Welcome - Southern Africa (Mesh-Literature)

Published Literature: Learning From Participatory Visual Methods in Marginalized South African Communities

In this paper from Frontiers in Public Health, Steps Toward Engagement Integrity: Learning From Participatory Visual Methods in Marginalized South African Communities (2022), authors Gill Black and Pam Sykes describe their 'Bucket Loads of Health project in South Africa.

Project Report: The Genomics of Schizophrenia in South African Xhosa people (SAX) study

The Genomics of Schizophrenia in South African Xhosa People (SAX) study sought to identify genes or mutations underlying predisposition to schizophrenia in the South African Xhosa population. Engagement activities included a Community Advisory Board and a Mental Health Literacy Day.

COVID-19 Community Engagement In South Africa: The Time Is Now

This article addresses community engagement around the COVID-19 outbreak in South Africa in April 2020 and proposes a free-to-use mobile app as well as a longer-term Community Engagement Nerve Centre for the country

Literature: From ‘Trial Community’ to ‘Experimental Publics’: How Clinical Research Shapes Public Participation

This article argues for a conceptual shift away from the static, singular term ‘trial community’ towards ‘experimental publics’. The authors observe that the term ‘community’ is often employed uncritically and assumes that ‘communities’ pre-exist research; that they are timeless and undifferentiated wholes. ‘Experimental publics’, by contrast, are dynamic, multiple, and impermanent in nature.

Published Literature: Politics of science communication in South Africa

This paper may be of interest to readers thinking about the local political and historical context and how this impacts on both science culture and the culture of science communication or public engagement within a country. This article focuses on South Africa although many of the considerations within it are likely to be pertinent in other countries which experienced colonialism. 

Published Literature: Introducing participatory visual methods to develop local knowledge on HIV in rural south africa

This paper reports a study into the insights and perspectives of rural South African communities on HIV- related mortality. The aim of the study was to elicit local knowledge in order to identify priorities for service organisations to improve health.