Traditional birth attendants (TBAs) as potential agents in promoting male involvement in maternity preparedness: insights from a rural community in Uganda

BACKGROUND: Since the 1994 International Conference on Population and Development, male involvement in reproductive health issues has been advocated as a means to improve maternal and child health outcomes, but to date, health providers have failed to achieve successful male involvement in pregnancy care especially in rural and remote areas where majority of the underserved populations live. In an effort to enhance community participation in maternity care, TBAs were trained and equipped to ensure better care and quick referral. In 1997, after the advent of the World Health Organization’s Safe Motherhood initiative, the enthusiasm turned away from traditional birth attendants (TBAs). However, in many developing countries, and especially in rural areas, TBAs continue to play a significant role. This study explored the interaction between men and TBAs in shaping maternal healthcare in a rural Ugandan context. METHODS: This study employed ethnographic methods including participant observation, which took place in the process of everyday life activities of the respondents within the community; 12 focus group discussions, and 12 in-depth interviews with community members and key informants. Participants in this study were purposively selected to include TBAs, men, opinion leaders like village chairmen, and other key informants who had knowledge about the configuration of maternity services in the community. Data analysis was done inductively through an iterative process in which transcribed data was read to identify themes and codes were assigned to those themes. RESULTS: Contrary to the thinking that TBA services are utilized by women only, we found that men actively seek the services of TBAs and utilize them for their wives’ healthcare within the community. TBAs in turn sensitize men using both cultural and biomedical health knowledge, and become allies with women in influencing men to provide resources needed for maternity care. CONCLUSION: In this study area, men trust and have confidence in TBAs; closer collaboration with TBAs may provide a suitable platform through which communities can be sensitized and men actively brought on board in promoting maternal health services for women in rural communities

The Learning Climate of an Organisation and Practitioner Competence

This paper reports on a fully structured interview survey, using a multi-sectional questionnaire, of experienced construction contract price forecasters. The aim of the research was to investigate the relationship between organizational learning styles (the learning climate of an organization, individual learning styles and approaches-to-learning) and competency (individual forecasting performance/accuracy). The results found that the degree of accuracy of the subjects’ forecasts improved as their perception of the overall learning climate, and particular its working practices and staff development systems, improved. However, the relationships between their ability to learn from experience, measured in terms of individual learning styles and approaches-to-learning, and the quality of their forecasts were found to be very different from those anticipated. No significant correlations were found between forecasting accuracy and the organizational learning styles measures used, except for the learning style Reflective Observation and the approaches-to-learning dimensions labelled 'Risk-taking', 'Insecurity' and 'Self-confidence'. The results for Reflective Observation imply that those forecasters who overemphasise reflection and deliberate and ponder before taking action produce inaccurate, while the 'Insecurity' and 'Self-confidence' dimensions suggest that balanced forecasters, i.e., those who were neither insecure nor overconfident, produce more consistent forecasts. Similarly, the results for the 'Risk-taking' dimension indicate that high-risk takers tend to underestimate, while those who are more conservative tend to overestimate contract prices

BENCHMARKING THE KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT PRACTICES OF CONSTRUCTION FIRMS

Knowledge management is rapidly becoming a key organizational capability for creating competitive advantage in the construction industry. The emergence of knowledge management in this capacity poses enormous challenges to executives of construction firms. This paper proposes a model for benchmarking those knowledge management practices of AEC firms that can guide and assist construction business executives in meeting these challenges. The proposed model incorporates benchmarking and knowledge management concepts with importance-performance analysis (IPA) maps. It is a simple visual tool that can provide powerful diagnostic information to executives of AEC firms by evaluating their firm's knowledge management practices, identifying their firm's comparative advantages and disadvantages with regard to each knowledge management practice, and setting priorities for managerial actions related to knowledge management practices that need improvement. A real-world case study is presented to illustrate the implementation and utility of the proposed model