Patients attitudes to vaginal examination and use of chaperones at a public hospital in South Africa

Background: Obstetrics and gynecology units in public hospitals in South Africa (SA) are often  overloaded with patients. Most physical examinations/consultations in these units involve vaginal examination (VE) and often because of the rapid turnover of patients the pelvic examination may be performed hurriedly without due consideration being given to the psychosocial aspects of such procedures.Objective: This study surveyed the attitudes of patients to VE and the use of chaperones.Methods: A descriptive cross.sectional survey of patients attending obstetrics and gynecology clinics at a public hospital in SA was carried out. A structured questionnaire was used to collect sociodemographic data such as age, ethnic group, gravidity, feelings toward VE, and preferences about the gender of the examining doctor, as well as the presence of a chaperone.Results: Most women (68%) were aged between 20 and 35 years. The respondents stated that the most intimate examination was VE in 48.3% and abdominal in 25% of cases; 19.0% and 1.5% of respondents felt that breast and rectal examinations, respectively, was the most intimate. On the response to the statement gthere is no need for chaperone during VE;h 54% of the participants were in support of chaperone while 45.1% were against chaperone. Women aged 20.35 years, preferred a nurse as their chaperone; younger women, aged .19 years preferred their mother as a chaperone.Conclusion: In an SA public hospital, women are more likely to regard VE as the most intimate  examination. Women are equivocal on the use of a chaperone and if it was necessary; nurses are their preferred choice except for teenagers, who preferred their mothers.Key words: Intimate examinations, patient.physician relationship, use of chaperone, vaginal  examination

Quandaries of contract cheating in South African higher education institutions: The way forward

This research aimed to examine the quandaries of contract cheating faced by higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa. Based on a desktop study utilizing unobtrusive research methods such as documentary analysis and conceptual analysis of authoritative sources to conceptualise and provide context to contract cheating, the data drew secondary data from published journal articles. Findings demonstrated that the key quandaries of contract cheating are attributed to limited awareness of the concept, the undetectable nature of the action, the lack of law (lacuna) from the national point of view, gaps in existing institutional policies on misconduct, ambiguity in the conceptualisation, and expansion in the availability of this practice as evident in the increase use of custom essay websites, essay mills and file-sharing sites across the globe. To address these challenges, South African HEIs need to acknowledge that contract cheating is a problem which exists in institutions. Therefore, South African HEIs must revisit institutional policies on intellectual integrity and include a delineation of contract cheating, making a clear distinction between plagiarism and collusion. Additionally, South African HEIs must raise awareness of contract cheating amongst their students, invest in software that detects authenticity, such as Authorship Investigate, AI-Emma or Ouriginal, and design student-support-intervention marketing strategies to deter students from turning to contract cheating websites

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This summary report includes a) a summary of findings across subjects, b) the main findings from each subject area analysis, and c) a background section which describes the purpose, rationale and research approach

Quandaries of contract cheating in South African higher education institutions : the way forward

This research aimed to examine the quandaries of contract cheating faced by higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa. Based on a desktop study utilizing unobtrusive research methods such as documentary analysis and conceptual analysis of authoritative sources to conceptualise and provide context to contract cheating, the data drew secondary data from published journal articles. Findings demonstrated that the key quandaries of contract cheating are attributed to limited awareness of the concept, the undetectable nature of the action, the lack of law (lacuna) from the national point of view, gaps in existing institutional policies on misconduct, ambiguity in the conceptualisation, and expansion in the availability of this practice as evident in the increase use of custom essay websites, essay mills and file-sharing sites across the globe. To address these challenges, South African HEIs need to acknowledge that contract cheating is a problem which exists in institutions. Therefore, South African HEIs must revisit institutional policies on intellectual integrity and include a delineation of contract cheating, making a clear distinction between plagiarism and collusion. Additionally, South African HEIs must raise awareness of contract cheating amongst their students, invest in software that detects authenticity, such as Authorship Investigate, AI-Emma or Ouriginal, and design student-support-intervention marketing strategies to deter students from turning to contract cheating websites.https://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/sajhe/indexam2024School of Public Management and Administration (SPMA)Non