ABSTRACT
Often located far apart from each other, deaf and hearing impaired persons face a multiplicity of challenges that evolve around isolation, neglect and the deprivation of essential social services that affect their welfare and survival. Although it is evident that the number of persons born with or acquire hearing impairments in later stages of their lives is increasing in many developing countries, there is limited research on this population. The main objective of this article is to explore the identities and experiences of living as a person who is deaf in Uganda. Using data from semi-structured interviews with 42 deaf persons (aged 19-41) and three focus group discussions, the study findings show that beneath the more pragmatic identities documented in the United States and European discourses there is a matrix of ambiguous, often competing and manifold forms in Uganda that are not necessarily based on the deaf and deaf constructions. The results further show that the country's cultural, religious and ethnic diversity is more of a restraint than an enabler to the aspirations of the deaf community. The study concludes that researchers and policy makers need to be cognisant of the unique issues underlying deaf epistemologies whilst implementing policy and programme initiatives that directly affect them. The upper case 'D' in the term deaf is a convention that has been used since the early 1970s to connote a 'socially constructed visual culture' or a linguistic, social and cultural minority group who use sign language as primary means of communication and identify with the deaf community, whereas the lower case 'd' in deaf refers to 'the audio logical condition of hearing impairment'. However, in this article the lower case has been used consistently.
ABSTRACT
Maternal mortality remains a challenge in Sub-Saharan Africa including Uganda. Antenatal Care (ANC) is one of the recommended measures to improve maternal and child health. However, the influence of pregnancy definition and perception on patterns of seeking regular and timely antenatal care among women in the reproductive age group (15-49 years) is not known. The objectives of this study were to: (i) understand the women's social definitions and perceptions on their pregnancy; (ii) understand the socio-cultural beliefs related to pregnancy among women of the reproductive age group; and, (iii) examine the influence of social definitions, perceptions and beliefs about pregnancy on women's antenatal care seeking behaviour patterns to inform the decentralised health care delivery system in Uganda. A total of 45 women, mothers and expectant women who were purposively selected from Kimanya sub county of Masaka district in Uganda participated in the study. Ten key informant interviews and four Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) were also conducted. Key findings indicate that the women's socio-definitions and perceptions of pregnancy influence their seeking behaviour on antenatal health care. To the women with a positive orientation towards antenatal care, pregnancy provides joy, happiness, pride, promotes their social status and safe-guards their marriage. Pregnancy is rewarding with care, love, support and gifts. Women who shun antenatal care perceive pregnancy to be a source of misery, sadness, pain and suffering. It is an uncomfortable and regrettable experience. Women also hold socio-cultural beliefs on pregnancy, which are culturally constructed and rooted in taboos, rituals and practices of their communities. It is therefore important to sensitise women and those who attend to them when they are pregnant to understand these perceptions and definitions to motivate them to seek antenatal and postnatal care for better maternal and child health.
