Influences of COVID-19 vaccination policy on students' vaccine acceptance.

Background: Higher education institutions (HEIs) developed and implemented a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy to facilitate vaccine acceptance and vaccination among universities' staff and students. However, little is known about influences of the mandatory vaccination policy on health science students at a university and they tend to result in vaccine hesitancy. Aim: To explore the influences of the mandatory COVID-19 vaccine policy on health sciences students' vaccine acceptance at HEIs in South Africa. Setting: The study was conducted in one of the universities in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. Methods: An interpretive qualitative exploratory-descriptive research was conducted with 10 participants who were selected using the purposive sampling method to participate in semi-structured interviews. Data were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim and thematically analysed. Results: Two themes and 12 sub-themes were identified during the data analysis, namely individual and group influencing factors, as well as contextual influencing factors. Conclusion: This study revealed that the COVID-19 vaccination mandatory policy influenced the students' quality of life, academic performance and well-being. The findings from this study indicate that there were perceived barriers related to personal and contextual influencing factors than benefits of COVID-19 vaccination. Contribution: The understanding of and insight into the influences of the mandatory vaccination policy provided a basis for further strategies that may be developed to address COVID-19 vaccine infodemic, vaccine hesitancy and its risk effects. This can be done through collaboration with different stakeholders to educate health science students about the perceived benefits of COVID-19 vaccination.

Unani Tibb practitioners' perceptions and attitudes towards spirituality and spiritual care in Unani Tibb practice in South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Unani Tibb is an Arabic term which means Greek medicine. It is an ancient holistic medical system based on the healing theories of Hippocrates, Galen and Ibn Sina (Avicenna). Despite this, spirituality and spiritual care practices are deficient in the clinical setting. METHODS: This cross-sectional descriptive study was used to describe Unani Tibb practitioners' perceptions and attitudes regarding spirituality and spiritual care in South Africa. A demographic form, Spiritual Care-Giving Scale, Spiritual and Spiritual Care Rating Scale and Spirituality in Unani Tibb Scale were used to collect data. RESULTS: A response rate of 64.7% (n = 44 out of 68) was achieved. Positive perceptions and attitudes regarding spirituality and spiritual care were recorded for Unani Tibb practitioners. The spiritual needs of their patients were considered vital towards enhancing the Unani Tibb treatment approach. Spirituality and spiritual care were regarded as fundamental to Unani Tibb therapy. However, most practitioners agreed that adequate training in spirituality and spiritual care was lacking and future training initiatives were imperative for Unani Tibb clinical practice in South Africa. CONCLUSION: The findings of this study recommends further research in this field by means of qualitative and mixed methods approaches to provide a deeper understanding to this phenomenon. Clear guidelines on spirituality and spiritual care for Unani Tibb clinical practice are essential to ensure the integrity of the holistic approach required by the profession.

Support programmes for parents of children with intellectual disabilities: a scoping review protocol.

INTRODUCTION: Evidence shows that parents of children with intellectual disabilities experience high levels of stress, emotional challenges and higher levels of depression. Despite these challenges, support for parents has tended to be peripheral in healthcare services of children. There is a lack of research attention given to support programmes for parents of children with intellectual disabilities despite the importance of parenting for the optimal development of children with intellectual disabilities. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: This review will follow the Joanna Briggs Institute scoping review methods manual. The search for relevant studies will be in Medline (EbscoHost), PsychARTICLES, PubMed, CINHAL, Academic Search Complete and SAePublications. Reference mining of full review studies will be conducted. A three-step search strategy will be used, including the use of information management software to manage the search results and to remove duplications. An independent reviewer will extract data using a data extraction tool. Furthermore, another reviewer will screen the included articles in conjunction with the results of the scoping review. The data extracted will be presented in a tabular format with a narrative summary related to the key findings. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: This scoping review has received ethical approval (BM20/4/26). A summary of the findings of the study will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. This scoping review will contribute to a better understanding of the support programmes available to parents of children with intellectual disabilities. This could be the first step in highlighting the gaps and future directions for the development and implementation of support programmes for parents of children with intellectual disabilities. REGISTRATION DETAILS: Marais JE, Wegner L, Mthembu T. Support programs for parents of children with intellectual disabilities: a scoping review [Internet].OSF; 2021. Available from:https://osf.io/en6cs/.

The Development of Guidelines for the Inclusion of Spirituality and Spiritual Care in Unani Tibb Practice in South Africa: A Study Protocol.

Unani Tibb is a holistic form of medicine, which highlights the interconnectedness of mind, body and soul. Despite this, there is very little evidence of spiritual care practices by Unani Tibb practitioners in South Africa. This protocol outlines a proposed process for developing guidelines to integrate spirituality and spiritual care in Unani Tibb practice. In phase one, a document review will be conducted on spirituality and spiritual care in complementary and alternative medicine and Unani Tibb. A series of quantitative and qualitative enquiries will follow to obtain the perspectives of various stakeholders in the Unani Tibb profession. Phase two will rely on the findings of phase I to develop guidelines according to the Delphi method. Experts in the relevant fields will be soliciting their opinions on the nature and content of the proposed guidelines. The data will be analysed using descriptive statistical analyses, thematic analysis and narrative synthesis. Ethics clearance has been obtained from the ethics committee of the university.

Spiritual care - 'A deeper immunity' - A response to Covid-19 pandemic.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has presented unprecedented health challenges across all strata in society throughout the world. The COVID experience has caused us to reflect on quality of life, health and well-being and, just as important, end of life. During this time, spiritual care forms a vital component of holistic health management, especially in terms of coping, coming to terms with illness, suffering and ultimately death. The relationship with the transcendent or sacred has a strong influence on a people's beliefs, attitudes, emotions and behaviour. Populations, communities, families and individuals have always found solace through their religious or philosophical beliefs during times of personal adversity and widespread anxiety or disaster. Although spiritual care has always been a part of the domain of religious beliefs, a more contemporary perspective is that spiritual care forms part of the human psyche and thus forms part of human care, health and well-being for families, patients and healthcare workers. Spiritual care deals with the provision of compassion and empathy during periods of heightened stress, distress and anxiety within care. This article provides insights into the necessity of providing spiritual care as a means of coping and well-being for families, patients and healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A Cross-Sectional Descriptive Study of Occupational Therapy Students' Perceptions and Attitudes Towards Spirituality and Spiritual Care in Occupational Therapy Education.

Spirituality and spiritual care both have received increased attention over the course of this past decade from different disciplines. However, for many years, in the occupational therapy profession, the importance of spirituality and spiritual care seems to be controversial because it is unclear how these concepts are integrated in occupational therapy education. Although occupational therapy students are being educated to consider a holistic and client-centred approach, spirituality is not regarded within this framework which diminishes the integrity of holistic approach. In South African occupational therapy education, it is unclear whether any single course on teaching and learning of spirituality and spiritual care exists. Thus, the aim of this study was to describe occupational therapy students' perceptions and attitudes regarding spirituality and spiritual care in occupational therapy education. A cross-sectional descriptive study design of undergraduate occupational therapy students from one educational institution was used. Data included demographic characteristics, responses on Spiritual Care-Giving Scale (SCGS), Spiritual and Spiritual Care Rating Scale (SSCRS) and Spirituality in Occupational Therapy Scale (SOTS). A response rate of 50.5 % (n = 100 out of 198) was achieved. In the SCGS, among the factors only factor 1 had the highest mean value score showing consistent agreement about spirituality, whereas in the SSCRS only three factors were found to have highest mean score and one with lowest mean score. In SOTS, participants had a highest score mean in relation to formal education and training about spirituality. Thus, in the integration of spirituality and spiritual care a holistic approach needs to be considered in education to enhance students' knowledge of how to address mind, body and spirit needs.

Occupational Therapy Students' Perceptions of Spirituality in Training.

Spirituality is recognized as an essential and integral component of a holistic approach in occupational therapy practice. However, little is known about occupational therapy students' perceptions regarding spirituality in learning context. This study used qualitative exploratory, descriptive design to explore the occupational therapy students' perceptions about spirituality in training. Using purposive sampling, four semi-structured interviews were conducted with two students, a lecturer and an occupational therapist. In addition, two focus groups were conducted with students in order to collect data. Data collected were audio-taped; transcribed and thematic analysis was used to identify themes. The analysis resulted in emergence of four themes: "Unique to every individual," "Spirituality in occupational therapy," "To be or not to be taught," and "The Real world." Participants perceived spirituality as an individually experienced. The study contributes to the body of knowledge base of occupational therapy education regarding spirituality. However, there is a need for guidelines to integrate spirituality in occupational therapy training.

Influences of social network sites on the occupational performance of adolescents in a secondary school in Cape Town, South Africa: a phenomenological study.

BACKGROUND/AIM: The habit of using social networking sites among adolescents has grown exponentially; there is little accompanying research to understand the influences on adolescents' occupational performance with this technology. The majority of adolescents are engaging in social network as part of their daily routines. Occupational performance is the act of doing and accomplishing a selected occupation that results from the dynamic transaction among the person, the environment and the occupation components. This study aimed to explore the influences of social networking on occupational performance of adolescents in a high school in Western Cape Province, South Africa. METHODS: A phenomenological approach was used. Adolescents aged 13-17 years in a high school were purposively recruited for the study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four participants (two adolescents and two teachers) and two focus groups were undertaken with adolescents, analysed using thematic analysis. RESULTS: Four major themes emerged: 'It's a good way to keep in touch', 'It's part of me and it's not a bad thing', 'There is a time and place for it' and 'There's an urgency to be on the phone'. CONCLUSIONS: This study highlighted that social networking sites play a major role in the social life of adolescents, though it can result in occupational imbalance on their occupational performance. Furthermore, this study contributes to the knowledge of occupational therapists who work with adolescents in communities and health promoting school settings. Thus, collaboration between teachers, parents and occupational therapists can help to develop adolescents' time management and learning skills.

Patients' Knowledge and Beliefs about Antiretroviral Treatment and Factors Associated with Adherence in Mpumalanga Province; South Africa

Background: Antiretroviral treatment (ART) improves the prognosis and quality of life for HIV patients by reducing the rate of disease progression and mortality. Although ART has been available in public health centres in South Africa since 2003; adherence to treatment still remains a challenge. To date; no study has investigated adherence and the factors that influence adherence to ART in rural settings in Mpumalanga Province.Objective: This study described adherence to; knowledge and beliefs about ART and other factors associated with adherence amongst patients registered at Shongwe Hospital in Nkomazi Local Municipality. Method: A cross-sectional survey of 184 randomly selected patients on ART between ages of 15 and 65 years was conducted. Results: The respondents completed a questionnaire on self-reported adherence; knowledge and beliefs about ART and other factors associated with adherence. The majority of the respondents were female (71.2) and unemployed (83.7). Most respondents reported optimal ART adherence (taking 95 or more of their medication as prescribed) over the past two (92.4) and seven (84.2) days; respectively. The level of knowledge about ART was high and most reported positive beliefs about the effectiveness of ART. However; slightly more than half (53.3) believed that ART was harmful for the body. The most commonly-reported reasons for missing dosages were forgetfulness; business of the daily routine; having visitors; 'visiting a bar' and sleeping away from home.Conclusion: Although; the study found that most ART patients at Shongwe Hospital reported optimal adherence initially; the reasons for missing dosages; some incorrect knowledge and beliefs need to be addressed to ensure long-term adherence and persistence in care