"I am the one taking care of her and donating blood": lived experiences of role-routines of hospital-based informal caregiving in Nigeria.

PURPOSE: Informal caregivers (ICs) in Africa perform a long list of tasks to support hospitalization care. However, available studies are weak in accounting for the experiences of everyday role-routines of hospital-based informal caregiving (HIC) in under-resourced settings. This article explored the experiences of role-routines among informal caregivers in a Nigerian tertiary health facility. METHODS: The ethnographic exploratory study relied on primary data collected from 75 participants, including 21 ICs, 15 inpatients, 36 hospital staff, and 3 ad-hoc/paid carers in a tertiary health facility in Southwestern Nigeria. RESULTS: ICs perform several essential roles for hospitalized relatives, with each role characterized by a range of tasks. An integrative narrative of everyday routines of HIC as experienced by ICs showed critical complexities and complications involved in seemingly simple tasks of assisting hospitalized relatives with hygiene maintenance, medical investigations, blood donation, resource mobilization, errand-running, patient- and self-care and others. The role-routines are burdensome and ICs' experiences of them revealed the undercurrents of how health systems dysfunctions condition family members to support hospitalization care in Nigeria. CONCLUSION: The intensity and repetitive nature of role-routines is suggestive of "routinization of suffering". We recommend the closing of gaps driving hospital-based informal caregiving in Africa's under-resourced settings.

Solving teenage and young mothers' childhood immunization hesitance and non-compliance through mobile immunization friendly service for working mothers in Ibadan, Nigeria- A research note.

Mobile Immunization for working mothers (SheVaccs) is an intervention targeted at working mothers in the informal markets of Ibadan to address problem of vaccine hesitance and drop-out among different categories of mother. These mothers have great responsibilities-keeping their homes stable and their children healthy. But these mothers have challenges of different magnitudes that prevented them from immunizing their children, and for teenage mothers they are faced with socio-cultural and socio-economic obstacles and have not responded positively to childhood immunization. In relation to these challenges, SheVaccs intervention study provided friendly immunization, counselling services, and information around vaccination schedules to working mothers in Ibadan, Nigeria. The intervention covered adolescent and young mothers' population in the selected markets. Mobile clinic was set up in 3 different purposively selected markets in Ibadan. Data were collected through qualitative methods of observation and 21 in-depth interviews with teenage mothers, and 6 key informant interviews with their significant others. All data were subjected to content analysis. The age range of mothers involved in the study was between 17-23 years, almost all participants had no post- secondary school education. All mothers in this study find it difficult to attend conventional immunization centers, due to stigmatization, subtle hostility and embarrassment they experienced during pregnancy and after in some of these centers. Many of them were ignorant and have also been mis-socialized into motherhood and childcare. They preferred an immunization service that is mobile, with "strangers" who are friendly, understanding and will not judge them for ''being anti-social". Friendly Mobile immunization services targeted at teenage and young mothers will remove clog of stigmatization and hostility and minimize incidence of childhood Immunization Hesitance and non-compliance to schedule.

Embedding cultural studies in public health higher education: the role of medical anthropologists.

Medical Anthropology is a body of knowledge with universal application. It bridges the gap between socio-cultural elements and public-health challenges; as a result, many medical anthropologists have raised the importance of culture in health matters. While public health pedagogy revolves around the 'Germ Theory' and the biomedical explanations of disease and illnesses; it is also very important to put the bio-sociocultural phenomena of health into consideration through an in-depth understanding of the social-cultural dimensions of health, healthcare and health-management. This is because ethnographic conceptions and the understanding of diseases, illnesses and wellbeing are germane to the success of public health. Embedding medical anthropological epistemology and research methods in public health higher education in Nigeria will contribute to the advancement of medical training through the use of ethnographic epistemology and methods, whereby vivid case studies of the social-cultural dimensions of public health issues would be subjected to critical discourse in the classroom. Utilizing ethnographic epistemological and methodological research cum pedagogical approaches in public health higher education will yield considerable success.

Contextual interpretation of COVID-19 pandemic among public space users in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State, Nigeria: An ethnographic review.

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all dimensions of lives and has become a social problem as it continues to spread widely through the continuous interactions of people in public spaces where they earn a living. Curbing the spread of COVID-19 requires restrictions in these public spaces, however, the compliance to these measures depends largely on the understanding and interpretations of COVID 19 by users of these public spaces. This study examined the contextual interpretations of public space users about COVID-19 prevention in Ibadan Metropolis, Oyo State. The study was a rapid ethnographic survey in selected public spaces (markets and commercial motor parks) in Ibadan metropolis. Data were collected through participant observation, key informant interviews (3 females; 3 males) and in-depth interviews (30) with, traders, head porters, clients/buyers and commercial vehicle drivers in these public spaces. Interviews conducted were transcribed, sorted into themes using Atlas-ti 7.5.7 and subjected to interpretive-content analysis. Findings revealed that some respondents felt COVID-19 was brought into Nigeria by rich frequent global voyagers, others felt it was through "uncultured" sexual life or wrath of God. Some also doubted the existence of the disease and many of the respondents perceived COVID-19 as a disease reported by the government or a political propaganda to siphon funds. The users of the public spaces in Ibadan Metropolis have variegated perception about the existence and severity of this rapidly spreading virus and this has grave implications for COVID-19 control in the State. Thus, regular interaction with public space users are essential for control efforts.

A cross-sectional study of the knowledge and screening practices of diabetes among adults in a south western Nigerian city.

INTRODUCTION: The control of diabetes depends largely on preventive actions often influenced by knowledge and awareness of the condition, its risk factors, complication, and management. This study assessed the awareness, knowledge, and practices regarding diabetes among adults in two communities in Ibadan, Nigeria. METHODS: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among five hundred randomly selected non-diabetic respondents, aged 18 to 65 years. Data was collected using the pretested, modified version of the WHO STEPS instrument translated into Yoruba language. Data collected were analysed using descriptive and inferential analysis and the level of significance was set at p < 0.05. RESULTS: Majority of the respondents (89.6%) had previously heard about diabetes. Of these (n = 448), 31.8% were knowledgeable about diabetes and only 28% have ever had their blood glucose level measured by a doctor or other health professionals. Sex and monthly income were statistically associated with respondents' diabetes knowledge while age, religion, monthly income, employment status, marital status, ethnicity and level of education were statistically associated with screening practices (p < 0.05). Monthly income was found to be a significant predictor of the level of knowledge adjusted by sex. Earning N20,000 ($ 52.60) or less had higher odds of being knowledgeable compared to earning no income (OR 0.54, CI 0.35, 0.83). CONCLUSION: Though Diabetes awareness is high, knowledge gaps and poor screening practices is of concern. This calls for tailored multi-component, community-based, health education interventions.

"You Will Not Mourn Your Children": Spirituality and Child Health in Ibadan Urban Markets.

The urban Ibadan market is not only important for its economic value, but also for its representation of the worldview of the Yoruba people of South-Western Nigeria. Yoruba urban markets are adorned with different spiritualists who also earn their livelihood in the market space. Hence, through the employment of observations and in-depth interviews, the study examines how spirituality shapes child health and mothers' health seeking behaviours in Ibadan urban markets.