Verbal Autopsy with Participatory Action Research (VAPAR) programme in Mpumalanga, South Africa: protocol for evaluation

Verbal autopsy-assigned causes of death among adults being investigated for TB in South Africa

BACKGROUND Adults being investigated for TB in South Africa experience high mortality, yet causes of death (CoD) are not well defined. We determined CoD in this population using verbal autopsy (VA), and compared HIV- and TB-associated CoD using physician-certified verbal autopsy (PCVA) and InterVA-4 software. METHODS All contactable consenting caregivers of participants who died during a tria...

Maize and Pigeonpea Intercropping Systems in Mpumalanga, South Africa

Community-based participatory research: A case study from South Africa

Marketing research, often in the form of surveys, is one of the critical tools marketing managers use to guide decision making. Although this occurs in all environments, developing markets present problems in the paucity of information available and a desperate shortage of skilled information gatherers. This leaves

Prevention of hypertension and diabetes in an urban setting in South Africa: participatory action research with community health workers.

The project aimed to identify factors that contribute to hypertension and diabetes and to design and implement appropriate local interventions to prevent these noncommunicable diseases and promote healthy lifestyles. This was a community-based participatory action research project in which researchers and community health workers (CHWs) were the main participants. The triple A approach to plann...

Using verbal autopsy to track epidemic dynamics: the case of HIV-related mortality in South Africa

BACKGROUND Verbal autopsy (VA) has often been used for point estimates of cause-specific mortality, but seldom to characterize long-term changes in epidemic patterns. Monitoring emerging causes of death involves practitioners' developing perceptions of diseases and demands consistent methods and practices. Here we retrospectively analyze HIV-related mortality in South Africa, using physician an...