They are socially relevant, stimulate scientific discourse and provide food for thought: Five Bachelor's theses written at the Faculty of Social and Health Sciences (SG) at OTH Regensburg were awarded the Barmherzige Brüder Bayerische Ordensprovinz KdöR sponsorship prize on Friday, 25 October 2024.
Prof Renate Kühnel, Dean of Studies at the Faculty of SG, welcomed around 80 guests to the ceremony, both on site and via Zoom. In addition to members of the university, representatives of the Brothers of Mercy and former OTH presidents Wolfgang Baier and Josef Eckstein, numerous students, friends and family members of the award winners also attended. This was the 20th time that the order has awarded the sponsorship prize to graduates.
In his welcoming address, Provincial Councillor Frater Eberhard Michl emphasised the great importance of the prize for the order. The Faculty of Social and Health Sciences at the OTH Regensburg in particular could once again serve as a seismograph and source of inspiration this year with its scientific theses, as the award-winning works deal with important topics ranging from child and youth welfare, education, oncology and care for the elderly to ethics and the field of curative education, which are also relevant in the institutions of the Order of the Brothers of Mercy throughout Bavaria. Addressing the prizewinners, Brother Eberhard Michl said: ‘You have all been given the necessary academic tools here, but I also ask you to develop a culture of the heart so that all progress is also human progress. Or, to paraphrase our Father of the Order, St John of God: Command the heart.’
Health sciences are a specialisation at OTH Regensburg
Prof. Dr Nicolas Schöpf, Dean of the SG Faculty, emphasised in his welcoming address how much the area of health science courses at OTH Regensburg has grown. In the winter semester 2023/24, the part-time nursing and occupational therapy courses were launched. In the summer semester of 2025, the three new Master's degree programmes in Physiotherapy, Speech Therapy and Midwifery Science will be offered. Addressing the representatives of the Brothers of Mercy, Schöpf said: ‘It is wonderful that they are sponsoring this prize and thus recognising the academic achievements of young scientists. The prizewinners can be appropriately proud.’
Due to the large number of outstanding theses, the selection committee did not have an easy task and had to find a solution: The 3rd and 2nd prizes were each awarded twice. The six graduates then presented their Bachelor's theses.
A 3rd prize, endowed with 500 euros, went to Lisa Kramer for her bachelor thesis on ‘Disstress and coping during protective isolation. An empirical survey of haemato-oncological patients during neutropenia.’ In her thesis, the graduate of the dual nursing degree programme found out, among other things, that cancer patients are positively strengthened by conversations with nursing staff. The thesis was supervised by Andrea Sattler, M.Sc.
Another 3rd prize went to David Probst, a graduate of the part-time Bachelor's degree programme in Nursing Management. In his thesis, he posed the question ‘How do geriatric nurses experience their integration into acute care? A narrative study of experiences and challenges.’ He found that the nursing staff's initial fears and doubts disappeared and that they now see their work as an enrichment with far-reaching competences. The thesis was supervised by Prof Dr Annette Meussling-Sentpali.
Hannah Einwich, a graduate of the Bachelor's degree programme in Social Work, was awarded 2nd prize (endowed with 1000 euros) for her thesis on ‘The presentation of ethical perspectives on prenatal diagnostics for trisomy 21 - a scoping review’. The development of counselling concepts is needed to alleviate the high pressure on (prospective) parents and the emotional stress caused by prenatal diagnostics. The work was supervised by Prof Dr Irmgard Schroll-Decker.
Focus on important social issues
Another 2nd prize went to Katharina Meier, who wrote her bachelor's thesis on the part-time social work degree programme on the topic of ‘Foster children with disabilities in foster care. Reflections on challenges, framework conditions and measures for supporting foster families with children with disabilities’. A lack of recognition, a lack of support, financial burdens and bureaucratic hurdles make life difficult for foster parents and participation is still not a matter of course. The work was supervised by Prof Dr Barbara Seidenstücker.
The 1st prize, endowed with 1500 euros each, went to Linda Hildegard Angerer and Annika Haberkern. The graduates of the bachelor's degree programme in speech therapy conducted a quantitative study on the topic of ‘Oral motor exercises in articulation therapy for children’. In their work, they found that although there is no evidence of effectiveness for these exercises, they are used by 70 per cent of the study participants. The prizewinners therefore recommend that these exercises should no longer be used in order to conserve resources and to revise curricula and module manuals. The work was supervised by Prof Dr Norina Lauer.
In their acceptance speech, the prizewinners Hannah Einwich and Katharina Meier passed on their thanks to their supervisors and the members of the selection committee. The award is an incentive to take a critical look at topics and remove taboos from supposedly taboo subjects. The works were very close to everyone's hearts and brought important social issues further into the public eye.
Lea Bittcher, cello & vocals, and Florian Czmaiduch, guitar & vocals, students on the Bachelor's degree programme in Music and Movement-Oriented Social Work, provided the festive musical backdrop to the event.
