Unisa Press Journals (University of South Africa)
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Clinical Psychologists’ Experiences of “Community Service” in South Africa: Community-Based Service Learning and Primary Healthcare
No full textMany South African master’s degree programmes in Clinical Psychology integrate community psychology training modules into the first year (M1) of the coursework. Such modules often incorporate community-based service learning (CBSL) to equip trainees for work in primary healthcare settings. After completing their M1 year, trainees complete a year’s internship (M2) in a psychiatric setting, followed by a mandatory third year of “community service”, before being able to register for independent practice. This raises questions about the preparation of trainees for this additional year, including its links with CBSL and the provision of primary healthcare. The aim of this study was to investigate the clinical psychologists’ experiences of and settings for community service, and resonances with and contrasts to CBSL. The data were collected through an online survey accessing reflections of trainee clinical psychologists from five South African universities (n = 12), who had recently completed, or were currently completing, their community service. The data were analysed by template analysis. The resonances in the findings seem to be linked to the trainees’ relational and attitudinal skills and concepts related to community psychology, refined and applied during their M1 year. The contrasts in the themes illustrate the predominance of traditional clinical placements during community service, with their associated demands linked to dominant clinical practice. In conclusion, this study indicates that community service settings for clinical psychologists are seldom well linked to primary healthcare or based in community settings. Recommendations are made for CBSL in the M1 year and for expanding the settings of community service more widely into primary healthcare
Public Perceptions of Electronic Health Services in Bangladesh During the COVID-19 Pandemic
No full textIn the study, we aimed to assess the public perceptions of the prevalence, satisfaction and challenges of electronic health (e-health) services in Bangladesh. An online survey with a self-administered structured interview was conducted with 150 respondents to collect general perceptions from people living in rural and urban areas. The study revealed that the prevalence of e-health services was moderate in Bangladesh. During the COVID-19 pandemic, people accessed online vaccine registrations (58%) and telemedicine (23%) and downloaded COVID test reports (17%). The study did not find an association between e-health services and the respondents’ age, gender, living conditions and marital status based on the results of the chi-square test and the Mann-Whitney U test (p > 0.05). Spearman’s correlation coefficient confirmed that individuals were moderately satisfied with their access to e-health services (r = .536), the availability of updated COVID-related information on websites (r = .585), and government advertisements (r = .547). The respondents reported major challenges such as high internet costs, lack of awareness, insufficient internet speed, and an information gap regarding e-health services in Bangladesh. These results offer important insights to laypeople, health experts and practitioners, policymakers and government health authorities
Battle for the Bay Revisited: The 2021 South African Local Elections in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality
No full textIn a 2014 article in Politikon, entitled “Battle for the Bay,” Steyn Kotze, Prevost, and Wright analysed the 2011 local government elections in the Nelson Mandela Bay Municipality (NMBM) that saw the beginning of the decline of the electoral fortunes of the African National Congress (ANC). The article detailed how the Democratic Alliance (DA) crafted a strategy of turning out White voters in high numbers, winning the support of Coloured voters in the Northern Areas, and challenging the ANC in the Black wards of the municipality. The strategy was successful in the White and Coloured areas in the elections in both 2011 and 2016, allowing the DA to achieve a plurality of total votes and control of the mayor’s office in 2016. The 2021 local elections, with a sharply reduced turnout across the NMBM, saw the downfall of the previously successful DA strategy and the recovery of the mayor’s office by the ANC. The authors, using interviews and survey data from the Black wards of Kwazakhele, analyse how the ANC, in the context of continuing divisions and violence, was able to stabilise its vote in the face of a challenge from the resurgent Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF)
The Transformative Nature of Indigenous Knowledge Systems to Address Gender Inequality
No full textWomen have played a significant role in the history of Africa and indigenous normative systems and continue to do so. However, today their roles are in some quarters undermined due to patriarchy. South Africa has been changing and transforming to be more inclusive of the important contributions of women in traditional leadership roles. Traditional leadership is the oldest form of governance in Africa; however, men have historically occupied the throne. In pre-colonial societies, traditional leadership was determined by gender-defined roles between men and women; however, it became a problem after colonialism, when the gender-defined roles became distorted and patriarchy dominated. This led to the exclusion of women from leadership positions and the situation persisted into the modern-day. This contribution argues that women can lead, as history has proven that they are great leaders, but decisions about their leadership and choices must be determined based on their own choices and the protection of their voices. Decisions as seen from judicial pronouncements in South Africa are made to protect the right to equality and dignity of women, but if not done properly, it has the effect of undermining the very rights that state institutions aim to protect. This article recommends consideration of women’s voices across South Africa, especially in rural areas. Society must hear how they feel about their role as traditional leaders and how succession to these positions will bring challenges, for example, what will happen if a woman leader marries a commoner
Negotiating Heteronormativity: Transgender Women Navigating through Ulwaluko: The Rite of Passage to KwaXhosa Manhood
No full textThis qualitative study explores how five transgender Xhosa women navigate identity negotiations and cultural belonging within the profoundly gender-regulating ritual of ulwaluko KwaXhosa, male initiation to manhood. Data generation employed semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis. Despite acute violence enforcing masculine heteronormativity, findings reveal remarkable resilience as participants subtly expand gender pluralisms during the ritual through quiet defiance and feminine self-expression. Their profound liminality reveals fluidity within the ritual space. Analysing lived negotiations at the crossing lines of cisheteropatriarchy complicates Western gender theory and signals possibilities for radically inclusive African epistemologies recognising pre-colonial legacies of fluid gender diversity. Findings recommend that cultural gatekeepers foster compassionate pluralism and collective courage to transform exclusionary rituals towards radical inclusion
Job Burnout and Performance as a Determinant of Organisational Loyalty of Records Professionals
No full textThis article reports on a study that investigated the effect of job burnout and job performance as a determinant of organisational loyalty of records managers in South-Western Nigeria. The research sample comprised archivists and records managers at the University of Ibadan, College of Medicine, and the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State (FUNAAB) that warehouse the largest collection of government records in Nigeria. The research methodology was informed by the positivist research paradigm and used a questionnaire. The data analysis and interpretation of results were in descriptive form, using tables of frequencies and percentages. PPMC and regression analyses were presented. The results and discussions covered the demographic characteristics of respondents, answers to research questions, and answers to research hypotheses. The findings revealed that the marital status of the majority of respondents was single, and the dominant gender was female. The level of job burnout was moderate, illustrating that occupational pressure is temperate. The records professionals seemed satisfied with prospects of contributing to the organisation’s development, training opportunities, communication and teamwork, accounting for their commitment to organisational goals and their loyalty to the establishment. The results also reveal that career advancement, recognition and employment benefits are the major factors determining the loyalty of records professionals. The positive connection between the variables implies that improvement in job burnout prevention would lead to an increase in loyalty to their organisation. By recognising the impact of job burnout and promoting high performance, organisations can enhance the organisational loyalty of archivists and records managers, leading to improved retention, productivity, and overall success
Research Data Repositories from Latin America: Analysis and Proposal of Library Functions to Implement Open Science
No full textGlobally, the open science movement has as its main principle the openness of publicly funded data and research outputs. It is essential that actors in this movement include the development and implementation of legal, technical and technological infrastructure. The premise of this research was that if the purpose of open science is free access to research products, then technological infrastructure is fundamental to crystallise availability, visibility, reproducibility and unrestricted access. The research aimed to identify actions of the open science movement in Latin America and study technological infrastructure for data repositories developed and implemented there. The methodology comprised a bibliographic review and quantitative methods. For the exploratory analysis, the sources for retrieval of information were official Web portals of library entities, the Registry of Research Data Repositories, and the Dataverse Project. The search was based on defined variables, namely actions, data repository, infrastructure, library collaboration, and repositories in the Registry of Research Data Repositories and Dataverse. Findings were studied through a descriptive content analysis based on defined variables. We found that nine Latin American countries carry out open science actions; eight develop research data repositories; eight implement technological infrastructure to develop repositories; seven collaborate with libraries in open science actions; and seven have their repositories recorded in the Registry of Research Data Repositories and Dataverse, resulting in 62 research data repositories in Latin America. We concluded that these libraries are actors and laboratories with methodological and pragmatic elements that contribute to the organisation, reproducibility, transparency, management and open access that support the paradigm shift which the scholarly communication system requires
Development of Open Education Resources to Teach Oral History: Perspectives of a Sports Heritage-Engaged Scholarship Initiative in Gauteng, South Africa
No full textGaps exist in archival practices, and developments are in progress to decolonise and transform archives by supplementing existing archival collections with oral history accounts. This is a recent development in the archival field, requiring archivists and records managers to become aware of how oral history collections should be undertaken to preserve testimonies related to socio-economic, sociopolitical, and cultural events not yet captured by South African public archivists. An open educational resource (OER) was developed in 2022 as part of an engaged scholarship initiative to instruct archivists on oral history research techniques and how to apply research ethics when undertaking such projects. The research paradigm for this study was a postmodernist qualitative study. Action-based research was used in the research design. Action research is a flexible methodology uniquely suited to research and support change. It integrates social research with exploratory actions to promote development. Action research outcomes are both practical and theoretical. The knowledge it generates directly and continuously impacts the changing practices of the participants. Data from participants were collected through recorded project workshops and meetings. The content for the OER was developed from observing online videos showcasing oral history interviews, consulting literature on OER development, and discussions with archivists and heritage collectors at the South African National Film, Video and Sound Archives, the South African National Parks Board, and the Gauteng Provincial Archives. The OER was developed to enable collaboration to ensure that the oral narratives of postcolonial Africa, particularly post-apartheid South Africa, are not lost but captured by the public archives’ services for the benefit of South Africans and other interested stakeholders
Bibliometric Analysis of Research Trends and Novelty of Midwifery Policy
No full textMidwifery policy is important in regulating services, and its significance cannot be overstated. Despite the ongoing efforts in formulating policy, there remains a need for further analysis. This is because evidence-based research in midwifery serves as a foundation for enhancing the professionalism of the service practices. Bibliometric analysis of publications pertaining to midwifery policy is absent, leaving a gap in understanding trends and concepts. Therefore, this research aimed to determine trends in the number of publications, and visualisation of the relationship on the topic of midwifery policy through bibliometric analysis. The method used systematic reviews with the stages following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) diagram. Scientific publication data related to midwifery policy was retrieved through dimensions.ai from 2010 to 2022 and the data was analysed using VOSviewer. The results showed that first, there was an annual exponential growth in the number of publications and citations on the topic. Second, there were 224 items, 8 clusters, and 10047 links with a strength of 63352 on the topic of midwifery policy. Third, trends of research related to the topic were focused on hospitals, behaviour, and framework. Fourth, the research related to policy were topics with a low-density category, namely professional development, registration, and public health. Research results could identify trends and novelty in midwifery policy and recommend directions for further analysis
A Survey on the Use and Acceptability of Smartphones for Nursing Education in Nigeria
No full textBackground: The global exponential increase in technology has resulted in smartphones being used for learning in low resource settings.
Objectives: To investigate the use and acceptability of smartphones in nursing education in Nigeria.
Design and Setting: Cross sectional descriptive survey design. Five nursing education institutions in Southwest Nigeria were included in the study.
Participants: Nursing students in the setting were included (N = 1388), with a sample of 462 (university students: n = 354; college students: n = 108), allowing for an attrition rate of 10%.
Methods: A self-administered questionnaire with two valid and reliable scales was used to measure use, acceptance, perceived ease of use and usefulness, attitudes, and challenges of using smartphones for educational purposes.
Results: In the 451 respondents (97.6% response rate), the mean age was 21.31 (standard deviation [SD] = 3.59) years; most were female (389, 86.3%). Smartphones were common (422, 94.2%) and most (367, 81.4%) reported using their smartphone daily for educational purposes. High levels of smartphone acceptance with high ratings for perceived usefulness (M = 3.38, SD = 0.44), ease of use (M = 3.10, SD = 0.56) were reported with mixed attitudes (M = 2.75, SD = 0.35). Most of the respondents (428, 94.9%) found it useful for learning, but suitability of mobile content, unstable Internet, and data costs were barriers.
Conclusion: Smartphones have emerged as unintended grassroots academic tools for learning in low resource settings, but challenges remain in terms of the appropriateness of educational learning material and costs