Ethnoveterinary medicine in Africa

Africa ◽  
1992 ◽  
Vol 62 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Constance M. McCorkle ◽  
Evelyn Mathias-Mundy

AbstractLocal knowledge systems have won growing attention and respect within conventional science and in the international development community. Such systems have usually resulted from centuries of local people's empirical observation and experience and typically are highly ecologically sensitive. The information they embody and their associated materials and techniques can be of immense practical value in mounting cost-effective, socio-culturally and politically workable, environmentally benign, and thus sustainable, initiatives to improve human livelihoods and well-being. The present article overviews one pioneering branch of research and development for the continent of Africa: ethnoveterinary medicine. Indigenous healers, ethno-aetiologies, ethnopharmacology and toxicology, vaccination and surgical skills, and selected health-related husbandry practices are described. These data are then analysed from both social scientific and biological-technical perspectives, to identify limitations and potentials in putting African veterinary expertise to work in truly appropriate agricultural development. The authors conclude with recommendations for both immediate and future directions in the study and utilisation of this corpus of valuable, but endangered, knowledge.

2000 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-99 ◽  
Author(s):  
MONICA M. VAN BEUSEKOM

In the introduction to their edited volume International Development and the Social Sciences: Essays on the History and Politics of Knowledge, Frederick Cooper and Randall Packard take on the thorny question of why development policies change and why they sometimes persist or reappear after a period of dormancy. Much recent scholarship has located the reasons for persistence or change in development approaches within international institutions such as multilateral and bilateral aid agencies and Western scientific and social scientific disciplines. Both Arturo Escobar and James Ferguson argue for the existence of a hegemonic development discourse with standardized interventions aimed at ‘solving’ homogenized ‘problems’. Grounded in Western institutions such as the World Bank, this development discourse is maintained by an interlocked network of experts and expertise. In their analyses, development approaches and interventions are minimally affected by the particularities of locale. Other scholars concerned with identifying and understanding significant change in development policy have also focused their studies on Western organizations and disciplines and excluded from their analysis the role that development practice might play in change. But Cooper and Packard challenge scholars to consider the ways in which development policies might be molded by the practice of development, when they note ‘it is not clear that the determinants of these policies are as independent of what goes on at the grassroots as they appear to their authors or their critics to be’.


2004 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul H Möller ◽  
Ria Smit

The escalating rate of AIDS-related deaths in South Africa has led to an increase in social scientific research on the perceptions and Experiences of people suffering from AIDS by focusing on their physical health and emotional well-being. Opsomming Die styging in die getal VIGS-verwante sterftes in Suid-Afrika het gelei tot 'n toename in sosiaalwetenskaplike navorsing oor die persepsies en belewenisse van mense met VIGS, met die fokus op hul fisieke Gesondheid en emosionele welsyn. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.


2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S288-S289
Author(s):  
Jane Flanagan ◽  
Kathryn Post ◽  
Rebecca Hill

Abstract Caregivers of persons with dementia demonstrate increased levels of stress, anxiety and depression, placing them at increased risk for poor health-related outcomes. Walking is widely supported as a cost-effective, accessible exercise and way to maintain physical fitness and mitigate stress levels. There is a critical gap in addressing health promotion strategies in caregivers. The specific aims of this health-coaching (HC) walking study using wireless pedometers in family caregivers of persons with dementia were to: 1) establish the feasibility of HC and wireless pedometer use, 2) examine outcomes of well-being, stress and activity level and 3) understand the experience of participation. This 2-group comparative study used a repeated measure design and mixed methods approach. We enrolled 27 females and 5 male caregivers (n=32), μ age 57 years: with both 16 in the control in the intervention arm. Pre-post measures of general health (body mass index [BMI], blood pressure, heart rate, cognition, well-being, stress and perceived activity level) were obtained from caregivers at baseline and again at 12 weeks. Results indicate that those who received HC had a statistically significant improvement in BMI (p = .01). There were no other statistically significant improvements in outcomes in either group. Qualitative findings suggest that participants reported many stresses that made self-care challenging. In summary, this was a feasible intervention that resulted in improved BMI in the HC group. Work is needed to understand the long-term impact of this outcome. Further exploration of other health-promoting interventions that may be beneficial for this population is essential.


2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 120-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Metin Özdemir

Purpose – Parenting programmes are seen as feasible and cost-effective in preventing early behavioural problems in children and adolescents. A number of studies have concluded that such programmes are effective in reducing child problem behaviours and improving the skills and well-being of parents. Nevertheless, less is known about long-term programme effects. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – A non-meta-analytic discussion. Findings – Long-term evaluations of parenting programmes suffer from a number of methodological weaknesses resulting in an inability to make robust causal inferences about child and parent outcomes in the longer term. The current evidence is favourable but is likely to be biased by methodological weaknesses. There is a need for more studies of greater methodological strength to obtain conclusive evidence that would guide empirical research, practice and policy. Originality/value – The paper discusses weaknesses in long-term evaluations of parenting programmes and highlights concrete future directions towards improving the quality of study design, evaluation and data analysis.


2008 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 146-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Meinrad Perrez ◽  
Michael Reicherts ◽  
Yves Hänggi ◽  
Andrea B. Horn ◽  
Gisela Michel ◽  
...  

Abstract. Most research in health psychology is based on retrospective self reports, which are distorted by recall biases and have low ecological validity. To overcome such limitations we developed computer assisted diary approaches to assess health related behaviours in individuals’, couples’ and families’ daily life. The event- and time-sampling-based instruments serve to assess appraisals of the current situation, feelings of physical discomfort, current emotional states, conflict and emotion regulation in daily life. They have proved sufficient reliability and validity in the context of individual, couple and family research with respect to issues like emotion regulation and health. As examples: Regarding symptom reporting curvilinear pattern of frequencies over the day could be identified by parents and adolescents; or psychological well-being is associated with lower variability in basic affect dimensions. In addition, we report on preventive studies to improve parental skills and enhance their empathic competences towards their baby, and towards their partner.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zahari Ishak ◽  
Suet Fin Low ◽  
Wan Abdul Hakim Wan Ibrahim ◽  
Abqariyah Yahya ◽  
Fuziah Md. Zain ◽  
...  

<p>Obesity has been shown to impact the health-related quality of life (HRQOL) among children. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of MyBFF@school program on HRQOL among overweight and obese primary school children in Malaysia. KINDL<sup>R</sup> Questionnaire was used to collect data on their HRQOL before and after the program. ANCOVA was used to analyse the comparison between intervention and control group after 6 months. There are significant effect on family functioning, F(2,1103)=7.452, p<0.05 and school functioning, F(1,1117)=7.103, p<0.05 after the intervention. Effects can also be seen on physical well-being, emotional well-being and friends functioning. The program is effective in improving the HRQOL significantly in two dimensions namely the family and school functioning. In order to achieve greater overall success,social support should be an integral part of the program and stigma on obesity should be managed and reduced by including normal-weight children in the program.</p>


Author(s):  
Vera Arsenyeva ◽  
Boris Martynov ◽  
Gennadiy Bulyshchenko ◽  
Dmitriy Svistov ◽  
Boris Gaydar ◽  
...  

Gliomas make up about 8 cases per 100,000 population and the number of patients with this disease is only increasing. There can be not only various types of neurological deficits among the symptoms, but also personal and emotional changes, that seriously affects the quality of life. The modern model of health care includes not only recovery of the patient’s physical functions, but also his or her psychosocial well-being. In particular, the assessment and study of the characteristics of health-related quality of life, as well as cognitive functions in patients with gliomas, is increasingly recognized as an important criterion when considering the effectiveness of treatment. To date, the features of health related quality of life and cognitive functions of patients with epilepsy and acute cerebral circulation disorders have been studied sufficiently, and, as a result, techniques have been developed that accurately assess the QOL and CF in patients with these diseases. These are QOLIE-31 and QOLIE-AD-48 questionnaires for patients with epilepsy. This is the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS), Orgogozo stroke scale (OSS), World Federation of Neurological Surgeons (WFNS) scale for the clinical assessment of subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) for patients with acute cerebrovascular accident. At the same time, there are no generally accepted methods for assessing quality of life and neurocognitive functions that are sensitive to changes in the condition of patients with gliomas in the early postoperative period by the time of discharge from the hospital. As a result, there is no systematic information on the dynamics of the quality of life of such patients, their neurocognitive functioning. The purpose of this article was to study the literature on QOL and CF in patients affected by neurological and neurosurgical disorders for the further selection of optimal methods for assessing dynamics of the condition of patients with glial brain tumors before and after surgery. At the moment, such requirements are only partially met by the EORTC QLQ-C30 questionnaire and its application EORTC QLQ-BN20.


Author(s):  
Priyanka T K ◽  
V.N. K. Usha ◽  
Sucheta Kumari M

Garbha is a conglomeration of biological mass with different strata including consciousness, needs an innovative clinical tool to evaluate its well being, which proves safe, potent, cost-effective and noninvasive. The idea of taking up this study was to sensitively predict the Prakrutavastha or well being w.r.t Garbha-pushti and ongoing Fetal Pathology, Vaikrutavastha w.s.r Garbhavyapads for a sharp interference to get a possible best neonatal outcome. The objective of this study was to calculate the predictive accuracy of evaluation of Garbhaspandanam on external Shabda and Sparsha Pareeksha. A Prospective Clinical study of Garbhaspandanam (FHS and FM) with external Shabda and Sparsha stimulation on maternal abdomen, from 24th week onwards was conducted in a cohort of 30 Singleton Pregnant women at Dept. of Prasuti Tantra and Stri Roga, S.D.M.C.A. Hospital, Udupi. Among the 9 cases in abnormal category, 2 cases had gone for IUD and one case though placed in abnormal category had responded relatively well to Shabda and Sparsha Pareeksha which may be due to the proper antenatal care and intervention given along with the patient’s Vatakara Nidana Parivarjana. Predictive Accuracy Rate on Shabda and Sparsha Pareeksha showed, FHS 70%, FM 76.7%; FHS 73.3%, FM 66.7% respectively. Shabda and Sparshapareeksha can be utilized as the Garbha - chetana - dyodakalakshana and can be performed as a routine antenatal bedside procedure, which can fairly detect the Prakruta and Vaikrutavastha of Garbha w.r.t Pushti. However larger prospective studies are required.


Author(s):  
Campbell Leaper

This chapter considers possible ways that peer relations, group identity, and dispositional preferences are interrelated and contribute to children’s gender development. The author advances an integrative theoretical model of gender development that bridges complementary theories by linking sex-related dispositions and physical characteristics to the process of assimilation within same-gender peer groups. Research suggests some (but not all) children have strong behavioral dispositions (temperaments and intense interests) and physical characteristics that are either highly compatible or highly contradictory with culturally valued in-group prototypes (e.g., boys strongly inclined toward physical activities vs. dress-up play, respectively). These children may either become same-gender role models or disidentify with the gender in-group, respectively. In contrast, children without strong dispositions may be most amenable to developing a broad repertoire of interests when provided opportunities and encouragement. Implications of this model for the development and well-being of children as well as future directions for research are discussed.


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