African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine

South Africa is undergoing a significant shift towards implementing enhanced workplace-based assessment methodologies across various specialist training programmes, including family medicine. This paradigm involves the evaluation of Entrustable Professional Activities (EPAs) through comprehensive portfolios of evidence, which a local and national clinical competency committee then assesses. The initial phase of this transformative journey entails the meticulous development of EPAs rooted in discrete units of work...

No abstract available.

BACKGROUND:  Despite measures put in place to combat teenage pregnancy, the rate remains high. Community health workers (CHWs) are a cadre of health workers that can help put measures in place to reduce teenage pregnancy in the communities in which they live and work. AIM:  This article aims to gain a deeper understanding of CHWs' perceptions regarding teenage pregnancy in the rural districts of Limpopo province. METHODS:  An exploratory qualitative study approach was employed to collect data from CHWs in two rural districts of Limpopo...

BACKGROUND:  Unavailability of healthcare resources can lead to poor patient outcomes. The latter is true for infants with hearing loss and require early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI). AIM:  To determine the availability and distribution of resources for EHDI in state hospitals in the Eastern Cape (EC) province, South Africa. SETTING:  Sixteen state hospitals (nine district, four regional and three tertiary hospitals)...

BACKGROUND:  Increasing chronic diseases challenges the health systems of low- and middle-income countries, including Cameroon. Type 1 diabetes (T1D), among the most common chronic diseases in children, poses particular care delivery challenges. AIM:  We examined social representations of patients' roles and implementation of T1D care among political decision-makers, healthcare providers and patients within families. SETTING:  The study was conducted in Yaoundé, Cameroon...

Responding to the need for authentic clinical training for students in the context of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), the Stellenbosch University Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences developed an innovative 12-week longitudinal, integrated rotation for pre-final-year medical students, the Integrated Distributed Engagement to Advance Learning (IDEAL) rotation. This saw 252 students being placed across 30 primary and secondary healthcare facilities in the Western and Northern Cape provinces. With a focus on service learning, the rotation was built on experiences and research of members of the planning team, as well as partnership relationships developed over an extended period...

BACKGROUND: In South Africa, medical students are expected to have acquired a generalist competence in medical practice on completion of their training. However, what the students and their preceptors understand by 'generalist medical practice' has not been established in South African medical schools. AIM: This study aimed to explore what the students and their preceptors understood by 'generalist medical practice'. SETTING: Four South African medical schools: Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Walter Sisulu University and the University of the Witwatersrand...

BACKGROUND: This review mapped the impact of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic on the mental health of healthcare workers (HCWs) and the adult general population in Africa. AIM: The study focussed on anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder and suicide cases to determine the impact of COVID-19 on the mental health of the selected population. METHOD: A scoping review was conducted on relevant database and search engines...

BACKGROUND: Maternal health information handouts are used by midwives to facilitate health education of pregnant women during their antenatal care (ANC) period. South Africa's Saving Mothers Report 2014 showed that delay in accessing medical help, as a patient-related avoidable factor, accounted for 27% of maternal and neonatal mortality. AIM: To ascertain the perceptions of pregnant women attending ANC in the Msunduzi sub-district in uMgungundlovu District, towards the maternal health information handouts...

BACKGROUND:  Zimbabwean undocumented migrants rely on the South African public health care system for treatment of non-communicable and communicable diseases, surgery and medical emergency services. A gap remains to understand undocumented migrant experiences at a time when accessing public healthcare has been topical in South Africa. AIM:  This article aimed to describe and understand the experiences, challenges and health-seeking alternatives of undocumented Zimbabwean migrants in accessing healthcare services in Nellmapius in Pretoria...

BACKGROUND: Irrational medicine use is a global problem that may potentiate antimicrobial resistance. AIM: This study aims to assess prescribing practices and the effect of a prescription audit and feedback coupled with small-group education intervention on prescribing indicators. SETTING: The study was conducted in public-sector healthcare facilities in Eswatini. METHODS: A cluster quasi-randomised controlled study was conducted from 2016 to 2019 using the World Health Organization/ International Network for Rational Use of Drugs (WHO/INRUD) prescribing indicators at baseline, post-intervention and post-follow-up...

BACKGROUND:  South Africa is a tuberculosis (TB) high-burden country. In the Eastern Cape (EC), community health worker (CHW) teams implement active surveillance for TB to curb spread in disadvantaged communities. However, achieving the goals of the End-TB strategy require coordinated efforts that implement policy and strengthen health systems. AIM:  This survey described views of healthcare workers (HCWs) in primary care facilities on factors that influence implementation of active surveillance for TB...

BACKGROUND:  The COVID-19 Pandemic had profound effects on healthcare systems around the world. In South Africa, field hospitals, such as the Mitchell's Plain Field Hospital, managed many COVID patients and deaths, largely without family presence. Communicating with families, preparing them for death and breaking bad news was a challenge for all staff. AIM:  This study explores the experiences of healthcare professionals working in a COVID-19 field hospital, specifically around having to break the news of death remotely...

BACKGROUND:  COVID-19 caused unforeseen global burden, although vaccine strategy rapidly stalled transmission and protected those at risk. Many governments made vaccination mandatory for public space access. AIM:  This study aimed to elucidate perception of Nigerian civil servants towards mandatory COVID-19 vaccination and elicited their recommendations. SETTING:  This study was conducted in twelve purposively selected states in the six geopolitical zones and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nigeria...

BACKGROUND:  Best practice in optometry and ophthalmology recommends regular visits to eye care professionals, as routine eye examinations support early detection of ocular defects and associated systemic, sometimes potentially life-threatening, conditions. AIM:  The study sought to determine the utilisation of ophthalmic services and its associated factors in the Ashanti region of Ghana. SETTING:  Fifty electoral areas in 10 of the 43 districts in the Ashanti region of Ghana...

BACKGROUND:  South African female students' consistent condom use is low, possibly due to personal factors, such as knowledge about sexual reproductive health, attitudes towards safe sex, risk perceptions and condom use, self-efficacy. AIM:  This study aimed to investigate the personal factors that influence condom utilisation among female students. SETTING:  This study was conducted at a higher education institution in the Northern Cape province in South Africa...

BACKGROUND: Keratoconus (KC) is a progressive condition that usually affects young persons between their first and fourth decades. Myopia and irregular astigmatism are the common presentations which are proceeded by corneal steepening and thinning. Keratoconus is a progressive ectasia of the cornea that presents bilaterally, although often asymmetrical. AIM: To explore the experiences of KC patients attending public eye care facilities in Capricorn District of Limpopo province...

BACKGROUND:  In Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, there is a low evocation of the diagnosis of sickle cell disease (SCD) by first-level healthcare providers (HCPs), most likely because of poor knowledge of the disease. AIM:  To assess the levels of knowledge and practices of SCD and to identify determinants of the practices among primary HCPs. SETTING:  Healthcare facilities in Selembao health zone in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo...

BACKGROUND: The co-occurrence and clustering of risk factors for non-communicable disease (NCD) is a global public health concern. AIM: This study aimed to assess the co-occurrence and clustering of risk factors for NCDs among in-school and out-of-school adolescents in Jos North Local Government Area, Plateau State, Nigeria. SETTING: Secondary schools and markets in Jos North Local Government Area. METHODS: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted among 377 in-school and 377 out-of-school adolescents, aged 10-19 years of age...

Teaching family medicine to medical students is primarily intended to aid in their understanding of the distinctive and significant role that the speciality performs within the healthcare system. Improving medical students' comprehension of family medicine may have an impact on their decision to pursue family medicine as a speciality. It is important to use innovative evidence-based teaching and learning strategies and ensure that medical students receive extra learning opportunities in family medicine. This is a short report highlighting the use of audio-visual aids and case studies to enhance the understanding of family medicine principles among undergraduate medical students attending a private university in Ghana...