Tholene Sodi

• University of Limpopo

Introduction Water is essential for human survival and serves various purposes, including domestic, socioeconomic, and agricultural activities. However, water scarcity has emerged as a significant threat to this vital resource, posing a global challenge. While discussions surrounding the consequences of water scarcity typically emphasizes its effec...

Studies show that mental health promotion is an effective strategy that can reduce the burden of mental health disorders and improve overall well-being in both children and adults. In addition to promoting high levels of mental well-being and preventing the onset of mental illness, these mental health promotion programmes, including mental illness...

Men of African ancestry suffer disproportionately from prostate cancer (PCa) compared to other racial groups in South Africa. Equally concerning is that black South African men generally present later and with higher stages and grades of the disease than their non-black counterparts. Despite this, a small percentage of black South African men parti...

Men of African ancestry suffer disproportionately from prostate cancer (PCa) than other racial groups in South Africa. Equally concerning is that black South African men generally present later with higher stage and grade of the disease than their non-black counterparts. Despite this, South African black men continue to have little uptake in PCa sc...

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly shaped the global landscape and impacted various aspects of individuals’ lives, especially the behaviour of school-going adolescents regarding substance use. Among these substances, alcohol is the most predominant substance, particularly among school-going adolescents, who also are highly suscep...

Background There is an urgent need for scalable psychological treatments to address adolescent depression in low-resource settings. Digital mental health interventions have many potential advantages, but few have been specifically designed for or rigorously evaluated with adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Objective This study had 2 main objective...

In South Africa, as in many other Low- and Medium-Income Countries (LMICs), there is a high prevalence of mental disorders. Despite the high burden of mental illness in these countries, only a few professionals are available to provide mental healthcare. As a result, many people experiencing mental health problems are propelled to consult with thei...

Background: Community health workers (CHWs) are at the forefront of promoting health in their communities and are involved in the control of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including cardiovascular disease(CVD). Their specialist knowledge is likely to enhance their involvement in the prevention and control of NCDs in the community, particularly th...

Mental illness accounts for high levels of morbidity, mortality and poor quality of life among young people. Depression, anxiety, conduct issues and hyperactive disorder account for 13% of the global burden of disease that affects one in seven adolescents. In Kenya, not much is documented about the mental health of non-school-going adolescents, and...

Accepting the ancestral calling to healing and undergoing the training to become a traditional healer in southern Africa is seen as a process of identity formation which is constructed by the knowledge acquired throughout the process. The researcher embarked on a journey with traditional health practitioners to understand their lived experiences an...

In Africa, there is a dearth of Mental Health Professionals (MHCP’s) which results in a shortage of those who formally diagnose, assess, and treat people suffering from mental illnesses. Thus, many individuals consult with their spiritual leaders (pastors) when experiencing mental health challenges before they consult MHCPs. While mental illness is...

Introduction Scalable psychological treatments to address depression among adolescents are urgently needed. This is particularly relevant to low-income and middle-income countries where 90% of the world’s adolescents live. While digital delivery of behavioural activation (BA) presents a promising solution, its feasibility, acceptability and effecti...

The rise in non-communicable diseases (NCDs) has been attributed to economic growth in developing countries, shifts in societal norms, and behaviors such as dietary habits and physical activity. Up to 80% of NCDs could be prevented by eliminating shared risk factors, mainly tobacco use, unhealthy diets, physical inactivity, and the harmful use of a...

Introduction: Assessing mental health literacy has implications for the identification and treatment of mental health problems. Adolescents have been identified as a particularly important target group for initiating and improving mental health literacy. However, much of what we know about adolescent mental health literacy comes from high-income c...

Background Cardiovascular diseases are now the leading cause of death worldwide, amounting to 17.8% of all deaths recorded. In Sub-Saharan Africa, it contributes to about 13% of deaths, whereas 80% were recorded from developing countries. A quarter of all deaths are attributable to behavioural and metabolic risk factors due to patients` lack of sel...

Introduction Scalable psychological treatments to address depression amongst adolescents are urgently needed. This is particularly relevant to low- and middle-income countries where 90% of the world’s adolescents live, socioeconomic adversities affecting mental ill-health are prevalent, and mental health service resources remain very limited. Whils...

In this study, we explored older rural South African adults’ perceptions of organ donation. Twelve older Pedi adults (male = 50%; age range 51 to 78 years) completed in-depth interviews on their knowledge of organ donation, cultural views, and influences on their orientation to the medical practice. Four themes emerged from the data synthesis: (i)...

Background Cardiovascular diseases are now the leading cause of death worldwide, amounting to 17,8% of all deaths recorded. In sub-Saharan Africa, it contributes to about 13% of deaths, whereas 80% were recorded from developing countries. A quarter of all deaths are attributable to behavioural and metabolic risk factors due to patients` lack of sel...

The purpose of the study was to explore the role of religion in meaning making and coping among a group of black patients receiving some form of prostate cancer treatment at a public hospital in Limpopo Province, South Africa. A sample of 20 prostate cancer survivors, with ages ranging from 67 to 85 years (mean age = 76yrs; SD = 5.3) selected throu...

Background In the Southern African countries, cardiovascular disease burden is increasing and the second most prevalent cause of death after infectious diseases. The sustainable primary prevention of cardiovascular disease is associated with the engagement of facilitators that support it and hindered by barriers that undermine the support of a heal...

The study explored the psychosocial experiences of rural black South African men undergoing renal dialysis in a tertiary hospital. Twenty men aged between 20 and 59 years ( Mean age = 40.65 yrs; SD = 12.52) participated in the study. Participants were recruited purposefully. Data were collected over a period of 4 months through in-depth face-to-fac...

Background: In 2011, the United Nations set out an ambitious plan to dramatically reduce the effect of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) including cardiovascular diseases (CVD) in all regions of the world. However, the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-Cov-2) is slowing current efforts and the set targets may not be...

Background: Evidence suggests that South African traditional healers (THs) treat various mental complaints. However, there is little literature on Swati THs' accounts on this subject. The current study therefore, sought to address this gap. Methods: Data was gathered using qualitative research methods, namely semi-structured interviews with 10 p...

Purpose This study aims to explore how cultural beliefs and traditions are integral to understanding indigenous mental health conditions (MHCs) and traditional healing (TH). However, Nigerian cultural beliefs about MHCs and TH are under-researched. Design/methodology/approach This study adopted a qualitative design using critical realist and socia...

Background The number of people who suffer and die from Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) is increasing at an alarming rate in low-and middle-income countries. Objective The objective of the study was to screen communities using the non-laboratory INTERHEART Risk Score tool (NLIRS) to determine their level of risk for developing CVD. Methods A communi...

The BRICS Forum, an independent international organization encouraging commercial, political, and cultural cooperation between Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa, was formed in 2011, and these countries have a significant influence on their regional affairs. These nations were hit by COVID-19 at different times, and all adopted home qua...

As a result of a long colonial history and subsequent developmental and economic challenges, many African countries have struggled to put in place adequate policies, systems, and associated infrastructures to address the health and social needs of their citizens. With the COVID-19 pandemic threatening human lives and livelihoods, concerns are raise...

As a result of a long colonial history and subsequent developmental and economic challenges, many African countries have struggled to put in place adequate policies, systems, and associated infrastructures to address the health and social needs of their citizens. With the COVID-19 pandemic threatening human lives and livelihoods, concerns are raise...

Deaths caused by cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) account for 60% of all deaths that occur in rural and remote areas. Disease management programs are increasingly used to improve the effectiveness of chronic care. Nurses are a key component of the health workforce and have an important role to play in CVD prevention, treatment, and the care of sick p...

The African notion of botho appears to have attracted a lot of attention and research efforts in various fields of study. It is presented as a positive concept that is associated with the good side of human beings. In this article, we have adopted an Afrocentric position to analyse the philosophical construct of ‘botho’ as lived and practised in co...

Cardiovascular disorders (CVD) are the single greatest cause of mortality worldwide. In the UK, the National Health Service (NHS) has launched an initiative of health checks over and above current care to tackle CVD. However, the uptake of Health Checks is poor in disadvantaged communities. This protocol paper sets out a UK-based study (Sussex and...

A recent initiative known as the International Investigation of Parental Burnout, sought to study the prevalence of parental burnout in over 40 countries globally using the Parental Burnout Assessment (PBA) instrument. Four countries investigated here provide a first insight into parental burnout in Africa, based on a pooled dataset of 738 parents...

The burden of hypertension is reported to be on the rise in developing countries, such as South Africa, despite increased efforts to address it. Using a cross-sectional study design, we assessed and compared the prevalence of and risk factors associated with hypertension amongst adults aged ≥18 years in semi-urban and rural communities (1187 semi-u...

There has been a proliferation of faith healing organizations in Zimbabwe in the past decade. These organizations have been attracting many people especially those with chronic conditions as their leaders claim to have spiritual powers to heal illnesses. This has led to people with chronic conditions opting for spiritual healing over medical method...

The study sought to explore bereavement rituals and their related psychosocial significance in an African cultural setting. A descriptive phenomenological design was adopted. Fourteen adults were purposefully sampled to participate in in-depth interviews. Data were analyzed using Hycner’s adapted phenomenological method, which resulted in four them...

Traditional male circumcision (TMC) is a cultural ritual that involves the removal of the penile foreskin of a male person undertaken as part of a rite of passage from childhood into adulthood. The aim of the study was to determine the notions of manhood in TMC by African adolescent boys in Ngove Village, Limpopo Province. This was a qualitative st...

This qualitative article employs an Afrocentric perspective as an alternative theoretical and/or contextual lens to provide an overview of the national security challenges facing the United States of America (US) within the context of its engagement in Africa. It also demonstrates the reactions of the US to African security threats (real or imagine...

Spirituality affects people’s well-being and can be used to cope with traumatic experiences. The present study explored the role of spirituality in coping with war-related trauma among war veterans who fought in the Zimbabwean war of liberation between 1966 and 1979. Sixteen in-depth interviews and two focus group discussions were conducted using a...

The present study investigated the bereavement care support as experienced by 14 Northern Sotho (n = 14, males = 50%; mean age = 59 years, SD = 13.7 years) community members. The study adopted the descriptive phenomenological approach. Data on participants’ lived experiences, related to the use of traditional herbs for bereavement care, were collec...

The study sought to explore influences on help-seeking pathways followed by patients with chronic illness and disease (CID) in a rural community of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The sample consisted of ten people with CID (female = 6; age range 42 to 96 years; sugar diabetes = 50%, and high blood pressure = 30%). The participants responded to...

The aim of the study was to explore how people living with epilepsy in an indigenous rural South African community understood and managed their epilepsy. Six people with epilepsy were informants (male = 3, female = 3; age range = 16 to 58 years, unemployed = 5, learner = 1). They completed individual interviews on their meanings of epilepsy and als...

The aim of this study was to examine health behaviours and happiness and associated factors in low, middle and high income countries. In a cross-sectional survey, 17 508 undergraduate university students (mean age 20.9, SD = 2. 8) from 25 universities in 24 countries across Asia, Africa and the Americas self-completed anonymous questionnaires. Resu...

This qualitative inquiry sought to understand the meanings that patients with cervical cancer give to their illness as well as their perception of non-medical causes of the condition. An interpretive phenomenological research design was adopted where twelve patients living with cervical cancer attending two medical institutions were purposively sam...

This study explored cultural conceptions of a bereavement-related illness among elderly (aged 34–85yrs) Northern Sotho-speaking people in Limpopo province. The participants (n = 14, females = 50%, mean age = 59 years, SD: 13.7 years) were purposively selected and interviewed using in-depth interviews. Data were analysed using Hycner’s adapted pheno...

The aim of the study was to explore the personal and social factors contributing to heavy episodic alcohol drinking (HEAD) in a sample of students from a rural South African university. A sample of 837 undergraduate students (females = 56.6%; age range of 17 to 43 years) participated in the study. Data on their use of alcohol were gathered using th...

The present study explored the coping strategies used by mother carers of children living with chronic illness and disease (CID) in a rural South African community. Ten mothers (age range = 30 to 56 years) were selected through snowball sampling to participate in the present study. They provided care to their children, a majority (50%) of whom had...

This study sought to determine how obstetric fistula affects women's intimate partner relationships or other social ties. A purposive sampling of eleven women (age range 17 to 31) with obstetric fistula admitted to two hospitals in Zimbabwe was done. In-depth interviews using unstructured interview guides were used to collect data on how the women`...

This study explored mental health help seeking pathways followed by Black South African rural community dwellers in the Limpopo province of South Africa Ten participants (5 females and 5 males) aged between 18 and 59 years receiving services from a rural mental health care facility in the Limpopo province were the informants They presented with psy...

The current study explores the reasons for choosing degree programmes as career fields by university students. An ex post facto research design was used to conduct the study. Ten participants were purposefully selected from an institution of higher learning in South Africa. Data was collected through audio-taped individual semi-structured interview...

This study reports on teacher perceptions of the impact of parental divorce on behaviour and emotional development in children of divorce. Participants were a purposive sampling of 80 primary school learners with parental divorce experience and a comparison group of 40 others from typical or intact families (n = 120: males = 64; females = 56; age r...

This study describes teenage mothers' quality of daily life in a South African rural setting. It is a retrospective study. It was conducted with five participant women aged between 26 and 35 years with early motherhood experience. In-depth interviews were conducted with the women in their local languages (i.e., Sepedi, Tshivenda, and Xitsonga). The...

This study analysed perceived sexual harassment experiences and responses among 136 female students (aged 19 to 40) randomly drawn from an institution of higher learning in Zimbabwe. A Sexual Harassment Questionnaire (SEQ) was administered to the participants. Data were summarized using descriptive statistics. Thirty-one percent (42) of the student...

The aim of the study was to develop an HIV and AIDS training manual, and to evaluate the knowledge, attitudes and management of faith healers of Apostolic churches regarding HIV and AIDS, before and after they attended an HIV and AIDS training programme. A quasi-experimental intervention design was used with faith healers affiliated with the United...

The aim of the study was to investigate traditional healing practices among the Venda and Tsonga speaking people of Limpopo Province, South Africa. The study employed a qualitative design. Four traditional healers, selected through purposive sampling were asked to participate in the present study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the...

We investigated the knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of secondary school learners (Grade 10 to 12) towards HIV/AIDS. Two hundred learners attending two rural village schools were participants (males =106, females =94, mean age = 16.5 years, SD = 2.4). Data were on their knowledge, attitudes and perceptions (KAPS) were collected using the adapte...

The study explored vhaVenda mothers' perceptions of imparting safe sex education to their adolescent daughters. Data was collected through six focus group discussions with each group consisting of six to eight mothers. The results indicated that mothers want their children to be knowledgeable about sexuality to avoid consequences associated with ne...

Culture Influences conceptualizations about illness, health and healthcare. In this article we argue that Western-oriented health care models have limited success when applied to health conditions of people of non-Western cultures and contend that culture Is an important factor in health, illness and healing. We present two cultural modes of illnes...

This paper discusses limitations of Western psychological practice and the calls for integrating traditional healing practices into counselling and psychotherapy. It also explores challenges to and opportunities in integrated psychological practice systems which revolve around issues related to different paradigmatic perspectives about health and i...

The study explores the attribution styles of in-group and out-group members. Eighty-four (42 female and 42 male) undergraduate students were randomly selected from the Faculty of Education at an institution of higher learning in Zimbabwe. A questionnaire was used to capture the opinions of the participants. The data was analysed using the chi-squar...

We investigated teacher ratings of the impact of parental divorce on academic achievement of children between 6 and 12 years old up to 12 months after their parents divorced. A purposive sample of 120 children attending four different primary schools in a small South African town took part in the study. One third (n = 40) of the children had experi...

The article explores a variety of marital counselling approaches relevant to African settings: indigenous, Western, Christian and Islamic. These approaches to marital counselling are influenced in their use by various social movements, Including globalisation, women empowerment, sexual orientation and living with HIV/AIDS. There is potential to dev...

Calls for the recognition of indigenous healers have been made nationally and internationally in view of the positive role that these providers of alternative health care can play in the treatment of various forms of illness. In South Africa, the Draft Policy on African Traditional Medicine for South Africa lays the foundation on how collaboration...

The study explored the experiences of five rural VhaVenda women involved in polygamous marriages aged between twenty seven and sixty four years. The five participants were selected through snowball sampling method from four villages in Vhembe District (Limpopo Province). Data were analysed qualitatively using Mostyn's (1985) four phases of content...

The study examined the factors that college students perceive to influence their ability to do research. Participants were 160 students from a teachers' college (males=71; females=81; mean age=27; SD=5.32).Data were collected using an open ended survey. For data analysis MS Excel was used. Students perceived a need for support in basic research pro...

The study analysed the relationships between teacher ratings and standardised test scores in Reading and Mathematics for students receiving learning support for learning difficulties (n = 60, mean age= 16.3). Teacher ratings were found to significantly predict pupils' performance in Reading. Students with extended learning support had significantly...

The study examined the attitudes of a sample of Zimbabwean teachers towards the inclusion of children with mild hearing impairments. Two hundred and forty-six primary school teachers participated in the study. The teachers completed the modified Attitude Toward Mainstreaming Questionnaire (ATMQ) (Larrivee & Cook, 1979). In addition, they also compl...

The purpose of the study was to examine students' views on dishonest academic behaviours. First year students from Mkoba Teachers' College In Zimbabwe's city of Gweru (n = 152) responded to an open-nded questionnaire that was used to collect data. Knowing examination questions or assignment answers in advance was rated as the worst dishonest academ...

This study aimed to understand and interpret faith healers' explanations of the aetiology and treatment of diseases and to canvass their views regarding collaboration between Western trained health care professionals and faith healers. Fifteen female and six male faith healers from Apostolic churches in Marondera (Zimbabwe) were selected and interv...

Includes summary. T. Thesis (M.A.)-University of the Witwatersrand, 1987. Bibliography: p. 107-114.