MPH / Department of Public Health / Cerebral palsy is a condition which affects the normal functioning of children. Most children with this condition rely on other people for the execution of basic skills on a daily basis. The study aim was to explore the experiences of caregivers for children with cerebral palsy in Vhembe District, Limpopo Province. A qualitative approach using explorative, descriptive, and contextual design was used for this study. Simple random sampling was used to sample eight caregivers. Data was collected using semi-structured in-depth individual interviews which were pre-tested in Vhembe District, using two caregivers who did not form part of the study. Data was analysed using thematic analysis approach. Credibility, dependability, conformability and transferability were upheld to ensure trustworthiness of the study. Ethical considerations were adhered to throughout the study. Two main themes emerged during data analysis, namely: positive experiences of caregivers and challenges faced by caregivers. The study recommends: development of a model to support caregivers in caring for children with cerebral palsy; and the investigation of the prevalence of back-pain amongst caregivers of children with cerebral palsy in Vhembe District. / NRF

MCur / Department of Advanced Nursing Science / Malnutrition is globally considered the key risk factors of illness and death which affect over 90 million children under the age of five. The study aim was to determine the perception of caregivers regarding factors contributing to malnutrition in children under 5 years in the Vhembe District of the Limpopo province. A qualitative approach, explorative, descriptive and contextual design was used in the study. Nine participants were sampled through simple random sampling. Data was collected through in- depth individual interview and was analysed through Tesch‘s analytical approach. Measures to ensure trustworthiness and ethical consideration were adhered to throughout the study. Three themes emerged from study, namely: caregivers perceived contributory factors to malnutrition, financial difficulties and help that were sought from various available resources. In conclusion, feeding practices to most of the participants was a challenge, they had financial difficulties since they were not working and depended on social and child grants for living, and the study recommends the development of strategies to assist caregivers in preventing malnutrition in children. / NRF

MSc (Microbiology) / Department of Microbiology / BACKGROUND: Human norovirus (NoV) is the etiological agent associated with acute gastroenteritis (AGE) in both children and adults worldwide. Children of <5 years of age, the elderly and individuals suffering from chronic diseases are potentially at high risk of NoV-associated illness. High morbidity and mortality rate associated with NoV have been reported worldwide. In children under the age of 5 years about 1.8 million death cases have been reported in developing countries alone. Despite the fact that the virus is affecting people of all age groups, there is lack of data to elucidate the importance and the role of NoV in children of the age above 5 years and adults. OBJECTIVE: To characterize human norovirus in patients with diarrhoea in rural communities of Vhembe district, Limpopo province. MATERIALS AND METHODS : From August 2017 to October 2018, outpatient between 5 and 68 years of age from rural communities of Vhembe district, Limpopo province were recruited for this study. A total of n=80 stool samples were collected from patients with diarrhoea and were kept at 4˚C throughout the transportation to the laboratory and refrigerated at - 20˚C prior to RNA extraction. Stool samples were tested for norovirus using the RIDA©GENE NOROVIRUS I & II real-time RT-PCR. The RNA extracts tested positive for norovirus were subjected to RT-PCR amplification. The RT-PCR products of the amplified fragments were sequenced, and phylogenetic trees were constructed by the neighbor-joining method using MEGA 7 software. RESULTS: NoV was detected in 13(16%) out of 80 stool samples collected, of which 6 (46%) strains belonged to norovirus GII and 7 (54%) strains to norovirus GI. A total of 5 genotypes were detected (GII.Pg, GII.1, GII.2, GII.4 Sydney 2012). The phylogenetic analysis revealed circulation of NoV genotypes with considerable diversity. CONCLUSION: This study illustrates NoV prevalence and substantial genetic diversity in patients above 5 years of age living in rural communities of Vhembe district, Limpopo province. Continued systematic surveillance to evaluate norovirus association with diarrhoea is needed to have a full picture on the epidemiology and disease burden in people of all the age groups. / NRF

Bibliotherapy has been used as a therapeutic technique to assist clients to deal with a range of different issues in group as well as individual contexts. In this study, bibliotherapy has been used as an intervention to help six pre-adolescent children in a group setting deal with bereavement following their parents’ divorce. A qualitative research design has been implemented in which an individual pre-therapy interview was conducted with each participant to determine their issues related to their parents’ divorces, coping strategies employed as well as level of English proficiency before an appropriate book was selected. After five group sessions in which bibliotherapy and associated activities were used, each participant was interviewed individually to determine the success of the use of bibliotherapy in this intervention. According to the results, bibliotherapy can be successful in a group context to help pre-adolescents deal with their parents’ divorce. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Guidance and Counselling)

In this critical evaluation of the National Policy on Religion and Education (Republic of South Africa 2003) , I will invite a multiplicity of voices and opinions from various disciplines and discourses - a Bakhtinian carnival of heteroglossic play . As opposed to the official feast, one might say that carnival celebrated temporary liberation from the prevailing truth and from the established order; it marked the suspension of all hierarchal rank, privileges, norms, and prohibitions. Carnival was the true feast of time, the feast of becoming, change, renewal. It was hostile to all that was immortalised and completed (Bakhtin 1984:10). In this time of postmodern carnival, official 'Truth' is constantly questioned and treated with suspicion and replaced by new and unofficial truths (Scott 1986; Hiebert 2003). God (if not religion) has been proclaimed dead and yet at the same time seems to be more alive than ever. This is a time when 'all the conventional norms and protocols are suspended, as the common life is invaded by a great wave of riotous antinomianism which makes everywhere for bizarre mésalliances' (Scott 1986:6). And the presiding spirit of blasphemy finds its quintessential expression in the ritual of the mock crowning and subsequent decrowning of the carnival king - who is the very antithesis of a real king, since he is in fact often a slave or a jester. In short, everything is topsy-turvy, and the disarray thus engenders an uproarious kind of laughter (Scott 1986:6). In his presidential address to the American Academy of Religion in 1986 titled 'The house of intellect in an age of carnival: some hermeneutical reflections', Scott (1986:7) explores the impact of the "multiplicity and fragmentation and diversity" facing 'the house of intellect', and identifies the challenge of not resorting to the safety of 'any sort of reductionism, [but] how to understand and interpret the multitudinous messages and voices that press in upon us, each clamouring for attention and for pride of place'. After acknowledging the polyphony surrounding Religionswissenschaft on the one hand and on the other hand rejecting any hermeneutical attempts at a 'totalistic' synthesis, Scott proposes moving among the different 'modalities' of interanimation between [the various] modes of discourse' (Ricoeur quoted by Scott 1986:11). Scott (1986:15) closes his address by appealing for continued conversations and dialogue among discourses and 'scatterings' of truth (1986:15) as a hermeneutical method that would take the plurality and heteroglossia of this time in history seriously. This thesis is an attempt - a personal but also a scholarly and academically responsible attempt - to plot many of the voices and contexts that would help to evaluate the specific understanding of the role of the study of religion in the broader contexts of citizenship in a postmodern age where nationalities, nation states and allegiances are constantly in flux and complex. This thesis is also submitted as proof of the validity of my own voice as one of many voices in and surrounding the house of intellect in an age of carnival. / Religious Studies and Arabic) / D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies and Arabic)

Although fear is an integral part of normal human functioning, it is important to obtain knowledge of children’s normative fear and defence mechanism in order for parents and caregivers to understand and contribute towards mediating potentially stressful experiences of children in their care. This combined qualitative and quantitative study aimed to identify a dominant defence mechanism for children in their middle childhood in dealing with fear. In order to reach the aim of this study a conceptual framework was done exploring terms central to this study including: development in middle childhood, fear, coping mechanisms and defence mechanisms. Miller and Dollard’s learning theory as a theoretical perspective was applied to the study. Interviews were conducted with eleven children in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. The data was analyzed and several findings were identified and explored. Implications, limitations as well as suggestions are part of the concluding chapter of the report. / Sociology / M. Diac. (Play Therapy)

A multidimensional approach, using individual, social structural and process and system theories, is applied to examine the role of drugs in child abuse within the dysfunctional family system. By means of a saturation sample seventeen files were selected from Phoenix House and the South African National Council For Drug and Alcohol Abuse. A research schedule was developed and an analysis of the seventeen cases was done. The drug dependent parent is discussed and abuse in the family system are identified. Throughout, the influence of (the) parental drug dependency is illustrated and it is shown how dependency in a parent may influence family functioning and parenting skills. A literature study brought to light aspects in families which contribute to child abuse. Recommendations are made for further research on aspects highlighted by the findings. / Criminology and Security Science / M.A. (Criminology)

A qualitative study was conducted to explore and describe the knowledge and perceptions of parents and caregivers on the causes of diarrhoea among children under five years living in the rural areas of the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. The aim was to assist in correcting the negative perceptions of the causes of under five child diarrhoea through improved educational interventions. Data were collected through individual, semi-structured and face-to-face interviews from seven participants who were parents and caregivers of under-five children presenting with diarrhoea or admitted for the management of diarrhoea at a specific hospital and thematic analysis was done. The findings revealed that the participants had inadequate knowledge and lacked understanding of diarrhoea and its causes. Participants could not mention all the causes and risk factors associated with diarrhoea. Noteworthy is that the participants’ perceived diarrhoea as a serious condition. The study recommends that the implementation of policies regarding public education and health promotion programmes be targeted at educating parents and caregivers / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

Thesis (MA)--University of Stellenbosch, 2001. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Visual-motor integration is an important neuro-psychological aspect of school readiness. Developmental deficits in this area can have a detrimental influence on a child's ability to master reading, writing and arithmetic skills at school entrance level. Visual-motor integration problems should therefore be detected as early as possible to be able to implement intervention strategies which will promote visual-motor development. The study is socially relevant as it corresponds with the South African school policy which changed to a more integrative, inclusive approach after 1994. The American standardised Beery Developmental Test for Visual-Motor Integration (VMI) is widely used as a screening technique for visual-motor abilities by psychologists, occupational therapists, educators and remedial teachers in South Africa. In order to determine the predictive validity of the American VMI for a group of South African subjects, the results of children on the VMI: 1989-norms and VMI: 1997-norms were compared to their results in the Copying Test of the Junior South African Individual Scales (JSAIS). Performance on these three tests were also compared with certain biographical variables as well as teacher ratings of specific academic skills. A representative sample of 238 pre-school children from the Stellenbosch region were selected. According to the obtained results, a significant relationship was found between the results of the VMI: 1989 and VMI: 1997. The results of both the VMI: 1989 and VMI: 1997 correlated significantly with the results of the Copying Test. Performance in the tests correlated with chronological age, socio-economic status, as well as teacher ratings of specific academic skills. The discrepancy between the test performance of the three ethnic groups, suggests that the rate of the perceptual motor development described by the VMI developmental norms may be culture-specific. Considering the overall results of this study, the interchangeability of the Copying Test and the VMI, especially the VMI: 1997, in clinical use is acceptable in the South African context. The Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration thus offers significant predictive validity, as well as a valid indication, of the visual-motor integration development in the sample ofpre-schoolers used. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Visueel-motoriese integrasie IS 'n essensiële neuro-sielkundige aspek van skoolgereedheid. Ontwikkelingsagterstande in hierdie area kan 'n kind se lees-, taal- en rekenkundige vermoëns nadelig beïnvloed. Probleme ten opsigte van visueel-motoriese integrasie behoort dus so vroeg as moontlik opgespoor te word sodat remediërende strategieë geïmplementeer kan word wat visueel-motoriese integrasie bevorder. Die navorsing is sosiaal relevant deurdat dit aansluit by die skoolbeleid wat sedert 1994 na 'n meer geïntegreerde, inklusiewe benadering met die akkomodasie van diversiteit, verander het. Sielkundiges, arbeidsterapeute, opvoedkundiges en remediërende onderwysers in Suid- Afrika benut die Amerikaans gestandaardiseerde Beery-Ontwikkelingstoets vir Visueel- Motoriese Integrasie (VMI) op gereelde grondslag vir die evaluering van visueelmotoriese vaardighede. Ten einde die voorspellingsgeldigheid te bepaal van die Amerikaanse VMI vir 'n groep Suid-Afrikaanse toetslinge, is hul prestasies op die VMI: 1989-norms, sowel as die VMI: 1997-norms, met hul prestasies in die Natekentoets van die Junior Suid-Afrikaanse Individuele Skale (JSAIS) vergelyk. Prestasie in die toetse is ook met sekere biografiese veranderlikes, sowel as onderwyser-beoordelings van spesifieke akademiese vaardighede, vergelyk. 'n Verteenwoordigende steekproef van 238 voorskoolse kinders vanuit die Stellenbosch-omgewing is gekies. Uit die resultate blyk daar 'n beduidende korrelasie tussen die VMI: 1989-resultate en die VMI: 1997-resultate te wees. Die resultate van beide die VMI: 1989 en VMI: 1997 het beduidend met dié van die Natekentoets gekorreleer. Prestasie in die toetse het met kronologiese ouderdom, sosio-ekonomiese status, asook onderwyser-beoordelings van spesifieke akademiese vaardighede, gekorreleer. Die VMI-prestasies van die drie etniese groepe het beduidend verskil en die gevolgtrekking kan gemaak word dat die VMI nie as 'n kultuurvrye toets beskou kan word nie. Die gevolgtrekking op grond van die resultate van die huidige studie blyk dat die VMI, en veral die VMI: 1997, beduidende voorspellingsgeldigheid by die voorskoolse ondersoekgroep gelewer het en a / ISISHW ANKATHELO: Ukumanya ngokuhamba okubonakalayo kuyinto ebalulekileyo yokulungela ukungena esikolweni. lintsilelo zenkqubela phambili kulo mba zinganefuthe elibonakalayo lobugcisa bokufunda emntwaneni, ukubhala nobuchule bezibalo kumgangatho wokungena esikolweni. lingxaki zokumanya ngokuhamba okubonakalayo kufuneka ziqatshelwe kuselithuba khon'ukuze kwenziwe amalinge okungenela aya kuthi onyuse inkqubela phambili yokuhamba okubonakalayo. I-Beery Development Test yokumanya ngokuhamba okubonakalayo (VMI) isetyenziswa ngokubanzi njengobugcisa bomkhusane wokuhamba okubonakalayo, ziinzululwazi zengqondo, iingcali zokunyanga, abefundisi-ntsapho, kwakunye neetitshala ezilungisayo eMzantsi Afrika, kodwa kusekho impikiswano yokuba olu vavanyo, lubekwe emgangathweni yiMelika, likhupha iziphumo ezizizo na kwilizwe leentlanga ezahlukeneyo njengoMzantsi Afrika. Ukuze kufunyanwe ukuba 1-VMI ikhupha iziphumo ezizizo na kumalungu aseMzantsi Afrika, iziphumo zabantwana kwi-VMI: 1989 nakwi- VMI: 1997 zathelekiswa neziphumo zabo kwi South African Copying Test. Kuye kwakhethwa isampulu yabantwana abangama-238 abalungele ukungena esikolweni kwingingqi yaseStellenbosch. Kuye kwafunyanwa unxulumano olubalulekileyo phakathi kweziphumo zeVMI: 1989 neze- VMI: 1997. Zozibini iziphumo ze-VMI: 1989 neze- VMI: 1997 ziye zanxulumana ngokubalulekileyo neziphumo ze-Copying Test. Indlela ekwenziwe ngayo iye yanxulumana nokulandelelana ngamaxesha obudala ngokunjalo novavanyo lukatitshala lobugcisa obuthile kwezemfundo. Umahluko wovavanyo phakathi kwendlela ekuqhutywe ngayo ziintlanga ezintathu, ucebisa ukuba isantya senkqubela phambili sendlela yokubona echazwe sisithethe senkqubela se-VMI sinokwayama kwimpucuko. Nakubeni kunjalo, xa sicinga ngeziphumo zonke zesi sifundo, 1-VMI inike uphawu lenkqubela phambili yokumanya ngokuhamba okubonakalayo kwisampulu yabantwana abasetyenzisiweyo abalungele ukungena esikolweni.

Tesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 1994. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Visual-motor integration plays an important role in the development of a child. Developmental deficits in this area can, for example, be detrimental to a child's school-readiness or scholastic achievements. Visual-motor integration problems should be diagnosed as early as possible so that remediation can take place. The American Beery Developmental Test for Visual-Motor Integration (VMI) is widely used as a screening technique for visual-motor abilities by psychologists, occupational therapists, educators and remedial teachers in South Africa. In order to determine whether this American standardised test offers valid results for a group of South African subjects, the results of children in the VMI:1982 and VMI:1989 were compared to their results in the South African Copying Test. A sample of 40 pre-school children from a pre-primary school in Stellenbosch were selected. Only children with normal visual acuity, who had not undergone an occupational therapy evaluation, or school readiness test, during the previous three months, were included in the sample. A significant relationship was found between the results of the VMI:1982 and VMI:1989. The results of both the VMI:1982 and VMI:1989 correlated significantly with the results of the Copying Test. Performance in the tests correlated with chronological age as well as teacher evaluation of ability development. lt was concluded that the VMI may be regarded as a valid test of visual-motor integration in the group of subjects studied. lt is recommended that future studies including children from all cultural groups in South Africa should also be undertaken. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Visueel-motoriese integrasie speel 'n belangrike rol in die ontwikkeling van die kind. Ontwikkelingsagterstande in hierdie area kan byvoorbeeld 'n kind se skoolgereedheid of skolastiese prestasie nadelig be"invloed. Probleme ten opsigte van visueel-motoriese integrasie behoort so vroeg as moontlik opgespoor te word sodat remediering kan geskied. Die Amerikaanse BeeryOntwikkelingstoets vir Visueei-Motoriese lntegrasie {VMI) word in Suid-Afrika wyd deur sielkundiges, arbeidsterapeute, opvoedkundiges en remedierende onderwysers benut vir die evaluering van visueel-motoriese vaardighede. Om te bepaal of hierdie Amerikaans gestandaardiseerde toets geldige resultate vir 'n groep SuidAfrikaanse toetslinge !ewer, is die prestasies van kinders in die VMI:1982, sowel as die VMI:1989 met hul prestasies in die Suid-Afrikaanse Natekentoets vergelyk. 'n Steekproef van 40 voorskoolse kinders uit 'n pre-primere skool op Stellenbosch is gekies. Slegs kinders met normale gesigskerpte, en diegene wat nie gedurende die vorige drie maande 'n arbeidsterapie- of skoolgereedheidsevaluering ondergaan het nie, is by die ondersoek ingesluit. Beduidende korrelasies is tussen die VMI:1982-resultate en VM1:1989-resultate bevind. Die resultate van beide die VMI:1982 en VMI:1989 het beduidend met die van die Natekentoets gekorreleer. Prestasie in die toetse het met kronologiese ouderdom, sowel as onderwyser-beoordelings van vaardigheidsontwikkeling, gekorreleer. Daar is tot die gevolgtrekking gekom dat die VMI wel geldige resultate in die geval van hierdie spesifieke ondersoekgroep gelewer het. Verdere navorsing, wat oak kinders uit alle kultuurgroepe in Suid-Afrika insluit, word aanbeveel.