Women’s perspectives on quality of maternal health care services in Malawi

Kennedy Machira,1,2 Martin Palamuleni2 1Department of Agriculture Economics, Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Lilongwe, Malawi; 2Population and Research Unit, North West University, Mmabatho, Republic of South Africa Abstract: Despite promotion by many stakeholders to improve maternal health outcome in many developing countries including Malawi, many analysts agree that the utmost success in maternal health will arise if maternal health care services are an unparallel led source for women’s health care solutions for any problem related to childbirth. Health advocates worldwide claim that even though maternal services are provided, women’s utilization of such services has not been ascertained. The objective of this study was to explore women’s perspectives on the quality of health care service delivery in Malawi. This article therefore investigates women’s perspectives on the quality of maternal health care services in Malawi. We used six focus group discussions in six health facilities that were selected across Malawi. We found that erratic availability of medical resources and unethical practices among health workers adversely affected quality of maternal health care service delivery. We concluded that the expensive routine operational audits of medical resources and service delivery across health facilities are imperative if women’s health outcomes are to be enhanced in Malawi. Keywords: public health, health care, quality of care, access, Malawi, women’s healt

Korelasi Aktivitas Fisik dengan Depresi pada Pasien Gagal Jantung Kronik (Chronic Heart Failure)

Background: Heart failure is a chronic and progressive medical condition as well as a serious health problem of the community. A study shown that 20-70% of patients with heart failure had also suffered depression which eventually will reduce the quality of life. Physical exercise is the only non-pharmacological approach proven as effective among patients with heart failure, in this case in reducing morbidity. Physical activities have beneficial effect on mental health in helping the individuals to coping with stress and light depression, enhancing mood, and improving the quality of life that are largely relevant to patients with heart failure. Objective: This study is to analyze the correlation of physical activity and depression among the patients with chronic heart failure in the polyclinic of heart section in the Public Hospital of Dr. Sardjito. Subjects and Methodology: The study was a quantitative study as well as an observasional non-experimental study with a cross-sectional design and descriptive and analytical approach. The sample of the study was the patients with heart failure in the polychlinic of heart section in the Public Hospital of Dr. Sardjito Yogyakarta from July-August 2013. The data used were collected by using a questionnaire for personal data, Global Physical Activity Questionnare (GPAQ), and Beck Depression Inventory (BDI). The Lambda test was done to analyze the data for the correlation of physical activities and depression. Result: Depression was found at 52.2% of the subjects. The total number of physical activities, those of work, those of travel, and those of recreation have weak correlation with the occurrence of depression among the patients with chronic heart failure, respectively (p= 0.12

INTERVENSI PSIKOEDUKASI TENTANG SKIZOFRENIA PADA CAREGIVER KOMUNITAS PEDULI SKIZOFRENIA INDONESIA (KPSI) TERHADAP PENINGKATAN PENGETAHUAN DAN PENURUNAN STIGMA TENTANG GANGUAN SKIZOFRENIA DI YOGYAKARTA

Background: Schizophrenia is a severe mental disorder characterized by fundamental disturbances on thinking, perception and emotion. Schizophrenia ranks as the eighth leading cause of morbidity based on Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) among people aged 15 to 44 years old. Schizophrenia contributes 1.1% of the total DALYs globally. People with schizophrenia often rely on their family members as caregivers for emotional and financial support, and also for providing their daily needs. Only 40% of caregivers obtained adequate information from health professionals regarding adaptation to people with mental disorders, while family education on mental disorder may improve treatment compliance and prevent recurrence. The lack of information given by the health professionals towards the caregivers may lead to the lack of knowledge, which may then lead to stigmatization on schizophrenia disorder. Caregiver�s stigma towards schizophrenia disorder correlates to poorer treatment support for people with schizophrenia. The stigma towards schizophrenia disorder may be reduced by improving the caregivers� knowledge through education, such as psycho-education intervention. Objective: To identify the effect of psycho-education intervention of schizophrenia for caregivers in improving knowledge and reducing stigma of schizophrenia disorder. Methods: This study was an experimental study using pre-test and post-test design with univariate, bivariate, and multivariate analyses. A total of 30 caregivers, consisting of family members and the members of Indonesia Community Care for Schizophrenia, were enrolled in the study. The psycho-education intervention sessions were conducted four times using multimedia tools. The sessions were given by trained facilitators at the Department of Psychiatry, Sardjito Hospital. The Knowledge of Schizophrenia (KOS) instrument, the Consumer Family Devaluation (CFD) scale, and the respondent checklist were used to collect the data. Results: The study found significant difference between pre and post intervention of KOS score (p<0.001), as well as CFD scale scores (p<0,045). Conclusion: Psycho-education intervention of schizophrenia can improve caregivers� knowledge on schizophrenia and reduce their stigma towards schizophrenia disorder

Replication Data for: Infection patterns of endemic human coronaviruses in rural households in coastal Kenya

This is a replication dataset for the manuscript "Infection patterns of endemic human coronaviruses in rural households in coastal Kenya" submitted to Wellcome Open Research journal. This dataset is part from a cohort study conducted in rural coastal Kenya between December 2009 and June 2020. The study recruited 47 households, each with an infant, containing 483 members. nasopharyngeal samples were taken from study participants every 3-4 days and screened for 3 hCoVs (OC43, NL63 and 229E) and several other respiratory viral pathogens using real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)

Data for Infection patterns of endemic human coronaviruses in rural households in coastal Kenya

Background: The natural history and transmission patterns of endemic human coronaviruses are of increased interest following the emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2). Methods: In rural Kenya 483 individuals from 47 households were followed for six months (2009-10) with nasopharyngeal swabs collected twice weekly regardless of symptoms. A total of 16,918 swabs were tested for human coronavirus (hCoV) OC43, NL63 and 229E and other respiratory viruses using polymerase chain reaction. Results: From 346 (71.6%) household members, 629 hCoV infection episodes were defined, with 36.3% being symptomatic: varying by hCoV type and decreasing with age. Symptomatic episodes (aHR=0.6 (95% CI:0.5-0.8) or those with elevated peak viral load (medium aHR=0.4 (0.3-0.6); high aHR=0.31 (0.2-0.4)) had longer viral shedding compared to their respective counterparts. Homologous reinfections were observed in 99 (19.9%) of 497 first infections. School-age children (55%) were the most common index cases with those having medium (aOR=5.3 (2.3 – 12.0)) or high (8.1 (2.9 - 22.5)) peak viral load most often generating secondary cases. Conclusion: Household coronavirus infection was common, frequently asymptomatic and mostly introduced by school-age children. Secondary transmission was influenced by viral load of index cases. Homologous-type reinfection was common. These data may be insightful for SARS-CoV-2