ABSTRACT Nigeria has an annual population growth rate of 2.6 and a relatively high Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of 5.6 due to its larger family size. Men‟s fertility desire is a strong determinant of family sizes, but it is women that perform greater share of childcare activities. The potential relationship between the desire for childbearing and the responsibility of early childcare between spouses has not been adequately explored. This study was therefore designed to determine the extent to...
ABSTRACT Involving men in Maternal Health Care (MHC) has become important because of the realization that men‟s behaviour can significantly affect health outcomes of women and children. Male involvement in MHC is generally poor in many developing countries including Nigeria. Reasons for poor male involvement in MHC services have not been adequately documented. This study was therefore designed to determine hindrances to male involvement in MHC in Kwali Area Council, Abuja, Nigeria. A commun...
ABSTRACT Eimeria species are important coccidian parasites worldwide causing significant economic losses from clinical and subclinical coccidiosis in poultry. Vaccines for its control in Nigeria are imported without consideration of the local species often resulting in vaccine failure. This study determined the prevalence of and characterised the Eimeria species present in Oyo and Ogun States towards an effective control and prevention of coccidiosis. A semi-structured questionnaire was admin...
ABSTRACT Schools are great platforms where children can learn hygiene skills, behaviours and practices, and when these become part of children’ daily lives, this may lead to a positive impact in families and communities at large. However, effective hygiene promotion in school can be severely affected if sanitation facilities are not adequately managed. UNICEF indicated that, despite the provision of water to schools in Ohangwena region, there are still a high proportion of schools without ...
Background:Cancer in children in Tanzania is a concerning health issue, yet there is a shortage of information about the experiences of the guardians of children who receive cancer treatment. Objective:To explore concerns and needs of support among guardians of children on cancer treatment in Dares Salaam, Tanzania. Method:Using a qualitative design,3 focus group discussions were held with 22 guardians of children aged 9 to 17 years. Guardians were recruited from Muhimbili National Hospital, ...
ABSTRACT In this study, the researcher explored and described the views of health care professionals who are managing children with foetal alcohol syndrome at public health facilities in the Khomas Region in Namibia. The purpose of this research project was to develop and evaluate foetal alcohol syndrome guidelines. This study was qualitative, explorative, descriptive, and contextual in nature and was conducted in four phases.
ABSTRACT Communication is the ideas and information exchanged and actions or reactions that arise from that exchange and contact. What really defines the communication is the relationship between the communicator and the recipient. Therefore, for a good nurse-patient relationship to be established, nurse patient communication must be effective. The study described in this paper was to thoroughly investigate the factors influencing communication between registered nurses and patients at Inter...
ABSTRACT Background: Reports on systematic evaluation of the impact of antiretroviral therapy(ART) on patients’ hospitalisation in Sub Saharan Africa (SSA) and Tanzania in particular are scarce. We aimed at documenting the trends of hospital admissions at Muhimbili National Hospital (MNH) following scale up of free access to ART in Tanzania. Methods: Records for all admissions at MNH from June 2005 to June 2015 were reviewed. We extracted data from Hospital Information Management System...
ABSTRACT Epilepsy is the most common serious and chronic neurological disorder worldwide. Lack of knowledge and negative attitudes among teachers towards epilepsy causes stigmatization and discrimination of children diagnosed with epilepsy on a daily basis. Teachers in Namibia do not receive formal training on epilepsy, which may lead to them missing partial epileptic seizures, especially on undiagnosed children. Little is known about the knowledge, attitudes and practices of Namibian teache...
ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to describe and explore the experiences of parents of children with congenital abnormalities and identify source of support such parents employ when dealing with the child born with congenital abnormalities. Congenital abnormalities, regardless of the type, pose a concern to the Government, society, immediate family members and individual parents. The expectations parents had for a normal child becomes a nightmare when the child they were expecting is b...
ABSTRACT In the Grootfontein health district, directly observed treatment (DOT) services, a component of directly observed treatment short-course (DOTS) strategy (whereby tuberculosis (TB) patients take medicine under proper supervision and support) is available at all public health facilities. Yet the TB defaulter rate in Grootfontein is very high at 28%, and treatment success rate remains at 56%, far below the international target of 85%. Although many factors such as poverty, HIV/AIDS, la...
Abstract Aims: The study examined self-esteem, life satisfaction and hopelessness as predictors of meaning in life among people living with HIV/ AIDS. Methods: Two hundred patients; 126 females and 74 males, aged between 17 and 70 years were used for the study. Their mean age was 38.9 years with a standard deviation of 10.2 years. Results: The findings revealed that self-esteem, life satisfaction and hopelessness significantly predicted meaning in life and they are important constructs in ass...
ABSTRACT The overarching purpose of this study was to explore and describe how nurses communicate with patients diagnosed with tuberculosis (TB) at public health facilities in the Khomas Region of Namibia, and to develop guidelines for communication that would enhance the communication skills of nurses. To address the purpose of the study, a research project was conducted, which was quantitative, exploratory, descriptive, and contextual in nature. The study was conducted in four phases, star...
ABSTRACT Determination of eligibility for disability pension is a challenging area in view of the complexities surrounding defining and measuring disability. Currently there is an absence of eligibility criteria for the disability pension in Namibia, and people with disabilities have described the process of getting the disability pension as extremely difficult. To improve the process of determining eligibility for disability pension knowledge of the current factors associated with approval ...
Abstract Background: The incidence of HIV infection and AIDS is rising in Nigeria. Surgeons are at risk of occupationally acquired infection as a result of intimate contact with the blood and body fluids of patients. This study set out to determine the knowledge, attitude and risk perception of Nigerian surgery residents to HIV infection and AIDS. Methods: A self-administered postal questionnaire was sent to all surgery trainees in Nigeria in 1997. Results: Parenteral exposure to patients' bl...