Bland amasoner och eunucker : En kvalitativ studie av patografier av kvinnor med bröstcancer och män med prostatacancer

Narratives about life-changing events like cancer have become more common in today’s society. The purpose of the present study was to investigate whether gender patterns in society can also be found in pathographies about cancer, and further to investigate how gender is expressed in these cancer related narratives. Questions were posed on characteristics of the autobiographical cancer narratives, how gender is constructed by the authors of these narratives, and what these narratives say about gender structures’ liability to change in the individuals affected by this disease. The material consisted of two Swedish pathographies about breast cancer, written by women, and two Swedish pathographies about prostate cancer, written by men. These works were published in the first decade of the present century. Narrative interpretation was used as the analysis method. The results show that gender patterns expressed in these narratives mainly follow conventional standards. Gender structures appear to be resistant to change in men and women diagnosed with cancer. The narratives by the women authors appear though to be somewhat more open to using the notions of manhood than was sees in narratives by the male authors regarding norms of femininity.

Samband mellan mammans BMI relaterat till amningsduration och mammans skattning av barnets hälsa : En enkätstudie

I ett internationellt perspektiv har Sverige hög amningsfrekvens, men under 2000-talet har amningsfrekvensen sjunkit och stora regionala skillnader ses. Kvinnorna rekommenderas att helamma sex månader. Mödravårdcentralen (MVC) informerar om bröstmjölkens hälsoeffekter som till exempel att bröstmjölken skyddar barn mot allergier. Forskning visar att överviktiga och feta kvinnor har kortare amningsduration, men få studier behandlar svenska förhållanden. Syfte: Syfte med fördjupningsarbetet är att studera samband mellan mammans BMI relaterat till amningsduration och mammans skattning av barnets hälsa de tre första levnadsåren. Metod: Studien är en kvantitativ retrospektiv tvärsnittstudie. Data insamlades via enkäter, 418 deltagare inkluderades. Data har analyserats med Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS). För deskriptiv och jämförande analys har parametriska och icke-parametriska analyser genomförts. Resultat: De kvinnor som inte ammade skattade sitt barns hälsa sämre vid tre års ålder i jämförelse med kvinnor som ammat någon period. Vid tre års ålder skattade kvinnor med övervikt och fetma sitt barns hälsa sämre. Slutsats: Det är viktigt att kunna identifiera kvinnor som är behov av stöd för att initiera amning och kunna bidra till anpassat stöd till dem. AbstractSweden reports high duration of breastfeeding compared to international findings. During the last century, the frequency of breastfeeding duration has decreased in Sweden, with large regional differences. Recommendation for exclusive breastfeeding is six months. Midwives provide information about healthy benefits of breast milk, such as breast milk protecting baby´s against allergies. Research has presented associations between obesity and short duration of breastfeeding. However, there is a lack of knowledge regarding women in a Swedish context. Aim: To investigate the relation between mothers BMI, duration of breastfeeding and maternal valuation of the baby´s health during the first three year of life. Method: The study is a quantitative retrospective cross-sectional study. Data was collected through questionnaires, 418 participants were included. Data was analyzed using the SPSS. For descriptive and comparative analysis parametric and nonparamateric statistics have been used.Results: Women who did not breastfed perceived their baby´s health worse at three years compared with women who did breastfeed. Women with overweight and obesity also perceived the health of their three year old worse than the other maternal group. Conclusions: It´s important to identify women who need support to initiate breastfeeding and give them customized support.

Värdigt liv och välbefinnande, enligt vem? : en kvalitativ studie om brukare och biståndshandläggares beskrivningar av ett värdigt liv och välbefinnande : Dignity and well-being, according to whom? : a qualitative study of elderly and assistance officer´s descriptions of a dignified life and wellbeing

We are two students named Susanne Grönlund and Anna Zaar and have jointly worked together this c-essay called "dignity and well-being according to whom? The paper is written at Högskolan dalarna in Falun.The purpose of this study was to investigate how the elderly and assistance officer describes dignity and well-being and how it is consistent with the government's bill on the national values that the National Board has developed.Our empirical study consists of four qualitative interviews, two older people dependent on community care and two assistance officers. The study's theoretical basis is Antonovsky's salutogenic approach and SOC. The survey focuses on different themes such as dignity, integrity, participation, treatment, wellbeing, security and meaningfulness which are also central themes in the Government Bill on the national values for elderly.The results show that the respondents believe that a life of dignity is difficult to define and also a subjective experience. The results also show a consistency between what the elderly, assistance officer and the national values that define dignity and well-being. Social Services Act, national values should serve as a starting point for municipalities to improve elderly care, thereby creating a sense of coherence for the individual. Keywords: Elder care, dignity, integrity, participation, attitude, well-being, security and meaningfulness.

Lokal utveckling och företagssamverkan i träbranschen : Dokumentation och preliminär analys av ett 30-tal fall

Networks and cooperatives have become very common in the woodworking industry during the1990’s. As part of a research project on small enterprise development in the woodworking industry within the Target 6 area (in Sweden) of the European Community, this study follows the development of a dozen cooperative projects during the period 1997-2000. In order to broaden the knowledge base of the study, in 1998 we carried out a survey of cooperative ventures in the woodworking industry in the rest of the country, and collected information about their history, present situation and future strategy. Together with our own material we achieved a body of material consisting of some 30 cases which were subjected to exploratory analysis. We identified the following categories of projects and cooperative ventures; ”Local development projects”, ”Development networks”, ”Producer networks” and ”Development supporting networks”. Most of the producer networks were horizontally integrated but some of them were vertically integrated, along the processing chain from the forest to the customer. Nearly all the local development projects and the networks had been initiated within the last four years. It is, therefore, too early to make any conclusions about their success. Our main finding, so far, is that local development and the establishment of networks requires ”driving forces” in the form of committed individuals, time, money and project organisation. Most of the projects and networks were supported by public funds.

Brytmånens utformning vid trädfällning - Jämförande studier av böjmotstånd och gångjärnseffekt : Designing felling hinge in tree felling - Comparative studies of bending resistance and hinge effect

Vid trädfällning med motorsåg sparar man en så kallad brytmån som skall fungera som ett gång¬järn när trädet fälls. Om brytmånen går av tidigt finns en risk att trädet faller okontrolle¬rat. De rekommendationer som finns säger att brytmånens bredd skall göras proportionell mot trädets diameter. Genom att teoretiskt och praktiskt undersöka vilka krafter brytmånen utsätts för och vad den håller för har det varit möjligt att dra vissa slutsatser om hur en bra brytmån skall se ut. Ett viktigt resultat är att en bred brytmån (över 30-40 mm) är mycket trög att böja och inte fungerar i det avseendet att den går av redan vid små böjningar. Teoretiska be¬räkningar och praktiska försök visar att en relativt smal brytmån håller för belastningen vid rakt motlut även på stora träd. Som ny rekommendationen föreslås att brytmånens bredd inte bör vara mer än 30 mm. Av försöken kan man också dra slutsatsen att frusen ved är stel och brister tidigt, varför svår¬fällda träd inte bör fällas när veden är fryst.A felling hinge is used when felling trees by help of chain saw. If the hinge breaks early in the fall of the tree there is a great risk that the tree will fall without control. Present recommenda¬tions in Sweden say that the thickness of the felling hinge shall be made in proportion to the stem diameter. By use of theoretical and practical examinations of the forces stressing the felling hinge, and the strength of the wood itself, it has been possible to draw conclusions regarding the correct design of a felling hinge. One important result is that a thick felling hinge (over 30-40 mm) is very hard to bend and does not work well as it looses most of its strength already at a small forward bending angel. Theoretical calculations and practical tests show that a relatively narrow felling hinge will manage very well the forces when felling trees with lean opposite to the felling direction even for large trees. Our new recommendation is that the thickness of the felling hinge in normal Swedish conditions should not exceed 30 mm. Through the studies it can also be seen that frozen, brittle wood breaks at small bending angels. For that reason particularly difficult trees not should be felled when the wood is frozen.