Petra Bester

This pioneering study evaluates the prevalence of aeroallergens reactivity among atopic populations living in the Vaal Triangle Airshed Priority Area (VTAPA), South Africa. A total of 138 volunteers (51 males and 87 females), of African, colored, white, and Asian ethnicity, and with a mean (range) age of 22 (18–56) years were participating in the study. The study was conducted on the North-West University (NWU) campus in Vanderbijlpark/VTAPA. The International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood questionnaire was utilized for pre-screening to identify individuals with probable allergic dispositions. Subsequently, skin prick testing was conducted using commercial aeroallergen extracts for all confirmed participants with allergy symptoms. One hundred six participants were clinically diagnosed with pollen and fungal spore allergies. The highest allergy prevalence was attributed to Cynodon dactylon ((L.) Pers) (Bermuda grass) (41.5%), followed by Lolium perenne (L.) (ryegrass), grass mix, and Zea mays (L.) (maize) (31.1%), respectively. Moreover, among the tree allergens, Olea (L.) (olive tree) was the most prevalent allergen (20; 18.8%), followed by Platanus (L.) (plane tree) (18; 16.9%). Among the weeds, 16 (15.1%) participants were allergic to the weed mix (Artemisia (L.) (wormwood), Chenopodium (Link) (goosefoot), Salsola (L.) (saltwort), Plantago (L.) (plantain), and 11 (10.3%) to Ambrosia (L.) (ragweed)). Regarding the fungal spores, Alternaria (Fr.) (9; 8.5%) followed by Cladosporium (Link) (5; 4.7%) had the highest skin sensitivity. In this pilot study, our findings provide insights into the prevalence of allergic responses in the study population—underlining the strong impact of allergens of exotic plants—and contribute to the existing aerobiological data in South Africa.

Introduction: As countries adapted their disaster responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic, South Africa responded with an alert‐level risk approach based on epidemiological principles that impacted all societal levels. We explored the everyday experiences of people in Cape Town whose basic needs were met and who could report on the realities of the COVID‐19 pandemic control. Gaining insight into their perspectives contributes to knowledge that can inform policies and practices for managing future public health crises.Methods: Community‐Based Participatory Research principles guided the design and a series of facilitated dialogues with 18 research participants. The thematic analysis was deepened through two colloquiums with members of an overarching research consortium and a participant reflection workshop.Findings: The pandemic impacted individuals, their interpersonal relationships, workplaces and communities, leading to societal processes such as stigma, virtue signalling and the subversion of mandates. The public health response had mixed reactions, with useful information about preventive measures being diluted by COVID‐19 denialism and fake news. Health and other authorities were frequently perceived as out of touch with, and unresponsive to, the everyday realities of local communities.Conclusions: Our study demonstrates the connectedness of people and the need to maintain and re‐establish severed connections. A holistic approach to health care and promotion from social determinants of health and a community‐engaged perspective may significantly increase the outcomes of public health responses.Participant and Public Contribution: People with everyday experience of the COVID‐19 pandemic—including community members, healthcare workers, case managers, carers and researchers—collaborated on the study design, interview schedule, data interpretation, analysis and refinement of this article.

Deficit-based approaches seldom consider protective contextual factors, characterise individuals with regard to deficiencies and might not facilitate health promotion efforts effectively. Although deficit-based primary human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) prevention programmes for gay men are valued, they limit opportunities to focus on the assets that could promote the broader health and well-being of gay men. Conversely, strengths-based approaches could guide gay men to protect, maintain and promote their health and well-being by focusing on acceptance, support, community coherence and resilience. Yet, limited strengths-based health promotion programmes exist for gay men in South Africa and specifically in its North West province. The study aimed to explore and describe the assets of gay men in this province and the strengthening thereof to promote their health and well-being by applying appreciative inquiry. A snowball sample of 11 gay men participated in asynchronous virtual focus groups on a unique Microsoft Power Apps platform. Seven themes were constructed using thematic analysis. Healthier eating, enhanced mental health, being healthy, achieving balance, physical activity and financial well-being contribute to the broader health and well-being of gay men. The assets of gay men that promote their health and well-being include support, care, positivity, goals, abilities, a sense of achievement, self-acceptance, happiness and learning from past experiences. The study identified individual and community enablers or facilitators that enhance these assets and the broader health and well-being of gay men. The findings address the lack of strengths-based health promotion programmes for gay men and offer pathways for researchers and programme implementers to focus on the broader health and well-being of gay men.

When the Cox model is applied, some recommendations about the choice of the time metric and the model’s structure are often disregarded along with the proportionality of risk assumption. Moreover, most of the published studies fail to frame the real impact of a risk factor in the target population. Our aim was to show how modelling strategies affected Cox model assumptions. Furthermore, we showed how the Cox modelling strategies affected the population attributable risk (PAR). Our work is based on data collected in the North-West Province, one of the two PURE study centres in South Africa. The Cox model was used to estimate the hazard ratio (HR) of mortality for all causes in relation to smoking, alcohol use, physical inactivity, and hypertension. Firstly, we used a Cox model with time to event as the underlying time variable. Secondly, we used a Cox model with age to event as the underlying time variable. Finally, the second model was implemented with age classes and sex as strata variables. Mutually adjusted models were also investigated. A statistical test to the multiplicative interaction term the exposures and the log transformed time to event metric was used to assess the proportionality of risk assumption. The model’s fitting was investigated by means of the Akaike Information Criteria (AIC). Models with age as the underlying time variable with age and sex as strata variables had enhanced validity of the risk proportionality assumption and better fitting. The PAR for a specific modifiable risk factor can be defined more accurately in mutually adjusted models allowing better public health decisions. This is not necessarily true when correlated modifiable risk factors are considered.

Background: Globally, noncommunicable diseases (NCDs) have been continuously reported to be the number one leading cause of reduced life expectancy and poor life quality and have thus become a major public health concern.Objective: This study aimed to investigate the complex mediation analysis between physical inactivity and overweight in relation to mortality. Methods: The study is based on public data collected by the Global Health Observatory of the World Health Organization. Results: We showed that the median early mortality attributable to NCDs during the period 2016-2019 in both men and women was 23.2% (5th to 95th range=17.2, 35.6) while that in men alone was 25.1% (16.5, 45.7) and that of women alone was 22.0% (17.0, 27.9). When considering regional early NCDs mortality for both men and women, a systematically high median was observed in Southern Africa [28.7% (22.2, 43.8)] and a low median in Eastern Africa [21.1% (17.15, 27.3)]. The analysis of the overall relation between physical inactivity, overweight and early mortality due to NCDs revealed a statistical significance of the direct association between physical inactivity and early mortality due to NCDs.Conclusion: Our findings revealed three main epidemiological and public health concerns. First, early mortality attributable to NCDs in a range of about 20 to 30% across the sub-Saharan African regions for both sexes was observed. Second, there was a direct effect between physical inactivity and early NCDs mortality as well as the indirect effect mediated by overweight. Finally, a percentage point decrease in physical inactivity prevalence and overweight could effectively generate a reduction in mortality due to NCDs. Future studies are needed to confirm the scientific evidence observed in this study. Such studies should be based on observation of individual subjects, adopt a longitudinal design, and collect information that evaluates the complex relationship between physical inactivity and early NCDs mortality, along with the role of overweight as a possible mediator.

The Six BRICKS® initiative is a teaching and learning method that encourages focused engagement in the classroom by all learners, from the foundation phase to adulthood. By using six simple, colourful DUPLO® bricks, an element of play is introduced into a situation that inevitably leads to all individuals focusing and interacting. This is one of the major contributions to all teaching and learning disciplines and promotes the audience to learn with enjoyment, enthusiasm and concentration. Along with this, communication is promoted, sparking unimaginable creativity and creation. This book provides the reader with an alternative focus to the original educational application of the Six Bricks® activities. This Six Bricks® initiative focuses on the therapeutic application and processes in communities, schools and within individuals themselves. As each author has had an intimate connection with Six Bricks® initiative, they are all more than qualified to provide their autoethnographic reflections on this initiative, which holds so much promise and excitement for learning and teaching. Therefore, each author’s contributions were original and personalised, providing a new field in the avenues of research in the South African context, as South Africa does not have – as yet – much research on this topic. The methodology used in this qualitative research study was primarily from each author’s perspective; thus, their self-reflection and anecdotal personal experiences form the core of these chapters. Therefore, this autoethnographic is a self-reflective form of writing which involves self-observation and reflective investigation in the context of ethnographic fieldwork and writing.

The Six BRICKS® initiative is a teaching and learning method that encourages focused engagement in the classroom by all learners, from the foundation phase to adulthood. By using six simple, colourful DUPLO® bricks, an element of play is introduced into a situation that inevitably leads to all individuals focusing and interacting. This is one of the major contributions to all teaching and learning disciplines and promotes the audience to learn with enjoyment, enthusiasm and concentration. Along with this, communication is promoted, sparking unimaginable creativity and creation. This book provides the reader with an alternative focus to the original educational application of the Six Bricks® activities. This Six Bricks® initiative focuses on the therapeutic application and processes in communities, schools and within individuals themselves. As each author has had an intimate connection with Six Bricks® initiative, they are all more than qualified to provide their autoethnographic reflections on this initiative, which holds so much promise and excitement for learning and teaching. Therefore, each author’s contributions were original and personalised, providing a new field in the avenues of research in the South African context, as South Africa does not have – as yet – much research on this topic. The methodology used in this qualitative research study was primarily from each author’s perspective; thus, their self-reflection and anecdotal personal experiences form the core of these chapters. Therefore, this autoethnographic is a self-reflective form of writing which involves self-observation and reflective investigation in the context of ethnographic fieldwork and writing.

The Six BRICKS® initiative is a teaching and learning method that encourages focused engagement in the classroom by all learners, from the foundation phase to adulthood. By using six simple, colourful DUPLO® bricks, an element of play is introduced into a situation that inevitably leads to all individuals focusing and interacting. This is one of the major contributions to all teaching and learning disciplines and promotes the audience to learn with enjoyment, enthusiasm and concentration. Along with this, communication is promoted, sparking unimaginable creativity and creation. This book provides the reader with an alternative focus to the original educational application of the Six Bricks® activities. This Six Bricks® initiative focuses on the therapeutic application and processes in communities, schools and within individuals themselves. As each author has had an intimate connection with Six Bricks® initiative, they are all more than qualified to provide their autoethnographic reflections on this initiative, which holds so much promise and excitement for learning and teaching. Therefore, each author’s contributions were original and personalised, providing a new field in the avenues of research in the South African context, as South Africa does not have – as yet – much research on this topic. The methodology used in this qualitative research study was primarily from each author’s perspective; thus, their self-reflection and anecdotal personal experiences form the core of these chapters. Therefore, this autoethnographic is a self-reflective form of writing which involves self-observation and reflective investigation in the context of ethnographic fieldwork and writing.

Background South Africa's progress towards forming a health promotion workforce lags behind the health promotion career opportunities and professional standards guided by the Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA), from which South Africa can learn valuable lessons. Problem statement Despite the existence of a national health promotion strategy, inconsistencies in health promotion workforce standards are a national reality. In one of the 10 National Health Insurance pilot districts in South Africa, researchers investigated health care workers' experiences of the barriers and enablers for the health promotion workforce. Methodology A qualitative explorative descriptive design was used. Health care workers (health promoters, n = 8; operational managers, n = 6; senior managers, n = 3) in Dr Kenneth Kaunda District's public health sector were sampled using purposive proportional quota sampling. Data were gathered through semi-structured individual interviews until data saturation was reached (N = 17). Transcribed interviews were thematically analysed, supported by ATLAS.ti 8. Results Five themes and thirteen sub-themes emerged, and barriers to the health promotion workforce exceeded enablers. Health promotion workforce structure and policies were deficient. Managerial supervision and monitoring were lacking. The health promotion workforce received insufficient resources with limited implementation of health promotion programs. Formal and informal health promotion training was necessary. Recommendations The AHPA's proposed Health Promotion Workforce model is considered, focusing on a clear workforce structure, strengthened by managerial buy-in and efficient monitoring and evaluation. Formal and informal health promotion training and advocacy of the health promotion workforce industry are highlighted. Countries with emerging economies and similar health systems to South Africa might find this article useful.