Current psychological distress and coping strategies reported by university staff in reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Authors: Sekese, Deneo Nande
- Date: 2023-10-13
- Subjects: Clinical health psychology , Salutogenesis , Distress (Psychology) , Adjustment (Psychology) , COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020- Influence , College teachers , Sense of coherence
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/425045 , vital:72204
- Description: The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent disruptions brought about by the implementation of non-pharmaceutical interventions, provide an unfortunate but useful opportunity to explore employee wellness in response to a crisis, within the Higher Education context. COVID-19 lockdowns meant that university students could no longer access conventional learning through physical attendance at lectures. In response, university staff had to contend with a number of changes to their work environment. These included adapting teaching, learning, and assessment methods to an online platform, which led to changes in job roles, expectations, and increased workload for both academic and support staff. The focus of this research was to explore correlations between the current psychological distress that university employees are experiencing and their recalled coping strategies and sense of coherence in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. A mixed-method approach using a survey design was used. Surveys were completed by 171 university academic and support staff using the SA CORE-10 and BRIEF Cope, as well as qualitative questions. Results demonstrated that higher levels of current psychological distress correlated positively with avoidant coping strategies, particularly in academic staff as opposed to support staff, while more adaptive coping strategies tracked with a sense of coherence. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Psychology, 2023
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- Date Issued: 2023-10-13
Cyborg bodies and the search for self: an ethnographic exploration of supportive technologies as tools to mitigate daily distresses
- Authors: Kibane, Lebogang Zandile
- Date: 2022-10-14
- Subjects: Posthuman , Posthumanism , Anthropology , m-health , Wireless communication systems in medical care , Cyber-ethnography , Distress (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/408625 , vital:70510
- Description: This dissertation explores the ways in which individuals embody cyborg realities through engaging with technological aids. It examines how these interactions have the potential to bring to light new ways of thinking about and experiencing daily distresses. Pertinent human technology interaction was observed through an overarching cyborg lens, embedded in posthumanist thought. The study began with a “human as cyborg” ontology that sought to impress upon readers the intimacy with which technology is entangled in our lives. It aimed to call to attention the use of the cyborg myth as it is concerned with “transgressed boundaries, potent fusions, and dangerous possibilities” (Haraway, 1985:7). The study followed a cyber ethnographic strategy, where cyber ethnography refers to a virtual research method that observes social and cultural phenomena that are mediated by online interactions. Data was collected over a period of eight months, beginning in December 2020 and ending in July 2021. It was collected through the following means: a short self-administered online questionnaire, computer mediated in-depth interviews, and group interviews. I also kept a journal on reflections of my own use of these supportive technologies. After analysing the results of in-depth interviews with nine primary participants and twenty-six online questionnaires, the following key themes were brought to light: Firstly, the tethered self, or cyborg self, engages in evolved acts of ‘care of the self’ mitigated through supportive technology use. Secondly, access to new technologies brings about new ways of performing the self. Thirdly, engagement with supportive technologies provides opportunity for aiding distress in the way of encouraging self-reflective and self-interrogation behaviours as seen in mobile health app use. This constant self-interrogation behaviour in turn develops a kind of technological dependency, characterized by escapism and evolved methods of self- soothing. Lastly, exploring the use of technology to aid distress revealed that technologies generate equal opportunities for improved well-being, as they do for a decreased sense of connectedness and security. The research demonstrates that supportive technology use is entangled in the fabric of our everyday lives. Through it we fashion our identities, alleviate distress, evade distress, and discover new causes of distress. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Anthropology, 2022
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- Date Issued: 2022-10-14
Developing a protocol for campus health service professional nurses to manage students with mental distress
- Authors: Dalton, Linda Louise
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: College students -- Mental health , College students -- Mental health services , Nurses -- Mental health , Distress (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:10030 , http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1303 , College students -- Mental health , College students -- Mental health services , Nurses -- Mental health , Distress (Psychology)
- Description: Professional nurses working at a campus health service have to cope with challenges such as staff shortages and budgetary constraints associated with working in a complex environment providing primary health care. The aim of primary health care includes promoting health, preventing disease and the early detection and treatment of illness. Mental health services form an integral part of the integrated primary health care package as implemented in the campus health service. Students attend the Campus Health Service for help related to their health. Health care is provided by professional nurses and counsellors through a comprehensive primary health care service which serves students as well as staff. Some students may state that they experience feelings of being stressed or depressed. Other students may complain of physical symptoms such as headache or upper backache. Upon further investigation emotional problems may be identified as the cause of the psychosomatic symptoms. The professional nurses working in the campus health service verbalised that it is sometimes difficult to identify a mental illness or mental distress as there is no effective assessment tool that they can use. Management of conditions is also problematic as there are no protocols indicating the therapeutic interventions that can be taken. The research question in this study was therefore: What information should be included in a protocol to assess and manage a student experiencing mental distress that can be used by professional nurses working in a Campus Health Service? The aim of this study is to develop a mental health care protocol for campus health service professional nurses to assess and manage university students who are experiencing mental distress. The research design of this study was qualitative, explorative, descriptive, explanatory and contextual. In this study the Delphi research technique was used to create an instrument to standardise mental health care in a campus health service. The Delphi technique is a series of sequential questionnaires or “rounds” interspersed with controlled feedback that seeks to gain the most reliable consensus of opinion of a group of experts. A questionnaire was developed based on an extensive literature review. The research population of this study consisted of two groups: professional nurses with knowledge of student health care needs and expert psychiatric nurses. The study was conducted at the Campus Health Service at a university in the Eastern Cape. The data collection and analysis was done utilising the Delphi technique. Trustworthiness was ensured by using the Lincoln and Guba Model utilising the criteria of credibility, applicability, dependability and conformability. In this study the ethical principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, justice and self determination were applied to ensure that participants are treated with respect and consideration and ensured high ethical standards. Informed consent was obtained from the participants in this study. The findings of this research were utilised to assist the researcher in developing a protocol for mental health care of students in campus health service settings.
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- Date Issued: 2010