AIDS - A Social Disease: A Minor Field Study of Women with HIV/AIDS in Nicaragua

HIV/AIDS is not to be looked upon as an entirely medical problem as will be explained throughout this thesis. In Nicaragua it is indeed a social disease due to social and cultural factors leading to the misery of HIV-positive women. Nicaragua is an interesting case when studying HIV/AIDS because it is the Central American country with the lowest number of official reported cases. However there are thought to be several explanations for this. Experts believe that the official low number of HIV/AIDS might be caused by underestimated, under-diagnosed or even falsified reporting due to the heavy social stigma it possesses. Among other explanations are that the Catholic Church does not allow sexual education at school and therefore unawareness about the disease is high due to failures to recognize the signs of the disease. As people living with HIV/AIDS are ignored in Nicaragua by both the local and international community the only support group for women with HIV/AIDS has to use creative methods to attract donor money. The women living with HIV/AIDS have to learn how to be victims of a social disease and how to represent themselves as such. The association studied strives to empower the women through different group activities but is doubtful whether the women are empowered or disempowered

Alternativ behandling : Sögen efter åndelig identitet i en ny social baevegelse

Problemformulering og teori: Min mangeårige interesse for det alternative har givet mig mod på at gå i dybden med emnet "alternativ behandling". For få årtier siden var der kun få alternative behandlere, men i dag kan man finde utallige tilbud på opslagstavlen i det lokale supermarked, på biblioteket eller via internet. Ved at søge under ordet "alternativ behandling" popper der 32.900 sider op på yahoos søgemaskine og 140.000 på Google. (www.yahoo.dk, www.google.com) I Danmark har fjernsyn, aviser og tidskrifter sat fokus på alternativ behandling - både i positiv og negativ forstand. Det samme har Dansk Folkeparti i en sådan grad, at dagbladet Politiken betegner det som partiets "yndlingsemne" at forske i. I denne opgave vil jeg stille følgende spørgsmål og diskuterer forskellige hypoteser som svar: Hvad er alternativ behandling og hvad betinger, at alternativ behandling kan ses som en ny social bevægelse samt en del af New Age bevægelsen? Herunder vil jeg se nærmere på kurserne, hvor den grænseoverskridende transformation sker. Dette munder ud i, hvordan det kan være, at alternativ behandling har fået så stor interesse i Danmark? Jeg har valgt at fokusere på den alternative bevægelse i Danmark, hvor mange faktorer bevirker, at alternativ behandling kan ses som en ny social bevægelse. Laila Launsø, magister i sociologi og lektor ved Institut for Samfundsfarmaci ved Købehavns Universitet, er den første i Danmark, som - under stærk kritik - har belyst alternativ behandling som en ny social bevægelse. Jeg vil diskutere de faktorer, som bringer Laila Launsø frem til denne slutning og derefter komme ind på flere, som jeg mener i højere grad kategoriserer alternativ behandling som en ny social bevægelse. Her lægger jeg vægt på Francesco Alberoni, Jonathan Friedman og Flo Convey og Jim Siegelmans teorier om, hvad der kendetegner og ligger bag sociale bevægelser og søgen efter identitet, og hvad der får folk til at træde ind i en alternativ tilstand. I øvrigt har jeg hentet meget af min viden fra VIFAB (Videns- og Forskningscenter for Alternativ Behandling). Disse faktorer vil jeg spore mig ind på ved at lave nogle kategoriseringer inden for alternativ behandling og diskutere forskellige teorier for sociale bevægelser og sammenhængen mellem New Age-bevægelsen og alternativ behandling. Herunder mener jeg, det er vigtigt at kigge på det rituelle rum i kurserne hos en speciel kategori af alternative behandlere, hvor der sker den største transformation

When People With Chronic Conditions Turn to Peers on Social Media to Obtain and Share Information: Systematic Review of the Implications for Relationships With Health Care Professionals

BackgroundPeople living with chronic conditions such as diabetes turn to peers on social media to obtain and share information. Although social media use has grown dramatically in the past decade, little is known about its implications for the relationships between people with chronic conditions and health care professionals (HCPs). ObjectiveWe aimed to systematically review the content and quality of studies examining what the retrieval and sharing of information by people with chronic conditions on social media implies for their relationships with HCPs. MethodsWe conducted a search of studies in MEDLINE (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), PsycINFO (Ovid), and CINAHL (EBSCO). Eligible studies were primary studies; examined social media use; included adults with any type of diabetes, cardiovascular diseases that are closely linked with diabetes, obesity, hypertension, or dyslipidemia; and reported on the implications for people with chronic conditions–HCP relationships when people with chronic conditions access and share information on social media. We used the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool version 2018 to assess the quality of the studies, and the included studies were narratively synthesized. ResultsOf the 3111 screened studies, 17 (0.55%) were included. Most studies (13/17, 76%) were of low quality. The narrative synthesis identified implications for people with chronic conditions–HCP relationships when people with chronic conditions access and share information on social media, divided into 3 main categories with 7 subcategories. These categories of implications address how the peer interactions of people with chronic conditions on social media can influence their communication with HCPs, how people with chronic conditions discuss advice and medical information from HCPs on social media, and how relationships with HCPs are discussed by people with chronic conditions on social media. The implications are illustrated collectively in a conceptual model. ConclusionsMore evidence is needed to draw conclusions, but the findings indicate that the peer interactions of people with chronic conditions on social media are implicated in the ways in which people with chronic conditions equip themselves for clinical consultations, evaluate the information and advice provided by HCPs, and manage their relationships with HCPs. Future populations with chronic conditions will be raised in a digital world, and social media will likely remain a strategy for obtaining support and information. However, the generally low quality of the studies included in this review points to the relatively immature state of research exploring social media and its implications for people with chronic conditions–HCP relationships. Better study designs and methods for conducting research on social media are needed to generate robust evidence