Illness Perception, Perceived Social Support and Quality of Life in Pulmonary Tuberculosis Patients

The objective of the current study is to determine the relationship between illness perception, perceived social support and quality of life in pulmonary tuberculosis patients. To this end, the World Health Organization Quality of life scale, the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support were used to measure the relationship between variables. The quantitative approach was used, with purposive sampling. A total of 150 patients with pulmonary tuberculosis were part of the final sample. Hierarchical multiple regression results indicate that social support of family, friends, and significant others, are significant positive predictors of quality of life in pulmonary TB patients. This study has implications for designing better health and social policy for pulmonary tuberculosis patients with respect to (i) advancing support from significant others, (ii) strengthening quality of life through daily activities and work opportunities, and (iii) provision of medical and treatment information consistently.

Role of Community Based Education Committee Ec in the School Management and its Effect on School Performance

Community participation has become an essential part of school reform, particularly in the educational policies and school management. Community participation in the school management has become a taken for granted reform, which is based on the assumptions that it will improve the educational delivery at the school level by harmonizing activities, utilizing resources more effectively and mobilizing the additional human and financial resources. This reform is widely adopted in the developing countries, including Pakistan. The notion seems to be acceptable but in practice it might prove problematic. The structure, functions and mechanism of community management, and its impact on school performance is not well known. I carried out a systematic research on community-based Education Committees' (EC) role, function and the relationship between the role and school performance, in the context of Pakistan. I employed qualitative and quantitative research approaches in order to obtain some generalizable information about the EC's management structure and role in the community schools in Karachi, Pakistan. Findings from the studies revealed that ECs had been involved at the administrative and operational level. The management structure, mechanism, background of the committee members and location of the school, had a great influence on the school performance. The ECs had performed a significant role in improving physical resources, retaining teachers' moral and students performance, through maximum participation of the key stakeholders, particularly the school staff in the school management. On the contrary those community management structures with little understanding of the school processes, exclusion of headteachers from the decision-making, and unnecessary monitoring of the school staff had a negative impact on the school performance. Thus the study findings have an implication for the ECs with regard to the structure of the committee, its composition and the mechanism required and effective involvement in the school management. The study also suggested some recommendation for the ECs, schools and policy makers, based on the findings.