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Review of:  Going to University. The Influence of Higher Education on the Lives of Young South Africans by Jennifer M. Case, Delia Marshall, Sioux McKenna and Disaapele Mogashana. Bloemfontein: African Minds, 2018.

Abstract Following 50 years of apartheid, South Africa introduced visionary health policy committing to the right to health as part of a primary health care (PHC) approach. Implementation is seriously challenged, however, in an often-dysfunctional health system with scarce resources and a complex burden of avoidable mortality persists. Our aim was to develop a process generating evidence of practical relevance on implementation processes among people excluded from access to health systems....

Oesophageal variceal (OV) bleeding is a potentially fatal consequence of portal hypertension in patients with liver cirrhosis. Upper GI endoscopy is recommended for screening for varices in cirrhotics for early detection and treatment, however, this is invasive. The purpose of this study was to assess the predictive values of the noninvasive tests in detecting the presence of OV.A cross-sectional hospital-based study involving 149 patients with liver cirrhosis was carried out at the Korle-Bu...

With the use of technology in the classroom growing every year, lecturers are expected to blend facilitations by making use of learning management systems. At the Central University of Technology, Free State this poses a problem for the learning designers in charge of training lecturers in educational technologies as there is limited space and time to not only teach lecturers the skills, but also to apply them in their own contexts. The purpose of this paper is to present participant...

Environmental peacebuilding has attracted great scholarly and political interest in recent years, but little knowledge is available on the interface of education and environmental peacebuilding. This void is unfortunate given the importance of education for peacebuilding and the wider “educational turn” in human geography. This study represents the first systematic analysis of the role of education activities in the context of environmental peacebuilding. We establish a theoretical framework...

African American adolescents are disproportionately involved in marijuana use. This study investigated whether the association of school experiences and recent marijuana use (past 30 days) differed based on age of African American adolescents. A secondary analysis of the 2012 National Survey on Drug Use and Health was conducted. Multivariable logistic regression models were performed for 14–15-year olds and 16–17-year olds. Results revealed that students at highest risk for recent marijuana...

There is a growing body of research, primarily from the U.S. context, indicating that abstinence-only education (AOE) is largely ineffective (Kohler, P. K., L. E. Manhart, and W. E. Lafferty. 2008. “Abstinence-only and comprehensive sex education and the initiation of sexual activity and teen pregnancy.” Journal of Adolescent Health 42 (4): 344–351; Rosenbaum, J. E. 2009. “Patient teenagers? A comparison of the sexual behavior of virginity pledgers and matched non-pledgers.” Pediatrics 123...

The purpose of this study was to examine challenges faced by learners with disabilities in institutions of higher learning. The research adopted a qualitative approach using a sample of 32 disabled persons in four provinces in Zimbabwe. Data were collected through unstructured in-depth interviews. The results of the study indicate that the term “disability” is a “disabling word” that had limited people with disability to make progress in their lives. Despite their effort to live positively,...

This chapter seeks to examine the relationship between land use, ecology, and agriculture at the community level in an area under drought stress in northeastern Ethiopia, and to place these factors in an historical context. It discusses field experience in the Ankober region of northern Shawa province and broader research on the historical basis for highland farming systems in Ethiopia. The chapter considers the question of food production, ecology, and land use in the social context of...

Background: Low Back Pain (LBP) is the leading cause of disability globally.Standardized outcome measures for measuring LBP disability exist but none was developed with consideration for the Nigerian culture and environment.Objective: This study was aimed to develop a Nigerian culture-and environment-friendly LBP scale, the Ibadan Low Back Pain Disability Questionnaire (ILBPDQ).Methods: Items on ILBPDQ were devised from literature review, interview of patients (231 consecutively-sampled...

Spiritual needs of care seekers, families and caregivers are ignored in maternity care in health facilities in Kenya. The quality of care remains poor with unacceptable maternal and neonatal mortalities. The Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) Project at the College of Health Sciences of Moi University Eldoret, Kenya, aimed to integrate spiritual care into maternity care at The Riley Mother and Baby Hospital of The Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH), Eldoret, Kenya, in order to provide...

Background: Forging ‘new’ decolonial education curriculum policy reform with ill-conceived intents may lead to both socio-political and economic pathologies and failure. Aim: The aim of the social sciences meta synthesis done was to consolidate gathered evidence from published scientific articles on decolonial curriculum reform policies. It was critical during the process of synthesising to acknowledge the fact that Africans continue to experience multifaceted socio-political and economic...

Empirical evidence is lacking on the nexus between coffee commodity output, climate change, and commodity price volatility of Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria, and other developing countries. To fill this gap, this study analyzed the reaction of coffee output to climate change and commodity price volatility. We used secondary data from 1961 to 2015 from reliable sources for Nigeria. The study adopted generalized autoregressive conditional heteroscedasticity (GARCH), autoregressive...

Complex and uncertain societal problems cannot be addressed by technical solutions that rely solely on predictions. Institutions that entirely rely on predictions, repeat the same actions (routine), with little reflection on the impact of these technological solutions upon the socio-technical system. Though routine is beneficial for stability and continuity of any institution, it may stifle reflection and make it harder for change. When an institution does not change, it cannot innovate nor...

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a public health issue associated with a high prevalence of disability. Studies on disability profile in terms of reduction in body structure and function, personal activities and societal participation, defined as 'global disability', are scarce among people living with T2DM in Nigeria.To assess the prevalence of global disability and its predictors among Nigerian living with T2DM.A cross-sectional analysis of 162 patients diagnosed with T2DM and attending...

The Great Famine of 1888–92 was one of a long series of natural calamities in northeast Africa which can be traced back for at least a millenium. This chapter aims to compare the progress and consequences of the drought and famine in both Ethiopia and the Sudan. It examines the concurrence of natural causes which precipitated famine, as well as some of the social and political factors which contributed to the inability of both the Ethiopian and Mahdist states to contain the effects of the...

Global research studies have shown that student perceive their academic qualifications as having a declining role in shaping their employment outcomes. While academic credentials are still seen as a significant dimension of their employability, students increasingly see the need to add value to them in order to gain an advantage in the labour market. To mitigate these concerns, a work readiness programme was developed to educate students about professional behaviour, dress etiquete and...