AIDS is a chronic disease that seriously affects health, emotions, social relations and household economy. People living with HIV/AIDS experience great suffering, stigmatisation and discrimination from other people around them because they know that it is incurable, contagious, evokes social disgust and is a complex disease requiring life-long self-care. This researcher explored ways people with HIV/AIDS take care of their health and manage their lives in the context of stigma and discrimination. A grounded theory study was conducted with 30 participants with HIV/AIDS, in Mahasarakham Province, Thailand. Participants were recruited from an HIV/AIDS day care clinic and by snowball sampling. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews, participant observations and field notes made during home visits. Interviews were tape recorded, then transcribed verbatim. “From experiencing social disgust to passing as normal” was generated inductively from the data as the basic social psychological process of Thai people living with HIV/AIDS. From experiencing social disgust to passing as normal comprised four categories: being HIV/AIDS, making choices, keeping well and feeling empowered. The category “being HIV/AIDS”- discovering the meaning of having HIV/AIDS, comprises four concepts: being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, being stigmatised, suffering, and learning about HIV/AIDS. The category “making choices”- to live a normal life, involves three concepts: avoiding unhappy situations, getting remarried and seeking support. The category “keeping well”- maintaining emotional and physical health, includes eight concepts: religious practices, keeping a cheerful mind, self-treatment, taking care of the body, keeping the environment clean to prevent getting germs, healthy behaviours, getting healthcare services, and attention to, and concern about, medication. The last category “feeling empowered”- personal and social acceptance of illness, includes eight concepts: being encouraged, acknowledging the disease, social acceptance, tamjai, feeling proud of self, feeling good about life, feeling lucky and having hope. In the context of northeastern Thailand, successful management of HIV/AIDS was underpinned by participants making a transition from “experiencing social disgust” to “passing as normal” within their communities. The desire to live a normal life despite having HIV/AIDS motivated participants to undertake effective self-care in order to remain symptom free (thus avoiding visible signs of the disease), and to selectively disclose their illness to avoid the ongoing risk of stigma and discrimination. The findings of this study are useful in that they will provide Thai health professionals with a clearer conceptualisation of self-care among the Thai population. An inductively derived theory of self-care among Thai with HIV/AIDS can be applied and integrated by health professionals into the self-care models for people living with HIV/AIDS including models used in nursing education, research and practice.

AIDS is a chronic disease that seriously affects health, emotions, social relations and household economy. People living with HIV/AIDS experience great suffering, stigmatisation and discrimination from other people around them because they know that it is incurable, contagious, evokes social disgust and is a complex disease requiring life-long self-care. This researcher explored ways people with HIV/AIDS take care of their health and manage their lives in the context of stigma and discrimination. A grounded theory study was conducted with 30 participants with HIV/AIDS, in Mahasarakham Province, Thailand. Participants were recruited from an HIV/AIDS day care clinic and by snowball sampling. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews, participant observations and field notes made during home visits. Interviews were tape recorded, then transcribed verbatim. “From experiencing social disgust to passing as normal” was generated inductively from the data as the basic social psychological process of Thai people living with HIV/AIDS. From experiencing social disgust to passing as normal comprised four categories: being HIV/AIDS, making choices, keeping well and feeling empowered. The category “being HIV/AIDS”- discovering the meaning of having HIV/AIDS, comprises four concepts: being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, being stigmatised, suffering, and learning about HIV/AIDS. The category “making choices”- to live a normal life, involves three concepts: avoiding unhappy situations, getting remarried and seeking support. The category “keeping well”- maintaining emotional and physical health, includes eight concepts: religious practices, keeping a cheerful mind, self-treatment, taking care of the body, keeping the environment clean to prevent getting germs, healthy behaviours, getting healthcare services, and attention to, and concern about, medication. The last category “feeling empowered”- personal and social acceptance of illness, includes eight concepts: being encouraged, acknowledging the disease, social acceptance, tamjai, feeling proud of self, feeling good about life, feeling lucky and having hope. In the context of northeastern Thailand, successful management of HIV/AIDS was underpinned by participants making a transition from “experiencing social disgust” to “passing as normal” within their communities. The desire to live a normal life despite having HIV/AIDS motivated participants to undertake effective self-care in order to remain symptom free (thus avoiding visible signs of the disease), and to selectively disclose their illness to avoid the ongoing risk of stigma and discrimination. The findings of this study are useful in that they will provide Thai health professionals with a clearer conceptualisation of self-care among the Thai population. An inductively derived theory of self-care among Thai with HIV/AIDS can be applied and integrated by health professionals into the self-care models for people living with HIV/AIDS including models used in nursing education, research and practice.

AIDS is a chronic disease that seriously affects health, emotions, social relations and household economy. People living with HIV/AIDS experience great suffering, stigmatisation and discrimination from other people around them because they know that it is incurable, contagious, evokes social disgust and is a complex disease requiring life-long self-care. This researcher explored ways people with HIV/AIDS take care of their health and manage their lives in the context of stigma and discrimination. A grounded theory study was conducted with 30 participants with HIV/AIDS, in Mahasarakham Province, Thailand. Participants were recruited from an HIV/AIDS day care clinic and by snowball sampling. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews, participant observations and field notes made during home visits. Interviews were tape recorded, then transcribed verbatim. “From experiencing social disgust to passing as normal” was generated inductively from the data as the basic social psychological process of Thai people living with HIV/AIDS. From experiencing social disgust to passing as normal comprised four categories: being HIV/AIDS, making choices, keeping well and feeling empowered. The category “being HIV/AIDS”- discovering the meaning of having HIV/AIDS, comprises four concepts: being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, being stigmatised, suffering, and learning about HIV/AIDS. The category “making choices”- to live a normal life, involves three concepts: avoiding unhappy situations, getting remarried and seeking support. The category “keeping well”- maintaining emotional and physical health, includes eight concepts: religious practices, keeping a cheerful mind, self-treatment, taking care of the body, keeping the environment clean to prevent getting germs, healthy behaviours, getting healthcare services, and attention to, and concern about, medication. The last category “feeling empowered”- personal and social acceptance of illness, includes eight concepts: being encouraged, acknowledging the disease, social acceptance, tamjai, feeling proud of self, feeling good about life, feeling lucky and having hope. In the context of northeastern Thailand, successful management of HIV/AIDS was underpinned by participants making a transition from “experiencing social disgust” to “passing as normal” within their communities. The desire to live a normal life despite having HIV/AIDS motivated participants to undertake effective self-care in order to remain symptom free (thus avoiding visible signs of the disease), and to selectively disclose their illness to avoid the ongoing risk of stigma and discrimination. The findings of this study are useful in that they will provide Thai health professionals with a clearer conceptualisation of self-care among the Thai population. An inductively derived theory of self-care among Thai with HIV/AIDS can be applied and integrated by health professionals into the self-care models for people living with HIV/AIDS including models used in nursing education, research and practice.

AIDS is a chronic disease that seriously affects health, emotions, social relations and household economy. People living with HIV/AIDS experience great suffering, stigmatisation and discrimination from other people around them because they know that it is incurable, contagious, evokes social disgust and is a complex disease requiring life-long self-care. This researcher explored ways people with HIV/AIDS take care of their health and manage their lives in the context of stigma and discrimination. A grounded theory study was conducted with 30 participants with HIV/AIDS, in Mahasarakham Province, Thailand. Participants were recruited from an HIV/AIDS day care clinic and by snowball sampling. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews, participant observations and field notes made during home visits. Interviews were tape recorded, then transcribed verbatim. “From experiencing social disgust to passing as normal” was generated inductively from the data as the basic social psychological process of Thai people living with HIV/AIDS. From experiencing social disgust to passing as normal comprised four categories: being HIV/AIDS, making choices, keeping well and feeling empowered. The category “being HIV/AIDS”- discovering the meaning of having HIV/AIDS, comprises four concepts: being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, being stigmatised, suffering, and learning about HIV/AIDS. The category “making choices”- to live a normal life, involves three concepts: avoiding unhappy situations, getting remarried and seeking support. The category “keeping well”- maintaining emotional and physical health, includes eight concepts: religious practices, keeping a cheerful mind, self-treatment, taking care of the body, keeping the environment clean to prevent getting germs, healthy behaviours, getting healthcare services, and attention to, and concern about, medication. The last category “feeling empowered”- personal and social acceptance of illness, includes eight concepts: being encouraged, acknowledging the disease, social acceptance, tamjai, feeling proud of self, feeling good about life, feeling lucky and having hope. In the context of northeastern Thailand, successful management of HIV/AIDS was underpinned by participants making a transition from “experiencing social disgust” to “passing as normal” within their communities. The desire to live a normal life despite having HIV/AIDS motivated participants to undertake effective self-care in order to remain symptom free (thus avoiding visible signs of the disease), and to selectively disclose their illness to avoid the ongoing risk of stigma and discrimination. The findings of this study are useful in that they will provide Thai health professionals with a clearer conceptualisation of self-care among the Thai population. An inductively derived theory of self-care among Thai with HIV/AIDS can be applied and integrated by health professionals into the self-care models for people living with HIV/AIDS including models used in nursing education, research and practice.

AIDS is a chronic disease that seriously affects health, emotions, social relations and household economy. People living with HIV/AIDS experience great suffering, stigmatisation and discrimination from other people around them because they know that it is incurable, contagious, evokes social disgust and is a complex disease requiring life-long self-care. This researcher explored ways people with HIV/AIDS take care of their health and manage their lives in the context of stigma and discrimination. A grounded theory study was conducted with 30 participants with HIV/AIDS, in Mahasarakham Province, Thailand. Participants were recruited from an HIV/AIDS day care clinic and by snowball sampling. Data were gathered through in-depth interviews, participant observations and field notes made during home visits. Interviews were tape recorded, then transcribed verbatim. “From experiencing social disgust to passing as normal” was generated inductively from the data as the basic social psychological process of Thai people living with HIV/AIDS. From experiencing social disgust to passing as normal comprised four categories: being HIV/AIDS, making choices, keeping well and feeling empowered. The category “being HIV/AIDS”- discovering the meaning of having HIV/AIDS, comprises four concepts: being diagnosed with HIV/AIDS, being stigmatised, suffering, and learning about HIV/AIDS. The category “making choices”- to live a normal life, involves three concepts: avoiding unhappy situations, getting remarried and seeking support. The category “keeping well”- maintaining emotional and physical health, includes eight concepts: religious practices, keeping a cheerful mind, self-treatment, taking care of the body, keeping the environment clean to prevent getting germs, healthy behaviours, getting healthcare services, and attention to, and concern about, medication. The last category “feeling empowered”- personal and social acceptance of illness, includes eight concepts: being encouraged, acknowledging the disease, social acceptance, tamjai, feeling proud of self, feeling good about life, feeling lucky and having hope. In the context of northeastern Thailand, successful management of HIV/AIDS was underpinned by participants making a transition from “experiencing social disgust” to “passing as normal” within their communities. The desire to live a normal life despite having HIV/AIDS motivated participants to undertake effective self-care in order to remain symptom free (thus avoiding visible signs of the disease), and to selectively disclose their illness to avoid the ongoing risk of stigma and discrimination. The findings of this study are useful in that they will provide Thai health professionals with a clearer conceptualisation of self-care among the Thai population. An inductively derived theory of self-care among Thai with HIV/AIDS can be applied and integrated by health professionals into the self-care models for people living with HIV/AIDS including models used in nursing education, research and practice.

<p>In today’s health care it’s most common to treat an illness with a kind of pharmaceutical preparation. But lack of resources, given information and bad communication and collaboration between the patient and the nursing staff can lead to a patient unwilling to follow the doctor’s prescription. This does not just affect the individual patient’s health but it can also result in consequences for other people and the whole society. The purpose of this study was to analyse studies about the concepts compliance and concordance in order to illustrate why patients with chronic illnesses fail to follow their prescriptions. Our method has been to read and analyse the methods and results of articles out of the perspective similarities and differences of the concepts compliance and concordance. It was hard to keep the concepts separated because of their similar meanings. Our result shows that the method used was interviews with questionnaires which has been analysed on the basis of the qualitative studies’ themes and categories. The quantitative articles’ data were displayed statistically. Our analyse showed that patients often lack knowledge about their medical treatment which affects their attitudes and can lead to bad compliance and concordance. As a nurse it’s therefore important to identify the cause that affects the patient. The nursing staff’s goal ought thus to be to get the patient involved as much as possible in their self-care. If the patient is involved in hers/his treatment, it’s more likely that they feel a responsibility towards themselves and therefore gets a better quality of life.</p>

<p><strong>Syfte: </strong>Syftet har varit att beskriva hur patienter uppfattar begreppet egenvård samt deras uppfattningar gällande information om egenvård.</p><p><strong>Metod: </strong>Empirisk studie med kvalitativ design. Strategiskt urval av åtta patienter som genomgått stamcellstransplantation. Datainsamling skedde genom semistrukturerade intervjuer.</p><p><strong>Resultat: </strong>Patienter uppfattar att egenvård är att ta hand om sig så att den egna fysiska samt psykiska hälsan främjas, utan inblandning av sjukvården. De flesta patienter uppfattade att informationen om egenvård hade varit tillfredsställande. Dock förekom svårigheter med att koppla ihop begreppet egenvård med den information som givits om egenvårdande åtgärder. Ett fåtal av informanterna ansåg att informationen om egenvård hade varit av bristande kvalitet. Informanter upplevde svårigheter med att tillgodogöra sig informationen om egenvård. Kontinuerlig och upprepad information upplevdes som positivt. Personalens tillgänglighet samt möjlighet att ta sig tid värderades högt. Majoriteten av de intervjuade saknade ingen information om egenvård men däremot en förklaring av vad själva begreppet egenvård betyder.</p><p><strong>Slutsats:</strong> På hematologkliniken används inte begreppet egenvård när information om egenvård ges till patienter. Därmed finns det ett behov av att definiera och tydliggöra vad begreppet egenvård innebär. Patienter värderar personalens tillgänglighet samt förmåga att ge individanpassad och upprepad information högt, eftersom det ökar förmågan att tillgodogöra sig informationen om egenvård.</p> / <p><strong>Aim:</strong> The aim was to describe how patients perceive the concept of self-care and their perceptions concerning self-care information. <strong> </strong></p><p><strong>Method:</strong> Empirical study of qualitative design. Eight patients undergoing stem cell transplantation was strategically selected.  Semi-structured interviews were used. <strong></strong></p><p><strong>Results: </strong>Patients perceive that self-care is to take care of oneself in order to promote physical and mental health, without involvement of health care. Most patients felt that the need of self-care information had been content. Patients had difficulties in linking the concept of self-care with the information that had been given about self-care interventions. A few informants felt that the self-care information had been unsatisfactory. Informants experienced difficulties in assimilating the information. Continuous and repeated information was appreciated. The staff´s availability and  willingness to take time for the patient were valued highly. The majority of the interviewees did not lack any self-care information but were in need of an explanation of what the concept of self-care means.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> The term self-care is not used when information about self-care is given. The concept of self-care needs to be defined. Staff availability and the ability to provide personalized and repeated information is appreciated, because it increases the ability to assimilate information about self-care.</p><p><strong></strong></p>

<p>The overall aim was to study self-care, foot problems and self-perceived health in 150 consecutively invited Tanzanian diabetic patients and to compare them with gender- and age-matched Swedish diabetic patients (n=150) from a middle Sweden area. The main study was cross-sectional and took place at a diabetes clinic in Dar es Salaam. All patients answered questions about their self-care satisfaction, diabetes knowledge and skills, and educational needs. Foot examination also included questions about foot-care and perceived foot problems. The patients' health was assessed using the SF-36 general health questionnaire. The Swahili version of SF-36 was pre-tested in 518 Tanzanian diabetic patients showing an acceptable validity and reliability. Glycaemic control was measured by HbA1c. The results indicated that 45% of Tanzanians and 43% of the Swedes reported satisfaction with their self-care. The Tanzanian patients reported that following doctor's advice was the most important factor necessary for feeling well, whereas the Swedish patients emphasised diet and exercise. Lack of drugs and education were reasons of dissatisfaction in the Tanzanian group, whilst the Swedes were dissatisfied with their own behaviour. None of the Tanzanians monitored their blood glucose themselves, whilst 50% of the Swedes did it on a daily or weekly basis. Significantly more Swedes than Tanzanians knew the interaction between insulin, food and exercises, and how to manage hyperglycaemia and hypoglycemia. The Tanzanians wanted more education about diabetes, treatment and injection technique, whereas the Swedes wanted education about psychological aspects of diabetes, foot-care and oral anti-diabetic treatment. Foot problems reported in the Tanzanian group were pain, numbness and pricking sensations, whereas the Swedes reported ingrown toenails, pain and fissures. Seven Tanzanians and one Swede had foot ulcers. Twenty Tanzanians and 103 Swedes reported to inspect their own feet. The Tanzanians had significantly poorer self-perceived health and glycaemic control than the Swedish patients. A follow-up study was performed with the Tanzanian group of patients after two years. Many patients did not return for the second investigation and 70 patients were re-assessed. They showed an improved self-perceived health and a significant decrease in HbA1c-value. In conclusion the results indicated that Tanzanian patients needed better access to a continuous and regular supply of diabetes drugs. Furthermore the Tanzanians' burden of diabetes influenced their possibilities to work, whilst Swedish patients were hindered in social activities. In both countries the importance of regular foot inspections of the patients' feet should be emphasised. Glycaemic control and self-perceived health seemed to be poorly related and for that reason diabetes nurse specialists need to use both measures in order to guide the patients towards the goals experiencing a good health despite having diabetes.</p>

The present study is an empirical phenomenological investigation of the influence of peer group Focusing practice (Gendlin, 1981) on doctoral psychology students' senses of their developing clinical expertise. Focusing, a therapeutic bodily awareness and symbolization practice, was proposed as a method that would support the development of student self-reflection, self-assessment, and self-care. The present study investigates the experiences of three female doctoral students who participated in a peer-initiated and peer-run Focusing group for five semesters. The methodological procedures for a reflective empirical phenomenological study as articulated by Giorgi and Giorgi (2003), Robbins (2006), and Wertz (1984) were followed. Procedures adapted from Walsh (1995) to ensure phenomenological researcher reflexivity and to explicate the researcher's approach to the phenomenon were also used. All participants provided data via audiotaped individual interviews, read provisional interpretations and provided written and verbal feedback to the researcher. The interpretive analyses of these texts indicated that all participants found their participation in the peer Focusing group to enhance some aspects of their clinical expertise. The findings support the idea that peer group Focusing is a helpful method for directly training psychology graduate students in self-reflection, self-assessment, and self-care. Relationships between these findings and research on the use of mindfulness meditation in graduate psychology training are discussed. Implications for curriculum development, including a discussion of the relationship between the findings and the training concepts of personal professional development and professional development are explored. / McAnulty College and Graduate School of Liberal Arts / Clinical Psychology / PhD / Dissertation

The overall aim was to study self-care, foot problems and self-perceived health in 150 consecutively invited Tanzanian diabetic patients and to compare them with gender- and age-matched Swedish diabetic patients (n=150) from a middle Sweden area. The main study was cross-sectional and took place at a diabetes clinic in Dar es Salaam. All patients answered questions about their self-care satisfaction, diabetes knowledge and skills, and educational needs. Foot examination also included questions about foot-care and perceived foot problems. The patients' health was assessed using the SF-36 general health questionnaire. The Swahili version of SF-36 was pre-tested in 518 Tanzanian diabetic patients showing an acceptable validity and reliability. Glycaemic control was measured by HbA1c. The results indicated that 45% of Tanzanians and 43% of the Swedes reported satisfaction with their self-care. The Tanzanian patients reported that following doctor's advice was the most important factor necessary for feeling well, whereas the Swedish patients emphasised diet and exercise. Lack of drugs and education were reasons of dissatisfaction in the Tanzanian group, whilst the Swedes were dissatisfied with their own behaviour. None of the Tanzanians monitored their blood glucose themselves, whilst 50% of the Swedes did it on a daily or weekly basis. Significantly more Swedes than Tanzanians knew the interaction between insulin, food and exercises, and how to manage hyperglycaemia and hypoglycemia. The Tanzanians wanted more education about diabetes, treatment and injection technique, whereas the Swedes wanted education about psychological aspects of diabetes, foot-care and oral anti-diabetic treatment. Foot problems reported in the Tanzanian group were pain, numbness and pricking sensations, whereas the Swedes reported ingrown toenails, pain and fissures. Seven Tanzanians and one Swede had foot ulcers. Twenty Tanzanians and 103 Swedes reported to inspect their own feet. The Tanzanians had significantly poorer self-perceived health and glycaemic control than the Swedish patients. A follow-up study was performed with the Tanzanian group of patients after two years. Many patients did not return for the second investigation and 70 patients were re-assessed. They showed an improved self-perceived health and a significant decrease in HbA1c-value. In conclusion the results indicated that Tanzanian patients needed better access to a continuous and regular supply of diabetes drugs. Furthermore the Tanzanians' burden of diabetes influenced their possibilities to work, whilst Swedish patients were hindered in social activities. In both countries the importance of regular foot inspections of the patients' feet should be emphasised. Glycaemic control and self-perceived health seemed to be poorly related and for that reason diabetes nurse specialists need to use both measures in order to guide the patients towards the goals experiencing a good health despite having diabetes.