scholarly journals A Continuous Professional Development Strategy for Expanded Competencies Needed by Radiographers Working in Rural Areas

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (13) ◽  
pp. 121
Author(s):  
Bernard Mung’omba ◽  
Annali DH Botha
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Development Strategy ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Continuous Professional Development ◽  
Strategy Development ◽  
Preventative Care ◽  
Allied Health Professionals ◽  
Published Evidence ◽  
Wide Range

INTRODUCTION: The emphasis on Primary Health Care (PHC) with a focus on preventative care offers a challenge for rural radiographers to advance solutions that are change focused. Published evidence suggest that allied health professionals such as radiographers employed in rural areas of South Africa were confronted with an assortment of challenges and responsibilities that demand a wide range of skills and competencies. Additional skills could be essential and Continuous Professional Development (CPD) strategy could be used as a vehicle to equip rural radiographers. OBJECTIVE: To propose a CPD strategy that may support rural radiographers’ expanded and extended competency development needs. METHODS: This research used exploratory sequential study design involving Phase I (qualitative) and Phase II (quantitative) with seven participants and 101 respondents respectively. The CPD strategy development was based on the results from data analysis of both strands. Since strategy development is based on a process of trustworthiness, six evaluators from the clinical and academia were consulted. The evaluators were purposely selected. RESULTS: A final CPD strategy for rural radiographers was proposed. Results from a mixed method study were used in the process of developing the CPD strategy. DISCUSSION: Radiographers working in rural areas of KwaZulu Natal (KZN) a province in South Africa are faced with emerging competency need that require both extended and expanded competencies which may be beyond those required for professional registration. This unmet competency needs can be supported by a CPD strategy that is aligned to these competency needs.

scholarly journals Commercialization Potential of Six Selected Medicinal Plants Commonly Used for Childhood Diseases in South Africa: A Review

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 177
Author(s):  
Peter Tshepiso Ndhlovu ◽  
Abiodun Olusola Omotayo ◽  
Wilfred Otang-Mbeng ◽  
Adeyemi Oladapo Aremu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Medicinal Plants ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Datura Stramonium ◽  
Childhood Diseases ◽  
Scientific Databases ◽  
Wide Range

Globally, the potential of medicinal plants is increasingly being recognized due to their relative availability, particularly in rural areas. This review explored the ethnobotanical and economic values of six selected medicinal plants widely used to treat and manage childhood diseases in South Africa. Acalypha glabrata, Aloe maculata, Datura stramonium, Gomphocarpus fruticosus, Rhoicissus tridentata and Vachellia karroo were selected based on their high relative frequency of citations for treating a wide range of diseases. Information was obtained from various scientific databases and ethnobotanical books. In addition to being popular for treating childhood diseases, the selected medicinal plants possess diverse applications in traditional medicine for other age groups, highlighting their general therapeutic values. This translates to extensive harvesting, trading and consumption of these plants in order to meet demands on local levels. Currently, empirical data on the economic value of the selected plants remain poorly reported. Even though South Africa has many laws to conserve and promote indigenous knowledge and medicinal plants, their commercialization remains low. Particularly the cultivation of the selected plants needs to be promoted under a participatory management action plan to stimulate the economy of the disadvantaged. A collaborative research framework for the inclusive transformation of indigenous medicinal plants is recommended to reveal their concealed beneficial properties.

scholarly journals Peculiarities of the higher education development in a blended learning environment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pavlo Chervonyi ◽  
Svitlana Alieksieieva ◽  
Nadiia Senchylo-Tatlilioglu ◽  
Oleksandr Chastnyk ◽  
Nataliia Diomidova
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Professional Development ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Continuous Professional Development ◽  
Average Level ◽  
Ict Skills ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
Ict Use ◽  
Wide Range

Since the early 2000s, the potential of blended learning has been recognized worldwide as a promising trend due to the active technology development and its integration into higher education. Blended learning in higher education is at the development stage, which explains the relevance of research into the problems of higher education transformation through the introduction of technology in pedagogy. This article aims to identify the peculiarities of the higher education pedagogy transformation through the blended learning model. The methodology was based on a statistical, correlational analysis by using The Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) database containing the survey results of 7,823 educators in France and the Netherlands. Results. The study revealed an average level of teacher preparation for blended learning (50.5%) and preparation for ICT use in student learning (48.4%) components inclusion. A significant level of teachers' professional development of ICT skills was revealed (44% take courses). An average level of teachers' unpreparedness both for blended learning (28.9% not ready, 36.6% not prepared enough) and ICT use in practice was established (30.3% - almost not ready, 34.25 - not prepared enough). A positive correlation was established between the components of teachers' preparation for the blended learning environment and the subsequent passage of professional ICT skills development courses. It means that formal education does not guarantee the absence of the need for continuous professional development and the formation of a wide range of ICT skills. Teachers need continuous professional development and new ICT skills. The research identified a synergy of positive effects of ICT skills professional development (interaction of educators united by common problems related to blended learning, technology, etc.; borrowing new ideas, innovations, and practices during professional development; updating professional knowledge; using active shared learning; integrity of professional development structure). Teachers noted that professional development courses were specifically adjusted to their needs.

scholarly journals South Africa: Who uses youth centers and why?

2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Reproductive Health ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Life Skills ◽  
Skills Training ◽  
Research Unit ◽  
Recreational Activities ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Kwazulu Natal ◽  
Youth Centers

In 2000, the Reproductive Health Research Unit in KwaZulu Natal and the Population Council conducted an assessment of 12 youth centers and 7 affiliated peer education programs. The 12 centers, located in urban, peri-urban, and rural areas, offer very different services. The two centers of the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health focus on providing reproductive health (RH) information and services to adolescents. The six centers of the Youth and Adolescent Reproductive Health Project provide a broader range of youth-friendly RH services, including counseling and life skills education, as well as modest recreational activities. The four centers run by loveLife have large multipurpose facilities with a wide range of recreational activities, vocational and life skills training, and RH services. This brief states that less than one-third of local youth have ever visited the youth centers in this study area of South Africa. More than half of the youth center visitors were sexually experienced but visiting a center had little discernible effect on RH knowledge or safer sexual behavior. Youth want friendly, nonjudgmental providers; youth-only facilities and young providers are less important.

scholarly journals Conception of multifunctional rural areas regional development

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (95) ◽  
pp. 10-14
Author(s):  
P. M. Muzyka ◽  
L. V. Goncharenko ◽  
D. O. Solomonko
Keyword(s):  
Development Strategy ◽  
Rural Areas ◽  
Food Industry ◽  
Institutional Development ◽  
Positive Influence ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
Strategy Development ◽  
Cluster Development ◽  
Business Support ◽  
Smart Specialization

Priorities of conception of regional rural areas multifunctional development are revealed in the article. Experience in European Union countries and European Green Deal policy is taken into account  for rural areas development in regional level. Priorities of sustainable development policy in rural areas and regional agri-food industry are certainly in ground  of strategy development due to cluster initiatives in the Lviv Region. Certainly priorities and advantages of cluster development strategy in rural areas recognition experience and prospects of transborder cooperation initiative. Possibility in farms economic development providing is examined within the framework of clusters for achievement of synergy effect and positive influence on the economic, ecological and social sphere in region. Cluster conception of development is realized in the Lviv Region  allowed to provide economic support of farms, develop infrastructural ecosystem of business support and complex to define priorities of multifunctional rural areas  development in regional level. Perspective directions of integrated development of craft food producers within the framework in regional clusters at the level of counties in Lviv Area are grounded. Offered approach of institutional development in regional level with the purpose of multifunctional rural areas development with balance between  economy, ecological and social constituents within the framework to the cluster for realization of farms competitive edges during the correct keeping of products in the internal market. Certainly priorities of state business support in regional agri-food  industry during realization of cluster development initiatives and measures of stimulant influence are for providing modernization changes on principles of Smart Specialization.

scholarly journals Continuous Professional Development for Public Sector Pharmacists in South Africa: A Case Study of Mapping Competencies in a Pharmacists’ Preceptor Programme

Pharmacy ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 96
Author(s):  
Mea van Huyssteen ◽  
Angeni Bheekie ◽  
Sunitha C Srinivas ◽  
Azeezah Essack
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Human Resources Management ◽  
Educational Programme ◽  
Continuous Professional Development ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
Western Cape ◽  
Patient Counselling ◽  
Healthcare Facilities

Lifelong learning among healthcare practitioners is crucial to keep abreast of advances in therapeutic and service delivery approaches. In South Africa, continuous professional development (CPD) was mandated (2019) for re-registration of pharmacists to illustrate their learning according to the South African Pharmacy Council’s (SAPC) competency standards. This paper uses a preceptor programme linked to the University of the Western Cape School of Pharmacy’s service learning programme to map the competencies employed by pharmacist preceptors in primary care public healthcare facilities in Cape Town in an attempt to encourage completion of their annual CPDs and strengthening the academic-service partnership. Competencies identified were divided into input competencies related to the preceptor’s role in designing and implementing the educational programme in their facilities and assisting students to complete their prescribed learning activities, and output/outcome competencies that emerged from preceptors identifying the facility needs and employing their input competencies. Input competencies pertained to education, leadership, patient counselling, collaborative practice and human resources management. Output competencies related to pharmaceutical infrastructure, quality assurance, professional and health advocacy, primary healthcare, self-management and patient-centred care. The preceptor programme enabled pharmacist preceptors to employ several competencies that are aligned with the SAPC’s competency framework.

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