Browsing by Subject "COVID-19 pandemic"

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    Associations between mental health, social cognition, and COVID-19 stress among South African university students
    (2025) Mlomo, Zintle W; Thomas, Kevin; Pileggi, Lea-Ann
    The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to widespread psychosocial distress, observed in the unprecedented rise in symptoms of common mental disorders (CMDs), including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This surge in mental health complications has been reported across all populations globally, most notably among university students, who are already a vulnerable cohort to CMDs, including PTSD. As integral socio-cognitive mechanisms of emotional regulation and interpersonal functioning, cognitive and affective empathy may potentially protect against or aggravate symptoms of CMDs, including PTSD, respectively. However, there is a scarcity of South African literature exploring this relationship, and relatively few South African studies have investigated students' mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study employed a descriptive, cross-sectional design and aimed at evaluating the relationship between sociodemographic variables, pandemic-related-stress and exposure, mental health and cognitive and affective empathy, and explore the potentially moderating role of empathy. 534 undergraduate and postgraduate students from the University of Cape Town (UCT) were recruited using convenience sampling to participate in an online survey. Participants were administered a brief demographic questionnaire, the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K 10), the Beck Depression Inventory-Second edition (BDI-II), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), PTSD-Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), the Pandemic Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Overall, the results showed that female biological sex, self-reported history of psychological diagnosis, and earlier year of study were significant sociodemographic predictors of higher symptoms of CMDs, including PTSD. Furthermore, the results showed positive associations between mental health outcomes and affective empathy, and further provided significant evidence of the potentially moderating role of affective and cognitive empathy in the relationship between pandemic-related stress and exposure and mental health outcomes. These findings contribute to the current research gap on empathy and mental health in South Africa and provide further insight into the role of cognitive and affective empathy in relation to mental health in the context of stressful environmental factors. Further research should be conducted to explore additional factors and mechanisms that could explain individual mental health and social cognition in relation to stressful environmental factors
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    Associations between mental health, social cognition, and COVID-19 stress among South African university students
    (2025) Mlomo, Zintle W; Thomas, Kevin; Pileggi, Lea-Ann
    The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to widespread psychosocial distress, observed in the unprecedented rise in symptoms of common mental disorders (CMDs), including depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This surge in mental health complications has been reported across all populations globally, most notably among university students, who are already a vulnerable cohort to CMDs, including PTSD. As integral socio-cognitive mechanisms of emotional regulation and interpersonal functioning, cognitive and affective empathy may potentially protect against or aggravate symptoms of CMDs, including PTSD, respectively. However, there is a scarcity of South African literature exploring this relationship, and relatively few South African studies have investigated students' mental health in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The current study employed a descriptive, cross-sectional design and aimed at evaluating the relationship between sociodemographic variables, pandemic-related-stress and exposure, mental health and cognitive and affective empathy, and explore the potentially moderating role of empathy. 534 undergraduate and postgraduate students from the University of Cape Town (UCT) were recruited using convenience sampling to participate in an online survey. Participants were administered a brief demographic questionnaire, the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale (K 10), the Beck Depression Inventory-Second edition (BDI-II), the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI), PTSD-Checklist for DSM-5 (PCL-5), the Pandemic Stress Questionnaire (PSQ) and the Interpersonal Reactivity Index (IRI). Overall, the results showed that female biological sex, self-reported history of psychological diagnosis, and earlier year of study were significant sociodemographic predictors of higher symptoms of CMDs, including PTSD. Furthermore, the results showed positive associations between mental health outcomes and affective empathy, and further provided significant evidence of the potentially moderating role of affective and cognitive empathy in the relationship between pandemic-related stress and exposure and mental health outcomes. These findings contribute to the current research gap on empathy and mental health in South Africa and provide further insight into the role of cognitive and affective empathy in relation to mental health in the context of stressful environmental factors. Further research should be conducted to explore additional factors and mechanisms that could explain individual mental health and social cognition in relation to stressful environmental factors
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    Did COVID-19-Related Alcohol Sales Restrictions Reduce Alcohol Consumption? Findings from a National Online Survey in South Africa
    (2022-02-19) Theron, Marieke; Swart, Rina; Londani, Mukhethwa; Parry, Charles; Petersen Williams, Petal; Harker, Nadine
    Background: South Africa has a high prevalence of heavy episodic drinking (HED). Due to the high levels of alcohol misuse and violence, public hospital intensive care units were often overrun during the COVID-19 pandemic. This research investigated alcohol intake behaviour change during differing levels of lockdown restrictions, which included bans on alcohol sales. Methods: A self-reported Facebook survey ran from July to November 2020. The questions included socio-demographics, income, alcohol intake, purchasing behaviour, and reasoning. Chi-square tests/Fisher’s exact test for categorical data, Student’s t-test for normal continuous data, and the Mann–Whitney U test for non-normal data were applied. Multiple logistic regression was run for HED versus moderate drinkers. Results: A total of 798 participants took part in the survey, of which 68.4% were female. Nearly 50% of participants fell into the HED category and the majority bought alcohol illegally during restrictions. HED respondents who drank more alcohol than usual during restrictions reported that they felt stressed, needed to relax, and were bored. Conclusions: Policies intended to increase the pricing of alcohol may have the potential to reduce alcohol intake. Reducing stress and anxiety may be key to curtailing HED during emergency situations.
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    “During the pandemic, the sense of Ubuntu was fantastic”: a participatory research study commemorating community mobilisation
    (2025) Ocholla, Diana Atieno; Gittings, Lesley; Nilsson, Warren
    The COVID-19 pandemic will forever be etched into the world's collective memory as a defining event of our generation as the ramifications will be felt and experienced long into the future. To understand the effects and learn from the experiences of a community organization in a pandemic, the research question for this study was ‘What are the experiences and perceived effects of a community organisation engaging in a commemorative arts-based process for social innovation during a pandemic?'. The research methodology of this study was qualitative participatory research and it was conducted in Cape Town, South Africa, with members of the Woodstock Community Action Network. Data were collected virtually from seven participants through an online meeting (n=1), one-to-one interviews (n=7), online workshops (n=5), and a focus group (n=1) from April 2021-October 2021. Although there is significant literature on collective memory, commemoration, and community mobilisation, there is limited literature on these aspects in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic, South African Community Action Networks (CANs), as well as arts-based methods for commemoration and remote participatory research. The findings that emerged were presented under the following themes: 1) Addressing mental health and wellbeing challenges, 2) Empowerment within place, 3) Commemoration of the COVID-19 pandemic, 4) Heightened awareness of social inequity, and 5) Agency development through collaborative video. The significance of this research study was that it provided a means to understand what motivated community mobilisation to occur through focusing on documenting the experiences of Woodstock CAN members. In addition, the study demonstrated how the CAN as a social innovation, was already engaged in its own form of commemoration practice. Lastly, the video became a way to commemorate more tangibly and as a result, acted as social innovation tool in practicing agency and collaboration.
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    Responding to the Initial Challenge of the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of International Responses and Impact in School and Higher Education
    (Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2022-02-07) Stracke, Christian M.; Burgos, Daniel; Santos-Hermosa, Gema; Bozkurt, Aras; Sharma, Ramesh Chander; Swiatek Cassafieres, Cécile; dos Santos, Andreia Inamorato; Mason, Jon; Ossiannilsson, Ebba; Shon, Jin Gon; Wan, Marian; Obiageli Agbu, Jane-Frances; Farrow, Robert; Karakaya, Özlem; Nerantzi, Chrissi; Ramírez-Montoya, María Soledad; Conole, Grainne; Cox, Glenda; Truong, Vi
    This paper presents and analyses solutions where open education and open science were utilised to reduce the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on education. The COVID-19 outbreak and associated lockdowns created huge challenges in school and higher education, demanding sudden responses which aimed to sustain pedagogical quality. Responses have varied from conservative to radically innovative. Universally, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted and shocked societies worldwide, and education systems were on the front line. The lockdowns largely stopped face-to-face and formal education in almost all countries, and in most cases, distance learning soon became the ‘new normal’. A central challenge concerned sustaining educational visions and ideals in such circumstances. To better understand the state of the art in the educational landscape, we collected case studies from 13 countries during the first year of the pandemic starting on 11 March 2020 (when the World Health Organization declared a pandemic). This paper presents summaries of the full country reports that were collected and describe lessons learned. Our overall aim was to identify good practices and recommendations from the collected case studies that can be taken forward in the future. We categorised the responses on the three generic educational levels (macro, meso and micro) and identified seven key aspects and trends that are valid for all or most countries: (1) formal education at a distance for first time; (2) similar approaches for formal education; (3) missing infrastructure and sharing open educational resources; (4) diverse teaching and learning methods and practices; (5) open education and access to open educational resources; (6) urgent need for professional development and training for teachers and (7) assessing and monitoring learning environments, teachers and students. Finally, we identified key recommendations on how open education and open science can benefit formal education in schools and universities in the future, namely, improved awareness of open educational practices, provision of ICT infrastructure, embracing and sustaining the practice of open access publications and OERs, capacity building for stakeholders and finally encouraging research and development in the area of open education and open science. We found significant evidence for the proposition that open education and open science can support both traditional face-to-face and distance learning.
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    Social vulnerability of fishing communities in the southern Cape to change, including additional pressures of COVID-19
    (2025) Netshithuthuni, Humbelani; Gammage, Louise; Ward, Catherine
    Marine systems are critical for providing support to the lives and livelihood of millions of people including small-scale fishers (SSFs). However, these communities are faced with many challenges such as resource scarcity, climate change and variability, policy and regulation and the more recent COVID-19 pandemic. This dissertation examines the social vulnerabilities of SSFs in the southern Cape, particularly in the two fishing towns of Bitouville and Melkhoutfontein, to better understand how challenges impact the ability of SSFs to support their livelihoods and how this has changed over the last 10 years. This research made use of a mixed-method technique that included both qualitative and quantitative aspects, drawing on the Global Understanding and Learning for Local Solutions (GULLS) survey that was first implemented in 2013/14 and amended to suit the local context of the southern Cape, which was administered through face-to-face interviews in 2023. Social vulnerability scores were calculated in line with the GULLS framework to gain a deeper insight into the vulnerabilities faced by SSFs and how these have evolved over the last decade. In both Bitouville and Melkhoutfontein communities, vulnerabilities of SSFs were exacerbated by the more recent COVID-19 pandemic, which led to the loss of income sources and available sea days, which in turn contributed to food insecurity. Regarding the evolution of the drivers of changes in 2013/14 and 2023, the results of this study revealed an increase in the social vulnerability scores in both Bitouville and Melkhoutfontein over time as a result of increased exposure to challenges linked to resource scarcity, climate change and variability, and policy and regulation. For example, the continued delay in the implementation of South Africa's small-scale fishing policy (SSFP) has contributed to increased vulnerability as this impacts SFFs' access to fishing rights. The results also revealed that SSFs in Bitouville faced more vulnerabilities compared to their counterparts in Melkhoutfontein, which was attributed to their higher social dependency on fishing, limited livelihood opportunities, higher exposure to environmental changes, and lower adaptive capacity. The vulnerability of these two fishing communities is thus increasing due to compounding stressors such as resource scarcity, climate variability, the COVID-19 pandemic and policy and regulation. This research highlighted the importance of improving the adaptive strategies of SSFs, as limited improvement in these strategies places the livelihoods of these fishing communities at greater risk and exacerbates vulnerabilities in the important, livelihood-intensive southern Cape fisheries.
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    The costing of COVID-19 intensive care units at a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, South Africa
    (2024) Hood, Kirsten; Joubert, Ivan; Cunnama, Lucy; Peters, Shrikant
    Background: The expansion of Groote Schuur Hospital's (GSH) Intensive Care Unit (ICU) capacity to accommodate an unprecedented number of patients during the COVID-19 pandemic was an expensive undertaking. There are currently no published formal retrospective analyses of the financial costs of running and expanding COVID-ICUs in South Africa. Objectives: To conduct a cost analysis of the COVID-ICU service at a tertiary state hospital in Cape Town, South Africa. This analysis included the cost of COVID-ICU admissions relating to the first four COVID waves. Aims were to estimate total costs, in-patient day costs, and cost drivers for COVID-ICU. Methods: A retrospective cost analysis (quantitative observational study) using a mixed methods costing approach, was conducted across the COVID-ICUs at GSH. The data used included two consecutive hospital financial years, between April 2020 and March 2022. Costs were calculated monthly and then combined to achieve a total cost over the two-year period. COVID-ICU in-patient days were used as the primary allocation factor. Cost inputs included recurrent costs such as human resources, diagnostics, pharmaceuticals, oxygen, enteral feeds, blood products, consumables, and overheads, as well as capital costs including equipment, and building space. Results: The study period covered the four COVID waves that affected GSH ICU units between April 2020 and March 2022. This period included 10 497 COVID-ICU in-patient days resulting from a total of 776 COVID-ICU admissions. The total calculated spending across the two financial years was R262 482 904, resulting in a cost per in-patient day of R25 006, and a utilisation of 4,4% of the total hospital budget during the same period. The median length of stay was nine days, resulting in a median cost per admission of R225 050. The top five cost drivers were human resources (60%), consumables (9%), pharmaceuticals (8%), oxygen (5%), and overheads (5%). Conclusion: This is a retrospective costing study of the COVID-ICUs at a tertiary hospital in Cape Town, throughout the entire portion of the pandemic that required ICU admissions in South Africa. This analysis provides useful financial insights, a potential economic model for ICU budgeting, and creates a platform for future economic analyses and policy planning regarding level-of-care decisions for general ICU admissions or for similar future pandemics within the South African and LMIC hospital setting.
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    “This pen is more important than this firearm”: Exploring security sector governance in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic
    (2025) Michaels, Gino Stephano; Kinnes, Irvin; Van Der Spuy; Elrena
    This dissertation critically explores the nature of Security Sector Governance (SSG) in South Africa during the COVID-19 pandemic, focusing specifically on the roles, responsibilities, experiences, and perceptions of members of the South African Police Service (SAPS). Set against the backdrop of an unprecedented public health crisis, the research examines how a highly securitised approach—underpinned by the Disaster Management Act—shaped the implementation of pandemic-related policies. Using a qualitative, single-case study design centered on Kraaifontein Police Station, the study engages with ten SAPS officers through semi-structured interviews, complemented by insights from a Community Policing Forum chairperson and a policing scholar. The findings reveal a fragmented security governance landscape, marked by overlapping institutional frameworks, contested governance, and a blurring of public health and public safety roles. SAPS officers were often unprepared for the public health dimensions of their expanded mandates and struggled with inadequate training, limited personal protective equipment, and heightened exposure to psychological stress. Officers' responses highlight the tension between duty and vulnerability, militarised policing tactics, and the shifting legitimacy of state authority. Drawing from the Mo Ibrahim Index of African Governance, the study evaluates governance performance across indicators such as rule of law, accountability, and security provision. Ultimately, the research underscores the limitations of a militarised pandemic response in a fragile state context and calls for a more inclusive, community-oriented, and health-integrated approach to security governance during states of emergency. Recommendations include structural reforms in inter-agency collaboration, police training, and community engagement to enhance transparency, resilience, and trust within the security sector