(re)Constructing the way we build - Skills Development Centre in Delft

Identity can be associated with a person, group or place and is defined as the sense of belonging. Thus, a person who doesn't belong and an architecture of placelessness both lack an identity. It can be shaped by history or by the current day. This design dissertation proposes a more situated architectural identity by exploring the relationship between the social and the material in Delft, Cape Town. The strong themes of the temporary and the permanent and formal and informal create a conflict of identity within Delft. The theory of Critical Regionalism will be the foundation for creating an architecture of identity within the context of Delft. An architecture of place will be achieved by being critical of the context and current construction practices and making use of readily and locally sourced materials. Sandbag construction and local vernacular practices will be combined to create an architecture of permanence, place, and identity within Delft. This design dissertation tests these themes through the speculative design of a Skills Centre, as there is a strong culture of making and learning within Delft. The Skills Centre will revolve around the idea of making, from alternative construction to the growth and preparation of food. The main concept of the Skills Centre is to act as a catalyst in the upskilling of the community and thus create a new identity for them. The Skills Centre will embed itself within the concept of a circular economy through construction and operation. Sandbag construction will act as the first economic driver; once the Skills Centre is completed, it will act as a catalytic economic driver. Creating an architecture of permanence that is rooted in place should start creating a positive identity and sense of belonging within Delft

Returning individuals with mild to moderate brain injury back to work: A systematic client centered approach

Book chapterAn increase in the numbers of individuals who sustained brain injuries due to motor vehicle accidents, trauma induced by violence and substance abuse, has resulted in more disabled individuals becoming non-productive members in society and inactive in the workplace. Research in the field of brain injury rehabilitation internationally is limited, with the majority of research focusing on the medical model of intervention. In the medical model, the disabled or injured individual is regarded as having problems that require medicalbiological intervention mainly, with little or no attention given to the difficult process of reintegrating the disabled individual back into society, for example, in resuming their worker roles. The medical approach may result in feelings of disempowerment on behalf of the disabled with regard to the rehabilitation process. The lack of success of current rehabilitation interventions could be seen as a result of an inability to generalize outcomes of rehabilitation in a clinical setting to the skills needed to return to work or re-integrate into the community

Interviewer effects in quantitative surveys using a door-to-door approach

Interviewers are a principal source of error in quantitative surveys. While surveys are often self-administered (e.g. in online surveys), it is often required to administer these face-to- face. This is the case, for example, in census surveys in low-income areas where there is little internet penetration, like that of the quality-of-life surveys presently being conducted in multiple countries through a residential door-to-door approach (Carr et al., 2018). In such situations, the social interaction between the interviewer conducting the survey and the interviewee is likely to introduce bias into the survey data collected. Interviewer effects (IE) can influence both item non-response and answer quality, i.e., participants not providing the true answer (Harling, et al., 2019). In an attempt to gain more representative data, this study conducted an exploratory analysis on the possible antecedents and consequences of interviewer effects using the Living Wage survey presently being conducted in South Africa, as the study context. To this end, I examine the systematic biasing effects associated with deploying the same group interviewers (n = 10), of the same ethnicity, age, and of equal gender distribution across five sampling areas in Cape Town in a quasi-experimental design (n = 282). This study highlighted that each interviewer is associated with a unique set of systematic bias that varies dependent on the survey item type. Sensitive items requiring respondents to disclose personal information were the most prone to bias, followed by interviewer-referencing and attitudinal items sequentially. Furthermore, this study found that gender differences in the interview had a marginal influence on the attitudes respondents are willing to share. I hope to contribute to an understanding and critical consideration of the antecedents and consequences of deploying human interviewers for collecting quantitative surveys, especially in a context where ethnic, gender and political differences are loaded in social interactions and are likely to contribute to respondents obscuring their responses

Occupational therapy students’ perceptions of the challenges they experience in adapting to a psychiatric fieldwork placement.

Author post-printBackground: Mental health in Occupational Therapy is experiencing a decline in preference for practice. Aim: This study explored occupational therapy students’ perceptions of the challenges they experience in psychiatric fieldwork. Methods: The researcher used a qualitative research design and collected data by means of focus groups with 8 final year occupational therapy students and 1 interview with a key informant. Findings: Five themes emerged: 1) Listening but not hearing, 2) Boxed thinking 3) Helping hands, 4) Losing the training wheels: Gaining independence and 5) An ideal psych programme. Implications: The barriers to learning identified in this study should be eliminated and the facilitators encouraged. The study highlighted that all theory be taught in the class lectures before the students enter their fieldwork placement. It was also recommended that multimedia sources such a video clips or recorded treatment sessions be used in formal lectures in order to familiarise students to the reality of psychiatry

The influence of divorce on the occupations of primary school going children in the Western Cape, South Africa: The perspective of the child and a relevant counsellor

There have been a number of studies over the years that propose that divorce could create turmoil in children’s lives. Many theorists agree that divorce is a stressful life transition needing adjustment for both the parent and/or child. This study determined how divorce influence childrens` participation in scholastic and leisure activities. The study was positioned in the qualitative research paradigm, specifically using focus groups and face to face interviews to collect data. The participants consisted of one male and three females (aged 8-12 years) and one adult female (key informant). Four themes emerged viz. 1) Listening but not hearing, 2) Adapting by doing, 3) Helping hands and 4) In the ideal world. The findings of the study indicate that children could benefit from family centred treatment programmes and should be involved in counceling post divorce. The barriers or challenges include feelings of sadness and hopelessness, inability to communicate and express feelings to parents and a change in social interaction and leisure activities. The facilitatory factors included having closer family networks, having a parental figure at home to assist with occupational needs, having positive peers support groups and counseling as a form of support.Unknow

Adaptation to the worker role: The vocational experience of South African male ex offenders

Objectives: The study is aimed at exploring, describing and understanding the experiences and perceptions of male ex-offenders with regard to adapting to their worker roles after they have been released from prison. Methods: The research methodology utilised was positioned in the qualitative research paradigm, specifically using the tradition of interpretivism. To gather data from the participants, focus groups and face to face interviews were conducted, consisting of broad questions followed by probes to gain an in-depth description of participants’ experiences and perceptions. Participants: Five males who were classified as being ex-offenders participated in the focus groups and one female (key informant) participated in two semi structured interviews. Results: Four themes emerged that reflected the vocational experience of male ex- offenders: 1) A sense of distrust, 2) A sense of support: Giving back to the community through learning and doing, 3) A change in lifestyle and 4) Working towards change through capacity building. For the purpose of this article, Theme 3- A change in lifestyle, will be discussed in depth as it explored the adaptive process that male ex- offenders experienced when adapting to their worker roles post release from prison. Conclusions: The findings of the study suggest that occupational therapy practitioners as well as correctional service personnel should utilise context specific vocational rehabilitation programmes that enhance the exoffender’s ability to find employment once they have been released from prison. Practitioners should be aware of both the internal and external adaptation strategies when planning vocational rehabilitation and community reintegration strategies.Web of Scienc

Occupational self efficacy : an occupational therapy practice model to facilitate returning to work after a brain injury

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDThis qualitative study explored and described the lived experience of people with brain injuries with regard to resuming their worker roles. Based on the results, an occupational therapy practice model to facilitate return to work was developed. The theoretical framework of occupational science with emphasis on occupational risk factors informed the study. The research design was a theory generative design based on a qualitative, phenomenological, explorative and descriptive research approach utilizing the methods of theory generation as advocated by Chinn and Kramer (1999), Walker and Avant (2005) and Dickoff, James and Wiedenbach (1968).South Afric

Genetic mapping of fruit quality traits in apple (malus x domestica borkh.)

Philosophiae Doctor - PhDApple fruit quality is of utmost importance to apple farmers and breeders in the selection and commercialization of new cultivars. Fruit size, colour, texture, firmness and taste are all traits that affect the quality of fruit. In this study the genetic contribution of these traits, and others were evaluated in order to generate the genetic markers required for the application of marker assisted selection in fruit quality breeding. Three mapping populations, ‘Prima’ x ‘Anna’, ‘Golden Delicious’ x ‘Priscilla’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ x ‘Anna’, consisting of 87, 87 and 141 respectively, were used in the study. Fruit samples were analysed, using a range of visual, physical and sensory measurements, over a period of three years, and the data was then correlated using statistical analysis. Traits analysed included stripe-ness, fruit colour, fruit size, fruit form, ground colour, russet, texture, fruit firmness, juiciness, sugar content, acidity, taste, skin toughness, %TSS, fruit mass and diameter. ANOVA detected significant levels of variation between the three families for all traits except taste and russet; while highly significant ‘within family’ variation was also observed for all traits in pre- and post-storage analyses, except for sugar content (sweetness) and fruit form. Within family variation also contributed the largest percentage towards the variance components of all traits. Heritability estimates found stripe-ness to be the most heritable trait, from subjective analyses, while heritability values ranged from 0.41 to 0.84 for instrumentally measured traits. The genetic maps for the three populations were generated using both published microsatellites and new EST-SSR and DART markers, using JoinMap 4.0". The integrated genetic linkage maps of ‘Prima’ x ‘Anna’, ‘Golden Delicious’ x ‘Priscilla’, ‘Golden Delicious’ x ‘Anna’ consisted of 398 (133 SSR and 265 DArT), 353 (80 SSR and 273 DArT) and 213 (87 SSR and 126 DArT) markers respectively. The maps were 1021.6cM, 1079cM and 1302.7cM in length, respectively. Location of quantitative trait loci (QTL) for 14 fruit quality traits was detected using MapQTL 5.0" and a total of 79 pre-storage and 60 poststorage QTLs were identified on the three mapping populations. Comparative genome analysis and the role of various genes on the outcome of fruit quality can now be investigated. Using the integrated genetic maps, and the QTLs identified, candidate markers associated with these QTL can be used for marker-assisted selection, to increase the speed and efficiency of the apple breeding program