ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Knowledge, Attitudes, Practices and Perceived Barriers of Evidence-Based Practice among Registered Nurses in a Ghanaian Teaching Hospital

This study aimed at investigating knowledge, attitudes, practices and perceived barriers of evidencebased practice among Registered Nurses in a Ghanaian Teaching Hospital. Methods: The study utilised mixed methods. Self-completion questionnaire and individual semi-structured interviews were used in collecting data. One hundred and two nurses were involved in survey whilst twenty nurses were interviewed. Survey data were analysed with SPSS version 20 whilst qualitative data were analysed through content analysis to generate categories. Results: The response rate in this study was 68%. Almost all participants (91.2%) were below the age of 35. Majority of Registered Nurses demonstrated a generally high levels of knowledge, attitude and practice of EBP. However, almost half of participating nurses (47.7%) thought that their workload was too high to keep up to date with current evidence. Qualitative results identified training, institutional and nursing job related barriers that impeded full implementation of evidence-based practice among registered nurses within the teaching hospital setting in Ghana. Conclusion: This study identified areas that need improving in order to have nurses fully practice evidence-based practice within Ghanaian hospitals. Managers of Ghanaian hospitals should take steps to provide resources needed for evidence-based practice and collaborate with academia in addressing training related barriers of evidence-based practice noted by nurses.

Source: UCC
Knowledge, attitudes, practices and perceived barriers of evidence-based practice among Registered Nurses in a Ghanaian Teaching Hospital

Objective: This study aimed at investigating knowledge, attitudes, practices and perceived barriers of evidence-based practice among Registered Nurses in a Ghanaian Teaching Hospital. Methods: The study utilised mixed methods. Self-completion questionnaire and individual semi-structured interviews were used in collecting data. One hundred and two nurses were involved in survey whilst twenty nurses were interviewed. Survey data were analysed with SPSS version 20 whilst qualitative data were analysed through content analysis to generate categories. Results: The response rate in this study was 68%. Almost all participants (91.2%) were below the age of 35. Majority of Registered Nurses demonstrated a generally high levels of knowledge, attitude and practice of EBP. However, almost half of participating nurses (47.7%) thought that their workload was too high to keep up to date with current evidence. Qualitative results identified training, institutional and nursing job related barriers that impeded full implementation of evidence-based practice among registered nurses within the teaching hospital setting in Ghana. Conclusion: This study identified areas that need improving in order to have nurses fully practice evidence-based practice within Ghanaian hospitals. Managers of Ghanaian hospitals should take steps to provide resources needed for evidence-based practice and collaborate with academia in addressing training related barriers of evidence-based practice noted by nurses.

Source: UCC
Knowledge, Practice, and Barriers Toward Cervical Cancer Screening in Elmina, Southern Ghana

The aims of this study were: 1) to assess the level of knowledge of women about Pap smear tests, 2) to determine the practices of women regarding Pap smear tests, and 3) to determine the barriers to Pap smear tests in Elmina, Ghana. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 392 randomly selected sexually active females aged 10–74 years using structured interview questions. The Institutional Review Board of the University of Cape Coast gave ethical approval for the study and informed consent was obtained from participants. Data were analyzed with SPSS software (v19.0) using frequencies, chi-square test, and exploratory factor analysis. Results: The results revealed that 68.4% had never heard about cervical cancer, 93.6% had no knowledge on the risk factors, nine (2.3%) reported multiple sexual partners and being sexually active as risk factors, and 92% did not know about the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer. The majority (97.7%) had never heard of the Pap smear test. Only three (0.8%) women out of 392 had had a Pap smear test. Reasons for seeking a Pap smear test included referral, fear of cervical cancer, and radio campaigns. A significant association was found between institutional and personal barriers and having a Pap smear test. Conclusion: Comprehensive education on cervical cancer screening and removal of access barriers are critical in reducing risk associated with the disease and promoting women’s health.

Source: UCC
Knowledge, practice, and barriers toward cervical cancer screening in elmina, southern ghana

Aims: The aims of this study were: 1) to assess the level of knowledge of women about Pap smear tests, 2) to determine the practices of women regarding Pap smear tests, and 3) to determine the barriers to Pap smear tests in Elmina, Ghana. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted with 392 randomly selected sexually active females aged 10–74 years using structured interview questions. The Institutional Review Board of the University of Cape Coast gave ethical approval for the study and informed consent was obtained from participants. Data were analyzed with SPSS software (v19.0) using frequencies, chi-square test, and exploratory factor analysis. Results: The results revealed that 68.4% had never heard about cervical cancer, 93.6% had no knowledge on the risk factors, nine (2.3%) reported multiple sexual partners and being sexually active as risk factors, and 92% did not know about the prevention and treatment of cervical cancer. The majority (97.7%) had never heard of the Pap smear test. Only three (0.8%) women out of 392 had had a Pap smear test. Reasons for seeking a Pap smear test included referral, fear of cervical cancer, and radio campaigns. A significant association was found between institutional and personal barriers and having a Pap smear test. Conclusion: Comprehensive education on cervical cancer screening and removal of access barriers are critical in reducing risk associated with the disease and promoting women’s health

Source: UCC
Knowledge, Risk Factors and Perceived Attitude towards Cervical Cancer among Female Tertiary Students in the Tano-North Municipality in Ghana

Abstract Ghana is among the countries with high incidence rate of cervical cancer in the world. Knowledge of the risk factors and the aetiology of cancers, especially, cervical cancer leads to reduction in cancer incidence and prevalence. This study assesses the knowledge, risk factors and perceived preventive methods about cervical cancer of tertiary students in the Tano-North Municipality of Ahafo region of Ghana. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on 150 randomly sampled students. The age range was between 15 to 35 years with the 18-35-years old. A total of 59.3% of respondents were not aware that, early sexual intercourse is a risk factor, and 78%, 64% and 90.7% of the respondents did not know that smoking cigarette, use of oral contraceptives and stress, respectively are risks of cervical cancer. Respondents also showed poor knowledge on preventive methods with only 32%, 25% 24%, 57.3% and 34% acknowledged that delay in age of first sexual contact, regular exercise, non-smoking, HPV vaccine and Pap smear respectively were preventive methods of cervical cancer.

Source: UCC
Knowledge, Risk Factors and Perceived Attitude towards Cervical Cancer among Female Tertiary Students in the Tano-North Municipality in Ghana

Abstract Ghana is among the countries with high incidence rate of cervical cancer in the world. Knowledge of the risk factors and the aetiology of cancers, especially, cervical cancer leads to reduction in cancer incidence and prevalence. This study assesses the knowledge, risk factors and perceived preventive methods about cervical cancer of tertiary students in the Tano-North Municipality of Ahafo region of Ghana. A structured questionnaire was used to collect data on 150 randomly sampled students. The age range was between 15 to 35 years with the 18-35-years old. A total of 59.3% of respondents were not aware that, early sexual intercourse is a risk factor, and 78%, 64% and 90.7% of the respondents did not know that smoking cigarette, use of oral contraceptives and stress, respectively are risks of cervical cancer. Respondents also showed poor knowledge on preventive methods with only 32%, 25% 24%, 57.3% and 34% acknowledged that delay in age of first sexual contact, regular exercise, non-smoking, HPV vaccine and Pap smear respectively were preventive methods of cervical cancer. Thus, the respondents displayed poor knowledge about the risk factors and preventive methods of cervical cancer and therefore, tertiary education curriculum should include cancer awareness to reduce the incidence.

Source: UCC
Knowledge, Usage and Barriers Associated with Contact Lens Wear in Ghana

Background: Despite findings that contact lens wear for vision correction provides better quality of life than spectacles, contact lens use in developing countries is low. This study evaluated knowledge, usage and barriers associated with contact lens wear among spectacle wearers in Cape Coast, Ghana. Method: A cross-sectional survey using a structured questionnaire was conducted on an adult population of spectacle wearers to assess their knowledge of contact lens wear for vision correction. The participants were proportionately sampled from three eye clinics in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana. Questionnaires were either self-administered or completed with the help of a research assistant. Results: Of the 422 participants, only 147 (34.8%) knew of contact lens wear for vision correction. The proportion of spectacle wearers reporting history of contact lens wear was 14 (3.3%). Barriers to contact lens wear reported were satisfaction with vision through spectacles 102 (25.0%), lack of adequate information 111 (27.2%), fear of side effects 94 (23.0%) and cost 78 (19.1%). The younger adults and those with higher number of changes of spectacles were more likely to know of contact lenses. Conclusion: Knowledge and usage of contact lenses among spectacle wearers was low. Contact lens education and demonstration of visual performance through fitting of trial contact lenses on potential candidates may help overcome barriers to contact lens wear.

Source: UCC
Krobos' perception of dipo contemporary Ghana: A case study of Somanya, Yilo Krobo district

Dipo is an initiation rite performed among the Krobos to usher in adolescent girls into adulthood. The practice has undergone many changes over the years. This study was aimed at exploring Krobo’s perception of contemporary dipo in Ghana with emphasis on the practice of initiating under age girls before their adolescence. These young girls who have become the subject of dipo at the pre-adolescent stage have rather been exposed to teenage pregnancy, which is contrary to the ideals of dipo. The dissertation has the advantage of serving as a guide or advice to opinion leaders and cultural maintainers in the society. Questionnaires and interviews were the main methods of data collection while simple statistical tools such as percentages and frequencies were used in analyzing the data. The finding of the study showed that the aims of dipo (preserving the virginity of young girls before entering into marriage, and preparing young girls for marriage) were not being achieved. Many dipo girls were not entering into marriage after the practices (because they were too young to do so. However, most of them were practicing pre-marital sex. The study also revealed a high perception among the people that, dipo in contemporary Ghana had outlived its usefulness and had been reduced to just a traditional ceremony. In line with these findings, the researcher suggested that opinion leaders and cultural maintainers in the study area should meet to discuss the way forward for dipo so as to check the immoral act growing among the young dipo girls.

Source: UCC
“Kyekyekule” sonata

So far as the musical interculturalism in African art music is concerned today, this study focuses on how an artist acquainted with both traditional music and western contemporary practices can create a novel piano piece that is a hybrid of the two worlds. The study adopts the bi-musicality and African pianism theories of Euba (1992) and Webster’s (1996) creative thinking model as its conceptual framework. In the composition, themes were borrowed from ‘Kyekyekule’ (a children’s game in Ghana); from particular styles of church music (termed praises) viz., “Ye be ma so” and “Osee yee”, and “Komfo Anokye egbo”, which are also tunes sung when kpanlongo rhythms are rendered. These songs were recorded, transcribed and analysed critically and materials selected for the piano music utilizing both the syncretic and bi-musical approaches to composition. The result is the “Kyekyekule” Sonata, a piano sonata in three movements. The first movement is structured on the classical sonata form; the second is based on the rondo form whilst the third is in free fantasia. The report also provides an insight into the thought processes of the composer, offering a guide for listeners to think creatively through the music. It also presents an analysis that gives a panoramic view of the piano music. Finally, the perspectives highlight all the social, moral and educational relevance of the work. ©University of Cape Coast Digitized

Source: UCC
L'espace dans le pleurer-rire et la nouvelle Romance d' Henri poes

This study, entitled “L’espace dans Le Pleurer-Rire et La Nouvelle Romance d’Henri Lopes”, looks at how the structure of spatial setting serves the discourse of the two texts. The antithetic or contrastive structure of the spatial setting, made up of Places of domination, characterized by power, luxury, infrastructural development, but also torture, repression, discrimination…, and Places of disenchantment, typified by insalubrious conditions, poverty, suffering and misery, were studied in the two novels. These two categories of places, respectively inhabited by a handful of privileged political authorities (especially the Head of State and his collaborators) and man, on one hand, and the teeming masses and the woman on the other, enclose events and activities that necessitate the insurrection of the underprivileged group against the privileged one, thereby creating a third category of places named Places of revolt. Using the two novels, Le Pleurer-Rire and La Nouvelle Romance, as the source of most of its data and a structuralist approach in its analysis, the study reveals among other things that, the spatial organization of the novels, as shown, reflects the political, social, economic and cultural problems that have bedevilled the postcolonial African society, speaking volumes of the failure of the independences and the need to reorganize this society. The study concludes that quality education is an indispensable element in the quest to liberate any oppressed group. This is evident in the multiplicity of places of learning in the places of revolt.

Source: UCC
La femme africaine dans Une si longue lettre de Mariama Bâ et Assèze l’Africaine de Calixthe Beyala

This study is based on the main female African characters in Une si longue lettre written in 1979 by Mariama Bâ and Assèze l’Africaine written in 1994 by Calixthe Beyala. Both novels describe the African society and the obstacles that exist for women in this society where men dominate. This study presents the transformation of Ramatoulaye that is a traditional and passive woman but she becomes modern. In addition, it presents the transformation of young Aïssatou that becomes an independent and strong woman, in these two novels. These two women are facing similar forms of discriminations and oppression in the African society and they are struggling against injustice in various ways. The aim of this analysis is to investigate how the image of the African women and the feminism in Africa show and develop through the main characters, Ramatoulaye and Aïssatou. The conclusion reveal that the image of the African women has considerably changed over the years in a positive way and that Femininity is a cultural construction and not a natural construction. The conclusion further reveal that even today a woman is not independent, but is still considered "the Other" in relation to the man

Source: UCC
La Quête Du Bonheur Dans La Symphonie Pastorale Et Les Nourritures Terrestres D’andré Gide Et Dans Noces Et La Peste D’albert Camus.

ABSTRACT This study seeks to unearth and elucidate the concept of happiness in the literacy work of two French writers namely: Albert Camus and André Gide. The study was born out of our reading of Blondin (1983: 9) who stated in Le Bonheur Possible that « most of human undertakings have a common denominator: the quest for a better life, a better living, a better love in sum; the desire to be happy». This presupposes that the quest for happiness is always at the centre of most human endeavours and since André Gide and Albert Camus are contemporaries, we investigated what constitutes the quest for happiness in two (2) novels of each author namely: Andre Gide’s la Symphonie Pastorale and les Nourritures Terrestres and Albert Camus’ Noces and la Peste. Based on our working definition of happiness (bonheur) as the satisfaction of human needs and that of quest (quête) as a search for something, we laid bare, what constitutes the search for satisfaction of human needs in the four (4) literary works. The study employed the thematic approach of analyzing a literary text. The thematic approach was complemented by Maslow's theory of human need and the theories of hedonism and eudemonism. The study was mainly based on the qualitative / descriptive research methodology for the collection and analysis of data. It was revealed that though the four literary works are of different genres, the quest for happiness abounds in them in different forms. This is amply demonstrated through the behavior of the characters: it is either they are fighting for their own happiness or that of another individual. This points to the fact that each step taken by human beings is undertaken for a reason (the individual’s happiness or that of humanity as a whole). We further concluded that whatever form the quest for happiness takes, they can either be classified as hedonic (based on sensual pleasure) or eudemonic (based on personal development).

Source: UCC
Labour management relationship and staff performance at the New Times Corporation

This research investigates the effect of the relationship between management and labour on the performance of staff at the New Times Corporation. The purpose of the study is to explore the existing relationship and how to enhance the relationship between management and labour. The data of the research was collected using a questionnaire which was distributed to 130 staff as sample size, in five major departments, out of a staff population of 200 as at August 2018. A number of 99 of the questionnaires were valid for analysis. Upon analysis the findings were that the labour management relationship has an effect on workers' performance and that there is a positive relationship between labour relationship, management aspects and staff performance. Junior staff do not participate in decision making in the New Times Corporation. Motivation is also a necessary inducement for workers to work hard and it was evident that communication gap between workers and management is wide and has negative effect on workers' performance. Based on the findings it is recommended that employees must have a clear path to discuss problems and management should work with them to resolve issues as soon as possible to minimise the effect on their morale. It is also clear that employees without a career advancement path or voice in the corporation often do not feel motivated to move beyond basic job performance (Assad, 1990). Management should therefore involve their employees in decision making which will improve trust between them.

Source: UCC
Labour turnover and its effects on cocoa industry in the Bia district

This study was undertaken to find out the underlying reasons and effects of labour turnover among the Licensed Buying Companies (LBCs) operating in the Bia District of the Western Region of Ghana. The reason being that, the Ghanaian cocoa industry suffer devastating consequences of alarming rates of labour turnover. The employees have therefore been experiencing frequent job loss/job change. Accordingly, the hope of the researcher is that the result of this study will serve as a useful tool to mitigating the adverse effects of labour turnover in Bia. Further, as a descriptive survey, stratified random sampling method was used to select the sample size from the population, while questionnaires and interviews were the instruments for data collection. Also, descriptive statistics such as cross-tabulations, chi-square tests and percentages were employed to analyse the data collected. The main finding was the general perception of employees that labour turnover rate was high among the LBCs Also, the main causes of labour turnover were found to be unsatisfactory pay and working conditions, management style, quest for further studies, inadequate training and motivation, and lack of promotion. It was however concluded that the notable adverse effects of labour turnover on the LBCs comprised lost of experienced and skilled staff, lack of employee loyalty, commitment and loss of farmers’ goodwill. Hence, it is recommended that effective training and improvement in salary and other benefits will help reduce the alarming rate of labour turnover among the LBCs in Bia.

Source: UCC
Labour-management relations in the University of Cape Coast

The study examined Labour-Management relations in the University of Cape Coast by looking at how labour represented by the Teachers and Educational Workers’ Union (TEWU) and Management relate at the University of Cape Coast. The study investigated how the activities of TEWU compared with the vision and mission of the University. Moreover, the study examined factors that account for industrial disputes between Management and the union and how these disputes were managed. The study was descriptive. Purposive, stratified and simple random sampling methods were used to select the 337 respondents comprising four Management Personnel who were involved in Labour-Management negotiations, one Deputy Registrar in charge of Division of Human Resource, five TEWU executive members and 327 junior staff. Two sets of questionnaire were used to gather data for the study, one set for the Management Personnel and the Deputy Registrar and the other for the TEWU executive members and the sampled junior staff. In all 315 (93%) respondents out of 337 responded to the instrument. A Cronbach alpha reliability coefficient of 0.78 was obtained for the closed-ended items. The results showed that there was a strong and productive relationship between TEWU and Management in the University because Management involved TEWU executive when taking decisions which impacted on the lives of the junior staff. The study also revealed that both Management and the TEWU executive communicated effectively with each other. Moreover, the study showed that employees were committed to the University. However, the study revealed that the junior staff were not aware of the vision and mission of the University. The study therefore recommended, among other things, that the existing strategies for enhancing Labour-Management relations be sustained and improved upon by Management. In addition, the junior staff should be educated on the vision and mission of the University.

Source: UCC