Browsing by Author "Parsons, C"

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    Patient Satisfaction with a Pilot Chronic Pain Management Programme in Cape Town, South Africa
    (2009) Parker, R; Burgess, S; Dubaniewicz, A; Gouws, L; Krone, J; Madden,V; Nortje,C; Parsons, C
    Background: The goals of a chronic pain management clinic includeincreasing patient knowledge about pain, developing pain management skillsand increasing patients’ confidence in their pain management abilities.A Chronic Pain Management Programme (CPMP) based on evidence basedguidelines was developed at a chronic pain management clinic to facilitatepatient discharge to a primary healthcare level. Aim: The aim of this study was to explore patient satisfaction with, acceptability of and the perceived success which could be due to the CPMP developed at the Chronic Pain Management Clinic of Groote Schuur Hospital,Cape Town.Methods: Patients (n=14) were referred to the pilot study from the Chronic Pain Management Clinic. A s a pilot, four courses were run over a period ofone year. In order to reach the research aim, an eleven-question, structuredopen-ended interview was conducted with all participants. Results: Fourteen patients enrolled in the CPMP. Responses were favourable with participants emphasising the roleof increased knowledge about pain, the role of exercise and of stress management techniques. Participants also recog-nised a positive change in behaviours and attitudes following participation in the CPMP.Conclusions: Findings suggest that participants found the format of the course acceptable as regards course content,structure and delivery. Participant responses suggest that the course was acceptable and perceived as useful. However,future courses would benefit from refresher courses or structured support groups.
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    Samuels Beckett's The Trilogy and the affirmation of reading
    (2013) Strombeck, Claire-Marie; Parsons, C; Clarkson, Carrol
    This minor dissertation explores the reader's reception of Samuel Beckett's Trilogy. Often considered obscure and even unintelligible, I argue that to read the Trilogy is to affirm Beckett's slippery style of writing. Through a close reading of the three novels, Molloy, Malone Dies and The Unnamable, I examine how Beckett's narratives deny the reader any sense of finality in the act of reading, while also affirming the reader's freedom in each unique reading of the literary text. In addition to other key Beckett critics such as Hugh Kenner, H. Porter Abbott and Simon Critchley, I use Maurice Blanchot's critical writing on literature, especially those essays contained in The Sirens' Song, as a framework through which to engage with the three novels. Blanchot underscores the necessity of the reader to let the literary text be and not to attempt to subsume the narrative within his/ her hermeneutic expectations. To read the Trilogy and interpret it with any sense of finality is to misread the novels. Instead, my argument calls for a reading that affirms the singularity of the literary text and the elusive nature of Beckett's narrative voices.