Health SA Gesondheid最新文献

Background: Meal planning is crucial for households to improve food choices and promote healthier eating habits.

Aim: The study aims to assess meal planning practices in households in Tshwane area, Gauteng province.

Setting: The study was conducted in households, north of Tshwane, Gauteng province.

Methods: A survey questionnaire was administered to 368 households. Descriptive statistics were analysed, and Pearson's chi-square test was used to assess the relationship between categorical variables. The Spearman-Rho correlation coefficient was used to determine the relationship between variables. A p ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant and a Spearman Rho correlation coefficient (r) ≥ 0.25 signified a positive relationship.

Results: Sixty-one per cent of the participants regarded meal planning as important. A total of 137 participants (37%) reported that they planned their meals before cooking and 64% (n = 235) never used recipes. There was statistical significance (p <0.05) between the options considered when buying food and the age of the participants. A positive association (p < 0.05) between the options considered when planning meals and employment status were obtained. The Spearman's Rho correlation coefficient showed a positive relationship between the options considered when planning meals and buying groceries (r = 0.377, p < 0.001).

Conclusion: Meal planning was considered important by participants but was not fully practised in households. Therefore, interventions through practical sessions are recommended to improve household's meal planning and meal preparation practices, including household's cooking skills.

Contribution: Community-based nutrition education intervention strategies will empower households to opt for healthier meals through meal planning.

Background: South Africa accounts for 14% of all new HIV infections representing the highest annual rate of new HIV infections globally. In addition, South Africa is home to 21% of the worldwide HIV burden, with 7.97 million people living with HIV. HIV not only affects the health of those living with the virus but also impacts their economic well-being.

Aim: The study aimed to develop an in-depth understanding of the accessibility of anti-retroviral treatment in the farming communities of the OR Tambo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province.

Setting: The study was conducted in two local municipalities of OR Tambo District Municipality in the Eastern Cape province.

Methods: A qualitative approach was used to explore and describe the accessibility of anti-retroviral treatment (ART) in the farming communities.

Results: The study revealed that travelling long distances, transport costs, lack of transportation and traditional beliefs were the major barriers for farming communities to access ART.

Conclusion: The findings of the study propose that poor access to ART in farming communities is linked to socio-cultural status, weak social support and limiting socioeconomic status.

Contribution: The Eastern Cape Provincial Department of Health's management can use the study's findings for recommendations to the National Department of Health management on how to improve HIV roll-out initiatives.

Background: Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a rare genodermatosis that results in extreme skin fragility, for which there is no cure and may be fatal. The quality of life of patients affected may be greatly impacted.

Aim: This study aims to understand the lived experiences of patients with EB.

Setting: Intensive semi-structured interviews were conducted with three participants via Zoom, and a follow-up member checking session was held in person at the RARE-X conference.

Methods: This qualitative research used interpretative phenomenological analysis with the aim of understanding the lived experiences of patients with EB. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with three participants using Lincoln and Guba's framework of trustworthiness was used to ensure rigour.

Results: Three adult participants shared in-depth experiences of living with EB. Four themes with subthemes were identified: (1) medical damages, (2) development trajectory, (3) subjective well-being and life satisfaction and (4) sources of resilience and support.

Conclusion: Epidermolysis bullosa affected all developmental stages of life, impacting them physically, emotionally, socially and financially. They shared their concerns relating to a lack of knowledge of healthcare practitioners (HCPs) in managing their illness and society for judging their condition. There is a need for comprehensive biopsychosocial care of patients and their families, as well as continued medical education for HCPs and awareness of society regarding this debilitating condition.

Contribution: To our knowledge, this is the first study in Africa focused on the lived experiences of patients with EB. This highlights the physical, psychosocial and financial challenges that patients with rare diseases encounter in our local setting.

Background: Epilepsy is a neurological disorder affecting millions of people in Africa. Among other reported findings, many people living with epilepsy (PLWE) believe that the condition is caused by spiritual factors. Previous studies have revealed that majority of PLWE are not receiving adequate care and treatment because of diverse cultural beliefs associated with epilepsy. Consequently, they consult either faith-based healers or traditional healers. Others, however, acknowledge the medical causes of epilepsy and seek developed medical treatment.

Aim: To develop a culturally congruent care conceptual framework to provide comprehensive and holistic epilepsy care.

Setting: This study was conducted in the selected rural communities of Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces.

Methods: A qualitative multi-method research approach was employed and sub-divided into three phases. Phase 1: All 15 articles were reviewed and appraised using the Critical Appraisal Skills Programme (CASP) rating tool. Phase 2 involved two stages of empirical study in which an exploratory-descriptive study design was used. The study population comprised of 20 traditional healers, 15 faith-based healers, 20 professional nurses and 22 PLWE. Data were collected using in-depth individual interviews and analysed through eight Tesch's steps of data analysis. Following data analysis, Phase 3 entailed synthesising the systematic and empirical findings into a conceptual framework.

Results: Three themes that emerged from the findings were cultural epilepsy interventions, faith-based epilepsy intervention and medically developed epilepsy interventions.

Conclusion: Incorporation of cultural beliefs, values and practices into the medically developed management of epilepsy is crucial for providing culturally congruent care that is preferred by majority of PLWE.

Contribution: Healthcare providers may tailor care interventions that are culturally appropriate and acceptable hence promoting early diagnosis and treatment adherence leading to improved quality of life.

Background: The consequence of non-compliance with patient radiation safety standards increases unnecessary radiation exposure with high chances of harmful biological effects. Radiographers are trained to prevent these harmful effects by enforcing radiation protection, which is achieved through proper techniques, equipment, shielding materials and beam collimation.

Aim: The study aimed to explore compliance with radiation protection by radiographers in Eswatini public health facilities (PHFs).

Setting: Eswatini PHFs with radiography departments (RDs) representing all four regions in the country.

Methods: The study applied a qualitative exploratory design. Purposive sampling was used to select participants. In-depth face-to-face interviews were conducted with radiographers (who have at least 2 years of work experience) until data saturation was achieved with the 13th participant. Data were analysed thematically.

Results: A total of three themes were identified from the data analysis, namely participants' attitudes towards compliance with radiation safety standards; participants' subjective norms; and perceived behavioural control factors.

Conclusion: The study demonstrated radiographers' awareness and knowledge of patient radiation safety standards. However, compliance with the standards remained a personal decision as radiographers are not obliged to comply. Moreover, defective lead protective devices, the unavailability of the full scope of lead protective designs, the inappropriate design of the RD building and unauthorised staff making unjustified X-ray requests contributed to non-compliance.

Contribution: The study highlighted a gap in compliance with patient radiation safety standards that requires attention from Eswatini's Ministry of Health (MOH).

Background: Globally, reports have shown that pregnant women refuse to receive the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine. This has posed a significant concern given the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Aim: This study aims to explore the current evidence on the effect of COVID-19 vaccination on pregnant women.

Method: A scoping review was conducted using Levac et al.'s five-stage framework. Relevant articles were searched in the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus and EBSCOhost (CINAHL) databases. The identified articles were screened based on predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Data from the selected articles were charted and summarised into meaningful units.

Results: Twelve articles from developed countries were included in the review. Studies have reported that COVID-19 vaccination during pregnancy is generally safe and does not increase the risk of pregnancy complications. There was no significant difference in delivery outcomes between vaccinated and unvaccinated women. Neonatal outcomes were not affected by the vaccination. However, one study identified a potential risk of spontaneous abortion between 6 and 9 weeks of gestation among vaccinated women.

Conclusion: Coronavirus disease 2019 vaccination is considered safe during pregnancy. While some studies have identified potential associations with certain conditions, the overall benefits of vaccination outweigh the risks. Continued monitoring of the safety and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines during pregnancy is recommended. Pregnant women should consult healthcare providers to make informed decisions regarding vaccination.

Contribution: The findings of this review may assist in alleviating anxiety and reducing vaccine hesitancy among pregnant women.

Background: The rate of traditional and complementary medicine (T&CM) use is increasing worldwide, including among cancer patients who are often willing to try alternate therapies. Despite T&CM popularity in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), there are limited data on its use with conventional treatments.

Aim: This scoping review aims to describe the prevalence of use, reasons for use, most common types of T&CM used, patient satisfaction with T&CM and disclosure of T&CM use to physicians among cancer patients in SSA.

Methods: A systematic literature search was conducted for articles published from 2013 to 2022 across four databases: PubMed, ScienceDirect, Google Scholar and EBSCOhost. A scoping review approach was used to map relevant literature. Forty-six articles were assessed based on their titles and abstracts. After full-text screening, 10 articles were included.

Results: Average T&CM use was calculated to be 66.7%. Reasons for T&CM use included: to improve psychological well-being, boost the body's immunity and provide symptomatic relief. An average of 21.2% of T&CM users informed their physician. Nine articles addressed patient satisfaction with T&CM. An average of 39.1% of patients reported general T&CM satisfaction.

Conclusion: The use of T&CM is common among cancer patients. It is important for healthcare providers to expand their knowledge in order to counsel patients and avoid potential hazards when combining T&CM with conventional treatments.

Contribution: These findings highlight commonly used T&CM and provide insight on the portion of cancer patients informing their doctors about T&CM use. This information will help understand the attitude cancer patients have towards T&CM.

Background: South Africa is experiencing increased medico-legal litigations in maternity services arising from poor recordkeeping. To enhance the quality of recordkeeping and reduce the lawsuits, the strategies were developed and validated by maternal healthcare experts.

Aim: The study is aimed to develop and validate strategies for recordkeeping during intrapartum care in Limpopo province.

Setting: The study was conducted in seven hospitals located in Sekhukhune District, Limpopo province.

Methods: The hospitals were purposefully selected to participate in this study. A sequential explanatory mixed-method design was applied. For the quantitative phase, the maternity case records were reviewed for completeness. Statistician assisted in translation of the checklist into statistical package for social science (SPSS) program. The data analysis included descriptive and inferential statistics. The qualitative phase, focus group discussions and in-depth interviews were conducted with midwives and doctors to describe and determine their perceptions and experiences of recordkeeping during intrapartum. A co-coder was engaged in qualitative data analysis. The findings of quantitative and qualitative phases were integrated to develop the strategies for recordkeeping. A two-rounds Delphi technique was employed to validate the strategies by engaging maternal healthcare experts.

Results: Ten (10) strategies to enhance recordkeeping were developed and validated by the experts.

Conclusion: The proposed strategies were operationalised into interventions with the aim to improve recordkeeping.

Contribution: The strategies aim to improve the quality-of-service provision during intrapartum care and reduce or culminate legal claims in Limpopo province.

Background: Patient-centred care (PCC) and patient empowerment (PE) are crucial for better healthcare outcomes, in lower-middle-income countries like Ghana, which continues to encounter many challenges.

Aim: The study sought to determine the factors affecting the implementation of PCC and PE in Ghana through the voices of patients and healthcare providers.

Setting: The study is based in Ghana, West Africa, and includes three healthcare facilities representing primary, secondary and tertiary care.

Methods: A qualitative exploratory descriptive research design was employed to investigate the study's objective by engaging healthcare workers and patients in selected facilities through purposive sampling. While 33 healthcare service providers participated in in-depth interviews, focus group discussions were held with four patient groups. The collected data were analysed thematically to identify key themes and insights.

Results: The analysis revealed three overarching themes: organisational-, individual-, and environmental-level factors influencing PCC and PE. Findings presented under 10 sub-themes show that resource constraints and staff shortages hinder PCC, while patient agency and communication impact PE. In addition, the ability to pay and geographical barriers further hinder access to patient-centred services, affecting overall healthcare delivery.

Conclusion: The findings from this study emphasise that without system-wide interventions to address these issues - including improving resource allocation, enhancing communication, and reducing geographical and financial barriers - achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) by 2030 remains highly aspirational.

Contribution: The contribution of the study is inherent in the relevance of contextual findings towards improving health service delivery.

Background: Competency-based education (CBE) is adopted to reform health professionals' education. The goal is to produce graduates who are not only competent in their fields but also equipped with the necessary social accountability skills for safe practice.

Aim: The study aimed to explore nursing education stakeholders' perspectives on competency-based primary healthcare (PHC)-oriented nursing education programmes in the South African context.

Setting: The setting for this study was a higher education institution in South Africa.

Methods: A descriptive qualitative method was used in this study. After taking ethical clearance from the university ethics committee, data were purposively collected and theoretically sampled from 40 participants through focus group discussion, individual interviews and document analysis.

Results: The data findings reported categories that emerged from this study, which include the attributes of a competency-based PHC-oriented programme and the outcomes of a competency-based PHC-oriented programme.

Conclusion: In the context of this study, the concept of CBE was portrayed as a programme with strong social accountability that aims at addressing priority health needs surrounding communities and ensuring that the health needs of the community are met while providing health delivery service to communities in their natural environment.

Contribution: These findings add to the growing evidence base around CBE as an approach to strengthen PHC-oriented health services in low- and middle-income countries, a key aspect of which is providing service within communities. This enables the accessibility of quality healthcare closer to where people live and work to achieve Sustainable Development Goal number three.