Participatory research with youth with disabilities: Experiences from sub-Saharan Africa.

Background: Disability inclusive youth research, involving youth with disabilities in the design, implementation and dissemination of study data, is still limited in Africa.

Objectives: To describe and reflect on the experiences of involving youth with disabilities in an exploratory research study, focused on disability-inclusive education and employment in 7 African countries.

Method: 12 youths with different impairments, aged 18 to 35, were employed as researchers in Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Uganda.

Selection of a classroom observation tool for disability inclusion in Uganda.

Background: Obuntu Bulamu is a Ugandan intervention promoting inclusive education for children with disabilities. This culturally appropriate approach, based on the Ubuntu philosophy, utilises peer-to-peer support activities for children, parents and teachers.

Objectives: To effectively measure the intervention's impact on disability inclusion, the study aimed to select, adapt and test classroom observation instruments suitable for the Ugandan context.

Co-development of a training programme on disability for healthcare workers in Uganda.

Background: Approximately 1.3 billion people worldwide face barriers in accessing inclusive healthcare due to disabilities, leading to worse health outcomes, particularly in low and middle-income countries (LMIC). However, there is a lack of training of healthcare workers about disability, both globally and in Uganda.

Is it feasible to implement a community-based participatory group programme to address issues of access to healthcare for people with disabilities in Luuka district Uganda? A study protocol for a mixed-methods pilot study.

Introduction: On average, people with disabilities face many difficulties in accessing healthcare and experience worse health outcomes. Yet, evidence on how to overcome these barriers is lacking. Participatory approaches are gaining prominence as they can generate low-cost, appropriate and scalable solutions.

"Right now we are scared of each other, we fear everyone, the whole world has COVID": The impact of COVID-19 on young female sex workers in Kampala, Uganda, during national lockdowns in 2020-2021.

In 2020-2021 the COVID-19 pandemic led to multiple and diverse global public health response strategies globally and in Uganda to slow the spread of the virus by promoting wearing face coverings in public, frequent hand washing, physical distancing, restricting travel, and imposing home lockdowns. We conducted 146 interviews over four rounds of phone-follow up calls over 15 months with 125 young female sex workers coinciding in time with four different government-imposed lockdown periods in Kampala, Uganda, to assess the impact of these measures on young sex workers, their families and their communities as well as to gauge their resilience. Our findings revealed how COVID-19 fears and public health restrictions over time pushed an already marginalized population to the brink and how that pressure drove some participants into a new way of life.

: Parental peer-to-peer support for inclusion of children with disabilities in Central Uganda.

Background: , a peer-to-peer support intervention for children, parents and teachers to improve the participation and inclusion of children with disabilities (CwD), was developed and tested in Uganda. The intervention consisted of disability-inclusive peer-to-peer training and support activities. In this article, parent participation in and evaluation of the intervention are discussed.

'Impairments of the brain': Global South perspectives on childhood neurodevelopmental disability.

The word 'disability' does not exist in most African languages. There are words for impairments that describe the 'missing' or affected body parts, but no specific words to characterize, for instance, neurodevelopmental conditions. In this narrative review we focus on the different interpretations of neurodevelopmental conditions in Uganda and discuss the importance of cultural concepts and the intersectionality of family-centred care, poverty, and neocolonialism when working with children with 'impairments of the brain'.

Pregnant women, their male partners and health care providers' perceptions of HIV self-testing in Kampala, Uganda: Implications for integration in prevention of mother-to-child transmission programs and scale-up.

Background: HIV status awareness is critical for HIV prevention and care but HIV testing rates remain low in Uganda, especially among men. One suggested approach to increase access and utilisation of HIV testing services is HIV self-testing. We explored perceptions of pregnant and lactating women and their male partners who attended antenatal care, and health care providers in a government hospital in Kampala, Uganda, about HIV self-testing for initial or repeat testing for women and their partners during pregnancy and postpartum We draw implications for scaling-up this new testing approach in Uganda.

Use of Virtual Reality Distraction to Reduce Child Pain and Fear during Painful Medical Procedures in Children with Physical Disabilities in Uganda: A Feasibility Study.

Objective: This study explored the acceptability and feasibility of the use of low-cost virtual reality (VR) glasses, and the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Scale and Children's Fear Scale scales, for pain and fear reduction in children admitted at the septic ward of CoRSU Rehabilitation Hospital in Uganda.

Methods: In total, 79 children aged 4-17 years of age were offered to watch cartoons using VR glasses while undergoing painful dressing procedures. Before and after the procedure, children were asked to index current pain; children and their caregivers were asked to rate anticipated fear.

"[Repeat] testing and counseling is one of the key [services] that the government should continue providing": participants' perceptions on extended repeat HIV testing and enhanced counseling (ERHTEC) for primary HIV prevention in pregnant and lactating women in the PRIMAL study, Uganda.

Background: The 'Primary HIV Prevention among Pregnant and Lactating Ugandan Women' (PRIMAL) randomized controlled trial aimed to assess an enhanced counseling strategy linked to extended postpartum repeat HIV testing and enhanced counseling among 820 HIV-negative pregnant and lactating women aged 18-49 years and 410 of their male partners to address the first pillar of the WHO Global Strategy for the Prevention of Mother-to-Child HIV transmission (PMTCT). This paper presents findings of qualitative studies aimed at evaluating participants' and service providers' perceptions on the acceptability and feasibility of the intervention and at understanding the effects of the intervention on risk reduction, couple communication, and emotional support from women's partners.

Methods: PRIMAL Study participants were enrolled from two antenatal care clinics and randomized 1:1 to an intervention or control arm.

High PMTCT program uptake and coverage of mothers, their partners, and babies in northern Uganda: achievements and lessons learned over 10 years of implementation (2002-2011).

Background: The international nongovernmental organization "AVSI Foundation" has been actively supporting Uganda's Ministry of Health (MoH) prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) program since 2002 in 4 districts of the conflict-ridden Acholi subregion in Northern Uganda.

Objective: This article presents data covering 10 years of MoH/AVSI PMTCT program activities in Northern Uganda.

Methods: The program followed Uganda MoH PMTCT guidelines and aimed to be comprehensive, emphasizing social and medical care and support.

Job conditions, job satisfaction, somatic complaints and burnout among East African nurses.

Aims: To describe job conditions, job satisfaction, somatic complaints and burnout of female East African nurses working in public and private hospitals and to determine how these well-being outcomes are associated with job conditions.

Background: Insight into job conditions, health and well-being status and their interrelation is virtually lacking for East African nurses.

Design: Cross-sectional survey of 309 female nurses in private and public hospitals in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda.