Browsing by Author "Mulenga, Ester"

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    An educational programme to empower mothers and caregivers on feeding practices of children under the age of 5 years in Oshikoto region, Namibia
    (University of Namibia, 2018) Mulenga, Ester
    Health facilities do provide mothers with information regarding feeding practice of children under the age of five years. It seems however that the impact of such information is extremely minimal because poor feeding practices remain a problem in Namibia. Such practices contribute to undernutrition in children under the age of five years. The Oshikoto region is among the top five regions with children affected by undernutrition. The purpose of this study was to develop an educational programme to empower mothers, and caregivers, on feeding practices of children under the age of five years in the Oshikoto region. The objectives of the study were: to explore and describe the experiences of mothers, and caregivers, on feeding practices of children under the age of five years; to develop a conceptual framework which formed the basis of an educational programme; to develop an educational programme to empower mothers and caregivers on feeding practices of children under the age of five years; and to implement and evaluate an educational programme. The study was conducted in four phases. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive and contextual design was utilised in the first phases of this study. The first phase was a situational analysis which explored and described the experiences of mothers and caregivers on feeding practices of children under the age of five years. An unstructured individual in-depth interview was conducted during this phase: fifteen respondents were purposively selected and interviewed. Data were analysed using Tesch`s method of qualitative analysis. Four themes, and fourteen sub-themes, were identified. The study revealed that mothers and caregivers utilise suboptimal feeding practices; they experience factors which influenced feeding practices; they lack nutritional and feeding practices information; they encountered limited resources which influenced feeding practices. The second phase addressed a conceptual framework which guided the development of an educational programme, to empower mothers and caregivers on feeding practices of children under the age of five years, and was based on Dickoff, James and Wiedenbach`s survey list. The third phase concentrated on the development of an educational programme to empower mothers and caregivers. This was done based on the findings from the study and guided by Nicholls` cyclic curriculum development model. The fourth phase covered the programme implementation and evaluation and a two day workshop conducted at the Onandjokwe Intermediate Hospital in the Oshikoto region. This phase was guided by Kolb`s theory of experiential learning and Knowles’ model of andragogy. The workshop was attended by mothers and caregivers of children under the age of five years. The programme was evaluated during and after its implementation; the workshop participants indicated that it was useful and supportive. It is recommended that such programme need to be given to pregnant women and postpartum mothers as this will help them to feed their babies propely and prevent undernutrition.
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    The experiences of mothers and caregivers on feeding practices of children under the age of five years with undernutrition in Oshikoto region, Namibia
    (2018) Mulenga, Ester; Amukugo, Hans J.; Shilunga, Anna Panduleni
    Background: Undernutrition in children under the age of five years is prevalent in the developing countries which increase the risk of morbidity and mortality among such age group. Lack of information related to nutrition and feeding practices as well as other factors such as employment and pressure from family and community members cause mothers and caregivers of children under the age of five years to use inappropriate methods of feeding which contribute to undernutrition. Purpose: The aim of this article is to relate the experiences of mothers and caregivers on feeding practices of children under the age of five years in Oshikoto region, Namibia. Methods: A qualitative study design was utilized to explore and describe the experiences of mothers and caregivers on feeding practices of children under the age of five years. The study population comprised of mothers and caregivers of children diagnosed with undernutrition either severe or moderate, admitted in pediatric units or registered on Nutritional Assessment Counseling and Support programme. A purposive sampling was used to select participants and a total number of fifteen mothers/caregivers were interviewed. The data were transcribed verbatim and analysed using Tesch steps. Results: The study revealed that mothers and caregivers experienced lack of information related to nutrition and feeding practices and other contextual constraints which resulted in the utilization of suboptimal feeding practices of children under the age of five years. Conclusions: Due to challenges experienced by mothers and caregivers, they need to be empowered with knowledge on nutrition and feeding practices of children under the age of five years.
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    Knowledge, attitudes and practices of teenagers regarding safer sex in Onandjokwe health distric: Oshikoto region, Namibia
    (University of Namibia, 2005) Mulenga, Ester
    The impacts of teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections among the youth such as dropout from school, long term effects and death is felt by most people worldwide. As a result of this, teenagers are in need of information regarding sexuality and safer sex to enable them to protect themselves against HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted infections and to prevent unintended pregnancies. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe knowledge, attitudes and practices of safer sex by teenagers in Onandjokwe Health District; Oshikoto region with the aim of formulating appropriate recommendation which will help to improve the provision of information to teenagers. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, contextual design was used to carry out the study. Focus group discussions were conducted. The population consisted of teenage learners in Grade 10 between the ages of 14-19 years. Stratified random sampling was used to select the participants from different schools which are within 10km radius from Onandjokwe Hospital which was the centre of the researcher. The same initial question was asked in each focus group to initiate the discussion. The main question was “How do you understand safer sex?” The data was analyzed according to Tesch’s method. The results indicated that teenagers have some knowledge on safer sex and other sexual health related aspects but such knowledge is limited. However they do have positive attitudes towards safer sex as they are not prepared to indulge in sex without preventive measures such as condoms/femidoms or to be forced into sexual activities when they are not ready. Teenagers have also indicated that they practice safer sex by staying away from sex or by using condoms, masturbating and kissing or touching each other in order to satisfy their sexual needs. However they have problem with condom sizes as most of the condoms are too big for them and sometimes condoms are not available at all. The results have also indicated that there are few or lack of educational programs which deals with the provision of information to teenagers regarding sexual health. Some people who were identified as source of information to teenagers do not really provide adequate information to teenagers regarding safer sex.