A model for the facilitation of mental health through belly dancing as movement
- Authors: Downing, Charlené
- Date: 2012-11-14
- Subjects: Mental health , Belly dancing - Therapeutic use , Mind and body
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:7398 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8204
- Description: D.Cur. , Movement is an integral aspect of daily living. Movement allows the human being to express, find meaning and reflect a part or the whole of the unfolding of the stories of their lives. In nursing movement is the dialogue and interaction between professional nurse and patient. The essence of the dialogue is the movement towards caring and healing between the professional nurse and the individual. The purpose of this research is to develop, describe, evaluate and provide guidelines for the operationalisation of a model as a framework of reference for nursing to facilitate the individual faced with mental health challenges as an integral part of wholeness. The research objectives are: •To elicit the experience of belly dancers within the belly dancing environment. •To elicit the experience of belly dance teachers within the belly dancing environment. •To describe a model to facilitate mental health as an integral part of wholeness of the individuals faced with mental health challenges. •To evaluate the model to promote the facilitation of mental health as integral part of wholeness of the individuals faced with mental health challenges. •To describe the guidelines for operationalising the model for facilitation of mental health as an integral part of wholeness. A research design consisted of theory-generative, qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual in nature. The purposive sample consisted of eight individuals participating in belly dancing.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Downing, Charlené
- Date: 2012-11-14
- Subjects: Mental health , Belly dancing - Therapeutic use , Mind and body
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:7398 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/8204
- Description: D.Cur. , Movement is an integral aspect of daily living. Movement allows the human being to express, find meaning and reflect a part or the whole of the unfolding of the stories of their lives. In nursing movement is the dialogue and interaction between professional nurse and patient. The essence of the dialogue is the movement towards caring and healing between the professional nurse and the individual. The purpose of this research is to develop, describe, evaluate and provide guidelines for the operationalisation of a model as a framework of reference for nursing to facilitate the individual faced with mental health challenges as an integral part of wholeness. The research objectives are: •To elicit the experience of belly dancers within the belly dancing environment. •To elicit the experience of belly dance teachers within the belly dancing environment. •To describe a model to facilitate mental health as an integral part of wholeness of the individuals faced with mental health challenges. •To evaluate the model to promote the facilitation of mental health as integral part of wholeness of the individuals faced with mental health challenges. •To describe the guidelines for operationalising the model for facilitation of mental health as an integral part of wholeness. A research design consisted of theory-generative, qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual in nature. The purposive sample consisted of eight individuals participating in belly dancing.
- Full Text:
Investment in self: development of the construct
- Authors: Ebrahim, Sumayya
- Date: 2008-11-03T06:47:03Z
- Subjects: Self , Self-actualization (Psychology) , Health , Mental health
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:13985 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1435
- Description: M.A. , The quest for a healthy mind and body has received increasing attention in recent years and the focus it seems, is not only on attaining optimal physical and psychological health, but also the maintenance and enhancement thereof. In light of this, the aim of this study was to understand the contributing factors in reaching optimal physical and psychological health or what is referred to in this study as an Optimal State of Being. To this end, the Investment in Self construct was developed to explain the aspirations towards optimal physical and psychological health. In view of this, the criteria thought to be a part of an Optimal State of Being are outlined in this study and one of the main tenants of this study is that Investment in Self will play a role in reaching an Optimal State of Being. Since there is no comprehensive construct that conceptualises the essence of Investment in Self, there is consequently no objective method of measuring it. This study, in addition to developing the Investment in Self construct, developed an instrument to measure Investment in Self called the Investment in Self Questionnaire. The Investment in Self construct was correlated with Sense of Coherence, Satisfaction with Life and Optimism using the self-constructed Investment in Self Questionnaire, Sense of Coherence – Short Form, Satisfaction with Life Scale and Life Orientation Test respectively, in order to establish its relationship to optimal well-being. The questionnaires were administered to 256 volunteer participants from the general population and the results of the study showed that Investment in Self is significantly related to psychological well-being.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ebrahim, Sumayya
- Date: 2008-11-03T06:47:03Z
- Subjects: Self , Self-actualization (Psychology) , Health , Mental health
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:13985 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1435
- Description: M.A. , The quest for a healthy mind and body has received increasing attention in recent years and the focus it seems, is not only on attaining optimal physical and psychological health, but also the maintenance and enhancement thereof. In light of this, the aim of this study was to understand the contributing factors in reaching optimal physical and psychological health or what is referred to in this study as an Optimal State of Being. To this end, the Investment in Self construct was developed to explain the aspirations towards optimal physical and psychological health. In view of this, the criteria thought to be a part of an Optimal State of Being are outlined in this study and one of the main tenants of this study is that Investment in Self will play a role in reaching an Optimal State of Being. Since there is no comprehensive construct that conceptualises the essence of Investment in Self, there is consequently no objective method of measuring it. This study, in addition to developing the Investment in Self construct, developed an instrument to measure Investment in Self called the Investment in Self Questionnaire. The Investment in Self construct was correlated with Sense of Coherence, Satisfaction with Life and Optimism using the self-constructed Investment in Self Questionnaire, Sense of Coherence – Short Form, Satisfaction with Life Scale and Life Orientation Test respectively, in order to establish its relationship to optimal well-being. The questionnaires were administered to 256 volunteer participants from the general population and the results of the study showed that Investment in Self is significantly related to psychological well-being.
- Full Text:
Workplace-based organizational interventions promoting mental health and happiness among healthcareworkers : a realist review
- Gray, Patricia, Senabe, Sipho, Naicker, Nisha, Kgalamono, Spo, Yassi, Annalee, Spiegel, Jerry M.
- Authors: Gray, Patricia , Senabe, Sipho , Naicker, Nisha , Kgalamono, Spo , Yassi, Annalee , Spiegel, Jerry M.
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Mental health , Occupational mental health , Healthcare workers
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/409634 , uj:34347 , Citation: Gray, P. et al. 2019. Workplace-based organizational interventions promoting mental health and happiness among healthcareworkers : a realist review.
- Description: Abstract:
- Full Text:
- Authors: Gray, Patricia , Senabe, Sipho , Naicker, Nisha , Kgalamono, Spo , Yassi, Annalee , Spiegel, Jerry M.
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: Mental health , Occupational mental health , Healthcare workers
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/409634 , uj:34347 , Citation: Gray, P. et al. 2019. Workplace-based organizational interventions promoting mental health and happiness among healthcareworkers : a realist review.
- Description: Abstract:
- Full Text:
Interpersonal forgiveness: a psychological literature exploration
- Authors: Maboea, Dimakatso
- Date: 2008-11-06T07:25:16Z
- Subjects: Forgiveness , Interpersonal relations , Mental health
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:14597 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1518
- Description: M.A. , Interpersonal forgiveness has been a topic of philosophical and theological inquiry for millennia (Enright, Gassin & Wu, 1992; McCullough, Sandage & Worthington, 1997). Despite the centrality of interpersonal forgiveness to the theology and piety of the great Western monotheistic traditions, it has failed to attract the attention of scientific inquiry within the field of psychology. The study of constructs associated with morality or concepts associated with deep religious roots like forgiveness, was not a domain considered significant by neutrally oriented modernistic researchers. It was not until the last decade that psychologists began to give serious conceptual and empirical attention to the concept of forgiving and seeking forgiveness (Enright & Coyle, 1997; Sandage & Worthington, 1997). Psychological scholarship on interpersonal forgiveness has increased during the last ten years and it is beginning to be recognized as a social psychological phenomenon (McCullough & Worthington, 1999). Psychological well-being is another concept that has recently started to flourish because pathogenesis rather than salutogenesis has been the main focus of many modernist practitioners. Unlike forgiveness, psychological well-being was introduced by modernist practitioners in the clinical literature. While many practices within modernistic psychology focused on pathology, proponents of humanistic psychology such as Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers have encouraged and supported a paradigm shift from pathology to well-being and healthy functioning. Recent literature has linked the two dimensions of interpersonal forgiveness, namely expressing forgiveness and seeking forgiveness, with enhanced psychological well-being. Some of the studies investigated have associated willingness to forgive with a reduction in anxiety, depression, anger, bitterness and resentment as well as enhanced self-esteem and optimism for the future. Some scholars have (Worthington Jr, Kurusu, Collins, Jack, Ripley, & Baler. 2000; Freeedman & Enright, 1996) demonstrated a positive correlation between willingness to forgive and enhanced psychological well-being. Some studies (Kaminer, Stein, Mbanga & Zungu-Dirwayi, 2001; Maltby, Macaskill & Day, 2001; Mauger, Perry, Freeman, Grove, McBride & McKinney, 1992) have shown that failure to forgive others shared significant positive relationships with increased depression, post traumatic stress disorder, psychotic symptoms and social Imagining oneself seeking forgiveness also carries a range of positive emotional benefits. Although interpersonal forgiveness literature has gained momentum overseas, very little empirical attention has been given to this concept in South Africa. The aim of this exploratory study is to examine the existing literature in order to investigate how past scholars established the positive relationship between the two dimensions of interpersonal forgiveness and improvement in psychological well-being. It is hoped that this type of exploration, i.e. the literature review search, would also generate hypotheses that could direct future research in South Africa. Some of the findings of this literature review study are: • Scholars who established the relationship between forgiving and improved psychological well-being and those who showed the link between seeking forgiveness and enhanced psychological well-being used different approaches to arrive at their findings. • Quantitative methodologies were employed by researchers who established the link between forgiving and psychological well-being and seeking forgiveness and psychological well-being. • Psychometric tests (forgiveness scales and other scales used to measure psychological well-being) were the main instruments used for purposes of collecting data by researchers who established the link between forgiving and psychological well-being and seeking forgiveness and psychological well-being. • Although all the studies articulated the link between interpersonal forgiveness and psychological well-being, none of them defined psychological well-being. Psychometric instruments used to measure psychological well-being were different to psychological well-being instruments used by the fourth psychology (Positive Psychology) researchers. In the studies gathered for analysis by this literature review study, symptomatology scales were used to assess the level of psychological well-being. This exploratory literature review study concluded that interpersonal forgiveness is a relevant and worthwhile research area for pursuit in South Africa.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Maboea, Dimakatso
- Date: 2008-11-06T07:25:16Z
- Subjects: Forgiveness , Interpersonal relations , Mental health
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:14597 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1518
- Description: M.A. , Interpersonal forgiveness has been a topic of philosophical and theological inquiry for millennia (Enright, Gassin & Wu, 1992; McCullough, Sandage & Worthington, 1997). Despite the centrality of interpersonal forgiveness to the theology and piety of the great Western monotheistic traditions, it has failed to attract the attention of scientific inquiry within the field of psychology. The study of constructs associated with morality or concepts associated with deep religious roots like forgiveness, was not a domain considered significant by neutrally oriented modernistic researchers. It was not until the last decade that psychologists began to give serious conceptual and empirical attention to the concept of forgiving and seeking forgiveness (Enright & Coyle, 1997; Sandage & Worthington, 1997). Psychological scholarship on interpersonal forgiveness has increased during the last ten years and it is beginning to be recognized as a social psychological phenomenon (McCullough & Worthington, 1999). Psychological well-being is another concept that has recently started to flourish because pathogenesis rather than salutogenesis has been the main focus of many modernist practitioners. Unlike forgiveness, psychological well-being was introduced by modernist practitioners in the clinical literature. While many practices within modernistic psychology focused on pathology, proponents of humanistic psychology such as Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers have encouraged and supported a paradigm shift from pathology to well-being and healthy functioning. Recent literature has linked the two dimensions of interpersonal forgiveness, namely expressing forgiveness and seeking forgiveness, with enhanced psychological well-being. Some of the studies investigated have associated willingness to forgive with a reduction in anxiety, depression, anger, bitterness and resentment as well as enhanced self-esteem and optimism for the future. Some scholars have (Worthington Jr, Kurusu, Collins, Jack, Ripley, & Baler. 2000; Freeedman & Enright, 1996) demonstrated a positive correlation between willingness to forgive and enhanced psychological well-being. Some studies (Kaminer, Stein, Mbanga & Zungu-Dirwayi, 2001; Maltby, Macaskill & Day, 2001; Mauger, Perry, Freeman, Grove, McBride & McKinney, 1992) have shown that failure to forgive others shared significant positive relationships with increased depression, post traumatic stress disorder, psychotic symptoms and social Imagining oneself seeking forgiveness also carries a range of positive emotional benefits. Although interpersonal forgiveness literature has gained momentum overseas, very little empirical attention has been given to this concept in South Africa. The aim of this exploratory study is to examine the existing literature in order to investigate how past scholars established the positive relationship between the two dimensions of interpersonal forgiveness and improvement in psychological well-being. It is hoped that this type of exploration, i.e. the literature review search, would also generate hypotheses that could direct future research in South Africa. Some of the findings of this literature review study are: • Scholars who established the relationship between forgiving and improved psychological well-being and those who showed the link between seeking forgiveness and enhanced psychological well-being used different approaches to arrive at their findings. • Quantitative methodologies were employed by researchers who established the link between forgiving and psychological well-being and seeking forgiveness and psychological well-being. • Psychometric tests (forgiveness scales and other scales used to measure psychological well-being) were the main instruments used for purposes of collecting data by researchers who established the link between forgiving and psychological well-being and seeking forgiveness and psychological well-being. • Although all the studies articulated the link between interpersonal forgiveness and psychological well-being, none of them defined psychological well-being. Psychometric instruments used to measure psychological well-being were different to psychological well-being instruments used by the fourth psychology (Positive Psychology) researchers. In the studies gathered for analysis by this literature review study, symptomatology scales were used to assess the level of psychological well-being. This exploratory literature review study concluded that interpersonal forgiveness is a relevant and worthwhile research area for pursuit in South Africa.
- Full Text:
Integrating mental health and social development in theory and practice
- Authors: Plagerson, Sophie
- Date: 2014-01-21
- Subjects: Mental health , Health policy , Depression, Mental
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:5566 , ISSN 02681080 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/14185
- Description: Please refer to full text to view abstract
- Full Text: false
- Authors: Plagerson, Sophie
- Date: 2014-01-21
- Subjects: Mental health , Health policy , Depression, Mental
- Type: Article
- Identifier: uj:5566 , ISSN 02681080 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/14185
- Description: Please refer to full text to view abstract
- Full Text: false
Die verwantskap tussen koherensiesin en emosionele intelligensie
- Authors: Venter, Marina
- Date: 2008-11-14T14:16:56Z
- Subjects: Emotional intelligence , Life change events , Resilience (Personality trait) , Adjustment (Psychology) , Social medicine , Mental health
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:14681 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1675
- Description: M.A. , The present study has been undertaken to investigate the relationship between sense of coherence and emotional intelligence. 92 respondents, who work in organisations and who were willing to complete the questionnaires, participated in the study. Sense of coherence has been measured by means of a sense of coherence questionnaire (Antonovsky, 1987). Emotional intelligence has been measured by means of an emotional intelligence questionnaire (Schutte, Malouff, Hall, Haggerty, Cooper, Golden & Dornheim, 1997). Various statistical techniques have been employed to test the research hypothesis. The first step in the data-analysis process has been the evaluation of the psychometric properties of the measuring instruments. The second step has been the calculation of the intercorrelation of the sense of coherence and emotional intelligence scales and subscales. The intercorrelations between the subscales were subsequently subjected to a principal factor analysis with iterated communalities and Direct Oblimin rotation. The number of factors were determined by means of a Scree test, theoretical expectations and the interpretability of the factor structure. During the third step the total score of the emotional intelligence questionnaire of the dependent variable and the subscales of the sense of coherence questionnaire as independent variables were used in a multiple-regression analysis. The same procedure was followed during step four, but this time the total score of the sense of coherence questionnaire was specified as a dependent variable and the subscales of the emotional intelligence questionnaire were specified as independent variables. The results show a moderate positive relationship between emotional intelligence and sense of coherence. This relationship can be attributed mainly to the effect of the two subscales, namely optimism (emotional intelligence) and meaningfulness (sense of coherence). Individuals who are optimistic appear to have a high level of sense of coherence. Similarly, it appears that individuals who perceive their lives as meaningful are emotionally intelligent. However, no statement regarding the causal relationship between the variables can be made. This research can be applied in further research with a view to determine the role of emotional intelligence in stress management. In addition, the role that emotions play in the sense of coherence of individuals and resilience can also be investigated.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Venter, Marina
- Date: 2008-11-14T14:16:56Z
- Subjects: Emotional intelligence , Life change events , Resilience (Personality trait) , Adjustment (Psychology) , Social medicine , Mental health
- Type: Thesis
- Identifier: uj:14681 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/1675
- Description: M.A. , The present study has been undertaken to investigate the relationship between sense of coherence and emotional intelligence. 92 respondents, who work in organisations and who were willing to complete the questionnaires, participated in the study. Sense of coherence has been measured by means of a sense of coherence questionnaire (Antonovsky, 1987). Emotional intelligence has been measured by means of an emotional intelligence questionnaire (Schutte, Malouff, Hall, Haggerty, Cooper, Golden & Dornheim, 1997). Various statistical techniques have been employed to test the research hypothesis. The first step in the data-analysis process has been the evaluation of the psychometric properties of the measuring instruments. The second step has been the calculation of the intercorrelation of the sense of coherence and emotional intelligence scales and subscales. The intercorrelations between the subscales were subsequently subjected to a principal factor analysis with iterated communalities and Direct Oblimin rotation. The number of factors were determined by means of a Scree test, theoretical expectations and the interpretability of the factor structure. During the third step the total score of the emotional intelligence questionnaire of the dependent variable and the subscales of the sense of coherence questionnaire as independent variables were used in a multiple-regression analysis. The same procedure was followed during step four, but this time the total score of the sense of coherence questionnaire was specified as a dependent variable and the subscales of the emotional intelligence questionnaire were specified as independent variables. The results show a moderate positive relationship between emotional intelligence and sense of coherence. This relationship can be attributed mainly to the effect of the two subscales, namely optimism (emotional intelligence) and meaningfulness (sense of coherence). Individuals who are optimistic appear to have a high level of sense of coherence. Similarly, it appears that individuals who perceive their lives as meaningful are emotionally intelligent. However, no statement regarding the causal relationship between the variables can be made. This research can be applied in further research with a view to determine the role of emotional intelligence in stress management. In addition, the role that emotions play in the sense of coherence of individuals and resilience can also be investigated.
- Full Text:
Stories of merger and acquisition change : a teambased approach in promotion of mental health
- Authors: Visagie, Retha Gertruida
- Date: 2012-09-10
- Subjects: Consolidation and merger of corporations - Psychological aspects , Organizational change - Psychological aspects , Industrial psychiatry , Mental health
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:9904 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7303
- Description: M.Cur. , Stories about change and transformation are not foreign to any South African. Since the 1994 election, we even refer to our country as the "new South Africa", indicating the dynamic nature of ongoing transformation initiatives and processes in our daily existence. Amidst all these opportunities that are created for individuals and companies to change, two crucial questions emerge in the business world today: Are you ready to change individually? Are you willing to change collectively? It seems as if globalisation - "racing towards the world" - and technology - "racing towards the future" (Andrews, 2000:7) - form an integral part of our current business landscape. The impact on individuals that work in this environment is high levels of stress, uncertainty and anxiety (Mirvis in Elledge & Phillips, 1994:20), thus causing mental discomfort. The collective abilities of men and women are exhausted in the process of dealing with continuous challenges to change (Senge, et.al. 1999:3). The media reports almost daily, often in a problem-centred way, about a specific form of organisational change, namely merger and acquisition (M&A) change. This research tells the story of two management teams that were involved in an M&A change process in a specific South African property and hotel owning company, as the need was identified by top management to deal more constructively with the unique needs of M&A change processes in order to promote mental health in this context. Certain managers in this company described feelings of mental discomfort such as being unmotivated, angry and unproductive in relation to M&A changes in the company. Team coaching, as an "artful, compassionate and incisive way" of creating an environment in which teams can learn (Senge, et al. 1999:106), emerged as a relevant way to empower management teams in dealing with the impact of an M&A change process, thus promoting mental health. The value of a team-based approach lies in working collaboratively as a team, based on collaborative values such as integrity, respect, recognition, consensus, ownership and accountability (Fitz-enz, 1997:120). Appreciative inquiry was also identified as a way to create change in teams (Bushe, 1998:1). The objectives of this research are listed below To explore and describe the lived experience (stories) of a management team that belongs to one of two identified units of a specific South African company with regard to the impact of an M&A change process. (Phase I.) To explore and describe recommendations that are made by a management team that belongs to one of two identified units of a specific South African company, in order to address challenges that are related to the impact of an M&A change process. (Phase I.) • To co-construct and describe guidelines for the advanced psychiatric nurse practitioner as framework for facilitating a team-coaching programme for empowerment of a specific management team, with regard to the impact of an M&A change process, in order to promote mental health. (Phase II.) A qualitative (Babbie & Mouton, 2001: 271), exploratory (Mouton, 1996: 103), descriptive (Merriam, 1991: 11/12) and contextual (Babbie & Mouton, 2001: 272) research design was followed. The research method entailed multiple descriptive case studies (Yin, 1994: 13) during which data was gathered by means of focus group interviews (Krueger, 1994: 14, 15, 19, 29), field notes (Wilson, 1989: 434-436), naive sketches and drawings. Data was analysed using the descriptive method of open coding by Tech (in Creswell, 1994:154). Two independent co-coders analysed the data with me, and we held consensus discussions. A literature control was conducted to recontextualise data (Morse & Field, 1996: 106). In phase I of the research, I concluded that different narratives construct the impact of an M&A change process in the research context. Dominant problem-saturated stories were told of being in the dark as a result of the psychological impact of the M&A change process. A process of disempowerment that resulted in decreased organisational productivity characterised these problemsaturated stories. Narratives that portray unique outcomes of new meaning that emerged in the midst of turmoil, as well as M&A change as a story of paradox, unfolded. Team members' recommendations centred on practices that reflect managerial competence, speaking a language of influence, and factors that contribute to a constructive M&A change process. The model of Guba (in Krefting, 1991:214-222) was utilised to establish and maintain trustworthiness throughout the research process. Based on results of the research and the literature control, guidelines were co-constructed and described, in phase II, for the advanced psychiatric nurse practitioner that works in this context. These guidelines serve as a framework for facilitating a team-coaching programme for the empowerment of a specific management team with regard to the impact of an M&A change process, in order to promote mental health. Through facilitation of this programme, team members are assisted to rewrite the problem-saturated stories of M&A change, and to stimulate the generation of preferred stories. These guidelines thus move away from the problem-solving discourse to a socially constructed reality that focuses on the strengths and resources in a change situation, rather than on the deficits and weaknesses (Gergen, 2001). The search for meaning in this research was grounded in the Theory for Health Promotion in Nursing (Rand Afrikaans University: Department of Nursing, 2000:1-16) and social constructionism (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994:127), which developed in a post-modern philosophy. This choice was underpinned by a deep believe in the holistic nature of human life, as well as the value of preserving quality of life through mental health promotion at an individual and a collective level. From a social constructionist viewpoint, I embrace the notion that we are socially shaped by the cultural context that we are a part of, and the language that we use about others and ourselves. Conducting this research in the context of nursing in a functional approach qualifies it as applied research that aims at improving the field of practice (Botes, 1991:19-23). Literature that states the increasing number of M&A deals globally and nationally, as well as the high reported failure risk, confirms the relevance of this research in the South African context. It was also a response to a relevant national need, namely promoting mental health in the workplace as an integral part of health (ANC, 1994:20). Conclusions were drawn and recommendations made for the nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research, as "we must be the change we wish to see in the world" (Lord, 2002:6).
- Full Text:
- Authors: Visagie, Retha Gertruida
- Date: 2012-09-10
- Subjects: Consolidation and merger of corporations - Psychological aspects , Organizational change - Psychological aspects , Industrial psychiatry , Mental health
- Type: Mini-Dissertation
- Identifier: uj:9904 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/7303
- Description: M.Cur. , Stories about change and transformation are not foreign to any South African. Since the 1994 election, we even refer to our country as the "new South Africa", indicating the dynamic nature of ongoing transformation initiatives and processes in our daily existence. Amidst all these opportunities that are created for individuals and companies to change, two crucial questions emerge in the business world today: Are you ready to change individually? Are you willing to change collectively? It seems as if globalisation - "racing towards the world" - and technology - "racing towards the future" (Andrews, 2000:7) - form an integral part of our current business landscape. The impact on individuals that work in this environment is high levels of stress, uncertainty and anxiety (Mirvis in Elledge & Phillips, 1994:20), thus causing mental discomfort. The collective abilities of men and women are exhausted in the process of dealing with continuous challenges to change (Senge, et.al. 1999:3). The media reports almost daily, often in a problem-centred way, about a specific form of organisational change, namely merger and acquisition (M&A) change. This research tells the story of two management teams that were involved in an M&A change process in a specific South African property and hotel owning company, as the need was identified by top management to deal more constructively with the unique needs of M&A change processes in order to promote mental health in this context. Certain managers in this company described feelings of mental discomfort such as being unmotivated, angry and unproductive in relation to M&A changes in the company. Team coaching, as an "artful, compassionate and incisive way" of creating an environment in which teams can learn (Senge, et al. 1999:106), emerged as a relevant way to empower management teams in dealing with the impact of an M&A change process, thus promoting mental health. The value of a team-based approach lies in working collaboratively as a team, based on collaborative values such as integrity, respect, recognition, consensus, ownership and accountability (Fitz-enz, 1997:120). Appreciative inquiry was also identified as a way to create change in teams (Bushe, 1998:1). The objectives of this research are listed below To explore and describe the lived experience (stories) of a management team that belongs to one of two identified units of a specific South African company with regard to the impact of an M&A change process. (Phase I.) To explore and describe recommendations that are made by a management team that belongs to one of two identified units of a specific South African company, in order to address challenges that are related to the impact of an M&A change process. (Phase I.) • To co-construct and describe guidelines for the advanced psychiatric nurse practitioner as framework for facilitating a team-coaching programme for empowerment of a specific management team, with regard to the impact of an M&A change process, in order to promote mental health. (Phase II.) A qualitative (Babbie & Mouton, 2001: 271), exploratory (Mouton, 1996: 103), descriptive (Merriam, 1991: 11/12) and contextual (Babbie & Mouton, 2001: 272) research design was followed. The research method entailed multiple descriptive case studies (Yin, 1994: 13) during which data was gathered by means of focus group interviews (Krueger, 1994: 14, 15, 19, 29), field notes (Wilson, 1989: 434-436), naive sketches and drawings. Data was analysed using the descriptive method of open coding by Tech (in Creswell, 1994:154). Two independent co-coders analysed the data with me, and we held consensus discussions. A literature control was conducted to recontextualise data (Morse & Field, 1996: 106). In phase I of the research, I concluded that different narratives construct the impact of an M&A change process in the research context. Dominant problem-saturated stories were told of being in the dark as a result of the psychological impact of the M&A change process. A process of disempowerment that resulted in decreased organisational productivity characterised these problemsaturated stories. Narratives that portray unique outcomes of new meaning that emerged in the midst of turmoil, as well as M&A change as a story of paradox, unfolded. Team members' recommendations centred on practices that reflect managerial competence, speaking a language of influence, and factors that contribute to a constructive M&A change process. The model of Guba (in Krefting, 1991:214-222) was utilised to establish and maintain trustworthiness throughout the research process. Based on results of the research and the literature control, guidelines were co-constructed and described, in phase II, for the advanced psychiatric nurse practitioner that works in this context. These guidelines serve as a framework for facilitating a team-coaching programme for the empowerment of a specific management team with regard to the impact of an M&A change process, in order to promote mental health. Through facilitation of this programme, team members are assisted to rewrite the problem-saturated stories of M&A change, and to stimulate the generation of preferred stories. These guidelines thus move away from the problem-solving discourse to a socially constructed reality that focuses on the strengths and resources in a change situation, rather than on the deficits and weaknesses (Gergen, 2001). The search for meaning in this research was grounded in the Theory for Health Promotion in Nursing (Rand Afrikaans University: Department of Nursing, 2000:1-16) and social constructionism (Denzin & Lincoln, 1994:127), which developed in a post-modern philosophy. This choice was underpinned by a deep believe in the holistic nature of human life, as well as the value of preserving quality of life through mental health promotion at an individual and a collective level. From a social constructionist viewpoint, I embrace the notion that we are socially shaped by the cultural context that we are a part of, and the language that we use about others and ourselves. Conducting this research in the context of nursing in a functional approach qualifies it as applied research that aims at improving the field of practice (Botes, 1991:19-23). Literature that states the increasing number of M&A deals globally and nationally, as well as the high reported failure risk, confirms the relevance of this research in the South African context. It was also a response to a relevant national need, namely promoting mental health in the workplace as an integral part of health (ANC, 1994:20). Conclusions were drawn and recommendations made for the nursing practice, nursing education and nursing research, as "we must be the change we wish to see in the world" (Lord, 2002:6).
- Full Text:
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