The contribution of missionary wives in the planting of the church in Botswana in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries

Peer reviewedThis article highlights the contributions to mission work by the wives of the missionaries working in Botswana in the late nineteenth and twentieth centuries. While these women made a substantial contribution to the planting of the church among the Batswana, their role and effort has not been adequately recognised and appreciated. The observation is made, however, that, like the missionaries, they failed to contextualise Christianity, presenting it from a Western point of view and expecting the Batswana to abandon their past in order to become Christians. Nevertheless, their example inspired Tswana women to participate in the public life of their communities.Research Institute for Theology and Religio

The experiences of women within Tswana cultural history and its implications for the history of the church in Botswana

Peer reviewedThis article critically discusses the place of Batswana women within the Tswana tradition and how this has been carried over into the life of the church in Botswana. The article argues that these women have been marginalised and discriminated in various ways by the very system that should have protected them. Generally, their context, whether it be the social, the religious, the economic, the political and the religious, worked against them in every aspect. The article observes that these dimensions of life, which included the religious practices and beliefs, the various political structures and traditions, and so forth, worked against the development of women. Traditional laws and power relations worked towards disempowering women. All this was readily endorsed and accepted as normal by the missionaries. What made matters worse was the fact even the most powerful badimo (ancestors) were believed to favour men at the expense of women. More discouraging still was that the church seemed to endorse this status quo as normal.Research Institute for Theology and Religio

How 'universal' is the United Nations' Universal Periodic Review process? An examination of the discussions held on polygamy

In 2006, United Nations Human Rights Council was tasked to establish a new human rights monitoring mechanism: Universal Periodic Review process. The primary aim of this process is to promote and protect the universality of all human rights issues and concerns via a dialogical peer review process. The aim of this investigation isto ask the following question: has this claim of promoting and protecting the universality of the human rights been met, or challenged, during state reviews in the UPR process? The issue of polygamy has been selected as the focus for this investigation to be used, primarily, as a tool to undertake an in-depth analysis of the discussions held during state reviews in the review process. In addition, this paper will employ scholarly debates between universalism and cultural relativism, as well as the sophisticated and nuanced approaches that fall in between the polarised opposites, to analyse the discussions held on human rights during state reviews. Ultimately, the findings and discussion of this investigation will provide a unique and valuable insight to the work and operation of the UPR process, so far

Role of community health workers in type 2 diabetes mellitus self-management: A scoping review

Background: Globally the number of people with Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) has risen significantly over the last few decades. Aligned to this is a growing use of community health workers (CHWs) to deliver T2DM self-management support with good clinical outcomes especially in High Income Countries (HIC). Evidence and lessons from these interventions can be useful for Low- and Middle-Income countries (LMICs) such as South Africa that are experiencing a marked increase in T2DM prevalence. Objectives: This study aimed to examine how CHW have been utilized to support T2DM self-management globally, their preparation for and supervision to perform their functions. Method: The review was guided by a stepwise approach outlined in the framework for scoping reviews developed by Arksey and O’Malley. Peer reviewed scientific and grey literature was searched using a string of keywords, selecting English full-text articles published between 2000 and 2015. Articles were selected using inclusion criteria, charted and content analyzed. Results: 1008 studies were identified of which 54 full text articles were selected. Most (53) of the selected studies were in HIC and targeted mostly minority populations in low resource settings. CHWs were mostly deployed to provide education, support, and advocacy. Structured curriculum based education was the most frequently reported service provided by CHWs to support T2DM self-management. Support services included informational, emotional, appraisal and instrumental support. Models of CHW care included facility linked nurse-led CHW coordination, facility-linked CHW led coordination and standalone CHW interventions without facility interaction. Conclusion: CHWs play several roles in T2DM self-management, including structured education, ongoing support and health system advocacy. Preparing and coordinating CHWs for these roles is crucial and needs further research and strengthening

Impact of Health System Inputs on Health Outcome: A Multilevel Longitudinal Analysis of Botswana National Antiretroviral Program (2002-2013).

To measure the association between the number of doctors, nurses and hospital beds per 10,000 people and individual HIV-infected patient outcomes in Botswana.Analysis of routinely collected longitudinal data from 97,627 patients who received ART through the Botswana National HIV/AIDS Treatment Program across all 24 health districts from 2002 to 2013. Doctors, nurses, and hospital bed density data at district-level were collected from various sources.A multilevel, longitudinal analysis method was used to analyze the data at both patient- and district-level simultaneously to measure the impact of the health system input at district-level on probability of death or loss-to-follow-up (LTFU) at the individual level. A marginal structural model was used to account for LTFU over time.Increasing doctor density from one doctor to two doctors per 10,000 population decreased the predicted probability of death for each patient by 27%. Nurse density changes from 20 nurses to 25 nurses decreased the predicted probability of death by 28%. Nine percent decrease was noted in predicted mortality of an individual in the Masa program for every five hospital bed density increase.Considerable variation was observed in doctors, nurses, and hospital bed density across health districts. Predictive margins of mortality and LTFU were inversely correlated with doctor, nurse and hospital bed density. The doctor density had much greater impact than nurse or bed density on mortality or LTFU of individual patients. While long-term investment in training more healthcare professionals should be made, redistribution of available doctors and nurses can be a feasible solution in the short term

Adjusted Predictions of Mortality in Masa Program (2002–2013).

<p>Adjusted Predictions of Mortality in Masa Program (2002–2013).</p

Physician, Nurse, and Hospital Bed Density per 10,000 Population in Botswana Health Districts (2002–2013).

<p>Physician, Nurse, and Hospital Bed Density per 10,000 Population in Botswana Health Districts (2002–2013).</p