Conveying hypertension message: An investigation into the language and content used in primary health clinics in South Africa

Background: Hypertension is a global health burden affecting developed and developing countries, and South Africa is no exception. Aim: This article aims to highlight the language and content used in health education on hypertension in primary healthcare (PHC) by health promoters and in pamphlets. Methods: The study design was quantitative descriptive. The population comprised a purposive selected sample of 12 health promoters in 12 PHC clinics and 50 pamphlets relating to health education on hypertension. An audio recorder was used to record health education provided by health promoters. Quantitative content analysis and frequency distribution was used to analyse the data. Results: The health promoters used various South African languages mixed with English (code switching). Patients were taught about lifestyle modifications and encouraged to adhere to management therapy. The switching in language usage may affect the understanding of those who do not speak the local language and that may explain the reason for lack of hypertension-suited life modification required by health education. Conclusion: It is important that heath education on hypertension should be standardised so that the content of health education in clinic A is similar to that in clinic B. Information contained in pamphlets should be summarised and standardised to the content presented by health promoters

Health resources for South Africa: A scoping review

Background: Healthcare is more effective when people are treated in their own language with respect for their culture. However, information about the availability and nature of health resources is fragmented and studies suggest few assessments, screening tools, or other health resources in many of South Africa's languages.Aim: This scoping review identified health resources written in the eleven official languages of South Africa for health professionals to use for patient assessment and management.Methods: Databases were searched and information about resources collated and analysed.Results: Two-hundred-and-fifty two unique resources were found (444 items, if different language versions of the same resource were counted separately). All official languages were represented. The most widely used (excluding English) were Afrikaans (118 resources), IsiXhosa (80) and IsiZulu (55).Conclusion: Development of more health resources and critical evaluation of their validity and reliability remain important. This study contributes a preliminary database for South African health professionals, ultimately promoting improved service delivery

An Exploratory Study of the Implementation of Early Intervention Workshops for Primary Caregivers in Johannesburg

Background. If primary caregivers are able to stimulate their children's development effectively; then the prevalence of children at risk of cognitive and language developmental delays could decrease and the shortage of available services for the identified children could be addressed; as hopefully fewer children would require extensive early intervention (EI) services later on in life.Objective. To develop and implement an EI workshop with primary caregivers on how to provide language and cognitive stimulation through daily living activities (DLAs). Methods. Two workshops were conducted at two daycare centres; focusing on daily language stimulation; with the primary caregivers of children aged between 0 and 3 years. A pre-workshop; semi-structured group interview was conducted to gain insight into the participants' knowledge and expectations. This was followed with a post-workshop; semi-structured group interview to gain insight into and feedback on how the participants were able to carry over the techniques in order to stimulate their children in DLAs. The data were analysed using thematic data analysis.Results. It was found that although participants demonstrated the basic understanding of the concept of EI; their knowledge improved with the workshop. The participants reported that they were able to implement the techniques gained from the workshop and noticed a change in their children's behaviour and communication within the space of 1 week. The participants also reported on the ease of stimulating their children through DLAs and that no additional time had to be scheduled for stimulation. Conclusion. The workshops have the potential to target populations regardless of their socioeconomic status; cultural beliefs; linguistic differences; and access to medical institutions