Leisure repertoire among persons with a spinal cord injury: Interests, performance, and well-being

Objective: To explore and describe the leisure repertoire of persons with traumatic spinal cord injury (SCI) and how the repertoire is related to interest, performance, and well-being. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: A total of 97 persons with traumatic SCI were recruited from the non-profit national organization, RG Active Rehabilitation in Sweden. Outcome measure: Data were collected through a two-part postal survey. The first comprised of questions investigating socio-demographic variables and injury characteristics; the second part included an interest checklist with 20 areas of leisure activities. Results: The participants were mostly interested in, performed, and experienced well-being from social and culture activities and TV/DVD/movies. The areas of leisure activities in which they had most likely experienced changes after the SCI were outdoor activities, exercise, and gardening. Sex, age, and to some extent, time since injury were related to interest, performance, well-being, and changed performance. Conclusions: The results provided an explanation and limited description of a changed leisure repertoire among persons after a traumatic SCI. The study showed that sex, age, and time since injury were more closely related to the choice of leisure activities to include in the leisure repertoire than the level of injury. This knowledge can be of importance when professionals in the field of rehabilitation are planning and implementing interventions concerning leisure activities for persons with SCI

Vital sign documentation in electronic records: The development of workarounds.

Workarounds are commonplace in healthcare settings. An increase in the use of electronic health records has led to an escalation of workarounds as healthcare professionals cope with systems which are inadequate for their needs. Closely related to this, the documentation of vital signs in electronic health records has been problematic. The accuracy and completeness of vital sign documentation has a direct impact on the recognition of deterioration in a patient's condition. We examined workflow processes to identify workarounds related to vital signs in a 372-bed hospital in Sweden. In three clinical areas, a qualitative study was performed with data collected during observations and interviews and analysed through thematic content analysis. We identified paper workarounds in the form of handwritten notes and a total of eight pre-printed paper observation charts. Our results suggested that nurses created workarounds to allow a smooth workflow and ensure patients safety

DNA restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates from HIV-seropositive and HIV-seronegative patients in Kampala, Uganda

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The identification and differentiation of strains of <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>by DNA fingerprinting has provided a better understanding of the epidemiology and tracing the transmission of tuberculosis. We set out to determine if there was a relationship between the risk of belonging to a group of tuberculosis patients with identical mycobacterial DNA fingerprint patterns and the HIV sero-status of the individuals in a high TB incidence peri-urban setting of Kampala, Uganda.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>One hundred eighty three isolates of <it>Mycobacterium tuberculosis </it>from 80 HIV seropositive and 103 HIV seronegative patients were fingerprinted by standard IS<it>6110</it>-RFLP. Using the BioNumerics software, strains were considered to be clustered if at least one other patient had an isolate with identical RFLP pattern.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>One hundred and eighteen different fingerprint patterns were obtained from the 183 isolates. There were 34 clusters containing 54% (99/183) of the patients (average cluster size of 2.9), and a majority (96.2%) of the strains possessed a high copy number (≥ 5 copies) of the IS<it>6110 </it>element. When strains with <5 bands were excluded from the analysis, 50.3% (92/183) were clustered, and there was no difference in the level of diversity of DNA fingerprints observed in the two sero-groups (adjusted odds ratio [aOR] 0.85, 95%CI 0.46–1.56, <it>P </it>= 0.615), patients aged <40 years (aOR 0.53, 95%CI 0.25–1.12, <it>P </it>= 0.100), and sex (aOR 1.12, 95%CI 0.60–2.06, <it>P </it>= 0.715).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The sample showed evidence of a high prevalence of recent transmission with a high average cluster size, but infection with an isolate with a fingerprint found to be part of a cluster was not associated with any demographic or clinical characteristics, including HIV status.</p

Utbrändhet som arbetsskada och motståndsberättelse

Burnout as occupational injury and narrative of resistance During the last years of the 1990s and the first years of the 2000s, burnout was a common diagnosis for sick listing in Sweden. That burnout is directly related to working life was acknowledged by medical experts as well as in the public debate. The number of applications for occupational compensation due to social and organizational factors in work rose from a very modest degree to nearly a forth of the claims among occupational diseases. In this article 48 individual claims for compensation in cases of burnout as occupational disease are analyzed as narratives of resistance. In this respect they are seen as alternative accounts of risk in working life, but also as narratives about resistance. The concept, narratives of resistance, is used to understand the claimants’ argumentation for rights to compensation, as well as how the claimants draw upon public narratives of societal transformation to understand how they themselves have become ill from occupations that normally are not thought to be hazardous. One conclusion from the analysis is that the claimants regard their illness as the resistance of the body against changes in society and working life. Sociologisk Forsknings digitala arkiv</p

Utbrändhet som arbetsskada : Försäkringspraktik och arbetsskadeidentitet

In the late 1990s, burnout became a common diagnosis for stress relatedillnesses in Sweden. With the introduction of the burnout diagnosis, the claims for compensation from the occupational insurance system, Arbetsskadeförsäkringen, for mental injuries (where burnout is included) increased dramatically. The new diagnosis led to not only a new type of occupational injury but also a new type of insurance claimants, women in white-collar positions. This study is based on analysis of the documents pertaining to 48 cases of occupational injury claims. These documents cover the all stages fromapplication to decision, and in some cases appeals to higher authorities. First, the assessment process in the Social insurance Agency is studied; of special interest are the medical examination and the power of the medical profession in the insurance practice. In the next step, the claims stories of individual applicants are analyzed according to the different stages in the assessment process. The results indicate that cases of burnout have a higher rejection rate from the insurance than cases of other mental illnesses; only 12 % of the claims are granted. Women’s claims as well as white-collar workers’ claims are granted more often than those of men and blue-collar workers. When forming its decision the agency accord special weight to the assessment provided by the medical expert associated with the Social Insurance Agency (försäkringsläkaren). In every case the decision by the agency follows the expert’s advice. In many cases the medical expert makes use of a kind of masternarrative to assess the injury as burnout. According to this master-narrative, burnout is caused by demands of emotional engagement in certain helping professions. In the documents, individual claimants describe their illness and how they became ill in a narrative format. They often attribute their illness to the stress caused by changes or disruptions in the workplace. In cases where the claim is rejected, half of the claimants communicate further with the agency. These claimants often express feelings of disappointment. When their illness is not seen as an occupational injury, claimants feel rejected also morally. Burnout as an occupational injury becomes a sought-after moral distinction, a mark for those who suffer without blame.Arbetsskadeförsäkringen i det postindustriella arbetslive

Work injuries insurance : Politics, bureaucracy and expertise

The overall aim of the thesis is to study work injuries insurance as an individual insurance scheme and as part of the Swedish welfare state. Here, the question of work injuries insurance is studied at two levels, partly the political discourse within which the laws that regulate compensation for work injuries have been drawn up and partly the administrative discourse whitin which this legislation is applied. The aim is to contribute towards a clarification of the perceptions, assupmtions and conceptions underlying the distinction between work injuries and other injuries as well as the reasoning and pictures of reality which have been regarded as justifying a special insurance sheme for these injuries. The study of the political discours stretches from the first bill for insurance covering work-related injuries in 1884 to the general election in Sweden 1994. The analysis takes as its starting-point two central questions; should there be a special insurance scheme for work injuries and if so, what form should it take? The empirical materal consists of parliamentary publications, such as bills, committee reports and official reports, as well as magazine articles. One of the conclusions reached by the study is that work has a very strong position in the political discourse. Here, there also exists a solid link between work as the cause of injury and personal responsibility and, as a concequence of this, work injuries are ascribed a special moral status in comparison with other injuries and illnesses. The study of how the work injuries insurance scheme is applied i based on a review of 27 work injuries cases which were decided in accordance with the Work Injuries Insurance Act in 1990. The empirical material consists of social insurance office documents related to these work injuries cases. The analysis has focused on establishing how the relationship between work and injury is determined. One conclusion reached in the study is that the administrative practice and the injured persons often have differing conceptions in a work injury case. Among other things, this concems the question of whether the injury should be regarded as being work related or not, but also the fact that there are also different conceptions of how the relationship between work and injuryshould be determined. An additional conclusion drawn from the study of the two levels is that work injuries insurance can be seen as a discourse where different practices such as politics, bureaucracy and expertise meet, confront each other and interact, This results in a state of dependence between the different practices which regulates the relationship between them and, at the same time, gives rise to an interal dynamic whitin the discourse

Eye movement parameters while reading in two languages

Problēmas būtība: Mācību grāmatas Latvijā tiek burtiski tulkotas no latviešu valodas krievu valodā. Pēc autores domām, teksta uztvere abās valodās var atšķirties, tādēļ teksta un attēla saturs un izkārtojums ir jāpielāgo katrai valodai. Darba mērķis: Šī darba galvenais uzdevums ir pēc acu kustību parametriem izpētīt mācību teksta uztveres atšķirības bilingvāliem cilvēkiem, lasot tekstus valodās ar divām rakstības sistēmām (latviešu un krievu). Metode: Eksperimenta gaitā tika lietota acu kustību novērošanas sistēma iViewX Hi-Speed, tika izmantotas LR IZM apstiprinātas mācību grāmatas vēsturē un ģeogrāfijā latviešu un krievu valodā. Rezultāti: Pētījumam ir atrasti dalībnieki, ir iegūti un izanalizēti acu kustību dati. Ir apgūta datu apstrādes programma BeGaze.Problem description: Currently school-books in Latvia are translated one to one from Latvian into Russian. Author hypothesizes that the perception of study texts may differ in both languages, so texts and pictures in the school-books should rather be adapted. Purpose: The main purpose of this research is determining the eye movement parameters that distinguish bilingual people while reading texts in two alphabetic systems (Latvian and Russian). Methods: The equipment used for the research is the video-oculograph iViewX. In experiment were used school-books of geography and history. Results: Volunteers were selected for research and eye movement parameters were successfully acquired and analysed. The data analysis tool BeGaze was mastered

Språkstörning och lärande - praktisk-estetiska aktiviteter i en upplevelsebaserad undervisning

Sammanfattning/abstrakt Gunilla Olin och Cecilia Petersson (2015). Språkstörning och lärande – praktisk-estetiska aktiviteter i en upplevelsebaserad inlärning. Language impairment and learning – practical-aestethic activities in an informal setting. Skolutveckling och Ledarskap, Lärande och Samhälle, Malmö Högskola. Problemområde I dagens skola ställs stora krav på elevers språkliga förmåga. Det är genom tal- och skriftspråk som kunskap förmedlas och bearbetas. För elever med språkstörning innebär det ökad sårbarhet om inga alternativa förmedlingssätt eller uttrycksformer kan komplettera det talade och skrivna språket. Syfte och preciserad frågeställning Studiens syfte är att belysa hur kunskap kan utvecklas och synliggöras mellan pedagoger och elever med språkstörning i undervisningssituationer på två skolor där fler modaliteter och uttrycksformer än tal- och skriftspråk används. Frågeställningen lyder: • Om och i så fall hur kan praktisk-estetiska uttrycksformer och upplevelsebaserad undervisning komplettera muntlig och skriftlig språkförmåga hos elever med språkstörning i lärandesituationer? Teoretisk ram Studien vilar på en bred teoretisk bas då flertalet utvecklingspsykologiska teorier på olika sätt kan bidra med perspektiv som kan stötta och utveckla den lärmiljö som elever med språkstörning möter. Teorier och perspektiv som berörs är det sociokulturella perspektivet som betonar vikten av att elever aktivt använder sig av kommunikation för att utveckla kunskap och förståelse. Det följs av arbetsminnets roll och hur detta kan stöttas av alternativa lärprocesser, känslan och motivationens roll då lärandet underlättas av affekter samt det designteoretiska perspektivet som hanterar kommunikativa resurser som fungerar meningsskapande i klassrummet. Metod Undersökningen är en fallstudie med en hermeneutisk och fenomenologisk ansats då empirin i huvudsak bygger på de upplevelser, erfarenheter och tankar pedagogerna har. Inom fenomenologin strävar man efter att förklara vardagen och förståelsen av de meningsskapande val pedagogerna, i detta fall, bygger undervisningssituationerna på. Empirin samlades in via metodtriangulering. De metoder som användes är informella samtal, intervjuer med pedagoger, fokusgrupp, filmade undervisningssituationer samt ostrukturerade klassrumsobservationer med därtill förda anteckningar. Resultat och analys I resultatet framkommer att det i de undersökta verksamheterna, där elever med språkstörning undervisas, finns kunskap om och erfarenhet av att dessa elever har behov av att få stöttning i form av praktisk-estetiska uttrycksformer och upplevelsebaserad undervisning. Dilemmat som uppstår är att det tar mycket tid att planera och skapa den kontext som ska fungera som stöttning åt eleverna i lärandet. Lärarna uttrycker också en känsla av egen bristande kompetens inom det praktisk-estetiska området. Kunskapsbidrag Studien visar att det finns en upplevd problematik kring den tidsåtgång de praktisk-estetiska och upplevelsebaserade arbetsformerna kräver. En översyn på grupp- och organisationsnivå kunde leda till att bättre förutsättningar gavs så att tidsfaktorn inte blir avgörande i arbetet med att omsätta kunskapskraven i undervisningen. I de politiska styrdokumenten är inte tidsfaktorn uppmärksammad eller problematiserad. Lärarnas känsla av bristande kompetens inom de praktisk-estetiska uttrycksformerna leder till att dessa uttrycksformer inte får det utrymme som elever har behov av och rätt till. Rätten till att få uppleva olika uttryck för kunskaper finns inskriven i styrdokumenten. Det är därför en fråga som måste lösas på organisationsnivå. Implementering I rollen som speciallärare med inriktning språkstörning ges möjlighet att påverka utformningen av lärmiljöer på grupp- och individnivå för att skapa förutsättningar för elever med språkstörning. I stort skulle specialläraren kunna verka för en mer breddad syn gällande språket som det centrala för lärandet. Det finns enligt Vygotskij (1995) andra former av tänkande som inte är beroende av språket. En uppgift för specialläraren kan därför vara att sprida kunskap om den möjlighet som praktisk-estetiska uttrycksformer och upplevelsebaserad undervisning kan ge. Det blir viktigt att uppmuntra användandet av dessa samt öka medvetenheten kring den betydelse de har för lärmiljön, framför allt för elever med språkstörning. I en upplevelsebaserad undervisning får dessa elever möjlighet att i praktiska aktiviteter omvandla teoretiska och abstrakta begrepp till en för dem konkret och hanterbar information. Det är därför viktigt att uppmuntra pedagoger att skapa fler upplevelser där eleverna får använda flera sinnen. Dessutom kan specialläraren bidra till utvecklandet av en språkutvecklande undervisning så att elever med språkstörning får möta ny kunskap i en interaktiv och kontextrik undervisning med språklig stöttning (Haijer & Meestringa, 2012). Nyckelord: lärande, motivation, praktisk-estetiska uttrycksformer, språkstörning, stöttning, upplevelsebaserad undervisning