Prof. Brian van Wyk
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| Position: | Professor |
| Department: | School of Public Health |
| Faculty: | Faculty of Community and Health Sciences |
| Qualifications: | BSc (Hons) (Stellenbosch) |
| MSc Psychology (Stellenbosch) | |
| DPhil (Stellenbosch) | |
| My publications in this repository | |
| More about me: | here, |
| Tel: | +27 21 959 2417 |
| Fax: | +27 21 959 2755 |
| Email: | bvanwyk@uwc.ac.za |
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Item Knowledge and awareness of human papillomavirus and intention with regard to human papillomavirus vaccine uptake by female tertiary students in the Eastern Cape province(MedPharm, 2013) van Wyk, Brian Eduard; Chikandiwa, AdmireIn 2008, two human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines, Cervarix and Gardasil, were licensed for use in South Africa. Initial models showed that vaccination could lead to an approximate 70% decline in cervical cancer cases. This paper describes the knowledge, awareness and health beliefs about HPV and the HPV vaccine, and the intentions of female tertiary students with respect of being vaccinated with the latter. An observational, descriptive and analytical cross-sectional survey was conducted among 150 female tertiary students at a university in the Eastern Cape province in this regard. Knowledge and awareness of HPV and the HPV vaccine were poor. Only 22.7% of the students were aware of HPV and that an HPV vaccine was available in South Africa. However, most respondents (80%) reported a willingness to be vaccinated. Being aware of the existence of a Papanicolaou smear, higher knowledge of HPV, higher perceived vaccine effectiveness and higher perceived severity of HPV infection were significantly associated with increased willingness to be vaccinated. There is a need for education on HPV and its vaccination in South Africa. An effective vaccine marketing strategy should emphasise the effectiveness of the vaccine, the susceptibility of women to contracting HPV and the severity of being infected with the human immunodeficiency virus.Item Realist evaluation of the antiretroviral treatment adherence club programme in selected primary healthcare facilities in the metropolitan area of Western Cape Province, South Africa: a study protocol(BMJ, 2016) Mukumbang, Ferdinand C.; Van Belle, Sara; Marchal, Bruno; van Wyk, Brian EduardINTRODUCTION: Suboptimal retention in care and poor treatment adherence are key challenges to antiretroviral therapy (ART) in sub-Saharan Africa. Communitybased approaches to HIV service delivery are recommended to improve patient retention in care and ART adherence. The implementation of the adherence clubs in the Western Cape province of South Africa was with variable success in terms of implementation and outcomes. The need for operational guidelines for its implementation has been identified. Therefore, understanding the contexts and mechanisms for successful implementation of the adherence clubs is crucial to inform the roll-out to the rest of South Africa. The protocol outlines an evaluation of adherence club intervention in selected primary healthcare facilities in the metropolitan area of the Western Cape Province, using the realist approach. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: In the first phase, an exploratory study design will be used. Document review and key informant interviews will be used to elicit the programme theory. In phase two, a multiple case study design will be used to describe the adherence clubs in five contrastive sites. Semistructured interviews will be conducted with purposively selected programme implementers and members of the clubs to assess the context and mechanisms of the adherence clubs. For the programme’s primary outcomes, a longitudinal retrospective cohort analysis will be conducted using routine patient data. Data analysis will involve classifying emerging themes using the contextmechanism- outcome (CMO) configuration, and refining the primary CMO configurations to conjectured CMO configurations. Finally, we will compare the conjectured CMO configurations from the cases with the initial programme theory. The final CMOs obtained will be translated into middle range theories. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The study will be conducted according to the principles of the declaration of Helsinki (1964). Ethics clearance was obtained from the University of the Western Cape. Dissemination will be done through publications and curation.Item HIV/AIDS competent households: Interaction between a health-enabling environment and community-based treatment adherence support for people living with HIV/AIDS in South Africa(Public Library of Science, 2016) Masquillier, Caroline; Wouters, Edwin; Mortelmans, Dimitri; van Wyk, Brian Eduard; Hausler, Harry; Van Damme, WimIn the context of severe human resource shortages in HIV care, task-shifting and especially community-based support are increasingly being cited as potential means of providing durable care to chronic HIV patients. Socio-ecological theory clearly stipulates that–in all social interventions–the interrelatedness and interdependency between individuals and their immediate social contexts should be taken into account. People living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) seldom live in isolation, yet community-based interventions for supporting chronic HIV patients have largely ignored the social contexts in which they are implemented. Research is thus required to investigate such community-based support within its context. The aim of this study is to address this research gap by examining the way in which HIV/ AIDS competence in the household hampers or facilitates community-based treatment adherence support. The data was analyzed carefully in accordance with the Grounded Theory procedures, using Nvivo 10. More specifically, we analyzed field notes from participatory observations conducted during 48 community-based treatment adherence support sessions in townships on the outskirts of Cape Town, transcripts of 32 audio-recorded indepth interviews with PLWHA and transcripts of 4 focus group discussions with 36 community health workers (CHWs). Despite the fact that the CHWs try to present themselves as not being openly associated with HIV/AIDS services, results show that the presence of a CHW is often seen as a marker of the disease. Depending on the HIV/AIDS competence in the household, this association can challenge the patient’s hybrid identity management and his/her attempt to regulate the interference of the household in the disease management. The results deepen our understanding of how the degree of HIV/AIDS competence present in a PLWHA’s household affects the manner in which the CHW can perform his or her job and the associated benefits for the patient and his/her household members. In this respect, a household with a high level of HIV/AIDS competence will be more receptive to treatment adherence support, as the patient is more likely to allow interaction between the CHW and the household. In contrast, in a household which exhibits limited characteristics of HIV/ AIDS competence, interaction with the treatment adherence supporter may be difficult in the beginning. In such a situation, visits from the CHW threaten the hybrid identity management. If the CHWhandles this situation cautiously and the patient–acting as a gate keeper– allows interaction, the CHW may be able to help the household develop towards HIV/AIDS competence. This would have a more added value compared to a household which was more HIV/AIDS competent from the outset. This study indicates that pre-existing dynamics in a patient’s social environment, such as the HIV/AIDS competence of the household, should be taken into account when designing community-based treatment adherence programs in order to provide long-term quality care, treatment and support in the context of human resource shortages.