Background: A key feature of South Africa’s state health care strategy since 1994 has been the de... more Background: A key feature of South Africa’s state health care strategy since 1994 has been the development and expansion of services towards integrated health care at primary health care level. Within the new system, emphasis has been on the integration of patients with mental health care needs with other patients where multiple health conditions and needs would be addressed simultaneously. As part of a larger study into mental health care in a predominantly rural district, we investigated the experiences of facility managers and mental health service users in rural clinics within the system of care. We were interested both in their views as to the advisability of the integrated model and the ways in which they managed any challenges they may have experienced within the system at local level. Methods: Data were collected through once-off semi-structured interviews with facility managers and mental health care service users to gather qualitative information. Narratives were transcrib...
Schizophrenia is a chronic and debilitating mental disorder characterised by a diverse range of s... more Schizophrenia is a chronic and debilitating mental disorder characterised by a diverse range of symptoms that may take their toll on a person’s biological, psychological, and social areas of functioning. Today, it is undeniable that knowledge about schizophrenia, and its repercussions on the person diagnosed with it, has evolved immensely since the Kraepelinian era (Davidson, 2003). However, the effects of the disorder on others, who do not have the diagnosis, may not have been as vastly explored. We need to know more about the impact of the disorder on a range of people, be they healthcare clinicians, family members, or friends who have daily encounters with the person with schizophrenia. This qualitative study investigated the subjective experiences of caregivers of deinstitutionalised individuals with schizophrenia. It aimed at exploring participants’ experiences of burden and coping while caring for a loved one with schizophrenia. Thirteen caregivers participated in individual s...
The Paralympic Movement explicitly sets out to create a more equitable society and promote partic... more The Paralympic Movement explicitly sets out to create a more equitable society and promote participation for all and fairness in disability sport. This is primarily achieved through the use of a range of interventions with less attention given to how economic factors may hinder access and achievement in Paralympic sport. We investigated how country-level economic variables influence the level of participation and achievement in the 2015 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics Championships held in Doha. We used multiple regression analysis to show how levels of participation and achievement in the Championships were significantly determined by economic factors independent of population size. Our data show that in spite of the ideals of inclusion and fairness within the Paralympic Movement and the considerable effort expended on the use of technologies to achieve this, economic factors continue to exert a statistically significant influence on both the level of participation and achievement of Paralympic athletes. LMICs participate at lower levels and achieve fewer medals when compared to HICs. These differences are particularly marked in events that have a high cost of participation. Our findings raise questions regarding the use of current technologies and the level to which they are able to truly disrupt the politics of global inequality in sport.
Background: A key feature of South Africa’s state health care strategy since 1994 has been the de... more Background: A key feature of South Africa’s state health care strategy since 1994 has been the development and expansion of services towards integrated health care at primary health care level. Within the new system, emphasis has been on the integration of patients with mental health care needs with other patients where multiple health conditions and needs would be addressed simultaneously. As part of a larger study into mental health care in a predominantly rural district, we investigated the experiences of facility managers and mental health service users in rural clinics within the system of care. We were interested both in their views as to the advisability of the integrated model and the ways in which they managed any challenges they may have experienced within the system at local level. Methods: Data were collected through once-off semi-structured interviews with facility managers and mental health care service users to gather qualitative information. Narratives were transcrib...
Schizophrenia is a chronic and debilitating mental disorder characterised by a diverse range of s... more Schizophrenia is a chronic and debilitating mental disorder characterised by a diverse range of symptoms that may take their toll on a person’s biological, psychological, and social areas of functioning. Today, it is undeniable that knowledge about schizophrenia, and its repercussions on the person diagnosed with it, has evolved immensely since the Kraepelinian era (Davidson, 2003). However, the effects of the disorder on others, who do not have the diagnosis, may not have been as vastly explored. We need to know more about the impact of the disorder on a range of people, be they healthcare clinicians, family members, or friends who have daily encounters with the person with schizophrenia. This qualitative study investigated the subjective experiences of caregivers of deinstitutionalised individuals with schizophrenia. It aimed at exploring participants’ experiences of burden and coping while caring for a loved one with schizophrenia. Thirteen caregivers participated in individual s...
The Paralympic Movement explicitly sets out to create a more equitable society and promote partic... more The Paralympic Movement explicitly sets out to create a more equitable society and promote participation for all and fairness in disability sport. This is primarily achieved through the use of a range of interventions with less attention given to how economic factors may hinder access and achievement in Paralympic sport. We investigated how country-level economic variables influence the level of participation and achievement in the 2015 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Athletics Championships held in Doha. We used multiple regression analysis to show how levels of participation and achievement in the Championships were significantly determined by economic factors independent of population size. Our data show that in spite of the ideals of inclusion and fairness within the Paralympic Movement and the considerable effort expended on the use of technologies to achieve this, economic factors continue to exert a statistically significant influence on both the level of participation and achievement of Paralympic athletes. LMICs participate at lower levels and achieve fewer medals when compared to HICs. These differences are particularly marked in events that have a high cost of participation. Our findings raise questions regarding the use of current technologies and the level to which they are able to truly disrupt the politics of global inequality in sport.
Uploads
Papers by Divan Rall