Does religious identification of South African psychiatrists matter in their approach to religious matters in clinical practice?

BACKGROUND. It is not known whether psychiatrists’ approach to religious matters in clinical practice reflects their own identification or non-identification with religion or their being active in religious activities. OBJECTIVE. This question was investigated among South African (SA) psychiatrists and psychiatry registrars, including the importance they attach to the religious beliefs of patients for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. METHODS. Respondents from the SA Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP) completed a purpose-designed questionnaire anonymously online. Respondents were compared statistically with regard to whether they identified with a religion, and the regularity of their participation in religious activities. Further comparisons were made based on gender and years of clinical experience. RESULTS. Participants who identified with a religion showed no statistical differences in comparison with those who did not, regarding: how they viewed the importance of a patient’s religious beliefs for purposes of diagnosis, general management, psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, recovery from an acute episode, maintenance of recovery or remission, time to be spent on religious education, referral for religious/ spiritual counselling according to patient’s own beliefs; referral when patient and participant are of different religions; and whether referral is considered harmful when a patient’s religious beliefs are similar to or different from the participant’s. Statistically significant differences were found where participants who did not identify with a religion were more likely to indicate religion had ‘little importance’ for the purpose of understanding the patient and to indicate ‘no’ when asked if they would refer a patient for religious/spiritual counselling. When comparing regularity of participation in religious gatherings, participants who indicated their participation as ‘no/never’ were more likely to answer ‘no’ when asked if they would refer a patient for religious/spiritual counselling, even when of a similar religion to that of their patient. In comparing genders, males were more likely to answer ‘yes’ than females when asked if they considered religious/spiritual counselling (in accordance with the patient’s own religious beliefs) potentially harmful when the patient’s religion was different from the participant’s. CONCLUSION. It appears that SA psychiatrists’ identification with religion and regularity of participation in religious gatherings do not influence their approach to religious matters of their patients in most respects. The exception seems to be for those psychiatrists who do not identify with a religion (~16%), who tend to respond that they do not refer for religious counselling and that they consider the patient’s religious identification to be of little importance in understanding the patient.http://www.sajp.org.zahb201

Low nonpaternity rate in an old Afrikaner family

Extrapair paternity is a crucial parameter for evolutionary explanations of reproductive behavior. Early studies and human testis size suggest that human males secure/suffer frequent extrapair paternity. If these high rates are indeed true, it brings into question studies that use genealogies to infer human life history and the history of diseases since the recorded genealogies do not reflect paths of genetic inheritance. We measure the rate of nonpaternity in an old Afrikaner family in South Africa by comparing Y-chromosome short tandem repeats to the genealogy of males. In this population, the nonpaternity rate was 0.73%. This low rate is observed in other studies that matched genealogies to genetic markers and more recent studies that also find estimates below 1%. It may be that imposed religious morals have led to reduced extrapair activities in some historic populations. We also found that the mutation rate is high for this family, but is unrelated to age at conception.http://www.ehbonline.orghb2016Genetic

Remote Ischaemic Conditioning in STEMI Patients in Sub-Saharan AFRICA: Rationale and Study Design for the RIC-AFRICA Trial

Purpose: Despite evidence of myocardial infarct size reduction in animal studies, remote ischaemic conditioning (RIC) failed to improve clinical outcomes in the large CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI trial. Potential reasons include that the predominantly low-risk study participants all received timely optimal reperfusion therapy by primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). Whether RIC can improve clinical outcomes in higher-risk STEMI patients in environments with poor access to early reperfusion or PPCI will be investigated in the RIC-AFRICA trial. // Methods: The RIC-AFRICA study is a sub-Saharan African multi-centre, randomized, double-blind, sham-controlled clinical trial designed to test the impact of RIC on the composite endpoint of 30-day mortality and heart failure in 1200 adult STEMI patients without access to PPCI. Randomized participants will be stratified by whether or not they receive thrombolytic therapy within 12 h or arrive outside the thrombolytic window (12–24 h). Participants will receive either RIC (four 5-min cycles of inflation [20 mmHg above systolic blood pressure] and deflation of an automated blood pressure cuff placed on the upper arm) or sham control (similar protocol but with low-pressure inflation of 20 mmHg and deflation) within 1 h of thrombolysis and applied daily for the next 2 days. STEMI patients arriving greater than 24 h after chest pain but within 72 h will be recruited to participate in a concurrently running independent observational arm. // Conclusion: The RIC-AFRICA trial will determine whether RIC can reduce rates of death and heart failure in higher-risk sub-optimally reperfused STEMI patients, thereby providing a low-cost, non-invasive therapy for improving health outcomes

Die bemarking van toerismebestemmings, met spesifieke verwysing na die rol en aktiwiteite van plaaslike toerismebevorderingsorganisasies

Proefskrif (M. Comm.) -- Universiteit van Stellenbosch, 1988.Full text to be digitised and attached to bibliographic record

TRAINING FOR LEGAL PRACTICE – TOWARDS EFFECTIVE TEACHING METHODOLOGIES FOR PROCEDURAL LAW MODULES

Procedural laws play an important role in legal practice through their use in the enforcement of the substantive rights of members of the public. Civil procedure, criminal procedure, and the law of evidence are the building blocks whereby matters are presented in court. Legal representatives, representing members of the public, should therefore be skilled and professionally trained in procedural laws. Due to their importance, students should not only have a thorough and foundational theoretical knowledge of procedural laws, but also the necessary practical skills in applying their knowledge to practical scenarios, which should be instilled as part of the teaching of procedural modules. The inherent methodological content of conventional teaching methodologies applied when teaching procedural law modules, i.e., the Socratic and case dialogue methodologies, however, prove to be inadequate in transferring the required skills and practical training. Several constituent parties in the legal profession, including academics, legal practitioners, and presiding officers, have remarked that law students, upon graduation, lack the necessary skills, ingenuity, and practical knowledge to make a good start in legal practice. It furthermore appears that university law faculties are generally not willing to train law students for practice. There is also the necessity for the development of identified essential skills required of competent legal practitioners. The continuous development of these skills in the teaching and practical application of procedural laws afford students the ability to advance future client representation professionally and confidently. Cultural, social and human elements should form part of the teaching and learning of procedural law modules, which will create an important awareness among students that, when working with clients in legal practice, they are attending to the rights and interests of human beings who may be of different races and cultures. This will further develop students’ identities and values as professionals which include not only being responsible to individual clients, but also contributing services to the community. In developing the required identified skills, students will not only be able to apply technical legal procedures, but also learn how to assist clients more cost-effectively. By employing the Clinical Legal Education methodology in tandem with conventional lecture methodologies, students are introduced to the practical application of procedural laws, honing both their practical and intellectual skills. Application suggestions include tutorial sessions, mock trials, and reflective assignments. This article evaluates the efficacy of the current teaching methodologies applied in teaching procedural laws toward imparting students with the required practical skills. It recommends the development of procedural law modules by introducing applied practical skills to enable students to enter legal practice after graduation as more rounded and skilled future legal practitioners

Does religious identification of South African psychiatrists matter in their approach to religious matters in clinical practice?

Background. It is not known whether psychiatrists’ approach to religious matters in clinical practice reflects their own identification or non-identification with religion or their being active in religious activities.  Objective. This question was investigated among South African (SA) psychiatrists and psychiatry registrars, including the importance they attach to the religious beliefs of patients for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Methods. Respondents from the SA Society of Psychiatrists (SASOP) completed a purpose-designed questionnaire anonymously online. Respondents were compared statistically with regard to whether they identified with a religion, and the regularity of their participation in religious activities. Further comparisons were made based on gender and years of clinical experience. Results. Participants who identified with a religion showed no statistical differences in comparison with those who did not, regarding: how they viewed the importance of a patient’s religious beliefs for purposes of diagnosis, general management, psychotherapy, pharmacotherapy, recovery from an acute episode, maintenance of recovery or remission, time to be spent on religious education, referral for religious/spiritual counselling according to patient’s own beliefs; referral when patient and participant are of different religions; and whether referral is considered harmful when a patient’s religious beliefs are similar to or different from the participant’s. Statistically significant differences were found where participants who did not identify with a religion were more likely to indicate religion had ‘little importance’ for the purpose of understanding the patient and to indicate ‘no’ when asked if they would refer a patient for religious/spiritual counselling. When comparing regularity of participation in religious gatherings, participants who indicated their participation as ‘no/never’ were more likely to answer ‘no’ when asked if they would refer a patient for religious/spiritual counselling, even when of a similar religion to that of their patient. In comparing genders, males were more likely to answer ‘yes’ than females when asked if they considered religious/spiritual counselling (in accordance with the patient’s own religious beliefs) potentially harmful when the patient’s religion was different from the participant’s. Conclusion. It appears that SA psychiatrists’ identification with religion and regularity of participation in religious gatherings do not influence their approach to religious matters of their patients in most respects. The exception seems to be for those psychiatrists who do not identify with a religion (~16%), who tend to respond that they do not refer for religious counselling and that they consider the patient’s religious identification to be of little importance in understanding the patient