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Fa‘asinomaga: The layers of Samoan identity
No full textRESEARCH QUESTION
How can the investigation of cultural identity through the lens of New Zealand-born Samoans generate a space that enhances an individual’s connection to their cultural self?
ABSTRACT
In looking to strengthen the cultural identity of diasporic Samoans within New Zealand, this research investigation will examine how identity is perceived and obtained in Samoan within Samoan thought. FaʻaSamoa (Samoan way of life) is the catalyst in depicting how its traditions and customs address cultural identity among diasporic Samoans. Strengthening cultural identity is vital within New Zealand as the world progresses where the essence of traditional customs become lost, thus creating this feeling of detachment. The objective is to create a space that allows the education and expression of Samoan culture within New Zealand through multiple Polynesian concepts. The applied focus is based on the conceptualisation reality Tā-Vā, the arrangement of a traditional nuʻu (village), and utilisation of vā within the Samoan realm. As the narrative of Sina ma le Tuna will be the primary design driver. The social construct of Samoa will be explored and applied to the site to generate a space with a similar ambience to traditional Samoa. For this project, a cultural centre will be the architectural typology utilised to addressing the issue of cultural identity. By providing multiple areas that teach traditional practices, the cultural centre will offer knowledge of Samoan customs to New Zealand born Samoans and members of the community. Architectural representations that stem from this project will embody Samoan identity within the diaspora.
“E sui faiga, ae tumau faʻavae”
“The form changes, but the underlying principles remain”
- Samoan Proverbial Expression
SITE: Manukau Sports Bowl, Manukau, Auckland, New Zealan
Investigating construction workers health and safety risks in sustainable building projects
No full textThis research aims to explore workers’ health and safety risks in sustainable building projects. This research systematically reviews literature on workers’ health and safety risks in sustainable building projects and its non-sustainable counterparts to identify the specific safety risks posed to building projects’ workers. Using the key journals in the construction industry, this research has reviewed and tabulated important safety risks. The data collected has been categorised and statistically analysed to find differences between the different types of risks posed in sustainable versus non-sustainable building projects. Also, safety risks specific to sustainable building projects has been reviewed, identified and summarised. The results indicate that while some risks such as fall hazards are common to both sustainable and non-sustainable building projects risks such as overexertion and electrocution are more likely to occur in sustainable as opposed to non-sustainable building projects. In addition, the findings show that there are some safety risks that are specific to sustainable building projects and these risks increase occupational safety on sites over and above traditional risk levels. This study’s findings can be used by researchers and construction participants to better understand workers’ health and safety risks in sustainable building projects and to be prepared to manage them
Investigating compassion fatigue within conservation scientists
No full textProfessional Quality Of Life (ProQOL)
ProQOL Scale
Aims & objectives
Methods
Burnout scale
Demographics
ProQOL results
Data analysis
Country of residence ProQOL results
Individual responses
Findings
Implications
Concluding remarks
Reference
Investigating the current literature comprising osteopathic manual therapy (OMT) as an intervention: A scoping review
No full textRESEARCH QUESTION:
What primary, peer reviewed research has been published where osteopathic manual therapy (OMT) is used as an intervention, between 2010 - 2021?
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Evidence based practice (EBP) is an approach in healthcare that integrates the use of the best available research, practitioner experience and patient values into clinical decision making for optimal health outcomes. In the field of osteopathy practitioners are required to engage in the EBP process however, osteopathic practitioners feel challenged by a lack of time and relevant research in the field and a fear of losing professional identity in EBP. There are positive indications of growth in osteopathic research, but no study has been conducted that clearly outlines what research currently exists in the osteopathic literature and what the body of literature looks like.
METHODS:
A 5-stage scoping review framework was employed to explore the breadth and nature of research where osteopathic manual therapy (OMT) is used as an intervention. Searches were done across PubMed, ScienceDirect, EBSCO and BASE databases. Inclusion criteria involved peer-reviewed, empirical studies published in English between January 2010 – March 2021. Data was extracted and categorised into 10 broad topics based on the anatomical site or condition in which the OMT intervention was focused.
RESULTS:
The final review comprised 292 studies, including 78 case reports and 24 systematic reviews. Three qualitative studies and one mixed methodology study were present. Studies assessing OMT for lower back pain (LBP) was found to have the largest area of research.
CONCLUSION:
The osteopathic literature appears largely dominated by quantitative research. The research could be categorised across ten broad topics indicating OMT has been studied in a wide range of conditions. However, research gaps have been identified within the categories of this review suggesting the research has inconsistent coverage. Moreover, the number of isolated research publications gives a fragmented impression of the literature. Osteopathic research may benefit from a more considered research agenda, where research is methodically generated to fill contextual gaps in the literature
Athletes' perceptions of performance
No full textPerformance analysis is a growing field, with the aim of improving sporting performance through the examination of technical, tactical, physical, and psychological skills. With research and practice beginning to move away from the traditional approach of performance indicators, a greater understanding of athletes’ perceptions is important to ensure the statistical needs of the athletes and coaching staff are still being met. This thesis aimed to explore athletes’ perceptions of performance, the factors that influence performance and discuss the implications of these findings in performance analysis. A systematic review of the current literature highlighted a complex and dynamic system of sporting performance and a gap in knowledge around athletes’ perceptions of performance-influencing variables. The review also revealed a lack of understanding of how athletes perceive performance analysis as a tool to improve performance. The main study of this thesis is a prospective cohort study with a focus on semi-elite netballers perceptions of their own performance. The results indicated that players experiences, and frequency of skill within a match can affect the degree in which an athlete can perceive their performance. Results from this thesis reinforces that sport is multifaceted, with multiple performance influencing factors. Further research is needed to improve the practice and evidence around performance analysis in netball
History of Pacific at Unitec Project : 1993-2020
No full textProject Team:
Dr Falaniko Tominiko, Venusi Taumoepeau, Ioane Aleke-Faavae, Sana Saleem & Daisy Bentley-Gray
Overview:
The ‘History of Pacific at Unitec’ project aims to identify and discuss the development of Pacific at Unitec through the contributions of significant past and present staff and students, in the last 30 years
People - staff and students
Policy / framework
Initiatives
Communitie
An investigation into motivating and demotivating factors affecting employees’ productivity in the Lao banking industry
No full textRESEARCH QUESTIONS:
What are the significant motivating and demotivating factors which influence employees of the state-owned commercial banks in Laos?
Sub-research questions:
1. From the employees’ perspectives, what are the potential factors that motivate employees in the Laos state-owned commercial banks?
2. From the employees’ perspectives, what are the potential factors that would demotivate employees in the Laos state-owned commercial banks?
3. What are the desired practices or factors that would increase employee motivation in the Lao state-owned commercial banks?
ABSTRACT:
The banking sector in Laos, be it state-owned or private banks, remains reliant on their employees for excellent customer service and positive outcomes. Since the Lao economy's new development system emerged, many new private banks from both domestic and international origins have been established throughout the country. The Lao state-owned commercial banks' management faced a challenging time to maintain their dominant market share in the banking sector. Employee motivation is the critical key to enable the state-owned commercial banks in Laos to maintain their competitive advantage and achieve their goals.
This research project aimed at investigating the factors that motivate and demotivate employees in the Lao state-owned commercial banks as the public sector is the dominant player in the Lao banking industry. The study was conducted through the three leading state-owned commercial banks under three main objectives; being: (1) to identify motivating factors (2) to investigate the factors that cause demotivation to employee productivity and (3) to discover the desired practices that would increase motivation and decrease demotivation of the bank employees. To achieve these objectives of the research, semi-structured interviews, with a qualitative approach, were used to obtain the data through online video conferencing via Zoom. The data collecting process involved interviewing a total of 15 employees of three state-owned commercial banks in Laos.
Based on the empirical findings, it was found that these study participants are motivated by both intrinsic and extrinsic motivational factors. However, extrinsic motivation was shown to be a more potent motivating factor than intrinsic motivation among these fifteen participants. This is because extrinsic factors, such as employee benefits and financial rewards, gained the two highest scores for motivating factors. Meanwhile, career advancement, training programmes, good relationships with co-workers, challenging tasks, and recognition were intrinsic motivations that have potentially influenced this study’s participants’ motivation. The demotivating factors identified in this study were mainly related to inequality practices, fairness and transparency in the workplace. The results also suggest three important areas that need to be improved by the bank to increase motivation and decrease demotivation of employees, being: (1) people management (HR practices) such as effective job rotation and individual career path, (2) effective culture and management styles that focus on equality, and fairness, and (3) employee welfare and benefits that are more reliable and in relation to the economic condition that meets the standard of living of employees
Manaakitanga: A marae response to Covid-19
No full textMarae-led community development and well-being (käinga ora) is at the heart of this research project known as Marae Ora, Käinga Ora (MOKO). MOKO is a three-year research project designed to explore a holistic notion of käinga ora and community well-being beyond the existing focus on marae-led housing interventions. In the current housing crisis in Tämaki Makaurau, marae have illustrated a capacity to not only provide the social support infrastructure for whänau in need, but also some leadership towards a formalised response to the housing crisis for the whole community, and not exclusively Mäori.
Five marae are engaged in the MOKO project, all these marae are located in South Auckland. The key aims of this project are to examine the potential for marae to engage in future development of sustainable marae-led käinga initiatives in and with their communities; and to provide insights that influence opportunities for others, in particular external agencies and services, to achieve greater outcomes and collaborative advantages for whänau and community wellbeing, alongside marae. It is critical for marae to be supported through this research, to work with their communities and stakeholders to formulate collective solutions and co-produce shared approaches, strategies and activities through the reproduction of new knowledge that emerges from this study. Community participation is a prerequisite to understanding and enhancing community well-being and käinga.
The MOKO research project was in the first six months of environmental scanning following the appointment of marae-based researchers for each of the marae, when the first COVID lockdown was experienced in Aotearoa, 2020. It is the presence of these Marae Research Coordinators (MRC) that enabled the MOKO project to capture the first-hand response from the five marae to their whänau and community needs during the lockdowns. This article shares insights into the diversity of manaakitanga for three of the marae in meeting the needs of their distinct communities
A weighty issue: The implications of an ultrasound prediction of a large baby in pregnancy
No full textUltrasound scans are an increasingly normalised part of pregnancy in Aotearoa New Zealand. In the third trimester, fetal measurements and weight estimations are undertaken at all scans, regardless of clinical indication. Even though these size predictions can be inaccurate, they heavily influence clinical decision-making. As a result, people with a scan prediction of a large baby may be more likely to have unnecessary interventions that do not improve outcomes, irrespective of the baby’s actual birthweight.
My study aimed to explore the implications of an ultrasound prediction of a large baby on birthing people’s perceptions and experiences of their pregnancies and births, including their birth choices and relationships with caregivers. The study was underpinned by feminist poststructural theory, which is interested in the exposure of apparently fixed truths as socially and politically situated, and the creation of possibility for different ways of knowing and being through the deconstruction of those fixed truths. This focus was consonant with the objectives of my work: to expose the current apparent truths and practices about large babies and birth as the products of dominant medical discourse, and then set about disturbing them and creating space for a midwifery and women-centred narrative of fetal growth.
In conducting the study, I carried out semi-structured interviews with people who had experienced a large baby prediction in pregnancy. I then analysed the data using reflexive thematic analysis. My analysis identified three overarching themes. The first described the two dominant medicalising discourses that prioritised surveillance and risk-centric care, and problematised large babies. The second identified the oppressive effects that engagement with these discourses had, including women experiencing fear, guilt, and a loss of control as they were directed on high intervention care pathways. The third explored the ways that women attempted to resist the oppressive effects of dominant discourse by privileging women’s ways of knowing, trusting their bodies to grow and birth normally, and seeking to gain control of decision-making about their experience. My findings demonstrated the negative impact that a large baby prediction had on women’s experiences and care pathways and identified opportunities for those women to challenge the problematisation of predicted large babies. The importance of a supportive midwifery relationship to these resistances was clear. The role of midwives in partnering with women to challenge medical meanings and practices related to large babies is affirmed as a key finding in this research
Experiences of physical activity and exercise in cancer patients and survivors using Te Whare Tapa Whā
No full textAIMS: This project aimed to explore the experiences and perspectives of cancer patients and survivors engaging in a cancer exercise programme. The cancer exercise programme was an initiative undertaken by academic staff and post graduate students to increase exercise amongst a cancer community.
METHODS: Data were collected through a literature review, one-on-one interviews and observations. Interviews consisted of semi-structured questions related to experiences of cancer, physical activity (PA), a cancer exercise programme, and the subsequent impact on wellbeing. Observational data were gathered through field notes and informal conversations with the participants. The cornerstones of health described by Te Whare Tapa Whā provided a lens to analyse and interpret the data.
FINDINGS: Four participants from the cancer exercise programme, and a clinician from Otago, New Zealand (mean age 56.8 years) participated in the study. Participants reported that engagement in the cancer exercise programme resulted in peer support and psychological benefits, “…It’s been marvellous. Not only physically, but mentally as well, getting to see people and getting out and socialising…”, [the cancer exercise programme was] “…fun because of everybody else there and being able to see everybody and ask how they’re doing…”. The data demonstrated connections between PA and health across all aspects of wellbeing, described by Te Whare Tapa Whā. The findings demonstrated that Te Whare Tapa Whā principles can be useful when analysing experiences of a cancer exercise programme.
CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted that cancer patients and survivors’ experiences of PA were more than physical and were exemplified in all aspects of Te Whare Tapa Whā. Their lived experiences describe how PA and exercise provides opportunities for participants to gain peer and psychological support, a finding that is consistent with the literature