ghanaopendata/ghanaian-research-english huggingface dataset:
The impact of gender and physical environment on the handwashing behaviour of university students in Ghana

objectives To establish levels of handwashing after defecation among students at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, and to test hypotheses that gender and washroom environment affect handwashing behaviour. Methods Data on students’ handwashing behaviour after defecation were collected by structured observations in washrooms. Eight hundred and six observations were made (360 female students and 446 males) in 56 washrooms over 496 observation periods. Observers recorded gender, duration of handwashing, use of soap, and physical characteristics of the washroom (cleanliness, availability of soap, tap flow and presence of handwashing posters). Results Fewer than half the students observed washed their hands or bathed after defecation. Of these, only two-thirds washed both hands and a minority (20%) used soap; only 16 students (all men) washed their hands for the recommended 15 s or longer. Female students were more likely to wash their hands at all, and were more likely to wash both hands, than males. Cleanliness of the washroom was strongly associated with improved handwashing behaviour for both women and men, as was tap flow quality for female students. conclusions Handwashing behaviour is generally poor among UCC students, mirroring results from North American Universities. The findings underline the plasticity of handwashing behaviour among this population, and highlight the need for ensuring that the physical environment in washrooms on University campuses is conducive to handwashing

Source: UCC
Impact of Ghanaian basic school band directors‘ rehearsal strategies on students‘ performance

There has been a concern about the quality and depth of the musical leanings accruing from school musical performances. The concern in Ghana is the level of technical ability students are able to achieve and how instructors are able to help their students develop acceptable technical control over the musical instruments they are studying. Unfortunately, no study has been done in this area in Ghana. Employing a mixed methods design with a sample of 10 Basic School Bands and 90 scores obtained from three judges‘ ratings of three band performances, the present study sheds light on the neglected issues of wind instrumental pedagogy in Ghana, by examining the impact of basic school band directors‘ rehearsal strategies on students‘ performance. Analysis of codes generated from videotapes of rehearsal sessions, field notes, and interviews revealed that teacher-directed instruction was the most utilized instructional category. However, in band instructors‘ attempt to reach their instructional goals and objectives, some teachers emphasized staff notation in their teaching while others taught by rote method. Out of the ten bands, only two bands‘ performance scores fell within the average mark for tone/intonation. Four bands performed averagely well on technique and all ten bands performed poorly on interpretation. There was a significant difference between rehearsal strategies employed and students‘ performance. There was also a strong positive relationship between performance scores and rehearsal observation scores

Source: UCC
Impact of glutathione S-transferase genes polymorphisms on human papillomavirus infection and precancerous lesions in West African women

Genetic polymorphisms of certain classes of glutathione S-transferase (GST), enzyme responsible for the biotransformation of drugs and xenobiotics, have been associated with risk of several cancers such as cervical cancer. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of glutathione S-transferase M1 and T1 deletion on high-risk human papillomavirus (HR-HPV) infections and on dysplasia. A case control study was carried out on 1069 endocervical samples from West African women including 482 HR-HPV positive and 139 patients had cervical lesions according to visual inspection with acetic acid and Lugol (VIA/VILI) screening. Deletion of the GSTM1 and GSTT1 genes was determined using conventional PCR and genotypes of HR-HPV by real-time PCR. An association with a reduced risk for HR-HPV infection was observed in Ivorian population with GSTT1-null (OR = 0.61, 95% CI = 0.40 - 0.92, p= 0.02) and GSTM1-active/GSTT1-null genotypes (OR = 0.56, 95% CI = 0.35 - 0.90, p= 0.02). In West African, women with GSTT1-null genotype had 1.72-fold higher risk for infection with HPV66 (p= 0.044) and reduced risk (OR = 0.39) for HPV35. Whereas women with GSTM1-null/GSTT1-active genotype had 2.32-fold higher risk for HPV18 infection (p= 0.042). GSTT1-null genotype was associated to cervical lesions in West African with a reduced risk (OR = 0.63, p= 0.017). The results of the present study demonstrate that GSTT1-null could be associated with cervical lesions and HPV35 infection with reduced risk. GSTM1-null associated with GSTT1-active could play a role in increasing the risk for HPV18 infection.

Source: UCC
Impact of government funding on enrolment, retention and female participation in senior high schools in Cape Coast

This study investigates the impact of government funding on enrollment, retention, and female participation in selected High Schools in Cape Coast, focusing on trends from 2014 to 2019 for the enrolment analysis and 2018 to 2021 for the retention analysis. Utilizing a non-probabilistic and purposive sampling approach, the research employs a quantitative research method as well as an explanatory design to analyse secondary data from archives, school websites, Ministry of Education records, and headmasters/mistresses. The examination of enrollment trends reveals transformative effects following the initiation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) program in 2017. Notable schools experienced fluctuations, with significant increases in 2017 and 2018 and a decrease in 2019. Despite this dip, the cumulative enrollment for all schools demonstrated an overall positive impact, with the raw frequency in 2019 surpassing pre-Free SHS values. Moving to the impact on student retention, completion rates for selected schools in 2018 ranged from 69.07% to 96.61%, totalling 89.54%. Subsequent years showed improvements, with a marginal increase in 2019 and substantial gains for the first Free SHS student completed in 2020, reaching an overall completion rate of 92.07%. Exploring the impact on female SHS participation, an overall upward trend from 2014 to 2019 was evident, contributed to by Free SHS in 2017. However, fluctuations occurred, with increases in 2018 followed by a decrease in 2019, emphasizing the need for targeted interventions. Recommendations include sustaining and enhancing the positive impact of government funding on student enrollment, providing support and incentives for student retention, and addressing barriers to increasing female SHS participation. Continuous monitoring, community engagement, and further research covering other senior high schools are suggested for future endeavours.

Source: UCC
Impact of Guidance and Counseling on Academic Performance

The study was carried out in order to ascertain the impact of guidance and counselling on academic performance. The study area was the Dormaa Senior High School in the Dormaa Central Municipality of the Brong-Ahafo Region of Ghana. Pre-test and post-test control group design was appliedfor the study. An experimental design was used as the research frame for the study. 40 students were selected; 20 for experimental group and 20 for control group for the study. Two hypotheses were formulated to keep the study in focus. Data from respondents were gathered by the use of interviews. The results of the findings revealed that there is no significant difference of pre-test scores of experimental and control group. However,significant difference was realized between post-test scores of experimental and control group with regards to academic performance. It was recommended that full time counsellors be appointed in each school to address the existing and teething problems of students. It was again recommended that guidance programmes should be seriously included in the curriculum of our pre-tertiary institutions. .

Source: UCC
Impact of health education intervention on knowledge and perception of cervical cancer and screening for women in Ghana

Background: The burden of cervical cancer continues to rise in developing economies. Women in the sub-Saharan African region have higher chances of developing cervical cancer due to a greater prevalence of related risk factors. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of health education intervention on cervical cancer and screening perceptions of women in the Komenda, Edina, Eguafo, and Abirem (K.E.E.A) District in the Central Region of Ghana. Methods: A non-equivalent control-group design was used to select church women; 396 in the intervention group and 386 in the control group, aged 11 to 70 years in the K.E.E.A District in the Central Region of Ghana. Data was collected via a validated structured interview schedule and analysed using the paired - and independent-samples t-tests, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Mann-Whitney U test. Results: A comparison of the mean differences between the pre-post-test scores for the intervention and control groups showed a statistically significant difference for knowledge of cervical cancer (t = 6.22, df = 780, p = 0.001), knowledge of cervical cancer screening (t = 5.96, df = 780, p = 0.001), perceived seriousness (t = 3.36, df = 780, p = 0.001), perceived benefits (t = 9.19, df = 780, p = 0.001), and perceived barriers (t = 3.19, df = 780, p = 0.001). However, perceived susceptibility for the intervention group reduced, evidenced by a decrease in the mean (mean = − 0.12) compared to the control group (mean = 0.93) and this was statistically significant (t = 2.72, df = 780, p = 0.007). Conclusions: Health education interventions are critical in improving knowledge and perceptions, and increasing self efficacy of women about cervical cancer and screening

Source: UCC
Impact of health education intervention on knowledge and perception of cervical cancer and screening for women in Ghana

Background: The burden of cervical cancer continues to rise in developing economies. Women in the sub-Saharan African region have higher chances of developing cervical cancer due to a greater prevalence of related risk factors. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of health education intervention on cervical cancer and screening perceptions of women in the Komenda, Edina, Eguafo, and Abirem (K.E.E.A) District in the Central Region of Ghana. Methods: A non-equivalent control-group design was used to select church women; 396 in the intervention group and 386 in the control group, aged 11 to 70 years in the K.E.E.A District in the Central Region of Ghana. Data was collected via a validated structured interview schedule and analysed using the paired - and independent-samples t-tests, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Mann-Whitney U test. Results: A comparison of the mean differences between the pre-post-test scores for the intervention and control groups showed a statistically significant difference for knowledge of cervical cancer (t = 6.22, df = 780, p = 0.001), knowledge of cervical cancer screening (t = 5.96, df = 780, p = 0.001), perceived seriousness (t = 3.36, df = 780, p = 0.001), perceived benefits (t = 9.19, df = 780, p = 0.001), and perceived barriers (t = 3.19, df = 780, p = 0.001). However, perceived susceptibility for the intervention group reduced, evidenced by a decrease in the mean (mean = - 0.12) compared to the control group (mean = 0.93) and this was statistically significant (t = 2.72, df = 780, p = 0.007). Conclusions: Health education interventions are critical in improving knowledge and perceptions, and increasing self-efficacy of women about cervical cancer and screening.

Source: UCC
The Impact of Health on Economic Development: Ghana’s COVID-19 Management So Far

The COVID-19 pandemic as a public health crisis also has a major effect on development. Though there has been a prediction of economic decline worldwide, developing African countries are anticipated to have the worst form of impact. In this paper, we reviewed the impact of COVID 19 on the economic development of Ghana. We observed that Ghana’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate had been reviewed downwards by the International Monetary Funds from 5.8 % to 1.5 %. This would be seen as the least recorded GDP growth since the year 1983. The Minister of Finance in a statement to the Parliament of Ghana indicated that COVID-19 would directly affect production, trade, and investment within Ghana and between Ghana and the world. He added that the pandemic will affect the prices of global commodities (crude oil, gold, and cocoa), tourism, fiscal stance, and human life, mainly the health and life of the most vulnerable. Also, COVID-19 would indirectly affect Ghana’s economic growth through the decline of global economic growth and supply chain interferences. In light of the socio-economic challenges created by the pandemic, Ghana has so far thrived immensely in the management of this crisis. Despite the future inevitable economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, Ghana will be able to endure with a good system of governance, adequate public health measures, and a strong macroeconomic foundation.

Source: UCC
Impact of Human Resource Management Practices on Organisational Performance of Local Ngos in the Central Region of Ghana

The primary objective of this study was to investigate the impact of human resource management practices on the organisational performance of local NGOs in the Central Region of Ghana. All the 71 functional NGOs in the Central Region were involved in the study, however, only 40 NGOs were willing to respond. The study adopted descriptive survey method with structured questionnaire as the data collection instrument. The study revealed that local NGOs in the Central Region generally follow standard recruitment, supervision, training, motivation and retention as their human resource management practices to improve organisational performance. Their areas of strength in HRM include their ability to follow the right recruitment procedures to recruit the right employees, the ability to provide training based on current trend of information and skills. Supervision was more of a team work, while motivation was both intrinsic and extrinsic, monetary and non-monetary. All this resulted in reduced turnover of staff which is key to continuity and overall performance. It came out of the study that the NGOs in study area viewed all their HRM practices as effective and efficient in boosting staff morale, offering staff satisfaction and reducing staff turnover in the NGOs. There was a positive relationship between the HRM practices used by the local NGOs in the Central Region and their organisational performance, with staff motivation and supervision being the most significant contributors to the performance. It is recommended that local NGOs in the Central Region should invest more into the motivation of their employees by providing monetary and non-monetary incentives and also provide supportive supervision through mentorship and teamwork to improve performance. Key Words: Human Resource Management Practices, Non-Governmental Organisation, Organisational Performance

Source: UCC
Impact of human resource management practices on organizational performance: The case of selected manufacturing firms in Accra

It is now a recognized fact amongst both academics and practitioners that Human Resources play a critical role in the success of organizations. This awareness has precipitated the myriad of empirical researches that have explored the link between the HR practices used by firms and the performance firms attain. The objective of this study was to first, identify and examine the extent to which bundles of HRM practices affect performance of Ghanaian manufacturing firms. Specifically, the study also analyzed the impact of HR planning, recruitment and selection, training and development, performance appraisal and compensation and rewards on organisational performance.By administering a questionnaire to a purposively selected sample of 200 respondents across 8 manufacturing firms located in the Greater Accra Region of the Republic of Ghana, multivariate regression analysis based on ordinary Least squares (OLS) estimation was performed to analyze the effects of HRM practices on organisational performance. The results indicate that control variables account for only small proportion of the total variations in organisational performance and that this joint effect is statistically insignificant at the 0.05 level. The R-square change indicates that the HRM practices significantly accounted for total variations in performance of manufacturing firms and this observed effect is statistically significant. Finally, the results reveal that only compensation and rewards positively and significantly influenced performance of manufacturing firms. The study recommends to management of manufacturing firms in Accra to pay critical attention to their compensation and rewards systems.

Source: UCC
Impact of illegal small-scale mining on the livelihood of the residents of East Akyem municipality

The main objective of this study is to investigate the impact of illegal small-scale mining on the livelihood of the residents of East Akyem Municipality. The study area for the study is East Akyem Municipality which is located in the central part of the Eastern Region of Ghana. The study made use of the mix method approach which had to do with both qualitative and quantitative research design. The study further used questionnaire for primary data collection, and the data obtained were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). Findings of the study were that; even though illegal small-scale mining is a lucrative and crucial source of employment for the people of East Akyem Municipality due to the non-availability of employment opportunities, and also help facilitates economic activities, it has a significant negative impact on the livelihood of the residents of East Akyem Municipality. Per the negative impact of illegal small-scale mining on the residents of East Akyem Municipality, the researcher of this study gives amongst many the following recommendations; that parents be educated on the value of formal education to encourage their wards to stay in school, rather than engaging themselves in the activities of illegal mining; creating alternative livelihood opportunities such as farming, just so indigenes are not driven to engage in illegal mining activities.

Source: UCC
Impact of in-service training on employee performance in the catholic health service in the catholic diocese of Navrongo-Bolgatanga

The issue of whether or not in-service training had actual significance influence on employee performance at work necessitated the need for this piece of research work. The main aim of this research therefore is to access the level of impact that in-service training organised for employees within the Catholic Health Service Diocese had on their overall performance. The researcher in an attempt to meet this objective had to first of all deal with the literature review on the subject matter. This included the theoretical, conceptual and empirical evidence pertaining to the study. The review identified the various forms of in service training and how they affect performance in general. They included induction training, on-the- job training, off-the- job training and career development. The methods used to arrive at the results included determining the study site, target population, data collection instruments, sample size, sampling technique, data collection, data analysis and ethical issue concerning the research. The results and discussions centred on the analysis of quantitative and qualitative data obtained from the respondents and also that of the principal findings of the study. The research concluded that by equipping the employee within the Catholic Health Service of the Catholic Diocese of Navrongo Bolgatanga with the new skills, knowledge, confidence, commitment and competence through the in-service training, and this when translated into the sound working environment is able to have a significant impact on their overall performance.

Source: UCC
The impact of in-service training on non-professional teachers in West Akim district

The study was on the impact of in-service training on non-professional teachers in the West Akim District. The main aim was to investigate whether the in-service training given to the non-professional teachers in the public basic schools have had any significant impact on them academically or professionally whether the in-service training has given them the pedagogical background to improve their performance and method of teaching, to find out what extent the non-professional teacher is responsive to professional development, in what ways does the in-service training promise greater efficiency and precision to the non-professional teachers; and lastly how does the in-service training prepare the non-professional teachers towards main stream teaching. Schools from seven circuits were used for the study. All the respondents included in the study totalled sixty-six (66). The data was collected through given out copies of questionnaires and granting of interviews. The statistical method used in the analysis was simple percentages which were calculated for the summary of the various responses. The major findings of the study were that in-service training has impacted on non-professional teachers academically and professionally. Non-professional teachers responses revealed that, in-service training is one of the yardsticks to revitalize teaching and learning as the primary basis for improving professional retraining. In-service training has given the non-professional teachers the pedagogical effectiveness and has enhanced the proficiency level shown in the ability to manage their classrooms well, prepare lesson notes on time, teach within time allocated.

Source: UCC
Impact of Inclusive Education Experiences on Satisfaction, Persistence and Academic Performance of Teacher-trainees With Sensory Impairment: the Moderating Role of Self-efficacy

The study assessed the impact of inclusive education experiences on satisfaction, persistence and academic performance of teacher-trainees with sensory impairment and the moderating role of self-efficacy. Data was collected in three Colleges of Education (CoEs) in Ghana. All the Teacher-Trainees with Sensory Impairment (TTSI) (66) in the CoEs participated in the study. The study was based on pragmatist philosophy. It utilised the convergent parallel mixed-methods approach. Data was collected using questionnaires and a focus group discussion guide. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, Pearson product-moment correlation coefficients, and Hayes PROCESS-Macro were used for quantitative data analysis. Using Braun and Clarke's (2019) reflexive thematic method to qualitative data, qualitative extracts were analysed. TTSI were reported to be satisfied with their schools in the study. A major moderator of the connection between inclusive education experience and TTSI persistence was self-efficacy, but not the relationship between inclusive education experience and TTSI satisfaction. Among the recommendations were that College authorities work in tandem with the MoE to provide comfortable campus environments for TTSI. Learning materials printed in readable and or audio form for TTSI should be available and delivered on time to facilitate academic work. Finally, College staffs are to develop the self-efficacy of TTSI to help them persist and progress in their academic life successfully.

Source: UCC