20 research outputs found
Ariel - Volume 5 Number 2
Get PDFEditors
Mark Dembert
J.D. Kanofsky
Entertainment Editor
Robert Breckenridge
Gary Kaskey
Overseas Editor
Mike Sinason
Photographer
Scott Kastner
Staff
Ken Jaffe
Bob Sklaroff
Joseph Sassani
Janet Weis
The Anchor (1991, Volume 64 Issue 22)
Get PDFhttps://digitalcommons.ric.edu/the_anchor/2178/thumbnail.jp
Australia in the vernacular: Poetic explorations
Get PDFAs Australian society continues to evolve, so is the idea of a collective culture changing in ways that provoke a questioning of traditional values, tropes and symbols. This thesis will explore and analyse some of the changes in the ways poetic art might imagine what Australian identity and culture look like: through a creative component comprising a small collection of my own poetry and a dissertation that offers a reading of a small selection of poems by Australian poet Les Murray. The creative component will seek to capture glimpses of the ordinary aspects of contemporary Australian society, and to show how poetry has the potential to transcend exclusionary viewpoints in order to re-imagine Australian diversity. The dissertation will explore how Murray, who both interpreted and translated familiar images of Australian landscapes, nature, culture, and people, pieces together a mosaic written in the Australian vernacular—for him the key to understanding Australian identity. While Murray’s poetry has been criticised for its restrictive views of Australian culture, his harnessing of the vernacular offers the possibility for an expansive poetic rendering of national life in all its difference. Overall, the thesis aims to offer the reader an imaginative series of poetic and critical reflections on elements of Australia’s complexity as a changing nation
Living with inflammatory bowel disease - Health-related quality of life, worries, and stress
Get PDFBackground: Patients with inflammatory bowel disease have a number of worries and
concerns related to the disease, and in comparison with a general population their
health-related quality of life is impaired. These patients need disease-related
information and education. However, it remains unclear how this information should be provided in order to decrease their worries and concerns, and improve their healthrelated quality of life. Disease activity is one of the most important factors for reduced health-related quality of life. Therefore it is also important to assess more information about trigger factors for relapses in inflammatory bowel disease.
Aim: The general aim of this thesis was to gain scientific evidence about worries and
concerns, health-related quality of life, and trigger factors for relapses, and to develop and evaluate an education programme.
Method: In all four studies the patients included were diagnosed with inflammatory
bowel disease, and in remission. In Study I, 93 patients were included and randomized
to an intervention group or a control group. The intervention group attended a groupbased
education programme. Health-related quality of life was measured at baseline
and after six months, by using four questionnaires. The intervention group also
completed the questionnaires after one month. In Study II, 197 patients were included and divided into a Crohn’s disease group and an ulcerative colitis group. Each group was also divided into separate groups according to whether the patients had short
disease duration or long disease duration. Health-related quality of life was measured
using four questionnaires. In Study III, a sample of 195 patients was included. They
filled in the RFIPC, and two other questionnaires measuring health-related quality of life. Confirmatory factor analysis was performed to validate the factor structure in the Swedish version of the RFIPC and to examine fit of different hypothesized models of factor structure. In Study IV, 60 patients were included. They filled in a structured diary daily during six months in order to collect information about symptoms and potential trigger factors, such as perceived stress.
Results: No difference could be found in health-related quality of life between patients with ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease. Scores of health-related quality of life were lower for patients with short disease duration than for patients with long disease duration. Patients with Crohn’s disease and short disease duration had the lowest health-related quality of life. After attending an education programme, an improvement was found in the intervention group when measurements were made after one month.
After six months, no improvement could be shown in health-related quality of life
when comparing the intervention group with the control group. The RFIPC is the most
appropriate choice when measuring health-related quality of life, worries and concerns.
Using the single-factor model (sum score) displayed poor fit indices. The factorial
structure of the RFIPC, as suggested in the original version, could be replicated with a
slight modification in the Swedish version and showed the most adequate fit. Perceived
stress can act as a trigger for relapses in inflammatory bowel diseases. A high level of
perceived stress was found to have an effect when stratifying level of stress. High level
of stress one day increased the risk of relapse the next day.
Conclusion: CD patients with short disease duration have the greatest need of
education and support. No improvement could be seen in health-related quality of life
after attending an education programme. The separate factors in RFIPC provide more
detailed information about patients’ disease-related worries and concerns in both
research and clinical settings. This may help healthcare professionals to provide each
patient with the appropriate education and support. Identification of trigger factors for
relapses in inflammatory bowel disease also makes it possible to influence the trigger.
By extension, this could decrease the number of relapses and improve health-related
quality of life
