Browsing by Author "Bonnici, Francois"

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    Combatting Intimate Partner Violence Modelling Scalable Pathways for Sustainable Interventions in South Africa: The private sector as a critical ally to promote women's well-being, economic empowerment, and inclusion in the advancement of gender equity
    (2022) Farhana Parker; Hall, Martin; Bonnici, Francois; Nilsson, Warren
    Intimate partner violence (a subset of violence against women) is a large-scale and complex social, public health, and economic problem that has existed for many decades, primarily enabled by systemic gender inequality and rooted in patriarchal gender norms. This study focuses on the design and scalability of interventions that address intimate partner violence targeted at mothers. The emphasis on mothers was chosen given the high prevalence of intimate partner violence perpetrated by men against women across the social spectrum and the more significant impact and sustainability intervening at this level presents to advance social and economic progress in South Africa. The existing interventions and funding to address violence against women are predominantly directed to post-violence responses related to the effects of violence. Despite these efforts to tackle violence against women in South Africa, the challenge persists, and many gaps remain, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. The equal demand, importance, and effectiveness of pre-violence prevention interventions were evident in this study. However, the demand for and the dominance of the post-violence position underscores prevention as a critical priority. The study, therefore, revealed a limitation in the thought processes that inform the design, sustainability, and scalability, of prevention interventions which impedes the capability to bring about the large-scale systemic improvements and changes to combat violence against women in the medium to longer term. There has been minimal evidence of strategic, innovative, sustainable, long-term, and workable prevention pathways. This has made evident the significant need for alternative pathways and innovative business models to build additional designs and scalability pathways to address the problem. Therefore, the study endeavoured to identify alternative scalable pathways to prevent violence against mothers in Cape Town. In the context of this study, social and inclusive innovation principles and practices have been used to foreground this study to inform a new narrative to address the challenge more efficiently and effectively. Social innovation has been used as a lens to inform scalability and sustainability as well as inform the building of new innovative pathways and business models in the violence against women prevention ecosystem. The study adopted a qualitative research approach. Data was collected via semi-structured expert interviews and meetings on the topic area and analysed using content analysis. The study's findings revealed two fundamental priorities that include seven key practices. They are integral to influencing the design and scalability of interventions to catalyse large-scale change and bring about substantial systemic improvements in this ecosystem. These priorities encourage a new narrative to approach intimate partner violence and are indicative that violence against women can be changed if we approach it with a new intelligence. The fundamental priorities outlined in the findings include: (i) Reframing mental models to address violence against women. (ii) Developing scalable pathways and business models to influence systems change and combat violence against women. The two fundamental priorities outlined in the study's findings point to the need for a necessary social innovative legislative change in the private sector's role in supporting sustainable and scalable pathways to combat intimate partner violence and advance social and economic progress
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    Evaluation of a knemometer
    (1996) Zöllner, Ekkehard Werner Arthur; Bonnici, Francois
    Knemometry is a sensitive technique to measure lower leg length. It has been utilised in the assessment of short-term growth. Knemometry is compared to other indicators of early growth. Its uses and limitations are highlighted. 11 The acquisition of a knemometer necessitated a study to establish the reliability and the validity of its measurements, to compare two different recommended measuring procedures and to establish whether repositioning the child between readings is necessary. Forty-four healthy children ranging in age from 5,2 - 10,9 years were enrolled. Measurements were done by a single observer. The lower leg of each child was measured by a series of 3x3 readings called "measuring procedure 1" (MP1), followed by a series of 4 readings, the child being repositioned between each reading, called "measuring procedure 2" (MP2). Ten metal rods were measured at the start of each measuring day (314,90 - 449,90mm) to assess validity of the measurements. The mean standard deviation (SD) of the measurements performed on children was 0,4mm and the coefficient of variation (CV) 0,1%, irrespective of the measuring procedure. Rod measurements yielded corresponding values of0,13mm and 0,03%. The SD tended to increase with increasing length of rods (rod size 404,90 to 449,90mm). The measurement bias was -0,26mm, except for rod size 345mm (+0,07mm). The standard error of the mean when measuring children was lower for MP2 (0,20mm) than for MP1 (0,25mm). Outliers were distributed at random among the readings. Data analysis by one way ANOVA showed that it may be advantageous to reposition the subject in between readings. The results confirm that the knemometer is a sensitive instrument. Most of the variation in the measurements was attributable to the subjects, rather than the instrument. This could be explained by unidentified minor movements and by the relative "elasticity" of the children compared to the rods. The knemometer is less reliable in the upper range of measurement when rods are measured. The bias is not consistent, reflecting a possible weakness in the construction. Inspection identified the coupling arm of the knee plate as a possible source. Because outliers cannot be excluded while performing routine measurements, the 95th percentile for SD affords reasonable protection against their inclusion. It is recommended that 4 independent readings should be taken to establish a measurement and that the first reading should not be excluded. The whole series of readings should be repeated if the SD is >0,65mm. Users need to be aware of the construction flaw in the make of the instrument tested.
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    Medicine and the Arts Week 4 - In dialogue about creativity
    (2015-01-21) Reid, Steve; Dyer, Silke; Bonnici, Francois; Baghai-Wadji, Alireza
    In this video, Steve Reid poses additional questions to Alireza Baghai-Wadji, François Bonnici, and Silke Dyer around the topic of creativity. Silke taslks about new developments in reproductive health, François comments on how to create new ways of thinking to tackle complex problems, and Alireza discusses how the biological conception in humans is analogus to the creation of new ideas. This is the fifthvideo in Week 4 of the Medicine and the Arts Massive Open Online Course.
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    Medicine and the Arts Week 4 - Innovation and entrepreneurship in medicine
    (2015-01-21) Bonnici, Francois
    In this video, François Bonnici, the Director of the Bertha Centre for Social Innovation & Entrepreneurship, reveals his personal journey to becoming involved with social innovation beginning as a young doctor struggling to find solutions to neonatal care in a resource-poor environment. This is the third video in Week 4 of the Medicine and the Arts Massive Open Online Course.