The impact of the responsibility of teachers regarding reproductive healthcare to teenage learners

The Life Orientation subject at school is meant to equip learners with important life skills and prepare them to be responsible adults that will contribute positively to the economy of the country. One of such skills is to avoid pregnancy while being a learner and therefore needs information about sex and sexuality. The school curriculum should thus include the subject Reproductive Health Care and the teachers be allowed the responsibility to teach the subject. Teenage girls who become pregnant as learners are in many times compelled to drop out of school to raise the child as it becomes challenging to cope with studies and looking after the baby. The study used a qualitative exploratory research design aimed to determine the impact of the responsibility of teachers regarding reproductive healthcare to teenage learners. The objectives were to, explore the knowledge of school teachers with regard to reproductive healthcare. To explore and describe the views of the teachers with regard to their responsibility to teach the reproductive healthcare topic to teenage girls. Lastly, to develop guidelines for schools to assist teachers regarding their responsibility to teach the reproductive healthcare topic to teenage girls. The article will report on the first two objectives only. Indepth focus group interviews were conducted with twenty willing participants and a narrative questionnaire was completed. The data analysis method used was the spiral method which follows the process of coding and categorising transcribed data. The processallows data to be organised and setting it for several times so as to get a sense of the whole. identifying general categories and themes of the data is the next step followed by integrating and summarising the data to get a response to the research question. Data analysis results were teachers who felt burdened with the responsibility. Some had a positive opinion of the subject as part of the school curriculum and thus the need for stakeholder collaboration for their assistance. In conclusion, teachers are in need of empowerment for the responsibility to teach reproductive healthcare. (Afr J Reprod Health 2022; 26[4]: 82-91).

Contextual factors in premature non-communicable disease mortality in selected African countries within the sustainable development goals framework: the implication of voice and accountability

Sustainable Development Goal number 3, target 4 (SDG 3.4), seeks a 30% reduction in premature Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) mortality from 2015 levels by 2030. Africa United Nations (UN) Member States continue to experience increasing NCD mortality significantly, with the highest proportion of diabetes mortality among the working-age group. Past efforts to address this burden have been centered primarily on individual risk modifications evident by the NCDs Cluster Program at the World Health Organization (WHO) Africa Regional Office. To achieve a progressive reduction, a comprehensive premature NCD reduction approach which includes a consideration of contexts within which premature NCD, such diabetes mortality arises is necessary. The aim was to examine the relationship between contextual factors and diabetes-related deaths as premature NCD mortality and to enable an improved contextualized evidence-based approach to premature NCD mortality reduction. Country-level data was retrieved for post SDG initiative years (2016-2019) from multiple publicly available data sources for 32 selected Africa UN Member States in the International Diabetes Federation (IDF) East and West Africa Region. Multiple linear regression was employed to examine the relationship between diabetes-related deaths in individuals 20-79 years and contextual factors identified within the SDG framework. Weighted data analysis showed that voice and accountability as a contextual factor explained approximately 47% variability in diabetes-related deaths across the selected Africa UN Member Sates in IDF East and West Region (n=32). Civil society engagement is vital to develop effective premature NCD mortality reduction policies, and strategies and stakeholders' accountabilities are necessary to ensure adherence to obligations.

Conceptualising social accountability as an attribute of medical education

Background: Health professionals need to be both person- and community oriented to improve population health. For educators to create socially accountable physicians, they must move learners from understanding social accountability as an expectation to embracing and incorporating it as an aspect of professional identity that informs medical practice. Aim: The aim of this article was to assess the degree to which medical students, preceptors and community mentors understand the concept of social accountability. Setting: The setting is the KwaZulu-Natal Province in Durban, South Africa. Methods: Using an observational design, we surveyed 332 participants, including the first- and sixth-year medical students, physician preceptors and community mentors. Results: Whilst most respondents understood social accountability as requiring an action or set of actions, it was defined by some as simply the awareness one must have about the needs of their patients, community or society at large. Some respondents defined social accountability as multi-dimensional, but these definitions were the exception, not the rule. Finally, most respondents did not identify to whom the accountable party should answer. Conclusion: Whilst the development of professional identity is seen as a process of 'becoming', the ability to define and understand what it means to be socially accountable is not a linear process. Assessment of this progress may start with comprehending how social accountability is understood by students when they begin their education and when they are graduating, as well as in knowing how their educators, both clinical and community, define it

Racing risk, gendering responsibility: a qualitative study of how South African students talk about sexual risk and responsibility

Individuals' perceptions of risk have implications for whether and how they engage with protective strategies. This study investigated how sexual risk; specifically HIV and pregnancy and responsibility for these risks were constructed in discussions across five groups of youth in KwaZulu-Natal; South Africa. The qualitative study used focus groups and interviews with a sample of 28 tertiary level students and 7 peri-urban youth. The constructions of risk intersected with raced and gendered narratives around sexual risk and responsibility. These constructions were used by the participants to assign and displace responsibility for the risks of HIV and pregnancy; rendering some groups immune to these risks. This constitutes a form of stigmatisation and also has implications for participants' prevention practices

A 4-year review of psychiatrists' participation in prosecutorial workshops on criminal capacity

Objective. The objective was to review psychiatric involvement in seven prosecutorial workshops on criminal capacity between 2004 and 2009. The aim was to evaluate the changing role of the psychiatrists in the workshops in order to identify areas in forensic psychiatry where prosecutors have a specific need for training; and to identify more suitable methods of training. Method. The workshop programmes; copies of presentations; the number of attending prosecutors at each workshop; informal personal notes from the presenters; suggestions from meetings in preparation for workshops and formatted feedback reports were reviewed. Information from a total of seven workshops was reviewed and interpreted by 2 psychiatrists from Weskoppies Hospital Forensic Psychiatry Unit (WHFPU). Results. The psychiatrists' involvement increased over the years. Problematic topics that were identified include non-pathological criminal incapacity; child psychiatry and the different roles of the psychiatrist and the psychologist in court. Exposure to practical aspects; interactive workshops with case presentations; discussion groups and audience participation seemed to be the preferred method of training. Attitudes of prosecutors towards psychiatry improved with increased knowledge and understanding of the field; and overall the training was rated as relevant and enriching. Conclusion. Psychiatrists can offer valuable training opportunities to legal professionals about the major mental illnesses and how they can affect criminal capacity; but evaluation of the training should be an ongoing process to address changing needs. Training sessions provide an opportunity for reciprocal sensitisation between the different fields. The ultimate goal is to work towards improved association between the criminal justice and mental health systems

Political and Socio-Economic Instability: does it have a Role in the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Sub-Saharan Africa?

Many sub-Saharan African countries are confronted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. This article reviews academic literature in the social sciences and health to discover why HIV/AIDS has become an epidemic in sub-Saharan Africa and not in other parts of the world. This was studied by examining the social determinants of diminishment of tradition and social cohesion in terms of political; social and economic problems. Four countries in this region were selected for this case study; namely South Africa; Botswana; Uganda and Zimbabwe. The findings showed that instability in socio-economic and political aspects in these nations was responsible for creating a suitable environment for the spread of HIV/AIDS infection. This paper concludes by using the theories of collective action/responsibility and social cohesion to hypothesise that the breakdown of social ties due to various kinds of conflicts and unrest is one of the main contributors to the HIV/AIDS epidemic

Religious beliefs, coping skills and responsibility to family as factors protecting against deliberate self-harm

Background. Deliberate self-harm (DSH) ranges from behaviours aiming to communicate distress or relieve tension; but where suicide is not intended, to suicide. Not all individuals are prone to DSH, which suggests that there are factors that protect against it. Identifying these could play an important role in the management and prevention of DSH. Objectives. This study examined whether religious beliefs, coping skills and responsibility to family serve as factors protecting against DSH in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. Method. A cross-sectional comparative study assessed DSH patients consecutively admitted or directly referred to Queen Elizabeth General Hospital and Hospital Mesra Bukit Padang during the period December 2006 - April 2007. DSH patients (N=42) were matched with controls (N=42) for gender, age, religion, race, occupation and marital status. The DSH and control groups were compared using psychosocial tests that assess coping skills, religious beliefs and responsibility to family. Results. There were significant differences in religious beliefs (p=0.01) and responsibility to family (p=0.03) between the DSH patients and the control group. There were also significant differences in coping skills, DSH patients tending to use emotion-orientated coping (p=0.01) as opposed to taskand avoidance-orientated coping. caution is required in generalising the results owing to limitations of the study. Further extensive research on religious and psychotherapeutic interventions and prospective studies on protective factors will be helpful

Attitudes towards psychiatry of undergraduate medical students at Bayero University, Nigeria

Background. This study determined and compared responses of 5th- and 6th (final)-year medical students on their attitudes to psychiatry as a profession. Also elicited were their choices of area of future medical specialisation. Method. A prospective and cross-sectional study using an adapted 27-item self-administered questionnaire to obtain responses from 91 5th- and 6th-year medical students at Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria. Results. More than 60% of the students' first choices for future specialisation were surgery, obstetrics/gynaecology or internal medicine. Psychiatry was the first preference for less than 2%. More than 75% of the students' views on the overall merits and efficacy of psychiatry were positive, although they felt that psychiatry had low prestige and status as a profession. In addition, the same proportion considered that psychiatry was scientific, making advances in the treatment of major mental disorders, and helpful in liaison practice. More than 50% stated that psychiatry would not be their choice of last resort for residency education and the same proportion felt that friends and fellow students rather than family members would discourage them from specialising in psychiatry. More than 50% would feel uncomfortable with mentally ill patients, felt that psychiatry would not be financially rewarding, and did not think that psychiatrists abuse their legal power to hospitalise patients. Attitudes of the two groups of students to psychiatry as a profession were not significantly different (p>0.05). Conclusion. A clinical clerkship in psychiatry did not influence the students' choice of future specialisation