Page 63 - SAMRC Annual Report 2023-24

PERFORMANCE INFORMATION

Development Pathways
for Research Unit

Unit director:
Prof. Shane Norris

Prioritising responsive research implementation science projects working with the
through impactful interventions Soweto community and stakeholders. One such
initiative is the Wits Health Hubb, led by Dr Lisa
The Development Pathways for Health Research Ware, in Soweto and recruited another group of
Unit (DPHRU) aims to elucidate important pathways youth who were not in employment, education or
to health and development in these areas: training (NEET). To date, there have been 95 NEET
(1) maternal and child health and nutrition, youth who have been trained as community health
(2) growth, psychosocial and physical development, workers on this programme and who supported
and (3) obesity and non-communicable disease over 80,000 community members with basic health
(NCD) risk in South Africa.
checks and referral to care, also contributing to over
To address area (1) we are currently conducting a 3,000 participants’ blood pressure data from Soweto
randomised clinical trial (RCT) to improve women's to the Global May Measurement Month campaign in
physical and mental health preconception and for 2023. A new initiative, led by Professor Shane Norris,
those who become pregnant a continuum of care is an implementation science prototype (Brain Gym)
intervention to improve pregnancy and child health aimed to address a critical need of youth depression
and development outcomes. For area (2) we are and anxiety. The new Brain Gym prototype has been
conducting a RCT in rural and urban South Africa built and installed at DPHRU and currently collecting
to address the triple burden of malnutrition (under- implementation science data on a first-phase
or over-weight and micronutrient deficiencies) in response/service to young people with depression,
adolescent girls. For area (3) we are implementing a anxiety or suicidal ideation.
RCT that aims to reduce hypertension risk through a
household salt substitute which has less sodium and Science for creating a
is enriched with potassium. The key impact is that healthier society
we have demonstrated a complex multi-morbidity
burden with young people and ageing adults and The unit's work on early childhood development,
the need for life course prevention studies and that led by Assistant Professor Catherine Draper, has
community health workers may be an important specifically been community-based, in partnership
change agent to support prevention of NCDs in with non-governmental/not-for-profit organisations
South Africa. focused on early childhood development in low-
income urban and rural communities. This work
Equitable capacity development has involved events to provide feedback to these
for empowering communities organisations, in addition to feedback provided to
participants (caregivers of young children), and has
DPHRU supported 30 postgraduate and also involved the co-design of a digital tool with
postdoctoral fellows in 2023/24 and is committed organisation representatives (community-based
to strongly developing the next generation of workers) to promote early childhood development
scientists. In addition, we have embarked on several and well-being. The feedback from these types of

SAMRC ANNUAL REPOR T 2023-24 61