The South African Perspective of the Impact of Language on the Delivery of Healthcare Services

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Tiko Iyamu ◽  
Phathutshedzo Makovhololo
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Healthcare Facility ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Mobile Systems ◽  
The South ◽  
Language Semantics ◽  
The Impact

Despite its essentiality, spoken languages continue to pose severe challenges within the South African health facilities, which can be attributed to the country's adaptation of 11 official languages. Some of the challenges can be attributed to the fact that the limits to an individual's language are commensurate to the limits to an individual's real-life world and meaning, which are often influenced by semantics. The objectives of this study was to establish the factors that influence spoken languages, and how the semantics in the languages can be translated from local dialects to English by using mobile systems. The interpretivist approach was applied in the study. Data was collected through semi-structured interview technique. The actor-network theory was used as a lens to guide the analysis of the data. From the analysis, the following factors—heterogeneity of networks, bilingualism, healthcare facility, and information engine—were found to influence language semantics in South African healthcare. Based on the findings, a framework was developed that can be used to understand how language semantics influence healthcare services in the country. Thus, the study can be of interest to healthcare practitioners, language specialists for translation purposes, and IT experts for support and enablement.

scholarly journals A Framework to Guide ICT Solution for Language Barrier in South African Healthcare

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-17
Author(s):  
Phathutshedzo Makovhololo ◽  
Tiko Iyamu
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Diffusion Of Innovation ◽  
English Language ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Actor Network Theory ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Language Barrier ◽  
Mobile Systems ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
The Impact

In recent years, healthcare service providers have increasingly employed mobile systems in delivering services. However, the nature of the diversities in tribes and languages within many developing countries enhance the difficulty of delivering or receiving the services which are provided by many healthcare organisations. This is so because the English language is the primary medium of communication, although many healthcare recipients are not conversant in English as they cannot speak English fluently or understand it coherently. The objective of the study was to understand the impact which language barrier have on healthcare services. The interpretivist approach was employed. The case study approach was applied. Qualitative data were collected using semi-structured technique. The analysis of the data was guided by two theories, actor network theory and diffusion of innovation. From the findings, a framework was developed, which is intended to guide a solution that can be provided to address the barrier in the South African healthcare environment.

The impact of climate temperature on counts, recovery, and death rates due to SARS-CoV-2 in South Africa. (Preprint)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neven Chetty ◽  
Bamise Adeleye ◽  
Abiola Olawale Ilori
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Death Rate ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Warm Climate ◽  
The South ◽  
Recovery Rates ◽  
Death Rates ◽  
Online Resource ◽  
The Impact

BACKGROUND The impact of climate temperature on the counts (number of positive COVID-19 cases reported), recovery, and death rates of COVID-19 cases in South Africa's nine provinces was investigated. The data for confirmed cases of COVID-19 were collected for March 25 and June 30, 2020 (14 weeks) from South Africa's Government COVID-19 online resource, while the daily provincial climate temperatures were collected from the website of the South African Weather Service. Our result indicates that a higher or lower climate temperature does not prevent or delay the spread and death rates but shows significant positive impacts on the recovery rates of COVID-19 patients. Thus, it indicates that the climate temperature is unlikely to impose a strict limit on the spread of COVID-19. There is no correlation between the cases and death rates, an indicator that no particular temperature range is closely associated with a faster or slower death rate of COVID-19 patients. As evidence from our study, a warm climate temperature can only increase the recovery rate of COVID-19 patients, ultimately impacting the death and active case rates and freeing up resources quicker to enable health facilities to deal with those patients' climbing rates who need treatment. OBJECTIVE This study aims to investigate the impact of climate temperature variation on the counts, recovery, and death rates of COVID-19 cases in all South Africa's provinces. The findings were compared with those of countries with comparable climate temperature values. METHODS The data for confirmed cases of COVID-19 were collected for March 25 and June 30 (14 weeks) for South African provinces, including daily counts, death, and recovery rates. The dates were grouped into two, wherein weeks 1-5 represent the periods of total lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 in South Africa. Weeks 6-14 are periods where the lockdown was eased to various levels 4 and 3. The daily information of COVID-19 count, death, and recovery was obtained from South Africa's Government COVID-19 online resource (https://sacoronavirus.co.za). Daily provincial climate temperatures were collected from the website of the South African Weather Service (https://www.weathersa.co.za). The provinces of South Africa are Eastern Cape, Western Cape, Northern Cape, Limpopo, Northwest, Mpumalanga, Free State, KwaZulu-Natal, Western Cape, and Gauteng. Weekly consideration was given to the daily climate temperature (average minimum and maximum). The recorded values were considered, respectively, to be in the ratio of death-to-count (D/C) and recovery-to-count (R/C). Descriptive statistics were performed for all the data collected for this study. The analyses were performed using the Person’s bivariate correlation to analyze the association between climate temperature, death-to-count, and recovery-to-count ratios of COVID-19. RESULTS The results showed that higher climate temperatures aren't essential to avoid the COVID-19 from being spread. The present results conform to the reports that suggested that COVID-19 is unlike the seasonal flu, which does dissipate as the climate temperature rises [17]. Accordingly, the ratio of counts and death-to-count cannot be concluded to be influenced by variations in the climate temperatures within the study areas. CONCLUSIONS The study investigates the impact of climate temperature on the counts, recovery, and death rates of COVID-19 cases in all South Africa's provinces. The findings were compared with those of countries with comparable climate temperatures as South Africa. Our result indicates that a higher or lower climate temperature does not prevent or delay the spread and death rates but shows significant positive impacts on the recovery rates of COVID-19 patients. Warm climate temperatures seem not to restrict the spread of the COVID-19 as the count rate was substantial at every climate temperatures. Thus, it indicates that the climate temperature is unlikely to impose a strict limit on the spread of COVID-19. There is no correlation between the cases and death rates, an indicator that there is no particular temperature range of the climatic conditions closely associated with a faster or slower death rate of COVID-19 patients. However, other shortcomings in this study's process should not be ignored. Some other factors may have contributed to recovery rates, such as the South African government's timely intervention to announce a national lockout at the early stage of the outbreak, the availability of intensive medical care, and social distancing effects. Nevertheless, this study shows that a warm climate temperature can only help COVID-19 patients recover more quickly, thereby having huge impacts on the death and active case rates.

scholarly journals Driving Factors for the Utilisation of Healthcare Services by People with Osteoarthritis: Results from A Nationwide Population-Based study

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniela Costa ◽  
Ana M Rodrigues ◽  
Eduardo B Cruz ◽  
Helena Canhão ◽  
Jaime da Cunha Branco ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Knee Osteoarthritis ◽  
Multinomial Logistic Regression ◽  
Healthcare Utilisation ◽  
Healthcare Services ◽  
Structured Interview ◽  
Population Based ◽  
Enabling Factors ◽  
Population Based Study ◽  
The Impact

Abstract Background: Worldwide, the current management of knee osteoarthritis appears heterogeneous, high-cost and often not based on current best evidence. The absence of epidemiological data regarding the utilisation of healthcare services may conceal the need for improvements in the management of osteoarthritis. The aim of this study is to explore the profiles of healthcare services utilisation by people with knee osteoarthritis, and to analyse their determinants, according to Andersen’s behavioural model. Methods: We analysed a sample of 978 participants diagnosed with knee osteoarthritis from the population-based study EpiReumaPt . Data was collected with a structured interview, and the diagnosis of knee osteoarthritis was validated by a rheumatologist team. With the Two-step Cluster procedure, we primarily identified different profiles of healthcare utilisation according to the services most used by patients with knee osteoarthritis. Secondly, we analysed the determinants of each profile, using multinomial logistic regression, according to the predisposing characteristics, enabling factors and need variables.Results: In our sample, a high proportion of participants are overweight or obese (82,6%, n=748) and physically inactive (20,6%, n=201) and a small proportion had physiotherapy management (14,4%, n=141). We identified three profiles of healthcare utilisation: “HighUsers”; “GPUsers”; “LowUsers”. “HighUsers” represents more than 35% of the sample, and are also the participants with higher utilisation of medical appointments. "GPUsers" represent the participants with higher utilisation of general practitioner appointments. Within these profiles, age and geographic location – indicated as predisposing characteristics; employment status and healthcare insurance - as enabling factors; number of comorbidities, physical function, health-related quality of life, anxiety and physical exercise - as need variables, showed associations ( p <0,05) with the higher utilisation of healthcare services profiles. Conclusions: Healthcare utilisation by people with knee osteoarthritis is not driven only by clinical needs. The predisposing characteristics and enabling factors associated with healthcare utilisation reveal inequities in the access to healthcare and variability in the management of people with knee osteoarthritis. Research and implementation of whole-system strategies to improve equity in the access and quality of care are paramount in order to diminish the impact of osteoarthritis at individual-, societal- and economic-level.

scholarly journals The impact of the credit legislation on consumers

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 503-509 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hlako Choma ◽  
Thifulufhelwi Cedric Tshidada ◽  
Tshegofatso Kgarabjang
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Consumer Protection ◽  
The Other ◽  
The South ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Credit Agreement ◽  
Financial Obligation ◽  
The Impact ◽  
National Credit Act

The purpose of this paper is to examine two South Africa legislations dealing with over indebtedness of a consumer. It is clear that in terms of the South African law, section 129 (1) and 130 (3) of the National Credit Act provide that a creditor provider who wishes to enforce a debt under a credit agreement must first issue a section 129 (1) (a) notice to the consumer (the purpose of the notice is to notify the consumer of his/her arrears). On the other hand, the South African National Credit Act encourages the consumers to fulfil the financial obligations for which they are responsible. The second legislation to be examined which serve or appear to serve same purpose as the National Credit Act is the Insolvency Act. It therefore, postulated that the compulsory sequestration of a consumer in terms of the Insolvency Act would stand as an alternative remedy for a credit provider before she/he can have recourse mechanisms, such as debt review that are focused on satisfaction of the consumer’s financial obligation , in terms of the provisions of the National Credit Act. The paper determines to what extend these measures comply with the constitutional consumer protection demands. The legislature had been pertinently cognizant of the Insolvency Act when it lately enacted the National Credit Act. This is much apparent from the express amendment of section 84 of the Insolvency Act to the extent set out in schedule 2 of the National Credit Act

scholarly journals Managing a South African organisation within a dual manufacturing and services economy

2008 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
R. Weeks ◽  
S. Benade
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Global Economy ◽  
Manufacturing Sector ◽  
Management Approach ◽  
The South ◽  
Literature Study ◽  
Important Conclusion ◽  
Management Perspective ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Dualistic Economy

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to analyse the nature of the South African dual manufacturing and services economy and the impact thereof on organisations from a management perspective. Problem investigated: Services account for over 65% of South Africa's gross domestic product (GDP) and reflects an escalating trend. The manufacturing sector of the economy is just over 26% of GDP. This by implication implies that the South African economy is dualistic in nature. The economy functions as an integrated component of the global economy, one that is highly competitive and turbulent in nature. The traditional management approach tends to be one based on a mechanistic, analytical and deterministic manufacturing perspective that is no longer effective in dealing with the services economy. Methodology: A literature study is undertaken and a narrative enquiry conducted by means of discussions with 24 South African executives to determine the impact of the dual economy on South African organisations and the influence thereof from a management perspective. The approach adopted was intentionally analytical-descriptive in nature. The narrative enquiry constituted open ended but structured discussions with executives in order to learn from their personal experiences in managing an organisation in what is termed to be the dual South African services and manufacturing economy. Findings: An important conclusion drawn from the study is that traditional paradigms of management that evolved within a mechanistic manufacturing economy is no longer effective for dealing with the unpredictable and disruptive changes of a highly competitive global services economy. A complexity theory based management approach it would appear may be more relevant in dealing with the emergent realities associated with a turbulent services economy. Value of the research: Seen within the context of the changing nature of the global and South African economy, the insights gained from the study could assist executives and managers in exploring alternative paradigms of management that would be more appropriate for dealing with the paradoxical nature of a dualistic economy. Conclusion: Appropriate management paradigms differ in terms of contextual realities confronting managers, namely dealing with ordered and un-ordered contextual conditions. The Cynefin Framework (Kurtz & Snowden, 2003) serves as a means of sense making in finding the most appropriate management response for dealing with the contextual realities associated with a dualistic economy.

scholarly journals First Report of Maize streak virus Field Infection of Sugarcane in South Africa

Plant Disease ◽  
2008 ◽  
Vol 92 (6) ◽  
pp. 982-982 ◽  
Author(s):  
T. van Antwerpen ◽  
S. A. McFarlane ◽  
G. F. Buchanan ◽  
D. N. Shepherd ◽  
D. P. Martin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Southern Africa ◽  
Maize Streak Virus ◽  
Streak Virus ◽  
Yield Losses ◽  
The South ◽  
Sugarcane Cultivar ◽  
First Report ◽  
The Impact

Prior to the introduction of highly resistant sugarcane varieties, Sugarcane streak virus (SSV) caused serious sugar yield losses in southern Africa. Recently, sugarcane plants with streak symptoms have been identified across South Africa. Unlike the characteristic fine stippling and streaking of SSV, the symptoms resembled the broader, elongated chlorotic lesions commonly observed in wild grasses infected with the related Maize streak virus (MSV). Importantly, these symptoms have been reported on a newly released South African sugarcane cultivar, N44 (resistant to SSV). Following a first report from southern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa in February 2006, a survey in May 2007 identified numerous plants with identical symptoms in fields of cvs. N44, N27, and N36 across the entire South African sugarcane-growing region. Between 0.04 and 1.6% of the plants in infected fields had streak symptoms. Wild grass species with similar streaking symptoms were observed adjacent to one of these fields. Potted stalks collected from infected N44 plants germinated in a glasshouse exhibited streak symptoms within 10 days. Virus genomes were isolated and sequenced from a symptomatic N44 and Urochloa plantaginea plants collected from one of the surveyed fields (1). Phylogenetic analysis determined that while viruses from both plants closely resembled the South African maize-adapted MSV strain, MSV-A4 (>98.5% genome-wide sequence identity), they were only very distantly related to SSV (~65% identity; MSV-Sasri_S: EU152254; MSV-Sasri_G: EU152255). To our knowledge, this is the first confirmed report of maize-adapted MSV variants in sugarcane. In the 1980s, “MSV strains” were serologically identified in sugarcane plants exhibiting streak symptoms in Reunion and Mauritius, but these were not genetically characterized (2,3). There have been no subsequent reports on the impact of such MSV infections on sugarcane cultivation on these islands. Also, at least five MSV strains have now been described, only one of which, MSV-A, causes significant disease in maize and it is unknown which strain was responsible for sugarcane diseases on these islands in the 1980s (2,3). MSV-A infections could have serious implications for the South African sugar industry. Besides yield losses in infected plants due to stunting and reduced photosynthesis, the virus could be considerably more difficult to control than it is in maize because sugarcane is vegetatively propagated and individual plants remain within fields for years rather than months. Moreover, there is a large MSV-A reservoir in maize and other grasses everywhere sugarcane is grown in southern Africa. References: (1) B. E. Owor et al. J Virol. Methods 140:100, 2007. (2) M. S. Pinner and P. G. Markham. J. Gen. Virol. 71:1635, 1990. (3) M. S. Pinner et al. Plant Pathol. 37:74, 1998.

scholarly journals The South African wildlife ranching sector: A Social Accounting Matrix Leontief multiplier analysis

2014 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Philippus C. Cloete ◽  
Riaan Rosouw
Keyword(s):  
Land Use ◽  
South African ◽  
Value Added ◽  
Economic Research ◽  
Social Accounting Matrix ◽  
The South ◽  
Social Accounting ◽  
Multiplier Analysis ◽  
Economic Contribution ◽  
The Impact

Orientation: There is startlingly little economic research on the South African wildlife sector which contributes toward disputes regarding the economic contribution of the sector.Research purpose: The purpose of this article is to put into context the relative economic contribution of the wildlife ranching sector, as opposed to other land-use options in South Africa.Motivation for the study: Growth in the wildlife ranching sector at the cost of other traditional farming practices resulted in disagreements amongst various role players about the impact thereof on the national economy. The controversy can most probably be explained by different beliefs, coupled with the lack of a proper understanding and quantification of the wildlife ranching sector’s contribution toward the economy.Research methodology: The study employed a Social Accounting Matrix-based Leontief multiplier analysis for South Africa.Main findings: Results from the multiplier analysis revealed that developments within the wildlife ranching sector are likely to make a relatively more superior contribution towards the economy, especially when compared to similar land-use options such as extensive livestock production.Practical/managerial implications: It has been acknowledged by both academia and private sector that a major need exists for more research on the South African wildlife ranching industry, specifically looking at issues such as the industries, economic and social contributions, potentials and constraints. The research, therefore, contributes toward the depth of economic information and research regarding the South African wildlife sector.Contribution/value added: The research provides valuable information in dealing with the ‘popular belief’, especially amongst some of South Africa’s decision makers, namely, that growth in the wildlife ranching sector is not or does not have the ability to contribute significantly toward economic and socioeconomic factors.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document