Triggers of mental health problems among frontline healthcare workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in private care homes and domiciliary care agencies: lived experiences of care workers in the Midlands region, UK

COVID‐19 was first reported in China and later spread across the world causing panic because there is no cure for it. The pandemic has adversely affected frontline health workers and patients, owing to poor preparedness. The study explored the triggers of mental health problems among frontline healthcare workers during the COVID‐19 pandemic. An exploratory qualitative approach was utilised in the study. Forty individual semi‐structured interviews were held with frontline healthcare workers. A thematic approach underpinned by some aspects of interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) and the Silences Framework (SF) was utilised. The research found that triggers of mental health problems among frontline health workers in private care homes and domiciliary care agencies are fear of infection and infecting others, lack of recognition/disparity between National Health Service (NHS) and social care, lack of guidance, unsafe hospital discharge, death and loss of professionals and residents, unreliable testing and delayed results and shortage of staff. It is important to support frontline workers in private care homes and domiciliary care agencies

Exploring barriers to sexual transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV testing among young black sub-Sahara African (BSSA) communities in diaspora, UK

Purpose: Sexual transmitted infections (STIs) are associated with high stigma leading to poor sexual health-seeking behaviour and mental health problems. Although human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention has generally been successful in many communities across the world, statistics for young people have remained relatively low, especially among most affected communities such as the black sub-Sahara African (BSSA) communities. This paper aims to explore the barriers to STIs and HIV testing among young BSSA communities living in the UK. Design/methodology/approach: The research study used an explorative qualitative approach. The study included 6 focus groups comprising 10 people each (N = 60), and 12 one-to-one follow-up interviews were held with the research participants. Two one-to-one follow-up interviews were held from each focus group (N = 12). Findings: The study found that perceived risk taking, perceived HIV test embarrassment, sexual health professionals’ attitudes, perceived HIV as death sentence, limited educational awareness and general HIV stigma prevented research participants from testing and impacted on their mental health well-being. Originality/value: There is a need to increase sexual health and mental health education awareness among young BSSA communities. More importantly culturally sensitive interventions to reduce the impact of HIV stigma need to be rolled out in different diverse communities. This study is the first of its kind to look at the barriers affecting young BSSA communities in accessing sexual health testing services in the UK

An exploration of the factors affecting the utilization of family planning services among youth (18-24 years) at community level in rural Budaka district, Uganda

Background: There is an increased number of young people engaging in early sexual relationships worldwide. Furthermore, statistics for early pregnancy among young people has also increased especially in low and middle-income countries. This has health implications for both the parents and the baby. High uptake in family planning contraception among the young people can reduce early pregnancy and subsequent negative health outcomes on the young parents and the baby. This study was set to explore the factors influencing the uptake of family planning contraceptive services among young people (18-24 years) at community level in rural Budaka district, Uganda. Method: The study utilised an explorative qualitative approach. Eight focus group discussion were conducted followed by sixteen one to one follow up semistructured interviews with young people. Each focus group comprised of 10 participants (N=80). Sixteen one to one follow up interviews were meant to further explore issues raised in the focus groups (N=16). A thematic approach underpinned by the four phases of The Silences Framework (TSF) was used to analyse the data. Results: The study found out that religion, partner resistance; perceived loss of libido, perceived barren, long waiting time and distance from the health facility, lack of privacy/confidentiality, excessive menstrual bleeding, cancer and fear of having disabled babies, limited the utilisation of family planning contraceptive services while contraception as HIV prevention and child spacing encouraged young people to use family planning contraceptive services. Conclusion: There is need for a culturally orientated community-based contraceptive health promotion approach to increase the uptake of family planning contraception services among young people

Exploring perceptions and attitudes of Black sub-Sahara African (BSSA) migrants towards residential care in England

© 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited. Purpose: Since the early 19th century, the UK has seen a decrease in mortality rates and increase in life expectancy. This has increased the number of elderly people being put into residential care. Change in British population demography with the arrival of many Africans from the black Sub-Sahara African (BSSA) countries has increased the need of these services. The purpose of this paper is to explore perceptions and attitude of BSSA towards residential care from potential user perspective. Design/methodology/approach: This study was explorative qualitative in nature, using focus group discussions and one-on-one follow up semi-structured interviews. The focus group discussions and interviews were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. The Silences Framework was used to guide this study, and the collection of data was done using the thematic analysis approach. Findings: This study found out that the sense of confinement, lack of ownership, non-provision of culturally friendly food, non-provision of culturally friendly personal care, non-provisional of culturally orientated death and dying care, stigma for being neglected and perceived poor inclusivity leading to loneliness were found to discourage BSSA research participants from taking up residential care in the UK. Research limitations/implications: In future, there is need for cross-cultural comparisons of BSSA communities living in the UK and BSSA communities living in Africa or other parts of the world. This may enhance understanding the differences and similarities based on contextual social, political and economic factors. Practical implications: There is a need to understand the needs and concerns of new communities in relation to residential care and make necessary changes to enhance diversity and inclusivity. More importantly, the curriculum and professional development courses for staff in health and social care need to factor in the concepts of cultural competency and inclusivity to prepare them for the increasingly changing terrain of social care. Originality/value: Owing to the changing demography and diversity in the UK population, there is a need to re-orient and re-design residential care services provision to make it diverse and inclusive of new communities from other cultures

Exploring the challenges faced by health care professionals working with people living with dementia amid COVID-19 pandemic in the English West Midlands region

Context: The challenges faced by health care professionals working with people living with dementia amid the COVID-19 pandemic in the English West Midlands region. Objective: This study explored the challenges faced by health care professionals working with people living with dementia amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: This study utilised an in-depth qualitative study guided by a phenomenological approach. The participants included 30 (n = 30) health and social care professionals who were working in care homes with people living with dementia. In-depth interviews were used to collect data through online platforms, including Zoom, WhatsApp, and Microsoft Teams. A thematic approach was used to analyse the data. Findings: The study found that challenges such as enforcing social distancing, communication, increased anxiety and restlessness, safeguarding dilemmas, safe staffing, and emotional labour affected health care professionals during the COVID-19 pandemic. Limitations: This research was only carried out in the Midlands. Research encompassing other regions in the UK will be ideal to enable comparisons of different regions. Implications for practice: In the future, there is a need to monitor all admissions coming into the care home to make sure that they are not infected by the virus, as this will safeguard vulnerable residents in the care home. Also, the provision of adequate staffing in dementia care homes to manage and enforce all safeguarding protocols and regulations to make sure that the vulnerable people they look after are adequately protected is crucial in the future. Support and guidance that is relevant to people living with dementia should be made available, especially during a pandemic

To Examine the Relationship and Strength of Alcohol-Related Intimate Partner Violence in Sub-Saharan Africa

Alcohol-related intimate partner violence (IPV) is a serious public health issue which has attracted a lot of research and debates. While some studies have reported the relationship between alcohol and IPV to be linear, others have reported threshold effects. While some studies have found the link to be strong, others have reported weak or no association. Using Logistic regression and meta-analysis, the relationship, strength of relationship and possible moderators of the alcohol-IPV link are investigated in ten sub-Saharan African countries. The results indicates that while alcohol consumption is associated with IPV in three of the countries, alcohol abuse was associated with IPV in the other seven countries lending support for both the linear and threshold effects in sub-Saharan Africa. The meta-analysis showed a strong association between alcohol and physical IPV while a weaker association was observed for the alcohol-sexual IPV link. Moderator analysis showed that the strength of the alcohol-IPV link in sub-Saharan Africa varies with wealth index, marital length, and marital status, and jealousy, place of residence and justification of the use of violence. The nature of moderation was different between countries. The results of this study can be applied to plan country specific and multi-faceted intervention programs

COVID-19 and challenging working environments: experiences of Black Sub-Saharan African (BSSA) front-line health care professionals amid of COVID-19 pandemic in the English Midlands region

Purpose: The impact of COVID-19 is challenging for many health and social care workers. The impact has been more felt by all ethnic groups, but during the course of its tenure, it has become more apparent that the black community has been affected more than others. They have been reported to suffer more fatalities from the pandemic compared to their white counterparts. Blacks are reported to make a significant percentage of health care workers. They are sometimes undervalued, lowly paid, with many on insecure contracts and experiencing professional inequality. This study sought to explore the challenges experienced by Black Sub-Saharan African (BSSA) front-line workers in health care during COVID-19 pandemic. Methodology: The study utilised an explorative qualitative approach (EQA). Forty research participants were recruited for the study. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data through online platforms which included Zoom, WhatsApp and Teams. A thematic approach was used to analyse data. Results: Following data analysis, the research found that the research participants experienced undermining of expertise, lack of appreciation and unfair allocation of tasks and were overlooked for promotion and perceived as carriers of COVID-19. Conclusion: This group was over-represented in agency and self-employed roles. There is need for a strong government commitment to prevent discrimination through enacting a comprehensive legislation to support tackling the problem. Race equality training awareness needs to be rolled out into healthcare organisations and empower managers to deal with equality issues at work

Factors influencing utilisation of family planning services among female of reproductive age (15-45 years) in Bauchi local government area, Bauchi state

Background: Family Planning services are preventive health services that provide quality, low cost and easily accessible reproductive health care to women and men during their reproductive years. Family planning is often limited to the use of contraception. However, family planning provides a holistic service that aims to promote a positive view of sexuality and enable people to make informed choices about their sexual and reproductive health and well-being. It also ensures that resources are available for raising a child in significant amount, which include time, finance and social environment at intervals mutually determined by both partners to have their desired number of children. Studies indicates that the utilisation of family planning services in Nigeria is low when compared to high population growth rate in Africa, high fertility that translates into high population growth. Many scholars reported that it is likely that the utilisation of family planning services can alter the population growth rate. Studies have also shown that contraceptive knowledge, and usage is very low in Nigeria, hence the reason for the high fertility and increase population. Aim: There for the study aimed at determining factors influencing the utilisation of family planning services among female of reproductive age (15-45 years) in Bauchi Local Government Area, Bauchi State, Nigeria. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted. Hundred questionnaires were distributed to 100 women of reproductive age of which 96 of them were retrieved. Data was analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Descriptive statistics was used to summarise and organise the data. Pearson’s Chisquare test was used to test for association between variables and level of significant was set at 5% (0.05). Findings: Results from this study show that (84.4%) respondent’s utilisation of family planning services depends on husband’s acceptance of the family planning method. The study also found that cultural acceptance, access to family planning services, schedule of family planning clinic, effectiveness of family planning method and awareness; 75%, 75%, 62.5%, 79.2% and 63.5% respectively all influence utilisation of family planning. Academic attainment and knowledge of family planning methods were significant and influence family planning use. Conclusion: The study showed that family planning used depends on husband’s acceptance of the family planning method. This study also recommends for spouses to be continuously involved in family planning education as their approval influences family planning. It is hoped that the knowledge of this research will help health care givers to provide adequate health education to clients and family in the community to expand their knowledge of family planning services to ensure adequate child spacing and reproductive health. Thus, preventing unintended pregnancies, reduce maternal and child morbidity and mortality rate

Perceptions and attitudes of black Sub-Saharan African migrants from war-torn zones towards accessing health services in the English West Midlands region, UK

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore the experiences of black Sub-Saharan African (BSSA) migrants from war-torn zones in accessing health services in the West Midlands region of the UK. This may help to inform on factors influencing the uptake of health services for new migrant communities. Design/methodology/approach: This study explored the experiences of BSSA migrants from war-torn zones in accessing health services in the West Midlands using an explorative qualitative approach. Ten focus groups made up of seven participants each were followed up with three in-depth one-to-one interviews from each focus group using a conversational approach where research participants were encouraged to direct and shape the discussion in accordance with their own experiences, views and particular concerns (Kvale, 1996) as opposed to responding to a pre-determined agenda. Findings: Following transcription, coding and analysis of the focus group discussions and follow-up interviews, this study found that perceptions and attitudes of BSSA communities in accessing health services included difficulties in navigating the health system, intrusive and embarrassing questions from clinicians, stigmatisation through offering an HIV test, culturally unfriendly counselling support, unconfidently services and episodes of trauma flashbacks. Originality/value: The experiences of BSSA migrants who sought health services in the West Midlands in the UK demonstrated important implications for future practice and informed service delivery. There is a need to consider cultural education for both BSSA migrants and health professionals to enhance understanding and trust between the groups. Basic professional training for health professionals should also encompass the needs of the growing ethnic populations in the UK

COVID-19 Pandemic: Potential Impact of Lockdown in Sub-Saharan Africa

The COVID-19 lockdown approach in sub-Saharan Africa countries may not be as beneficial as intended due to the current employment, housing and health infrastructure challenges. Hence other infection prevention and control might need to be considered