ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
Quality Assurance and Employability of Graduates in a Ghanaian University

The study examined factors important for professional success of graduates. It examined the state of graduates’ employment considering generic skills acquired during course of studentship at the Wisconsin International University College. The relevance academic programmes offered by the University College in helping graduates’ maintain their jobs was also explored. An online based questionnaire was used to tap graduates views on their employment status and factors that have made them into successful professionals. Two hundred and thirty graduates who had graduated from the University College from 2000 to 2012 completed the questionnaire. The study revealed that 84% of graduates are in gainful employment while 2.5% report they had never worked since graduation. Also 13.5% report that they are not employed at the time of completing the questionnaire. Fifty six percent of graduates are employed in the private sector with 17% occupying top management positions, 40% in mid level management positions and 14% as first line managers. Communication skills, critical thinking skills, computer skills, problem solving skills, entrepreneurial and research skills are mentioned as generic skills picked up during their training in WIUC that has helped them remain successful in their professions. Quality teaching, core course mix and quality of student workload are mentioned among others as strengths of the WIUC programmes. It was interesting to note that in spite of the weaknesses observed by graduates in facilities, support services, and WIUC’s linkages with industry, graduates are still very confident that the quality of training, of teaching and learning and the programmes WIUC offered them did prepare them adequately for the world of work.

Source: UG
Quality Assurance and Internationalization in a Private University College

This study examined quality assurance practice and internationalization in a private university College (Wisconsin International University College, WIUC) with the intention of improving teaching and learning especially for international students. A descriptive design of cross-sectional nature was used. It explored from the views of respondents important issues that constitute learning satisfaction and ways to enhance effective teaching and learning especially for students. One hundred (100) respondents who are international students completed the questionnaire. Students viewed external and internal audits by the National Accreditation Board (NAB) and Quality Assurance and Institutional Relations Unit (QAIRU) of the WIUC respectively as essential to enhance quality. On student’s evaluation of lecturers, respondents agreed that appropriate feedback following evaluation is essential to facilitate student participation in future events. To assure quality and improve teaching and learning in the University College, respondents agreed that full engagement of students through the amount of time and effort put into teaching, learning and assessment as well as the commitment of more institutional resources, curricula and other learning opportunities are important to promote experiences that lead to more learning, satisfaction and successful graduation.

Source: UG
Quality Assurance of Samples for Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology

The integrity of samples employed for therapeutic drug monitoring (TDM) and clinical toxicology (CT) has a significant impact on the quality of data obtained for clinical decision-making. Samples usually employed for TDM and/or CT are obtained either using invasive or non-invasive approaches, and these include blood, plasma, or serum (invasive approaches), urine, and saliva (non-invasive approaches). Lack of standard operating procedures for samples in the pre-analytical stage could lead to variabilities in analysis results because of factors such as haemolysis (blood samples), inappropriate cooling and storage (urine samples), and desiccation of saliva. Therefore, assuring the quality and integrity of samples obtained for TDM and CT studies is a requirement for reliable data suitable for informed clinical decisions for patients as well as medical emergencies. It is an irrefutable emphasis that the assurance of the quality of samples meant for TDM and CT assessments correlates strongly with the quality of data obtained for clinical interpretation and implementation of optimized care. This chapter thus addresses major concerns, regarding the quality assurance of samples for TDM and CT.

Source: UG
Quality changes in sliced pineapple under controlled atmosphere storage

Peeling and cutting processes wound tissues and enhance deterioration in minimally processed fruits. Controlled atmosphere (CA) or modified atmosphere (MA) conditions can help maintain the quality of minimally processed products. The effects of various combinations of CO2 and O2 on the quality of fresh pineapple (cv. Smooth Cayenne) slices held at 4.5°C were investigated. Among a range of CA treatments, 15 kPa CO2 maintained flesh colour, with low alcohol and acetaldehyde concentrations, and also prevented microbial growth. O2 at 5 kPa also maintained a high visual quality, and gave low alcohol and acetaldehyde concentrations. Likewise, O2 at 80 kPa maintained a high visual quality and prevented the accumulation of fermentation-related volatiles, but caused high electrolyte leakage. Both 5 kPa and 80 kPa O2 treatments resulted in a reduced loss of firmness. Nonetheless, the respiration rate was higher in 80 kPa O2 than in 5 kPa O2.When the optimum O2 and CO2 concentrations were combined and compared to 21 kPa O2 + 0 kPa CO2 (air control), both 5 kPa and 80 kPa O2, with 15 kPa CO2, maintained the quality of pineapple slices. However, because low O2 is more readily attained and maintained in MA, 5 kPa O2 + 15 kPa CO2 appeared to be the most appropriate atmosphere for storage of minimally processed pineapple fruit.

Source: UG
Quality characteristics and safety of smoke-flavoured water

Smoke-flavoured water is produced in Ghana by filling a previously smoked container with potable water and allowing the water to condition with the smoke to attain a characteristic rain water flavour. Owing to the current knowledge on the toxicity, carcinogenicity and other safety issues of some smoke-constituents, the commercial production of the product is becoming a public health concern. This study sought to determine the effects of the smoke-flavouring process on the quality characteristics of smoke-flavoured water to predict the safety of the product. A traditional and a commercial protocol for the production of smoke-flavoured water were simulated in the laboratory and at the site of a company which used to produce the product, respectively. Samples of the flavoured water produced were analyzed for pH, colour, turbidity, conductivity, total hardness, dissolved oxygen content (DO), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon constituents (PAHs), coliform count, and flavour acceptability. Data obtained were evaluated in reference to data on control samples prepared during the investigations. The results obtained suggested that the smoke-flavouring process may not significantly change most of the physico-chemical and microbiological characteristics of the water processed, and thus not affect the drinking quality characteristics of the water. The process however has the potential of adding some organic compounds, which could include polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), the group that may have the toxicity and carcinogenic effects. The types of PAHs and their concentrations are expected to vary with the process characteristics, but could be insignificantly low to affect the safety of the water. The results suggest a need for some standardization of the process. © 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Source: UG
Quality Healthcare Service Assessment under Ghana’s National Health Insurance Scheme

Ghana implemented the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in 2005 with the intention of providing residents with quality affordable healthcare. Over the past few years, concerns have been raised about the quality of healthcare clients receive. This study assesses the experiences of NHIS subscribers with the quality of care they receive under the scheme by both private and public hospitals. The results from the 56 interviews show that the majority of the subscribers were dissatisfied with the overall quality of healthcare they received in both private and public hospital because of the long waiting hours, the poor attitude of nurses and the demand for payment of additional money. Even though clients who visited the private hospital paid for all services, excluding consultation, their level of satisfaction with the quality of healthcare was relatively higher than those who visited the public hospital. The paper concludes that NHIS clients do not receive the quality of healthcare the scheme promised, and this has implications for premium renewals and health-seeking behaviour.

Source: UG
Quality of Care at Cape Coast Central Hospital, Ghana: Users' Perspective

We carried out a survey of users' perception and assessment of the quality of care services provided at the Cape Coast Central Hospital. We interviewed 312 users from 24 communities in the Cape Coast municipality using a structured questionnaire. Of these, 77% 3 attended the hospital for primary care. Eighty-two (26%) were inpatient users during the 6 months preceding the study. Respondents' choice of the hospital was motivated by lower costs compared to private clinics, quality of medical care, available expertise and the final referral position of the hospital. The factors perceived to be most important for medical care included availability of drugs. clinicians and equipment and pleasant staff attitude. Fifty-seven percent of users were not informed about their diagnosis; 43% of those with preventable illnesses were not educated on how to prevent future episodes. Thirty-eight percent of users spent less than one hour at the hospital. Owing largely to non- availability. only 17% of users received all their prescribed drugs from the hospital's pharmacy. Fifty-two percent of all users spent at least ₵ 10,000 (cedis) during their last visit to the hospital. Inpatient users generally complained about poor sanitary facilities. lack of clean bedding, disturbance by mosquitoes and rodents and lack of entertainment facilities. Patients' blood pressure and weight were infrequently measured. Overall, 80% or more of users were satisfied with their diagnosis. treatment provided and skills of the clinical staff. Less than 56% were satisfied with staff attitude towards them and waiting time at the hospital. Twenty-eight percent were satisfied with the amount spent on care at the hospital. Inpatient users were less likely than outpatient users to be satisfied with their hospital bills or staff attitude. Our findings provide indicators for monitoring the quality of care delivered at the hospital.

Source: UG
Quality of care: Marketing of trypanocides for the control of trypanosomiasis in the coastal savanna of Ghana.

The rapid change in the privatization of veterinary services and social marketing of drugs have serious implications on the quality of care by the private sector in Ghana's agricultural system, especially drug use, in recent decades. The study explores the perception of 250 farmers over drug marketing to assess the level of drug quality, with particular reference to the treatment of cattle trypanosomiasis in the country and to investigate ways in which they could make better use of trypanosomiasis to control the disease. Specifically, the study seeks to identify constraints associated with trypanocides (e.g. Berenil® and Samorin®) services to assist in policy recommendation. It anticipated a better understanding of how cattle farmers ranked the quality of veterinary drug services from drug-sellers using Likert Scale. The views on drug services were ranked as follows: excellent (5), good (4), fair (3), undecided (2) and poor (1). The findings showed that farmers judged drug "effectiveness of treatment" most leniently and on "regularity of follow up" most harshly among the 10 response categories. The average rating on "effectiveness" of rating was 4.21 ± 0.29 s.d. and 10 districts recorded an average score above 4. On the other hand, the average treatmeant on "regularity of follow-up" was 1.05 ± 0.05 s.d., with five districts recording 1. It was concluded that the perception of 250 farmers in the 11 districts over the drug use is similar. For the fact that farmers take the responsibility of treating livestock diseases themselves, there is the need to include them in training programmes and also in decision making and policy development on drug use. Training curriculum for drug sellers is a key factor and should include the implications involved in buying drugs from veterinary stores without prescriptions from the veterinary doctor. Further, drug sellers should also be trained on the implications of drug abuse (overdose and under dose).

Source: UG
Quality Of Life of Adolescents Living with Sickle Cell Disease in the Accra Metropolis

Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is an inherited genetic disorder characterized by chronic haemolytic anaemia, painful ischaemic episode of vaso-occlussion and progressive organ failure. SCD is endemic worldwide affecting millions of particularly children and has been declared by the World Health Organization and the United Nations as a disease of public health importance. Despite this, very little attention is given to the disease in Ghana. This study explored the quality of life of adolescents living with SCD in the Accra Metropolis. This qualitative research adopted the exploratory descriptive design. Purposive sampling was used to sample 11 adolescents receiving care at the 37 Military Hospital. All participants were interviewed face-to-face after ethical approval was sought. Thematic analysis was used to analyze data, which went on concurrently with verbatim transcription of audio recorded interviews. Four main themes and twenty-nine subthemes were derived. The four main themes include physical, psychological, social and spiritual well-being. The findings revealed that majority of the adolescents experienced fatigue, sleep disturbances, pain, and limitation in roles. All reported absenting themselves from school at some point. Again, majority reported receiving adequate family, social, financial, and emotional support. Few however, reported being stigmatized, feeling depressed, and feeling anxious. Few associated SCD with curse, and witchcraft. All the adolescents said their sources of inner strengths were their parents and God and that they had great hope they would get well. It is expected that the findings would improve care. These findings have implications for nursing practice, education, administration and research.

Source: UG
Quality Of Life Of Caregivers Of Children With Cerebral Palsy In The Accra Metropolis

The consequences of living with a chronic condition such as Cerebral Palsy (CP) do not only affect the child but other members of the family. Using the Stress Process Model by Pearlin et al. (1990) as an organising framework, this study investigated the factors influencing the quality of life (QoL) of caregivers of children with CP. The role of social support in ameliorating the negative consequences of the stressors on QoL of caregivers of children with CP was also assessed. The study employed a cross-sectional survey design. Data was collected from 130 caregivers at 37 Military Hospital, Princess Marie-Louis Hospital and two Non-governmental agencies; Givers Never Lack Foundation and Sharecare Ghana. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 20.0 was used for data analysis. Descriptive statistics, correlation and regression were the statistical tools used for data analysis. The findings revealed that caregivers of children with CP had a lower QoL. They also experienced higher amount of burden and moderate levels of depression, anxiety and stress. The primary and secondary stressors were found to negatively correlate with QoL of caregivers. Secondary Stressors were found to partially mediate the relationship between caregivers’ burden and QoL. There was also a moderating effect of social support on the relationship between the primary stressor and QoL with social support accounting for 44.6% of the variance in QoL. Demographic characteristics of the caregivers collectively explained an insignificant 3.7% of the variance in caregivers’ QoL. These findings have implications for nursing practice and informal caregiving.

Source: UG
Quality of life of older adults and associated factors in Ghanaian urban slums: a cross-sectional study

Objective This study provides insight into the quality of life (QoL) of older adults living in urban slums in Ghana. Design The study employed a community-based, cross-sectional design to assess QoL among older adults in two slums between April and May 2020. QoL was assessed using the WHO Quality of Life-Brief version (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire. Settings Participants were drawn from two slums in Ghana, one in a fishing-dominated community and the other in an industrial community. Participants This study included 400 participants aged 60 and above who had lived in either slum for at least 1 month and were able to communicate verbally. Results Although the means of all participants’ transformed scores were poor in the physical and psychological domains, they were moderate in all other domains. When viewed as a whole, the perceived overall QoL is neither poor nor good and participants were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their health. Participants had a moderate level of QoL in the WHOQOL-BREF psychological (mean score 45.7), social (mean score 57.0) and environmental (mean score 51.6) domains. The mean score for physical QoL of older adults was 43.3, which denotes poor QoL. In all domains, male participants have a significantly higher mean QoL than their female counterparts. An analysis of variance comparing the living arrangements of participants showed that those who lived with extended family had high mean scores in environmental QoL, overall QoL and satisfaction with health. Regression analysis revealed that QoL was influenced mostly by the environmental (46.2%), followed by the psychological (43.7%), physical (31%) and social (20.4%) domains. Conclusions The findings from this study show that older adults living in slums had moderate psychological, social and environmental QoL and poor physical QoL. Although the mean scores for QoL are higher than anticipated, health policy development must take into account the specific needs of older adults.

Source: UG
Quality of Life of Patients with Eye Amputation in Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Kano

Eye amputation is a Destructive Eye Surgery (DES) that could be partial or complete removal of eyeball. Though it is destructive, but the goal is to protect human eyes against ophthalmic sympathetic risk and save patients’ lives. The model used was Ferrell et al. (1995) on quality of life, the tool included variables; physical, psychological, social and spiritual well-being that determine quality of life. The study sought to determine the quality of life of patients who have undergone eye amputation. A quantitative cross-sectional research approach was used. Data was collected using self-administered and survey questionnaire to 152 patients who had eye amputation in Murtala Muhammed Specialist Hospital, Kano. Data obtained were analyzed using mean (M), the standard deviation (SD), Chi square, Spearman Rho and logistic regression using STATA Version 15.0. The analysis revealed that eye amputated patients have poor quality of life in all the four (4) domains as follows: Physical well-being were (M=25.3, SD=2.7), psychological wellbeing (M=40.1, SD=4.8), social well-being (M=26.6, SD=4.8) and spiritual wellbeing (M=25.4, SD=3.0). In addition, the overall quality of life (M=29.3, SD=3.0) was poor. Age, marital status, occupation and religion had a significant association with quality of life. Predictor of poor quality of life was occupation (p< 0.042). Eye amputation has a significant impact on quality of life since majority of the patients had poor quality of life. Therefore, there is need for comprehensive care towards improving the quality of life of patients with eye amputation.

Source: UG
Quality of uncomplicated malaria case management in Ghana among insured and uninsured patients

Abstract Introduction The National Health Insurance Act, 2003 (Act 650) established the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) in Ghana with the aim of increasing access to health care and improving the quality of basic health care services for all citizens. The main objective is to assess the effect of health insurance on the quality of case management for patients with uncomplicated malaria, ascertaining any significant differences in treatment between insured and non-insured patients. Method A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from 523 respondents diagnosed with malaria and prescribed malaria drugs from public and private health facilities in 3 districts across Ghana’s three ecological zones. Collected information included initial examinations performed on patients (temperature, weight, age, blood pressure and pulse); observations of malaria symptoms by trained staff, laboratory tests conducted and type of drugs prescribed. Insurance status of patients, age, gender, education level and occupation were asked in the interviews. Results Of the 523 patients interviewed, only 40 (8%) were uninsured. Routine recording of the patients’ age, weight, and temperature was high in all the facilities. In general, assessments needed to identify suspected malaria were low in all the facilities with hot body/fever and headache ranking the highest and convulsion ranking the lowest. Parasitological assessments in all the facilities were also very low. All patients interviewed were prescribed ACTs which is in adherence to the drug of choice for malaria treatment in Ghana. However, there were no significant differences in the quality of malaria treatment given to the uninsured and insured patients. Conclusion Adherence to the standard protocol of malaria treatment is low. This is especially the case for parasitological confirmation of all suspected malaria patients before treatment with an antimalarial as currently recommended for the effective management of malaria in the country. The results show that about 16 percent of total sample were parasitologically tested. Effective management of the disease demands proper diagnosis and treatment and therefore facilities need to be adequately supplied with RDTs or be equipped with well functioning laboratories to provide adequate testing.

Source: UG