scholarly journals Psychosocial Factors Influencing Promotion of Male circumcision for HIV Prevention in a Non-circumcising Community in Rural Western Kenya

Author(s):  
Alfredo Obure ◽  
Erick Nyambedha ◽  
Boniface Oindo ◽  
Hezborn Kodero

Male circumcision (MC) is now recommended as an additional HIV preventive measure, yet little is known about factors that may influence its adoption, especially in non-circumcising communities with generalized HIV pandemic. This qualitative study explored factors influencing MC adoption in rural western Kenya. Twenty-four sex specific focus group discussions were conducted with a purposive sample of Luo men and women (15-34 years). Perceived barriers to circumcision were pain and healing complications, actual and opportunity costs, behavioral disinhibition, discrimination, cultural identity, and reduced sexual satisfaction; perceived facilitators were hygiene, HIV/STI risk reduction, ease in condom use, cultural integration, and sexual satisfaction. To enhance MC adoption, community education, and dialogue is needed to address the perceived fears.

2019 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emiola Oluwabunmi Olapade-Olaopa ◽  
Mudasiru Adebayo Salami ◽  
Taiwo Akeem Lawal

Abstract Background Given the devastating mortality and morbidity associated with HIV/AIDS, many potential prevention measures against HIV infection continue to be explored. Most prevention methods are in the realm of sexual behavior change. However, of all aspects of human behavior, it is sexual behavior that is least amenable to change. Newer and simpler interventions are therefore required. Male circumcision, the surgical removal of some or all of the foreskin (or prepuce) from the penis, is one of the ways being promoted as a preventive measure. This paper reviews the scientific basis and evidence for the efficacy of male circumcision within the context of the global challenges involved. Main body We reviewed articles with emphasis on male circumcision and HIV/AIDS transmission. Published abstracts of presentations at international scientific meetings were also reviewed. Conclusions Current epidemiological evidence supports the promotion of male circumcision for HIV prevention, especially in populations with high HIV prevalence and low circumcision rates. Three notable randomized control trials strengthen the case for applied research studies to demonstrate that safe male circumcision is protective at the population level, particularly as ideal and well-resourced conditions of a randomized trial are often not replicated in other service delivery settings. Ethically and culturally responsive strategies in promoting circumcision in a culturally heterogenous world need to be developed, too. Male circumcision should also be viewed as a complementary measure along with other proven approaches to turn the HIV/AIDS epidemic around.


2019 ◽  
Vol 23 (12) ◽  
pp. 3460-3470 ◽  
Author(s):  
Winnie K. Luseno ◽  
Samuel H. Field ◽  
Bonita J. Iritani ◽  
Stuart Rennie ◽  
Adam Gilbertson ◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
pp. 444-463
Author(s):  
Abdurahim S. Tahil ◽  
Shernahar K. Tahil

This study was conducted to determine the barrier to the development of selected municipalities of Sulu province.  It aimed to find out the Suluanos’ concept of development in terms of political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, and ecological aspects, including how these perceived barriers affect the development of Sulu. This research utilized the descriptive method where the Quantitative aspect gathered the data from 400 adults of ten big municipalities using a checklist questionnaire. The respondents were selected through systematic sampling.  For the qualitative part, the collected data were from 90 participants through focus group discussions. The statistical tools used were frequency, percentage, mean, standard deviation, and group means. The finding revealed that the Suluanos’ concept of development upheld the development policies which are participatory, equitable, appropriateness, concertizing, and environment friendly and the corresponding functions of development such as the political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, and ecological aspects. Of the five development functions, the economic aspect (2.95) was the main barrier to development.  It is followed by the technological aspect (2.91), the political (2.79), and ecological (2.42) as the fourth rank. On the other hand, the socio-cultural part (2.21) was the least encountered barrier. The perceived barriers that affected the development of Sulu were related to lack of high ethical standards, transparency, accountability, effectiveness, and lack of respect for and commitment to social justice, human rights, environmental life protection, and people's empowerment. Based on the data gathered, the findings made the researcher conclude that the political, economic, technological, socio-cultural, and ecological aspects in Sulu were considered barriers to development.  They were not within the bounds of good governance.   Bureaucracy was weak due to the leaders' personalities, who were neither transactional nor transformational. At the same time, they were not within the context of the alternative model of development. To minimize if not eliminate the barriers to development, the government's efforts should be geared towards accountability to improve the quality of governance and dispensation of justice. Further studies are recommended to determine other predictors that can similarly evaluate the development conditions of Sulu Province.     


Author(s):  
Jeanelle D D Joseph ◽  
Wayne Ganpat

Proper watershed management is important for several reasons; the latest, and maybe most important, being to help mitigate climate change impacts. For countries with small landmasses and burgeoning populations, watersheds are increasingly at risk of being negatively impacted. The environment and water supply are particularly vulnerable if no actions are taken to manage them properly. This study sought to understand the perceptions of the various stakeholders who interact with the largest and most important watershed in Trinidad; their perceptions of the problems, the causes of the problems and possible solutions. It also investigated their willingness to collaborate on action plans to manage the watershed. A purposive sample of 266 respondents from four stakeholder groups was selected and interviewed using a structured questionnaire; comprising in the main of three perception scales and a modified Wilder Collaboration Factor Inventory. The latter is used to assess stakeholders willingness to collaborate. ANOVA results showed that there were similarities in perceptions to 5 of the 10 identified problems, 7 of the 18 possible causes and 6 of the 10 solutions presented. Such results suggested that there were opportunities for positive intervention and 21.3% of the stakeholders expressed a high level of willingness and a further 69.5% a moderate level of willingness to collaborate on community activities geared toward addressing water management issues. Recommendations included; increased community education on watershed importance, more constructive dialogue among stakeholders to achieve better agreements on the watershed issues and increased engagement with institutional stakeholders who are key to fashioning developmental plans for the watershed.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 106-114
Author(s):  
Rindha Widyaningsih ◽  
Kuntarto ◽  
Muhamad Riza Chamadi

The santri group discussion aims to strengthen the character of Pancasila and the santri knowledge about issues of radicalism and terrorism in order to avoid the radicalism ideology. The activity was held at the Darul Abror Purwokerto Islamic Boarding School with 50 participants. The community service method uses a combination of community education methods and group discussions. The activity was carried out in three sessions: providing educational material, in-group discussions, and inter-group discussions. In the first session, the method provides in-depth material on radicalism and Pancasila by the community service team. The method at the second session is in-group discussion. The second session's point was to improve the participants analytical skills in responding to radicalism and Pancasila issues. The method in the third session is inter-group discussion. The santri group discussion showed that the students in Darul Abror had increased knowledge about radicalism and terrorism and developed the character of Pancasila to prevent the threat of radicalism. Students sharpen hard skills through discussion activities in practice identification and analysis of problems and problem-solving. The development of participants' soft skills is a sense of respect for other people's opinions, tolerance, and culture of deliberation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 315-321
Author(s):  
Soo-Fen Fam ◽  
Jamaliah Laham ◽  
Zaiton Sapak ◽  
Zun Liang Chuan ◽  
Amiruddin Ahamat ◽  
...  

Purpose of the study: The study aims to identify the factors influencing growers’ intention to adopt MyGAP and MPIB roles and to inspire the pineapple growers to obtain MyGAP certificate. Methodology: Questionnaires were distributed to a sample of 52 pineapple smallholder respondents in the study area. Descriptive analysis and binary logistic regressions were conducted using IMB SPSS version 23. Main Findings and Novelty: The results of this study show that the three factors influencing pineapple smallholders’ intention to adopt MyGAP are training, attitude and barriers. The odd ratios show growers who received training are four times more likely to adopt MyGAP. Applications of this study: MPIB has to conduct more training in order to inspire pineapple growers to obtain MyGAP certification. Meanwhile, the growers also have to change their attitude to accept MyGAP and overcome the perceived barriers for adopting MyGAP.


2013 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-34 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stasi Lubansky ◽  
Corrine Y. Jurgens ◽  
Carla Boutin-Foster

Introduction: Physicians in training must be able to counsel their patients on smoking cessation, however, little is known about the barriers that they face to counselling their patients.Aims: The study sought to identify barriers to smoking cessation counselling specific to physicians in training.Methods: Qualitative interviews in the form of focus groups were conducted with 30 medical residents. Focus groups were audio taped, transcribed verbatim and coded by two independent reviewers. Similar codes were grouped to form categories and then aggregated to form themes.Results: Seven themes emerged describing resident barriers to provision of smoking cessation counselling : (1) Lack of self-efficacy for providing counselling; (2) their perception that patients are not willing to change; (3) a lack of available resources/information for providers and patients; (4) differences in supervising physician's recommendations; (5) perceived lack of time; (6) a perception of lack of continuous care; and (7) a lack of practical skills in counselling.Conclusions: This study highlighted residents’ perceived barriers to providing smoking cessation counselling. These barriers are similar to those encountered by other providers. Additional barriers specific to residency exist and more training is necessary.Practice Implications: The barriers that physicians encounter to smoking cessation counselling must be addressed early on in residency training.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 6 (12) ◽  
pp. e28608 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Dushoff ◽  
Audrey Patocs ◽  
Chyun-Fung Shi

Nutrients ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 704 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona E. Pelly ◽  
Libby Swanepoel ◽  
Joseph Rinella ◽  
Sheri Cooper

The objective of this study was to explore consumers’ use and perception of the Australian Health Star Rating (HSR). A purposive sample of fifteen Australian grocery shoppers was recruited into four focus groups using a supermarket intercept strategy. Focus group discussions were recorded, transcribed and analysed using an iterative approach to thematic analysis. Three key themes emerged from analysis. The HSR was seen as simple, uncluttered, easy to understand and useful for quick comparison across products. The nutrition information was viewed positively; however, there was little confidence in the HSR due to a perceived lack of transparency in the criteria used to determine the number of stars. Highly processed foods were generally seen as having inflated ratings and participants expressed concern that this would increase consumption of these products. Finally, there was a belief that the HSR had a lack of negative imagery limiting the dissuasive impact on consumers when presented with low-rated foods. Consumers saw benefits in the HSR but were sceptical about how the ratings were derived. Transparency about the development and education on the application may assist with consumers’ perception of the HSR.


2020 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 153-164
Author(s):  
K Winskell ◽  
G Sabben ◽  
V Akelo ◽  
K Ondeng’e ◽  
I Odero ◽  
...  

Abstract Electronic games delivered via smartphones have the potential to become valuable tools in HIV prevention in high-prevalence and low-resource international settings. To ground theoretical elaboration around novel mHealth interventions in contextual realities, it is important to understand the mechanisms of their effects as perceived by local populations. Such perspectives are particularly important when working cross-culturally. ‘Tumaini’ is an interactive narrative-based smartphone game that uses a ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ format. It is designed to prevent HIV among young African adolescents (aged 11–14) by increasing age and condom use at first sex. It was developed with a US-based commercial game developer and is grounded in social behavioral theory, evidence-based practice and contextually relevant scenarios. In a 2017 randomized pilot study (n = 60) in Western Kenya, ‘Tumaini’ showed promising effects on behavioral mediators of sexual debut. In subsequent focus group discussions, adolescent participants and their parents shared their perceptions of the game’s mechanisms of effect, which included motivation to play, future orientation, decision-making, relationship to a diverse range of characters and a bridging of the virtual and real worlds. These findings align with our theoretical framework, confirm its successful translation into the intervention and will inform mediation analyses in an upcoming efficacy trial.


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