The research clearly identifies the complexity of the barriers; each type having its roots in different factors that need to be addressed in a variety of ways if they are to be overcome and thus enable the organisation is to achieve the collective, and productive, learning from experience increasingly called for by the management literature. Until evaluation is valued at senior levels and accompanied by the necessary incentives, responsibilities, resources and rewards, wider perception of it as an important and valued activity is unlikely to become an active reality. Thus, the failure to learn from experience, to share understanding and to achieve both continuous improvement and greater levels of success in the management of change will continue. It is also clear that the same academic literature which is currently advocating a key role for HR and evaluation in the context of change needs to offer more in the way of information, guidance and support to make a positive contribution to the changes in perception that are required.

This thesis offers an interpretation of how eight male primary school teachers experience touch between themselves and their pupils/students. Despite the positive benefits of touch and evidence suggesting that appropriate forms of touch should be encouraged, the many meanings, interpretations and reactions to touch potentially complicate the ways in which people react. The potential for touch to enhance human well-being is therefore often diminished. The taboo surrounding touch is particularly evident in the school environment where limited research has been undertaken. This study gives voice to male teachers as they share their experiences in an era when the risks associated with physical contact between teachers and pupils are increasing. Hermeneutic phenomenology was used to explore and gain deeper understanding of the meaning of touch in education through interpreting the day to day experiences of male primary school teachers in New Zealand. Narrative interviews were interpreted and described thematically. The themes: ‘being careful, cautious and visible’, ‘worrying about misinterpretation’, ‘feeling sad’ and ‘battling with boundaries’, revealed a complex array of tensions that contributed to the findings. Male primary school teachers are constantly aware of the risk they take when interacting with students. They experience tensions and conflict when deciding where and how they will touch children and whether this will be misinterpreted by others. Consideration of the ways in which people respond to this complex and sensitive subject is necessary so that male teachers feel able to use positive and appropriate forms of touch without fear of suspicion and reprisal.

Ulm, Univ., Diss., 2008.

Bachelor-Arbeit Univ. St. Gallen, 2007.

<p><strong>Bakgrund:</strong> Postpartum depressioner (PPD), en förlossningsdepression, drabbar kvinnor i hela världen. En långvarig postpartum depression hos kvinnan kan ha avgörande konsekvenser för utvecklingen av hennes barn och relationen till hennes partner. Många kvinnor lider i tystnad då de inte vet att det finns en förklaring till känslorna de genomgår eller att de skäms för att inte klara av att leva upp till bilden av den ”perfekta mamman”. <strong>Syfte: </strong>Att beskriva upplevelser av postpartum depression hos vuxna kvinnor diagnostiserade med PPD.</p><p><strong>Metod: </strong>Sju vetenskapliga artiklar användes för att genomföra denna systematiska litteraturstudier med en induktiv ansats. <strong>Resultat:</strong> Utifrån frågan ”vilka gemensamma upplevelser genomgår kvinnor med PPD”? Framkom sju teman: misslyckande, stress, ensamhet, inre strid, förlust av kontroll, rädsla och skam. <strong>Slutsats: </strong>Hälso- och sjukvårdspersonal inom MHV (Mödrahälsovård) och BHV (Barnahälsovård) kan lättare upptäcka tidiga symtom och tecken hos nyblivna mammor med postpartum depression genom att förstå deras upplevelser av PPD, och därmed förhindra en långvarig depression.</p><p> </p><p><p> </p><p> </p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><p> </p><p> </p></p><p> </p><p> </p><p><p><p> </p><p> </p></p></p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Dept. of Education, March, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Little is known about the experiences of parental adjustment following the birth of a child with a facial birthmark due to a scarcity of literature. The literature within the fields of cleft lip and palate (CL/P) and cranio-facial abnormality (CFA) suggest that there are many factors involved in the process of parental adjustment. The aim of this project was to explore how parents adjust following the birth of their child with a facial birthmark. In-depth interviews were conducted with 13 parents of children aged between birth and two years old. The data was analysed using a Constructivist Grounded Theory approach and a model of adjustment was co-constructed from the data. It appears that parents move through a process of adjustment, that begins with coping with the initial shock and uncertainty before moving on to understanding the birthmark and treatment options, making sense of the birthmark, developing coping strategies and adjusting to birthmark. This process is affected by the availability of resources and the extent of social challenges experienced by the parents. The findings of this study indicate that psychology should be routinely involved with the assessment of parental psycho-social well-being and psycho-social support should be promoted for these families. Furthermore, greater training about birthmarks for medical professionals is recommended.

An extensive review of past benchmarking literature showed that there have been a substantial number of both conceptual and empirical attempts to formulate a benchmarking approach, particularly in the manufacturing industry. However, there has been limited investigation and application of benchmarking in tourism and particularly in tourist destinations. The aim of this research is to further develop the concept of benchmarking for application within tourist destinations and to evaluate its potential impact on destination performance. A holistic model for destination benchmarking was developed using the three main types of benchmark: internal, external and generic. Internal benchmarking aimed at improving a destination's internal performance by evaluating quantitative and qualitative measures. External benchmarking used tourist motivation, satisfaction and expenditure scores to investigate how one destination may perform better than another. Generic benchmarking aimed at evaluating and improving a destination's performance using quality and eco-label standards. This study developed four hypotheses to test the possible measures and methods to be used in carrying out destination benchmarking research and investigate how cross-cultural differences between tourists and between destinations might influence its formulation and application. These hypotheses and the model were tested utilising both primary and secondary data collection methods. The primary data was collected from eight different groups of British and German tourists visiting Mallorca and Turkey in the summer of 1998 (n=2,582). Findings were analysed using content analysis and a series of statistical procedures such as chisquare, mean difference (t-test), factor analysis and multiple regression. Personal observations were also recorded. The secondary data included statistical figures on tourism in Mallorca and Turkey. This research provides a discussion of findings and their implications for benchmarking theory and practitioners. The relevance of benchmarking to tourist destinations was examined through the measurement of performance, types of destination benchmarking and taking action. It is apparent that specific measures could be developed for destinations. Both internal and external benchmarking could be applied to benchmarking of destinations. However, in the case of external benchmarking, this research indicated that each destination might have its own regional differentiation and unique characteristics in some respects. Crosscultural differences between tourists from different countries also need to be considered. Given these findings, it is possible to suggest that this research makes a fresh and innovative contribution to the literature not only on tourism but also on benchmarking. The contribution of this study's findings to knowledge exists in the methods and techniques used to identify the factors influencing selected destination performance variables and in the methods to be employed for comparison between the two destinations. Caution should be used in generalising the results to apply to other destinations.