'Colonial virus'? Creative arts and public understanding of COVID-19 in Ghana

In this paper I examine how responses to COVID-19 by Ghana’s creative arts communities shape public understanding of the pandemic. I focus on comedy, music, textile designs, and murals created between March and August 2020, through frameworks of the social psychology of everyday knowledge and arts and health. The art forms perform three functions: health promotion (songs), improving environmental aesthetics (murals), and memorialising (textile designs). Similar to arts-based interventions for HIV and Ebola, Ghanaian artists translate COVID-19 information in ways that connect emotionally, create social awareness, and lay the foundation for public understanding. Artists translate COVID-19 information in ways that connect emotionally, create social awareness, and lay the foundation for public understanding. Some offer socio-political critique, advocating social protection for poor communities, re-presenting collective memories of past health crises and inequitable policy responses, and theorising about the Western origins of COVID and coloniality of anti-African vaccination programmes. I consider the implications for COVID public health communication and interventions

“Colonial virus”: COVID-19, creative arts and public health communication in Ghana

Since March 2020, Ghana's creative arts communities have tracked the complex facets of the COVID-19 pandemic through various art forms. This paper reports a study that analysed selected 'COVID art forms' through arts and health and critical health psychology frameworks. Art forms produced between March and July 2020, and available in the public sphere - traditional media, social media and public spaces - were collated. The data consisted of comedy, cartoons, songs, murals and textile designs. Three key functions emerged from analysis: health promotion (comedy, cartoons, songs); disease prevention (masks); and improving the aesthetics of the healthcare environment (murals). Textile designs performed broader socio-cultural functions of memorialising and political advocacy. Similar to earlier HIV/AIDS and Ebola arts interventions in other African countries, these Ghanaian COVID art forms translated public health information on COVID-19 in ways that connected emotionally, created social awareness and improved public understanding. However, some art forms had limitations: for example, songs that edutained using fear-based strategies or promoting conspiracy theories on the origins and treatment of COVID-19, and state-sponsored visual art that represented public health messaging decoupled from socio-economic barriers to health protection. These were likely to undermine the public health communication goals of behaviour modification. We outline concrete approaches to incorporate creative arts into COVID-19 public health interventions and post-pandemic health systems strengthening in Ghana

Validation of the multidimensional WHOQOL-OLD in Ghana: A study among population-based healthy adults in three ethnically different districts

Objectives: Study of well-being of older adults, a rapidly growing demographic group in sub-Saharan Africa, depends on well-validated tools like the WHOQOL-OLD. This scale has been tested on different populations with reasonable validity results but has limited application in Africa. The specific goal of this paper was to examine the factor structure of the WHOQOL-OLD translated into three Ghanaian languages: Ga, Akan, and Kasem. We also tested group invariance for sex and for type of community (distinguished by ethnicity/language). Methods: We interviewed 353 older adults aged 60 years and above, selected from three ethnically and linguistically different communities. Using a cross-sectional design, we used purpose and convenience methods to select participants in three geographically and ethnically distinct communities. Each community was made up of selected rural, peri-urban, and urban communities in Ghana. The questionnaire was translated into three languages and administered to each respondent. Results: The results showed moderate to high internal consistency coefficient and factorial validity for the scale. Using confirmatory factor analysis, we found that the results supported a multidimensional structure of the WHOQOL-OLD and that it did not differ for males and females, neither did it differ for different ethnic/linguistic groups. Conclusions: We conclude that the translated versions of the measure are adequate tools for evaluation of quality of life of older adults among the respective ethnic groups studied in Ghana. These results will also enable comparison of quality of life between older adults in Ghana and in other cultures

Food beliefs and practices in urban poor communities in Accra: implications for health interventions

Background: Poor communities in low and middle income countries are reported to experience a higher burden of chronic non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and nutrition-related NCDs. Interventions that build on lay perspectives of risk are recommended. The objective of this study was to examine lay understanding of healthy and unhealthy food practices, factors that influence food choices and the implications for developing population health interventions in three urban poor communities in Accra, Ghana. Methods: Thirty lay adults were recruited and interviewed in two poor urban communities in Accra. The interviews were audio-taped, transcribed and analysed thematically. The analysis was guided by the socio-ecological model which focuses on the intrapersonal, interpersonal, community, structural and policy levels of social organisation. Results: Food was perceived as an edible natural resource, and healthy in its raw state. A food item retained its natural, healthy properties or became unhealthy depending on how it was prepared (e.g. frying vs boiling) and consumed (e.g. early or late in the day). These food beliefs reflected broader social food norms in the community and incorporated ideas aligned with standard expert dietary guidelines. Healthy cooking was perceived as the ability to select good ingredients, use appropriate cooking methods, and maintain food hygiene. Healthy eating was defined in three ways: 1) eating the right meals; 2) eating the right quantity; and 3) eating at the right time. Factors that influenced food choice included finances, physical and psychological state, significant others and community resources. Conclusions: The findings suggest that beliefs about healthy and unhealthy food practices are rooted in multi-level factors, including individual experience, family dynamics and community factors. The factors influencing food choices are also multilevel. The implications of the findings for the design and content of dietary and health interventions are discussed

Lay knowledge of cardiovascular disease and risk factors in three communities in Accra, Ghana: A cross-sectional survey

OBJECTIVES: Cardiovascular disease is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Ghana, and urban poor communities are disproportionately affected. Research has shown that knowledge of cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the first step to risk reduction. This study examines knowledge of CVD and risk factors and determinants of CVD knowledge in three urban poor communities in Accra, Ghana. METHODS: Using the Cardiovascular Disease Risk Factors Knowledge Level Scale, which has been validated in Ghana, we conducted a cross-sectional survey with 775 respondents aged 15–59 years. CVD knowledge was computed as a continuous variable based on correct answers to 27 questions, and each correct response was assigned one point. Linear regression was used to determine the factors associated with CVD knowledge. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 30.3±10.8 years and the mean knowledge score was 19.3±4.8. About one-fifth of participants were living with chronic diseases. Overall, 71.1% had good CVD knowledge, and 28.9% had moderate or poor CVD knowledge. CVD knowledge was low in the symptoms and risk factor domains. A larger proportion received CVD knowledge from radio and television. The determinants of CVD knowledge included ethnicity, alcohol consumption, self-reported health and sources of CVD knowledge. CVD knowledge was highest among a minority Akan ethnic group, those who were current alcohol consumers and those who rated their health as very good/excellent, compared with their respective counterparts. CVD knowledge was significantly lower among those who received information from health workers and multiple sources. CONCLUSION: This study underscores the need for health education programmes to promote practical knowledge on CVD symptoms, risks and treatment. We outline health systems and community-level barriers to good CVD knowledge and discuss the implications for developing context-specific and culturally congruent CVD primary prevention interventions

Prevalence and correlates of stroke among older adults in Ghana: Evidence from the Study on Global AGEing and adult health (SAGE)

This study examines the prevalence and correlates of stroke among older adults in Ghana. This cross-sectional study retrieved data from Wave 1 of the World Health Organization (WHO) Survey on Global Ageing and Adult Health (SAGE) conducted between 2007 and 2008. The sample, comprising 4,279 respondents aged 50 years and above, was analysed using descriptive statistics, cross tabulations and Chi-Square tests, and a multivariable binary logistic regression. Respondents ranged in age from 50 to 114 years, with a median age of 62 years. Stroke prevalence was 2.6%, with the correlates being marital status, level of education, employment status, and living with hypertension or diabetes. The results showed that being separated/divorced, having primary and secondary education, being unemployed and living with hypertension and diabetes, significantly increased the odds of stroke prevalence in this population. The results suggest that interventions to reduce stroke prevalence and impact must be developed alongside interventions for hypertension, diabetes and sociodemographic/economic factors such as marital status, level of education, and employment status

Early- and mid-career transitions to research leadership in Africa

This article examines the early-and mid-career transition to research leadership in Africa. Much of the available African literature on research leadership indicate several challenges related to poor conceptualisations of career transitions and gaps in the availability of research training. Qualitative data were collected using individual interviews (n=24) and focus groups (n=27) to identify key transition points of early career researchers (ECRs) and mid-career researchers (MCRs) in selected African countries. The qualitative data was complemented with quantitative survey questionnaires (n=250) and a triangulation approach was adopted to analyse the results. The findings were themed into different categories describing the common career paths, stages and challenges of research leaders. The latter part of the findings present a discussion on development approaches to attract and retain researchers in African universities. By focusing on the African continent, this study contributes to the current body of literature on research leadership in the Global South