A Review of Housing Problems

Housing problems occur both in rich and poor communities across the globe. The objective of this research is to review housing problems which lead to unwholesome environmental conditions. The method used is a review of academic articles, textbooks, internet materials, news articles and publicly available materials on housing problems. Previous authors whose works were reviewed have a convergent view on housing problems including overcrowding and congestion, poor accessibility, substandard and inadequate housing, high cost of building materials, high interest rate and lack of interest by financial institutions to facilitate loans to investors and uncoordinated policies by government. The paper made the following recommendations: (1) government should build low-cost houses to cater for the large number of people who, due to their low-income earnings could not afford a decent apartment; (2) formulation of economic, social and environmental policies that facilitate housing that is both affordable and sustainable by government; (3) improvement of sanitation in poor neighborhoods with poor housing conditions through urban renewal programme

The Information Environment of Teachers of Science Subjects in Public Secondary Schools in Offa Metropolis, Nigeria

Bearing in mind the strategic position of science in the development of society and arising from the need for an investigation into the information environment of Teachers of Science Subjects (TSS) in Offa, the study was carried out to determine their information needs, seeking behavior, sources, perceptions on the state of their school libraries and challenges of accessing information. It adopted survey research method with questionnaire as the tool for data collection, which was administered on all TSS in the affected schools, collected and analysed with descriptive statistics. It was discovered that the information needs of the TSS are mostly on their subject areas and contemporary methods of teaching, developments and inventions in science and technology, medical and health information, information on educational issues and furthers studies as well as on things happening around the world. The online environment - Internet shapes their information seeking behavior and was main avenue through which they access information. Their perception on the poor state of libraries in their schools is an issue of concern, as it acts as a challenge to their access to information. Recommendations were put forward on ways to remedy the situation

Assessment of knowledge about childhood autism among paediatric and psychiatric nurses in Ebonyi state, Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>There is increasing public and professional awareness of autism spectrum disorders with early recognition, diagnosis and interventions that are known to improve prognosis. Poor knowledge about childhood autism among paediatric and psychiatric nurses who are members of multidisciplinary teams that care for such children may be a major barrier to early interventions that could improve quality of life and prognosis in childhood autism. Factors that influence knowledge about childhood autism among these nurses are not known. This study assessed knowledge about childhood autism among paediatric and psychiatric nurses in Ebonyi state, Nigeria and determined the factors that could be influencing such knowledge.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Forty specialist paediatric and forty psychiatric nurses, making a total sample of eighty, were randomly selected from all the health care facilities in Ebonyi state, Nigeria. A socio-demographic questionnaire and knowledge about childhood autism among health workers (KCAHW) questionnaire were administered to them and the study was a point survey.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The total mean score on the KCAHW questionnaire among the nurses that participated in the study was 12.56 ± 3.23 out of a total of 19 possible. The mean score for the paediatric nurses was 11.78 ± 3.64 while psychiatric nurses had mean score of 13.35 ± 2.58. The mean scores in Domain 1 were 6.17 ± 1.75 for the paediatric nurses and 6.52 ± 1.43 for the psychiatric nurses. The mean scores in Domain 2 were 0.65 ± 0.48 for the paediatric nurses and 0.80 ± 0.41 for the psychiatric nurses. Domain 3 showed mean scores of 1.97 ± 1.25 for the paediatric nurses while psychiatric nurses scored 2.62 ± 1.23. Domain 4 yielded the mean scores of 2.97 ± 1.54 and 3.42 ± 0.98 for the paediatric and psychiatric nurses respectively.</p> <p>There was significant relationship between the total mean score on the KCAHW questionnaire for the two groups and the area of specialisation of the nurses (t = -2.23, df = 78, p = 0.03) and there was also significant relationship between previous involvement in managing children with childhood autism as a specialist paediatric or psychiatric nurse and the total mean score on the KCAHW questionnaire (t = 6.90, df = 78, p = 0.00).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The scores reflect deficits in knowledge about childhood autism among the study cohorts. Paediatric and psychiatric nurses as members of multidisciplinary teams that care for children with childhood autism are expected to provide holistic care and adequate counselling to the families of these children. Unfortunately in this environment, they are not fully equipped with enough knowledge about childhood autism. Education on childhood autism is therefore needed and can be provided through continuing medical education and emphasizing childhood autism in their training curriculum. This will enhance early identification and diagnosis of childhood autism with early interventions that are known to improve prognosis.</p

Solidarity and Social Behaviour: how did this help communities to manage COVID-19 pandemic?

Purpose – During the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic lockdowns, stay at home or work from home, many have argued that the westernised non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI) do not provide remedial in low-income countries like Nigeria, where informal job seekers, street traders, informal labourers and artisans depend mainly on the informal economy. By applying social solidarity (SS) and community-based approach (CBA), the authors evaluate individual acts (trust, altruism and reciprocity) during the lockdown and how these practices evolve from individual approaches to collective actions. Design/methodology/approach – This study reflects on pragmatism research paradigm that enables researchers to maintain both subjectivity in their reflections and objectivity in data collection and analysis. The authors adopt a qualitative method through purposeful and convenience sampling procedure. Data were analysed thematically to identify elements of SS, individual acts, collective or community actions and perceptions. Findings – The findings reveal that COVID-19 had a disproportionate impact (lack of food and a fall in daily income) on workers, informal job seekers, informal businesses operators and the poor households. As such, the study developed a reflective model of solidarity exhibited by individual acts and collective acts (practices of resource pooling, information sharing, women empowerment, distribution of palliatives and donations) within trusted circles that helped people cope with the lockdown experiences. Practical implications – Solidarity represents beliefs, practices of values and norms. The SS exhibited by people through NPI would have implications on planning and monitoring the effectiveness of public health programmes during a pandemic in the future. Social implications – The findings of citizens and community actions have implications related to the process of building communities – coming together – and solidarity that enhances social development with implications on community health policy agenda during disasters, emergencies and health pandemic. Originality/value – This is one of the first studies to analyse the relationship between trust, altruism, reciprocity, SS and CBA during the COVID-19 pandemic. Also, it seems reasonable to clarify the concept of SS given the lack of clarity about the definitions from previous studies

Relationship between religiosity, religious coping and socio-demographic variables among out-patients with depression or diabetes mellitus in Enugu, Nigeria.

Background: Religion is a powerful coping strategy. Diabetes and depression are common conditions in our environment that induce psychological distress, thus requiring coping for better outcome. Studies indicate that increased religiosity is associated with better outcome in clinical and general populations. Therefore, studies of the distribution of religiosity and religious coping among these populations are essential to improve outcome. Objectives: To assess the association between religiosity, religious coping in depression and diabetes mellitus, and selected sociodemographic variables (age, gender and occupational status). Methods:Using simple random sampling we recruited 112 participants with diabetes and an equal number with depression consecutively, matching for gender. Religiosity was determined using religious orientation scale (revised), religious coping with brief religious coping scale and socio-demographic variables with a socio-demographic questionnaire. Results: Intrinsic religiosity was greater among older people with depression than among older people with diabetes(t=5.02,p&lt;0.001); no significant difference among young people with depression and diabetes(t=1.47,p=0.15).Positive religious coping was greater among older people with depression than among older people with diabetes(t=2.31,p=0.02); no difference among young people with depression and diabetes(t=0.80,p=0.43). Females with depression had higher intrinsic religiosity scores than males with depression(t=3.85,p&lt;0.001); no difference in intrinsic religiosity between females and males with diabetes(t=0.99,p=0.32).Positive religious coping was greater among participants with diabetes in the low occupational status(t=2.96,p&lt;0.001) than those in the high occupational status. Conclusion: Religion is indeed a reliable coping method, most commonly used by the elderly and females with depression. Positive religious coping is more common among diabetic patients who are in the low occupational status

Review of prostate cancer research in Nigeria

Prostate cancer (CaP) disparities in the black man calls for concerted research efforts. This review explores the trend and focus of CaP research activities in Nigeria, one of the ancestral nations for black men. It seeks to locate the place of the Nigerian research environment in the global progress on CaP disparities. Literature was reviewed mainly through a Pubmed search with the terms “prostate cancer”and “Nigeria”, as well as from internet and hard copies of journal pages

Occupational safety and health management in developing countries: A study of construction companies in Malawi

Purpose: Whilst occupational safety and health (OSH) management is recognised as an important mechanism for addressing poor OSH performance, limited empirical insight is available on OSH management by construction companies in sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigated OSH management by construction companies (i.e. contractors) in Malawi in order to unpick implementation issues that need attention. Materials and methods: 46 OSH management practices were probed through a survey of contractors. Results: Implementation of OSH practices amongst contractors is low, particularly for practices related to the policy, organising, measuring and reviewing, and auditing elements of OSH management. Company size, is associated with implementation of nearly a half of the 46 OSH practices. Certification of company to Standard No. OHSAS 1800:2007 is associated with the implementation of fewer practices. Conclusions: OSH management improvement efforts would need to focus on the elements with particularly low implementation of practices as well as include initiatives that focus on helping micro enterprises to improve their OSH management. Association between business characteristics and OSH management may be more evident with certain elements such as the organising element. Furthermore, certification to Standard No. OHSAS 1800:2007 may not necessarily translate into greater implementation of OSH management practices, especially in developing countries

Water use and grain yield response of rainfed soybean to tillage-mulch practices in southeastern Nigeria

Despite the agronomic, economic and food values of soybean (Glycine max L. Merrill), there is still dearth of information on the tillage need and the implications of surface mulch for the crop in the eastern part of the forest-savanna transition zone of Nigeria. This study was therefore carried out on a sandy loam Ultisol at Nsukka with a sub-humid climate, during 2006 and 2007 cropping seasons. Our objective was to devise an appropriate tillage method for the crop from evaluated effects of no-till (NT), conventional tillage (CT) and mulch on selected key agronomic indices. Each of the NT and the CT was either unmulched (U) or mulched (M) in a split-plot, giving four treatments/tillage methods (NTU, NTM, CTU and CTM) randomized in four blocks. Rainfall was more favorable in the first than in the second season. The mean seasonal soil water storage (range, 99-109 mm) within 0.5-m soil layer differed among the treatments (NTU < CTU < NTM = CTM). However, for the first and second seasons, both water use (582-616 and 667-709 mm respectively) and grain yield (0.71-0.81 and 1.22-1.91 Mg ha-1 respectively) were not different. Mulch lowered the crop water use but had no influence on grain yield. Water use efficiency was enhanced with mulch only in the second season. Although either of the two mulch treatments (NTM/CTM) would be suitable for growing soybean especially in years of unfavorably distributed rainfall, NTM is a more rational choice than CTM. Rainfall adequacy at the critical reproductive stage of the crop showed to be a more important yield factor than the tested tillage methods