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Multimorbidity is a consequence of both epidemiological and demographic transition. Unlike comorbidity, it currently has no consensus definition, making it difficult to assess its epidemiological and socioeconomic burden, to organize healthcare services rationally, and to determine the skills needed for patient self-reliance. The aim of this study is to define the spectrum of multimorbidity and to discuss current implications for the organization of care.

AbstractTraditional health practitioners offer a variety of interventions for people who choose traditional health practice services. Hearing impairment, which may cause significant difficulties in communication, employment and learning, is a condition for which people consult with traditional health practitioners in South Africa. The training undergone by traditional health practitioners sets the tone for the types of intervention for persons with hearing loss. As there is a paucity of literature in this area, 15 traditional health practitioners were interviewed about the training they had undergone and more specifically with regards to hearing loss. The content thematic analysis which was conducted on the interview transcripts revealed that the training of traditional health practitioners has a significant supernatural component which includes a spiritual possession through which the ancestors pass on the inspired knowledge on how to assess and treat clients. The calling to become a traditional health practitioner is reportedly a divine vocation and cannot be refused. During their apprenticeships, traditional health practitioners learn to interpret the dreams sent by the ancestors and learn to hone their skills in the identification of appropriate treatments for hearing loss. The findings of this study suggest the need for open communication between traditional and modern health care providers so that traditional and allopathic health practitioners can learn from each other so as to provide an effective and appropriate intervention for their clients.

A comparative study between the metric and the teleparallel descriptions of gravitation is made for the case of a scalar field. In contrast to the current belief that only spin matter could detect the teleparallel geometry, scalar matter being able to feel the metric geometry only, we show that a scalar field is able not only to feel anyone of these geometries, but also to produce torsion. Furthermore, both descriptions are found to be completely equivalent, which means that in fact, besides coupling to curvature, a scalar field couples also to torsion.