scholarly journals Successes and challenges of speech language therapy service provision in Western Kenya: Three case studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Bea Staley ◽  
Ellen Hickey ◽  
David Rochus ◽  
Duncan Musasizi ◽  
Rachael Gibson
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Goal Attainment ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Service Needs ◽  
Language Therapy ◽  
Related Services ◽  
Western Kenya ◽  
Clinical Case Studies ◽  
Primary Success ◽  
Sub Saharan

Background: The need for communication-related services in sub-Saharan Africa to support individuals experiencing communication disability is a longstanding and well-documented situation. We posit the inequities highlighted by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) make this a relevant time for speech language therapists and the professional bodies that govern us to broadly consider our roles and practices in education, health and disability in local, national and global contexts.Objective: To illustrate what services developed with local knowledge can look like in Kenya in order to promote dialogue around alternative speech language therapy models, particularly in contexts where there are insufficient services, few trained speech language therapists and limited structures to support the emerging profession.Method: This article examines three clinical case studies from Western Kenya, using a conceptual framework for responsive global engagement.Results: Service needs in Western Kenya well exceed a direct one-on-one model of care that is common in the minority world. The service delivery models described here emphasise training, skills sharing and engaging the myriad of communication partners available to individuals with communication disabilities.Conclusion: We offer up these case studies of collaborative practice as contextual realities that may be present in any speech language therapy programming in under-resourced communities. We dispel the idea that success in this work has been linear, progressed on planned time frames or come to fruition with targeted goal attainment. The fact that our relationships have endured in these communities since 2007 is our primary success.

scholarly journals Mapping 20 Years of Urban Expansion in 45 Urban Areas of Sub-Saharan Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 525
Author(s):  
Yann Forget ◽  
Michal Shimoni ◽  
Marius Gilbert ◽  
Catherine Linard
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Urban Areas ◽  
Urban Expansion ◽  
Local Population ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Annual Growth Rate ◽  
Urban Dynamics ◽  
Mapping Approach ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
The Impact

By 2050, half of the net increase in the world’s population is expected to reside in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), driving high urbanization rates and drastic land cover changes. However, the data-scarce environment of SSA limits our understanding of the urban dynamics in the region. In this context, Earth Observation (EO) is an opportunity to gather accurate and up-to-date spatial information on urban extents. During the last decade, the adoption of open-access policies by major EO programs (CBERS, Landsat, Sentinel) has allowed the production of several global high resolution (10–30 m) maps of human settlements. However, mapping accuracies in SSA are usually lower, limited by the lack of reference datasets to support the training and the validation of the classification models. Here we propose a mapping approach based on multi-sensor satellite imagery (Landsat, Sentinel-1, Envisat, ERS) and volunteered geographic information (OpenStreetMap) to solve the challenges of urban remote sensing in SSA. The proposed mapping approach is assessed in 17 case studies for an average F1-score of 0.93, and applied in 45 urban areas of SSA to produce a dataset of urban expansion from 1995 to 2015. Across the case studies, built-up areas averaged a compound annual growth rate of 5.5% between 1995 and 2015. The comparison with local population dynamics reveals the heterogeneity of urban dynamics in SSA. Overall, population densities in built-up areas are decreasing. However, the impact of population growth on urban expansion differs depending on the size of the urban area and its income class.

scholarly journals Prevalence and Correlates of Pregnancy Self-Testing Among Pregnant Women Attending Antenatal Care in Western Kenya

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nina Njeri Nganga ◽  
Julia Dettinger ◽  
John Kinuthia ◽  
Jared Baeten ◽  
Grace John-Stewart ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Antenatal Care ◽  
Pregnant Women ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Western Kenya ◽  
Self Testing ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Exposure Prophylaxis

Abstract In sub-Saharan Africa little is known about how often women use pregnancy self-tests or characteristics of these women despite evidence that pregnancy self-testing is associated with early antenatal care (ANC) attendance. Understanding the characteristics of women who use pregnancy self-tests may facilitate early access to ANC and preventive interventions in pregnancy. We conducted a cross-sectional survey on an ongoing pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) implementation study which enrolled pregnant women to determine the prevalence and factors associated with pregnancy self-testing among women in western Kenya. Overall in our study population, the prevalence of pregnancy self-testing was 22% and higher among women who were employed, currently in school, had previous pregnancy complications, received services from urban health facilities, and had partners who had at least attended secondary school. The most reported reasons for non-use of pregnancy self-tests included not thinking it was necessary, lack of knowledge, and lack of money to pay for the test. Future research should focus on understanding the knowledge and attitudes of women toward pregnancy self-testing.

scholarly journals Anthropometric measurements as predictors of hypertension in Busia, Vihiga, Trans Nzoia and Siaya counties of Western Kenya

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Andale ◽  
Vitalis A. Orango ◽  
Gerald Omondi Lwande ◽  
Grace W Mwaura ◽  
Richard Mugo Ngari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Predictive Power ◽  
Anthropometric Measurements ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Operating Characteristics ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Western Kenya ◽  
Reduced Physical Activity ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Sensitivity Specificity

Emerging data suggest a rise in the incidence rate of hypertension in many countries within Sub-Saharan Africa. This has been attributed to socioeconomic factors that have influenced diet and reduced physical activity further deranging anthropometric measurements. We assessed the predictive power of three anthropometric indicators namely: waist circumference (WC), waist to height ratio (WHtR) and body mass index (BMI) in detecting hypertension. This cross-sectional community survey was conducted in four counties within Western Kenya between October 2018 to April 2019 among 3594 adults. The participants sociodemographic data were collected using an interviewer-administered questionnaire and anthropometric measurements taken. We used the R-software for descriptive and inferential statistical analysis. Pearson chi-square test was used to assess the association between anthropometric measurements and hypertension while logistic regressions estimated the likelihood of hypertension. Youden method was used to identify optimal anthropometric cut-offs for sensitivity, specificity and area under the receiver operating characteristics (ROC) curve computation. The crude prevalence of hypertension was 23.3%, however it rose with advancement in age. Furthermore, obese individuals had a three-fold (AOR=2.64; 95% CI: 2.09, 3.35) increased likelihood of hypertension compared to those with a normal BMI. The optimal WC cut-off was 82.5cm for men and 87cm for women, an optimal WHtR of 0.47 for men and 0.55 for women; while the optimal BMI cut-off was 23.7 kg/m2 and 22.6 kg/m2 for men and women respectively. The sensitivity of WC, WHtR and BMI for men was 0.60, 0.65 and 0.39 respectively and 0.71, 0.65 and 0.78 respectively for women. BMI is the best predictor for hypertension among women but a poor predictor for men; WC had a high hypertension predictive power for both gender while WHtR is the best hypertension predictor for men.

Smart Cities in Sub-Saharan Africa

2019 ◽  
pp. 83-99
Author(s):  
Innocent Chirisa ◽  
Abraham Rajab Matamanda
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Smart City ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Scholarly Work ◽  
Critical Engagement ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Good Cause

The aim of this chapter is to interrogate and diagnose the concept of smart cities as it has been applied to Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) in a bid to decrypt the opportunities and challenges characterizing its manifestation in space and actuality. The chapter is a product of the critical engagement of scholarly work that compares the best practices in the development and promotion of the smart city concept against those practices that are antithetical and retrogressive in light of this good cause. To crystallize the realities, the chapter makes use of case studies that speak to these contrasting experiences. Case studies in SSA reveal differential practices with South Africa emerging as a country doing very well relative to others in the region. Some cities, especially the small and intermediate ones, fail to break even in terms of the revenue collections. This is partly because they have failed to attract investment in the form of industries or retain them because of politically induced instabilities.

scholarly journals Purchases of psychotropic drugs among the migrant population in Finland: a nationwide register-based cohort study

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (6) ◽  
pp. 1152-1157
Author(s):  
Venla Lehti ◽  
Jaana Suvisaari ◽  
Mika Gissler ◽  
Niina Markkula
Keyword(s):  
Psychotropic Drugs ◽  
Service Use ◽  
Cox Regression ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Service Needs ◽  
Foreign Born ◽  
Cox Regression Analysis ◽  
Migrant Populations ◽  
Native Populations ◽  
Sub Saharan

Abstract Background Migrant populations may have different mental health service needs when compared with native populations. One indicator of service use is the use of psychotropic medication. The aim of this study was to compare the purchases of psychotropic drugs among different migrant populations with the native population in Finland. Methods Foreign-born participants (n = 184 805) and their Finnish-born controls (n = 185 183) were identified from the Finnish Central Population Register. Information on their purchases of psychotropic drugs in 2011–15 was collected from the National Prescription Register. A washout period of 2009–10 was used to define incident purchases. Cox regression analysis was the statistical method used. Results At least one incident purchase of a psychotropic drug was identified for 11.1% of migrant women, 11.4% of Finnish-born women, 8.7% of migrant men and 9.8% of Finnish-born men. When controlled for age, sex, marital status, socioeconomic status and social assistance, migrants were less likely to purchase psychotropic drugs (adjusted hazard ratio 0.96, 95% confidence interval 0.93–0.98), but there was variation between different drug categories. Recent migrants and migrants from Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa were least likely to purchase drugs. Migrants from Nordic countries and other Western countries most closely resembled the Finnish-born controls. Conclusions Recent migrants in Finland appear to use fewer psychotropic drugs than native Finns. It is important to analyze the reasons for this pattern, as they may indicate delays in access to care or benefits. The heterogeneity of migrant populations must also be considered when developing services to better address their needs.

scholarly journals Celebrity humanitarianism and international development an analysis of Oprah, Bono, and Angelina Jolie in Africa

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chantal Petrie
Keyword(s):  
International Development ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Oprah Winfrey ◽  
The Gift ◽  
Angelina Jolie ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Positive Results

Sub-Saharan Africa has become a popular destination for Hollywood celebritites to embark on humanitarian missions, in attempt to combat the problems of poverty, AIDS, and underdevelopment in Africa. However, celebrity humanitarians take for granted that development giving is an altruistic enterprise that can only bring about positive results for the communities and peoples involved. Using three celebrity case studies, I will show how humanitarian giving can result in unforeseen consequences, even when the gift of development is given with altruistic intentions. The celebrities analyzed in this thesis including Oprah Winfrey, Paul (Bono) Hewson, and Angelina Jolie, each adopt Western consumerist strategies that are incompatible with the diverse values and worldviews found in Africa. In addition, development giving provides an unsustainable solution for a collective global future, and is not exempt from forms of inequality, dependency, domination, and exploitation that privilege the Western subject through dehumanizing others.

scholarly journals From Development and Grand Corruption to Governance

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 12-28
Author(s):  
Scott MacWilliam ◽  
Mike Rafferty
Keyword(s):  
Soviet Union ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Development Policy ◽  
Former Soviet Union ◽  
The State ◽  
Economic Resources ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
Global Issue ◽  
Sub Saharan ◽  
Social Wealth

In development policy circles, corruption has become a pressing global issue. Yet the contemporary relationship between corruption and development is complex and contested. For many, corruption robs people of economic resources and social wealth, and denudes the state of important capacities. That is, corruption prevents or blocks development. For others, corruption often occurs in the process of development as the form in which a class of developers accumulates wealth. That is, corruption is a phase of development. This article explores the contested relationship through two case studies: in Sub-Saharan Africa; and in the former Soviet Union. The article also links contemporary debates about corruption and development with earlier thinking about capitalist progress and development.

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