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“Girls get stressed due to the situation we are facing”: Multi level mental health stressors and resilience enablers among adolescent girls and young women in South Africa

Summary

  • Poor mental health, including high levels of stress, is associated with increased risk behaviours resulting in negative sexual and reproductive health (SRH) outcomes amongst adolescent girls and young women (AGYW)
  • We explored South African AGYW’s narratives of stressors,  coping strategies, and impacts of participating in an intervention on mental well-being.
  • We found intersecting factors across individual, interpersonal, microlevel and structural levels that are salient mental health stressors experienced

SAMRC UHC / NHI webinar: Healthcare workers’ and managers’ uses of mobile phone messaging applications in their daily work in South Africa: a mixed method study

In this webinar, Prof. Doherty presented and discussed findings from a research study undertaken in Gauteng and the Free State to explore the extent and purposes for which healthcare workers use messaging apps in their daily work. She also reflected on the benefits and challenges to this use and current policy gaps.

Global Evidence, Local Adaptation (GELA) Project – advancing methods for guideline adaptation in Malawi, Nigeria, and South Africa

In this webinar, Tamara and her GELA colleagues, Emmanuel, Nyanyiwe, and Solange, presented GELA (https://africa.cochrane.org/projects/GELA),a three-year, multi partner, project that commenced in 2022. The project is led by the Health Systems Research Unit at the SAMRC, and being implemented in Malawi, Nigeria, and South Africa. The project aims to enhance evidence-informed guideline recommendations for newborn and young child health in these countries.

The Potential Role of the SA Private Healthcare system in a Universal Health Care system in SA

In this webinar, Dr. Brian Ruff presented and discussed some of the characteristics of the SA private healthcare sector that explain its current production and performance issues. He proposed how these may be addressed so that we can achieve incremental convergence between it and the public sector. Brian used the example of a population medicine programme – The Value Care Team – to illustrate the practical steps that can be taken to make quality care affordable to more of the people who live in SA.

Developing South Africa’s first quality of life value set to inform health technology assessment

The Health Economics Focal Area (Health Systems Research Unit) hosted a 2-day hybrid meeting (27-28th February 2025, Durban) themed “Developing South Africa’s First Quality of Life Value Set to inform Health Technology Assessments”. 

This work forms the basis of a collaborative seed project with health economists at the SAMRC (PI: Dr Darshini Govindasamy) and The George Institute for Global Health (PI: Prof Stephen Jan). 

Who is to blame for the ‘problem’ of teenage pregnancy? – Framing blame in policy and practice

Summary

  • The framing of pregnancy amongst adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) is predominantly negative, referred to as a “problem” in need of intervention.
  • The framing of teenage pregnancy in social discourse influences the way in which AGYW are treated, the extent to which they are supported, and to which they are able to engage with services and enact pregnancy prevention behaviours.
  • This paper unpacks narratives of blame attribution surrounding teenage pregnancy in two communities in South Africa, highlighting the implications of these narratives

Re-Imagining Sexual and Reproductive Health services for Adolescent Girls and Young Women in South Africa: A Qualitative Evaluation of the Imagine Programme

At this webinar Dr. Duby presented the findings from a qualitative study conducted between 2022 to 2024, as part of a formative community needs assessment, and an initial evaluation of the Imagine Programme, a Social Impact Bond intervention providing a comprehensive package of sexual and reproductive health services within school settings.

ASSAf 2024 report: Achieving Good Governance and Management in the South African Health System

At this webinar Prof Lilian Dudley presented the implications of the ASSAf consensus study report titled "Achieving Good Governance and Management in the South African Health System” for policy, practice and research in the context of UHC & NHI. This consensus study, conducted by a seven-member expert panel, explores the critical governance issues impacting the South African health system and provides actionable recommendations for change.

I will find the best method that will work for me: Navigating contraceptive journeys amongst South African adolescent girls and young women

South Africa has one of the highest rates of pregnancy amongst adolescent girls and young women (AGYW) globally

Pregnancy prevention involves an on-going continuum of decision-making around contraceptive method choice, uptake, use, experience, continuation, and discontinuation.

This paper presents analysis of data from a cross-sectional survey with 2376 AGYW, as well as qualitative in-depth interviews (IDIs) with 54 AGYW

SAMRC UHC/NHI Forum: The Unit of Evidence and Deliberation for Decision Making -a responsive service to strengthen evidence-informed decision making in Colombia

The SAMRC UHC/NHI Forum is an open meeting for those interested in developments, learning and plans related to the Universal Health Coverage and the National Health Insurance in South Africa and globally.

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