This study analyses evidence from two South African universities of how innovation activity and r... more This study analyses evidence from two South African universities of how innovation activity and research dissemination are being influenced by a new intellectual property (IP commercialization law for publicly funded research outputs. The study sought to understand the ways in which the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development (IPR-PFRD) Act of 2008 and its Regulations influence the generation of value from research. The study was positioned within a theoretical frame which holds that maximalist approaches to IP protection tend to be sub-optimal for certain long-term socio-economic objectives inherent in research funding. The research found evidence of adaptation by both of the universities studied (UCT and Wits University) to the requirements of the Act, and evidence that the Act can have a positive influence on South Africa’s innovation nexus provided that the Act’s patenting orientation continues to be complemented by openness-oriented research...
Hintergrund: Eine pädiatrisch-onkologische Intensivbehandlung bedeutet für die betroffenen Kinder... more Hintergrund: Eine pädiatrisch-onkologische Intensivbehandlung bedeutet für die betroffenen Kinder, deren Eltern und die Pflegekräfte eine hohe körperliche und psychosoziale Belastung. Ziel des vorgestellten Projekts ist es, ein integratives Pflege- und Therapiekonzept für eine[zum vollständigen Text gelangen Sie über die oben angegebene URL]
Bioprospecting in South Africa as well as in other parts of the world is an old field with new po... more Bioprospecting in South Africa as well as in other parts of the world is an old field with new political, economic and socio-cultural implications. While in colonial and pre-colonial settings the search for exotic flora and fauna prevailed, nowadays the search for and exploitation of biodiversity for commercially valuable genetic and biochemical resources is predominant. In South Africa, a wide range of actors has become involved in the field of bioprospecting over the last two to three decades: medical researchers, traditional health practitioners (THPs), herbalists and plant collectors, politicians and NGOs are all involved in this realm. This working paper presents first results from an ongoing research project funded by the DFG (German Research Foundation) on "Bioprospecting in the African Renaissance: From Muthi to Intellectual Property Rights" at the Institute of Social and Cultural An-thropology, Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin). The authors discuss diverging co...
Theory and History in the Human and Social Sciences, 2019
Fieldwork comprises of moments when researchers’ institutional, social, and political ascriptions... more Fieldwork comprises of moments when researchers’ institutional, social, and political ascriptions shift, and their social identities and subjectivities conflict, collide, or conflate. These conditions often point to the needs for, or result from, oscillating identifications that compel both researchers and interlocutors to negotiate existing or emerging power relations. A sustained self-reflection of one’s changing and conflicting roles as field researcher can assist ethnographers in coping with different expectations and ascribed responsibilities, and contributes to nuanced analysis, interpretation, and representation of the studied phenomena.
PURPOSE For some years now, a programme for the use of integrative care in paediatric oncology ha... more PURPOSE For some years now, a programme for the use of integrative care in paediatric oncology has been established in a German university hospital and offers patients and parents complementary treatment options. According to their medical condition and wishes. A variety of external applications such as medical wraps, warm oil compresses and rhythmic embrocations are offered. This article analyses how patients and parents perceived and experienced the integrative care program. METHODS In this qualitative study, data consists of field notes conducted through participant observation, informal conversations and interviews with parents (n = 25) during the implementation phase of the program. Data was analysed on basis of thematic analysis and organized with the analysis software MAXQDA. RESULTS Parents and families intuitively developed strategies for dealing with crisis situations such as childhood cancer. In addition, many of the families brought with them a wealth of experience in complementary medicine. Parents perceived the integrative care treatments as soothing, relaxing and pain-relieving for their child. Patients could relax and side effects of chemotherapy were alleviated. However, children, who undergoing chemotherapy were not always open for physical touch and thus sometimes also rejected the treatments sometimes. CONCLUSION The analysed integrative care programme is perceived as a strong patient and family-centred approach of support during the oncological paediatric treatment. From a salutogenetic viewpoint, this program aims to strengthen the dimension of manageability within the concept of sense of coherence. Parents are given supportive means to manage side effects and ease their child's suffering, through touch and attention that can be very beneficial.
Purpose: This article discusses the results of an evaluation of the one-year implementation perio... more Purpose: This article discusses the results of an evaluation of the one-year implementation period of an integrative care program at a pediatric oncology ward, which consists of integrative care treatments offered three times a week to the patients. The guiding questions are how the model was implemented, which factors have to be considered for successful implementation, and which factors showed to be obstacles during implementation. Methods: A mixed-methods approach was applied for data saturation. Qualitative data consist of participant observations and informal conversations during the implementation phase. All observational records were filed in the data program MAXQDA. For the quantitative data, all integrative care treatments applied on the intensive care unit were documented and subsequently filed in an Excel sheet. Both sets of data were analyzed for the evaluation. Results: Four main thematic clusters influenced the implementation: (1) the organization and structure of the ...
Purpose: The aim of this article is to describe what needs to be considered in implementing care ... more Purpose: The aim of this article is to describe what needs to be considered in implementing care practices, in this case an integrative care program consisting of anthroposophic treatments, in an intensive care unit (ICU) of a teaching hospital. Methods: We used a pediatric oncology department to implement an integrative care program. We conducted a qualitative study including participant observation and semi-structured interviews with parents, nurses, doctors, and therapists. Data analysis was based on a grounded theory approach and focused on the status quo of care in the ICU. Results: The following factors needed to be considered: the structure of the ICU, communication and information dissemination, and time constraints. This led to the following components of the integrative care program: (1) a training plan in anthroposophic treatments for all nurses that was conducted by 2 trained anthroposophic nurses, and (2) the introduction of an integrative shift that was on top of regul...
This book deals with the values of medicinal plants and associated knowledge(s) in the field of b... more This book deals with the values of medicinal plants and associated knowledge(s) in the field of bioprospecting in post-apartheid South Africa. Bioprospecting, the use of genetic or biological resources for commercial purposes, is a profit-oriented enterprise facing new challenges with the rise of human rights and biodiversity politics. This new situation has led to claims for political leverage made by indigenous communities, as well as to claims for national and local cultural identity and heritage. The picture presented here contributes to the widely discussed yet so far unresolved question of how to appropriately share benefits, and how to protect indigenous knowledge in this field.
This study analyses evidence from two South African universities of how innovation activity and r... more This study analyses evidence from two South African universities of how innovation activity and research dissemination are being influenced by a new intellectual property (IP commercialization law for publicly funded research outputs. The study sought to understand the ways in which the Intellectual Property Rights from Publicly Financed Research and Development (IPR-PFRD) Act of 2008 and its Regulations influence the generation of value from research. The study was positioned within a theoretical frame which holds that maximalist approaches to IP protection tend to be sub-optimal for certain long-term socio-economic objectives inherent in research funding. The research found evidence of adaptation by both of the universities studied (UCT and Wits University) to the requirements of the Act, and evidence that the Act can have a positive influence on South Africa’s innovation nexus provided that the Act’s patenting orientation continues to be complemented by openness-oriented research...
Hintergrund: Eine pädiatrisch-onkologische Intensivbehandlung bedeutet für die betroffenen Kinder... more Hintergrund: Eine pädiatrisch-onkologische Intensivbehandlung bedeutet für die betroffenen Kinder, deren Eltern und die Pflegekräfte eine hohe körperliche und psychosoziale Belastung. Ziel des vorgestellten Projekts ist es, ein integratives Pflege- und Therapiekonzept für eine[zum vollständigen Text gelangen Sie über die oben angegebene URL]
Bioprospecting in South Africa as well as in other parts of the world is an old field with new po... more Bioprospecting in South Africa as well as in other parts of the world is an old field with new political, economic and socio-cultural implications. While in colonial and pre-colonial settings the search for exotic flora and fauna prevailed, nowadays the search for and exploitation of biodiversity for commercially valuable genetic and biochemical resources is predominant. In South Africa, a wide range of actors has become involved in the field of bioprospecting over the last two to three decades: medical researchers, traditional health practitioners (THPs), herbalists and plant collectors, politicians and NGOs are all involved in this realm. This working paper presents first results from an ongoing research project funded by the DFG (German Research Foundation) on "Bioprospecting in the African Renaissance: From Muthi to Intellectual Property Rights" at the Institute of Social and Cultural An-thropology, Freie Universität Berlin (FU Berlin). The authors discuss diverging co...
Theory and History in the Human and Social Sciences, 2019
Fieldwork comprises of moments when researchers’ institutional, social, and political ascriptions... more Fieldwork comprises of moments when researchers’ institutional, social, and political ascriptions shift, and their social identities and subjectivities conflict, collide, or conflate. These conditions often point to the needs for, or result from, oscillating identifications that compel both researchers and interlocutors to negotiate existing or emerging power relations. A sustained self-reflection of one’s changing and conflicting roles as field researcher can assist ethnographers in coping with different expectations and ascribed responsibilities, and contributes to nuanced analysis, interpretation, and representation of the studied phenomena.
PURPOSE For some years now, a programme for the use of integrative care in paediatric oncology ha... more PURPOSE For some years now, a programme for the use of integrative care in paediatric oncology has been established in a German university hospital and offers patients and parents complementary treatment options. According to their medical condition and wishes. A variety of external applications such as medical wraps, warm oil compresses and rhythmic embrocations are offered. This article analyses how patients and parents perceived and experienced the integrative care program. METHODS In this qualitative study, data consists of field notes conducted through participant observation, informal conversations and interviews with parents (n = 25) during the implementation phase of the program. Data was analysed on basis of thematic analysis and organized with the analysis software MAXQDA. RESULTS Parents and families intuitively developed strategies for dealing with crisis situations such as childhood cancer. In addition, many of the families brought with them a wealth of experience in complementary medicine. Parents perceived the integrative care treatments as soothing, relaxing and pain-relieving for their child. Patients could relax and side effects of chemotherapy were alleviated. However, children, who undergoing chemotherapy were not always open for physical touch and thus sometimes also rejected the treatments sometimes. CONCLUSION The analysed integrative care programme is perceived as a strong patient and family-centred approach of support during the oncological paediatric treatment. From a salutogenetic viewpoint, this program aims to strengthen the dimension of manageability within the concept of sense of coherence. Parents are given supportive means to manage side effects and ease their child's suffering, through touch and attention that can be very beneficial.
Purpose: This article discusses the results of an evaluation of the one-year implementation perio... more Purpose: This article discusses the results of an evaluation of the one-year implementation period of an integrative care program at a pediatric oncology ward, which consists of integrative care treatments offered three times a week to the patients. The guiding questions are how the model was implemented, which factors have to be considered for successful implementation, and which factors showed to be obstacles during implementation. Methods: A mixed-methods approach was applied for data saturation. Qualitative data consist of participant observations and informal conversations during the implementation phase. All observational records were filed in the data program MAXQDA. For the quantitative data, all integrative care treatments applied on the intensive care unit were documented and subsequently filed in an Excel sheet. Both sets of data were analyzed for the evaluation. Results: Four main thematic clusters influenced the implementation: (1) the organization and structure of the ...
Purpose: The aim of this article is to describe what needs to be considered in implementing care ... more Purpose: The aim of this article is to describe what needs to be considered in implementing care practices, in this case an integrative care program consisting of anthroposophic treatments, in an intensive care unit (ICU) of a teaching hospital. Methods: We used a pediatric oncology department to implement an integrative care program. We conducted a qualitative study including participant observation and semi-structured interviews with parents, nurses, doctors, and therapists. Data analysis was based on a grounded theory approach and focused on the status quo of care in the ICU. Results: The following factors needed to be considered: the structure of the ICU, communication and information dissemination, and time constraints. This led to the following components of the integrative care program: (1) a training plan in anthroposophic treatments for all nurses that was conducted by 2 trained anthroposophic nurses, and (2) the introduction of an integrative shift that was on top of regul...
This book deals with the values of medicinal plants and associated knowledge(s) in the field of b... more This book deals with the values of medicinal plants and associated knowledge(s) in the field of bioprospecting in post-apartheid South Africa. Bioprospecting, the use of genetic or biological resources for commercial purposes, is a profit-oriented enterprise facing new challenges with the rise of human rights and biodiversity politics. This new situation has led to claims for political leverage made by indigenous communities, as well as to claims for national and local cultural identity and heritage. The picture presented here contributes to the widely discussed yet so far unresolved question of how to appropriately share benefits, and how to protect indigenous knowledge in this field.
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