Climate Variability and Its Effects on Gender and Coping Strategies in Baringo County, Kenya

Climate variability has often been described as one of the most pressing environmental challenges. Our lifestyles, economy, health, income, livelihood and our social well-being are all affected by climate. This paper therefore, assessed climate variability, its effect of gender and coping strategies they adopt in Baringo County, Kenya. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used in analyzing the data obtained for the study. Findings show that there is consisent decrease in rainfall and increase in temperature in recent times. Male gender dominates household decisions and roles such as land preparation, livestock keeping/feeding, pesticide application and fence construction in Baringo County, Kenya while the female gender dominates household roles such as water supply, domestic home chores and more of agricultural activities. Livestock migration was the major traditional coping strategy adopted in Baringo County. 56.8% of the respondents shows that cutting grasses for livestock was the major short term coping strategy adopted while Rainfall harvesting and storage (5.92%) was the least adopted in the studied area. Long term coping strategy to climate variability mostly adopted by the rural populace in is livestock migration (48.52%), it was also observed here that the least long term coping strategy adopted is finding alternative job as reputed by 4.44% of the respondents. Special intervention projects such as rain water harvesting techniques, drought resistant crops, short term crops etc, should be provided to rural populace/dwellers in Baringo County, and other parts of Kenya experiencing severe variability in climate, resulting to drought

Regulations governing psychologists: An international survey.

This study aimed to examine legal regulations on psychologists worldwide, such as those related to professional status and training models. An online survey was conducted by members of the Global Psychology Alliance and Asia Pacific Psychology Alliance. The survey included information on the legal status of psychologists in 55 countries. Representatives of 28 countries provided their responses, whereas information on the legal status of psychologists in 27 European countries was obtained from research data reported by the European Commission in 2016. We found that 80% of the 55 countries included in this study regulated professions in the field of psychology by law. Regarding the title of the profession, 53% of included countries regulated the general “psychologist” profession. Results pertaining to educational requirements indicated that a master’s degree or higher was required for general psychologists, amounting to an average period of 5.6 years. The professions regulated varied by continent- and country-specific circumstances and needs. This study provides a general overview of the legal status and training models underpinning psychology practice globally, demonstrating that many regions and countries worldwide are moving toward implementing formal regulatory frameworks, which will facilitate the establishment of global regulatory standards. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2022 APA, all rights reserved

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Abstract Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Nigerian Mental Healthcare Workers' Perception of Integration of Traditional and Western Medicine

Background: There is a high level of unmet mental health needs in Nigeria thus the need for an integrated care involving all stakeholders in mental health delivery services.Aims: The study aims to determine the perception of mental healthcare workers about the relevance of complementary and alternative mental healthcare (CAM) and their opinion on integrating CAM into the mainstream mental healthcare.Methods: One hundred and three mental healthcare workers at the Federal Neuropsychiatric Hospital Enugu, Nigeria, made up of 43 doctors, 52 nurses, five social workers, two pharmacists and one clinical psychologist were studied using a questionnaire developed by the researchers.Results: Eighty eight (85.4%) of participants did not think that CAM should be integrated into mainstream mental healthcare while fifty two (50.2%) of them disagreed that CAM confers any benefits to the patients. Concerns about CAM centered mainly around quackery, bold claims, ineffective treatment, and delay on access to effective care. None of the factors tested distinguished those that wanted the integration from those that did not want: age groups (X2 =4.341,df=2,p=0.114), gender (X2 =0.911,df=1,p=0.340), religious affiliation (X2 =5.857,df=3,p=0.119) and professional status of the respondents (X2 =3.414,df=1,p=0.06)Conclusion and Recommendation: There is a predominant negative perception of CAM among the respondents and they did not think that CAM should be integrated into mainstream mental healthcare. It might be important to open up CAM to researches and sensitize the mainstream healthcare personnel to reduce prejudice thus improving the possibility of integration for overall holistic care.K e y Wo r d s : Perception , Integration, Mental healthcare, Alternative care practices

The effects of applied nitrogen fertilizer and leaf positions on levels of micronutrients, anti-nutrients and toxic substances in Amaranthus cruentus

The presence of antinutrients and toxic substances in vegetables limits the nutritional benefits of vegetables. The effects of age of plant and application of nitrogen fertilizer on the bioaccumulation of antinutrients (oxalate), toxic substances (cyanide and nitrate), micronutrients (vitamin C, β-carotene - provitamin A) and mineral elements (Fe, Mg, Cu, Zn, Ca Na and K) in Amaranthus cruentus were investigated using pot experiment. Leaves were harvested at market maturity (vegetative phase) at three different leaf positions, basal (oldest), middle (younger) and upper (youngest) and were subjected to chemical analysis. Results obtained showed that cyanide, nitrate and oxalate were concentrated significantly in the basal and middle positions. The concentration of β-carotene, vitamin C and Zn were significantly higher in the leaves in the middle part than in the basal and upper leaves. Similarly, Fe, Mg, Cu and Na contents were significantly higher in the basal leaves than in the middle and upper leaves, while the concentration of K was higher in the younger leaves. We concluded that consumption of the vegetable leaves from the upper leaf position will provide the dietary requirements of the analysed micronutrients with significant reduction in the levels of oxalate, cyanide and nitrate and associated health problems.Key words: Amaranthus cruentus, market maturity, micronutrients, anti-nutrients, toxic substances, vegetable, oxalate, nitrate, cyanide