Department of Nutrition / MSCPNT

Department of Advanced Nursing Science / MCur

MPH / Department of Public Health / South African youth, like many young people the world over, experience obstacles related to accessing age-specific health care services. School-based health centres, therefore, represent a mode of delivery of youth-friendly services tailored to meeting the healthcare needs of young people, such as university students. The aim of the study was to investigate the barriers faced by University of Venda (UNIVEN) students in accessing the institution’s health services.The objectives of the study were to assess the level of awareness of the respondents regarding the UNIVEN campus health services and to determine the availability and acceptability barriers experienced by students in accessing the campus health services.The study is quantitative using a self-administered questionnaire, informed by literature review, to collect data from the respondents. The study population consisted of all the students who were resident on campus. The sample size were five hundred and thirty four (534) respondents drawn from all the residences on the university campus and comprising of students from all the schools and levels. Questionnaires were administered face-to-face to respondents in the respondents’ rooms. The validity and reliability of the study were ensured. Ethical considerations, such as informed consent, right to privacy, and no-harm to participants, were observed and addressed in this study. Data was entered and analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences 23. For continuous variables such as age, descriptive variable was calculated. For categorical variables, frequencies and percentages are presented.The results indicated that the average age of the study population was 21.85 years with almost all of the respondents (95%) being aware of the existence of a health clinic on the Univen campus. However, only 63% had gone for consultation at the clinic. Awareness of the clinic’s services appears to be poor, with HIV Counselling & Testing being the most known service, while minor illnesses’ management was the most utilised service (48%). Barriers experienced by the respondents were related to waiting times and opening hours of the clinic, with only 33% and 39% respectively, describing them as ideal.The study provides evidence that although university health services may be provided at no cost students still experience barriers in accessing them. Effective measures are needed to increase students’ awareness of the clinic’s services and to shorten waiting times and improve clinic opening hours.

MPH / Department of Public Health / Background: Globally, more than one billion people, or approximately 15% of the world’s population are living with some form of disability and 80% of them are found in developing countries. There are different types of disability; these include sensory, neurological, physical, intellectual, cognitive and psychiatric disabilities. Persons with disabilities may require specialized care, resources and commitment which place a very high demand of time and responsibilities on the one caring for them. Therefore, Community-Based Rehabilitation (CBR) was promoted by the World Health Organisation (WHO) as a strategy to respond to the needs of persons with disabilities, through the provision of basic services at community level, particularly in developing countries with limited resources. Methodology: The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the challenges faced by Community-Based Rehabilitation caregivers for persons with disabilities in Vhembe District, South Africa. A qualitative phenomenological design was used to explore and develop an in-depth understanding of the CBR caregiver’s challenges. The study was conducted in three Community-Based Rehabilitation centres located within Vhembe District with a sample size of six caregivers who were purposively selected. An interview guide was developed as an instrument for data collection. Data was collected through in-depth individual interviews and analyzed using thematic analysis. Results: Six main themes emerged from the data which shed light on the CBR caregiver’s challenges, namely; Poor relationships between caregivers, government v department and families, unavailability of material and human resources, poor funding system, caregivers’ well-being, education and training and the coping strategies of CBR caregivers Conclusion: This study pointed out that there is a need for intervention from different stakeholders such as government departments, family members of persons with disability, and the community members as well for CBR caregiver’s challenges to be resolved or minimized.

MPH / Department of Public Health / See the attached abstract below

MPH / Department of Public Health / Worldwide there are millions of children and adolescents with adisability. The United Nations Children’s Fund estimates the worldwide prevalence to be 150 million children under 18 years older, the World Health Organization also estimates that there are 93 million children with impairment. This study focused at describing the impact of rehabilitation programme for the young adult living with cerebral palsy admitted in a care centre Mopani District, South Africa. The study utilized a quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional survey method. Data was collected using an observational check list. The target population is young adults’ aged 18- 35 yearswith cerebral palsy in a Care Centre. Sampling was not necessary in this study since the targeted population was small in number. Confidentiality of respondents’ information was maintained where study subjects wereidentifiedusing codes. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics and the results of the analysis are presented in the form of tables and charts to enhance clarity. The results are presented according to the objectives. The conclusion and recommendationswere made based on the findings. The study results show that there were more females than males (ratio 3:1) and the range of age distribution was 20 to 37 years. The study also finds out that cerebral palsy condition was accompanied by other complications such as blindness, mental retardation, epilepsy and hydrocephalus. The study indicated that rehabilitation can only have minimal effects but it can improve the quality of life of the patient. With regard to communication outcome of the rehabilitation programme it indicates progress following rehabilitation between 57% and 80% could use expressive language and follow basic instructions. The study also observed that patients made a steady improvement right through from those who spent 4 to 8 years to those who had been there for long, 15 years and above. Since cerebral palsy can affect motor development as well as social development, the rehabilitation seems beneficial to focus on intervention programme on the cognitive stimulation of children and young adults with cerebral palsy. / NRF

MCur / Departrment of Advanced Nursing Science / In mental health, a Maximum-Security Ward is a special setting for care of patients who are unique and exceptional. People who have committed crimes due to their mental conditions are admitted for care, treatment and rehabilitation. Patients admitted in this ward are verbally and physically aggressive, violent, unpredictable, unmanageable and at times manipulative. Professional nurses working in the Maximum-Security Ward are at risk of suffering from occupational stress, burnout, lack motivation and are anxious. The aim of this study is to investigate the experiences of professional nurses working in the Maximum-Security Ward at Hayani hospital. A qualitative approach using a descriptive, exploratory and contextual design was used. A purposive, convenient sampling was used to sample professional nurses working in the Maximum-Security Ward of Hayani hospital. In-depth interviews were used to collect data. A voice recorder was utilised to record all data and the researcher being the main instrument for data collection. Dependability, confirmability and transferability were upheld to ensure trustworthiness of the findings. Data was analysed using Tech’s eight steps approach. Three themes with their categories and subcategories emerged after data analysis. The themes were as follows: the participants’ views on type of patients admitted in the ward, participants’ views on safety in the ward and participants’ views on staff interaction. The study recommended the following: Emotional counselling and debriefing sessions to be conducted at regular intervals or after a traumatic incident. Motivational and team building activities to be organised for professional nurses. Safety of professional nurses must be of significant value. More support is needed in times of emotional difficulties. Development of a model to support professional nurses. / NRF

Risk management strategy is a broad discipline aimed at identifying, evaluating and handling risks by both physical and financial means. The medical aid industry in South Africa has experienced a disproportionate increase in expenditure relative to the overall economic growth. These cost pressures have placed restraints on their ability to obtain new members, which is vital when subsidizing higher risks with younger healthier members, and has resulted in losses for many schemes. Compounding the problem has been political and regulatory health care reforms as well as technological advances, which have initiated a complete restructure of the industry. This dissertation reviews the risk management strategies implemented by medical insurers in South Africa. An analysis of alternate risk management strategies is taken with the view of recommending a tentative means of making medical aids more efficient in an increasingly difficult market. / Business Management / M. Comm. (Business Management)

The historical evolution of South Africa’s health sector, dating back to the 17th century, is significantly different from that of other African countries. Throughout the four centuries of development there have been numerous advances in health policy, legislative instruments and health system progress. Against this background this dissertation critically analysed the management of records in public health care institutions in South Africa. The study did this by addressing three objectives: assess the legislative, policy and regulatory contextual framework of South Africa’s health care system; assess the effectiveness of records management within public health care institutions; and identify appropriate interventions to address the challenges facing records management in the health care system. The study used purposive sampling to identify respondents with diverse expertise in three main sectors: the public sector, the private sector as well as in academic and research institutions. Using interview research technique the study solicited data that was analysed in order to provide a composite picture in addressing the research objectives. The analysis of data revealed three overarching themes. First, there is substantial legislative and regulatory dissonance in the management of health records in the country. While there are extensive legislative, regulatory and policy instruments that could be used to manage records, many lack coherence with records management issues such as records retention. Second, understanding the complex interplay of different legal and regulatory instruments is a critical first step, but it remains the beginning of the process towards building a sophisticated implementation process. For this process to be successful, study respondents argued that records compliance would have to be the backbone of all other compliance processes. Third, while there were substantial areas of weakness in the management of records in South Africa’s public health sector, there have been a number of pockets of excellence. These include the efforts towards complying to access to information legislation by the Limpopo Department of Health and Social Development as well as the successful introduction of Enterprise Content Management systems in health care institutions by the Western Cape Department of Health / Information Science / D. Litt. et Phil. (Information Science)

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2014. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Background - Student nurses indicated that the clinical environment was not conducive to learning because they were part of the ward staff ratio and clinical supervision was inadequate. Upon observations by the researcher and feedback from student nurses’ a study was planned to identify the clinical experiences and supervision. The study itself was conducted within private health care settings in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Objectives - The objective of this study was to determine the experiences of student nurses of the clinical learning environment. To also identify the support and clinical supervision that the student nurses received from ward staff, clinical facilitators and lecturers. Methods and analysis - The CLES+T is a reliable and valid evaluation scale for the gathering of information on the clinical learning environment and supervision of student nurses. The CLES+T evaluation scale was completed by 234 student nurses within the selected sites. A quantitative, descriptive cross-sectional survey was conducted by making use of the CLES+T evaluation scale. The CLES+T evaluation scale is subdivided into three main sections with additional sub-sections: (1) the Learning environment, (2) the Supervisory relationship and (3) the Role of the nurse teacher (lecturer). Results - The clinical learning environment was experienced as mostly positive by the student nurses; however the format and type of clinical accompaniment and supervision students received varied. Conclusion - This study gave valuable insights into the status of the clinical learning environment, the clinical accompaniment and supervision of student nurses which can be useful to the nursing school in order to enhance existing nursing programmes.