A brief history of Social Psychology and its contribution to health in Malawi

Social psychology has been defined as “a branch of psychology that is concerned with those aspects of mental life which relate to social interaction and social phenomena in general” 1. Hewstone defines it thus: “the scientific study of how personal, situational and societal factors influence the cognition, motivation and behaviour of individuals and (members of) social groups”2. Jahoda lamented that many textbook definitions of social psychology were “pretentious and utterly futile” because they were so “grossly overinclusivethat they could encompass a whole range of social and biological disciplines”3. What emerges clearly is that social psychology is seen as having the central task of explaining how the ways in which we think and behave is affected by interaction between people1. It is in this contextthat we define social psychology for the purposes of this article

A synopsis of the field of health education in Malawi

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A qualitative study of medical student socialization in Malawi\'s College of Medicine: Preclinical training and identity

In a previous report we addressed the socialization of Malawian medical students during the years of basic science training. Here we turn to the heavily clinical training of the final three years of medical school. Malawi Medical Journal Biology Vol. 19 (2) 2007: pp. 68-7

Implementing a Dynamic Street-Children’s Program: Successes and Challenges

The article has discusses the successes and challenges of implementing adynamic street children’s program in Mzuzu Malawi – using a developmentallife-course framework blending psychodynamic approaches, risk-factorapproaches, and strain and control theories of crime and delinquency. Theframework has helped the programme implementation team consider notonly the phase and stage of the child’s development in their provision of care, but also the influence that early childhood dynamics of parentchild, parent-parent and child-parent-environment; life-events; peers and neighbourhoods have at each of the developmental stages of child and adolescent  development, and how they can influence the child’s behaviour in both positive and negative ways. The article also discusses successes and suggests ways of addressing the identified challenges

How much do Blantyre dispensers in hospital and community pharmacies know about the new Malaria treatment guidelines?

ObjectiveTo determine the knowledge of dispensers in hospital and community pharmacies within Blantyre on new malaria treatment guidelines.MethodsAn interviewer administered questionnaire was used for data collection and the questions focused on the knowledge of dispensers on the new malaria treatment guidelines and whether the subjects were involved in the preparation or implementation of the guidelines or had undertaken any training on how to dispense the new anti-malarial medicines.ResultsNone of the participants had been involved in the preparation of the treatment guidelines and only 45.5% of the participants had undertaken the pre-implementation training. Ninety percent of the interviewees had knowledge concerning the appropriate treatment of malaria in pregnancy. However, as many as 90.9% of the interviewed participants could not mention any possible five or more side-effects of LA and only 13.6% knew how to properly manage the possible effects. Only 27.3% knew the correct dose regimen of LA and none of them knew the condition of taking LA with a fatty meal for improved absorption.Conclusion and RecommendationsLack of involvement of the pharmaceutical personnel working in hospital and community pharmacies, from the preparation of new malaria treatment guidelines to their implementation, inadequate training and qualifications of the dispensing personnel contributed to their lack of knowledge and skill on how to rationally dispense the medicines. Pharmaceutical personnel dispensing in the pharmacies need to be involved from the beginning in the preparation of treatment guidelines. Adequate training should be provided and followed by continuous professional education

HIV Disclosure: Parental dilemma in informing HIV infected Children about their HIV Status in Malawi

Background: Increasingly many perinatally HIV-infected children are surviving through adolescence and adulthood as a result of improvements in the management of paediatric HIV infection, particularly the increased use of combination therapy. It is usually the parents or guardians of these children who are faced with the task of informing the child living with HIV about his or her positive status. However, many parents—particularly biological parents —find this disclosure process difficult to initiate, and this study explored some of the difficulties that these parents encounter.Objective: This study set out to explore potential factors that challenge parents and guardians when informing their perinatally HIV-infected child about the child’s HIV status.Design: This was a qualitative narrative study that employed in-depth interviews with parents or guardians of children perinatally infected with HIV. A total of 20 parents and guardians of children who attend the outpatient HIV clinic at the Baylor College of Medicine-Abbott Fund Children’s Clinical Centre of Excellence (COE) in Lilongwe, Malawi were interviewed. Of these, 14 were biological parents and six were guardians.Results: Guardians and parents expressed uneasiness and apprehension with the disclosure conversation, whether or not they had already told their child that he or she had HIV. Participants who had not told their children recounted that they had contemplated starting the conversation but could not gather enough courage to follow through with those thoughts. They cited the fear of robbing their child of the happiness of living without the knowledge of being positive, fear of making their own status known to more people, and fear of confrontation or creating enmity with their child as impediments to disclosing their child’s positive HIV status to him or her.Conclusions: It is apparent that guardians—more particularly biological parents—of children perinatally infected by HIV find it difficult to inform their children about their children’s HIV status. From this disempowered position, parents dread the disclosure of a positive HIV status to a child as a psychosocial process that has the potential to disturb a family’s previously established equilibrium with threats of stigmatization,  marginalization, and parent-child conflict. This calls for strategies that could support parents to make disclosure to the child less challenging

Views and experiences of traditional and Western medicine practitioners on potential collaboration in the care of people living with mental illness in Malawi

INTRODUCTION: Collaboration between traditional and biomedical medicine can lead to holistic care and improved health outcomes for people with mental illnesses. The current study aimed to explore the views and experiences of traditional and western medicine practitioners on potential collaboration in the care of people living with mental illness in Blantyre, Malawi.METHOD: A phenomenological qualitative research design was used. Data were collected using both one-on-one in-depth interviews (IDIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs). Participants were traditional healers and western medicine practitioners in Blantyre, Malawi. We conducted 10 in-depth interviews with traditional healers, 4 focus group discussions (2 for traditional healers and 2 for western medicine practitioners) and 6 key informant interviews with leaders of the two groups. The sample was determined based on data saturation. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data. We used a combination of deductive and inductive coding.RESULTS: Five broad themes were identified from the data: experiences with collaboration, views on collaboration, models of collaboration, barriers to collaboration, and factors that can facilitate collaboration. participants had no experience of formal collaboration between traditional healers and western healthcare workers in the management of mental illness. However, some reported experience of successful collaborations in other health areas such as safe motherhood, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS. Many participants showed a positive attitude toward collaboration and were in support of it. Barriers to collaboration included negative attitudes and a lack of resources. Factors that can facilitate collaboration were dialogue, training and respect. Referral and training were the preferred forms of collaboration.CONCLUSION: With proper structures and respectful dialogue, a collaboration between traditional and western medicine practitioners is possible in Blantyre, Malawi.</p

Patients’ satisfaction with reproductive health services at Gogo Chatinkha Maternity Unit, Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi

Patient satisfaction is an individual’s state of being content with the careprovided in the health system. It is important for reproductive health care providers to get feedback from women regarding satisfaction with reproductive health services. There is a dearth of knowledge about patientsatisfaction in Malawi.AimThe specific objective of the study was to determine the extent to whichwomen are satisfied with the care they receive when they come to deliverat the Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital maternity unit. MethodsA cross sectional study of postpartum women using interviewer administered semi-structured questionnaires was conducted betweenNovember 2008 and May 2009. The questionnaires captured mainly quantitative data.Results1562 women were interviewed. Most women were housewives (79%) whowere referred from Health Centres within the city. Ninety five percent delivered a live baby. The majority of women (97.3%) were satisfied withthe care they received from admission through labour and delivery andthe immediate postpartum period. Most women cited doctors’ and nurses’reviews (65%) as what they liked most about the care they received duringtheir stay in the unit. Most women expected to receive efficient and definitive care. The women’s knowledge on patient’s rights was extremely low (16%) and equally very few women were offered an opportunity to give an opinion regarding their care by the doctors and nurses in the maternity unit.ConclusionMost women who deliver at the hospital are satisfied with the care offered.This satisfaction is mainly due to the frequent reviews of patients by nurses and doctors in the unit. There is a great need to educate both thepopulation of women served and the health workers that serve them onpatient’s rights

Characterization of envelope function of transmitted viruses circulating in Mbeya, Tanzania, and its impact on disease progression

An understanding of the biological characteristics of transmitted viruses provides important insights into HIV pathogenesis and informs vaccine development. The aim of the study was to characterize env function of transmitted viruses and its role in disease progression