scholarly journals Addressing women’s construction health and safety needs in Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel H. P. Chikafalimani ◽  
Nathan Kibwami ◽  
Sibusiso Moyo

Concerns have been raised in Africa to address women’s construction health and safety needs adequately. These concerns include less participation of women in the sector, low income and less benefits being given to women, lack of adequate protective construction clothing suited for women, unfavourable employment conditions for women, and lack of construction site security and other facilities for women. This research article provides an overview of the suggested solutions to address the concerns raised. In addition, practical interventions being implemented by the Durban University of Technology and Makerere University research collaboration project team to address women’s needs in construction health and safety through women empowerment and involvement in construction research, education and practice in Africa are outlined. The main approaches applied in this research study are as follows: use of relevant publications on women’s construction health and safety needs in Africa and analysis of data obtained from reliable construction professional bodies in South Africa and Uganda to demonstrate gender imbalances.Contribution: The main contribution of this study was to emphasise the significance of including and involving women in construction research, education and practice as a major solution to address women’s health and safety needs in Africa in the future as women are in a much better position to understand their own needs than men.

2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
L McLaren ◽  
M Zarrabi ◽  
DJ Dutton ◽  
MC Auld ◽  
JCH Emery

Introduction Over recent decades, two prominent trends have been observed in Canada and elsewhere: increasing prevalence of childhood overweight and obesity, and increasing participation of women (including mothers) in the paid labour force and resulting demand for child care options. While an association between child care and children's body mass index (BMI) is plausible and would have policy relevance, its existence and nature in Canada is not known. Methods Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Children and Youth, we examined exposure to three types of care at age 2/3 years (care by non-relative, care by relative, care in a daycare centre) in relation to change in BMI percentile (continuous and categorical) between age 2/3 years and age 6/7 years, adjusting for health and sociodemographic correlates. Results Care by a non-relative was associated with an increase in BMI percentile between age 2/3 years and age 6/7 years for boys, and for girls from households of low income adequacy. Conclusion Considering the potential benefits of high-quality formal child care for an array of health and social outcomes and the potentially adverse effects of certain informal care options demonstrated in this study and others, our findings support calls for ongoing research on the implications of diverse child care experiences for an array of outcomes including those related to weight.


Author(s):  
Remus Runcan

According to Romania’s National Rural Development Programme, the socio-economic situation of the rural environment has a large number of weaknesses – among which low access to financial resources for small entrepreneurs and new business initiatives in rural areas and poorly developed entrepreneurial culture, characterized by a lack of basic managerial knowledge – but also a large number of opportunities – among which access of the rural population to lifelong learning and entrepreneurial skills development programmes and entrepreneurs’ access to financial instruments. The population in rural areas depends mainly on agricultural activities which give them subsistence living conditions. The gap between rural and urban areas is due to low income levels and employment rates, hence the need to obtain additional income for the population employed in subsistence and semi-subsistence farming, especially in the context of the depopulation trend. At the same time, the need to stimulate entrepreneurship in rural areas is high and is at a resonance with the need to increase the potential of rural communities from the perspective of landscape, culture, traditional activities and local resources. A solution could be to turn vegetal and / or animal farms into social farms – farms on which people with disabilities (but also adolescents and young people with anxiety, depression, self-harm, suicide, and alexithymia issues) might find a “foster” family, bed and meals in a natural, healthy environment, and share the farm’s activities with the farmer and the farmer’s family: “committing to a regular day / days and times for a mutually agreed period involves complying with any required health and safety practices (including use of protective clothing and equipment), engaging socially with the farm family members and other people working on and around the farm, and taking on tasks which would include working on the land, taking care of animals, or helping out with maintenance and other physical work”


Breathe ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 180-192 ◽  
Author(s):  
James D. Chalmers ◽  
Megan Crichton ◽  
Pieter C. Goeminne ◽  
Michael R. Loebinger ◽  
Charles Haworth ◽  
...  

In contrast to airway diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or asthma, and rare diseases such as cystic fibrosis, there has been little research and few clinical trials in bronchiectasis. Guidelines are primarily based on expert opinion and treatment is challenging because of the heterogeneous nature of the disease.In an effort to address decades of underinvestment in bronchiectasis research, education and clinical care, the European Multicentre Bronchiectasis Audit and Research Collaboration (EMBARC) was established in 2012 as a collaborative pan-European network to bring together bronchiectasis researchers. The European Respiratory Society officially funded EMBARC in 2013 as a Clinical Research Collaboration, providing support and infrastructure to allow the project to grow.EMBARC has now established an international bronchiectasis registry that is active in more than 30 countries both within and outside Europe. Beyond the registry, the network participates in designing and facilitating clinical trials, has set international research priorities, promotes education and has participated in producing the first international bronchiectasis guidelines. This manuscript article the development, structure and achievements of EMBARC from 2012 to 2017.Educational aimsTo understand the role of Clinical Research Collaborations as the major way in which the European Respiratory Society can stimulate clinical research in different disease areasTo understand some of the key features of successful disease registriesTo review key epidemiological, clinical and translational studies of bronchiectasis contributed by the European Multicentre Bronchiectasis Audit and Research Collaboration (EMBARC) project in the past 5 yearsTo understand the key research priorities identified by EMBARC for the next 5 years


2010 ◽  
Vol 18 (S1) ◽  
pp. S7-S33 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alice Bennion ◽  
William Locke

The expansion of higher education systems, new demands on institutions and growing pressures on resources have become common trends across most developed countries. They bring increased expectations of academic staff and appear to lead to greater differentiation in their work roles and activities. At the same time, the backgrounds of some academics are changing and they are developing new specialisms and interdisciplinary collaborations, becoming more mobile domestically and internationally and, for some, the profession is becoming increasingly insecure. The Changing Academic Profession study has produced a rich set of data on the preparation of academics for their roles and the individual circumstances of their working lives, among other aspects of the profession. Respondents to the survey reported on the degrees they have attained, the countries in which they studied for them, the age at which they qualified and the nature of the doctoral training they received. This paper explores the early career paths of academics, makes initial comparisons between different higher education systems and begins to explore how some of these national systems interrelate with each other through academic mobility. Respondents also reported on the disciplines they studied and now teach, the number of institutions worked in and their contractual conditions and income. These data give an indication of the various degrees of flexibility and mobility required of – or chosen by – academics in the early and later stages of their careers and the stability, or perhaps rigidity, of different higher education systems and national career patterns. The data also supplement other evidence of the employment conditions and remuneration of scholars in an increasingly globalised academic labour market.1,2 The conditions of academic work are explored through analysis of the views of survey respondents on the facilities, resources and personnel needed to support it and the degree of research collaboration undertaken. Academics from the 17 countries in the study seem more content with the physical and technical resources provided by their institutions than the personnel and funds available to support teaching and research. Finally, it is suggested that the propensity for collaborative or individual research may be partially related to national differences in academics’ mobility during their training for the profession.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diana Slade ◽  
Christian M.I.M. Matthiessen ◽  
Elizabeth A. Rider ◽  
Jack Pun Kwok Hung

Background: The role of communication in healthcare receives increasing attention, yet little research exists that brings together perspectives from interprofessional healthcare researchers and practitioners with linguists and communication specialists. The International Centre for Communication in Healthcare[1] is a response to increasing recognition of the central role of communication and relationships in the delivery of safe, effective and compassionate healthcare.Objective: To develop a worldwide, multidisciplinary collaborative of internationally recognized healthcare professionals and communication experts working together to translate research into education and practice to improve patient safety, communication and relationships in healthcare.Methods: The International Collaborative for Communication in Healthcare (a precursor to the Centre) began in 2010, and was founded at Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) in March 2011. We initiated research collaborations and presented colloquia, workshops and papers at international conferences.Results: The Centre, co-convened by PolyU and University of Technology, Sydney, was formally launched at PolyU in June 2013 with over 50 members from over 10 countries. The Centre is developing a strategic research agenda for communication in healthcare to improve the quality and safety of patient care, and to mobilize knowledge and expertise gained from research to guide teaching and implementation of communication skills and compassionate care in healthcare education and practice.  In an early initiative in 2011, we created the International Charter for Human Values in Healthcare[2], a collaborative effort involving people, organizations and institutions around the world working together to restore core human values to healthcare. The values of the International Charter inform the Centre’s research, education and practice initiatives.Conclusions: Effective communication is increasingly recognized as integral to safe, effective, and compassionate healthcare. The International Centre for Communication in Healthcare brings together interdisciplinary researchers, educators and practitioners from diverse disciplines to explore and improve communication and relationships in healthcare settings around the world.References1. The International Centre for Communication in Healthcare.  Hong Kong Polytechnic University and University of Technology, Sydney. http://icchweb.org2. The International Charter for Human Values in Healthcare. December 2, 2012. http://charterforhealthcarevalues.org


Author(s):  
Tomesha Manora Farris ◽  
Denise Ross ◽  
Brandi Fontenot ◽  
Gaige Johnson ◽  
Margaret Uwayo ◽  
...  

Poverty and low-socioeconomic status can have negative effects on the academic and social outcomes of children and youth. However, despite the growing number of children and families from low-income communities, the American Psychological Association reports that the field of psychology has not contributed significantly to research, education, and advocacy initiatives for low-income families. The purpose of the START model was to recruit and train psychology majors to work in low-income communities by engaging them in service, research, and teaching activities in a middle school located in a high-poverty community. For one semester, psychology undergraduate and graduate students collaborated on a literacy and classroom management project with a local middle school in a low-income community. Results showed an increase in the number of psychology students interested in working with low-income populations and high rates of satisfaction for the teacher who participated. Barriers and facilitators to implementation are discussed.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (18) ◽  
pp. 5094 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Dür ◽  
Lars Keller

Today’s environmental challenges have been determined and exacerbated by human behavior. It is imperative that education develops learning-settings that enable students to make their individual lifestyles more sustainable. The aim of this paper is to examine the effect of the research-education-collaboration ‘AustrIndia-4QOL’ (Teenagers from Austria and India Perform Research on Quality of Life) on the teenagers’ awareness of the importance of environmental aspects in regards to quality of life, and on their willingness to act towards more sustainable lifestyles. Therefore, the results from a collaboration via social media and from a collaboration with additional face-to-face workshops were analyzed. The question of whether an increased awareness or willingness to act is followed by a change of real action after the project was also investigated. The results indicate that conducting education for sustainable development requires long term educational engagement, and that unintended effects cannot be excluded.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document