Transforming environmental health practitioners’ knowledge-sharing practices through inter-agency formative intervention workshops

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 180-195
Author(s):  
Priscilla Masilela ◽  
Lausanne Olvitt
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Health Practitioners ◽  
Formative Intervention

scholarly journals Environmental health community service: Confronting the human resource challenges

2019 ◽  
Vol 17 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patience Mbola ◽  
Izanne S. Human ◽  
Paula E. Melariri
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Community Service ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Health Practitioners ◽  
Effective Selection ◽  
Chi Square Test

Orientation: The environmental health graduates are required to complete community service before they could be registered as independent practitioners by the Health Professions Council of South Africa. Community service programme serves as the mechanism to recruit healthcare professionals who will improve the provision of equitable and quality healthcare.Research purpose: The study aimed to explore, identify and describe the factors that had an influence on the effective selection, placement and utilisation of environmental health graduates as well as an evaluation of the effectiveness of community service.Research approach/design and method: A quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted using self-administered questionnaires. The study included 24 environmental health practitioners who completed their community service and 10 environmental health practitioners responsible for coordinating community service in the municipal, provincial and national spheres of government in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa during 2013–2016. Purposive sample was drawn from each population. T-test and chi-square test were used to determine the statistical significant differences. The open-ended question responses from the structured questionnaire were qualitatively analysed by an independent coder.Main findings: The findings revealed major problems regarding the effective implementation of community service that included decreasing number of community service posts, inadequate material resources, lack of induction, inconsistent supervision, and a lack of evaluation of the community service.Contribution: The study findings suggest important inequalities that should deserve urgent attention. Study concludes by presenting recommendations for the improvement of the community service in the environmental health.

scholarly journals Strengthening the Capacity of Local Health Agencies through Community-Based Assessment and Planning

2009 ◽  
Vol 124 (6) ◽  
pp. 875-882 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carlyn Orians ◽  
Shyanika Rose ◽  
Brian Hubbard ◽  
John Sarisky ◽  
Letitia Reason ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
National Survey ◽  
Local Health ◽  
Public Health Agencies ◽  
Health Agencies ◽  
Health Practitioners ◽  
Building Community ◽  
Problem Solving Competency

Objectives. We evaluated the effectiveness of the Protocol for Assessing Community Excellence in Environmental Health (PACE EH) in building competency in essential environmental health services and renewing efforts to engage the community in problem solving. Competency and community engagement have been identified by environmental health practitioners as important to meet new threats to public health. Methods. We conducted a national survey and 24 case studies of public health agencies. We invited 917 organizations to participate in the national survey because they had requested a copy of the protocol. Results. We received 656 total responses: 354 had not considered implementation, 302 had considered implementation, and 66 had implemented PACE EH. For the 24 case studies, we interviewed 206 individuals in communities implementing PACE EH. We found that PACE EH has had a positive effect on building community and professional networks, enhancing leadership, developing workforce competence, and expanding definitions of environmental health practice. Conclusions. With appropriate investments, PACE EH can be an effective tool to meet the environmental health challenges identified by local environmental health practitioners and state, tribal, and federal agencies.

scholarly journals Experiences of community service environmental health practitioners

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anusha Karamchand ◽  
Emilie J. Kistnasamy
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Environmental Health ◽  
South African ◽  
Human Resource ◽  
Community Service ◽  
Tertiary Education ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Family Structures ◽  
Health Practitioners ◽  
Managerial Implications

Orientation: The community service initiative, a 1-year placement of health graduates, significantly improved human resource availability in the South African public health sector, even though the process was fraught with challenges. Although experiences in the curative health sector were assessed, the experiences of environmental health practitioners were yet to be studied.Research purpose: This study assessed the experiences of environmental health practitioners during their community service year.Motivation for the study: Anecdotal evidence suggested problems with the process. This study endeavoured to identify the challenges whilst taking cognisance of its effectiveness.Method: A total of n = 40 environmental health graduates from the Durban University of Technology who had concluded community service completed questionnaires in this crosssectional quantitative study. Descriptive statistics, means and standard deviations were used to analyse the data.Main findings: The timing of community service placements was critical as 58% of respondents had to repay study loans. The placement of married respondents (10%) outside KwaZuluNatal, however, could have had impacts on family structures. Only 68% felt stimulated by their job functions, and there arose challenges with accommodation and overtime duties. Respondents felt that their tertiary education did equip them and that engagement with senior personnel helped in their professional development. Even though most of the review of the community service year appeared to be positive, a majority of respondents did not intend to continue working or recommending their workplaces. Future career pathing showed that 79% would prefer to be employed outside the public sector.Practical and managerial implications: The process needs to be reviewed to strengthen human resource management and enhance retention in the often overloaded and under-resourced South African public health sector.Contribution: Relevant stakeholders can better plan, communicate and support affected parties through empowering management structures and providing logistical aid.

scholarly journals How can Environmental Health Practitioners contribute to ensure population safety and health during the COVID-19 pandemic?

2020 ◽  
pp. 105136
Author(s):  
Matilde A. Rodrigues ◽  
Manuela V. Silva ◽  
Nicole A. Errett ◽  
Gayle Davis ◽  
Zena Lynch ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Health ◽  
Safety And Health ◽  
Health Practitioners

scholarly journals Knowledge, attitude and practices of environmental health practitioners conducting food-borne disease outbreak investigation at a local municipality in Gauteng province, South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thokozani P. Mbonane ◽  
Nisha Naicker
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Health ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Outbreak Investigation ◽  
Continuous Variables ◽  
Gauteng Province ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Food Borne ◽  
Health Practitioners ◽  
Local Municipality ◽  
Outbreak Investigations

Background: Food-borne disease (FBD) outbreaks are a common occurrence that is either not investigated or poorly investigated. According to anecdote evidence, this is because of non-uniformity to environmental health practices in South Africa.Aim: This study aimed to determine and describe the knowledge, attitude and practices (KAP) of environmental health practitioners (EHPs) when conducting outbreak investigations of FBD at a local municipality.Setting: This study was conducted in three sub-districts of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality (EMM), one of five municipalities in Gauteng province, South Africa.Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted to collect data using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data collected were analysed using IBM Statistical Package for the Social Sciences. Continuous variables were compared using analysis of variances, and correlation was used to determine any association.Results: Knowledge responses were scored out of 9. Open-ended questions were themed into five items (support, guidelines, resources, training and specialisation). Sixty-one (76.3%) participants were randomly selected to participate in the study. There were more female participants (55.7%) than male participants, and the mean age was 30.9 years. The participants’ knowledge scores ranged from 1 to 9. There were 17 (27.9%) participants who have conducted FBD outbreak investigation. Twenty-six (42.6%) believed that they were properly trained to conduct FBD outbreak investigations. Age was associated with position (p = 0.000) and qualification (p = 0.033).Conclusion: The results indicated that there are gaps and challenges in the knowledge, while the practices were not consistent amongst environmental health practitioners. However, the attitude of EHPs was positive with regard to their role in FBD outbreak investigations.

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