Implementation of Antimicrobial Stewardship in a District Hospital in the Ashanti Region of Ghana Using a Health Partnership Model

Commonwealth Partnerships for Antimicrobial Stewardship (AMS) uses a health partnership model to establish AMS in Commonwealth countries. The University Hospital of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in partnership with Ulster University, in Northern Ireland undertook an AMS project from November 2021 to May 2022. We report on the implementation and its effect on antibiotic use and infections management at the University Hospital. The Global-Point Prevalence Survey (PPS) protocol was used to assess antibiotics use at the hospital at the beginning, midpoint and end of the project. Feedback on each PPS was given to staff to inform behaviour change and improve antibiotic prescribing. Antibiotic use reduced from 65% at baseline to 59.7% at the end of the project. The rate of health-associated infections also reduced from 17.5% at baseline to 6.5%. In addition, the use of antibiotics belonging to the WHO Access group at the hospital was 40% initially but increased to 50% at the project endpoint. Culture and antibiotic susceptibility requests increased from the beginning of the project from 111 total requests to 330 requests over 7 months. The AMS model implemented improved antibiotic use as well as requests for culture and susceptibility test which must be sustained

Women, midwifery, and the state in colonial Ghana

textThis dissertation explores the British colonial government’s attempt to reconstruct women’s reproductive behaviors in colonial Ghana through the sites of maternal and infant welfare services and western midwifery education. In the early 1920s, the fear that the high maternal and infant mortality rates in the Gold Coast would have repercussive effects on economic productivity caused the colonial government to increasingly subject women’s reproduction to medical scrutiny and institutional care. I argue that female reproduction was selected as a site of intervention because the British colonial government conceived of it as a path of least resistance to social reconstruction, economic security, and political dominance. The five chapters have been designed to analyze colonial reproductive intervention as a socio-economic and political exigency of colonial rule. This dissertation speaks to the fact that cross-culturally, the female body has been politicized through narratives of power, culture, tradition, modernity, race, disempowerment, and empowerment.Histor

Sustainable partnerships for communication disability rehabilitation in Majority World countries. A message from the inside

Rehabilitation services for people with communication disabilities (PWCD) in many majority-world countries are extremely limited, with speech-language pathology little known. Collaborations between clinicians and services in majority- and minority-world countries provide important contributions to developing rehabilitation services in the majority world for PWCD. The effectiveness of such partnerships may be influenced by a number of elements within the relationship. This paper presents insights from a group of majority-world speech-language pathologists (SLPs) in Ghana on establishing and maintaining links between majority- and minority-world services and clinicians. The framework of three sustainability dimensions (service environment, socio-cultural-political environment, and economic environment) is used to consider how SLP relationships across majority–minority worlds can be meaningful and lasting. Readers are encouraged to adopt the perspective of SLPs from within the country to consider the impact and sustainability of majority–minority world partnerships

Prevalence and correlates of depression among students in a senior high school in Ghana: A school-based cross-sectional study

Objectives: Depression is one of the most widely reported mental health issues that affect adolescents globally. However, there is a dearth of data on its prevalence and associated factors among senior high school students in Ghana, since previous studies have focused more on adult populations. This can hinder policies needed to champion mental health and mental health care in senior high schools. Hence, this study sought to assess the prevalence of depression and associated factors among senior high school students in Ghana. Methods: An analytical cross-sectional study involving 289 students at the Manya Krobo Senior High School was conducted from December 2022 to February 2023. The students were selected using a two-stage random sampling method. A questionnaire was used to collect data on sociodemographics and individual characteristics. The primary outcome was depression, and this was assessed using the Patient Health Questionnaire-9. Summary statistics were presented as means, frequencies, and percentages. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify factors associated with depression and odds ratios presented with 95% confidence intervals. Statistical significance was considered at p -value < 0.05. Results: The mean age of the students was 16.6 (±1.2) with a range of 14–20 years. Over a quarter (26.3%) of the students reported financial difficulties. The prevalence of depression among the students was 68.9%. The factors associated with depression in this study were female sex (adjusted odds ratio: 1.74, 95% confidence interval: 1.01–2.97), age (adjusted odds ratio: 1.41, 95% confidence interval: 1.10–1.81), history of chronic health condition (adjusted odds ratio: 3.74, 95% confidence interval: 1.36–10.25), and financial difficulties (adjusted odds ratio: 2.31, 95% confidence interval: 1.15–4.63). Conclusion: This study shows that depression is rife among students at the Manya Krobo Senior High School, Manya Krobo District, Ghana. These findings call for pragmatic interventions such as strengthening counseling units and professional mental health services to ameliorate the impact of depression on the lives of students

sj-docx-1-smo-10.1177_20503121241229841 – Supplemental material for Prevalence and correlates of depression among students in a senior high school in Ghana: A school-based cross-sectional study

Supplemental material, sj-docx-1-smo-10.1177_20503121241229841 for Prevalence and correlates of depression among students in a senior high school in Ghana: A school-based cross-sectional study by Nana Akua Sarfoah Obeng-Okon, Douglas Aninng Opoku, Nana Kwame Ayisi-Boateng, Joseph Osarfo, Obed Kwabena Offe Amponsah, Jennifer Ashilevi, Sheneil Agyemang, Frempong Bernard, Helena Addai-Manu and Aliyu Mohammed in SAGE Open Medicine</p