Evaluation of the whanau carers training programme delivered by LIFE Unlimited

In response to the needs of Maori informal carers, a training programme was developed for whanau carers in the Waikato region. It was delivered by LIFE Unlimited. It is a unique training programme in that it is community driven and focuses on informal caregivers who are Maori. The overarching aim of the whanau carers training programme is to provide increased training and support of informal carers. This report aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the whanau carers training programme, including: the unique nature of the programme, the critical success factors, the barriers to success if any, and suggested improvements. The report concludes the programme has had a positive and definite impact upon the whanau carers. The evaluation team observed that the overall programme works very well and fulfils its stated obligations to the Ministry of Health. The programmes are delivered well, and are well received by the client group

Te Kaahu Atawhai - Developing a framework to support Māori achievement within the Centre for Health and Social Practice at Wintec

Inequities between Māori and non-Māori are the most consistent and compelling health inequities in Aotearoa. Current evidence supports the notion that increasing Māori workforce in nursing may lead to improved health outcomes for Māori communities, primarily through greater access to care and increased interactions between whānau and practitioners. If we are to achieve greater alignment between workforce and iwi demographics and subsequently improve health outcomes for Māori, more resourcing is needed in Hauora Māori workforce development, and specifically in the advancing of Māori student recruitment and achievement in undergraduate nursing qualifications. Informed and underpinned by the narratives of Māori nursing students and those working at the front line within Māori communities, Te Kaahu Atawhai draws attention to several separate, yet interwoven areas of significance that shape educational outcomes for Māori undergraduate students studying within the Centre for Health and Social Practice at Wintec

Education programme management and transformation: The influence of education for sustainability

No Abstrac

Rhino War: A general’s bold strategy in the Kruger National Park

No abstrac

Fiber-optic chemical sensing with Langmuir-Blodgett overlay waveguides

Fiber-optic chemical sensing has been demonstrated with a side-polished single- mode optical fiber, evanescently coupled to chemically sensitive Langmuir- Blodgett (LB) overlay waveguides. The sensors exhibit a channel-dropping response centered on a wavelength that is dependent on the thickness and the refractive index of the overlay waveguide. It has been shown that pH-sensitive organic dyes proved to be suitable materials fur the formation of an overlay waveguide whereas LB deposition provides the required thickness control. A theoretical model of the sensor response, based on the Kramers-Kronig relations and phase matching of the guided modes within the optical fiber and overlay waveguide, shows good agreement with experimental results

Identitiy and Belonging: Urban Nature and adolescent development in the City of Cape Town

This study was undertaken in response to two concerns: firstly, that the notion of nature and experiential, aesthetic ways of engaging with nature had declined markedly in environmental education research and practice in South Africa. Secondly, I was concerned that relatively few environmental education centres in Cape Town offered programmes for teenagers. I therefore decided to enquire into the value of nature-based education and awareness programmes to adolescents in Cape Town, particularly in relation to: their understanding of and sense of belonging to the natural order, and the process of identity development. The study drew on Eriksonâs (1968) theory of psycho-social development, and Archerâs (2000, 2003) critical realist theory of identity development as an embodied process of reflexivity. The phenomenology of Merleau-Ponty (1962, 1968) provided an alternative to dualistic views of the human-nature relationship. Authors who have worked with Merleau-Pontyâs theories helped me clarify my understanding of the need to retrieve nature and embodied practices in education. The study used mixed methods, integrating multiple case studies of nature-based programmes, and surveys of teenagers in Cape Town. Numerical data were displayed graphically, and narrative data were presented as quotations or compiled into poems. A matrix was developed that mapped the various nature-based programmes according to the two main concerns of the study: namely how programmes represented the human-nature relationship, and how they supported the process of youth identity development. I applied Archerâs notion of embodied reflexivity and Merleau-Pontyâs ideas of inter-subjectivity methodologically, undertaking a series of short hikes during which I reflected upon the literature and research findings, and drew on insights from my surroundings to compile the final discussion and conclusion of this dissertation. This study demonstrated that assumptions that teenagers in Cape Town are generally alienated from nature are unfounded; in fact the great majority of youth from all socio-economic groups related positively to nature. It found that nature provides teenagers with a positive context in which to reflexively develop their identities. The conservation community could do much to support adolescents but many education officers felt ill equipped to engage with the senior science curriculum. A variety of alternative approaches to working with youth are therefore suggested

Green Plants and the Reactions of Iron

In several of its aspects the problem of the availability of iron for plants is still unsolved. If the problem is not unique, it is at least unusual. In general, the plant takes its elements in simple combinations - almost, the simpler the better. Phosphorus is picked up as phosphate, nitrogen as nitrate or ammonia, sulphur as sulphate, and metals can be given as salts - nitrates, sulphates and chlorides. But try putting ferric chloride into a nutrient solution with a reaction around the neutral point! The plant turns yellow; the leaves become chlorotic, and there are all the indications of iron deficiency