Access to care for low trauma hip fractures in South Africa

The post-apartheid state in South Africa inherited a care regime that historically combined liberal, social democratic and conservative features. The post-apartheid state has sought to deracialise the care regime, through extending to the African majority the privileges that hitherto had been largely confined to the white minority, and to transform it, to render it more appropriate to the needs and norms of the African majority. Deracialisation proved insufficient and transformation too limited to address inequalities in access to care. Reform also generated tensions, including between a predominant ideology that accords women and children rights as autonomous individuals, the widespread belief in kinship obligations and an enduring if less widespread conservative, patriarchal ideology. Ordinary people must navigate between the market (if they can afford it), the state and the family, balancing opportunities for independence with the claims made on and by kin. The care regime thus remains a contested hybrid.

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An analysis of the services provided by Community Health Workers within an urban district in South Africa: a key contribution towards universal access to care.

10.21203/rs.3.rs-78059/v2 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Leena Susan Thomas ◽

Eric Buch ◽

Yogan Pillay

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Access To Care ◽

Community Health ◽

Health Worker ◽

Social Services ◽

Community Health Workers ◽

Community Health Worker ◽

Health Workers ◽

Urban Setting ◽

Early Screening

Abstract Introduction: Community health worker teams are potential game-changers in ensuring access to care in vulnerable communities. Who are they? What do they actually do? Can they help South Africa realize universal health coverage? As the proactive arm of the health services, community health workers teams provide household and community education, early screening, tracing and referrals for a range of health and social services. There is little local or global evidence on the household services provided by such teams, beyond specific disease-oriented activities such as for HIV and TB. This paper seeks to address this gap.Methods: Descriptive secondary data analysis of community health worker team activities in the Ekurhuleni health district, South Africa covering approximately 280 000 households with one million people. Results: Study findings illustrated that community health workers in these teams provided early screening and referrals for pregnant women and children under five. They distributed condoms and chronic medication to homes. They screened and referred for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, HIV and TB. The teams also undertook defaulter and contact tracing, the majority of which was for HIV & TB clients. Psychosocial support provided was in the form of access to social grants, access to child and gender-based violence protection services, food parcels and other services.Conclusion: Community Health Workers form the core of these teams and perform several health and psychosocial services in households and poor communities in South Africa, in addition to general health education. The teams studied provided a range of activities across many health conditions (mother & child related, HIV & TB, non-communicable diseases), as well as social services. These teams provided comprehensive care in a large-scale urban setting and can improve access to care.

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Mortality following hip fractures managed with hemiarthroplasty in the elderly in South Africa

SA Orthopaedic Journal ◽

10.17159/2309-8309/2018/v17n3a3 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 17 (3) ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

ALJ du Toit ◽

JF van der Merwe

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Hip Fractures ◽

The Elderly

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An Analysis of the Services Provided by Municipal Ward Based Primary Health Care Outreach Teams in an Urban District in South Africa: A Key Contribution Towards Universal Access to Care.

10.21203/rs.3.rs-78059/v1 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Leena Susan Thomas ◽

Eric Buch ◽

Yogan Pillay

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Access To Care ◽

Social Services ◽

Large Scale ◽

Health Workers ◽

Universal Access ◽

Urban Setting ◽

Contact Tracing ◽

Potential Game ◽

Urban District

Abstract Introduction: Municipal Ward based PHC Outreach Teams are potential game-changers in ensuring access to care in vulnerable communities. Who are they? What do they actually do? Can they help South Africa realize universal health coverage?Methods:Descriptive secondary data analysis of team activities in the Ekurhuleni health district, South Africa covering approximately 280 000 households with one million people. This was part of a larger study exploring the effectiveness of these teams.Results:Study findings illustrated that CHWs in these teams provided early screening and referrals for pregnant women and malnourished children. They distributed condoms and chronic medication to homes. They screened and referred for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, HIV and TB. The teams also undertook defaulter and contact tracing, the majority of which was for HIV & TB clients. Psychosocial support provided was in the form of access to social grants, access to child and gender based violence protection services, food parcels and other services.Conclusion:Community Health Workers form the core of these teams and perform several health and psychosocial services in households and to poor communities in South Africa, in addition to general health education. The teams studied provided a range of activities across many health conditions (mother & child related, HIV & TB, non-communicable diseases), as well as social services. Ward based outreach teams provided comprehensive care in a large-scale urban setting and can improve access to care.

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Intersection of Migration and Access to Health Care: Experiences and Perceptions of Female Economic Migrants in Canada

International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health ◽

10.3390/ijerph17103682 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 17 (10) ◽

pp. 3682

Author(s):

Solina Richter ◽

Helen Vallianatos ◽

Jacqueline Green ◽

Chioma Obuekwe

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Health Care ◽

Access To Care ◽

Health Care System ◽

Access To Health Care ◽

Social Connectedness ◽

Reproductive Age ◽

African Countries ◽

Access To Health ◽

Care System

More people are migrating than ever before. There are an estimated 1 billion migrants globally—of whom, 258 million are international migrants and 763 million are internal migrants. Almost half of these migrants are women, and most are of reproductive age. Female migration has increased. The socioeconomic contexts of women migrants need investigation to better understand how migration intersects with accessing health care. We employed a focused ethnography design. We recruited 29 women from three African countries: Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa. We used purposive and convenient sampling techniques and collected data using face-to-face interviews. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed with the support of ATLAS.ti 8 Windows (ATLAS.ti Scientific Software Development GmbH), a computer-based qualitative software for data management. We interviewed 10 women from both South Africa and Ghana and nine women from Nigeria. Their ages ranged between 24 and 64 years. The four themes that developed included social connectedness to navigate access to care, the influence of place of origin on access to care, experiences of financial accessibility, and historical and cultural orientation to accessing health care. It was clear that theses factors affected economic migrant women’s access to health care after migration. Canada has a universal health care system but multiple research studies have documented that migrants have significant barriers to accessing health care. Most migrants indeed arrive in Canada from a health care system that is very different than their country of origin. Access to health care is one of the most important social determinants of health.

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‘I’m black, a woman, disabled and lesbian’: LGBT ageing and care services at the intersections in South Africa

Sexualities ◽

10.1177/1363460720975322 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 136346072097532

Author(s):

Finn Reygan ◽

Neil Henderson ◽

Jamil Khan

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Access To Care ◽

Exploratory Study ◽

Transgender Women ◽

Gender And Sexuality ◽

Care Services ◽

Care Policies ◽

Bisexual And Transgender

Experiences of ageing and care are closely tied to structural location in terms of race, class, gender and sexuality among others. In South Africa, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people’s experiences of ageing and care are profoundly influenced by the patriarchal, postapartheid context. This study, the first of its kind in South Africa, was an exploratory study of the experiences of ageing and care among LGBT elders in two provinces in South Africa. Findings indicate that LGBT elders’ experiences of ageing and care are influenced by intersectionality and lack of access to care. In particular, the ageing and care experiences of black and Coloured LGBT elders, especially lesbian, bisexual and transgender women, are disproportionately impacted. Implications of these exploratory findings are that national ageing and care policies need to specifically name LGBT elders as a key group and that services be rolled out for LGBT elders.

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An analysis of the services provided by community health workers within an urban district in South Africa: a key contribution towards universal access to care

Human Resources for Health ◽

10.1186/s12960-021-00565-4 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 19 (1) ◽

Author(s):

L. S. Thomas ◽

E. Buch ◽

Y. Pillay

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Access To Care ◽

Community Health ◽

Health Worker ◽

Social Services ◽

Community Health Workers ◽

Community Health Worker ◽

Health Workers ◽

Urban Setting ◽

Early Screening

Abstract Introduction Community health worker teams are potential game-changers in ensuring access to care in vulnerable communities. Who are they? What do they actually do? Can they help South Africa realize universal health coverage? As the proactive arm of the health services, community health workers teams provide household and community education, early screening, tracing and referrals for a range of health and social services. There is little local or global evidence on the household services provided by such teams, beyond specific disease-oriented activities such as for HIV and TB. This paper seeks to address this gap. Methods Descriptive secondary data analysis of community health worker team activities in the Ekurhuleni health district, South Africa covering approximately 280,000 households with 1 million people. Results Study findings illustrated that community health workers in these teams provided early screening and referrals for pregnant women and children under five. They distributed condoms and chronic medication to homes. They screened and referred for hypertension, diabetes mellitus, HIV and TB. The teams also undertook defaulter and contact tracing, the majority of which was for HIV and TB clients. Psychosocial support provided was in the form of access to social grants, access to child and gender-based violence protection services, food parcels and other services. Conclusion Community health workers form the core of these teams and perform several health and psychosocial services in households and poor communities in South Africa, in addition to general health education. The teams studied provided a range of activities across many health conditions (mother and child related, HIV and TB, non-communicable diseases), as well as social services. These teams provided comprehensive care in a large-scale urban setting and can improve access to care.

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