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Background: A high prevalence of disrespectful and abusive behaviour by health workers towards women during labour and delivery has been widely described in health facilities, particularly in Africa, and is a worldwide public health concern. Such behaviours are barriers to care-seeking, and are associated with adverse outcomes for mothers and newborns. This paper reports experiences of disrespectful care among informal working women in three public health facilities in Durban, South Africa. Methods: A qualitative longitudinal study was conducted among a cohort of informal working women recruited during pregnancy in two clinics in Durban. The study comprised a series of in-depth interviews conducted at different time points from pregnancy until mothers had returned to work, followed by focus group discussions (FGDs) with cohort participants. We present data from participatory FGDs, known as 'Journey with my Baby', conducted at the end of the study, during which women's experiences from pregnancy until returning to work were reviewed and explored. Thematic analysis was used with NVIVO v12.4. Results: Three 'Journey with my Baby' FGDs were conducted with a total of 15 participants between March and October 2019. Many participants narrated experiences of disrespectful behavior from nurses during labour and childbirth, with several women becoming very distressed as a result. Women described experiencing rudeness and verbal abuse from nurses, lack of privacy and confidentiality, nurses refusing to provide care, being denied companionship and being left unattended for long periods during labour. Women described feeling anxious and unsafe while in the labour ward because of the behaviour they experienced directly and observed other patients experiencing. Such experiences created bad reputations for health facilities, so that women in the local community were reluctant to attend some facilities. Conclusion: Disrespect and abuse continues to be a serious concern in public health facilities in South Africa. We challenge the health system to effectively address the underlying causes of disrespectful behavior among health workers, initiate robust monitoring to identify abusive behavior when it occurs, and take appropriate actions to ensure accountability so that women receive the high-quality maternity care they deserve. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a new strain of virus in the Coronavirus family that has not been previously identified. Since SARS-CoV-2 is a new virus, everyone is at risk of catching the Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19). No one has immunity to the virus. Despite this, misconceptions about specific groups of people who are immune to Covid-19 emerged with the onset of the pandemic. This paper explores South African communities' misconceptions about who is most vulnerable to Covid-19. A rapid qualitative assessment was conducted remotely in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal and the Western Cape provinces of South Africa. Recruitment of study participants took place through established relationships with civil society organizations and contacts made by researchers. In total, 60 key informant interviews and one focus group discussion was conducted. Atlas.ti.8 Windows was used to facilitate qualitative data analysis. The qualitative data was coded, and thematic analysis used to identify themes. The results show a high level of awareness and knowledge of the transmission and prevention of SARS-CoV-2. Qualitative data revealed that there is awareness of elderly people and those with immunocompromised conditions being more vulnerable to catching Covid-19. However, misconceptions of being protected against the virus or having low or no risk were also evident in the data. We found that false information circulated on social media not only instigated confusion, fear and panic, but also contributed to the construction of misconceptions, othering and stigmatizing responses to Covid-19. The study findings bring attention to the importance of developing communication materials adapted to specific communities to help reduce misconceptions, othering and stigmatization around Covid-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

HIV infection during pregnancy and breastfeeding has implications for maternal health. Between May- November 2018, we explored prospective acceptability of two novel HIV Pre-exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) products, oral pills and vaginal rings, through focus group discussions with 65 pregnant and breastfeeding women in Malawi, South Africa, Uganda, Zimbabwe. Qualitative analysis was completed, guided by the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA). First, a deductive thematic analysis was applied to relevant coded data, into the seven TFA constructs (Affective Attitude; Burden; Ethicality, Intervention Coherence; Opportunity Costs; Perceived Effectiveness; Self-efficacy). Next, an iterative analysis was completed to generate themes within each of the TFA constructs. Women's positive attitudes towards daily oral PrEP highlighted the familiarity of taking pills, understanding the purpose of taking pills, and the perception that it is an effective method to protect mothers and babies from HIV during pregnancy and breastfeeding. Women emphasized the ease of using the ring given its monthly duration that lowers burden on the user, its discreetness and invisibility once in place. The TFA analysis highlighted how acceptability of both methods could be enhanced by focusing on perceptions of the end users (i.e. the women) and not just the products themselves. This approach provided insights into how to refine the intervention materials and plans for implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Uncorrected refractive error (URE) is a major cause of vision impairment among children that impacts negatively on their lives including distresses. We aim to understand the disability-related distress among vision-impaired children due to URE in rural and semi-rural South Africa using qualitative techniques. Methods: Structured focus groups of children (aged 5–12 years old) with normal vision and vision impairment due to URE from four schools in Pinetown, KwaZulu Natal, South Africa, were performed (four mixed-gender group discussions and eight single gender group discussions). We recruited the study participants after the children underwent standardised vision screening. Criterion sampling was used when selecting study participants. The interviews were transcribed to identify meaning units and broken down to condensed meaning units, which were then grouped into megathemes. Themes were then generated. Results: Thirteen children with normal vision and 63 children with vision impairment due to URE participated in the twelve focus group discussions with 36 boys (47%) and 40 girls (53%). Twelve themes were generated. The megathemes were Loss of Self Confidence (number of themes (n) = 3), Loss of self-worth (n = 3), Loss of interconnection/ interaction with community (n = 2), Humiliation (n = 2) and Discrimination (n = 2). Conclusions: We found that vision impairment due to URE can cause distress in different domains in children's life and further grouped them into different themes. The themes will be used for the development of a tool to assess disability-related distress among children with vision impairment due to URE. We also recommend that distresses caused by URE should be taken into consideration when designing eye care programmes for children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Community mobilization has been recognized as a critical enabler for HIV prevention and is employed for challenging gender inequalities. We worked together with community partners to implement the 'One Man Can' intervention in rural Mpumalanga, South Africa to promote gender equality and HIV risk reduction. During the intervention, we conducted longitudinal qualitative interviews and focus group discussions with community mobilizers (n = 26), volunteer community action team members (n = 22) and community members (n = 52) to explore their experience of being part of the intervention and their experiences of change associated with the intervention. The objective of the study was to examine processes of change in community mobilization for gender equity and HIV prevention. Our analysis showed that over time, participants referred to three key elements of their engagement with the intervention: developing respect for others; inter-personal communication; and empathy. These elements were viewed as assisting them in adopting a 'better life' and associated with behaviour change in the intervention's main focus areas of promoting gender equality and HIV risk reduction behaviours. We discuss how these concepts relate to the essential domains contained within our theoretical framework of community mobilization—specifically critical consciousness, shared concerns and social cohesion -, as demonstrated in this community. We interpret the focus on these key elements as significant indicators of communities engaging with the community mobilization process and initiating movement towards structural changes for HIV prevention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]