The application of intervention mapping in developing STI/HIV health education program for traditionally circumcised men in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa

This paper describes the application of the IM in the development of an STI/HIV health education program, which can be integrated into the ITMC practices in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa.

Improving the quality of STI care by private general practitioners: a South African case study.

OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of an intervention to improve quality of sexually transmitted infections (STI) care among 64 private general practitioners (GPs) working in two urban districts in Gauteng Province, South Africa. METHODS: We implemented a multifaceted intervention, the core of which were four interactive continuing medical education seminars. Changes in STI treatment practices were evaluated through record reviews before and after the continuing medical education intervention in 17 randomly selected practices in the intervention districts and in nine randomly selected practices from a reference GP group (n = 34). RESULTS: There were statistically significant improvements in the quality of drug treatment for urethral discharge but not pelvic inflammatory disease among both intervention and reference GPs. CONCLUSIONS: Improvements in STI quality were possibly the result of a background secular trend rather than the intervention itself. Further research is needed on financial and other incentives to improved quality of STI care in the private sector environment.</p

Factors influencing the information behaviour of doctors and nurses in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and Northern Cape provinces: a survey study protocol

Introduction Information is a prerequisite for quality healthcare service. Health professionals play a key role in the health system as they jointly have the responsibility of looking after patients everyday. Failure to use evidence in medicine may lead to medical errors such as incorrect diagnosis and/or mismanagement. Health professionals with access to quality health information can improve health services. This study focuses on the information behaviour of doctors and nurses whose role involves direct patient care.Methods and analysis This study will employ a quantitative approach using a cross-sectional survey design. Simple random sampling will be used to identify the provinces and hospitals. Stratified random sampling will be used to select doctors and nurses to whom a validated questionnaire will be administered. The study will use a structured self-administered questionnaire. Data collection will be carried out at Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, Witbank Hospital, Pietersburg Hospital and Robert Mangaliso Hospital, respectively. Questionnaires are distributed to health professionals in one of two ways. First, by emailing an editable Microsoft word document (questionnaire) to the health professionals to complete and send back. Second, by sharing with the health professionals through WhatsApp or email, an online version of the questionnaire that has been created on Google Forms. Data collection process is scheduled to commence on 14 March 2022 and is expected to end on the 15 September 2022.Ethics and dissemination Ethical approval was obtained from the University of the Witwatersrand Human Research Ethics Committee (reference: M211013) and Walter Sisulu University Human Research Ethics and Biosafety Committee (reference: 099/2021). Permission to access the health facilities was approved by the Provincial Health Research Committees of the Eastern Cape, Limpopo, Mpumalanga and Northern Cape. Finally, results will be shared with all key stakeholders, including hospital management, clinical staff, through public presentation and direct engagements with stakeholders

Protocol for exploring the use of hospitals as a learning organisation: a cross-sectional study in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province

IntroductionIn today’s highly competitive environment, where changes happen at a rapid pace, organisations that stand a chance to survive are those that are proactive and easily adapt to changes. Hospitals are faced with various challenges including scrutiny from stakeholders. This study seeks to investigate learning strategies used by hospitals in one of South Africa’s provinces to achieve the principle of a learning organisation.Methods and analysisThis study will employ a quantitative approach using a cross-sectional survey on health professionals of a South African province. Stratified random sampling will be used to select hospitals and participants in three phases. The study will use a structured self-administered questionnaire, designed to collect data on learning strategies used by hospitals to achieve the principle of a learning organisation between June and December 2022. Descriptive statistics (mean, median, percentages, frequency, etc) will then be used to describe the raw data and allow the discovery of patterns. Inferential statistics will also be used to make inferences and predictions about the learning habits of health professionals in the selected hospitals.Ethics and disseminationThe approval to access the research sites with reference number: EC_202108_011 has been granted by the Provincial Health Research Committees of the Eastern Cape Department. Ethical clearance with Protocol Ref no: M211004 has been approved at the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Witwatersrand. Finally, results will be shared with all key stakeholders, including hospital management, clinical staff, through public presentation and direct engagements with stakeholders. The findings may guide hospital leaders and other relevant stakeholders to develop guidelines and policies on creating a learning organisation that contributes to the improvement of quality patient care.</jats:sec

Protocol for exploring the use of hospitals as a learning organisation: a cross-sectional study in South Africa’s Eastern Cape province

Introduction In today’s highly competitive environment, where changes happen at a rapid pace, organisations that stand a chance to survive are those that are proactive and easily adapt to changes. Hospitals are faced with various challenges including scrutiny from stakeholders. This study seeks to investigate learning strategies used by hospitals in one of South Africa’s provinces to achieve the principle of a learning organisation.Methods and analysis This study will employ a quantitative approach using a cross-sectional survey on health professionals of a South African province. Stratified random sampling will be used to select hospitals and participants in three phases. The study will use a structured self-administered questionnaire, designed to collect data on learning strategies used by hospitals to achieve the principle of a learning organisation between June and December 2022. Descriptive statistics (mean, median, percentages, frequency, etc) will then be used to describe the raw data and allow the discovery of patterns. Inferential statistics will also be used to make inferences and predictions about the learning habits of health professionals in the selected hospitals.Ethics and dissemination The approval to access the research sites with reference number: EC_202108_011 has been granted by the Provincial Health Research Committees of the Eastern Cape Department. Ethical clearance with Protocol Ref no: M211004 has been approved at the Human Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Witwatersrand. Finally, results will be shared with all key stakeholders, including hospital management, clinical staff, through public presentation and direct engagements with stakeholders. The findings may guide hospital leaders and other relevant stakeholders to develop guidelines and policies on creating a learning organisation that contributes to the improvement of quality patient care

Exploring the Information Sources Consulted by Doctors at the Point of Care in Four Selected South African Referral Hospitals

Background: To provide an understanding of the clinical information sources consulted by teaching or referral hospital-based doctors in four South African provinces. Methods: A quantitative cross-sectional survey design was used. To identify provinces, hospitals, and participants, simple random sampling was adopted. This study targeted a total of 276 doctors from all the four hospitals working across different departments within the hospitals. This study was conducted in four selected South African public referral/teaching hospitals in four different provinces, namely Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital in the Eastern Cape province; Witbank Hospital in Mpumalanga province; Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe Hospital in Northern Cape province and lastly, Pietersburg Hospital in Limpopo province. Results: Overall, 221 doctors were surveyed. Doctors relied more on colleagues as formal and informal sources of information. They seldomly relied on newspapers, reference, and library books, or used hospital computers to access the internet. They seldomly attended training workshops organised by the district or provincial office. Protocols and clinical guidelines which are kept in the hospitals and easily accessible were often (27.9%) or always (51.1%) used. Conclusions: Teaching hospitals need to strengthen information resources to ensure that even when colleagues are used as an information source, they are an accessible means to validate the correctness of the information provided

A cross-sectional study of knowledge, attitudes, barriers and practices of cervical cancer screening among nurses in selected hospitals in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa

Abstract Background Cervical cancer is a preventable but highly prevalent cancer in many low -and middle-income countries including South Africa. Cervical cancer outcomes can be improved with improved vaccination, a well-coordinated and efficient screening programme, increased community awareness and uptake, and increased knowledge and advocacy of health professionals. This study therefore aimed to ascertain the knowledge, attitudes, practices and barriers of cervical cancer screening among nurses of selected rural hospitals in South Africa. Methods A quantitative cross-sectional study was conducted in five hospitals in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa between October and December 2021. A self-administered questionnaire was used to assess demographic characteristics of nurses and cervical cancer knowledge, attitudes, barriers and practices. A knowledge score of 65% was deemed adequate. Data were captured in Microsoft Excel Office 2016 and exported to STATA version 17.0 for analysis. Descriptive data analyses were used to report the results. Results A total of 119 nurses participated in the study with just under two thirds (77/119, 64.7%) being professional nurses. Only 15.1% (18/119) of participants were assessed as having obtained a good knowledge score of ≥ 65%. The majority of these (16/18, 88.9%) were professional nurses. Of the participants with a good knowledge score, 61.1% (11/18) were from Nelson Mandela Academic Hospital, the only teaching hospital studied. Cervical cancer was deemed to be a disease of public health importance by 74.0% (88/119). However, only 27.7% (33/119) performed cervical cancer screening. Most of the participants (116/119, 97.5%) had an interest of attending more cervical cancer training. Conclusion The majority of nurse participants did not have adequate knowledge about cervical cancer and screening, and few performed screening tests. Despite this, there is a high level of interest in being trained. Meeting these training needs is of utmost importance to implementing a comprehensive cervical cancer screening programme in South Africa. </jats:sec

Model of delivery of cancer care in South Africa’s Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga provinces: a situational analysis protocol

IntroductionCancer contributes to a significant proportion of morbidity and mortality globally. Low-income and middle-income countries such as South Africa tend to be characterised by poor and inequitable access to cancer services. Cancer resources are more likely to be found in urban areas, tertiary centres and quaternary hospitals. However, little is known about the linkages to care, continuity of care and packages of cancer care in rural South African settings. This study describes cancer service delivery for South Africa’s Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga provinces.Methods and analysisA mixed-methods qualitative and quantitative research methods of three substudies which include semistructured interviews with patients, focus group discussions with health providers and a quantitative record review that will be carried out at both Rob Ferreira hospital, Witbank hospital and Nelson Mandela Academic hospital in Mpumalanga and Eastern Cape province, respectively. Instruments assess demographic characteristics, explore packages of cancer care, explore challenges experienced by health professionals, and maps out the referral pathway of patients with a cancer diagnosis in the study sites. Numerical, quantitative data will be explored for normality using the Shapiro-Wilk test and reported using either the mean, SD and range or the median and IQR depending on the normality of the distribution. Qualitative data will be analysed using the phenomenological approach.Ethics and disseminationEthics approval was obtained from the Human Research Ethics Committee of Walter Sisulu University (040/2020) and the University of the Witwatersrand (M210211), South Africa. To the research team’s knowledge, this is the first study presenting the model of cancer delivery in South Africa’s Eastern Cape and Mpumalanga province. This will thus provide better understanding of cancer service delivery systems, packages of cancer care from primary care to quaternary care.</jats:sec