Changes in everyday life after discharge from day care rehabilitation

Community-based day care that provides rehabilitation (DCR) targets elderly people with physical disabilities. The goal of these programmes is mainly to improve physical ability in order to enable participants to remain in their ordinary homes. Knowledge of the outcomes of DCR is limited as well as knowledge of what it is that makes a difference for the individual. The aim of this study was to describe what changes in everyday life elderly persons experienced after discharge from a community-based day care rehabilitation centre and to give possible explanations for these changes. Fifteen elderly people were interviewed after that they had been discharged from DCR. A narrative approach was used for analysing the interview data. Four case stories constitute the findings, each of them with unique descriptions of changes in everyday life as well as possible explanations for these changes. The first case story described resumption of daily activities that made the days more eventful and meaningful. The second described how everyday life became an arena for exercising, which create confidence for the future. The third described how an increased sense of certainty and security in the movements led to an increased appetite for life. Finally, the fourth case story described both the stay at the DCR centre and the promise of a new period there as uplifting that made the days easier. Concerning possible explanations for these changes, the findings indicate that it was a combination of several events that together contributed to the changes. Examples were physical training, counselling about how to live in an active and healthy lifestyle, and socialisation with other patients in formal as well as in informal sessions

Geriatric patients' expectations of their physicians: findings from a tertiary care hospital in Pakistan

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Geriatric health is a neglected and under-explored area internationally and in Pakistan. We aimed to ascertain the expectations of the geriatric patients from their physicians and the factors associated with patient satisfaction in this particular age bracket.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A cross-sectional survey was carried out at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Karachi, Pakistan. Data collection was carried out via face-to-face interviews based on structured, pre-tested questionnaires. All consenting individuals aged 65 years or above were recruited into the study. Convenience sampling was used to draw the sample. The data was analyzed using SPSS version 16. Geriatric patient's expectations from physicians were elicited using a set of 11 questions that were graded on a scale of 1-3 where 1 = not important, 2 = important, 3 = very important.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Three hundred and eighty geriatric patients were interviewed. The response rate of this study was 89.8%. The mean age of the respondents was 73.4 ± 6.8 years. Two hundred and forty eight respondents (65.3%) were female. Diabetes mellitus (53.7%), hypertension (59.5%), arthritis (40.5%) and renal disease (32.1%) were common ailments among geriatric patients. More than 50% of the patients were visiting their physicians once every two to three months. Discussing treatment options and letting patients make the final decision (79.2%), prescribing minimum possible medications (84.5%), physician's holistic knowledge about the spectrum of care issues for geriatric patients (79.2%), being given a realistic but optimistic picture of future health by physicians (85.5%) were ranked as very important expectations by patients from their physicians. Cumulative household income (p = 0.005), most important health complaint (p = 0.01) and frequency of experiencing health complaint (p < 0.001) emerged as independent predictors of the satisfaction of geriatric patients from care provided by physicians.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We have documented the expectations of the geriatric patients from their physicians in a developing country. Physicians belonging to all disciplines should keep these expectations in mind during clinical encounters with geriatric patients.</p

The Catalysing Effect of Public Fund-of-Fund Investments

The amount of public money invested in the venture capital industry has increased sub-stantially over the last few decades. The goal is, in general, to facilitate growth in highly in-novative small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) by securing their supply of capital in early stages. Hence, an important aspect of the effectiveness of public investment is wheth-er it increases the investees’ ability to attract additional funding. The process through which public investments can contribute to a better supply of capital to SMEs by more than just their own investment is commonly known as the catalysing or leverage effect of public in-vestment. In order to increase understanding of how this effect can be maximized, this study com-pares the amount of capital attracted to Swedish SMEs as a result of public fund-of-fund (FoF) investment to that of direct public investments. This study shows that: - FoFs are more effective in increasing the capital supply to SMEs in the market. - Public investments have a higher catalysing effect on the fund level than on the enterprise level. Hence, EUR 1 invested at the fund level has a larger positive impact for SMEs than EUR 1 invested at the enterprise level. - The investment quality of private venture capital (VC) investments is generally higher than that of direct public investments. Hence, FoFs allows public inves-tors to "free ride" on the skills of private VCs rather than setting up own struc-tures.Masters Thesi

Äldre personers dagliga liv och betydelsen av dagrehabilitering

The overall aim of this thesis was to study elderly persons’ everyday life and the benefits of community-based day care rehabilitation (DCR). Further aims were to describe everyday life as experienced by elderly persons eligible for DCR and what they expected to gain from attending DCR. Participants in  study I and II were 22 prospective elderly day-care patients with physical disabilities. Interviews about their experiences of everyday life (study I) and their expectations of DCR (study II) were conducted and analysed according to a qualitative research approach called phenomenography. In study III 15 elderly persons were interviewed about changes in everyday life after having been discharged from DCR. A narrative approach was used for analysing the interviews. In Study IV occupational therapy patients’ records from 59 patients that had been discharged from DCR were analysed using deductive content analysis for describing individual treatment goals and level of goal attainment. The findings in study I, showed that cessation of activities and social contacts resulted in feelings of resignation and dejection for some participants. Participants also described how activities and social contacts continued, albeit in a different way, and that being active resulted in feelings of pleasure. In study II the findings described expectations of participating in physical training and socialisation with others at the DCR. The findings in study III, in the form of four case-stories, described positive changes in the participants’ everyday life such as improved occupational performance and heightened sense of wellbeing. The findings indicate that it was a combination of several events that together contributed to the changes. The findings in study IV showed that “Walking” was the category that contained the highest proportion of treatment goals. A majority of the treatment goals were either completely achieved or partially achieved. DCR could have a significant impact on elderly persons’ everyday life

Digital Feminism : a Design Perspective for Interaction Design

För att designa interaktiva digitala system som tillfredsställer användarens behov applicerar interaktionsdesigners ett användarcentrerat perspektiv på sin design. Designers bör då beakta demografier så som kultur, ålder och genus för att lära känna slutanvändarna av systemet. Idag beaktas demografin genus i en betydligt mindre utsträckning än exempelvis kultur, vilket kan betyda att interaktiva digitala system som designas inte blir genusneutrala, dvs. att systemet ska tillfredsställa både feminina och maskulina individer i samma utsträckning. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka hur praktiker hanterar genus genom hela designprocessen för interaktionsdesign. För att undersöka detta har en kvalitativ intervjustudie med inspiration av Grounded Theory utförts. Empirin ifrån intervjuerna har presenterats och analyserats med hjälp av kodning. Slutligen har resultatet diskuterats. Resultatet från studien pekar på att interaktionsdesigners inte alltid medvetet beaktar genus och att det inte anses behövas då designers redan upplever att den digitala världen är genusneutral. Diskussionen av resultatet tycks påvisa två faktorer som behövs för att designa ett genusneutralt system. Faktorerna som det argumenteras för är dels att ett feministiskt synsätt på design skapar goda möjligheter för att designa jämställda system. Dels är det av vikt att beakta genus som demografi i samma utsträckning som kultur för att öka möjligheterna att designen tillfredsställer såväl feminina som maskulina individers behov.A user-centered perspective is often used by designers to be able to design interactive digital systems that attempt to meet users’ needs. The designers should take demographics such as culture, age and gender into consideration to get to know the end user of the system. Today, gender as a demographic area is considered in a lesser extent than for example culture. This indicates that systems are not designed to be gender neutral. The aim of this study is to examine how practitioners consider gender through the design process. To do this, a qualitative interview study inspired by Grounded Theory has been followed. The data from the interviews have been presented and also interpreted by coding. The discussion of the results tend to show two factors that are needed to be able to design a system that meets the needs of both feminine and masculine individuals equally. The factors argued for are that a feminist approach on design could enable a possibility to design a more equal system. Also, designers should take gender into greater consideration while designing systems so that the systems in fact meet the needs of both feminine and masculine users equally

Digital Feminism : a Design Perspective for Interaction Design

För att designa interaktiva digitala system som tillfredsställer användarens behov applicerar interaktionsdesigners ett användarcentrerat perspektiv på sin design. Designers bör då beakta demografier så som kultur, ålder och genus för att lära känna slutanvändarna av systemet. Idag beaktas demografin genus i en betydligt mindre utsträckning än exempelvis kultur, vilket kan betyda att interaktiva digitala system som designas inte blir genusneutrala, dvs. att systemet ska tillfredsställa både feminina och maskulina individer i samma utsträckning. Syftet med den här studien är att undersöka hur praktiker hanterar genus genom hela designprocessen för interaktionsdesign. För att undersöka detta har en kvalitativ intervjustudie med inspiration av Grounded Theory utförts. Empirin ifrån intervjuerna har presenterats och analyserats med hjälp av kodning. Slutligen har resultatet diskuterats. Resultatet från studien pekar på att interaktionsdesigners inte alltid medvetet beaktar genus och att det inte anses behövas då designers redan upplever att den digitala världen är genusneutral. Diskussionen av resultatet tycks påvisa två faktorer som behövs för att designa ett genusneutralt system. Faktorerna som det argumenteras för är dels att ett feministiskt synsätt på design skapar goda möjligheter för att designa jämställda system. Dels är det av vikt att beakta genus som demografi i samma utsträckning som kultur för att öka möjligheterna att designen tillfredsställer såväl feminina som maskulina individers behov.A user-centered perspective is often used by designers to be able to design interactive digital systems that attempt to meet users’ needs. The designers should take demographics such as culture, age and gender into consideration to get to know the end user of the system. Today, gender as a demographic area is considered in a lesser extent than for example culture. This indicates that systems are not designed to be gender neutral. The aim of this study is to examine how practitioners consider gender through the design process. To do this, a qualitative interview study inspired by Grounded Theory has been followed. The data from the interviews have been presented and also interpreted by coding. The discussion of the results tend to show two factors that are needed to be able to design a system that meets the needs of both feminine and masculine individuals equally. The factors argued for are that a feminist approach on design could enable a possibility to design a more equal system. Also, designers should take gender into greater consideration while designing systems so that the systems in fact meet the needs of both feminine and masculine users equally

Dynamic capabilities in airport management : A study of Jönköping Airport

Background: The deregulation of the airline and airport sectors has introduced airport managers to free market competition. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to identify dynamic capabilities in a regional airport, examine which of the predominant views they correlate to and whether dynamic capabilities concern different levels of strategy. Method: This study uses a qualitative method. Data are collected through a documentary review and interview. The documentary review concerns the features of and trends in the airport sector. The interviews were conducted with three managers of Jönköping Airport, experienced at managing regional airports in Sweden and Europe. Conclusion: The study identified several dynamic capabilities correlating in various degrees to the different predominant views. Some of dynamic capabilities found were of the kind that might be expected at most firms, such as strategic decision-making and product development. Others were more specific for the sector, such as the ability to build a highly adaptable work force. However, none were irrelevant across businesses. This is thought to be a result of the focus on higher management. The study also found that different dynamic capabilities concern different levels of strategy. Strategic decision-making concern corporate-level strategy, while product development is concerned with business-level strategizing. We suggest this is one way of approaching the proposition made by Winter (2003) that there are different levels of dynamic capabilities ad infinitum

Bättre hälsa genom gentrifikation? : -en fallstudie i Barcelona

Vid stora internationella evenemang sker ofta en uppfräschning (gentrifikation) i städer för att kunna attrahera framtida investerare och kunna visa upp sin allra bästa sida för omvärlden. Då man rensar bort nedgågna slumliknande områden för att bereda plats åt nya attraktiva bostäder och affärsområden brukar detta medföra att man tvingar ut de fattiga och svaga medborgarna mot stadens perifera områden. Vårt syfte är att via aspekter som arbetslöshet, sjukhusvistelser, kriminalitet och sjukdomsutbredning etc. försöka få en bild av hur hälsoläget i Barcelona har påverkats i och med stadsförnyelsen som skedde i och med OS 1992. Genom att vara på plats söker vi att finna en större förståelse och verklighetsanknytning av studien. Genom att studera Barcelona i allmänhet och distrikten Ciutat Vella, Les Corts och Sant Marti i synnerhet sökte vi en klarare bild av situationen. Studien har därför delats in i tre arbetssätt som ska forma en bild av studieobjektet. Dels handlar det om studier av statistik och rapporter samt observation. Detta kompletteras sedan med intervjuer av invånare i områdena. Vi har kunnat konstatera att hälsoläget har förbättrats, om än marginellt, i de tidigare nedgågna distrikten jämfört med innan olympiaden. Dock medför en sådan stadsomdaning vissa nackdelar som t.ex. prisstegring och förflyttning av problemen snarare än att man löser dem. Resultaten baseras på faktorer som ålderssammansättning, arbetslöshet, utbildning, ekonomi och sjukdomsstatistik