Exploring the Motivations of Family Caregivers Caring for Older Persons in Urban Poor Accra, Ghana.

There is a general paucity of studies on family caregivers' motivations for providing care to older persons in the urban poor context in Ghana. This study seeks to explore family caregivers' motivations for providing care to older persons in urban poor Accra, Ghana. A qualitative descriptive design was used and in-depth interviews were conducted with thirty-one family caregivers.

Social Networks in Limbo. The Experiences of Older Adults During COVID-19 in Ghana.

While studies exploring COVID-19 and its global influence have begun, social networks and support among older adults in low-and middle-income countries, such as Ghana have been inadequate despite its enormous relevance. Thus, the study presents the voices of older adults in Jamestown, Accra and their social networks during the COVID-19 pandemic in Ghana. Using a phenomenological approach, data were collected from 15 older adults through in-depth interviews on older adults' social network experiences during COVID-19 pandemic situation.

Managing job stress among teachers of children with autism spectrum disorders: A randomized controlled trial of cognitive behavioral therapy with yoga.

Background: Job-related stress undermines occupational, personal, and organizational outcomes. Stress symptoms are common among teachers of children with autism spectrum disorders and affect the academic progress of the children. This study investigated the effectiveness of yoga-based cognitive behavioral therapy in reducing occupational stress among teachers of children with autism in Lagos states, Nigeria.

The Driving Influence of Multi-Dimensional Urbanization on PM Concentrations in Africa: New Evidence from Multi-Source Remote Sensing Data, 2000-2018.

Africa's PM pollution has become a security hazard, but the understanding of the varying effects of urbanization on driven mechanisms of PM concentrations under the rapid urbanization remains largely insufficient. Compared with the direct impact, the spillover effect of urbanization on PM concentrations in adjacent regions was underestimated. Urbanization is highly multi-dimensional phenomenon and previous studies have rarely distinguished the different driving influence and interactions of multi-dimensional urbanization on PM concentrations in Africa.

Exploring intersections between gender-based violence and adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights in West Africa: A review of the literature produced in the sub-region.

This review, commissioned by the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC), explores the intersection between gender-based violence (GBV) and adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights (ASRHR) in the Economic Community of West African States. It is imperative to understand this intersection for research, policy, and practice purposes in a sub-region characterized by high youthful populations with significant reproductive health challenges. A mapping exercise, literature review, and gap analysis were conducted.

Self-undermining policy feedback and the creation of National Health Insurance in Ghana.

Contributing to the ongoing debate about policy feedback in comparative public policy research, this article examines the evolution of healthcare financing policy in Ghana. More specifically, this article investigates the shift in healthcare financing from full cost recovery, known as 'cash-and-carry', to a nation-wide public health insurance policy called the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). It argues that unintended, self-undermining feedback effects from the existing health policy constrained the menu of options available to reformers, while simultaneously opening a window of opportunity for transformative policy change.

Current concepts and an alternative perspective on periodontal disease.

Background: Epidemiological data from countries worldwide show a consistent pattern implying that a fraction of around 10% of those over 40-50 years in all populations will exhibit severe periodontitis with the potential risk of losing teeth during their life-time. The subgingival microbiota shows striking similarities between populations irrespective of disease severity and can only marginally explain the clinical pattern. It is also difficult to explain this pattern by genetic and acquired risk factors such as systemic disease (e.

The role of mentoring in research ecosystems in Sub-Saharan Africa: Some experiences through the CARTA opportunity.

Mentoring is important for improving capacity development in population and public health research in sub-Saharan Africa. A variety of experiences have been documented since Consortium for Advanced Research Training in Africa (CARTA) admitted the first cohort in 2011. However, the experience of mentoring opportunities in CARTA has not been studied.

Lived Experiences of the Elderly in Ghana: Analysis of Ageing Policies and Options for Reform.

Ghana is one of the countries in sub-Sahara Africa that is experiencing rapid growth of its elderly population. The elderly phase of life is often associated with degenerative conditions that affect the human capacity to function effectively and requires specialized care and income support to ensure the elderly do not suffer poverty, neglect and rejection. In 2008, policy makers in the country introduced a three-tier pension system to provide income security in old age and a cash transfer program to lift the poorest among the elderly out of poverty.

A stress management intervention for adults living with HIV in Nigerian community settings: An effects study.

Background: This study evaluated the effectiveness of a group-based cognitive-behavioral stress management intervention among community-dwelling adults living with HIV in Southeastern Nigeria.

Method: A total of 28 HIV-positive adults meeting the criteria for high perceived stress, anxiety, and depression were randomized into 1 of 2 groups: treatment group (n = 14); and no-treatment control group (n = 14). Stress level was measured using the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10).

Potential roles of school administrators and community-residing adults in tobacco use prevention in Nigerian college students: a viewpoint.

Tobacco use is a key risk factor for the development of non-communicable diseases such as coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease. On May 31 every year, World No Tobacco Day is celebrated to draw attention to the health risks and other risks related to tobacco use and to campaign for effective policies to minimize tobacco use. In this paper, we address important issues related to tobacco use, and highlight the potential roles of school administrators and community-residing adults in supporting college students in Nigeria in refraining from tobacco use.

The need for school administrative policies to manage meningitis amongst students in Nigeria: a viewpoint.

Students are at greater risk of meningitis than non-students of similar age. However, a lack of specific school administrative policies for the management of meningitis may contribute to the increasing incidence of meningitis in the student population. The study aims were to promote the need for a policy framework in school settings to manage meningitis, and to encourage research to assess the readiness of school administrators to adopt such a policy in Nigeria.

Educational status and beliefs regarding non-communicable diseases among children in Ghana.

Background: Increasing prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has been observed in Ghana as in other developing countries. Past research focused on NCDs among adults. Recent researches, however, provide evidence on NCDs among children in many countries, including Ghana.

Aging and Demographic Transition in Ghana: State of the Elderly and Emerging Issues.

Although the population of Ghana is young and generally youthful, there is evidence of rapid increases in the size of the elderly cohort. Although demographic projections estimate that the proportion of the population younger than 15 years will experience continuous decline overtime due in part to decline in fertility, the rise in the elderly population is expected to also continue due to declining mortality rates resulting in longevity. Unfortunately, the growth in the elderly proportion of the population is occurring at the same time traditional systems of protection and care for the aged are breaking down on account of urbanization, socioeconomic development, and globalization.

A new global anthropogenic heat estimation based on high-resolution nighttime light data.

Consumption of fossil fuel resources leads to global warming and climate change. Apart from the negative impact of greenhouse gases on the climate, the increasing emission of anthropogenic heat from energy consumption also brings significant impacts on urban ecosystems and the surface energy balance. The objective of this work is to develop a new method of estimating the global anthropogenic heat budget and validate it on the global scale with a high precision and resolution dataset.

Non-communicable diseases among children in Ghana: health and social concerns of parent/caregivers.

Background: Globally, there is a progressive rise in the burden of non-communicable diseases (NCDs). This paper examined the health and social concerns of parents/caregivers on in-patient care for children with NCDs in Ghana.

Methods: This was a cross-sectional study in three large health facilities in Ghana (the largest in the South, the largest in the North and the largest in the Eastern part of Ghana.

Investigating parents/caregivers financial burden of care for children with non-communicable diseases in Ghana.

Background: The introduction of the Ghana national health insurance scheme (NHIS) has led to progressive and significant increase in utilization of health services. However, the financial burden of caring for children with non-communicable diseases (NCDs) under the dispensation of the NHIS, especially during hospitalization, is less researched. This paper therefore sought to assess the financial burden parents/caregivers face in caring for children hospitalized with NCDs in Ghana, in the era of the Ghana NHIS.

Health literacy and disability: differences between generations of Canadian immigrants.

Objectives: To determine whether there are differences in disability by immigrant generation and region of origin and recency of arrival in Canada, and the role of health literacy in this relationship.

Methods: A secondary analysis of the Canadian component of the 2003 International Adult Literacy and Skills Survey (IALSS) was undertaken.

Results: Compared to the third-plus generation, first-generation immigrants were less likely to report disability; these differences remained even after adjustment for sociodemographic and socioeconomic factors.

When darkness falls at mid-day: young patients' perceptions and meanings of chronic illness and their implications for medical care.

Background: This study illustrates the perceptions and meanings that patients who have had the onset of certain chronic diseases at young adulthood ascribe to their condition of chronic illness. The paper further examines the implications of such perceptions and construction for medical care.

Design: Qualitative and ethnography.

An ethnographic study of cervical cancer among women in rural Kenya: is there a folk causal model?

This article assesses knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding cervical cancer among rural women of Kenya. One hundred and sixty women (mean age 37.9 years) who sought various health care services at Tigoni subdistrict hospital, Limuru, Kenya, were interviewed using a semistructured questionnaire.

The potential of schoolchildren as health change agents in rural western Kenya.

A prospective, quasi-experimental study was carried out in Bondo district in western Kenya to determine the potential of schoolchildren as health change agents in a rural community. A group of 40 schoolchildren were given health education using action-oriented and participatory approaches and their knowledge and practices as well as the influence on recipient groups consisting of peers at school and parents/guardians at home, were studied. The study, which used questionnaire surveys, involved a pre-test of knowledge about malaria, diarrhea and hygiene among the recipient groups.

Changing concepts of health and illness among children of primary school age in Western Kenya.

This paper examines changes in children's concepts of health and illness following an action-oriented health education intervention in Bondo district of Western Kenya. The study is a feasibility study exploring a specific educational approach, and it combines elements of health education research and anthropological research. Forty primary schoolchildren aged 10-15 years of age underwent a 2-month intervention and were thereafter enrolled as health communicators in a longitudinal study for an additional period of 12 months.

"Retirement lost"-the new role of the elderly as caretakers for orphans in Western Kenya.

A study on the new role of the elderly as caretakers of orphans was conducted in a rural part of Kenya applying a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. One out of three children had lost at least one biological parent and one of nine had lost both. These figures are increasing exponentially.

Changing patterns of orphan care due to the HIV epidemic in western Kenya.

The HIV/AIDS epidemic has given rise to major demographic changes including an alarming number of orphans in sub-Saharan Africa. The study describes a rural community in western Kenya in which one out of three children below 18 years of age had lost at least one biological parent-and one out of nine had lost both. The main problems these children faced were lack of school fees, food and access to medical care.