Perspectives on academic mentorship, research collaborations, career advice and work-life balance: a masterclass conversation with Professor Salim Abdool Karim.

Mentorship and collaboration are fundamental to ensure success in research, particularly health research. In this article, we summarise a conversation between the Master's in Biostatistics students at Stellenbosch University and Professor Salim Abdool Karim, the head of the Centre for the AIDS Programme of Research in South Africa. In May 2021, Professor Abdool Karim was invited to share some of his expertise and knowledge on successful mentorship and collaboration with researchers in the early stages of their careers.

Exploration of service centres for older persons in the Eastern Cape province, South Africa.

Background: Service centres for older persons were set up in South Africa to implement programmes relating to the six determinants of the World Health Organization's (WHO) active ageing framework. The framework highlights the value of being physically active to prevent functional decline.

Objective: Our aim was to explore the characteristics of these centres and their members in the Eastern Cape province.

Career Development of Academic Staff in Faculties of Dentistry by Means of Mentorship Programs: Protocol for a Scoping Review.

Background: Globally, the demands on dental educators continue to diversify and expand. Due to their importance and value, mentoring programs have been acknowledged as a means of recruiting, developing, and retaining academics in dental education.

Objective: This protocol is for a scoping review that aims to identify the goals of mentoring programs for academic staff in dental faculties and determine how these programs were structured, delivered, and evaluated.

Impact of lived experiences of people with disabilities in the built environment in South Africa.

Background: In spite of legislations and policies to ensure an inclusive society in South Africa for the accommodation of people with disabilities, there are reports that they still struggle to move freely within society.

Objectives: As part of a larger qualitative exploratory study on the preparation of undergraduate civil engineering students in a local university to contribute to the development of an inclusive society, this article seeks to understand the impact of the lived experiences of people with disabilities in their interaction with the built environment.

Method: Four persons with disabilities, considered to be knowledgeable about South African legislations relating to disability, were purposely selected to each share one specific experience whilst interacting with the built environment.

Disability prevalence-context matters: A descriptive community-based survey.

Background: There is increasing interest in the collection of globally comparable disability data. Context may influence not only the rates but also the nature of disability, thus locally collected data may be of greater use in service delivery planning than national surveys.

Objectives: The objective of this article was to explore the extent to which two areas, both under-resourced but geographically and socially distinct, differed in terms of the prevalence and patterns of disability.

What can Sub-Saharan Africa learn from Canada's investment in active healthy ageing? A narrative view.

Background: The number of older persons in Sub-Saharan Africa is increasing.

Aims: What can Sub-Saharan Africa learn from other countries that may enhance the health and wellness of older persons? Canada was conveniently selected as the country which has endorsed the need for action on active ageing, given that by 2026, 1 in every 5 Canadians will have reached the age of 65 years and 4% of the overall population will be 85 years and older.

Methods: English language electronic searches of computerized databases (PubMed, MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAHL, and PsychINFO) were done to locate relevant published studies on Canada, from January 2000 to August 2014.

Addressing change in physiotherapy education in South Africa.

Background: Recent demands for the decolonisation of curriculum in South Africa present challenges to students, academics and other stakeholders. This resulted in tensions in tertiary institutions, cumulating in student-led protests. The authors hypothesised that the lack of shared understanding of what this unexplored process may entail contributed to the dilemma.

"What next now that you are sixty?" - Preliminary exploration of the self-reported aspirations of community-dwelling older persons in the Western Cape Province, South Africa within the active aging framework.

Future aspirations of older persons should interest professionals involved in health promotion services in view of World Health Organization's Active Aging Framework. With the South African government's plan to raise life expectancy to 70 years by 2030, there is likelihood that life expectancy at 60 years will increase. Future aspirations give motivations for living, with short and long-term goals to work toward.

The development and evaluation of content validity of the Zambia Spina Bifida Functional Measure: Preliminary studies.

Background: Very little is known on outcome measures for children with spina bifida (SB) in Zambia. If rehabilitation professionals managing children with SB in Zambia and other parts of sub-Saharan Africa are to instigate measuring outcomes routinely, a tool has to be made available. The main objective of this study was to develop an appropriate and culturally sensitive instrument for evaluating the impact of the interventions on children with SB in Zambia.

Locally manufactured wheelchairs in Tanzania - are users satisfied?

Background: The government of Tanzania created opportunity for the production of wheelchairs that would be appropriate to the local needs and environment.

Objectives: The study assessed the extent to which the wheelchairs met the activity and participation needs of the users, as well as the users' level of satisfaction with the provision, repair and maintenance of these wheelchairs.

Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional analytical design was utilized to collect data through the administration of a questionnaire among 75 adult wheelchair users.

Effectiveness of a home-based pulmonary rehabilitation programme in pulmonary function and health related quality of life for patients with pulmonary tuberculosis: a pilot study.

Background: Patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis (PTB) often develop impairment in pulmonary function due to anatomical changes secondary to the illness. Physiotherapy in the form of pulmonary rehabilitation has been advocated.

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine whether adherence to a six-week home-based pulmonary rehabilitation programme (PRP) improved the baseline measurements of lung function, exercise tolerance and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients receiving out-patient treatment for PTB.

The quality of life of people with leprosy-related residual impairment and disability in Malawi--is there a difference between people living in a leprosarium and those re-integrated into their communities?

Introduction: To compare the quality of life of people affected by leprosy living in a leprosarium and those reintegrated in communities in the southern region of Malawi.

Design: A translated version of the World Health Organization Quality of Life BREF questionnaire (WHOQOL-BREF) was administered among two groups of people with leprosy-related residual impairment and disability living in either a leprosarium (male 47, female 53) or re-integrated into communities (male 41, female 57). The cross-sectional quantitative survey was conducted by trained Leprosy Control Assistants (LCAs).

Perception of risk of HIV and sexual risk behaviours among students in the United States, Turkey and South Africa.

The aim of this study was to examine HIV sexual risk behaviours and perception of HIV risk among 1 095 students from the United States of America (US), Turkey and South Africa. Randomly selected students who were enrolled in general education courses completed a structured questionnaire. Results revealed statistically significant differences in specific HIV-related sexual behaviours among students from the three countries and among male and female students in each country.

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) domains most valued by urban IsiXhosa-speaking people.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate and identify aspects of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) that are most valued by IsiXhosa-speaking people resident in underresourced areas of Cape Town, South Africa.

Methodology: Fifty-seven domains of HRQoL were identified as important through group discussions with IsiXhosa-speaking people. Participants randomly selected from the community (n = 601) and from individuals seeking medical attention at a local clinic (n = 102) graded the domains on a visual analogue scale (VAS) ranging from 0 for "not at all important" to 10 for " very important".

Health-related quality of life (HRQoL) domains most valued by urban isiXhosa-speaking people.

Purpose: The aim of the study was to investigate and identify aspects of health-related quality of life (HRQoL) that are most valued by isiXhosa-speaking people resident in under-resourced areas of Cape Town.

Methodology: Fifty-seven domains of HRQoL were identified as important through group discussions with isiXhosa-speaking people. Participants randomly selected from the community (n = 601) and from individuals seeking medical attention at a local clinic (n = 102) graded the domains on a visual analogue scale (VAS) ranging from 0 as "not at all important" to 10 as " very important".

Are students in public high schools in South Africa physically active? Outcome of the 1st South African National Youth Risk Behaviour Survey.

Background: The first Youth Risk Behaviour Survey in South Africa was carried out to establish the prevalence of key health risk behaviours among high school students. Though physical inactivity is a commonly reported contributory factor to chronic diseases of lifestyle in South Africa, there is no reliable national database on the participation of children and adolescents in physical activity.

Methods: This cross-sectional national prevalence study among students attending government schools in the nine provinces in South Africa utilized a two-stage cluster sample design.

Perceived images of disability: the reflections of two undergraduate medical students in a university in South Africa on life in a wheelchair.

Purpose: The purpose of this manuscript is to document the experiences of two undergraduate medical students at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, who registered for a 4-week special study module titled "Images of Disability", as part of the medical training programme. The objective of the module was to foster the development of positive attitudes toward persons with physical disability through role-playing.

Method: The special study module required that the students assumed they had mobility impairments and were physically confined to wheelchairs.

Health promotion needs of physically disabled individuals with lower limb amputation in Rwanda.

Purpose: The objectives of the study were to identify the health-related behaviors among physically disabled individuals with lower limb amputation resident in Rwanda, the factors that influenced these behaviors, and the major issues that should be targeted in health promotion programs for physically disabled individuals with lower limb amputation.

Method: A cross-sectional survey, utilizing a self-administered questionnaire, was carried out among 334 lower limb amputees who volunteered to take part in the study. In addition, a sub-sample of 15 participants was purposely selected for in-depth face-to-face interviews.

Retrieving physiotherapy patient records in selected health care facilities in South Africa--is record keeping compromised?

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the process and feasibility of retrieving patient records in a variety of physiotherapy care settings in the Gauteng province in the Republic of South Africa.

Methods: Thirteen public and private health care facilities providing physiotherapy services were studied. Multiple methods of data collection (facility walk-through observation aided by a researcher designed checklist, in-depth interviews and attempting to retrieve physiotherapy records) were employed to evaluate the process of retrieving physiotherapy patient records, determine physiotherapy record retrieval rates and to determine the factors that were influencing record retrieval.