International Journal of Innovative Research and Development

Abstract

Introduction: Vicarious traumatization is the negative transformative cumulative effect on the healthcare provider’s inner experiences for being exposed to the  trauma material presented in the clinical sessions by the traumatized clients.^1,2 The healthcare provider’s sense of self is disrupted and permanently altered as this transformative effect involves significant changes in one's sense of meaning, connection, identity, and world view, as well as in one's affect tolerance, psychological needs, beliefs about self and others, interpersonal relationships, and sensory memory, including imagery. ²

Objective: The objective of the study was to determine the prevalence rate of vicarious traumatization among medical students of the Kenya Medical Training College Nairobi Campus.

Setting: The study was carried out in Kenya Medical Training College Nairobi Campus which is a middle level medical college.

Design: This was a cross sectional descriptive study. The study variables included vicarious trauma as the dependent variable while the independent variables were age, gender, year of study, religion, duration of clinical experience, type of the training and vicarious trauma among others. A structured socio-demographic questionnaire and Trauma Attachment Belief Scale instruments were used to assess for vicarious traumatization. 

Study Population and sampling method: Using systematic random sampling a sample population of 250 students was interviewed from among students of nursing, clinical medicine, and physiotherapy. Only the students who had worked in the clinical area were interviewed.

Results: Data was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 and presented at 95% Confidence Interval. Out of the 250 study participants 51.6% (n=129) were male and 48.4% (n=121) were female. The mean age was 24.41 years with a standard deviation of 5.841.  From the study, 2.0% of the participants had mild VT, 30.0% had moderate VT, while 68. % had severe VT.  There was a positive correlation between VT and intrusive recollections of the trauma with a p- value of 0.017, and reliving the trauma (flash backs) with a p- value of 0.035.

Conclusion: VT prevalence is much higher and more severe especially among medical students that care for traumatized persons early in their medical carer. 

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Background:The government of Kenya has rolled out a free maternity program to step up its efforts in curbing maternal mortality, therefore there is need to understand the reasons behind the high number of procured unsafe abortions in order to come up with health promotion strategies to aid policy formulation and implementation of health promotion interventions.

Aims and objectives: The study aimed to determine factors leading to induced unsafe abortions among females of reproductive age at Kangundo District Hospital. Specifically, determine the socio-demographic characteristic of the patients with induced abortion at Kangundo District Hospital, Find out the reasons for inducing abortion among women of reproductive age at the Kangundo District Hospital, and assess the complications associated with induced unsafe abortion among women of reproductive age at the Kangundo district Hospital.

Methods: Mixed methods research design based on self-administered questionnaire containing closed and open questions survey method enabled data collection from 30 respondents purposefully selected from among women of reproductive age that presented with induced abortion at the gynecology ward of Kangundo district hospital.  The data collected was processed, organized and analyzed using the SPSS special version 20 and the quantitative results presented in form of tables, pie charts, and bar graphs, while narratives depicted content analysis of qualitative items. The respondents signed informed consent forms and the authorization of the study came from National Council for Science and Technology via the KMTC Director.

Results: Majority of respondents (60%) are ages 25-35 years; and 40% of the respondents were married; and 40% of the respondents had attained secondary education. Majority of the respondents (46.6%) cited lack of awareness or ignorance about family planning methods as their major reason for procuring and unsafe abortion. The major complication found among 48.4% of the respondents was post abortal pelvic infection.

Conclusion: The ignorance of family planning practices plus unstable economic status among a majority of women of reproductive age with unplanned pregnancy in Kangundo plays a major role in laying fertile ground for unsafe abortions.

Background:The government of Kenya has rolled out a free maternity program to step up its efforts in curbing maternal mortality, therefore there is need to understand the reasons behind the high number of procured unsafe abortions in order to come up with health promotion strategies to aid policy formulation and implementation of health promotion interventions.

Aims and objectives: The study aimed to determine factors leading to induced unsafe abortions among females of reproductive age at Kangundo District Hospital. Specifically, determine the socio-demographic characteristic of the patients with induced abortion at Kangundo District Hospital, Find out the reasons for inducing abortion among women of reproductive age at the Kangundo District Hospital, and assess the complications associated with induced unsafe abortion among women of reproductive age at the Kangundo district Hospital.

Methods: Mixed methods research design based on self-administered questionnaire containing closed and open questions survey method enabled data collection from 30 respondents purposefully selected from among women of reproductive age that presented with induced abortion at the gynecology ward of Kangundo district hospital.  The data collected was processed, organized and analyzed using the SPSS special version 20 and the quantitative results presented in form of tables, pie charts, and bar graphs, while narratives depicted content analysis of qualitative items. The respondents signed informed consent forms and the authorization of the study came from National Council for Science and Technology via the KMTC Director.

Results: Majority of respondents (60%) are ages 25-35 years; and 40% of the respondents were married; and 40% of the respondents had attained secondary education. Majority of the respondents (46.6%) cited lack of awareness or ignorance about family planning methods as their major reason for procuring and unsafe abortion. The major complication found among 48.4% of the respondents was post abortal pelvic infection.

Conclusion: The ignorance of family planning practices plus unstable economic status among a majority of women of reproductive age with unplanned pregnancy in Kangundo plays a major role in laying fertile ground for unsafe abortions.

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Background: Many scholars have advocated for exclusive breastfeeding for infants below six months of age. In Kenya, most rural based mothers normally wean or introduce their babies to supplemental feeds before attainment of six months of age. Therefore, there is need to understand the factors influencing breastfeeding practices during infancy and early childhood in a rural setup like the Gatanga sub-county of Kenya.

Objectives: This study aimed at identifying the factors influencing breastfeeding during infancy and early childhood in a rural setup; determine the types of foods used for supplementary feeding and identification of methods.

Methods: This descriptive mixed methods questionnaire based cross-sectional survey in Gatanga sub-county of Murang’a County involved purposefully selected 176 mothers of children below 5 years of age from among nursing mothers in the four villages.

Results: The majority (40.3%) of the respondents were aged between 25-34 years of age followed by 38.6% of the respondents that were aged between 15-24 years.  A good number (80.7%) of breastfeeding mothers in the region have gone through formal education with just an alarming (19.3%) having not had gone through any formal education. Forty eight percent (48.9%) of the breast-feeding mothers were unemployed. Nearly all nursing mothers (97%) received information on breastfeeding and its benefits while only 3% (5) revealed having not had any information concerning infant feeding. In addition, 87.5%  (n=8) of the mothers with formal employments pointed out that their work place environment did not provided facilities such as workplace nursery. Exclusive breastfeeding was noted among 41.9% (n=43) of the mothers who had children of 0-6 months of age. While 30.2% of the mothers supplement breast milk with other types of milk, especially cow milk, about 11.6% indicated to supplement breast milk with other liquid foods such as glucose solution, sugar solution or fruit juice be it fresh or commercial. Maternal and contextual factors influence breastfeeding practice as well as the age of the baby.

Conclusion: Breastfeeding practice among the nursing mothers in Gatanga sub-county is good however, it falls far below the recommended the World Health Organization’s recommendations.

Background: Many scholars have advocated for exclusive breastfeeding for infants below six months of age. In Kenya, most rural based mothers normally wean or introduce their babies to supplemental feeds before attainment of six months of age. Therefore, there is need to understand the factors influencing breastfeeding practices during infancy and early childhood in a rural setup like the Gatanga sub-county of Kenya.

Objectives: This study aimed at identifying the factors influencing breastfeeding during infancy and early childhood in a rural setup; determine the types of foods used for supplementary feeding and identification of methods.

Methods: This descriptive mixed methods questionnaire based cross-sectional survey in Gatanga sub-county of Murang’a County involved purposefully selected 176 mothers of children below 5 years of age from among nursing mothers in the four villages.

Results: The majority (40.3%) of the respondents were aged between 25-34 years of age followed by 38.6% of the respondents that were aged between 15-24 years.  A good number (80.7%) of breastfeeding mothers in the region have gone through formal education with just an alarming (19.3%) having not had gone through any formal education. Forty eight percent (48.9%) of the breast-feeding mothers were unemployed. Nearly all nursing mothers (97%) received information on breastfeeding and its benefits while only 3% (5) revealed having not had any information concerning infant feeding. In addition, 87.5%  (n=8) of the mothers with formal employments pointed out that their work place environment did not provided facilities such as workplace nursery. Exclusive breastfeeding was noted among 41.9% (n=43) of the mothers who had children of 0-6 months of age. While 30.2% of the mothers supplement breast milk with other types of milk, especially cow milk, about 11.6% indicated to supplement breast milk with other liquid foods such as glucose solution, sugar solution or fruit juice be it fresh or commercial. Maternal and contextual factors influence breastfeeding practice as well as the age of the baby.

Conclusion: Breastfeeding practice among the nursing mothers in Gatanga sub-county is good however, it falls far below the recommended the World Health Organization’s recommendations.

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Background: Scholars have demonstrated a worldwide increase in the cases of breast cancer among women, yet many women in Kenya have not gone for breast cancer screening. Therefore, there is need to understand the patient related reasons behind the extremely low utilization of mammography as a screening mechanism for breast cancer in Kenya, yet mammography remains the most readily available gold standard imaging tool in the detection of breast cancer.

Goal of the study: To investigate the factors influencing uptake of mammography for breast cancer screening among female patients age 40 years and above at Thika level 5 Hospital. Specifically determine the influence of the female patients’ perception on uptake of mammography for breast cancer screening, determine the influence of the female patients’ knowledge on the uptakeof mammography forbreastcancer screening, and lastly determine the cues to action on utilization of mammography screening among female patients.

Method: Self-administered questionnaires based on the constructs of the Health Belief Model that formed the basis of the study were distributed to 104 randomly selected patients and 75 of them returned the duly filled questionnaires.

Results:  The majority of the respondents (56.0%) had never heard of mammography while 44.0% of the respondents reported on the affirmative. A combined 49.3% of the respondents felt that they were susceptible to breast cancer while only a paltry 9.3% did not feel susceptible. About the possibility of getting breast cancer after undergoing a mammography test, 48 % felt that they were likely to get the disease if they underwent screening. The majority (64%) of the respondents were married at the time of interview. Only 6.7% felt the need to do mammography as recommended while the majority (82.7%) of the respondents did not feel confident to undergo mammography as recommended. The majority (57.3%) strongly agreed that mammography was very painful. A significant number (65.3%) of the respondents perceived that mammography and breast cancer would endanger their relationship significantly while only 13.3% of the respondents disagreed. Findings showed that 61.3% of the respondents believed that mammography would help them find breast lumps. Significant majority of the respondents (72.0%) strongly agreed that mammography was expensive while 14.7% disagreed.

Conclusion: The study revealed that low self-efficacy and perceived barriers plus relative lack of awareness were the main factors hindering the uptake of mammography as a screening tool.

Background: Scholars have demonstrated a worldwide increase in the cases of breast cancer among women, yet many women in Kenya have not gone for breast cancer screening. Therefore, there is need to understand the patient related reasons behind the extremely low utilization of mammography as a screening mechanism for breast cancer in Kenya, yet mammography remains the most readily available gold standard imaging tool in the detection of breast cancer.

Goal of the study: To investigate the factors influencing uptake of mammography for breast cancer screening among female patients age 40 years and above at Thika level 5 Hospital. Specifically determine the influence of the female patients’ perception on uptake of mammography for breast cancer screening, determine the influence of the female patients’ knowledge on the uptakeof mammography forbreastcancer screening, and lastly determine the cues to action on utilization of mammography screening among female patients.

Method: Self-administered questionnaires based on the constructs of the Health Belief Model that formed the basis of the study were distributed to 104 randomly selected patients and 75 of them returned the duly filled questionnaires.

Results:  The majority of the respondents (56.0%) had never heard of mammography while 44.0% of the respondents reported on the affirmative. A combined 49.3% of the respondents felt that they were susceptible to breast cancer while only a paltry 9.3% did not feel susceptible. About the possibility of getting breast cancer after undergoing a mammography test, 48 % felt that they were likely to get the disease if they underwent screening. The majority (64%) of the respondents were married at the time of interview. Only 6.7% felt the need to do mammography as recommended while the majority (82.7%) of the respondents did not feel confident to undergo mammography as recommended. The majority (57.3%) strongly agreed that mammography was very painful. A significant number (65.3%) of the respondents perceived that mammography and breast cancer would endanger their relationship significantly while only 13.3% of the respondents disagreed. Findings showed that 61.3% of the respondents believed that mammography would help them find breast lumps. Significant majority of the respondents (72.0%) strongly agreed that mammography was expensive while 14.7% disagreed.

Conclusion: The study revealed that low self-efficacy and perceived barriers plus relative lack of awareness were the main factors hindering the uptake of mammography as a screening tool.

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Background: The Kenya Medical Training College is the leading and pioneer institution that trains radiographers in Kenya for over the last sixty years. Therefore, there is need for trainers of radiographers to explore on the milieu of teaching and learning strategies that could effectively impart the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitude on the trainees.

Objectives: To find out the different teaching methods used in the training of radiographers at Medical Imaging Sciences (MIS) department; determine the educational climate factors influencing the various teaching methods and learning approaches and to determine the learning approaches used by radiography trainees at the MIS department. 

Methods: Mixed methods design based on open and closed Questionnaire over a three-month period involving 50 learners and 10 lecturers at the Medical Imaging Sciences department of Kenya Medical Training College, Nairobi were randomly selected to participate in the study.

Results: The study findings showed that majority of the lecturers, 60% prefer using lecture as a method of teaching. The rest used a combination of discussion, 20%, small group teaching 20%, and demonstrations at 10%. The researchers also found that both teacher centred approach and student centred approach were used in the Imaging Department by 46% of the respondents. However, 28% of the learners felt that teacher centred approach was dominating the student centred approach, while 26% of the interviewees were not sure. Concerning the learning environment, it emerged that there is need to improve on the frequency and quality of student assessment plus encouraging the utility of library services by both trainers and learners. It was impressive to find that most lecturers (70%) had training in medical education and only 30% had not. This is a positive step in improving teaching and learning in the department.

Conclusion: Radiography lecturers need to embrace a wider spectrum of teaching and learning strategies in line with Harden’s recommendation (1986) in the training of radiographers at the Kenya Medical Training College while taking cognizance of the fact that individual trainer and learners have different interests (Jarvis and Gibson, 1997). Integration of an effective blend of teaching methods encouraging student centred approach is paramount in nurturing lifelong learners that could produce competent radiography professionals in Kenya.   

Background: The Kenya Medical Training College is the leading and pioneer institution that trains radiographers in Kenya for over the last sixty years. Therefore, there is need for trainers of radiographers to explore on the milieu of teaching and learning strategies that could effectively impart the requisite knowledge, skills, and attitude on the trainees.

Objectives: To find out the different teaching methods used in the training of radiographers at Medical Imaging Sciences (MIS) department; determine the educational climate factors influencing the various teaching methods and learning approaches and to determine the learning approaches used by radiography trainees at the MIS department. 

Methods: Mixed methods design based on open and closed Questionnaire over a three-month period involving 50 learners and 10 lecturers at the Medical Imaging Sciences department of Kenya Medical Training College, Nairobi were randomly selected to participate in the study.

Results: The study findings showed that majority of the lecturers, 60% prefer using lecture as a method of teaching. The rest used a combination of discussion, 20%, small group teaching 20%, and demonstrations at 10%. The researchers also found that both teacher centred approach and student centred approach were used in the Imaging Department by 46% of the respondents. However, 28% of the learners felt that teacher centred approach was dominating the student centred approach, while 26% of the interviewees were not sure. Concerning the learning environment, it emerged that there is need to improve on the frequency and quality of student assessment plus encouraging the utility of library services by both trainers and learners. It was impressive to find that most lecturers (70%) had training in medical education and only 30% had not. This is a positive step in improving teaching and learning in the department.

Conclusion: Radiography lecturers need to embrace a wider spectrum of teaching and learning strategies in line with Harden’s recommendation (1986) in the training of radiographers at the Kenya Medical Training College while taking cognizance of the fact that individual trainer and learners have different interests (Jarvis and Gibson, 1997). Integration of an effective blend of teaching methods encouraging student centred approach is paramount in nurturing lifelong learners that could produce competent radiography professionals in Kenya.   

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