Examining Bourdieu’s Concepts of Capital, Habitus, and Field in Women’s Health Research in Nigeria: A Feminist Perspective

Global health’s persistent focus on women’s health-seeking behaviour necessitates a philosophical understanding of the meaning behind women’s health decision-making. In studying health-seeking behaviour, researchers use philosophical paradigms to explicate and understand complex social concepts that continue to maintain health inequities and injustices. A commonly used theory is Bourdieu’s Theory of Practice. This paper examines the scholastic application of Bourdieu’s theory of practice to theorize women’s health-seeking behaviour in qualitative research to understand the rationale behind using health services. The theory of practice consists of four concepts: practice, habitus, field, and capital. Each concept conceptualizes the theory to find a logical meaning for social practices. The theory uses a relational approach between agency and structure to account for social life. The goal is to develop a theoretical framework from a feminist perspective to understand how women seek care with contextual factors that can inhibit or outrightly limit their agency. Researchers limit cultural capital’s role in linking health-seeking behaviour to economic capital in health disparities. Additionally, in formulating women’s health policies without adequate consideration of women’s experiences and preferences, such policies become patriarchal, where men assume an expert knowledge of women’s health, failing to recognize the diversity of experiences. In our quest to develop new theories as feminist researchers, we must acknowledge these taken-for-granted assumptions and address them

Illuminating the global shadow pandemic_A silent pandemic

16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence is an international campaign to challenge violence against women and girls. The campaign runs every year from November 25, the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, to December 10, Human Rights Day. Many countries--developed and developing--still struggle with the basic definition and acceptance of sexual and domestic violence, despite several interventions to create awareness and increase the knowledge on the impact of gender-based violence. The most worrisome aspect of violence against women and girls (VAWG) is the inability of survivors to seek help because social norms forbid them to break the silence. The 16 Days campaign is an opportunity to renew commitments, advocate for new obligations, and raise awareness on the persistent social injustices affecting women, girls, and other gender minorities. This year’s campaign marks the 30th anniversary of the global campaign launched by the Center for Women’s Global Leadership (CWGL) at its first Women’s Global Leadership Institute in 199

The experiences and challenges of community health volunteers as agents for behaviour change programming in Africa: a scoping review

ommunity health volunteers are considered a vital part of the community health structure in Africa. Despite this vital role in African health systems, very little is known about the community health volunteers’ day-to-day lived experiences providing services in communities and supporting other health workers. This scoping review aims to advance understanding of the day-to-day experiences of community health volunteers in Africa. In doing so, this review draws attention to these under-considered actors in African health systems and identifies critical factors and conditions that represent challenges to community health volunteers’ work in this context. Ultimately, our goal is to provide a synthesis of key challenges and considerations that can inform efforts to reduce attrition and improve the sustainability of community health volunteers in Africa. This scoping review was conducted using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses extension for scoping reviews checklist to achieve the objectives. A comprehensive search of six databases returned 2140 sources. After screening, 31 peer-reviewed studies were selected for final review. Analytical themes were generated based on the reviewers’ extraction of article data into descriptive themes using an inductive approach. In reviewing community health volunteers’ accounts of providing health services, five key challenges become apparent. These are: (1) challenges balancing work responsibilities with family obligations; (2) resource limitations; (3) exposure to stigma and harassment; (4) gendered benefits and risks; and (5) health-system level challenges. This scoping review highlights the extent of challenges community health volunteers must navigate to provide services in communities. Sustained commitment at the national and international level to understand the lived experiences of community health volunteers and mitigate common stressors these health actors face could improve their performance and inform future programs

Skill Needs of Rural Farmers’ in Cassava Production and Marketing for Home Making in Ebonyi State

The study focused on skills for rural cassava farmers in food production and marketing for home marking in Ebonyi State. The design of the study is descriptive survey design. The population for the study was 403, while, the sample size is 195. Four objectives and four research questions guided the study. Instrument used for the study was structured questionnaire. Cronbach alpha reliability method was used to test the internal consistency of the instrument, which yield 0.86. The data collected was analyzed using mean with standard deviation. The findings of the study reveals that rural cassava farmers need skills for suitable land/soil for cassava cultivation, need skills for quality cassava stem. Need skills for sourcing out finance for farm operations and need skills for uprooting cassava tubers and marketing the tuber to the consumers. Based on the findings, it was recommended that rural cassava farmers should be assisted in financing farm work by government and non-governmental organizations. Keywords: Rural, Cassava Farmers, Marketing, Tuber DOI: 10.7176/JEP/10-35-06 Publication date: December 31st 201

COVID-19 in sub-Saharan Africa: impacts on vulnerable populations and sustaining home-grown solutions

© 2020, The Canadian Public Health Association. This commentary draws on sub-Saharan African health researchers’ accounts of their countries’ responses to control the spread of COVID-19, including social and health impacts, home-grown solutions, and gaps in knowledge. Limited human and material resources for infection control and lack of understanding or appreciation by the government of the realities of vulnerable populations have contributed to failed interventions to curb transmission, and further deepened inequalities. Some governments have adapted or limited lockdowns due to the negative impacts on livelihoods and taken specific measures to minimize the impact on the most vulnerable citizens. However, these measures may not reach the majority of the poor. Yet, African countries’ responses to COVID-19 have also included a range of innovations, including diversification of local businesses to produce personal protective equipment, disinfectants, test kits, etc., which may expand domestic manufacturing capabilities and deepen self-reliance. African and high-income governments, donors, non-governmental organizations, and businesses should work to strengthen existing health system capacity and back African-led business. Social scientific understandings of public perceptions, their interactions with COVID-19 control measures, and studies on promising clinical interventions are needed. However, a decolonizing response to COVID-19 must include explicit and meaningful commitments to sharing the power—the authority and resources—to study and endorse solutions

The People-Centred Approach to Policymaking: Re-Imagining Evidence-Based Policy in Nigeria

The discourse on evidence-based policymaking in healthcare continues to explore sustainable solutions to current and emerging challenges. However, what constitutes evidence in health policymaking needs to be defined and agreed upon, especially in places with several forms of knowledge and ways of knowing. Researchers, policymakers, and other stakeholders must understand the value of people-centred approaches to health policies, given the increased focus on equitable distribution of power and resources for sustained health outcomes. This paper argues that people’s values, lived experiences, and opinions are not always adequately considered when formulating health policies, especially in countries with diverse cultural and social norms. A country, like Nigeria, with many health challenges requires health policies based on contextual knowledge, given the country’s diverse lived experiences and values. Implementation researchers note that to ensure the adoption of evidence-based policies, researchers and implementers must intentionally incorporate elements for successful implementation into the planning and formulation of policies. Evidence shows that the policy development process in public health does not always adequately capture informal knowledge in the policy formulation process. With the lack of data on the role of informal knowledge in policymaking, Nigerian researchers could begin to examine the potential benefits these types of knowledge could have on policies. Future research could explore, and document experiences and lessons learned from other fields to apply these to public health

Patterns of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Use, Perceived Benefits, and Adverse Effects among Adult Users in Enugu Urban, Southeast Nigeria

The use of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) is now on the increase. Evidence from studies carried out globally has established that CAM use is very common and varies among populations. This study investigated patterns of CAM use, perceived benefits, and associated harm with CAM use among adults. A cross-sectional study was conducted in three local government areas of Enugu urban, Southeast Nigeria. An interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to collect data from all consenting adult participants aged between 18 and 65 years. Of the 732 participants interviewed, 62.8% were females while 37.2% were males. Majority (84.7%) of the participants had used CAM at one time or another. The most commonly used CAM product was the biological products, followed by spiritual therapy. The major route of administration for CAM products was oral and about 40% of the participants combined CAM with conventional medicine. Majority (78.6%) of CAM users benefited from CAM products after using them while a few complained of adverse reactions. As CAM is gaining widespread acceptance and use, there is need for clinical trial on the benefits and adverse effects associated with the use of CAM to facilitate proof of efficacy and safety of the products

Barriers to vasectomy acceptance and uptake in Nigeria: A review of the literature

There is growing support of male involvement in reproductive health and the integration of voluntary vasectomy services into national family planning programs in lower resource contexts; yet, the prevalence of women of reproductive age who rely on vasectomy in African countries such as Nigeria, is less than 1 percent. This review was conducted to gain a broader understanding of current sociocultural and health systems’ conditions that need to be addressed to expand the integration and acceptability of vasectomy as an option for family planning in Nigeria. To explore this, a scoping of existing literature on vasectomy in Nigeria between 2009 to 2021 was conducted. The review focused on qualitative studies and grey literatures. The findings reveal that there is a strong awareness of vasectomy among men in Nigeria. Yet, several factors such as fear and religious and cultural beliefs prevent men from having the same confidence in vasectomy as they have in female biomedical methods. These findings have implications for future family planning policies, strategies and programmes in the country