O objetivo do estudo foi verificar o perfil das atividades profissionais dos cirurgiõesdentistas que desenvolviam suas atividades em uma empresa de caráter privado do Estado de São Paulo. Tratou-se de estudo transversal, realizado por meio de questionário auto-administrado distribuído aos dentistas que trabalhavam em unidades da empresa localizadas em diversas cidades do Estado de São Paulo. A pesquisa foi aprovada pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da Faculdade de Odontologia da Universidade de São Paulo e foi realizada com ciência e autorização da empresa em questão. Os dados foram organizados e analisados no programa STATA 10.0. Resultados: Participaram da pesquisa 194 cirurgiões-dentistas que exerciam suas atividades na empresa no ano de 2008. Em relação às características sociodemográficas, 68,04% eram do gênero feminino e 31,96% do gênero masculino e apresentavam idade entre 25 e 54 anos (média de 35,78 anos). Quanto à formação, 64,43% estudaram em faculdades públicas e 35,57% em faculdades particulares; 116 (59,79%) haviam concluído curso de especialização, 26 (13,40%), mestrado e 10 (5,15%) doutorado. O tempo médio de formado foi de 12,85 anos e a média de horas trabalhadas por semana foi de 41,08 horas. Com relação ao acesso a atualizações e produções científicas, 79,38% relataram ter participado de congresso científico nos últimos dois anos, 87,63% tinham acesso a revistas científicas e 30,41% eram membros de alguma sociedade científica. A grande maioria trabalhava em consultório ou clínica particular (78,35%) sendo que, entre estes, 32,99% atendiam convênios. Com relação a outras atividades profissionais, 30,93% atuavam também no serviço público e 7,22% exerciam atividade docente. Apenas 54 profissionais (27,84%) não apresentaram nenhum problema (dor, desconforto ou dormência) nos braços, mãos, costas ou ombros nos 12 meses anteriores à participação na pesquisa. O nível de satisfação profissional total foi de 3,45 (DP=0,50), considerando-se uma escala de 1 a 5. Os blocos analisados apresentaram os seguintes valores: satisfação geral com o trabalho: média=3,39, DP=0,89; percepção de renda: média=3,21, DP=0,74; tempo pessoal: média=2,60, DP=1,06; tempo profissional: média=3,13, DP=0,71; equipe: média=3,35, DP=0,98; relacionamento com pacientes: média=4,34, DP=0,59 e fornecimento de assistência/atendimento: média=4,16, DP=0,58. Conclui-se que a maioria dos profissionais que participaram desta pesquisa era do gênero feminino, estudou em faculdade pública, fez curso de especialização, participou de congresso nos 2 anos anteriores, teve acesso a revistas científicas e trabalhava em consultório particular. Também a maior parte (72,16%) apresentou alguma dor, desconforto ou dormência nos braços, mãos, costas ou ombros nos 12 meses prévios ao estudo. O nível de satisfação total dos profissionais pôde ser considerado bom, sendo que o bloco que apresentou menor valor de satisfação foi o tempo pessoal. Houve associação de gênero com as variáveis: horas trabalhadas, dor e relacionamento com pacientes e, com relação às horas trabalhadas, houve associação com as variáveis: consultório particular e serviço público; foi observado, ainda, que quanto maior a quantidade de horas dedicadas, maior foi a satisfação com relação à renda e menor com relação ao tempo pessoal. / The objective of the study was to verify professional activities profile among the dentists who worked in a private enterprise of São Paulo State. A descriptive crosssectional and analytic study was carried out, using a self-administered questionnaire distributed to dentists who worked in the company\'s units located in different cities of São Paulo State. The investigation project was submitted to and approved by the School of Dentistry (FOUSP) Ethical Committee and was done with science and authorization of the participants. Data were organized and analysed at STATA 10.0 statistical package. Participated of the study 194 dentists that were working in the company in year 2008. Regarding sociodemographic characteristics, 68.04% were female and 31.96% were male and aged between 25 and 54 years (mean 35.78 years). About professional formation and performance, 64.43% studied in public schools and 35.57% in private colleges, 116 (59.79%) were specialists, 26 (13.40%) had Masters degree and 10 (5.15%) were PhDs. The mean number of years since dental school graduation was 12.85 years and the mean working hours per week was 41.08 hours. Regarding access to scientific updates, 79.38% reported having participated in scientific congress in the last two years, 87.63% had access to scientific journals and 30.41% were members of a scientific society. Most of them worked also in another private setting (78.35%) and, between them, 32.99% attended dental insurance patients in those places. In relation to other professional activities, 30.93% worked also in the public service and 7.22% were college professors. Only 54 professionals (27.84%) did not show any problems (pain, discomfort or numbness) in their arms, hands, back or shoulders in the 12 months prior to participation in research. The mean score of overall job satisfaction was 3.45 (SD = 0.50), in a 1 to 5 scale. The blocks of factors examined showed the following values: general satisfaction with job/employment: mean = 3.39, SD = 0.89; income perception: mean = 3.21, SD = 0.74; personal time: mean = 2.60, SD = 1.06; professional time: mean = 3.13, SD = 0.71; team: mean = 3.35, SD = 0.98; patients relationship: mean = 4.34, SD = 0, 59 and healthcare delivery: mean = 4.16, SD = 0.58. The majority of professionals who participated in this study were female, studied in public Universities, were specialists, participated in some conference 2 years earlier, had access to scientific journals and worked in another private practice. Also most of them (72.16%) has had some pain, discomfort or numbness in the arms, hands, back or shoulders at the some point over the 12 months prior to the study. Job satisfaction levels among the professionals could be considered good, and the block that had the lowest satisfaction was personal time. There was an association between gender and the variables: working hours, pain and patients relationship and, with respect to working hours, it was associated to concurrent attendance at another private healthcare setting and at public service; it was observed also that the greater the amount of working hours, the greater was the satisfaction with respect to income and less the satisfaction with personal time.

Abstract The possibilities of teleradiology to modify the radiological service process in a regional, international and mobile setting were investigated by building new types of technical connections and then by evaluating their feasibility. First a teleradiology link based on low-end technology was built for primary care and hospital settings. On evaluation, the total diagnostic agreement between the transmitted images and the original films was 98%. Then, a work practice-oriented approach was used to gain an understanding of the relationship between the emerging teleradiology work practice and the newly implemented technology. Ethnographically informed fieldwork and cooperative workshops were utilized. According to findings, articulation work that supports the key tasks is mostly conducted at the receiving site, and radiologists have to rely on much less information in image interpretation. The decisions made at the sending site influence the outcome. To study the idea of consultations between different countries, a connection utilizing the Internet was built between university hospitals in Oulu, Reykjavik and Tromsø. After 131 images, a suitable image compression ratio was selected. Image quality and transfer time of the 80 clinical case readings were found to be adequate for teleradiology. A wireless image consultation system for radiological sub-specialist consultations based on a portable computer and a mobile phone with secure access to the hospital network was set up and tested. The transmitted images of 68 patients were acceptable for final diagnosis in 72% of the cases. The wireless link saved the senior radiologist a hospital visit in 24% of the cases. A smartphone was then used to communicate computed tomography scans in a feasibility study of 21 patient cases of brain attacks. All transmitted image series were suitable for giving a preliminary consultation to the clinic, and in one case even a final report could be made. In a real life clinical setting of the study with neuroradiological and neurosurgical emergencies, two different smartphone platforms with electronic patient record integration were built in European research projects and evaluated with sets of 115 and 150 patient cases. They were good for final diagnosis in 38% and 40% of the cases, respectively. The concept was found to be ready for clinical use. Finally a survey was made showing the status and trends of the usage of eHealth applications in Finland. The results from all the public health care providers and a representative sample of private providers showed that in 2005, teleradiology services were used by 18/21 hospital districts and the usage of all eHealth applications has progressed throughout the entire health care delivery system. Teleradiology services have become an integrated part of eHealth.

This thesis deals with critical social work and its potential use in social work, which is aimed at people with disabilities. This thesis has a theoretical character. The first two parts describe the issue of disability and current social work focused on individuals with disabilities in the Czech Republic. The third part is devoted to the development, methods and techniques of critical social work with a focus on the practical application of social work with people with disabilities. It concludes with recommendations on how to incorporate elements of critical social work in the training of social workers and subsequently to the practical social work with individuals with disabilities.

In this study the author explores contextual factors that impact practice beliefs and behaviors among social workers with lesbian and gay clients. The Gay Affirmative Practice scale was used to measure levels of gay affirmative practice beliefs and practice behaviors among social workers in a medical setting. A model is presented that illustrates how contextual factors related to education, training, relationships with lesbian and gay individuals, and religiosity affects social workers’ practice behaviors. The results illustrate the importance of educational exposure and affirming practice beliefs on practice behaviors.

Domestic minor sex trafficking (DMST) is a social problem affecting children between the ages of 12 and 17 years old. The issues related to DMST present challenges for social work practitioners because they often lack knowledge regarding how to identify and provide specialized services to this population. The purpose of the qualitative study was to collect and analyze data to develop an understanding of how social workers in the northeastern region of the United States identified challenges and thereby improved their practice skills when intervening with this vulnerable population. An epistemological paradigm, with a constructivist perspective employing Nguyen's systems theory, was used to understand the phenomena. The practice-focused research question posed to 5 clinically licensed social workers (LCSW) asked about the perceived barriers hindering social work practice when identifying victims of DMST. In addition, upon recognition of DMST victims, participants described existing community services that addressed their social work practice needs. The LCSWs attended 3 hour-long audio-recorded focus groups, offering their knowledge and experiences related to DMST in the designated region. Constant comparison was used to analyze the data provided by the participants during the focus groups. The key findings indicated a lack of proper identification tools and specialized services for this community. Findings can be used to recommend social change efforts, which included increasing communication about the victims between jurisdictions and communications with policy makers and service providers regarding the need to develop and implement training on various related topics.

Key leaders within the social work field have repeatedly challenged social work educators to address issues of race and racism, in addition to other forms of identity and oppression, in social work education and practice. Little is known, however, about if and how these issues are being addressed by social work faculty teaching advanced clinical practice courses. This qualitative study examines the manner and extent to which 15 social work faculty, all of whom teach advanced clinical practice courses in one of four graduate social work programs on the East Coast of the United States, conceptualize and address issues of race and racism in their teaching of clinical social work. Analysis of the 15 interviews suggests that most participants view race primarily as an individual ethnic or cultural identity and racism as a largely micro level phenomenon that is the result of racial prejudice. Few participants appeared to understand race as a social identity situated within structures of power and privilege or how racism operates at a structural or institutional level. For example, in discussing a case vignette provided by the researcher, they focused on symptomatology, diagnosis, and assessment rather than the possible implications and effects of race and racism on a client of color. Overall, participants in this study appeared to lack conceptual, historical, and sociological knowledge about race and racism. While participants in this study view themselves as committed to addressing issues of diversity and social justice, they also acknowledge their struggle to enact this commitment in the classroom. The findings from this study suggest that additional faculty development opportunities and institutional support will be needed before clinical social work educators are likely to meet the challenge to effectively address issues of race and racism as well as other issues of identity and oppression in the classroom.

This PhD by published work consists of: five single authored articles in refereed journals; two main author articles in refereed journals; four jointly authored articles in refereed journals; a single authored article in a non-refereed journal; one jointly authored book, including five single authored chapters; two single authored chapters in edited books. They were published in the period 2003-2013. None has been submitted for any other degree or diploma by me or any other person. The theme running through these publications is the need for social workers to pay significant attention to issues arising from religion, belief and culture. The research reported highlights the impact of such issues on the lives, experiences, resources and responses of individuals, groups and communities for whom they are important. The work emphasises the importance of developing such understanding and of enhancing knowledge of different ways in which religion, belief and culture impact on the issues that social workers deal with. I suggest that these are essential aspects of culturally competent social work practice which have too often been neglected in both research and professional training. The publications are listed in Appendix 1 (pp 56 - 59). They demonstrate how my thinking has developed over the past decade. They reflect and are, in part, a response to the developing professional, theoretical and political ii context within which I have operated as a social work practitioner, manager and academic over a longer period. The majority are solo-authored. However, I remain committed to collaborative work and recognise that discussions with those researched, my collaborators, and others remain invaluable to the ongoing development of my thinking. Joint authorship declaration forms have been completed, in respect of all relevant publications, and are appended. Eight publications (Art.12, Art.11, Art.10, Art.9, Art.8, Art.6, Art.5 and Art.3) are based on findings from primary research, while Art.1 and Art.2 explore published data or data supplied by others to provide original analyses of particular issues. The remaining publications, notably book chapters, are primarily conceptual in their approach. They are underpinned by findings from both the primary research reported elsewhere and the use of case examples collected from semi-structured interviews with social work practitioners. / PhD by published work. The published articles are not displayed in full text with the online version of the PhD due to publisher copyright restristrictions.

<p>Grounded in postmodern and social constructionist theories, this research was designed to challenge 'mainstream' views of social work practice. Three social workers with extensive backgrounds in various social work roles were asked to submit individual arts-based representations of 'alternative' social work. The arts-based representations (a story, a tool box, and a medicine wheel) were shared in a focus group where the topics of mainstream and alternative social work were collectively explored. I present an analysis of the representations, offer a brief structural narrative analysis of how the participants talked about mainstream and alternative social work, and explore the dissonance surrounding the term 'alternative social work.'</p> <p>The findings indicate that social workers who are interested in, or identify with alternative social work implement creative strategies to balance many, often conflicting, responsibilities and commitments. At the core of this study is a fundamental ideological tension in how social work is understood. The focus group revealed that what is commonly identified as 'alternative' social work, is judged by these research participants as 'good' social work. Rather than being a form of resistance to mainstream social work, alternative social work appears as a means of implementing participants' visions of effective, responsible and humane practice.</p> <p>This study highlights how social workers struggle to represent themselves and their (desired) practice in today's political context. Images of 'good practice' offer insight into how social workers can and do respond to neoliberal pressures; these images and participants' reflections on them have potential to widen public and professional consciousness.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

Against the backdrop of the transformations in the entire framing of professional work, social work has come under close scrutiny in many countries, including Sweden. Doubts have been raised about practitioners’ existing knowledge base, and the importance of practitioners engaging in learning and the renewal and extension of professional capacities has been emphasized. The present thesis concerns knowledge use and learning in the daily practices of child investigation work. The aim is to explore processes of knowledge use and learning in practice. The study is based on a mix of qualitative approaches, basically from ethnography, comprising methods such as participant observations, interviews, reflective dialogues and documentary analysis of case data. The main findings demonstrate that investigation work is characterized mainly by the use of practice-based knowledge. Research-based knowledge is predominantly used as a means of explaining a client’s situation or to underpin and legitimize one’s own beliefs and decisions made on other grounds. Professional learning is largely adaptive in character, as the social workers learn to handle tasks in a fairly routinized way on the basis of rules or procedures that draw on existing knowledge in the practice setting. Two conclusions are drawn: First, the use of knowledge in child investigation work bears little resemblance to principles of evidence-based practice. Second, the reproduction of professional knowledge is largely implicit and taken for granted. The study offers insight into the much-discussed topic of putting knowledge into practice, which is of importance to strategies for organizing profes sional learning and knowledgeable practice. / Ett i allt högre grad vetenskapsbaserat samhälle har lett till att kunskapsbasen i många verksamheter ifrågasatts, däribland socialt arbete. Avhandlingen behandlar kunskapsanvändning och lärande i utredningsarbetet inom den sociala barn- och ungdomsvården. Syfte är att öka kunskapen kring hur individer använder kunskap och lär sig i och genom sin dagliga praktik. Avhandlingen baseras på fyra delstudier som genomförts i tre svenska kommuners socialtjänst. Det empiriska materialet består av deltagande observationer, intervjuer, reflekterande dialoger och dokumentanalyser. Studien tar sin utgångspunkt i ett kognitivt perspektiv på lärande med teoretiska rötter i pragmatism. Ett grundläggande antagande bakom studien är att lärandet utgår från hur individen tolkar och förstår den situation som hen möter och därefter handlar. Resultaten visar att utredningsarbetet företrädesvis baseras på praktikbaserad kunskap som erhålls från tidigare erfarenheter och kollegor. Forskningsbaserad kunskap används huvudsakligen för att bekräfta och legitimera en uppfattning och inte för att ifrågasätta och utmana existerande åsikter och antaganden. Lärandet kan främst karaktäriseras som ett anpassningsinriktat lärande där praktikern med stöd i tidigare erfarenheter och utifrån befintlig kunskapsbas skapar rutiner för att hantera arbetet. Kunskapsanvändningen inom den sociala barn- och ungdomsvården ligger långt ifrån idealen för evidensbaserad praktik. Reproduktionen av professionell kunskap sker främst implicit och utan frågasättande. Förståelse för praktikers faktiska kunskapsanvändning och lärande har central betydelse för hur verksamheter kan organiseras för att stödja lärande i arbetet.

The university sector at the beginning of the 21st Century is shifting in response to national and global changes in the role and purpose of Higher Education. Some universities, including the University of Hertfordshire, have chosen to focus attention on engagement with business and commerce. This practice based research examines the experience of academics in relation to the new challenges posed by this strategic development. There are three threads of investigation; interviews, examination of key concepts and the practitioner dimension. Drawing on a qualitative and constructivist approach, individual interviews with a range of business facing academics explore their experience of engaging with new activities. My perspective, as a manager of business facing academics, provides an important thread and situates the work firmly in the practice context. The implicit expectations arising from strategic positioning as a business facing university are examined. A conceptual framework is established with a focus on the nature of business facing activity, including its relationship with traditional forms of teaching and research, learning through work in the Higher Education setting and the idea of an enabling local context. The research found that amongst those undertaking business facing activity, academic identity is a fluid and multi-faceted construct reconfigured through experience and learning in the workplace; by its nature not easily defined, labelled or bounded. The challenge for universities is to nurture and sustain individuals in the creation and use of academic identities, in order to meet the undoubted challenges to come. This requires a forward looking, inclusive and innovative stance, resisting the temptation to judge current academic identities by the established notions of the past. Management of academics involved in business facing activity requires a more flexible, trusting and individual approach than is traditionally seen in universities.