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- Bjerneld, Magdalena, 1950-, et al.
(författare)
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Perceptions of Work in Humanitarian Assistance : Interviews With Returning Swedish Health Professionals
- 2004
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Ingår i: Disaster Management & Response. - : Elsevier BV. - 1540-2487 .- 1540-2495. ; 2:4, s. 101-108
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Health personnel volunteering for humanitarian assistance assignments work in increasingly dangerous situations and increasingly complex roles. A qualitative analysis of interviews with returning Swedish aid workers, who collectively had been on 74 missions in 32 different countries, revealed that they felt positive about their contribution, but experienced high levels of stress and frustration. They were also surprised and inadequately prepared for tasks that fell outside their professional health care training, including ones demanding pedagogic and management skills.The volunteers perceived their success on humanitarian assistance assignments as being affected not only by their own professional competence and special preparatory training, but also by many other factors. In particular, recruiting organizations could improve volunteer performance by accepting only experienced professionals, requiring special preparatory training, clarifying the exact nature of the work, and providing better support during the assignment. Further analysis of humanitarian assistance as a complex and dynamic system involving multiple ‘actors’ could lead to improved understanding and better performance.
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- Bjerneld, Magdalena, 1950-, et al.
(författare)
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Socialisation of humanitarian aid workers : Interviews with recruitment officers
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Annan publikation (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- International organisations employ thousands of aid workers for humanitarian aid around the world. One of the problems identified in earlier research is the high turnover of personnel.This article is part of a broader research project investigating how humanitarian organisations attract, recruit and prepare expatriate health professionals for field work and how these professionals are utilized in order to identify possible improvements in the human resource management system. The current study describes how recruitment officers in selected large humanitarian organisations perceive humanitarian aid work, how they recruit, prepare, and support their staff in order to achieve high retention, and what concerns and recommendations they have for future work. For the analysis of the interviews content analysis was used.The recruitment officers identified the importance of flexibility and diplomacy in complex realities. They confirmed the findings of earlier studies that team work often is a source of frustrations and sometimes disappointment. Their main concern was lack of time to find the right person for the right job, often a person with broad expertise in public health. Another difficulty was to find persons who could take responsibility as leaders and trainers. In order to socialize the newcomers into the organisation short courses and debriefing sessions were used. Persons, who stay too long in the field of humanitarian action and sometimes become cynical to the difficult situation they work in was also discussed as being problematic. This finding contradicts the otherwise frequently discussed question about the high turnover of personnel in humanitarian action. This article argues for the use of socialization theory in order to find sustainable solution to identified problems.
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- Chikovore, Jeremiah, et al.
(författare)
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"How Can I Gain Skills if I Don't Practice?'' The Dynamics of Prohibitive Silence against Pre-Marital Pregnancy and Sex in Zimbabwe
- 2013
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Ingår i: PLOS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 8:1, s. e53058-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Young people face sexual and reproductive health (SRH) problems including Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and Acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It is critical to continue documenting their situation including the contexts they live in. As part of a larger study that explored perspectives of men to SRH and more specifically abortion and contraceptive use, 546 pupils (51% female; age range 9-25 years) from a rural area in Zimbabwe were invited to write anonymously questions about growing up or other questions they could not ask adults for fear or shame. The pupils were included following descriptions by adults of the violence that is unleashed on unmarried young people who engaged in sex, used contraceptives, or simply suggested doing so. The questions by the young people pointed to living in a context of prohibitive silence; their sexuality was silenced and denied. As a consequence they had poor knowledge and their fears and internal conflicts around sexuality and pregnancy were not addressed. Current action suggests concerted effort at the policy level to deal with young people's SRH in Zimbabwe. It nevertheless remains necessary, as a way to provide support to these efforts, to continue examining what lessons can be drawn from the past, and how the past continues to reflect in and shape present dynamics and relations. There is also need to look more critically at life skill education, which has previously been described as having failed to address adequately the practical needs of young people. Life skill education in Zimbabwe has rarely been systematically evaluated. A fuller understanding is also needed of the different factors co-existing in contemporary African societies and how they have been and continue to be constituted within history, and the implications to the promotion of adolescent SRH.
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- Darj, Elisabeth, 1953-, et al.
(författare)
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'Even though a man takes the major role, he has no right to abuse' : future male leaders' views on gender-based violence in Sri Lanka
- 2017
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Ingår i: Global Health Action. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1654-9716 .- 1654-9880. ; 10:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Distinct gender roles influence gender inequality and build the foundation for gender-based violence. Violence against women is a major public health problem in all societies, and a violation of human rights. Prevalence surveys on gender-based violence have been published from Sri Lanka, but qualitative studies on men's perceptions are lacking. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore young educated Sri Lankan men's perceptions of violence against women. Methods: Seven focus-group discussions were held. Men at the end of their university studies were purposefully selected. A topic guide was used, covering various scenarios of violence against women. Qualitative content analysis was carried out. Results: Four categories were developed through the analytic process: fixed gender roles patriarchal values are accepted in society, female mobility control, and slowly changing attitudes; violence not accepted but still exists - sexual harassment exists everywhere, different laws for different people, female tolerance of violence, and men's right to punish; multiple factors cause violence - alcohol, violent behavior is inherited, violence culturally accepted, low education, and lack of communication; and prevention of violence against women - both parents must engage and socialize girls and boys equally, life skills education, premarital counselling, working places value clarification, and more women in politics and boards are suggested. Conclusions: Medical and management students, possible future male leaders of the country, have suggestions of prevention strategies in life skills to reduce gender-based violence and to increase knowledge of health consequences with the aim of changing attitudes.
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| 6. |
- Eriksson, Elisabet, et al.
(författare)
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Young people, sexuality, and HIV prevention within Christian faith communities in South Africa : a cross-sectional survey
- 2014
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Ingår i: Journal of religion and health. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0022-4197 .- 1573-6571. ; 53:6, s. 1662-1675
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Faith communities exert a powerful influence on the life of their members, and studies are needed about how they may be able to influence young people's attitudes regarding sexuality and HIV prevention. Data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire from young people (811), aged 15-24 years, affiliated to the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Church and the Assemblies of God. The majority of participants perceived themselves at risk of HIV infection (53 %). Premarital sexual abstinence was the most frequently (88 %) reported prevention message, followed by faithfulness (23 %), HIV testing (18 %) and condom use (17 %). Furthermore, religious affiliation was associated with education on sexuality and HIV in youth groups, with better information given to members of the Lutheran and Catholic churches. Faith communities need to strengthen their capacity to educate young people in a more holistic way about sexuality and HIV prevention.
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- Souza, João Paulo, et al.
(författare)
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Moving beyond essential interventions for reduction of maternal mortality (the WHO Multicountry Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health) : a cross-sectional study
- 2013
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Ingår i: The Lancet. - 0140-6736 .- 1474-547X. ; 381:9879, s. 1747-1755
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- BACKGROUND: We report the main findings of the WHO Multicountry Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health (WHOMCS), which aimed to assess the burden of complications related to pregnancy, the coverage of key maternal health interventions, and use of the maternal severity index (MSI) in a global network of health facilities.METHODS: In our cross-sectional study, we included women attending health facilities in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East that dealt with at least 1000 childbirths per year and had the capacity to provide caesarean section. We obtained data from analysis of hospital records for all women giving birth and all women who had a severe maternal outcome (SMO; ie, maternal death or maternal near miss). We regarded coverage of key maternal health interventions as the proportion of the target population who received an indicated intervention (eg, the proportion of women with eclampsia who received magnesium sulphate). We used areas under the receiver operator characteristic curves (AUROC) with 95% CI to externally validate a previously reported MSI as an indicator of severity. We assessed the overall performance of care (ie, the ability to produce a positive effect on health outcomes) through standardised mortality ratios.RESULTS: From May 1, 2010, to Dec 31, 2011, we included 314,623 women attending 357 health facilities in 29 countries (2538 had a maternal near miss and 486 maternal deaths occurred). The mean period of data collection in each health facility was 89 days (SD 21). 23,015 (7.3%) women had potentially life-threatening disorders and 3024 (1.0%) developed an SMO. 808 (26.7%) women with an SMO had post-partum haemorrhage and 784 (25.9%) had pre-eclampsia or eclampsia. Cardiovascular, respiratory, and coagulation dysfunctions were the most frequent organ dysfunctions in women who had an SMO. Reported mortality in countries with a high or very high maternal mortality ratio was two-to-three-times higher than that expected for the assessed severity despite a high coverage of essential interventions. The MSI had good accuracy for maternal death prediction in women with markers of organ dysfunction (AUROC 0.826 [95% CI 0.802-0.851]).INTERPRETATION: High coverage of essential interventions did not imply reduced maternal mortality in the health-care facilities we studied. If substantial reductions in maternal mortality are to be achieved, universal coverage of life-saving interventions need to be matched with comprehensive emergency care and overall improvements in the quality of maternal health care. The MSI could be used to assess the performance of health facilities providing care to women with complications related to pregnancy.
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