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    Men with multiple sclerosis : a study of a mutual self-help support group : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for a Master of Arts Degree in Social Anthropology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2000) McCool, Michael John
    Multiple sclerosis is a condition that affects about twice as many women as men. I am a man with multiple sclerosis (an insider in this work) and my aim within this thesis is to relate the stories of our involvement within the support group environment. For the purpose of examining the individual and group process, I have found it useful to adopt a combination of narrative and feminist post modernist methods for understanding our ways of knowing and systems of helping. I was influenced by women of colour who argue about patriarchy and post colonialism to guide my thinking about the oppression of people with difference. The guiding principles of my study are inclusion, participation and emancipation. Inclusion occurred through involving the entire group in the research process. Active participation ensured that the theory presented in this study was grounded in the experiences of the individuals. Emancipation was achieved through presenting the voices of participants and working to provide better conditions for those concerned. This is an in-depth study of eight men who meet on a regular basis to share our interests, and life stories. We are people who are searching, surviving, succeeding and/or failing in our daily tasks. We are guys who are rational thinking human-beings and are just trying to be "normal" and included in our community. This thesis examines the process of surrendering power and the ways in which this causes the alienation of this group of individuals by our wider society. It looks at the social constructions of our disability, the fears, the chaos, dependency, our identity, and/or our visibility. Then we look at our "seizing the moment", through the process of reclaiming some of that power and control for ourselves through the benefit of mutual social support using camaraderie; the genuine need to help and care for each other and to be concerned. It is evident how our struggles and problems are not that dissimilar from other groups, for example, the emancipation of women and the plight of indigenous peoples. The discipline of social anthropology, being located within the humanities, provides an ideal base for studying the interconnections between oppressed groups.
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    Client satisfaction at the Midcentral Health and Massey University concussion clinic : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts in Psychology at Massey University
    (Massey University, 2003) Leach, Roxanne Marie
    The present study intended to evaluate the quality of the service provided by the Midcentral Health and Massey University Concussion Clinic. In doing so, the study first considered the nature of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury and concussion injury and rehabilitation and investigated different methods of measuring quality and weighed up the pros and cons of each method to chose the most appropriate method for this setting. As a result, the present study surveyed service satisfaction at the Concussion Clinic. A standardised measure (the Service Satisfaction Survey – 30) was chosen to counter previous methodological problems common to other studies of satisfaction. The main objective of this study was to provide feedback to the Concussion Clinic regarding satisfaction with aspects of their services and to simultaneously investigate relationships with satisfaction. On a whole, participants were generally satisfied with the Concussion Clinic service; conversely some aspects of the service that could be improved were identified. However caution has to be taken in analysing the results especially when inferring results to the whole population, due to this low response rate (twenty of the seventy-nine clients surveyed returned the survey). The second objective of the study was to evaluate the use of this method of evaluation, and the measure chosen, with this type of service. The measure chosen (the Service Satisfaction Scale –30) proved inappropriate for this service setting due to the length and irrelevant questions. Moreover the use of client satisfaction as a method to evaluate this service, even though it provided some data on satisfaction with services, also may not be justified for the reason that the clients were generally only seen once and the nature of outcome in this setting was unclear. This study demonstrated the need for more research in the area of service satisfaction in the health arena, in particular this type of setting; suggestions for this research are included in this study.