Experiences and challenges of an interprofessional community of practice in HIV and AIDS in Tshwane district, South Africa.

Collaboration amongst stakeholders remains a central tenet to achieving goals in planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of HIV and AIDS prevention and care strategies. This paper describes the experiences of members of a health care team who joined efforts to collaborate and form a community of practice (CoP) in HIV and AIDS. Qualitative, exploratory case study methods were used. Twenty-six participants were interviewed. Transcripts from the interviews were subjected to the thematic framework of data analysis. Based on the analysis, three themes emerged as impacting on collaboration and these were: the understanding and expectations of being a CoP member; professionalism and ethics within the CoP and collaboration in HIV and AIDS care. The key findings were that the understanding and expectations from the CoP varied. Ethical principles including respect, trust and confidentiality were identified as key tenets of collaboration and were expressed in various ways. The expectations of being a CoP member, the ethical principles within the CoP all impacted in differing ways on how they collaborated. The implication of this study suggests that consultation during inception and throughout the process, clarification of roles, transparency and respect are cardinal points in professional relationships.

Access to information and decision making on teenage pregnancy prevention by females in Tshwane.

BACKGROUND: The increase in the number of teenage pregnancies and its negative consequences has encouraged various researchers to explore the possible causes of teenage pregnancy. Findings from previously-conducted research have indicated different preventable factors that predispose female teenagers to pregnancy, such as staff attitudes and the lack of information resulting from poor access to health facilities. OBJECTIVE: To explore and describe access to information and decision making on teenage pregnancy prevention by females using a primary healthcare clinic in Tshwane, South Africa. METHOD: In this study, the researchers used a descriptive qualitative and exploratory research design to explore and describe the verbal reports regarding prevention of teenage pregnancy by females using a primary healthcare clinic in Tshwane, South Africa. Face-to-face semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 female participants aged between 15 and 26, who had been pregnant once or more during their teens. RESULTS: Two themes emerged, namely, access to information and decision making by female teenagers. Five categories that emerged were: access to information on pregnancy prevention; ignoring of provided information; the use of alternative medicine with hormonal contraception; personal reasons for use and non-use of contraception; and decisions made by teenagers to not fall pregnant. Females in this study fell pregnant in their teens, even though they had access to information. CONCLUSION: Given the complexity of this problem, female teenagers should use their families as primary sources of information for reproductive health promotion and educational institutions should build on this to aid the prevention of teenage pregnancy.

Perceptions of educators regarding the implementation of the health promotion programme manuals for children in schools in Makapanstad, South Africa.

BACKGROUND: Health promoting schools focus on, amongst other things, preventing leading causes of death such as Sexually Transmitted Infections (STI's), Human Immune Deficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS), a sedentary lifestyle and creating conditions that are conducive to health through health education. AIM: This study explored the perceptions of educators regarding implementation of the health promotion programme manuals in selected schools of the Makapanstad community. METHOD: A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was utilised in this study. Four schools were selected to participate in the study. Purposive sampling was used to select educators from these schools who were actively involved in the health promotion programme. Data collection was taken through focus group interviews. One focus group comprised of eight participants who were interviewed three times. The focus group interviews were conducted until data were saturated. Data were analysed using an adaptation of Tesch's method. The eight steps of Tesch's method enabled researchers to systematically analyse and organise data using colour coding to develop data into categories, sub-categories and themes. RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: The themes that emerged during data analysis were: the perceptions of educators regarding health promotion programme manuals before implementation of manuals, and the perceptions of educators regarding health promotion programme manuals after the implementation of manuals. Introducing health promotion materials to the schools served as a point of departure for developing personal skills and creating a supportive environment for health in schools. The health promotion manual assisted the educators to attain appropriate health promotion information.

Psychiatric nurse practitioners' experiences of working with mental health care users presenting with acute symptoms.

Psychiatric nurse practitioners (PNPs) working with mental health care users presenting with acute symptoms work in a complex environment. This environment is characterised by mental health care users who may present with a history of violence, sexual assault and substance misuse. The objectives of this study were twofold: firstly, to explore and describe the experiences of PNPs working with mental health care users (MHCUs) presenting with acute symptoms; and secondly, to make recommendations for the advanced PNPs to facilitate promotion of the mental health of PNPs with reference to nursing practice, research and education. A qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design was used. The target population was PNPs working with MHCUs presenting with acute symptoms in a public mental health care institution in Gauteng. Data were collected by means of four focus group interviews involving 21 PNPs. The researcher made use of drawings, naïve sketches and field notes for the purpose of data triangulation. Data were analysed in accordance with Tesch's method of open coding. The three themes that emerged were: PNPs experienced working with these MHCUs as entering an unsafe world where care became a burden; they experienced negative emotional reactions and attitudes towards these MHCUs that compromised quality nursing care; and they made a plea for a nurturing environment that would enhance quality nursing care. The PNPs suggest skills and competency development, organisational support, and a need for external resources. Creation of a positive environment and mobilisation of resources as well as the identification and bridging of obstacles are essential in the promotion of the overall wellbeing and mental health of PNPs.

Access to Information and Decision Making on Teenage Pregnancy Prevention by Females in Tshwane

Background: The increase in the number of teenage pregnancies and its negative consequences has encouraged various researchers to explore the possible causes of teenage pregnancy. Findings from previously-conducted research have indicated different preventable factors that predispose female teenagers to pregnancy; such as staff attitudes and the lack of information resulting from poor access to health facilities.Objective: To explore and describe access to information and decision making on teenage pregnancy prevention by females using a primary healthcare clinic in Tshwane; South Africa.Method: In this study; the researchers used a descriptive qualitative and exploratory research design to explore and describe the verbal reports regarding prevention of teenage pregnancy by females using a primary healthcare clinic in Tshwane; South Africa. Face-to-face semistructured interviews were conducted with 15 female participants aged between 15 and 26; who had been pregnant once or more during their teens.Results: Two themes emerged; namely; access to information and decision making by female teenagers. Five categories that emerged were: access to information on pregnancy prevention; ignoring of provided information; the use of alternative medicine with hormonal contraception; personal reasons for use and non-use of contraception; and decisions made by teenagers to not fall pregnant. Females in this study fell pregnant in their teens; even though they had access to information.Conclusion: Given the complexity of this problem; female teenagers should use their families as primary sources of information for reproductive health promotion and educational institutions should build on this to aid the prevention of teenage pregnancy