Seen but not heard – ethnic minorities’ views of primary health care interpreting provision: a focus group study

T he researcher, being a nursing lecturer, questioned the method of selection of learning opportunities for student nurses in two training hospitals in the Northern part of Namibia.The study therefore focused on the following objective: To identify the factors that influence the selection of learning opportunities for primary health care in hospital units. A qualitative research design utilising focus group discussions were used. The population consisted of conveniently selected lecturers, student nurses and registered nurses. The same initial question was asked in each focus group to initiate the discussions. The data were analysed according to Tesch's method.The results indicated that there is positive commitment from the lecturers and registered nurses to be involved in selecting appropriate learning opportunities. The student nurses also demonstrated a willingness to learn and to be exposed to learning opportunities in primary health care. There were however certain constraints that emerged as themes, namely: • Managerial constraints • Educational constraints Under the theme "managerial constraints" categories such as workload, nursing staff shortages and communication problems were identified. Under the theme "educational constraints" categories such as a lack of guidance, and the correlation of theory and practice emerged.Recommendations based on this research report include improvement of in-service education on managerial and educational aspects to facilitate the primary health care approach in hospitals.

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Nutritional well-being of young children in Duncan Village, East London, South Africa: accessibility of primary health care clinics

Public Health Nutrition ◽

10.1079/phn2005787 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 8 (5) ◽

pp. 520-532 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Anniza de Villiers ◽

Kholeka Koko-Mhlahlo ◽

Marjanne Senekal

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Health Care ◽

Primary Health Care ◽

Focus Group ◽

Young Children ◽

Service Delivery ◽

Data Retrieval ◽

Well Being ◽

Primary Health ◽

Heavy Workload

AbstractObjectiveThe aim was to contribute to the nutritional well-being of young children living in Duncan Village by investigating factors that influence clinic attendance of mothers and to formulate recommendations for optimisation of accessibility of primary health care (PHC) clinics in the area.DesignPHC clinic accessibility was evaluated by assessing the experiences of mothers who attended clinics in the area as well as the experiences of health care workers (HCWs) in these clinics of service delivery and its recipients (mothers/children), using the focus group technique. The ATLAS/ti program was used to analyse the data in the following steps: preparation and importing of the data, getting to know and coding the data, retrieval and examination of codes and quotations, creation of families and creation of networks.SettingDuncan Village, a low socio-economic urban settlement in East London, South Africa.SubjectsFocus group discussions (four to seven participants per group) were conducted with four groups of mothers who do not attend PHC clinics, six with mothers who do attend the clinics (including pregnant women) and four groups of HCWs.ResultsFour networks that provide a summary of all the major trends in the data were created. The results clearly indicate that mothers in Duncan Village perceive and/or experience serious problems that make it difficult for them to attend clinic and even prevent them from doing so. These problems include both the way they are treated at the clinics (especially the problem of verbal abuse) as well as the actual services delivered (no medicines, no help, disorganised, long waiting periods, being turned away). The main problem experienced by the HCWs with service delivery seems to be a heavy workload, as well as the fact that many mothers do not come for follow-up visits.ConclusionEfforts to increase the accessibility of PHC clinics in Duncan Village should focus on improving the relationship between mothers and HCWs and the heavy workload experienced by these workers.

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