Exploring and profiling of childhood illnesses in informal settlements in relation to flooding: a case study of Barcelona, Cape Town South Africa

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dc.contributor.advisorSmit, Warrenen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMachiridza, Rumbudzayi Dorothyen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-07-31T10:22:49Z
dc.date.available2014-07-31T10:22:49Z
dc.date.issued2013en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes abstract.
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.
dc.description.abstractA significant number of studies have documented illnesses that follow flooding as a result of people coming into contact with contaminated water. Floods cause health risks by exposing children to bacteria, protozoa, viruses and fungi through contaminated water, contaminated household items, dead animals and mould, as a result of inhalation, ingestion and wound infections. This study focuses on the impacts of flooding on child health in the informal settlement of Barcelona, Cape Town. The health outcomes of flooding are conceptualized within the vulnerability framework of Turner and colleagues (2003), which explores human vulnerability in terms of exposure, sensitivity and resilience. In addition, the framework reflects global environment change and it powerfully defines the term vulnerability. There were three main research objectives. Firstly, the research established factors and other stressors that determined the occurrence of water-related illnesses among children in informal settlements as a result of flooding. Secondly, the research explored and identified the flood-related childhood illnesses. Lastly, the research identified strategies households applied in order to protect their children from flood-related illnesses. The study was conducted through the administration of 45 questionnaires, 2 focus group interviews and personal observation. The study adopted both qualitative and quantitative methodologies in order to understand the perceptions of what flood-related illnesses were and what caused them. Results from the qualitative research were used to triangulate data from the quantitative research. The integration of both methodologies provided additional solutions to understanding the impacts of floods on child health in Barcelona. Ethics approval was granted by Ethics Committee of the Engineering and the Built Environment Faculty at the University of Cape Town. The research findings suggest that flood-related illnesses in Barcelona were a result of different and interlinking factors. The various factors included poor access to basic services, general poor urban health, and location of the settlement and household hygienic factors. In addition, children were more exposed to risks inside dwellings as compared to risks outside dwellings. Vector-borne illnesses were the least recorded cases. In order to mitigate child illnesses resulting from flooding the households applied both proactive and reactive strategies such as buying of medication before and during flooding, bathing their children after they finish playing, and sending children to relatives during the flooding period and cleaning dwellings after flooding. Research findings highlighted that there is a significant association between child health and flooding in Barcelona. The types of illnesses that were reported were mainly water-related illnesses, which included respiratory illnesses, gastrointestinal illnesses, skin and ear infections and vector-borne illnesses.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationMachiridza, R. D. (2013). <i>Exploring and profiling of childhood illnesses in informal settlements in relation to flooding: a case study of Barcelona, Cape Town South Africa</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,African Centre for Cities. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4976en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationMachiridza, Rumbudzayi Dorothy. <i>"Exploring and profiling of childhood illnesses in informal settlements in relation to flooding: a case study of Barcelona, Cape Town South Africa."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,African Centre for Cities, 2013. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4976en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMachiridza, R. 2013. Exploring and profiling of childhood illnesses in informal settlements in relation to flooding: a case study of Barcelona, Cape Town South Africa. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Machiridza, Rumbudzayi Dorothy AB - A significant number of studies have documented illnesses that follow flooding as a result of people coming into contact with contaminated water. Floods cause health risks by exposing children to bacteria, protozoa, viruses and fungi through contaminated water, contaminated household items, dead animals and mould, as a result of inhalation, ingestion and wound infections. This study focuses on the impacts of flooding on child health in the informal settlement of Barcelona, Cape Town. The health outcomes of flooding are conceptualized within the vulnerability framework of Turner and colleagues (2003), which explores human vulnerability in terms of exposure, sensitivity and resilience. In addition, the framework reflects global environment change and it powerfully defines the term vulnerability. There were three main research objectives. Firstly, the research established factors and other stressors that determined the occurrence of water-related illnesses among children in informal settlements as a result of flooding. Secondly, the research explored and identified the flood-related childhood illnesses. Lastly, the research identified strategies households applied in order to protect their children from flood-related illnesses. The study was conducted through the administration of 45 questionnaires, 2 focus group interviews and personal observation. The study adopted both qualitative and quantitative methodologies in order to understand the perceptions of what flood-related illnesses were and what caused them. Results from the qualitative research were used to triangulate data from the quantitative research. The integration of both methodologies provided additional solutions to understanding the impacts of floods on child health in Barcelona. Ethics approval was granted by Ethics Committee of the Engineering and the Built Environment Faculty at the University of Cape Town. The research findings suggest that flood-related illnesses in Barcelona were a result of different and interlinking factors. The various factors included poor access to basic services, general poor urban health, and location of the settlement and household hygienic factors. In addition, children were more exposed to risks inside dwellings as compared to risks outside dwellings. Vector-borne illnesses were the least recorded cases. In order to mitigate child illnesses resulting from flooding the households applied both proactive and reactive strategies such as buying of medication before and during flooding, bathing their children after they finish playing, and sending children to relatives during the flooding period and cleaning dwellings after flooding. Research findings highlighted that there is a significant association between child health and flooding in Barcelona. The types of illnesses that were reported were mainly water-related illnesses, which included respiratory illnesses, gastrointestinal illnesses, skin and ear infections and vector-borne illnesses. DA - 2013 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2013 T1 - Exploring and profiling of childhood illnesses in informal settlements in relation to flooding: a case study of Barcelona, Cape Town South Africa TI - Exploring and profiling of childhood illnesses in informal settlements in relation to flooding: a case study of Barcelona, Cape Town South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4976 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/4976
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationMachiridza RD. Exploring and profiling of childhood illnesses in informal settlements in relation to flooding: a case study of Barcelona, Cape Town South Africa. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Engineering & the Built Environment ,African Centre for Cities, 2013 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/4976en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentAfrican Centre for Citiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Engineering and the Built Environment
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherUrban Infrastructure Design and Managementen_ZA
dc.titleExploring and profiling of childhood illnesses in informal settlements in relation to flooding: a case study of Barcelona, Cape Town South Africaen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMPhilen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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