Abstract

205 submissions

# Sort descending	Operations	Status	Status	Title	Lastname	Firstname	eMail	Institution	Title of Presentatation	Theme Selection	Abstract
125	View	Accepted	Accepted	Ms.	Bhatta	Kusum	[email protected]	McMaster University	A Dohari Narrative of Nepalese Grandmothers Providing Informal Family Support for Adult Children in Hamilton Ontario	THEME 3: Strategies toward the normative development of society	The population of people aged 55 and older is growing significantly in Canada. The aging population of Canada is also becoming more ethnically diverse, with South Asians making up the largest visible minority group in both the 2006 and 2016 census. Also, South Asian females represent the largest visible minority and comprise 5.4% of the Canadian female population and many of them are grandmothers who provide informal support for older adult children. However, the experiences of these grandmothers are missing in extant literature. Hence this paper will be adopting an innovative arts-based method-dohari narrative to explore and present the experiences of Nepalese grandmothers providing informal family support to adult children in the City of Hamilton, Ontario. The research found that the grandmothers feel obliged to take care of the entire family because of how busy their children are, and this might be a source of stress for them. This calls for a rethink for older care providers and provision of culturally sensitive interventions by social workers.
126	View	Accepted	Accepted	Dr.	BUDELI	JIMMY	[email protected]	UNIVERSITY OF VENDA	Student’s perspectives of supervisory relationship during fieldwork practice at the institutions of higher learning in Limpopo Province, South Africa	THEME 4: Quality management and enhancement of social services	Fieldwork placement is a critical component of the Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) curriculum. During fieldwork placement, the students’ learning is facilitated by fieldwork supervisor and the development of healthy relationship between the students and the supervisor makes learning easy for students. This qualitative study explored the student-supervisor relationship from the two rural-based universities, in South Africa. The findings revealed that students had varied experiences of relationship with their supervisors, with the majority reporting to have had good and outstanding relationship with their supervisors, while few reported undesirable relationships with their supervisors. It is therefore recommended that consideration should be made by supervisors to improve how they academically relate with their students so as to improve their practical outcomes. Key words: student social worker; supervisor; relationship; fieldwork
127	View	Accepted	Accepted	Dr.	Seepamore	Boitumelo	[email protected]	UKZN	PATIENT-CENTERED CARE IN HIV/DRTB CARE: HEALTHCARE WORKER CHALLENGES IN A KZN HOSPITAL	THEME 4: Quality management and enhancement of social services	The complexities of treating and caring for people with drug-resistant tuberculosis and HIV (DRTB/HIV) demand multiple allied supports. However, few studies have examined how diverse categories of healthcare workers, with different training, orientation, value base, and roles, work towards patient care. This study used three focus groups to investigate the experiences and perceptions of social workers, pharmacists, and nurses at a centralised TB hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Across the 16 healthcare workers, a lack of specialized training and resources to deliver optimal patient-centered care for illnesses as complex as DRTB-HIV, concern for personal, nd routine exposure to two life-threatening diseases were concerns. Each cadre of healthcare workers felt underappreciated by others and stigmatized by other workers in the wider healthcare system through association with DRTB patients. Role overlap, lack of staff development and job-specific training, and an overriding sense of feeling unappreciated hinders patient-centered care. The workplace environment should factor in efforts to improve patient-centered care delivery, creating connected teams and positive workplace experiences.
128	View	Accepted	Accepted	Dr.	Sithole	Mbongeni	[email protected]	UKZN	THE QUEST FOR MITIGATING THE VULNERABILITY OF CHILDREN IN CHILD AND YOUTH CARE FACILITIES: INTERFACE OF SOCIAL WORK, CHILD AND YOUTH CARE SERVICES AND CONSUMER SCIENCE	THEME 1: Promoting stakeholder partnerships that protect, support and enhance resilience during adverse events and trauma	This paper is premised on the need to mitigate the vulnerability of children in child and youth care facilities. The Nutrition Education Program and the appreciative inquiry are applied as a conceptual framework for explaining this endeavour. Unique in this paper is the interface of three disciplines, Social Work, Child and Youth Care Services and Consumer Science, and embracing the latter as a foundation for holistic development. The dichotomy between the two disciplines and overlooking Consumer Science as a component in child wellbeing is not unusual. This paper is based on a study that explored the understanding of food preparation and hygiene practices in the KwaZulu-Natal child and youth care facilities. This paper found the limitations and a lack of measures for the delivery of nutritious, safe, affordable and sustainable and healthy diets for all children. It further recommends the integration of consumer science in child care and protection programmes.
129	View	Accepted	Accepted	Ms.	Zulu	Mbali	[email protected]	CAPRISA	TRAINING HEALTHCARE WORKERS TO ENHANCE PATIENT-CENTERED CARE FOR DRUG-RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS/HIV IN SOUTH AFRICA	THEME 1: Promoting stakeholder partnerships that protect, support and enhance resilience during adverse events and trauma	Healthcare workers are at the forefront of patient care, and interventions to enhance adherence and engagement in patients with DR-TB/HIV, require a holistic approach. While these HCWs have different training and orientations, collaboration and a close working relationship between them have been proven to enhance patient care. To enhance the standard of care and patient-centered care, we trained 38 nurses and 22 social workers employed by the Department of Health and primary health clinics in KwaZulu-Natal between 2016 and 2023. Training has been positioned around the biopsychosocial aspects of these stigmatized diseases such as different treatment regimens, medications, adverse events, management of side effects, and infection control. Psychosocial issues of stigma, depression, and fear must be addressed to be meet the needs of patients, their families, and the wider community. Both these professionals can work in partnership to complement each others’ strengths such as medication knowledge and understanding of the patient’s social environment.
130	View	Accepted	Accepted	Dr.	Moganedi	Matshemo	[email protected]	University of Zululand	Mental wellbeing and multiple bereavements: The experiences of social workers working in Employee Assistance Programme.	THEME 1: Promoting stakeholder partnerships that protect, support and enhance resilience during adverse events and trauma	Social Workers who work in Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) are members of the Employee Assistance Professionals Association of South Africa (EAPA-SA). They address a range of issues, such as work-life balance, mental health, and addiction in the workplace. While dealing with some of these issues, social workers in EAP had to deal with multiple bereavements caused by COVID-19 pandemic including their own bereavements. This qualitative study seeks to explore the mental wellbeing experiences of social workers in dealing with multiple bereavements. Purposive sampling will be used to sample the participants and semi-structured interviews will be employed for data collection. Thematic Analysis will be used for data analysis. It is evident that COVID-19 has left social workers to deal with complicated grief and mental wellbeing challenges. This study will assist with the development of a strategy on how to care for the caregivers which may be used for future handling of pandemics.
131	View	Pending Review	Pending Review	Mr.	Lembuka	Meinrad	[email protected]	The Open University of Tanzania	Integration of Indigenous model vs Formal Child Protection System – A case of Para social work model in Tanzania Mainland	THEME 2: Building sustainable, resilient, and self-reliant communities through indigenous modalities, inter-sectoral collaborations, and partnerships
132	View	Accepted	Accepted	Mr.	Lembuka	Meinrad	[email protected]	The Open University of Tanzania	Integration of Indigenous model vs Formal Child Protection System – A case of Para social work model in Tanzania Mainland	THEME 2: Building sustainable, resilient, and self-reliant communities through indigenous modalities, inter-sectoral collaborations, and partnerships	Tanzania experienced a significant increase in the number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVC). The increase in OVCs was influenced by the HIV and AIDS pandemic, poverty, urbanisation, and unemployment. HIV and AIDS pandemic destroyed customary support systems that were used to protect children under Ubuntu values. The article used the Ubuntu conceptual framework to guide the review of the para social work model in Tanzania. The review showed that stakeholders reformed a sort of African ubuntu mechanism known as para social work cadre with voluntarily and community owned aspect to serve OVC, and this modified voluntary cadre embraced African cultural values, ecology and formal social welfare system improved the welfare and quality of life of children and their families in Tanzania. Para social work model proved that African indigenous models and the formal social welfare mechanism can work together. Conclusively, it’s an urgent call to re-open doors for new strategies that integrate formal social work system and indigenous model on child protection that can be applied in Africa.
133	View	Accepted	Accepted	Dr.	Bala	Samkelo	[email protected]	University of Witwatersrand	Addressing Colonial-Apartheid Legacy and Infrastructural Barriers in Access to Substance Use Disorder Treatment in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province	THEME 2: Building sustainable, resilient, and self-reliant communities through indigenous modalities, inter-sectoral collaborations, and partnerships	Despite the official end of apartheid in 1994, systemic barriers to accessing resources and human rights continue to exist in certain parts of South Africa. One example of this is inadequate access to substance use disorder treatment, which exacerbates the problem. Substance use disorder is recognised globally as a multifactorial health issue, and South Africa's struggle to address this phenomenon is compounded by infrastructural deficits. To gain insight into the problem, a qualitative study was conducted, involving semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with 15 participants in East London in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The research findings revealed several problems, including a lack of substance use treatment centres, the impact of colonial and apartheid segregation on access to these centres, inadequate human resources for treating substance use disorder, and insufficient financial support for implementing treatment programmes. Inconsistencies in the treatment of substance use disorder pose a threat to the success of policies. The Eastern Cape e is the most neglected area in terms of resource allocation and access to substance use treatment centres.
134	View	Accepted	Accepted	Ms.	Myeni	Sithuthukile	[email protected]	University of Zululand	Northern Cluster Social Work Seminar: An Exploration of Gender-Based Violence and Women's Place in Society	THEME 1: Promoting stakeholder partnerships that protect, support and enhance resilience during adverse events and trauma	The Northern Cluster Social Work Seminar brought distinguished guests from the public sector, Higher Education, and Civil Society organizations together, focusing on gender-based violence (GBV) and its impact on women's place in society. A key highlight was the presentation of ongoing research on GBV, aiming to enhance knowledge, refine interventions, and provide essential services. The seminar explored the Global Social Work Month theme, advocating for social workers' competence in handling diverse populations. Attendees actively participated in addressing key questions related to traditional customs and beliefs, rational social action, current GBV interventions, barriers faced by social service practitioners, strategies promoting women's role in society, and support for practitioners as carers of GBV victims.. Discussions and recommendations underscored the need to address cultural norms perpetuating GBV, strengthen National Strategic Plan implementation, and provide support and resources for practitioners. Promoting gender equality through legislation and empowerment programs emerged as essential in combating GBV, highlighting the importance of collective efforts to eradicate gender-based violence and promote women's rightful place in society, fostering continuous collaboration and action for a violence-free and discrimination-free society.
135	View	Accepted	Accepted	Mr.	Mathebula	Wiseman Ntlhari	[email protected]	University of Limpopo	Unveiling the Shadows: A Systematic Literature Review on Understanding Femicide in South Africa and its Socio-Cultural Determinants	THEME 3: Strategies toward the normative development of society	Femicide, the intentional killing of women based on their gender, is a pervasive and disturbing issue globally, with South Africa experiencing alarmingly high rates. This SLR examines the socio-cultural determinants of femicide in South Africa. Through a comprehensive analysis of scholarly articles, reports, and studies, the review aims to enhance our understanding of the multifaceted nature of femicide in the country. Taking a socio-cultural lens, the review investigates factors contributing to femicide, such as gender norms, patriarchy, cultural beliefs, and practices. The review explores the intersections of gender, violence, and culture, analysing the consequences of femicide on victims, families, communities, and society. Identifying gaps in knowledge, the review emphasizes the need for further research and policy development. It concludes by providing recommendations for interventions, policies, and strategies to prevent and address femicide in South Africa. This review serves as a crucial tool to, promote dialogue, and guide evidence-based interventions against femicide
136	View	Accepted	Accepted	Ms.	Myeni	Sithuthukile	[email protected]	University of Zululand	Exploring Social Workers' Response to Gender-Based Violence: Skills, Training, and Recommendations	THEME 1: Promoting stakeholder partnerships that protect, support and enhance resilience during adverse events and trauma	This study examines social workers' expertise in addressing gender-based violence (GBV) and its impact on victims. Utilising a phenomenological design, participants engaged in focus group discussions and interviews, also using document analysis for data collection. Resilience theory helped understand resilience within social workers' expertise, highlighting core intervention strategies for assisting GBV victims. Findings revealed social work interventions relying on values, ethics, and essential skills like communication, probing, partializing, and active listening to support GBV survivors. However, more training on trauma-informed care is needed, as social workers face distressing circumstances affecting their well-being. Recommendations include enhancing assessment and intervention skills, advocacy, prevention strategies, policy and systems change, and promoting networking and collaboration. Social workers' expertise significantly contributes to addressing GBV, necessitating continuous trauma-informed training. Integrated networks are crucial to combat GBV and raise awareness among individuals supporting victims. The study emphasises comprehensive efforts required from social workers to effectively combat GBV.
137	View	Accepted	Pending Review	Dr.	Chiba	Jenita	[email protected]	University of Pretoria	An Evaluation of a Family- and Community-based Intervention: Sihleng’imizi ‘We Care for Families’	THEME 2: Building sustainable, resilient, and self-reliant communities through indigenous modalities, inter-sectoral collaborations, and partnerships	In South Africa, the provision of social grants, such as the Child Support Grant (CSG), has the aim of addressing high poverty and inequality in post-apartheid South Africa. The CSG in particular has had positive impacts on the educational, nutritional and health outcomes of children. In countries such as Columbia, Mexico, Niger, Brazil and Peru, there has been a shift to scale up the positive impacts of cash transfer programmes by offering complementary interventions, otherwise known as ‘cash plus care’ programmes. A study by Patel, et al. (2017) indicated the need for an evidenced-based family intervention which would scale-up the positive impacts of the CSG. Emanating from the findings of the abovementioned study, the Sihleng’imizi Family Programme was designed. This paper will present the evaluation of the pilot Sihleng’imizi intervention, to inform the development of an appropriate programme to promote and improve child-well-being outcomes of CSG beneficiaries.
138	View	Accepted	Accepted	Dr.	Moganedi	Matshemo Joyce	[email protected]	University of Zululand	Care for the Caregivers: Psychosocial Risk Factors Among gender-based violence Victim Support Social Workers in South Africa	THEME 3: Strategies toward the normative development of society	This study explores the challenges (gender-based violence) GBV victim support social workers face in South Africa, focusing on psycho-social risk factors that can impact on their well-being and professional effectiveness. The study identifies specific risks these professionals face, such as increased workload, long working hours, emotional exhaustion, exposure to traumatic experiences, and blurring of personal and professional boundaries. Purposive sampling and document analysis reveals that there are psycho-social risks factors faced by these professionals, emphasising the need for comprehensive support services that prioritize the well-being and resilience of social workers. Measures such as work-life balance, organizational support, and adequate resources and training are crucial. Implementing these measures can create a supportive and sustainable work environment for GBV victim support social workers in South Africa.
139	View	Accepted	Accepted	Ms.	Nyilana	Hlengiwe Pretty	[email protected]	Caprisa	BARRIERS TO CARE FOR HOMELESS PEOPLE LIVING WITH MDR-TB/HIV IN KWAZULU-NATAL, SOUTH AFRICA	THEME 1: Promoting stakeholder partnerships that protect, support and enhance resilience during adverse events and trauma	Adherence to MDR-TB treatment comes with numerous challenges, among which is a high pill burden, the management of side effects, and navigating a complex, fragmented and often unresponsive healthcare system. These challenges are more intense and multiply for the homeless population. We analyse a case vignette drawn from a current study based in Sydenham, KwaZulu-Natal, using empirical data on structural, behavioural, and psychosocial barriers to assess the additional challenges faced by those experiencing homelessness. We find that long-term substance use, trauma, social exclusion, stigma, and loss of family combined with severe illness and housing instability create seemingly insurmountable barriers to care. However, local services, including social work and nursing, organized around the health and psychosocial needs of homeless people may create stability to facilitate care and create potential pathways to recovery. Social work can play a unique role in meeting the complex needs of this vulnerable population.
140	View	Accepted	Accepted	Ms.	Abrahams	Aisha	[email protected]	Department of Social Work	Navigating complexities in supervising social work students with multi-faceted challenges during their field placement	THEME 4: Quality management and enhancement of social services	Practicum placements offer learning opportunities to apply knowledge and skills in real-life situations with diverse and vulnerable populations. Effective supervision of internships becomes uniquely demanding when guiding students through field placements characterised by a confluence of challenges such as unethical behaviours, incompetence, or vulnerability, e.g., suicidality. Field instructors must balance adequate support and maintaining professional boundaries to ensure optimal learning, skill development, and ethical practice. Existing literature reviewed to explore the potential strategies for addressing this interplay recommends a supportive and empathetic education and supervisory environment, promoting ethical practice and providing effective self-care strategies. These strategies have not delivered the desired results. The presentation will showcase selected case studies of the experiences of field instructors and lecturers confronted with these challenges. The aim is to start conversations with colleagues on how they address or mitigate the issues. The outcome will aim to inform social work education to build the capacity of the undergraduate social work student to become a professional, ethical, and competent practitioner able to render effective and efficient interventions to service users.
141	View	Accepted	Accepted	Mr.	Nwaigwe	Charles	[email protected]	University of Botswana	Access to HIV-Testing Services Among Adolescents and Young People: Evidence to Strengthen multi-Sectoral Response	THEME 1: Promoting stakeholder partnerships that protect, support and enhance resilience during adverse events and trauma	INTRODUCTION: Despite notable progress in HIV prevention and treatment, adolescents and young people (AYP) encounter specific obstacles when accessing these vital services. OBJECTIVE: This study aims to provide evidence-based insights to strengthen the multi-sectoral response to HIV testing services (HTS) among AYP in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. METHODS: An exploratory qualitative study was conducted in four geopolitical zones in Nigeria, using in-depth interviews, comprising 10 participants (1-2 per campus) purposively selected from six campuses. RESULTS: Nigerian campuses offer inadequate HTS, and barriers such as limited awareness, insufficient access to HIV prevention commodities, and suboptimal services from campus clinics deter AYPs from accessing HTS. Furthermore, there is a lack of collaboration between tertiary institutions and other sectors in addressing this health challenge. DISCUSSION: Strengthening multi-sectoral collaboration between tertiary institutions and relevant sectors can enhance the impact of HTS among AYP. This requires a harmonized framework that prioritizes AYP on Nigerian campuses.
142	View	Accepted	Accepted	Mr.	Brass	Justin	[email protected]	Yorkville University	Deconstructing Stereotypes: A Clinical Examination of Femmephobia in Gay, Bisexual, and Queer Men's Health Perspectives	THEME 3: Strategies toward the normative development of society	This research investigates the psychological impact of femmephobia on gay, bisexual, and queer men, focusing on the neglected conceptual differences between self-actualized and assigned/essentialized femininity. Femmephobia, interlinked with homophobia, exerts social pressure on men to present more masculine, often leading to the suppression of femininity. This study utilizes the Femininities Scale, based on Femme Theory, to assess the varied ways respondents enact or construe femininity, contributing to a more nuanced understanding of gender dynamics in these populations. The research aims to illuminate the gendered phenomenon brought forth by the Femininities scale, particularly relating to the mental and social well-being of gay and bisexual men. It seeks to fill the gap in research that potentially overlooks key conceptual differences between self-actualized versus assigned/essentialized femininity. By exploring the psychological impact of feminine multiplicities such as Patriarchal, Hegemonic, Essentialized, and Femme, the study will add to the limited literature that considers the multiple dimensions of femininity as a constructed unitary concept. This research seeks to promote positive role models in gender relational contexts, by challenging femmephobia and advocating for the acceptance and celebration of diverse gender expressions in gay, bisexual, and queer men's populations.
143	View	Accepted	Accepted	Dr.	Thabane	Sophia	[email protected]	National University of Lesotho	How to grow rice on a desert: The irony of imported social work pedagogy and praxis in Africa	THEME 2: Building sustainable, resilient, and self-reliant communities through indigenous modalities, inter-sectoral collaborations, and partnerships	Literature showing that Africans use traditional African indigenous knowledge before approaching Western knowledge and medicine is abundant. Secondly, individualisation, a founding Social Work Principle, calls for social work interventions guided by clients’ beliefs and perspectives. Imported social work pedagogy and epistemology, however, are possible barriers for full integration of the complimentary knowledge systems in praxis while a complimentary African-Western model would seem most appropriate in Africa. This conceptual idea therefore proposes an integrated African-Western social work praxis for Mental Health Promotion and Treatment in Africa. The presentation will therefore demonstrate how African indigenous knowledge may be integrated into social work epistemology and praxis through: (i) partnering with African indigenalists in training, (ii) collaborating with African indigenalists in treatment of complex psychosociological conditions such as Anxiety Disorders, (iii) forging a multisectoral referral community-tertiary services network between social workers and African indigenalists.
144	View	Accepted	Accepted	Dr.	Atwine	Deborah	[email protected]	Kyamboko University	Social Protection for Elderly Widowed Women in Uganda: An Afrocentric Perspective	THEME 2: Building sustainable, resilient, and self-reliant communities through indigenous modalities, inter-sectoral collaborations, and partnerships	Social protection programs have been implemented globally as part of poverty mitigation strategies for vulnerable groups. The government of Uganda provides social protection to vulnerable people such as the elderly, but no policy nor program targets female headed households and especially the elderly women. Informed by the Afrocentric perspective, this paper analyses the social protection systems for households headed by elderly widows in Kamuli District. The researcher(s) employed a qualitative case study design to investigate the lived experiences of 30 elderly widows in a bid to understand the related social protection systems. In-depth interviews and focus group discussions were used to gather data and later analysed it using thematic content analysis. Among others, this study found that elderly widowed women experience multiple vulnerabilities related to age and undue burden of poverty. The authors recommend gender aware social protection policies that also integrate decolonial Afrocentric strategies.

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