The world, including developing countries such as South Africa, is burdened with deeply rooted women sexual health challenges such as dysmenorrhea. Dysmenorrhoea, also known as, "period pains", while not life-threatening, has been troubling many women of childbearing age since ancient times. Many interventions and drugs are available and approved for use in the treatment of dysmenorrhea. However, dysmenorrhea remains least understood, many cultures and religions of the African countries still regard it as a "taboo" subject because it is a sexual and reproductive issue, and means of coping are considered indigenously "women’s knowledge”, as such increasingly, women negotiate with cultural beliefs and practices in the management of dysmenorrhea. South Africa, as a multicultural society, allows the practice of different types of health care systems such as dysmenorrhea management. Extensive efforts are being made by the government and the healthcare sector to understand and document the indigenous health knowledge for safe practices in improving the overall health of South Africans. Moreover, this study was conducted. This study aimed to understand the indigenous perspectives of the meaning and treatment modalities of dysmenorrhea among Batlokwa women. Purposive and snowball sampling was used to select participants. The findings were used to develop strategies to empower Batlokwa women with dysmenorrhea knowledge. This study was premised on a conviction that Batlokwa women have a unique perspective on dysmenorrhea meaning and treatment modalities based on their ethnicity background. The study was conducted in two phases. Phase 1 was the empirical phase which was qualitative and was divided into two parts to address the first two objectives of the study. The population for Phase 1 constituted of the Batlokwa Traditional Health Practitioners (THPs) and Indigenous Knowledge Holders (IKHs). In part one modified photovoice approach was used to collect data in four different stages: • • Stage 1 – brainstorming and photograph taking training • • Stage 2 – taking photographs • • Stage 3 – Individual interviews • Stage 4 – modified Lekgotla discussion Data analysis for part one followed steps of photovoice data analysis guided by questioning the acronym “PHOTO” (Hussey 2006). The process involved photograph selection, contextualising and codifying. Photovoice enabled Batlokwa women (Traditional Health Practitioners and Indigenous Knowledge Holders) to share indigenous dysmenorrhea knowledge. Photographs taken by the participants were used to understand their perspectives regarding the meaning and treatment modalities of dysmenorrhea. Part two used in-depth interviews to collect data from women. In-depth interviews were conducted with different women to enhance the knowledge gained from the photovoice study. It was also to capture additional information that should have been missed during the photovoice study. Content data analysis was used in part two to provide detailed guidance for the coding process and analysis. The Africana Womanism theory was used as a framework to guide the study process and discussion of the findings and was grounded within critical realism worldview. This provided means to follow a systematic structure of understanding how the indigenous dysmenorrhea knowledge surfaced and maintained within the Batlokwa ethnicity. Five major themes were identified: holistic understanding of dysmenorrhea meaning; self-naming and definition of dysmenorrhea; diagnostic processes in indigenous health care practices; treatment modalities of dysmenorrhea; roles of THPs and IKHs in treatment and prevention of dysmenorrhea. Phase 2 addressed the third objective, which developed strategies to empower Batlokwa women with dysmenorrhea knowledge. Experts from indigenous knowledge holders, traditional health practitioners, health and education sectors. To reach consensus, a modified Lekgotla discussion utilising an expert panel reviewed items for importance, clarity, applicability, validity and reliability, with items subsequently amended or removed as such clear strategies which apply to the demographic group was developed to empower Batlokwa women with dysmenorrhea knowledge / Thesis (PhD (Nursing))--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Nursing Science / PhD (Nursing) / Unrestricted

The primary aim of the study was to explore positive experiences of academic employees working in an academic environment with specific reference to an Open Distance Learning (ODL) institution. The study was further envisaged as serving as the foundation for future studies which aim to develop a measuring tool for understanding positive experiences of working in academia. A qualitative approach was used to answer the research question by adopting a case study method that allowed for an in-depth study of understanding positive behaviour. A total of 12 academics were selected purposively to participate in the study. In-depth face-to-face interviews were used to gather information about the positive experiences of working in academia. In line with Seligman‘s (2000) integrated model of happiness, a happy academic was described through the adoption of (sometimes contradictory) metaphoric themes. The main themes identified were: the mother hen role, creating positive spaces, it is not a bed of roses, the just and unjust world and us versus them.In a meta-reflection on the research, contradictions were revealed in the theoretical approach adopted in this study, the literature reviewed, the empirical research and pragmatic considerations. As a result, a deconstruction of understanding positive experiences of working in academia by applying Lekgotla as an indigenous South African model was conducted. Healey‘s (2011) notion of transformative dialogue and Bujo‘s (1998) model of palaver were used as part of the framework within which Lekgotla was contextualised to understand positive experiences of working in academia. In conclusion, as an alternative, higher learning institutions (HLI) could adopt other ways that are different from Western ways of understanding the authentic experiences of diverse people in an African university. This could be done through a process of what Smith (2012) described as ―considering carefully and critically the methodologies and methods of research, the theories that inform them, the questions which they generate and the writing styles they employ‖ (p. 41). She refers to this process as decolonisation. According to her, decolonisation offers an alternative way out of colonialism since it exists as a different, oppositional way of knowing. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Consulting Psychology)