| 1. |
- Christianson, Monica
(författare)
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What's behind sexual risk taking? : exploring the experiences of chlamydia-positive, HIV-positive, and HIV-tested young women and men in Sweden
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim was to explore the experiences of sexual risk taking among Chlamydia Trachomatis positive (CT+), HIV positive (HIV+), and HIV tested young women and men. The specific aims were to explore, from a gender perspective, the course of events, the norms, considerations and emotions involved in sexual risk taking in CT+, explore the perception of sexual risk taking in HIV+ youth, and their understanding of why they caught HIV and look at how the Law of Communicable Diseases Act impacts their sexuality. Moreover, to investigate why young adults test for HIV, how they construct the HIV risk, and what implications testing has for them.42 informants between 17-24 years of age were recruited from a youth clinic in Umeå and from three infection clinics for HIV patients in Sweden.In depth interviews and focus group interviews were tape-recorded, transcribed verbatim and analyzed according to a Grounded Theory approach.The finding revealed that behind sexual risk taking, there was a drive to go steady, where lust and trust guided if sex would take place. In one-night stands women were expected to be less forward compared with men. We found an uneven responsibility concerning condom use where men expected women to be "condom promoters". By catching CT, women experienced guilt, while men felt content through knowing "the source of contamination".Among the HIV+ youth, socio-cultural factors such as; lack of adult supervision, naivité, love, alcohol, drugs, the macho ideal and cultures of silence blinded the informants to the risks and made them vulnerable. By grouping narratives according to degree of consensus in sexual encounters, this demonstrated that sexual risks happened in a context of gendered power relations where the informants had varied agency. The Law of Communicable Diseases Act implied both support and burden for these HIV+ youth. A lot of responsibility was put on them and to be able to handle the infromation duty they tried to switch off lust, switch off the disease, or balance lust and obedience.Among the HIV tested youth, HIV was seen a distant threat. Many had event-driven reasons for testing for HIV; multiple partners being one. Risk zones, like bars were perceived to be a milieu that often was expected to include one-night stands. Responsibility for testing was a gendered issue; "natural" for women, while men rather escaped from responsibility and had a testing resistance. Receiving a "green card" confirmed healthiness and provided relief, and made the informants felt "clean". They could restart with new ambitious, including reconsidering risk.The findings can be used in public health and in health care sectors that work with young people. We present suggestions on how to decrease the spread of STIs:To implement how men could play an equal part in sexual and reproductive health.Promote general CT screening for men.Liberal HIV testing among both young women and men.Promote safer sex behaviour from the uninfected youth, especially focusing on men??.Consider the role of gender and social background in the context of risky behaviours.Give lots of positive rewards concerning HIV disclosure to diminish the risk for HIV transmission.
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| 2. |
- Andersson, Anna, 1974-
(författare)
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A framework supporting the collaboration between the logistics- and the product development process
- 2007
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Licentiatavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- In the competitive environment of today’s global markets, the demands of customers are increasing. They expect to get the best product at the lowest price with immediate availability. Logistics, including transportation, inventory maintenance, order processing, purchasing, warehousing, materials handling, packaging, customer service standards, and product scheduling must continuously be developed to meet the challenges of the market. The globalization, with longer distances to customers and suppliers, and the progressing trend of outsourcing are examples of why the importance of logistics has increased over the last few years.A considerable part of the final product cost is frozen during the early product development phases. In the early phases of the product development process, the cost of making design changes is low compared to making changes later in the product development process. The product development decisions made in the early phases of the product development process have considerable impact on future manufacturing and logistics activities as well.The objective of this research project is to develop a framework supporting the collaboration between the logistics- and the product development process. To do this, it has been essential to analyze which parameters influence the efficiency of the logistics process and the interface between the logistics- and the product development process. Also, to investigate how the logistics department can be integrated earlier in the product development process has been of interest. This has been done through both a theoretical review and also through a number of case studies.The result and conclusion of this project is a framework that gives support for what to focus on, how to collaborate, in which phases collaboration is meaningful, and which persons need to be involved in the different product development phases. Working as the framework suggests will, hopefully, give closer collaboration between the logistics- and the product development process than without this supportive framework. The expectation of the collaboration is an earlier integration of the logistics department in the product development process and through this influence and increase the efficiency of the logistics process.
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| 3. |
- Andersson, Gunnel, 1958-
(författare)
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Urinary incontinence : prevalence, treatment seeking behaviour, experiences, and perceptions among persons with and without urinary leakage
- 2009
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of this thesis is to describe urinary incontinence (UI) from a population perspective and to describe experiences and perceptions of UI from an individual perspective. This includes assessing the prevalence of urinary incontinence as well as describing treatment seeking and experiences of living with UI. A secondary aim was to describe the perception of UI among cultures other than the Swedish mainstream, exemplified in this case by Syrian women living in Sweden. Both quantitative and qualitative methods were used, including questionnaires and interviews. Studies I and II were quantitative studies based on a population-based study. Together with a postal survey on general health and living conditions “Life & Health”, a questionnaire on urinary incontinence was sent out to 15 360 randomly-selected residents aged 18-79 in Orebro County, Sweden. In Study I, UI was found to affect 19%. The majority of the respondents experienced minor problems, and only 18% of those reporting UI wanted treatment. However, there was also a group who reported severe problems, but despite this 42% of them did not want treatment. Study II investigated why people with UI refrain from seeking care and treatment. It was found that the desire for treatment was regulated by the frequency of UI, being restricted from participating in various activities, the degree of inconvenience, and the type of UI. Studies III and IV were both qualitative interview studies, describing older women’s experiences of living with UI (Study III) and Syrian women’s perceptions of UI (Study IV). There were similarities between the results of these two studies; the women described UI as a normal and expected problem, and they knew that the district nurse could prescribe incontinence protections and that treatments existed. In both studies, the women expressed difficulties in making contact with the health care service, while the women who did not speak Swedish (Study IV) also had difficulties due to different communication problems. In conclusion, it is important that health care resources are optimized to identify and meet the needs of those who experience major problems with UI, and that there is awareness of the communication difficulties that can be present in meeting with people who speak other languages. However it is also important not to medicalize those who experience minor problems and who have the desire to manage on their own.
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| 4. |
- Emilson, Anette, 1964-
(författare)
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Det önskvärda barnet : Fostran uttryckt i vardagliga kommunikationshandlingar mellan lärare och barn i förskolan
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of this research is to acquire knowledge about fostering young children, as expressed in everyday interactions between teachers and children in Swedish preschools. The three empirical studies in this doctoral thesis investigated partly specific democratic values such as participation and influence and partly the values that teachers explicitly or implicitly encourage and how these values are communicated to children. The thesis takes a critical approach in order to also acquire knowledge about important fostering aspects that can move hierarchal power structures towards a fostering of values characterized by intersubjectivity. In order to understand the interactions, the concepts of communicative and strategic action (Habermas, 1984) are used, as well as strong and weak classification and framing (Bernstein, 2000). Preschool fostering is also analyzed from a double perspective, with a starting-point in Habermas’ (1984, 1995a) concepts of the system and the life-world. The fieldwork took place with three different groups of toddlers in Swedish preschools. Forty-six children (aged 1 to 3 years) participated, as well as their ten teachers. The data consisted of videotaped observations of teacher and child interactions. The first study investigated how a toddler’s participation can be understood in two kinds of educational activities where the degree of teacher control differs. The results showed how strong classification and framing risk restricting children’s participation and how a weak classification and framing can promote children’s opportunities to participate on their own terms. Important issues for children’s participation were found to be a participant teacher who creates meaningful contexts, where teacher control is about being emotionally present, supportive and responsive. The purpose of the second study was to investigate how very young children can exert an influence in circle-time situations in relation to teacher control. The results showed that the children do, in fact, make choices, mostly based on several fixed alternatives, and that they do take the initiative, sometimes to express an opinion or a right, sometimes to express what they want to do in circle time. It was also found that the influence young children are able to exert varies with the control the teacher exercises. It is evident that strong teacher control is maintained in different ways and that strong control does not necessarily limit children’s influence; it depends on the nature of the control. Children’s influence increases when the teacher’s control over the what and how aspects of communications is weak, and is characterized by closeness to the child’s life-world and a communicative approach. The third study examined the values that teachers explicitly or implicitly encourage and how these values are communicated to children. The analyses resulted in ten specific values embedded in value dimensions of discipline, caring and democracy. These, in turn, can be divided into different social orientations – both collective and individualistic. The values are communicated differently and the what aspect of the communication (the value) is interrelated with the how aspect of the communication; how teachers communicate influences and sometimes changes the communicated value. In order to change power structures in teacher and child interactions, three aspects of importance have been identified: teachers’ closeness to the child’s perspective, their emotional presence and playfulness. Theoretically, the aspects are within the framework of communicative action and contribute to the understanding of what the theory might mean in communication with the youngest children in the educational system.
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| 5. |
- Ställberg, Björn, 1951-
(författare)
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Asthma in Primary Care : Severity, Treatment and Level of Control
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Aims. The overall aim was to examine the severity, treatment and level of control in patients with asthma in primary care in Sweden. The specific aims were to assess what matters to asthma patients, evaluate symptoms, medication and identify factors related to asthma severity, compare the extent of asthma control in 2001 and 2005, and investigate the development of asthma and degree of asthma control in adolescents and young adults who had reported asthma six years earlier. Methods. The first study was a telephone interview of a representative sample of Swedish asthmatics. In the second study a random sample of 1,136 patients answered two questionnaires. A classification of the asthma severity similar to that in the GINA guidelines was made. In the third study two surveys were performed, in 2001 and in 2005, with a random sample of 1,012 and 224 asthma patients, respectively, and a classification of asthma control similar to the recent GINA guidelines was made. In the fourth study 71 individuals who reported physician-diagnosed asthma in a population-based survey in 1997 and were defined as current asthmatics, were reinvestigated in 2003 with a skin prick test, methacholine challenge test, eucapnic voluntary hyperventilation test and measurement of exhaled nitric oxide. Results. Common situations causing symptoms of asthma were physical exertion and contact with pets. Nocturnal symptoms were frequent. In primary care 35% of the women and 24% of the men were classified as having severe asthma. Female sex, increasing age, not filling the asthma prescription owing to cost, daily smoking, and pollen allergy increased the odds of having severe asthma. In 2001, 37% had achieved asthma control, as compared with 40% in 2005. Uncontrolled asthma was more common in women and smokers. In the 2003 study of adolescents and young adults with asthma six years earlier, the definition of current asthma was fulfilled by 50 of the 71 subjects and one third had achieved asthma control. Conclusions. The majority of the asthmatics reported a large number of symptoms and limitations in their daily living. Many asthma patients in primary care have insufficient asthma control. One reason for lack of control might be undertreatment with inhaled corticosteroids.
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| 6. |
- Wickman, Kim, 1970-
(författare)
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Bending mainstream definitions of sport, gender and ability : Representations of wheelchair racers
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Inspired by feminist post-structural thinking and with a discourse analytic approach, this study’s main theme is gendered identity, disability and sport. It consists of four separate, but interrelated, empirical studies and focuses on two research questions. Firstly, how do female and male wheelchair racers construct and perform their identities? Secondly, how are female and male wheelchair racers represented in Swedish sports media? To answer the research questions, semi-structured interviews with wheelchair racers, and a critical analysis of sports media texts from the Paralympics in Sydney, 2000 have been conducted. In this dissertation the composition of unwritten regulations produced by the media texts, that shaped the practice of wheelchair athletes was conceptualized as the discourse of able-ism. Findings indicate that the sports media texts constructed the subject of ‘disabled sportsman/sportswoman’, which indirectly reproduced the conception of a copy and not an original. The exclusion was, however, concealed and neutralized through the regulation and differentiation that the discourse of able-ism legitimated. Although sports media still seems to reinforce negative stereotypes of disabled athletes, the wheelchair racers themselves are challenging the gender, sport and disability discourses and establishing new ways of being physically powerful and excellent in and outside the sports arena. In fact, when the athletes got the opportunity to make their voices heard in media, they re-dressed the twisted picture of wheelchair racing as passive rehabilitation training into elite sport. Consequently, it seems that wheelchair racing and its high status in disability sports empowers both male and female racers which increases their possibility to be represented as ‘real’ sportsmen and sportwomen. Finally, although, the athletes have shown that wheelchair racing has a given place in modern sport, ‘being able’ as an athlete and being a gendered individual are still strongly connected to the appearance and performance of the un-impaired body.
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| 7. |
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| 8. |
- Johansson, Ingela, 1968-
(författare)
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When time matters : Patients’ and spouses’ experiences of suspected acute myocardial infarction in the pre-hospital phase
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The overall aim of this thesis was to describe patients’ and spouses’ experiences of suspected acute myocardial infarction in the pre-hospital phase. A descriptive survey study was conducted to identify various factors influencing patient delay in 381 patients with suspected myocardial infarction hospitalised at a Coronary Care Unit (I) and ambulance utilisation among 110 myocardial infarction patients (II). In order to obtain a deeper understanding of the myocardial infarction patients’ own conceptions about the event, an interview study with a phenomenographic approach was conducted with 15 strategically selected myocardial infarction patients (III), within 72 hours after admission to hospital. Finally, the pre-hospital experiences of 15 spouses of myocardial infarction patients were also studied through interviews with a phenomenographic approach, within 48 hours after the affected partner’s admittance to hospital (IV). The results showed that 59% of the patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction delayed > 1 hour after onset of symptoms. The most common reasons given for delay in seeking hospital admittance were: (1) Did not consider the symptoms as to be severe enough that they warranted hospital care, (2) thought the symptoms to be temporary and that they would disappear, (3) the chest pain was more of a dull pain, (4) or, as one third of the patients chose to do, contacted the general practitioner instead of going directly to the hospital (I). Furthermore, as a first action, 59% consulted their spouse for advice about what to do henceforth. The most common reason for additional delay when the decision to go to hospital had already been taken was that the myocardial infarction patients stated that they were unaware of the advantages of a rapid decision-making process. Sixty percent went by ambulance, but it was the spouse (40%) or the personnel at the general practitioner’s office (32%) who called the emergency service number, rather than the patient him/her self (5%). The most frequently given reasons for not choosing ambulance, were that the patients did not perceive their symptoms as being serious enough to require ambulance transportation (43%), followed by that they had not thought about ambulance as an alternative at all (38%). As a third reason for not going by ambulance, the patients stated that it was unnecessary to call an ambulance when being affected by symptoms related to a myocardial infarction (26%). The patients who called an ambulance differed in some respects from those who went by private alternatives; patients with large infarctions (ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction) went by ambulance more frequently, as did patients suffering from nausea and severe chest pain (II). The patients expressed in the interviews how the interaction with others, described as the need for supportive environment, worries for the family and the utilisation of the health-care resources, was of great importance in the pre-hospital phase. Likewise, symptom awareness, with earlier experiences of a similar situation to compare with, denying the seriousness of the situation and the use of different self-care strategies, were important in order to manage the situation. Vulnerability, expressed as anxiety and a lack of control, also influenced the decision-making process in the pre-hospital phase (III). Spouses seemed to have a strong influence on the course of events when their partner suffered an acute myocardial infarction and it emerged from the interviews how the spouses in many cases were influenced into sharing the denial of the affected partner by respecting his/her independence. The spouses accepted the partner’s need for control; took earlier marital roles and experiences into account; restraining own emotions and seeking agreement with their partners, contributing to delay. However, being resourceful by sharing the experience; having knowledge; understanding the severity; being rational and consulting others when needed, seemed to have a positive influence on the decision time in the pre-hospital phase (IV).Conclusion: The reasons for delaying or not in the pre-hospital phase, as well as the reasons for utilising the ambulance services or not, varied considerably between individuals. Earlier experiences of MI did not influence what actions to take; instead patients’ feelings, emotional attitudes to MI symptoms, inadequate coping strategies, and spouses’ influences were important components in the pre-hospital phase.
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| 9. |
- Karlsson-G, Sofie
(författare)
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Tillsammans men var för sig : Om särboenderelationer mellan äldre kvinnor och män i Sverige
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Contemporary family life and intimate relationships today are characterised by increasing heterogeneity. In the growing body of research on this differentiation, the role of the elderly people has largely been ignored. But to an increasing extent the "young old" (65-74 years of age), in particular, are active participants in the process of the differentiation of intimate relationships. One of the least researched contributions of the elderly to the restructuring of contemporary intimate relationships is the establishment of lastint intimate relationships that do not include a mutual home, i.e. an alternative to marriage or other forms of cohabition. This type of relationship is referred to as Living Apart Together (henceforth LAT-relationships. In Swedish: särboende). The aim of this thesis is to examine LAT-relationships among elderly heterosexual individuals in Sweden, focusing in particular on the influence of this type of relationship on commitments, intimacy and autonomy. A major dilemma is the question of who should provide the care and service that ageing often demands. A pluralistic methodological approach has been adopted in the four differnt papers in this thesis, whick includes the use of a qualitative pilot study, a broad quantitative questionnaire study, a qualitative interview study and finally a qualitative study with a lifestory perspective.
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| 10. |
- Olsson, Eva-Karin, 1973-
(författare)
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Media Crisis Decision Making : A Case Study of SR (Swedish Radio), SVT (Swedish Television) and TV4
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The study takes as its starting point that news organizations’ actions during crises vary more than one can expect based on previous research on news work. Accordingly, the dissertation aims to move beyond the notion of news organizations as homogenous and attempts to open the ‘black box’ of news organizations’ decision making. The study is based on interviews with members of three Swedish broadcasting organizations: the Swedish Public Television (SVT), the Swedish Public Radio (SR), and TV4. The interviews focused on how the three organizations dealt with the news coverage of the September 11th 2001 terrorist attacks in the USA. The four articles included in this dissertation challenge from different perspectives the previous assumptions presented in the field of media and journalism. First, as a response to the variety of definitions of non-routine news events applied in previous research, Article I sets out to propose a definition of crisis news events from a news organizational perspective. Accordingly, the article proposes to understand crisis news as surprise events that challenge key organizational values and that demand a swift response. Second, in questioning the notion of news organizations as homogenous, Article II examines the actions taken by the three Swedish broadcasting organizations in response to 9/11. This article argues, based on a neo-institutional perspective, that news organizations’ decision making can be explained by differences in organizational ‘rule-regimes’. Third, Article III challenges the assumption that newsroom actions are homogeneous by examining two newsroom responses to 9/11, in particular their everyday organizational structures and previous experiences. The last Article (IV) applies a slightly different perspective in arguing that during crises media managers’ decisions are not only influenced by the audiences’ informational needs but also by the ritual role news organizations play in times of crises.
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