Bakgrund: Beröringen är ett av människans grundläggande behov. Närhet och beröring har betydelse för välbefinnandet. Beröring är en central del i vårdandet, där den är förväntad och accepterad. Att leva med cancer innebär ett stort lidande. Både fysiskt, psykiskt, socialt och existentiellt. Många genomgår tuffa behandlingar med biverkningar, vilket skapar ett lidande för både patient och närstående. Syfte: Syftet med denna litteraturöversikt var att beskriva beröringens betydelse i vårdandet av cancerpatienter. Metod: En litteraturöversikt, där femton vårdvetenskapliga artiklar har använts, nio med kvantitativ metod och sex med kvalitativ metod. Resultat: Studiens resultat visade att beröring har betydelse i omvårdnaden av cancerpatienter, både i livets slut och hos de som genomgår tuffa behandlingar. Beröring dämpade svåra biverkningar såsom illamående, oro/ångest, smärta samt att lindra lidandet. Patienterna upplevde ökad livskvalitet. Beröringen hade även en positiv betydelse för patienternas relation med både sjuksköterskan och anhöriga. Slutsats: Att drabbas av cancer innebär ett stort lidande, både fysiskt, psykiskt, socialt och existentiellt. Litteraturöversikten visar att beröring som omvårdnadsåtgärd hjälper patienterna att öka sitt välbefinnande på alla dessa fyra plan. Genom att använda beröring inom vårdandet av cancerpatienter kan man öka deras livskvalité och välbefinnande. / Background: Touch is one of human basic needs. Nearness and touch are important for the well-being. Touch is a central element in nursing, where it is expected and accepted. Living with cancer involves great suffering. Physical, mental, social and spiritual. Many undergoes tough treatments with side effects, which leads to suffering for both the patient and the family. Aim: The aim of this literature review was to describe the meaning of touch in care of cancer patients. Method: A literature review, fifteen research papers. Nine of quantitative method and six of qualitative method. Results: The results showed that touch is important in care of cancer patients, both in the final stage of life and fore those who undergoing tough treatments. The touch reduced treatment-related symptoms, such as nausea, anxiety, pain and reduces suffering. Patients experienced improved quality of life. Touch also had a positive impact on patients' relationship to the nurse as well as to the family. Conclusion: To live with cancer involves a great amount of suffering, physical, mental, social and spiritual. The literature review shows that touch as nursing intervention helps patients increase their welfare in all four levels. Using touch in the care of cancer patients, improves their quality of life and well-being.

Bakgrund: Att få ett cancerbesked kan för vissa upplevas som att få en dödsdom. Det väcker inte allt för sällan starka känslor hos både den drabbade och dess anhöriga. Att leva med cancer upplevs för många påfrestande både fysiskt och psykiskt från symtom och biverkningar från olika behandlingar såsom cytostatika och strålning. Däremot kan hoppet ofta leva kvar men i olika grader innan det infinner sig på nytt. Syfte: Syftet med denna litteratöversikt var att beskriva massage och beröring som symptomlindring hos patienter som lever med cancer. Metod: Denna uppsats har utformats som en litteraturöversikt bestående av 13 artiklar med både kvalitativ och kvantitativ metod. Datainsamling har gjorts i form av litteratursök i databaserna CINAHL, PubMed samt via manuella sökningar. Resultat: Resultatet presenterades under två huvudkategorier: symtomlindrande effekter med hjälp av massage och beröring och påverkan av livskvalitén med hjälp av massage och beröring. De underliggande kategorierna var: smärta och illamående, respektive ångest, sömn och relationer. Massage, beröring och aromaterapi kunde minska både smärta och illamående även om effekten avtog när behandlingen avslutades. Detsamma gällde ångest. Även sömnkvalitén förbättrades och beröring kunde i vissa fall medföra ett känslomässigt stöd och sågs att relationer kunde fördjupas. Slutsats: Olika typer av beröringsformer är bland de äldsta behandlingsmetoder som finns och har börjat användas allt mer inom hälso- och sjukvården. Massage, beröring och aromaterapi kan ge en god symtomlindrande effekt både fysiskt och psykiskt och öka livskvalitén vid kontinuerlig behandling. / Background: Receiving a cancer diagnosis can for some be seen as getting a death sentence. It often evokes strong feelings of both the patients and their relatives. Living with cancer is often experienced as stressful both physically and mentally from the symptoms and side effects from treatments such as chemotherapy and radiation. However, hope often survive, only in different degrees before it find its way back. Aim: The purpose of this study was to describe massage and touch as a method for symptom relief in cancer patients. Method: This study has been designed as a litterature review consisting of 13 qualitative and quantitative articles. Data was collected in the databases CINAHL, PubMed and by searching manually. Results: The results were presented in two main categories: symptomatic effect of massage and touch and impact of the quality of life by means of massage and touch. The underlying categories were: pain and nausea, and anxiety, sleep and relationships. Massage, touch and aromatherapy could help reduce pain, nausea and anxiety, although the effect waned when treatment ended. Sleep quality improved and touch could in some cases be seen as a way of deepen relationships. Conclusion: Different types of touchtherapy are some among the oldest methods in history and are being used more in health care. Massage, touch and aromatherapy can provide a good symptomatic effect both physically and mentally, and increase quality of life when receiving treatment continuously.

This thesis explores the phenomenon of touch and describes its meaning in the healthcare context. Caring science theory based on a lifeworld approach forms the theoretical perspective of the dissertation and consequently the patient perspective is guiding the research. The ontological, epistemological and methodological framework of the thesis is phenomenology. The overall aim was to describe the phenomenon of touch in the healthcare context. Touch showed to be a phenomenon with several diverse aspects being differentially explicit in different contexts. Four empirical studies were therefore conducted in different contexts. Further, a synthesis of the empirical results was carried out to show the invariant meanings and structure of the phenomenon. Furthermore, a philosophical illumination of the results was carried out to further deepen and expand the understanding of touch related to healthcare. The phenomenon of touch is described as a complex caring movement, as an interplay between lived bodies forming a foundation to understand health, suffering, well-being, and care. The results show how touch has the power to both alleviate the patients’ suffering and to experience joy and deep connectedness, as well as how touch can frighten and cause or worsen suffering. In order to take advantage of the caring potential, the person who touches must be fully present in all senses of the word. Caring touch of different kinds can never be reduced to a “method”. It is much more than a mechanical and static act or a treatment. Moreover, touch that is objectifying may be understood as an obstacle or detrimental for the caring relationship and well-being since it lacks the necessary pliable interpersonal room. Such touch creates distance and alienation rather than closeness, trust and togetherness. If the potential of touch for caring is to be used and the threat of non-caring warded off, then the intentionality of touch must be balanced visavi the existential vulnerability of the individual. Therefore carers need to be open and attentive to the lifeworld of the patients to enhance their health-processes and avoid hurting them.

During the past years, there has been a re-emergence of sensory marketing in the paradigm of marketing. However, there is a lack of empirical studies done on the subject. Furthermore, the previous literature has focused on whether senses affects, rather than how they affect. Therefore, the purpose of this thesis is to study how sensory stimuli affects the consumers’ choice of entering physical fashion stores. This thesis is based on sensory marketing, consumer behaviour, and retail marketing theory. The theoretical framework in this thesis consists of an adapted sensory-stimuli-response model with the five main senses of sensory marketing as stimuli, emotional response of arousal and pleasure as organism, and entering or not entering as response. A qualitative research strategy was used to study the phenomenon. The empirical findings and the analysis showed that touch, sight, and sound were effective in enticing the consumer to enter by affecting their arousal. Furthermore, scent was on the opposite side as it was only affective in creating disinterest when bad. Lastly, taste displayed potential which warrants further research. This thesis might be of value for companies looking to implement sensory marketing as part of their marketing plan.

Our everyday lives are surrounded by gadgets and digital devices that help us perform our daily chores with ease and efficiency. However, these digital devices can also separate us from what we should do ourselves. Although children who are exposed to high levels of technology might become attuned to the latest and the best gadgets, they might not learn to use their physical abilities. Another implication of a child’s over dependence on technology is that parental interactions such as encouragement, tutoring and reinforcement are provided by gadgets rather than living, breathing parents. Research done by Padma Ravichandran and Brandel France de Bravo, revealed the importance of child interaction with live people and games noting that “Very young children learn best by relating to real live people, but they also learn by moving and doing. Part of the problem with screen time is that young children who watch TV and DVDs or use computer games may be substituting these activities for free play”. The aim of this project is to reduce the gap between young children and the tactile world by creating toys that are attractive for the children, but are low-tech and involve parental interaction. Thus, the primary goal that this thesis seeks to achieve is the stimulation of children toward tactile games, while the secondary goal is to allow and encourage parental involvement in the playtime of the child. The research is guided by the premise that children can absorb substantial knowledge through the tactile world and that such tactile centered play will broaden the horizon of their knowledge and experience.

Packaging and package design is commonly thought of as a tool to attract the consumer to material goods. Packages, however, have other attributes. In Japan, packaging design is very charming because of the delicate selection of materials, images, and interaction. Different kinds of material provide different emotions and appeal to our sense of touch, which can be interpreted in many ways. Packaging lets us directly interact with an object and this experience becomes memorable and intimate. The combination of image and interaction creates another dimension of story telling. My creative project, Conceptual Packaging, is an experiment in using materials and forms to package immaterial concepts and messages such as memories.

My work seeks to reveal the relationships between woman and man, woman and self, and woman and the space which she inhabits. Through personal memoirs and everyday observations the private becomes public, and moments of intimacy transpire. Intimacy requires dialogue, transparency, reciprocity, and self-disclosure, all things that I have been reflecting upon in my work over the last two years. Relationships are formed within the works and through the experience of the viewer with the art. Figures and abstraction coexist next to one another informing the viewer of things familiar, creating closeness, while also spatially confusing the viewer, creating a distance. Moments are filtered through abstraction and illuminated through touch. These moments, while often small and fractured, combine together to create a full and complete reflection of the self and the other.

This thesis is the final assignment for a bachelor degree in Industrial Design Engineering via Luleå University of Technology. The project comprises 15hp and has been carried out in collaboration with MECON AB in Luleå, which works with construction, among other things. This report contains the development process of a touch guard for the power rails that runs along a traverse path. The task of the touch guard is to protect the staff at SSAB from risks that may arise if something falls on the power rails. Objects such as a wrench could create short circuits and be pushed off by the current in the electrical rails with high speed causing a hazard. The work is based on IDEO- the field guide to human-centered design, which is a human-centered process with three phases. In this case, the installer is the user. It is the installer who is affected by how easily mounted the touch guard is. Therefore, in order to design a user-friendly touch protection, an understanding of the user and its needs is required. By collecting information using interviews, observations, study visits and a literature study, a design specification could be created. This was then the basis for the remaining work that led to a bracket and three versions of the protection plates. Together with the users and the stakeholders, a final concept was chosen that fulfills the design specification. The report presents the process and its steps leading to a final concept. Later, the results are discussed and how well the work fulfilled the purpose and goals, and whether the work answered the research questions. / Detta examensarbete är utförts som den avslutande uppgiften för programmet högskoleingenjör Teknisk Design på Luleå Tekniska Universitet. Examensarbetet omfattar 15 högskolepoäng och har utförts i samarbete med MECON AB i Luleå som arbetar med bland annat konstruktion. Rapporten behandlar utvecklingen av ett beröringsskydd för en elskena som löper längs en traversbana. Beröringsskyddets uppgift är att skydda personalen på SSAB från risker som kan uppstå om någonting faller ned på elskenorna. Föremål som till exempel en skiftnyckel skulle kunna skapa kortslutning och skjutas iväg av strömmen i elskenorna. Arbetet utgår från IDEO-the field guide to human-centered design, som är en användarcentrerad process med tre faser. I detta arbete är det montören som är användaren. Det är montören som är berörd av hur lättmonterat beröringsskyddet är. För att kunna utforma ett användarvänligt beröringsskydd krävs därför en förståelse för användaren och dess behov. Genom att samla in information med hjälp av intervjuer, observationer, studiebesök och en litteraturstudie kunde en designspecifikation skapas. Denna låg då till grund till resterande arbete som ledde till ett fäste och tre stycken skyddsplåtar. Tillsammans med användarna och intressenterna valdes ett slutgiltigt koncept som uppfyller designspecifikationen. Rapporten redovisar processen och dess moment som leder till ett slutligt koncept. Senare diskuteras resultatet och hur väl arbetet uppfyllde syfte och mål, samt om arbetet besvarade frågeställningen.

[pt] O autismo e um transtorno global do desenvolvimento (TGD) que afeta principalmente a comunicação, a interação social e os comportamentos do indivíduo. Como parte dos TGDs encontram-se outras categorias, entre elas o autismo de alta funcionalidade (AAF) considerado como um autismo leve dentro do espectro autístico. A ciência da computação apresenta muitas vantagens que podem ser usadas para o benefício destas pessoas, permitindo o desenvolvimento de aplicações para contribuir nas suas necessidades específicas. Entre essas aplicações, as aplicações colaborativas de multitoque tem mostrado importantes resultados no que diz respeito a facilidade de uso, interesse, motivação, possibilidade de comunicação e melhora no comportamento social de usuários com AAF. Este trabalho apresenta um jogo colaborativo multi-usuário (PAR: Peco, Ajudo, Recebo) utilizando multi-toque, desenvolvido para avaliar diferentes dimensões de colaboração elaboradas conforme as necessidades de um grupo de usuários com autismo com funcionalidades mais comprometidas do que os AAF, a m de contribuir na sua interação social. Nesse sentido, são apresentadas quatro dimensões de colaboração obtidas a partir das dimensões usadas em aplicações destinadas para AAF e modificadas conforme os requerimentos dos usuários alvo. Essas dimensões são incluídas no PAR e permitiram incentivar um trabalho colaborativo e validar tanto sua utilidade na interação social de autistas quanto os benefícios sobre outras dificuldades que esses usuários apresentam. / [en] Autism is a pervasive developmental disorder (PDD) that primarily aects communication, social interaction and behaviors. As part of TGDs there exist other categories, including high-function autism (HFA), considered a light autism within the autistic spectrum. Computer science has many advantages that can be used for the benet of these people, allowing application development to contribute to their specic needs. Among these applications, collaborative multi-touch applications have produced some important results regarding ease of use, interest, motivation, ability to communicate and to improve the social behavior of users with HFA. This work presents a multi-user collaborative game (PAR, acronym in Portuguese for Ask, Help, Receive) using multi-touch designed to assess diferent dimensions of collaboration, developed according to the needs of a user group with a degree of autistic impairment higher than that of the HFA, to contribute in their social interaction. In this sense, four dimensions of collaboration are presented, obtained from the dimensions used in applications designed for HFA and modied according to the requirements of target users. These dimensions are included in PAR and allowed to encourage a collaborative behavior and validate its usefulness both in the social interaction and other difficulties the target users have.

Depuis la naissance, l’enfant possède des intuitions numériques lui permettant d’appréhender approximativement les quantités. Cette capacité repose sur le système approximatif du nombre (SAN). La présente thèse avait pour objectif d’identifier les principaux prédicteurs de la réussite en mathématiques, d’examiner les caractéristiques du SAN et de tester des interventions destinées à favoriser les apprentissages numériques des enfants, mettant en jeu leurs intuitions numériques. La précision du SAN, les capacités de mémoire de travail et la précision avec laquelle l’association entre les nombres symboliques à leurs quantités respectives (i.e., le « mapping ») est réalisée, semblent être des capacités importantes dans les apprentissages numériques. Une première étude, s’intéressant aux trois facteurs susmentionnés, a montré qu’à 5 ans, les deux prédicteurs principaux de la réussite en arithmétique sont la précision du SAN et du mapping, alors qu’à 7 ans ce sont les capacités de mémoire de travail et la précision du mapping. Les deux études suivantes ont montré que le SAN pouvait traiter des quantités avec le toucher et que sa précision se développait avec l’âge, en particulier entre 5 et 10 ans, puis stagnait jusqu’à l’âge adulte. Si la précision du SAN mesurée tactilement a augmenté au cours de séances d’entraînements, aucun effet sur les performances en arithmétique n’a été observé dans la quatrième étude. Dans ces dernières études, les relations observées entre la précision du SAN mesurée tactilement et visuellement, et les performances en arithmétique dépendaient de l’âge des participants, de la modalité sensorielle mise en jeu pour mesurer la précision du SAN et des tâches arithmétiques utilisées. Les deux dernières études avaient pour but d’améliorer la précision de mapping. Entraîner les capacités de mapping chez des enfants de 5 ans via un jeu de déplacement sur ligne numérique a amélioré leur connaissance de la chaîne numérique verbale, mais pas leurs performances en arithmétique. Enfin, le phénomène de « calibration » visuelle a permis d’améliorer la précision de mapping chez l’enfant de 7 ans et chez l’adulte. Des études supplémentaires sont nécessaires pour déterminer si ce processus peut être utilisé pour favoriser les apprentissages. Ces résultats nous éclairent sur la pertinence d’utiliser les intuitions numériques des enfants dans les apprentissages numériques. / At birth, infant have basic numerical intuitions that allow them to comprehend quantities. This ability depends on the approximate number system (ANS). This thesis aimed to find the main predictors of mathematical achievement, to explore the ANS’s nature, and to test training programs involving the children’s basic numerical intuitions and designed to promote numerical learning. Many important cognitive factors are involved in numerical learning including ANS acuity, working memory (WM) and the precision of “mapping” symbolic numbers to their corresponding quantities. A first study examined the effects of WM, mapping and ANS on numerical learning (as measured by arithmetic tasks), and showed that at 5 years old, the two dominant predictors were ANS acuity and mapping acuity, whereas at 7 years old, they were working memory capacity and mapping acuity. The following two studies examined the nature of ANS and found that the ANS could process quantities perceived by touch and that its acuity increased with age, especially between 5 and 10 years old, and then remained stable until adulthood. In the fourth study, ANS acuity measured with touch increased during training sessions, but no effect on arithmetic performance was observed. Moreover the relationship between arithmetic performance and ANS acuity (measured with touch or with vision) depended on participants’ age, the sensory modality used to measure ANS acuity and the arithmetic tasks employed. The goal of the last two studies was to improve mapping acuity. Training the mapping capacities in 5-year-old children, with a linear number board game, improved their counting knowledge, but not their arithmetic performance. Finally, visual “calibration” process was efficient to improve mapping acuity in 7-year-old children, and in adults. Further investigations are needed to determine whether this process can be used to promote learning. These results provide insights in order to know whether it could be appropriated to involve children’s basic numerical intuitions in mathematical learning.