Assessing and serving families and communities responsibly: challenges posed in an urban, marginalised setting

Service provision to families and communities has long been recognised as a complex undertaking involving a multiplicity of role players and systems of care. Systems theory and ecological theory provide useful frameworks for understanding and servicing families and communities, yet there is a clear absence of literature and research on how to converge microsystemic with macrosystemic interventions. Using Rojano\'s1 community family therapy model, which is applicable to South American communities, and Kasiram and Oliphant\'s2 strategies for changing traditional family therapy to suit broader contexts in South Africa, the authors used developmental research within a qualitative framework to develop an indigenous community family therapy model in an urban setting in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The authors utilised nursing students as fieldworkers and service providers in this study. The research process involved several steps: a state-of-the-art review of the family and community, achieved through an assessment of the family and community through community profiling and an epidemiological study of the community; family assessment of families with one child under the age of five years; best practice and model development to intervene at the family and community levels, achieved with the help of community and school meetings and workshops to identify and prioritise needs and problems, followed by bio-psychosocial interventions; refining the model achieved by an evaluation of the interventions through report assessment and on-site assessment and recommending model adjustments based on the evaluation. In designing a community family therapy model, the state-of-the-art review of community needs established several core issues requiring services/interventions. These were problems relating to HIV/AIDS; a lack of knowledge of the immunisation programme in South Africa and of the Road to Health chart; teenage pregnancy and its relationship to risky behaviours, HIV/AIDS, poverty and crime; and a lack of communication within the family. The development of the model involved determining interventions with families and the community, using macrosystemic approaches, such as community meetings and workshops, where priorities were established and joint strategies were planned to address the identified problems. Individual and small-group discussions enriched the understanding of problems/needs, which, combined with macrosystemic approaches such as media coverage and community meetings and workshop/events, worked in synchrony to effectively assess and then service the families and communities. The goal of developing a community family therapy model was achieved. Combining microsystemic and macrosystemic approaches to assess and serve families and communities is particularly helpful in the face of apathy. However, once momentum is achieved in securing a community spirit, it needs to be sustained or else it is lost and may require more effort to reclaim in the future. Thus, if services are provided by educational institutions, it would be in the best interests of both future students and the community if there is funding to support service outside of the academic year..South African Family Practice Vol. 49 (9) 2007: pp. 4-

Social exclusion of students with visual impairments at a tertiary institution in KwaZulu-Natal

Objectives: People with visual impairment experience exclusion and marginalisation from family, mainstream school, the community and university. The experience of social exclusion is multistructural, multidimensional and complex. This article is based on a study that aimed to describe the social exclusion of students with visual impairment at a tertiary institution where the authors are employed.Design: The study was qualitative. It used an exploratory design to  provide compelling data on the insider perspectives of students.Setting and subjects: Fifteen students participated in the study, of whom nine were men and six women. Eleven students were partially sighted and four were blind. All the subjects were from the university where the authors are employed. Results: The study established that participants’ exclusion from access to opportunities and development left them psychologically, socially, financially and emotionally scarred. Conclusion: The study established that visual impairment and poverty were related and that women experienced oppression on two counts. The first was because of their disabled status and the second was oppression by other female students at the university. Recommendations are for changes within families, schools, communities and universities.Keywords: social exclusion, visual impairment, oppressio

EXPLORING UNPLANNED PREGNANCY AMONGST UNIVERSITY STUDENTS

Unplanned pregnancy poses a multiplicity of problems for students and academic institutions.Using an ecosystemic framework one can uncover the range of costs incurred when a student’sacademic life is disrupted as a result of an unplanned pregnancy. The academic programme isderailed with serious financial costs incurred by the institution, the family and the individual.Through-put targets of the institution may be affected, leaving a trail of deficits that are difficult tomanage, together with a bruised public image that impacts negatively on student intake. At apsycho-social level the individual and family lose standing in the community because of the shameof an unplanned pregnancy and an illegitimate child, or trauma upon learning of a positive HIVdiagnosis accompanying pregnancy. These concerns provided the motivation for this study, whichwas to identify factors that contributed to unplanned pregnancy to reduce its impact and informproactive planning. No such study had been conducted on the University of KwaZulu-Natal’sWestville campus previously. The research was conducted on the Westville Campus of theUniversity of KwaZulu-Natal under the auspices of the Department of Student Counselling fromAugust 2003 to December 2003 to investigate why an increasing number of students werepresenting with unplanned pregnancies. This increase is reflected in the statistics belo

Intimacy and HIV/Aids

This paper addresses intimacy in relationships where HIV/AIDS exists. The authors explore what strengthens and strains relationships and review insights on promoting communication about intimacy. Therapist discomfort and attitudes that prevent effective therapeutic intervention are addressed to allow for the co-existence of HIV/AIDS and intimacy.For full text, click here:SA Fam Pract 2006;48(2):54-55

EXPLORING ARTICULATION AND PARTNERING OF SOCIAL WORK PROGRAMMES AT THE UNIVERSITY OF DURBAN -WESTVILLE (UDW) AND NORTH LONDON (UNL)

As a result of an exploratory visit by Kasiram and Partab to the University of North London to investigate partnering possibilities between the two Universities, it was agreed that a comparative study of the Social Work programmes at both Universities be undertaken. The University of North London had already devised a post hoc student survey as part of the General Social Care Council feedback for quality assurance. The survey was adapted and adopted for use by the University of Durban-Westville, Social Work. The results of the two surveys were compare

DNDI-6174 is a preclinical candidate for visceral leishmaniasis that targets the cytochrome bc1

New drugs for visceral leishmaniasis that are safe, low cost, and adapted to the field are urgently required. Despite concerted efforts over the last several years, the number of new chemical entities that are suitable for clinical development for the treatment of Leishmania remains low. Here, we describe the discovery and preclinical development of DNDI-6174, an inhibitor of Leishmania cytochrome bc1 complex activity that originated from a phenotypically identified pyrrolopyrimidine series. This compound fulfills all target candidate profile criteria required for progression into preclinical development. In addition to good metabolic stability and pharmacokinetic properties, DNDI-6174 demonstrates potent in vitro activity against a variety of Leishmania species and can reduce parasite burden in animal models of infection, with the potential to approach sterile cure. No major flags were identified in preliminary safety studies, including an exploratory 14-day toxicology study in the rat. DNDI-6174 is a cytochrome bc1 complex inhibitor with acceptable development properties to enter preclinical development for visceral leishmaniasis.</p

DNDI-6174 is a preclinical candidate for visceral leishmaniasis that targets the cytochrome bc1

New drugs for visceral leishmaniasis that are safe, low cost, and adapted to the field are urgently required. Despite concerted efforts over the last several years, the number of new chemical entities that are suitable for clinical development for the treatment of Leishmania remains low. Here, we describe the discovery and preclinical development of DNDI-6174, an inhibitor of Leishmania cytochrome bc1 complex activity that originated from a phenotypically identified pyrrolopyrimidine series. This compound fulfills all target candidate profile criteria required for progression into preclinical development. In addition to good metabolic stability and pharmacokinetic properties, DNDI-6174 demonstrates potent in vitro activity against a variety of Leishmania species and can reduce parasite burden in animal models of infection, with the potential to approach sterile cure. No major flags were identified in preliminary safety studies, including an exploratory 14-day toxicology study in the rat. DNDI-6174 is a cytochrome bc1 complex inhibitor with acceptable development properties to enter preclinical development for visceral leishmaniasis.</p

DNDI-6174 is a preclinical candidate for visceral leishmaniasis that targets the cytochrome bc1.

New drugs for visceral leishmaniasis that are safe, low cost, and adapted to the field are urgently required. Despite concerted efforts over the last several years, the number of new chemical entities that are suitable for clinical development for the treatment of Leishmania remains low. Here, we describe the discovery and preclinical development of DNDI-6174, an inhibitor of Leishmania cytochrome bc1 complex activity that originated from a phenotypically identified pyrrolopyrimidine series. This compound fulfills all target candidate profile criteria required for progression into preclinical development. In addition to good metabolic stability and pharmacokinetic properties, DNDI-6174 demonstrates potent in vitro activity against a variety of Leishmania species and can reduce parasite burden in animal models of infection, with the potential to approach sterile cure. No major flags were identified in preliminary safety studies, including an exploratory 14-day toxicology study in the rat. DNDI-6174 is a cytochrome bc1 complex inhibitor with acceptable development properties to enter preclinical development for visceral leishmaniasis

Ilmu jiwa sosial: diklat kuliah/ Kasiram

61 hal.; 21 cm