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Participation in everyday occupations and life satisfaction is often reduced after acquiring a brain injury. The everyday life situation is altered and life satisfaction is also decreased for persons who are close to those who have acquired a brain injury, for instance partners. The overall aim of this dissertation was to explore and identify what people do and want to do in everyday life over time after acquiring a brain injury, with focus on their perceptions of gaps in their everyday occupations and the relation to their perceived functioning and life satisfaction. The joint life satisfaction among couples, where one person has had an acquired brain injury, and the relation to their perceived functioning and participation in everyday occupations were also explored. Furthermore, the aim was to initiate the development of methodology capturing the perceived occupational gaps, and to understand how occupational gaps were characterised in the lived experiences of performing everyday occupations. This dissertation comprises four studies that focus on the participants perceptions of everyday occupations. The joint life satisfaction among 55 couples and the influence the perceived functioning and disability had on their life satisfaction was explored (Study I). The concept of occupational gaps was identified; an occupational gap is defined as the gap that occurs between what an individual wants and needs to do and what he or she actually does. The Occupational Gaps Questionnaire was developed, which is considered to measure to what extent an individual does/does not what he or she wants to/wants not to do. Perceived occupational gaps before and after injury and the relation to impairments and time lapse since injury were explored among 187 participants who had acquired their brain injury 1-4 years earlier (Study II). The relation between perceived occupational gaps and life satisfaction in a subsample (n=116) of the previous study sample was also explored (Study III). F

There was a rich diversity in material culture during the Middle Neolithic in Scandinavia and the Baltic region, and the archaeological remains have therefore generally been labelled as one out of several parallel archaeological cultures. What these “cultures” represent, and whether or not they correspond to actual groups of people has long been debated. Particularly the Pitted Ware Culture has given rise to various hypotheses. By applying stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses on human and faunal skeletal remains from Pitted Ware contexts, and to compare these data with stable isotope data derived from sites of other cultural attribution, we were able to demonstrate that the Pitted Ware Culture in fact represents a separate group of people, not only distinguished by their characteristic pottery, but also by their food culture, which was mainly based on the utilization of seal. On the basis of stable isotope, radiocarbon and archaeological data, various other hypotheses regarding the Pitted Ware Culture and its stance vis-à-vis the Funnel Beaker and Battle Axe (Corded Ware) Cultures could thus be refuted.

Objective: To explore adaptation, by examining the occupational gaps occurring between what individuals want to do and what they actually do in terms of their everyday activities before and after brain injury. In addition, the relationships between occupational gaps and impairment/activity limitations and the time lapse since the brain injury were explored. Design: A cross-sectional study. Subjects: A total of 187 persons, affected by traumatic brain injury or subarachnoid haemorrhage 1–4 years previously. Methods: A postal questionnaire encompassing questions concerning gaps in the performance of activities in everyday life before and after the brain injury and perceived impairment/activity limitations. Results: The numbers of occupational gaps increased after the injury, with the number of gaps having increased from 46% to 71%. The number of occupational gaps was significantly related to executive impairment/activity limitations, and motor impairment/activity limitations and other somatic impairments, such as headache, also had an impact. The time lapse since the brain injury had no significant effect on the number of occupational gaps. Conclusion: The results suggests that there is a need for adaptation in everyday activities, even several years after a brain injury, which indicates that follow-up and access to individualized rehabilitation interventions in the long-term are required.

Stable carbon and nitrogen isotope nalysis of human faunal remains from Zvejnieki Stone Age complex revealed a considerable input of freswater fish in the diet of people buried at Zvejnieki. This emphasison freshwater fish diminished in the Late Neoltithic and Bronze Age periods.

Part of urn:nbn:se:su:diva-10

Part of urn:nbn:se:su:diva-10

Part of urn:nbn:se:su:diva-10

The role of cultural policy within the general political planning of a community can vary both historically and regionally. The aim of this study has been to explore the cultural policy plans, during the 1990's, in the recently formed geographical region of "Västra Götaland". This is a qualitative study, carried out during 1999, and based upon structured interviews with five representatives of the cultural-policy sector in the "Västra Götaland" region. In order to identify connections and tendencies in a more general social context the aims of the five representatives regarding cultural policy have been explored from the perspective of three cultural policy paradigms, namely Dorte Skot-Hansen, Olav R. Spilling and Göran Nylöf. To get a deeper understanding of existing regional politics, the General Regional Development Plan from "Västra Götaland" and two other Swedish regions have been examined from a cultural policy perspective. In addition, the results of the interviews have been compared to the General Regional Development Plans. In the scientific survey of the study, the concepts and terminology of the development plans are discussed and clarified. The study also includes a review of the regional political ideas that existed in Swedish society from the 1950´s to the end of the 1990´s. There is also a historical review of national and regional cultural policy from the 1970´s up to the present day. This study demonstrates that today cultural policy is perceived to have a more important and integrated role in general developmental politics, than in the past., Uppsatsnivå: D

Diss. Stockholm : Univ.

Part of urn:nbn:se:su:diva-10