No description available.

Cree communities in Northern Quebec have been going through rapid changes since the first arrival of the Eurocanadians on their lands. Their customs, their houses and their eating habits have been deeply influenced by western living patterns. Today, the houses and the community designs remind more of the suburban Canadian landscape. Yet, Native social, cultural and natural environment still differs from non-Native communities in Canada. / Traditionally, women used to play an important role in the domestic area. Due to colonization, Native women have lost their status and are not part of the decision making process of their homes. Despite that, Native women have continued to play a special role in fostering a sense of identity in their communities. It is therefore important to involve them in housing projects in order to find designs more adapted to the needs of their families. / The case study took place in Chisasibi, a Cree village at the North of James Bay, which has been relocated 17 years ago, and been living in fully equipped houses based on western designs. This thesis aimed at revealing the opinion of Native women about their domestic environment and collect their suggestions for future improvements. The results showed that Native families' lifestyles have become more and more diversified: some want to incorporate traditional behavior patterns, other on the contrary, are more inclined in living the western way. Of course age and social background play an important role in their opinions. Still, the major critic concerns the inappropriate designs, the lack of space and storage which tend to influence the way people use the space in the house. The thesis pointed out the importance of defining housing layouts in accordance to the Native families' choices and sense of identity.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

This is a qualitative study inquiring ”What does it entail to be a sex worker in Sweden today?” Four female sex workers were interviewed in semi-structured interviews. Using methods for reflexive analysis, interpreting the interviews and their context theoretically through notions of Competence and Stigma, the results of this study shows that sex workers may be both competent agents and stigmatized. This informs the understanding of sex work, stigma and how learning, subjective room for action and social agency can be aggravated or hindered by stigma. The results are viewed in the context of Swedish legislation against sex purchase in relation to previous research which shows that said legislation is problematic. This study recommends; further studies on varieties of competence, room for action and social agency among sex workers; further studies on how sex workers subjective room for action is affected by the Swedish law against sex purchase; further studies on how the Swedish law against sex purchase affect sex workers prospects for learning; studies on how stigma and discrimination against people in socially vulnerable and/or excluded groups affect individual learning; as well as updated estimations on the prevalence of male, female and transgender sex workers in Sweden. It is also suggested that Sweden could look to other countries for constructive ideas on how to reform sex purchase laws. In this context, New Zealand and Germany are mentioned specifically.

Avhandlingen undersöker hur 21 unga människor inom ramen för längre intervjuer berättar om och reflekterar över sina liv. Ungdomarna har intervjuats som 15-, 17-, 22- och 25-åringar. Intervjuerna analyseras som livsberättelser, ett teoretiskt och metodolo-giskt perspektiv som fokuserar deras sätt att tolka och skapa mening i sina egna liv. Studien har ambitioner i två riktningar: Dels är det en samtidsstudie som undersöker hur villkoren för att bli vuxen ser ut och hur ungdomar förhåller sig till vuxenblivande. Dels är det en metodstudie i meningen att den lägger stor vikt vid hur livsberättelser konstrueras situationellt och kulturellt. De starka kopplingar som finns mellan ungdomars sätt att uppfatta sig själva och de livsberättelser de konstruerar håller samman dessa båda perspektiv. Arbetet koncentreras till tre huvudfråge-ställningar: hur erfarenhet och förväntan samspelar i ungdomarnas berättelser, hur deras berättelser anknyter till dominerande kulturella narrativer samt hur betydelser av att bli vuxen konstrueras och förändras över tid i deras livsberättelser. Vuxenblivande handlar i hög grad om en strävan efter identitet, självständighet och en plats i samhället. Studien visar hur detta kan förstås som en process där erfarenheter av det förflutna på olika sätt tvinnas samman med förväntningar inför framtiden. Den understryker också hur komplex och mångfacetterad övergången från ung till vuxen är och att innebörden i att vara vuxen varken är självklar eller definitiv. De livsberättelser ungdomarna konstruerar växer i hög grad fram i förhandling med starka narrativa life-scripts. Sådana scripts strukturerar deras berättelser och utgör en grund för de utvärderingar de gör av sina liv. Studien pekar också mot att ungdomars livsberättelser ingår i en dubbel hermeneutisk process där en Stor Berättelse om det individualiserade samhället tolkas och reproduceras. / This thesis investigates how a group of 21 young people narrate and reflect on their lives within the framework of long interviews. The participants were interviewed at the ages of 15, 17, 22 and 25 years. The interviews are analysed as life-stories, a theoretical and methodological perspective which illuminates the interviewees ways of interpreting and constructing meaning in their lives. The study has two aims: firstly it is a contemporary study with the goal of investi-gating what the conditions for entering adulthood are, and how young people relate to becoming an adult. Secondly it is a study of method which places great importance on how life-stories are constructed situationally and culturally. These two perspectives are linked by the strong connections that exist between the young people’s way of understanding themselves and the life-stories they construct. The work is concentrated to three main questions: how experience and expectation interplay in the participants stories, how their stories relate to dominant cultural narratives, and how meanings of becoming an adult are constructed and change over time in their life-stories. The process of becoming an adult mainly involves the search for identity, autonomy and place in society. The study demonstrates how this can be understood as a process where experiences from the past interplay with expectations for the future. It highlights the complexity and diversity of the transition from youth to adulthood, and the fact that meanings of adulthood are neither self-evident nor definite. Life-stories as told by the participants arise to a large degree in negotiation with narrative life-scripts. These scripts structure the stories and provide a basis for evaluation of their own lives. The study also points out that young people´s life stories are part of a double hermeneutic process where a “Grand Narrative” about the individualised society is interpreted and reproduced.

No description available.

Hensikt: Hensikten med studien var å undersøke om enerom reduserer forekomsten av Clostridium difficile hos innlagte pasienter i sykehus. Metode: En deskriptiv epidemiologisk undersøkelse som benyttes for å kartlegge insidensen av C.difficile infeksjon hos innlagte pasienter på fire norske sykehus i perioden 2001-2010 knyttet til antall enerom. Det ble i tillegg gjennomført en retrospektiv undersøkelse der vi så på risikoen for C. difficile infeksjon i en avdeling før flytting i gammelt sykehus med få enerom, til nytt sykehus med bare enerom for nesten alle pasienter. Resultat: I denne studien fant vi ingen sammenheng mellom insidens av C. difficile og økt tilgang på enerom. Det var stor forskjell i insidens av C. difficile mellom fire store norske sykehus. Det ser ut til at risikoen for C. difficile infeksjon var høyere i gammelt sykehusbygg enn nytt sykehus i en avdeling med en høy forekomst av C. difficile infeksjon, men dette var ikke statistisk signifikant. Denne undersøkelsen kan ikke vise lavere risiko for C. difficile infeksjon for pasienter som ligger på enerom. Konklusjon: Andel enerom har økt ved flere sykehus i løpet av studieperioden, men denne studien har ikke klart å vise om enerom har en smitteforebyggende effekt i sykehus ved C. difficile infeksjon. Enerom kan sannsynlig tilrettelegge for bedre smitteforbyggende atferd hos helsepersonell. Det må til flere forebyggende tiltak, som blant annet enerom, for å forbygge spredning av C. difficile infeksjon. / Aims: This study aimed to investigate whether single-occupancy rooms reduce the incidence of Clostridium difficile (C. difficile) among hospitalized patients. Methods: The study used a descriptive epidemiologic approach to investigate the incidence of C. difficile infection in patients in four hospitals during 2001–2010, in relation to the number of single rooms. In addition, we conducted a retrospective study to investigate the risk for C. difficile infection in a hospital ward, in relation to the transfer of a hospital department from old hospital premises that contained only a few single rooms to a new hospital building containing single-occupancy rooms for almost all patients. Results: This study determined no correlation between the incidence of C. difficile infection and increased access to single-occupancy rooms. However, the incidence of C. difficile infection was considerably different in the four hospitals. The old hospital buildings showed higher but insignificant risk of C. difficile infection compared to the new hospital building. We were unable to demonstrate a lower risk of C. difficile infection among patients in single-occupancy rooms. Conclusions: Although the proportion of single-occupancy rooms increased in several of the hospitals during the study period, we were unable to show that the single-occupancy rooms prevent C. difficile infection in hospitalized patients. Single-occupancy rooms likely facilitate improved infection prevention behaviours in health professionals. Preventing the spread of C. difficile infection requires a collection of several preventive measures, including single-occupancy rooms. / <p>ISBN 978-91-86739-21-8</p>

Performance Measurement is necessary in order to support the implementation of a Continuous Improvement approach within a company. Performance Measurement has been a subject of increasing interest for researchers and practitioners. The questions addressed in the literature especially evolved from “what” to measure to “how” to measure. The present thesis follows this evolution by exploring how companies can successfully implement Performance Measurement. The thesis follows a parallel research design including a literature review and a case study. From one side, a literature review aims at explaining the main theories behind Performance Measurement, such as the concept of Performance Measurement System, as well as giving some recommendation for its implementation. On the other side, an empirical case study, conducted in a construction industry company, presents a practical implementation of Performance Measurement including some of the indicators dashboards built in several factories and departments of the company. The results of this case study are also supported by several interviews conducted at different steps of the implementation with the different actors involved. Then a theoretical verification is conducted by comparing the theory from the literature review with the empirical results from the case study. It especially allows to verify some recommendations as well as to identify a few gaps. The results of this study can be seen as a set of verified recommendations in order to successfully implement Performance Measurement within a company. These recommendations come from the comparison between theory and practice and they are divided in three main parts: the Key Performance Indicators identification, the Performance Measurement System design, and the practical implementation of Performance Measurement. Regarding this last part, five key success factors (e.g. perceived benefits of performance measurement, top management commitment) and five barriers (e.g. time and effort required, human behaviour) have been verified. Moreover, some Performance Measurement issues are discussed, such as the reduction of the complexity, the potential gaps between local approaches and global consistency, as well as the concept of organisational learning. Finally, the thesis identifies three kinds of trade-offs (e.g. accuracy of the data and cost of collection) that need to be considered when implementing Performance Measurement.

Surgical face masks have been designed to protect health care professionals from the splashes of the patients’ blood or body fluids and also to minimise the transmission of oro- and nasopharyngeal bacteria from the surgical team to the patient’s wounds, thereby decreasing the likelihood of postoperative surgical site infections during a surgical procedure. However, there are several ways in which surgical face masks could potentially contribute to contamination of the wound during a surgical procedure in the operating room. The objectives of this study were to explore and describe the effectiveness of surgical face masks as a protective barrier during a surgical procedure in the operating room in the public hospitals in the North West Province, South Africa and to formulate recommendations regarding surgical face masks worn by health care professionals during a surgical procedure in the operating rooms. A systematic review was conducted, followed by a quantitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual approach. The motivation for a systematic review was to search evidence on surgical face mask efficiency. A search strategy was conducted in February and March 2012 and the total initial search was 9,933 research articles. Screening of articles on effectiveness of surgical face masks during a surgical procedure was done. After six months the search was updated and the final sample of six relevant articles (n=6) was obtained. Studies that met the inclusion criteria were critically appraised based on the scores using standardised critical appraisal tools. The findings of this research project were synthesised and evaluated in order to come to conclusions. Conclusions were integrated and synthesised as the basis of developing a clear overview of the best quality empirical evidence about effectiveness of surgical face masks during a surgical procedure in the operating room. Recommendations were formulated for the nursing practice, education and research focussing on wearing a surgical face mask during a surgical procedure in the operating room. Reviewer’s conclusion: From the limited results it is unclear whether wearing surgical face masks during a surgical procedure in the operating room serve as a protective device for both surgical team and the patient. There is a need for further research. / Thesis (MCur)--North-West University, Potchefstroom Campus, 2013.