1,720,979 research outputs found
A comprehensive alcohol and drug testing policy in the workplace as an intervention in the mining sector
No full textThe abuse of alcohol and drugs can negatively affect the workplace. The testing of workers for substances is a sensitive, yet effective intervention to minimise the percentage of workers who test positively for substance abuse. Little research has been conducted to assess the impact of alcohol and drug testing on the workplace. Thus, this qualitative study, carried out in the mining industry in Namibia, investigates how a comprehensive workplace policy on alcohol and drug abuse can reduce substance abuse among workers during working hours. Data was gathered by means of six focus group discussions and 16 in-depth interviews, incorporating workers from all job grades, as well as community members in a closed mining town. The findings show that the comprehensive alcohol and drug testing policy had a positive impact on reducing the occurrence of substance abuse in the workplace. Since the introduction of both random drug and alcohol tests and fit-for-work testing, fewer workers were testing positively for the presence of substances, and participants noted how workers restricted their substance use specifically because of the testing. A central feature of this particular alcohol and drug testing policy is its provision of substance abuse treatment to workers who tested positively for the presence of substances and the involvement of a social worker hired by the mine, rather than simply a punitive approach. However, findings also show that treatment programs need to be followed up with standard aftercare procedures, such as support groups and training on policies and procedures around alcohol and drug testing, in order to improve worker perceptions and acceptance of policies. Furthermore, prevention efforts were regarded as more cost-effective and proactive than the treatment of substance abuse, and holistic substance abuse training was seen as improving awareness among workers.
This paper is dedicated to Maretha Maree – she was a teacher/lecturer, mentor and colleague. Maretha was a lecturer in the Department of Social Work for almost 30 years until her death in November 2013. Over all the years at UNAM, she taught many courses amongst others community work, palliative care, and social work management. The late Maretha will also be remembered for her expertise in substance abuse in Namibia, as chairperson of Namibia’s Drug Awareness Group, she was instrumental in the facilitation and establishment the Teenagers Against Drug Abuse (TADA) groups through Namibia. This paper is also amongst the many scientifi c contributions made by the late Maretha Maree towards substance abuse in Namibia.Maretha, Maree; Lightfoot, Elizabeth; Ananias, Janetta. (2016). A comprehensive alcohol and drug testing policy in the workplace as an intervention in the mining sector. Retrieved from the University Digital Conservancy, https://hdl.handle.net/11299/182070
Perceptions amongst university students about elder abuse in Namibia
Full text linkThe most vulnerable period in the lifecycle of a human being is in childhood and again reaching advanced age in later life. Social work students need to have knowledge and competencies to respond effectively to vulnerabilities such as elder abuse. The aim of the study was to examine social work student’s level of awareness and knowledge on elder abuse, in order to highlight content areas to be addressed in curricula by social work educators. In a qualitative method study, the convenient sample method was used to select 150 social work students in the first, second and third year of study. Each student was able to present two case examples on elder abuse in their communities. The findings indicated that economic and financial abuse of older people takes place on a regular basis, participants further shared that older adults experience neglect, abandonments and emotional abuse. To a lesser extent older people suffer from physical abuse. From the viewpoint of young people it has been confirmed that elder abuse is a common concern in Namibia and that it has a serious impact on the lives of the elderly. The study underlines the importance of public awareness. Documentation and help systems need to be developed to effectively address the problem of elder abuse. A component of aging, and in particular, elder abuse need to be incorporated in the social work curricula to better prepare graduates
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
A study on family and caregiver support to psychiatric patients in Katutura: A psychiatric social work perspective
No full textSubmitted to the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in accordance with the requirements for the Degree of Masters in ArtsDe-institutionalization brought with it a shift in the care taking of psychiatric patients from institutional care to community care. As a result, people with mental illnesses have to rely on families for support and care. Existing literature in the field of psychiatry tend to over concentrate on the well-being of the mentally ill, while the experiences of caregivers are understudied. This exploratory study was designed to investigate family and caregivers support to psychiatric patients. The objectives of this study were to determine the nature and extent of family support which psychiatric patients receive, investigated the need for family and caregivers support amongst psychiatric patients, and also searched for options to improve family and caregiver support. The purposive sample method was employed to select fourty- five family caregiver of psychiatric patients who lives in Katutura. The hospital files of all the psychiatric patients whose families formed part of the sample was studied, contact details of the family caregivers as well as some background information of the ill person was recorded. A structured interview schedule consisting of both closed and open-ended questions was used as an instrument for data collection, and in-depth interviews took place with family caregivers. Other methods of data collection were focus group discussions as well as discussions with key informants. A pilot study was undertaken before the actual data collection with the sample population. The data were processed manually and are presented in tables, graphs and charts. The findings indicate that families provide in the basic needs of the mentally ill person, such as shelter, food and clothing. Families were less likely to provide in emotional support to the mentally ill. The study also found that family caregivers do not have much contact with mental health professionals, and they lack knowledge on mental illness. The results suggest that the relationship between mental health professionals and family caregivers need to be strengthened in order to address the needs of family caregivers. Effective intervention by mental health professionals should focus on both the family and the mentally ill, and should be based on a positive attitude towards the family caregivers of psychiatric patient. Education campaigns to people with mental illnesses, family caregivers and the community at large need to be embarked upon. Further studies on family and caregiver support need to investigate the family caregivers of mentally ill patients who have been diagnosed with a specific mental illness
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
Lessons Learnt and Challenges Faced:working towards a truly equitable research partnership across the global north-south divide.
No full textProf. Ananias and Dr Sharley have collaborated on a number of research projects focused upon understanding children and young people’s health, welfare and education in Namibia. Prof. Ananias and Dr Sharley are currently Co-Principal Investigators on a 3-year qualitative study into an early years’ teacher training programme funded by the Perivoli Foundation through the University’s Perivoli Africa Research Centre (PARC) which was established in 2020. Having worked together on sensitive research involving children and families for almost ten years, this presentation provides a brief summary of the lessons learnt and challenges faced during their collaborative journey at individual, cultural, institutional and structural levels
Appropriate Similarity Measures for Author Cocitation Analysis
Full text linkWe provide a number of new insights into the methodological discussion about author cocitation analysis. We first argue that the use of the Pearson correlation for measuring the similarity between authors’ cocitation profiles is not very satisfactory. We then discuss what kind of similarity measures may be used as an alternative to the Pearson correlation. We consider three similarity measures in particular. One is the well-known cosine. The other two similarity measures have not been used before in the bibliometric literature. Finally, we show by means of an example that our findings have a high practical relevance.information science;Pearson correlation;cosine;similarity measure;author cocitation analysis
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
Full text linkWe conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
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