Delays by people living with HIV/AIDS in accessing antiretroviral therapy

Objective: To understand, by qualitative enquiry, the underlying reasons and narratives for patients that delay in accessing antiretroviral treatment.Design: A qualitative design was used, where patients were interviewed using the free attitude interview technique, after being selected based on a screening question: “How long did it take you to present at a clinic or hospital for treatment after receiving your human immunodeficiency virus-positive result?”Setting and subjects: Eight patients from the human immunodeficiency virus clinic at Potchefstroom were interviewed.Outcome measures: The interviews were transcribed verbatim and organised into themes.Results: The following themes were identified: stigma and discrimination, ignorance and lack of perceived risk of infection, denial and healthcare system constraints. These are discussed and quotations from the interviewed patients included.Conclusion: This qualitative study has contributed to an understanding of why patients delay in accessing highly active antiretroviral therapy. Some of the reasons supplied by patients have been documented globally. Others are poignantly coloured by personal stories. By understanding patients’ perspectives and feelings, emphasis can be placed on the reduction of stigma, denial, practical clinic constraints and appropriate types of health education.Keywords: qualitative research, delays, access, antiretroviral drugs, ARV

Conceptualising uncertainty in environmental decision-making: The example of the EU Water Framework Directive

The question of how to deal with uncertainty in environmental decision-making is cur-rently attracting considerable attention on the part of scientists as well as of politicians and those involved in government administration. The existence of uncertainty becomes particularly apparent in the field of environmental policy because environmental prob-lems are regarded as highly complex and long-term and because far-reaching changes have to be taken into account; moreover, the knowledge available to practitioners and policy makers alike is often fragmentary and not systemised. One key issue arising from this is the challenge to develop scientific decision support methods that are capable of dealing with uncertainty in a systematic and differentiated way, integrating scientific and practical knowledge. This paper introduces a conceptual framework for perceiving and describing uncertainty in environmental decision-making. It is argued that perceiv-ing and describing uncertainty is an important prerequisite for deciding and acting under uncertainty. The conceptual framework consists of a general definition of uncertainty along with five complementary perspectives on the phenomenon, each highlighting one specific aspect of it. By using the conceptual framework, decision-makers are able to re-flect on their knowledge base with regard to its completeness and reliability and to gain a broad picture of uncertainty from various standpoints. The theoretical ideas presented here are based on two empirical studies looking at how uncertainty is dealt with in the implementation process of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD). The rather ab-stract differentiations are illustrated by a number of examples in the form of interview statements and excerpts from the WFD and the WFD guidance documents Impress, Wateco und Proclan. --uncertainty,probability,lack of knowledge,pure ignorance,environ-mental decision-making,EU Water Framework Directive (WFD)

ILR Faculty Research in Progress, 2014-2015

The production of scholarly research continues to be one of the primary missions of the ILR School. During a typical academic year, ILR faculty members published or had accepted for publication over 25 books, edited volumes, and monographs, 170 articles and chapters in edited volumes, numerous book reviews. In addition, a large number of manuscripts were submitted for publication, presented at professional association meetings, or circulated in working paper form. Our faculty's research continues to find its way into the very best industrial relations, social science and statistics journals.ResearchinProgress_2014_15.pdf: 17 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020

ILR Faculty Research in Progress, 2016-2017

The production of scholarly research continues to be one of the primary missions of the ILR School. During a typical academic year, ILR faculty members published or had accepted for publication over 25 books, edited volumes, and monographs, 170 articles and chapters in edited volumes, numerous book reviews. In addition, a large number of manuscripts were submitted for publication, presented at professional association meetings, or circulated in working paper form. Our faculty's research continues to find its way into the very best industrial relations, social science and statistics journals.ResearchinProgress_2016_17.pdf: 38 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020