Browsing by Author "Shung-King, Maylene"

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    Acceptability and feasibility of a school-based contraceptive clinic in a low-income community in South Africa
    (Cambridge University Press, 2019) Khoza, Nondumiso; Zulu, Phindile; Shung-King, Maylene
    Aim: To investigate how acceptable and feasible a school-based contraceptive clinic (SBCC) would be in a low-income South African community. Background: Teenage pregnancy is an important issue in South Africa, with significant health and social consequences. Issues regarding lack of confidentiality in an intimate community, unwelcoming health workers, long distances to clinics and perceptions of contraceptive side effects may all inhibit contraceptive use by adolescents. Although SBCC has been initiated and investigated in other countries, this approach is inadequately researched in South Africa. Methods: A mixed method study was conducted to assess the attitudes of one community towards establishment of an SBCC in their area. Methods of data collection included: focus group discussions (FGDs) with teenage girls from a local high school; a key informant interview with the school principal; a structured survey, including open-ended questionnaires with randomly selected parents of teenage girls from the same community; and a documentary analysis to explore relevant legal and policy considerations. Findings: Teenage girls, the school principal and parents with teenage daughters largely supported the idea of an SBCC, but with concerns about confidentiality, the possibility of increased promiscuity and contraceptive side effects. While legal statutes and policies in South Africa do not pose any barriers to the establishment of an SBCC, some logistical barriers remain.
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    An assessment of a training-of-trainers programme for clinic committees in a South African district : a qualitative exploratory study
    (BMC (part of Springer Nature), 2020-11-30) Esau, Natasha; English, Rene; Shung-King, Maylene
    Background: In South Africa (SA), clinics and community health centres are the predominant primary level health care facilities in the public health sector. As part of legislated health governance requirements, clinic committees (referring to those for clinics and community health centres) were established to provide management oversight and bring to bear the perspectives and participation of communities at Primary Health Care (PHC) facilities. Clinic committees need training in order to better understand their roles. Facilitators in a district of SA were trained through a designated programme, called the ‘PHC Facility Governance Structures Trainer-of-Facilitator (ToF) Learning Programme‘, in preparation for the training of clinic committees. This paper explores how the programme had evolved and was experienced by the trained facilitators, in a district in SA. Methods: We employed a retrospective qualitative case study design, guided by the Illuminative Evaluation Framework, with the training programme in the selected district as the case. The study assessed whether the intended aims of the training programme were clearly conveyed by the trainers, and how participants understood and subsequently conveyed the training programme intentions to the clinic committees. Key informant interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with trainers and managers, complemented by a review of relevant policy and legislative documents, and published literature. Study participants were purposively selected based on their involvement in the development, facilitation or training of the programme. Thirteen individuals participated in the study, and 23 (national, provincial and partner) documents were reviewed. Results: Despite the different perceptions and understandings of the ToF Learning Programme, its overall aims were achieved. Trainers’ capacity was strengthened and clinic committees were trained accordingly. The training programme holds promise for possible national scale-up. The high quality of the interactive posters can be considered equally valuable as a training tool as the training manuals. Conclusions: Trainers’ capacity was strengthened and clinic committees were trained accordingly, despite deviations in implementation of the original training approach and plan.