Autism-spectrum disorders (ASDs) are a group of neurodevelopmental disorders that are becoming increasingly more prevalent. A diagnostic criterion for autism is the presence of restricted, repetitive behaviours (RRBs), one of which is the intense fascinations for virtually any topic: circumscribed interests (CIs). CIs have the potential to be used for motivational purposes. This study employed semi-structured interviews using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) with individuals with ASDs and their parents. In total, 11 families participated in this study, comprising 33 individuals (16 parents and 17 individuals with ASDs). This study found five themes: He's Very Unique; They Don't Realize that Not Everyone Lives and Thinks the Same Thing All the Time; We Couldn't even Pronounce the Names of These Dinosaurs, and Jason was Telling Us; You Can't Change Them, You Can Only Love Them; and So I Can Do My Job at the Same Time and Observe the Weather at the Same Time.

Idag är psykisk ohälsa den vanligaste orsaken till långtidssjukskrivning i Sverige. Denna studie syftade till att undersöka vad det innebär för kvinnor att vara långtidssjukskrivna för psykisk ohälsa och återvända till arbetet. Datainsamlingen bestod av semistrukturerade intervjuer. Totalt intervjuades åtta kvinnor som varit sjukskrivna i minst två månader. Kvinnorna var bosatta i Uppsala län, Västmanlands län och Västra Götalands län. Dataanalysen genomfördes i linje med de riktlinjer IPA-metoden förespråkar. Resultatet påvisar att det förekommer en del svårigheter med att vara långtidssjukskriven för psykisk ohälsa. Mest framträdande var en känsla av orkeslöshet och isolering. Arbetsåtergången var utformad på olika sätt, den vanligaste rehabiliteringsåtgärden var arbetsanpassning. Studiens resultat tyder på att arbetsplatser saknar tydliga rutiner för arbetsåtergång vid långtidssjukskrivning för psykisk ohälsa. Vidare framgick det att delaktighet och inflytande, lyhörda chefer och den egna viljan var viktiga utgångspunkter för en god arbetsåtergång. Socialt stöd betraktades som en viktig förutsättning under hela sjukskrivningsförloppet.

Context. Agile Software Development has provided a new concept of Software Development based in adaptation to changes, quick decisions, low high-level design and frequent deliveries. However, this approach ignores the value that Software Architecture provides in the long term for increasing the speed in delivery working software, which may have catastrophic consequences in the long term. Objectives. In this study, the combination of these two philosophies of Software Development is investigated. Firstly, the concept of Software Architecture in Agile Projects; then, the major challenges faced concerning Software Architecture in Agile Projects, the practices and approaches that can be used to overcome these challenges and the effects that these practices may cause on the project. Methods. The research methodologies used in this study are Systematic Literature Review for gathering the highest amount possible of contributions available in the Literature at this respect, and also the conduction of Semi-Structured Interviews with Agile Practitioners, in order to obtain empirical knowledge on the problem and support or deny the SLR findings. Results. The results of the Thesis are a unified description of the concept of Software Architecture in Agile Projects, and a collection of challenges found in agile projects, practices that overcome them and a relation of effects observed. Considering the most frequent practices/approaches followed and the empirical support, it is enabled a discussion on how to combine Software Architecture and Agile Projects. Conclusions. The main conclusion is that there is not a definite solution to this question; this is due to the relevance of the context (team, project, customer, etc.) that recommends the evaluation of each situation before deciding the best way to proceed. However, there are common trends on the best-recommended practices to integrate these two concepts. Finally, it is required more empirical work on the issue, the conduction of controlled experiments that allows to quantify the success or failure of the practices implemented would be most helpful in order to create a body of knowledge that enables the application of certain practices under certain conditions.

Background. Stepped care is widely implemented as a means to organise depression treatment. However, it is unclear how this system and the system it was designed to replace – long-term intensive psychotherapy for all – compare. Aim. To further the development and evaluation of stepped care. Specifically, assess the clinical effectiveness of stepped care and prepare for a fully-powered evaluation of stepped care vs. high-intensity psychotherapy alone for depressed adults. Design. A systematic review and mixed methods feasibility study encompassing a pilot randomised controlled trial and semi-structured interviews. Results of the systematic review. Fourteen randomised controlled trials involving 4580 participants were included. Relative to controls, there was significantly greater improvement in depression for adults treated with stepped care (d=0.34 at six months; 95% CI 0.20 to 0.48). The quality of included studies was good and there was little evidence of publication bias. All comparisons were with usual care. Results of the feasibility study. 66 patients were recruited to the pilot trial. The recruitment rate was 2.9% and follow-up data was obtained from 90.9% of participants. A third of stepped care patients stepped up to high-intensity therapy. Patients improved in both groups: the mean reduction in depressive symptoms was 13.4 in the stepped care group and 13.6 in the high-intensity therapy alone group. Recruitment methods were appropriate to patients and therapists but only somewhat appropriate to IAPT staff. Although the stepped care intervention was broadly acceptable to therapists, patient experience varied and some patients who demonstrated a low level of self-efficacy declined any therapy or dropped out of treatment. Conclusions. The effectiveness of stepped care compared with long-term intensive psychological therapy for all has not yet been established. A fully-powered trial of stepped care vs. high-intensity therapy alone is feasible although pilot trial methods and procedures should be modified to improve recruitment and acceptability.

This diploma thesis analyses the impact of alternative trends in dieting on consumer behaviour in Czech Republic. Alternative diets and healthy lifestyle are nowadays very popular topics and a lot of consumers are changing their preferences towards alternative types of dining. These changes are affecting producers which need to adapt their supply to market needs which is also affecting their marketing orientation towards these consumers. The aim of this thesis is to review actual trends in dieting and to show their impact on consumer behaviour. The aim of the thesis is also to suggest marketing recommendations which are connected with new trends and evaluate financial burden of particular trends on consumers. The thesis is focused on detailed description of actual trends in dieting, health impacts connected with the new trends and their actual occurrence in Czech Republic. Analysis is based on qualitative research in the form of semi-structured interviews and quantitative research in the form of questionnaire. The MML-TGI data and actual research papers are also used in the thesis. Based on the semi-structured interview and method of open coding are uncovered important categories which are affecting particular consumers. Subsequently based on the multi-regression analysis is estimated the impact of particular trends in dieting on healthy lifestyle of consumers. The results show that actual trends have significant impact on orientation of consumers towards healthy lifestyle. Based on the multi-regression analysis also other factors affecting consumers in a way to live healthier are discovered. From the results can be seen that the alternative trends do not need to be automatically connected with higher financial burden. According to the research results are suggested complex marketing recommendations. Marketing recommendations are focused on effective promotion of products, potential business opportunities and recommendations how to approach the consumers.

<p>The education field is experiencing a shortage of qualified teachers, especially in high-poverty schools. All school districts struggle to find ways to prevent the increasing turnover rates in their schools; however, school districts serving impoverished populations have to deal with the impact of teacher turnover more frequently. This qualitative study focused on the lived experiences of four elementary school teachers with ten or more years of experience in Steele Community Schools, a high-poverty school district. This study focused on factors that have led participants to remain in their teaching positions. Using the framework of Fredrick Herzberg’s two-factor theory, the researcher examined motivation and hygiene factors to determine which factors had the greatest impact in increasing a teacher’s likelihood to remain in the profession; more specifically in high-poverty schools. The results of this study provides an understanding of the factors that impact a teacher’s decision to remain in their position and may serve as a reference for school districts that continue to experience high teacher turnover. Through semi-structured interviews, data were collected from four veteran teachers with ten or more years of experience in their district. This study found that, of Herzberg’s motivation and hygiene factors, coworker relations, salary/benefits, and the work itself had the greatest impact on a teacher’s decision to remain in their teaching position in a high-poverty school. The study also brought to light a element outside of Herzberg’s theory which has had just as great of an impact on teacher retention; the outside community. Based on the findings of this of the qualitative study school district leaders could potentially take a deeper look at factors that have been referenced in this study as having had a positive impact on teachers’ decisions to remain in their positions in a high-poverty school and increase teacher retention.</p>

Thesis (Master of Nursing)--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2019 / In the fight against the human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), one of the aspects to be taken into consideration is the self-esteem of pregnant women. Professional nurses in maternity settings need to support pregnant women, with a focus on providing balanced care to meet all of the women’s needs and build their self-esteem. Self-esteem reflects one’s subjective emotional evaluation of one’s worth. A decrease in the self-esteem of the individual with HIV/AIDS infections is common and professional nurses should advise patients on the appropriate ways to deal with HIV/AIDS. A supportive environment for HIV/AIDS women could enhance their self-esteem. The researcher overheard HIV/AIDS positive patients in a maternity unit express their feelings of worthlessness and wondered how he could support them to have self-worth. The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the role of professional nurses in promoting a healthy self-esteem in hospitalised, pregnant women with HIV/AIDS in a maternity unit in a public hospital in Cape Town. The study was qualitative in nature, departing from assumptions of the theoretical framework of Eric Erikson. An exploratory, descriptive, contextual, qualitative design was followed when the semi-structured interviews were conducted. The accessible population comprised of 15 professional nurses working at the maternity unit. Purposive sampling was used to obtain a sample of 11 professional nurses (participants) working in a maternity unit who met the eligibility criteria. Individual interviews were conducted with eight participants as a starting point until data saturation was reached. After obtaining permission from the necessary authorities, the researcher visited the manager of the unit. Two pilot individual interviews were conducted to determine whether the research questions were understood. The researcher explained the purpose and information on the information sheet and obtained informed consent. Interviews lasted 45 minutes were conducted in a private room and recorded. The researcher used an interview schedule and made field notes while conducting the interviews. Data triangulation of the interviews and field notes ware done. Thematic analysis coding was applied to analyse data. Trustworthiness was ensured through credibility, transferability, dependability and conformability. The following ethical principles of privacy, the right to withdraw and anonymity were followed. The findings indicated HIV/AIDS-related stigma as the main cause of a poor self-esteem among pregnant women with HIV/AIDS. Participants furthermore felt that there is a need for training and skills development of professional nurses to enable them to understand how to support HIV/AIDS pregnant women and enhance their self-esteem. It was concluded that professional nurses should support pregnant women with HIV/AIDS places a socio-economic burden on societies and has set the world into spending millions on healthcare settings in an attempt to curb the disease.

Bakgrund: Fysisk aktivitet har hälsofrämjande effekter, trots detta utgår inte den fysiska aktiviteten utifrån personcentrering där patienternas egna behov tas i beaktande. Specialistsjuksköterskor ska dessutom arbeta personcentrerat för att kunna bedriva återhämtningsinriktad omvårdnad. Tidigare forskning visar patienters erfarenheter av fysisk aktivitet inom psykiatrisk vård som tar fasta på patienters möjligheter, utmaningar och betydelsen av fysisk aktivitet. Men det saknas kunskap om erfarenheterna inom rättspsykiatrisk slutenvård där patienterna är ytterligare begränsade. Syfte: Att beskriva patienters erfarenheter av fysisk aktivitet inom rättspsykiatrisk slutenvård. Metod: Semistrukturerade intervjuer med tio deltagare som vårdas inom rättspsykiatrisk slutenvård. Intervjuerna analyserades med hjälp av kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Resultat: Patienters erfarenheter visar fyra olika kategorier av fysisk aktivitet, vilka är att ha innehåll i sin tillvaro, att kunna ta hand om sig själv, att känna en drivkraft och att känna sig begränsad. Dessa kategorier sammanstrålar i ett gemensamt tema, att få en meningsfull vardag. Slutsatser: Hur fysisk aktivitet möjliggör till en meningsfull vardag utgår ifrån varje enskild patient. Huruvida patienter själva får vara styrande utifrån sina egna förutsättningar kommer kunna avspeglas i patientens återhämtning. / Background: Physical activity has health-promoting effects, despite this, the physical activity isn’t based on person-centering where patients' own needs are considered. The specialist nurse must also work person-centered to be able to conduct recovery-oriented nursing. Previous research shows patients 'experiences of physical activity in psychiatric care where the focus aims on the patients' opportunities, challenges and the importance of physical activity. But there’s a lack of knowledge about the experiences in forensic psychiatric care where patients are further limited. Aim: To describe patients' experiences of physical activity in forensic psychiatric care. Method: Semi-structured interviews with ten participants in forensic psychiatric care. To analyze the conducted interviews a qualitative content analysis was used. Results: Patients' experiences show four different categories of physical activity, which are to have content in their existence, to be able to take care of themselves, to feel a driving force and to feel limited. These categories converge in a common theme, to have a meaningful everyday life. Conclusions: How physical activity enables a meaningful everyday life is based on each individual patient. Whether patients themselves can be in control based on their own conditions will be reflected in the patient's recovery.

In recent years, there has been talk of a declining confidence and growing mistrust of the news media. Swedish media have been accused of obscuring certain topics, of letting the newspapers’ political orientation guide the selection of news and of having a news evaluation process that is influenced by the journalists’ personal opinions. With this as a starting point, and the assumption that a high ranking in the press freedom index does not automatically translate to a media landscape unaffected by restraining factors, this thesis investigates the reality of the press freedom in Sweden. Through the method of triangulation, combining a quantitative survey with qualitative semi-structured interviews, the thesis explores how Swedish journalists perceive their journalistic freedom, as well as if all topics are represented in Swedish journalism. The conclusion shows that although Swedish journalists perceive their journalistic freedom to be high, there are signs of self-censorship resulting in a lacking reporting of certain news topics.

The aim of this qualitative study is to investigate how upper secondary school teachers in Sweden identify and, if they do, support gifted students. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to collect data from seven upper secondary school English teachers in Sweden. The results show that the teachers are able to identify gifted students after they perform certain tests or tasks. All teachers state that it is important to give gifted students the necessary help and attention they need. The methods that were used to support the gifted students were to have flexible assignments that could be adjusted to the individuals’ needs or to provide the gifted students with extra assignments. The teachers state that they find it difficult to meet the needs of the gifted students due to lack of time and because the needs of struggling students are prioritized by the system. In conclusion, the teachers agree that education should be adjusted to all of the students’ different needs, including the ones of the gifted students. It has been reported by the participating teachers that they try to achieve this, yet they are concerned with the availability of their resources and time.