UC Research Repository
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The UC Research Repository collects, stores and makes available original research from postgraduate students, researchers and academics based at the University of Canterbury.
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Recent Submissions
The Experiences of Endometriosis Patients with Diagnosis and Treatment in New Zealand
(Frontiers Media SA, 2022) Ellis K; Wood R; Munro D
Endometriosis is a chronically painful, invasive, inflammatory disease, with limited treatment options and long delays to diagnosis, which impacts 10% of females in New Zealand. Introduction: As part of a larger group discussion study, this paper covers three themes associated with endometriosis patient experiences: intensity of pain, diagnostic tool shortcomings and perspectives of treatment options. Materials and methods: The goal of this research was the inclusion of patient voices to guide research priorities. In early 2022, 50 New Zealand endometriosis patients participated in anonymous, asynchronous, text-based group discussions on the VisionsLive platform. The patients ranged in age from 18–48. The patients answered 50 questions, 23 text-based and 27 quantitative, and then took part in online group discussions. Results and discussion: The average age of symptom onset was 15.3 years, while the average delay from symptom onset to a working or surgically confirmed diagnosis was 7.91 years. The top five reported symptoms within the cohort were pain-based, and the participants discussed the many impacts of this pain on their work and education. The four main diagnostic tools employed on this cohort were abdominal ultrasound (72%), transvaginal ultrasound (68%), laparoscopy (82%) and sharing their symptom history with a medical practitioner (88%). The most common emotions patients experienced following receiving a diagnosis of endometriosis were relief (86%), feeling overwhelmed (54%), and anger (32%). The main treatments offered to this cohort were pain relief (96%), laparoscopic surgery (84%) and the combined oral contraceptive pill (80%). Of these three treatments, only laparoscopic surgery was viewed positively by the majority of users, with 67% considering laparoscopy an effective treatment, compared to 46% of users for pain relief, and 25% of users for the combined oral contraceptive pill. Conclusions: Gathering the voice of patients revealed that long delays to diagnosis and dismissal by medical practitioners frequently manifests as a reaction of relief by patients once diagnosed. Results also showed treatment options such as pain relief and hormonal medications were often considered ineffective, but were routinely offered as the first, or only, options for patients. It is therefore important that both quicker routes to diagnosis and more effective treatment options be developed.
Abortion counselling controversies and the precarious role of social work: Research and reflections from Aotearoa New Zealand
(2023) Meadows, Letitia
ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION: This article presents debates and controversies about counselling within abortion
provision in Aotearoa New Zealand. Formal and informal counselling networks are described, where
the role of social workers as providers of counselling services is precarious. Insights consider how
service users may be more holistically supported when accessing abortion care.
METHODS: Drawing on findings from a broader qualitative research project involving 52
participant interviews, formal and informal observation of practices, and analysis of service
documentation, the concept of boundary objects by Star and Griesemer (1989) is taken up to
account for diverse abortion counselling practices that occur in multiple but connected social
worlds. Revisiting these findings in the context of current abortion legislation and developments,
a Reproductive Justice (RJ) lens is used to inform the implications for service users and social
work practice.
FINDINGS: Past and present efforts within legislation, policy, and practice guidelines to
standardise abortion counselling have not prevented different versions of counselling from
being enacted by social workers, counsellors, nurses, medical practitioners, staff of community
agencies, and crisis pregnancy services. This has resulted in the practice and the term
counselling being contested. Participant accounts and observations revealed that multiple
disciplines offer counselling practices while social work remains poorly integrated into service
provision.
CONCLUSION: This article employs the concept of boundary objects to account for how
variations of counselling have been enacted and disputed. The addition of a reproductive justice
(RJ) lens with its attention to social justice is used to appreciate recent advances in access to
abortion services alongside arguing for enriched care practices and the value of social work in
supporting the integrated well-being and agency of service users.
Searching for sifting through and selecting curriculum materials for mathematics planning during practicum
(MERGA, 2023) Wilson, Susanna; Reid-O' Connor B; Prierto-Rodriguez E; Holmes K; Hughes A
This paper describes results from a case study about how a primary pre-service teacher (PST) used curriculum materials (CMs) when planning for a mathematics lesson during her final practicum. The data is drawn from a doctoral study (in progress) and results show how the PST initiated an active process of searching for and sifting through CMs on a familiar website to make selections for a lesson. Selections were based on several aspects, including the mathematics focus of her lesson, curriculum connections, her chosen teaching approach and mathematical representation for teaching multiplication. Implications for mathematics Initial Teacher Educators (ITEs) are discussed.
An Overview of the Unique DC Injection Campaign for Replicating GICs on High Voltage Transformers in New Zealand
(2023) Lapthorn, Andrew; Hardie S; Subritzky S; Dalzell M; Clilverd M; Cobbett N; Beggan C; Huebert J; Eaton E; Brundell J; Rodger C
Introduction:
Between 21 and 29 January 2023, with the assistance of Transpower, we
successfully utilised New Zealand's HVDC link to directly introduce
current into the ground at Haywards substation.
Our objective was to simulate the efffects of geomagnetically induced
currents (GICs) and observe their impact on two 216 MVA, 220/110 kV
autotransformers and one 80 MVA transformer, as well as to monitor the
associated transmission lines.