Protecting Family Interests: An Interview Study with Foreign-Born Parents Struggling On in Childhood Cancer Care

Sweden's population is gradually changing to become more multiethnic and diverse and that applies also for recipients of health care, including childhood cancer care. A holistic view on the sick child in the context of its family has always been a cornerstone in childhood cancer care in Sweden. The purpose of this study was to gain knowledge about the experiences and main concern of foreign-born parents in the context of paediatric cancer care. Interviews were performed with eleven foreign-born parents and data were analysed using a classic grounded theory approach. Foreign-born parents often feel in a position of powerless dependence, but family interests are protected in their approaches to interaction with healthcare staff, through cooperation, contesting, and reluctant resigning. Healthcare staff need to listen to foreign-born parents and deal with their concerns seriously to prevent powerless-dependence and work for trustful cooperation in the common fight against childhood cancer

Results of the Scandinavian Sarcoma Group XIV protocol for classical osteosarcoma: 63 patients with a minimum follow-up of 4 years

Background and purpose The Scandinavian Sarcoma Group (SSG) XIV protocol is based on experience from previous SSG trials and other osteosarcoma intergroup trials, and has been considered the best standard of care for patients with extremity localized, non-metastatic osteosarcoma. We analyzed the outcome in 63 consecutive patients. Patients and methods From 2001 through 2005, 63 patients recruited from centers in Sweden, Norway, and Finland were included. They received preoperative chemotherapy consisting of 2 cycles of paired methotrexate (12 g/m(2)), cisplatin (90 mg/m(2)), and doxorubicin (75 mg/m(2)). 3 cycles were administered post-operatively, and poor histological responders were given 3 additional cycles of ifosfamide (10-12 g/m(2)) as a salvage strategy. Results With a median follow-up of 77 months for survivors, the estimated metastasis-free and sarcoma-related survival at 5 years was 70% and 76%, respectively. 53 patients were treated with limb salvage surgery or rotationplasty and 2 patients experienced a local recurrence. 3 toxic deaths were recorded, all related to acute toxicity from chemotherapy. The 5-year metastasis-free survival of poor histological responders receiving add-on treatment with ifosfamide was 47%, as compared to 89% for good histological responders. Interpretation Outcome from the SSG XIV protocol compares favorably with the results of previous SSG trials and other published osteosarcoma trials. However, salvage therapy given to poor responders did not improve outcome to a similar degree as for good responders. In a multi-institutional setting, more than four-fifths of the patients were operated with limb salvage surgery or rotationplasty, with few local recurrences

Närhet och distans i instrumentalundervisning på kulturskolan

Syftet med föreliggande studie har varit att med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer undersöka hur sex musiklärare inom ’en-till-en’ undervisning förhåller sig till att skapa och upprätthålla en relation gentemot deras elever i kulturskolan. Tidigare studier föreslår att lärare måste upprätthålla en komplex tvådelad relation som både tillhandahåller den auktoritära- och den personliga lärarrollen. Detta sätt att betrakta lärarrollen kallas för Persona, ett begrepp som är centralt i uppsatsen. Lärarnas utsagor har analyserats med hjälp av tematisk analysmetod och temana som skapades presenteras och kopplas samman med den teoretiska utgångspunkten att lärare har två roller att upprätthålla vad gäller relationen gentemot eleven. Resultatet visar att den personliga relationen är av stor vikt för informanterna då den synliggör elevens styrkor och svagheter; således kan lärarna individanpassa undervisningen för eleverna. Denna relation skapas och upprätthålls via lärarens intresse för eleven. Detta intresse yttrar sig bland annat genom mellanmänskliga samtal under lektionerna. Dock så bör inte detta intresse vara lektionens enskilda fokus. Utifrån intervjuerna framgår det att lärarna även måste tillhandahålla mer auktoritära och opersonliga lärarroller för att eleven faktiskt ska lära sig något. Dessa två lärarroller ska alltså inte ses som dikotomier, utan ska istället användas som komplement för varandra. The purpose of this study has been to, with the help of qualitative interviews, examine how six music teachers in ’one-to-one’ tuition relate to creating and upholding a relationship in regards to their students in music schools. Earlier studies suggest that teachers must uphold a complex two-parted relationship that involves the teacher both as an authority and in a more personal role. This way of observing the teacher role is called Persona, a term central in this essay. The statements of the teachers have been analysed with the help of thematic analysis and the themes which were created are presented and connected with the theoretical perspective that teachers have two roles to uphold when it comes to the relationship towards the student. The result of the study shows that the personal relationship is of great importance for the informants as it throws light upon the students strengths and weaknesses. This makes it possible for the teachers to customize the education to fit the student. The relationship is created and upheld on the basis of interest that the teachers have for their students. This interest makes itself shown, among other ways, through interpersonal conversations during the lessons. The teachers interest in their student shouldn’t be the single focus of the lesson though. Based on the interviews, it appears that the teachers also must provide more authoritarian and impersonal teacher roles in order for the student to actually learn anything. These two teacher roles should in other words not be seen as dichotomies, but should instead be used as a complement to each other

Närhet och distans i instrumentalundervisning på kulturskolan

Syftet med föreliggande studie har varit att med hjälp av kvalitativa intervjuer undersöka hur sex musiklärare inom ’en-till-en’ undervisning förhåller sig till att skapa och upprätthålla en relation gentemot deras elever i kulturskolan. Tidigare studier föreslår att lärare måste upprätthålla en komplex tvådelad relation som både tillhandahåller den auktoritära- och den personliga lärarrollen. Detta sätt att betrakta lärarrollen kallas för Persona, ett begrepp som är centralt i uppsatsen. Lärarnas utsagor har analyserats med hjälp av tematisk analysmetod och temana som skapades presenteras och kopplas samman med den teoretiska utgångspunkten att lärare har två roller att upprätthålla vad gäller relationen gentemot eleven. Resultatet visar att den personliga relationen är av stor vikt för informanterna då den synliggör elevens styrkor och svagheter; således kan lärarna individanpassa undervisningen för eleverna. Denna relation skapas och upprätthålls via lärarens intresse för eleven. Detta intresse yttrar sig bland annat genom mellanmänskliga samtal under lektionerna. Dock så bör inte detta intresse vara lektionens enskilda fokus. Utifrån intervjuerna framgår det att lärarna även måste tillhandahålla mer auktoritära och opersonliga lärarroller för att eleven faktiskt ska lära sig något. Dessa två lärarroller ska alltså inte ses som dikotomier, utan ska istället användas som komplement för varandra. The purpose of this study has been to, with the help of qualitative interviews, examine how six music teachers in ’one-to-one’ tuition relate to creating and upholding a relationship in regards to their students in music schools. Earlier studies suggest that teachers must uphold a complex two-parted relationship that involves the teacher both as an authority and in a more personal role. This way of observing the teacher role is called Persona, a term central in this essay. The statements of the teachers have been analysed with the help of thematic analysis and the themes which were created are presented and connected with the theoretical perspective that teachers have two roles to uphold when it comes to the relationship towards the student. The result of the study shows that the personal relationship is of great importance for the informants as it throws light upon the students strengths and weaknesses. This makes it possible for the teachers to customize the education to fit the student. The relationship is created and upheld on the basis of interest that the teachers have for their students. This interest makes itself shown, among other ways, through interpersonal conversations during the lessons. The teachers interest in their student shouldn’t be the single focus of the lesson though. Based on the interviews, it appears that the teachers also must provide more authoritarian and impersonal teacher roles in order for the student to actually learn anything. These two teacher roles should in other words not be seen as dichotomies, but should instead be used as a complement to each other

Adoption processes for EDM, EDI and BIM technologies in the construction industry

Three strategically important uses of IT in the construction industry are the storage and management of project documents on webservers (EDM), the electronic handling of orders and invoices between companies (EDI) and the use of 3-D models including non-geometrical attributes for integrated design and construction (BIM). In a broad longitudinal survey study of IT use in the Swedish Construction Industry the extent of use of these techniques was measured in 1998, 2000 and 2007. The results showed that EDM and EDI are currently already well-established techniques whereas BIM, although it promises the biggest potential benefits to the industry, only seems to be at the beginning of adoption. In a follow-up to the quantitative studies, the factors affecting the decisions to implement EDM, EDI and BIM as well as the actual adoption processes, were studied using semi-structured interviews with practitioners. The theoretical basis for the interview studies was informed by theoretical frameworks from IT-adoption theory, where in particular the UTAUT model has provided the main basis for the analyses presented here. The results showed that the decisions to take the above technologies into use are made on three differ- ent levels: the individual level, the organizational level in the form of a company, and the organiza- tional level in the form of a project. The different patterns in adoption can to some part be explained by where the decisions are mainly taken. EDM is driven from the organisation/project level, EDI mainly from the organisation/company level, and BIM is driven by individuals pioneering the technique

Barn skriver historia: En studie av fjärdeklassares skrivande i historieämnet

In this study we analyze subject specific content in texts written in history education in school year 4 in a Swedish context. The study employs two different approaches to (text) content analysis: Analysis of representation of an historic vis-à-vis a practical perspective on the past, and analysis of the specific linguistic construals of the texts, based on a systemic functional linguistics approach. The results from the analyses are then compared to enable a synergetic account of the specific linguistic fabrics of the two historical perspectives. The results show that there are key differences in how the historical vis-à-vis the practical perspective on the past are linguistically construed, thus highlighting the intricacies of writing in history education. These findings are significant for researchers and teachers interested in furthering emergent historical literacy in early school years

Verktygsunderhåll vid Samhall Formel AB

Validerat; 20101217 (root