Theology of work and development : the theological and ecological responsibility of the Church in sustainable development

This piece of work focuses on the role of the church in sustainable development. The church is a major player because of the big numbers that constitute her institution. She has an everyday opportunity, and over binding responsibility to fulfill her ministry mandate. The church is one of the front line players in development, and her place is vital because she is supposed to engage a holistic role in development, more than any other player does. The author looks at development from a divine perspective, and expects all developers, to integrate the biblical teaching so that it can make meaning theologically and ecologically to sustain holistic development

In the Shadows of Truth

In this book the author deals with the hidden realities posed by parents who spend much of their time occupied with work and leisure, while the children are left to their to their own devices. In the course of these long time period of separation, children build inappropriate relationships and indulge in detrimental practices that pose both short- and long-terms effects to themselves and the family at large. This book therefore focuses on parental ethical roles in the Uganda African context. It is a very moving family ethical exposition that will build up parents and help them to rethink their approach to family practises. It is a book intended to raise awareness of the subtle dangers that unintentional neglect can cause, potentially damaging their families and their children’s future

Integrating Faith with Work

"The author shows that bad mannered young people are not only punished by caning, but are given manual work as punishment. The consequence of this practice is that some people grow up believing that work is the punishment for wrong doers, which results in their hating it. The idea that work results in benefits to the one doing it seems trivial but, as a result of a wrong attitude, the value that comes from regarding work as part of human joy can easily been turned into resentment. Integrating faith with work among the Christians of the Anglican Church of the Province of Uganda comes as a response to possible transvaluation of values during the 21st century, when work becomes so important in terms of domestic consumption and national growth. This publication points out the positive values of work and how they can be recovered through biblical teaching.

Prevalence, Associated factors of Viral Load Suppression and Effect of Intensified Adherence Counselling among Adolescents on ART at Kisenyi, Kawala and Kitebi Health Centres. A Retrospective Chart Review.

Background: Viral Load Suppression (VLS) is a product of awareness of a positive HIV diagnosis and adherence to ART. Adolescents on ART should virally suppress within six months of ART to live longer, boost their immune system and reduce chances of transmitting the HIV yet literature shows that adolescents are not virally suppressing as adults. The purpose of this study is to therefore assess the prevalence, associated factors of viral load suppression, and effect of intensified adherence counselling among adolescents on ART at Kisenyi, Kawala, and Kitebi Health Centers Methodology: The study utilized a retrospective chart review design. The study population included individual records of adolescents who had been on ART for at least six months from 1st January 2017 to 31st December 2020. Data were analyzed using both univariate and bivariate analysis to be able to describe the data and establish the associations between independent and dependent Variables. Results: The mean age of the 196 study respondents was 15 (SD 3.4). More than half (53%, N=103) of the respondents were aged 15-19 years while 47% (N=93) were aged between 10-14 years. The prevalence of viral load non-suppression after six months of ART was 36% (n-70), and sixty-nine percent (n-48) of the unsuppressed adolescents were females compared to males (31, n=22). Sixty-nine percent (47) of the unsuppressed adolescents were in primary school while 33% (n=23) of the Anglicans were virally unsuppressed. Recommendations: Health facilities should offer resistance testing to all unsuppressed adolescents before enrolment into the IAC program, IAC should be considered primarily for those adolescents identified to have adherence challenges without resistant mutant strains. Conclusion: it is also evident that not all adolescents who enroll in IAC program benefit from it as shown by the 38% of the adolescents who did not suppress following IAC.

Strengthening traditional approaches to community-level land disputes: An action research project in western Uganda

Since the discovery of oil in Bunyoro sub-region, land-related conflicts have grown rapidly. Traditional conf lict resolution capacities, which were already in a state of disrepair, have been side-lined and the court system has been overwhelmed. Given this context, the objective of this research was to enhance the capacity of local peacebuilders to help resolve land conf licts in their communities. The research was based on an action research approach which involved three phases – exploring the issue, planning and implementing an intervention and evaluating the short-term outcomes. In the exploration phase, data was collected using focus group discussions with community members and in-depth interviews with key informants. In the intervention phase, an action team was formed to help resolve landrelated conf licts in their communities, using traditional conf lict resolution approaches. The short-term outcomes show that local peacebuilding capacities were enhanced and that many land-related conf licts were resolved using traditional conf lict resolution approaches. Keywords: peacebuilding, land conflicts, traditional conflict resolution, Ugand

KNOWLEDGE, ATTITUDE AND PRACTICES TOWARDS EXCLUSIVE BREASTFEEDING AMONG PRIMIPARA MOTHERS AT LUGASA HEALTH CENTER III KAYUNGA DISTRICT; A DESCRIPTIVE CROSS SECTIONAL STUDY.

Introduction:  The main purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices towards exclusive breastfeeding among primiPara mothers at Lugasa Health Center iii, Kayunga district; the study focused mainly on three objectives that are to determine the knowledge, to determine the attitude and to assess the practices towards EBF among primiPara mothers. Method:  A hospital-based descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted between March 2023 and April, 2023 at Lugasa health center iii in Kayunga District. Data was collected using questionnaires and a simple random sampling technique was employed to select 130 study participants. Data was analyzed using Microsoft Excel and a scientific calculator. Results:  Data analysis and interpretation showed that 61.5% of the respondents defined EFB as feeding babies on breast milk only, 91.5%, knew breast milk as the cheapest and recommended food for the newly born baby, 48.5% knew that babies should be breastfed on breast milk only for the first six months of life 60% of respondents knew that a baby should be breastfed eight times and more in a day and 76% knew that EFB decreases childhood diseases and death. The study results reflected that 68.5% of the study respondents perceived the act of EBF as an easy process, and 49% reported the act of breastfeeding in public also to be okay. Conclusion:  The majority of the study respondents had satisfactory knowledge, favorable attitudes, and good practices towards EBF. However, the practice of EBF in the study area is still lower than the set national target of the prevalence of EBF and the WHO set global prevalence of EBF. Recommendations:  The study recommends combined efforts from different stakeholders like the government, Ministry of Health, District Health Teams, and health workers to promote appropriate Infant and young child Feeding Practices like EBF in the country

KNOWLEDGE ,ATTITUDES AND PRACTICES OF HEALTH WORKERS ABOUT HEPATITIS B VACCINATION AT KASANGATI HEALTH CENTER IV WAKISO DISTRICT. A CROSS-SECTIONAL STUDY.

Introduction  Purpose  The purpose of the study was to assess the Knowledge, Practice, and attitude of health workers about Hepatitis B Vaccination. Objective The study had three specific objectives; to determine the Knowledge of Hepatitis B vaccination among Health workers in Kasangati Health Center IV, To determine the Attitude towards Hepatitis B vaccination among Health workers in Kasangati Health Center IV, and to determine the Practice towards Hepatitis B vaccination among Health workers in Kasangati Health Center IV. Methodology The research was a cross-sectional study in which both qualitative and quantitative data were collected from a sample of 59 respondents who were obtained using a random sampling technique; the data collection method was a face-to-face interview using a questionnaire. Results The study findings showed that 86.6% of respondents had ever heard about Hepatitis B Vaccination. However, while some health workers demonstrated a good understanding of hepatitis B, there were gaps in knowledge among others. Furthermore, the study indicated that the majority (80%) of the study respondents were willing to receive Hepatitis B Vaccination. The study also revealed that 62% of the study respondents had received Hepatitis B Vaccination, 33% of the respondents. Conclusion The vaccination coverage among health workers was not optimal, with a significant proportion remaining unvaccinated. This gap in practice may be attributed to various factors, including the perceived risks of vaccination and potential side effects, as well as logistical challenges in accessing vaccination services within the healthcare facility. Recommendations Health workers should receive regular and comprehensive training on hepatitis B, its transmission, prevention, and the safety and efficacy of the vaccine.

Improving caregivers’ infant and young child-feeding practices using a three-group food guide: A randomized intervention study in central Uganda

Despite improvements in food production and healthcare services, the burden of malnutrition in Uganda has for the last 30 years remained unacceptably high with rates of stunting (chronic undernutrition) and anemia (proxy for micronutrient deficiency) currently estimated at 29% and 53%, respectively among young children aged 6-59 months. Considering that both undernutrition and over nutrition are greatly attributed to monotonous diets characterized by limited dietary diversity and overdependence on starchy refined grains or roots as staples, there is need to improve the population’s awareness of appropriate dietary practices. To improve nutrition education, the Infant and Young Child-feeding national counseling cards for community volunteers (IYCF cards) that were developed by United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), are currently the standard package used in Uganda’s health sector to educate caregivers on appropriate child-feeding practices. In this study, the effectiveness of a three-group food guide was evaluated against IYCF cards. A randomized, controlled intervention trial engaged three randomly selected distant groups of child-caregiver pairs (n=40) concurrently in one of three treatments namely: (i) nutrition education using a threefood group guide (FG), (ii) nutrition education using age-appropriate IYCF cards, and (iii) negative control group that engaged in hair-plaiting sessions. At baseline, all groups had randomly selected caregivers of children aged 6-14 months and were met once a week for five consecutive weeks during the intervention. Caregivers were interviewed at baseline and 2 months after the interventions to determine changes in child-feeding practices while their children were concurrently measured to determine changes in their nutritional status. At baseline, caregivers in the three treatment arms exhibited inappropriate child-feeding practices indicated by low child-feeding index (CFI) scores, which were also related to poor nutritional status of their children. After the interventions, children in FG group were given more varied animal-source foods than those in IYCF cards group (p = 0.02). Compared to controls, caregivers in FG group gave their children significantly more snacks (p = 0.01), their child-feeding practices indicated by CFI scores significantly improved (p = 0.001) and their children exhibited better growth patterns indicated by weight-for-age (p = 0.02) and MUAC-forage (p = 0.03) Z-scores. These findings, therefore, indicate that the three-group food guide is more likely to improve child-feeding practices and growth patterns than IYCF cards. Hence, there is need to integrate the food guide into IYCF materials to foster child-feeding practices and growth.&nbsp

Invasive procedures and Hospital Acquired Infection (HAI) in A large hospital in Northern Uganda

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Religion and spirituality in social work in Uganda : lessons for social work education

There is a conspicuous silence about the role of religion and spirituality in social work in Uganda, yet they are critical components in the lives of social workers and their clients. The authors’ collective experience of social work education in Uganda, South Africa, Sweden, the UK, and Australia affirmed to an absence of content on religion and spirituality in social work education. Most universities in Uganda incorporate little content on spirituality resulting in graduates ill-equipped to handle spiritually-related issues with their clients and communities. Authors conducted a content analysis of the narratives in their PhD theses to explore the inextricable connection between spirituality and social work practice in Uganda. From the common findings, the authors conceptualise an African Spiritually Sensitive Practice-Theory and a reflective tool for social workers in education and practice. The paper draws on lessons from research arguing for the incorporation of indigenous knowledge and African spirituality to inform the social work curriculum in Uganda