Uganda has experienced 1.6 million deaths to HIV/AIDS related illness. Introduction of free-ART in rural hospitals that bear the burden od AIDS reduces adults morbidity and mortality. The study design was a quantitative, retrospective and descriptive design through data mining of medical records. In the six years, hospital admissions decreased by 16.7% and the median age at death increased by seven years. Hospital admissions decreased from three to seven deaths per 100 admissions per month. Male and female mortality was 1:1.6 and females in the 15-34 age group had a 37% higher likeliness of dying in hospital compared to males. Deaths from sub-countries with an ART site reduced by 4% to 8.6%. The data revealed that despite ART coverage of 60%, mortality rates showed a rising trend. Free access to ART's over three years did not make any observable changes to overall mortality. Therefore, ART access contributed to a decline in overall hospital admissions, an increase in median age at time of death and a reduction in deaths from sub-counties with an ART site. There was no reduction in overall hospital mortality rate. / M.A. (Public Health) / Health Studies

Today, 1.2 billion adolescents stand at the challenging crossroads between childhood and the adulthood. Driven by a combination of biological, psychological and social forces, adolescence is a period of “stress and storm” for many adolescents predisposing them to risky behaviours with long term consequences. Adolescence is not only a time of vulnerability; it is also an age of opportunity for investment in sustained health and wellbeing through education and preventive efforts to help them navigate risks and vulnerabilities. Evidence-based sexuality education programmes are a cornerstone in reducing adolescent sexual risk behaviours and promoting sexual health. A qualitative, grounded theory study was undertaken to explore and describe experiences of adolescents, teachers and perceptions of parents of school-based sexuality education (SBSE). An indepth literature review through concept analysis on the phenomenon was conducted to assist the researcher with theoretical sensitivity and theoretical saturation. In-depth Individual interviews and focus group interviews were conducted to generate data. Interviews were audio-taped and transcribed by the researcher verbatim. The direct quotes of participants were coded and arranged into meaning units for analysis. A constant comparison method of data analysis was applied by following a Strauss and Corbin (1998) analysis process of open, axial and selective coding to analyse textual qualitative data until themes, categories and sub-categories were identified and developed. Data analysis revealed that adolescents benefitted from SBSE but the implementation of programme was undermined by challenges at national, institutional, community, family and individual levels enshrined in the physical. There were also challenging contextual factors at various levels that influenced the benefits of the SBSE. It is recommended that there is need to review the teaching and learning resources and to fully integrate sexuality education into the formal curriculum. The ministry of education in Uganda should take a leadership role in fostering engagement and participation of major stakeholders, particularly teachers, parents and other community groups in delivering school-based sexuality education that addresses the needs of the schoolgoing children / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Studies)

This study articulates the phenomenon of living under a constant threat of Ebola haemorrhagic fever, including what people’s reactions towards individuals and families affected by the illness symbolizes as well as the meanings ascribed to Ebola. The study was conducted in Kibale district in Midwestern Uganda to aid understanding of the human aspects of Ebola which has continued to result in widespread fear and anxiety, thereby creating challenges for affected individuals, families and health care professionals. A phenomenological inquiry was undertaken using Wertz’s (1983, 2005, 2011) empirical psychological reflection approach for data analysis, after utilizing purposive, convenience and criterion sampling techniques to select twelve (12) adult survivors and caregivers who anticipated, experienced and survived the outbreak and were in good health and also willing to take part in the study. Data were generated using in-depth qualitative interviews and the interviews continued until data redundancy was reached. The interview proceedings were digitally audio-recorded in addition to taking field notes and these were transcribed verbatim. Data analysis occurred at idiographic and nomothetic levels according to the principles of Wertz’s empirical psychological reflection. Thematic analysis of the research data revealed seven (7) themes, namely:  Living under constant threat of Ebola  Nature of Ebola experience: unique and general meanings  Surviving Ebola: physical, psychological, social, spiritual and economic implications on survivors  Caring for Ebola patients: social and psychological implications  Public reaction toward persons affected by Ebola  Social-cultural beliefs and practices related to Ebola  Coping with and living in the aftermath of Ebola outbreaks Adaptation emerged as the single most encompassing and accommodating concept that united the various themes, categories and sub-categories. It further grounded survivors’, caregivers’ and community’s experience of anticipating, experiencing and coping with challenges associated with Ebola. The findings add substantial knowledge about how survivors and caregivers experience Ebola outbreaks. Important recommendations are made and guidelines that may be used to increase survivors’, caregivers’ as well as the community’s resilience to challenges of future Ebola outbreaks are suggested. / Health Studies / D. Lit. et Phil. (Health Science)

This study articulates the phenomenon of living under a constant threat of Ebola haemorrhagic fever, including what people’s reactions towards individuals and families affected by the illness symbolizes as well as the meanings ascribed to Ebola. The study was conducted in Kibale district in Midwestern Uganda to aid understanding of the human aspects of Ebola which has continued to result in widespread fear and anxiety, thereby creating challenges for affected individuals, families and health care professionals. A phenomenological inquiry was undertaken using Wertz’s (1983, 2005, 2011) empirical psychological reflection approach for data analysis, after utilizing purposive, convenience and criterion sampling techniques to select twelve (12) adult survivors and caregivers who anticipated, experienced and survived the outbreak and were in good health and also willing to take part in the study. Data were generated using in-depth qualitative interviews and the interviews continued until data redundancy was reached. The interview proceedings were digitally audio-recorded in addition to taking field notes and these were transcribed verbatim. Data analysis occurred at idiographic and nomothetic levels according to the principles of Wertz’s empirical psychological reflection. Thematic analysis of the research data revealed seven (7) themes, namely:  Living under constant threat of Ebola  Nature of Ebola experience: unique and general meanings  Surviving Ebola: physical, psychological, social, spiritual and economic implications on survivors  Caring for Ebola patients: social and psychological implications  Public reaction toward persons affected by Ebola  Social-cultural beliefs and practices related to Ebola  Coping with and living in the aftermath of Ebola outbreaks Adaptation emerged as the single most encompassing and accommodating concept that united the various themes, categories and sub-categories. It further grounded survivors’, caregivers’ and community’s experience of anticipating, experiencing and coping with challenges associated with Ebola. The findings add substantial knowledge about how survivors and caregivers experience Ebola outbreaks. Important recommendations are made and guidelines that may be used to increase survivors’, caregivers’ as well as the community’s resilience to challenges of future Ebola outbreaks are suggested. / Health Studies / D. Litt. et Phil. (Health Science)

Malaria is endemic in Uganda. The study attempted to determine how Ugandan caregivers managed home-based care of fever. Structured interviews were conducted with sixty caregivers of children under five. In 15 (25.0%) out of the 60 interviewed households, at least one child had reportedly died from malaria. Caregivers’ decisions were influenced by health education, family members, community leaders and other caregivers. Most caregivers knew about malaria, but lacked knowledge about its danger signs, and about the services of village drug distributors. Most caregivers initiated treatment for fever at home before taking the children to health units. Mosquito nets, indoor residual spraying and other malaria preventive measures were rarely used due to lack of funds. The recommendations include that anti-malaria drugs should always be available and accessible, the services of village drug distributors should be improved, health education should be enhanced, malaria preventive measures should be implemented and sustained. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between perceived availability of opportunities for promotion, training, career progression, existing management style and voluntary staff turnover intention among the nurses working in Mengo Hospital. A quantitative, descriptive correlational design was used. Data collection was done using structured questionnaires. Full time staff nurses (N= 235) were surveyed. The findings revealed that all the four variables were significantly and negatively correlated to the intention to leave and predicted 16.8 percent of the variance in intention to leave scores. Management style was the strongest predictor of intent to leave (14.5%). Nurses perceiving their managers as participatory had lower intention to leave. To retain qualified personnel, hospital administrators should focus on participative management style and career development programs that address the needs of the staff and the hospital / Public Health / M.A. (Public Health)

Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2012. / Background: Formative feedback is an important process in facilitating student learning as it helps students identify learning gaps early enough and devise means of covering those gaps. Most health professional educators spend most of the time designing summative assessment tools and pay little emphasis to giving qualitative feedback to students throughout the learning process. This problem has been identified at Makerere University College of Health Sciences (MaKCHS) and forms the basis of this study. Objectives: To investigate prior understanding of students and lecturers about formative feedback. The study also aimed at exploring experiences of students and lecturers regarding implementation of feedback in a resource-constrained context. Methods: This was an action research study using a participatory approach. Results: Initially, lecturers had some prior knowledge of feedback, however, students had misconceptions of what feedback could mean. After introducing a written feedback form, all participants expressed satisfaction with the feedback process. Key themes that emerged included: enhancing motivation, enhancing learning, promoting reflection and clarifying understanding. Conclusion: Students` motivation to learn can be greatly enhanced through formative qualitative feedback. A simple structured form is one way of providing qualitative formative feedback to students in resource-limited settings. Key words: formative feedback, structured form, action research.

Thesis (MPhil (Rehabilitation)--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Research evidence suggesting the link between disability and poverty has been increasing at an alarming rate in recent years. Despite this, there has been very little attention to ensuring representation and inclusion of people with disabilities in poverty reduction processes. However, disability movements and their partners have been increasing pressure to ensure that people with disabilities effectively participate in the development of national development plans targeting poverty reduction. The aim of this qualitative study was to analyze the extent to which the human rights-based approach can be used as an advocacy tool for mainstreaming disability in the national development processes targeting poverty reduction in Uganda. The study was conducted in Kampala and Kiboga districts, and data were gathered between August and October 2009. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were used for data collection. Eleven participants were purposively selected to participate in key informant interviews. Using these key informants, the snowballing technique was used to identify twenty people that participated in the two focus group discussions, with each having ten participants. A thematic content analysis was used to analyze data, and this involved coding and cataloguing data into emerging themes and subthemes. The study established that despite several legal frameworks in Uganda, disability mainstreaming is still far from being achieved. Translation of policies into practice was identified as a major challenge, making it difficult for people with disabilities to be meaningfully involved in poverty reduction processes. Negative attitudes and misconception of disability by both policy makers and civil society, were also seen to be contributing to the exclusion of people with disabilities in poverty reduction processes and programmes. Lack of capacity and meaningful political representation of disabled people seem to negatively impact on effective participation, monitoring and evaluation of the poverty-reduction processes in Uganda. The study recommends the need to strengthen capacity and advocacy work among people with disabilities and their promoters to ensure their effective participation and inclusion of disability in the national development agenda. It further recommends the need to adopt the human rights-based approach in any development initiative, ensuring disability mainstreaming in policies and the national development plan, in order to effectively address poverty reduction in Uganda. The researcher also challenges disability and development researchers to engage in more wider-scale studies in order to establish more evidence on the need to adopt the human rights-based approach to national development. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Navorsingsbewyse wat dui op ‟n verband tussen gestremdheid en armoede het in die afgelope jare onrusbarend toegeneem. Ten spyte hiervan is daar baie min aandag gegee om seker te maak dat gestremde mense by die armoedeverligtingsprosesse verteenwoordig en ingesluit word. Bewegings vir gestremde mense, asook dié bewegings se vennote, het egter al hoe meer druk begin uitoefen om seker te maak gestremde mense neem doeltreffend deel aan nasionale ontwikkelingsplanne wat op armoedeverligting gemik is. Die doel van hierdie kwalitatiewe studie was om te ontleed in watter mate die menseregtebenadering gebruik kan word as ‟n instrument om voorspraak te maak vir die hoofklem wat gestremdheid moet ontvang in die nasionale ontwikkelingsprosesse wat op armoedeverligting in Uganda gemik is.

Thesis (MDF)--Stellenbosch University, 2011. / Perhaps the African equivalent to the industrial revolution is the mobile revolution we’ve witnessed over the past decade. Specifically the innovation and extraordinary growth of mobile money, mobile technology platforms and ongoing service offerings to millions of otherwise mostly precluded people. The potential for these technologies coupled with latent untapped user demand across sub-Saharan Africa to catalyse investment, crowd in competition and financial service providers and as a result push financial inclusion through access and use, is vast. Link these reasons with the ever sought after global demand for ‘increase in shareholder value’ and it can easily be seen why mobile operators are continuously expanding, partnering with banks and predominantly expanding in emerging and frontier markets in sub-Saharan Africa. This research report explores MTN MobileMoney in Uganda as the case in point; possibly one of the most exciting and rapidly growing platforms in Africa. The research reveals that whilst profitable, it is a very competitive business with tight margins. Continuous education is critical if people from all walks of life are truly to benefit and scale is to be reached to make it even more profitable when servicing the ‘unbanked’ and bottom of the pyramid. Uganda and other countries too, should think strategically about introducing national identity documents, or equivalent, to ensure they maximise the potential ease and reach of technology that can have real and relevant development benefits to people – especially the under-served and poor. Not doing so merely serves as disadvantageous. Broader benefits of mobile money and mobile transactions go far beyond purely the individual user, and include the country’s economy as a whole, providing convenience to corporate as well as small businesses and individuals – the anywhere, anytime factors. Benefits accrue to businesses, and to government, in terms of cost efficiencies and paying large numbers of staff, increased safety and security in a less cash dependent economy. There is significant local and international demand for innovation and new product offerings, driving mobile operators globally and in emerging and frontier markets in particular. There are a number of key factors that make mobile money a commercial success; it’s not just about churn reduction. These factors are explained and explored in this research report. Specifically when data was gathered from MobileMoney users there were no immediate or unexpected surprises. However, what was striking and reassuring was the positive attitude and experience of users, as well as what appears to be latent demand for more services and users’ trust in MTN to provide these.

No abstract available.