Decolonising research methodologies: lessons from a qualitative research project, Cape Town, South Africa.

Background: It is becoming increasingly important for researchers to critically reflect on approaches that can have a positive impact on the health outcomes of indigenous people. Such issues are of great importance and perhaps of special relevance to researchers in the Global South, and to the African context in which we work.

Objective: To share some lessons learned from our fieldwork to contribute to current knowledge and conversations on decolonising research process.

"I wonder if I did not mess up….": Shame and resistance among women with epilepsy in Cape Town, South Africa.

Purpose: Literature shows that there has been more attention paid to epilepsy stigma, with less focus on issues of shame and resistance. This article provides an in-depth understanding of processes of shame and resistance strategies which emerged from the analysis of individual stories of four adult Xhosa -speaking women with epilepsy in an urban Black township in Cape Town, South Africa.

Methods: Our data collection method involved individual in-depth face to face interviews using a semi-structured interview guide adapted from Kleinman's Explanatory Model Framework.

Ghanaian traditional and faith healers' explanatory models for epilepsy.

Epilepsy is the most common neurological condition in sub-Saharan Africa. A significant number of people with epilepsy in low- and middle-income countries do not receive formal biomedical care. They utilize the services of various traditional and alternative medicine practitioners.

"By working together and caring for one another we can win this fight": A qualitative exploration of a traditional healer's perspectives of care of people with epilepsy in a South African urban township in Cape Town.

There is a gap in knowledge about the construction of care in the Global South where biomedical care remains largely inaccessible to many people, resulting in people seeking health care from the indigenous sector of health care. As part of a larger study, in this, article we present findings from a single individual interview with an indigenous healer using a semi-structured interview guide that was based on Kleinman's Explanatory Model Framework. Key themes that emerged from the thematic analysis of our indigenous healer's audio-recorded transcribed transcript were about "care".

Psychosocial challenges affecting the quality of life in adults with epilepsy and their carers in Africa: A review of published evidence between 1994 and 2014.

Background: Little attention has been paid to the psychosocial challenges of adult patients with epilepsy and their carers in Africa in published studies conducted between 1994 and 2014 - yet these psychosocial challenges have been reported to have a major impact on the quality of life (QOL) of people living with the illness and those who care for them.

Aim: This review aimed to examine the literature on published studies conducted in Africa between 1994 and 2014 that examined psychosocial challenges of adult people with epilepsy and their carers. The aim was to examine the kind of psychosocial challenges from published evidence and to identify gaps in current knowledge.

"It is always HIV/AIDS and TB": Home-based carers' perspectives on epilepsy in Cape Town, South Africa.

The study highlights the complex cultural religious factors affecting epilepsy and a need for integrated home-based care services. Two focus group discussions exploring home-based carers' (HBCs) perspectives on epilepsy were conducted using a semi-structured focus group interview guide, which was based on Kleinman's explanatory model framework. The audio-recorded data were transcribed verbatim, and a thematic analysis was done.

"The others look at you as if you are a grave": a qualitative study of subjective experiences of patients with epilepsy regarding their treatment and care in Cape Town, South Africa.

Background: Existing evidence shows that the majority of people with epilepsy in lower and middle income countries are not receiving appropriate treatment and care. Although this problem has been reported as one of the factors affecting the quality of lives of people with epilepsy, very few studies have investigated patients' perspectives and their experiences about the problem. This qualitative study explored perspectives and subjective experiences of people with epilepsy about their illness in an urban township in South Africa.

'Whom will I give him to? The difficulty is mine' : Psychosocial difficulties experienced by care givers of patients with epilepsy in Cape Town, South Africa.

Epilepsy has been reported as one condition that can cause psychological difficulties and distress to care givers of patients suffering from the condition. This study explored psychological difficulties experienced by lay care givers of patients with epilepsy in an urban township in South Africa. Nine individual in-depth interviews were conducted with lay carers who provide care to their relatives, friends and neighbours who have epilepsy.

'A thing full of stories': Traditional healers' explanations of epilepsy and perspectives on collaboration with biomedical health care in Cape Town.

The experience of epilepsy is profoundly culturally mediated and the meanings attributed to the condition can have a great impact on its social course. This qualitative study used Kleinman's Explanatory Model framework to explore traditional healers' perspectives on epilepsy in an urban township in Cape Town, South Africa. The healers who participated in the study were Xhosa-speaking, had experience caring for patients with epilepsy, and had not received any training on epilepsy.

A lay carer's story about epilepsy in an urban South African context: they call it an illness of falling or an illness of fitting because a person shakes and eventually falls.

In South Africa, epilepsy is poorly understood and managed. The different cultural understandings and terms used to explain the condition across the diverse population groups exacerbate this problem. In this article, we describe the findings from a single story about epilepsy which we elicited through a semistructured interview guide in the respondents' natural setting.

Lost opportunities to improve health literacy: observations in a chronic illness clinic providing care for patients with epilepsy in Cape Town South Africa.

Low health literacy (LHL) is reported globally as a barrier to achieving quality of life of patients with epilepsy. In South Africa, despite reports that epilepsy is poorly managed and understood, little attention has been paid to promote health literacy of patients suffering from the condition and those providing their care. We used observation to gain a picture of interactions between patients with epilepsy and health care providers in a chronic illness clinic serving the marginalized population groups in Cape Town.

General practitioners' perceptions on management of epilepsy in primary care settings in Cape Town, South Africa: an exploratory pilot study.

In a context where there are few neurologists, excellent management of patients with epilepsy at a primary care level is imperative. In South Africa, most uninsured patients suffering from epilepsy and other chronic illnesses are managed by general practitioners in state-provided primary care settings. We conducted a qualitative pilot study to explore perceptions of doctors working in primary care settings in Cape Town regarding the quality of epilepsy management.

Medical students' experiences of professional lapses and patient rights abuses in a South African health sciences faculty.

Purpose: To elicit South African medical students' experiences of witnessing patient rights abuses and professional lapses during their clinical training in order to inform an appropriate and effective response.

Method: During June and July 2009 at the University of Cape Town Faculty of Health Sciences, the authors surveyed 223 fourth-, fifth-, and sixth-year medical students in selected clinical rotations concerning abuses they had observed. Volunteers were later interviewed individually.

Perceptions of HIV/AIDS leaders about faith-based organisations' influence on HIV/AIDS stigma in South Africa.

The extent of the HIV pandemic-particularly in the hardest-hit countries, including South Africa-has prompted a call for greater engagement of all groups, including faith-based organisations (FBOs). Although FBOs are known to play a substantial role in providing care and support to those affected by HIV and AIDS, empirical evidence in regard to their actions in the broader context of stigma is limited. A qualitative, key-informant survey was conducted in South Africa as part of a six-country international study to examine perceptions of how FBOs have contributed to reduction in HIV risk, vulnerability and related impacts.