An approach to light-frame disaster relief housing

An Approach to Light-Frame Disaster Relief Housing investigated the use of bamboo structures to provide safe, affordable and easily constructible housing in developing countries that are prone to natural disasters. The team chose to use the Cagayan Valley Region in Northern Philippines that has a demonstrated need for relief housing due to its susceptibility to high seismic activity, monsoons, and floods. The proposed solution includes a complete structural and geotechnical foundation design of a house that can resist the demand loads determined for the region. The structural system is designed using bamboo and includes a lateral force resisting system, and gravity force resisting system, and roof and floor diaphragms. The structural system ties into the foundation, which was designed to withstand flood loads and provide a proper load path from the structural system to the ground

Our stories are different: narratives of fibromyalgia, the sick role, and leisure-based self-care

This study focused on the lives of people who have Fibromyalgia Syndrome (FMS), a condition resulting in chronic generalized musculoskeletal pain (Henriksson & Burckhardt, 1996). FMS is one of a number of ???functional disorders,??? and as a result, its legitimacy as a real disease is often called into question (Segall, 1976). The main goal of this study was to gather narratives from people with FMS in order to explore sick role theory, leisure-based self-care, constraints to daily living, and leisure-based coping for people with nonratified chronic illness. Focus groups, in-person interviews, and phone interviews were conducted with 2 men and 26 women over the course of a 3 month period. The discussion in each focus group or interview was prompted by questions from an interview guide (Patton, 1990) and was guided by grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The end result of my data analysis included the delineation of 6 themes as well as the creation of a set of 5 synthesis stories. The results of this study suggest that leisure-based self-care may function as an alternative to the set of steps outlined in sick role. Results also indicated that participants faced severe social, psychological, and tangible consequences of their failure to adhere to the sick role. The results were also able to add nuance and context to existing leisure research concepts, particularly leisure-based coping and leisure-based constraints

Perceived Health Benefits from Yoga Among Breast Cancer Survivors

PURPOSE: The purpose of this paper is to describe the health benefits reported by breast cancer survivors following an 8-week yoga intervention. DESIGN: This phenomenological study employed three focus groups with six breast cancer survivors each (n = 18) following the yoga intervention. SETTING: The focus groups and yoga classes were conducted in a large hospital in a midsized town in the Midwest. SUBJECTS: Eighteen female breast cancer survivors who were at least 9 months posttreatment participated in the focus groups following the 8-week yoga intervention. INTERVENTION: An 8-week yoga intervention designed specifically for this population was led by a yoga therapist. MEASURES: A semistructured interview guide was utilized to guide each focus group. ANALYSIS: Interpretative phenomenological analysis methods were employed to explore breast cancer survivors\u27 experiences after participating in an 8-week yoga intervention. RESULTS: The findings revealed that the women in the study found health promoting benefits in the areas of physical health and healing, mental health and healing, and social health and healing. CONCLUSIONS: Yoga may be an important tool in the healing process for breast cancer survivors