‘Let science be in service of society’

14 May 2020 | Story Niémah Davids. Photo Unsplash. Read time 5 min.
The Knowledge Translation Unit at UCT’s Lung Institute has produced a series of COVID-19 resources.

Keep calm and wash your hands. Cover your cough. Stay home.

These essential tips are critical to stave off the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, and have also been included in a range of COVID-19 resources, produced by the Knowledge Translation Unit (KTU) at the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Lung Institute, in a collective effort to educate low- and middle-income communities on COVID-19.  

Produced in four of South Africa’s official languages – English, Afrikaans, isiXhosa and Sesotho – the project is spearheaded by the KTU, in partnership with the Western Cape Department of Health and local non-profit organisations (NPOs). Resources aim to equip communities and healthcare workers living and working in under-resourced areas in the country with important information on COVID-19 and ways to stop the spread of the virus.

The KTU is a research unit, first established in 2005 to provide primary care guidelines and training on respiratory diseases during the HIV pandemic. Since then, the unit has expanded its scope to support primary healthcare for all priority health conditions in South Africa and other low- and middle-income countries through education, research and service. 

 

“We can now see that people are hungry for information in print.”

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, KTU director, Professor Lara Fairall, said a plethora of resources were being developed on COVID-19 but weren’t necessarily reaching low-income communities. That’s when the KTU stepped in. 

“We can now see that people are hungry for information in print; for tangible material that they can read and then convey to family members. And it’s often simple stuff like how to wear a mask and how best to clean a surface – things some take for granted.”

‘Take charge of your health’

Fairall said the KTU’s COVID-19 resources are provided in pamphlet, brochure and poster format and give community members the opportunity to “move out of a state of fear and to protect themselves and their health”.

Information includes how to stop the spread of the virus and the steps to follow for effective home-based care once a family member has tested positive for COVID-19. Resources are distributed via NPOs, community health workers and alongside humanitarian aid.   

“This is community education and it’s taking people out of their comfort zones and empowering them to take ownership of their own health,” she said.

Resources will be “especially useful” to patients with chronic conditions whose access to healthcare facilities have been restricted as a result of the nationwide lockdown. 

“The response has been overwhelmingly positive. In recent weeks our content has also cropped up in other parts of the country through NPOs there. This has been so very humbling and gratifying,” Fairall added.

Training the carer

Like community members, healthcare workers also have access to similar COVID-19 material in print.

Their learning materials illustrate basic hygiene principles, how best to manage anxiety levels during a stressful time, and guidelines on how to protect patients with chronic health conditions from COVID-19.

In addition, two COVID-19 online training modules have also been developed and draw on the KTU’s face-to-face training principles in an online setting by using case studies.

“We have been planning for years to take training into the online space and it’s been a steep learning curve. We’re trying to reach people (healthcare workers) who don’t ordinarily use their mobile devices to learn online,” she said.

 

“People learn through story and experience.”

Online training provides participants with a new innovative form of learning, and acts as an alternative means to access information. In order to replicate the clinic setting and the processes healthcare workers are familiar with, both modules have been designed with a person-centred approach in mind.

The training places a healthcare worker and a patient at the centre of a challenge and examines effective and efficient methods to navigate it.   

“People learn through story and experience and this is what the online training does – it takes the health worker on a journey with the patient.”

Investing in communities

Education is a powerful tool to empower marginalised communities and is at the heart of the KTU’s work, Fairall noted. 

“We have a deep investment in this province and in other communities around the country. This health emergency is going to require that all of us chip in and do what we can to help.”

She is proud that the COVID-19 resources have moved beyond South African borders to Nigeria and Ethiopia and have also made their way to Brazil where they are being localised to health services with the help of the KTU’s partner organisations.  

“Science depends on society’s involvement in research in ways that often don’t provide immediate benefits to participants, generating solutions that are only scaled up years later. It is at moments like these we need to let science be in service of society. This is what we need to get right.”

COVID-19 resources are available from the Western Cape Government website.


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UCT’s response to COVID-19

COVID-19 is a global pandemic that caused President Cyril Ramaphosa to declare a national disaster in South Africa on 15 March 2020 and to implement a national lockdown from 26 March 2020. UCT is taking the threat of infection in our university community extremely seriously, and this page will be updated with the latest COVID-19 information. Please note that the information on this page is subject to change depending on current lockdown regulations.

Minister of Health, Dr Joe Phaahla, has in June 2022 repealed some of South Africa’s remaining COVID-19 regulations: namely, sections 16A, 16B and 16C of the Regulations Relating to the Surveillance and the Control of Notifiable Medical Conditions under the National Health Act. We are now no longer required to wear masks or limit gatherings. Venue restrictions and checks for travellers coming into South Africa have now also been removed.

In July 2022, the University of Cape Town (UCT) revised its approach to managing the COVID-19 pandemic on UCT campuses in 2022.
Read the latest document available on the UCT policies web page.

 

Campus communications

 
2022

Adjusting to our new environment 16:50, 23 June 2022
VC Open Lecture and other updates 17:04, 13 April 2022
Feedback from UCT Council meeting of 12 March 2022 09:45, 18 March 2022
UCT Council
March 2022 graduation celebration 16:45, 8 March 2022
Report on the meeting of UCT Council of 21 February 2022 19:30, 21 February 2022
UCT Council
COVID-19 management 2022 11:55, 14 February 2022
Return to campus arrangements 2022 11:15, 4 February 2022

UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre

On Wednesday, 20 July, staff from the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Faculty of Health Sciences came together with representatives from the Western Cape Government at the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre at Forest Hill Residence to acknowledge the centre’s significance in the fight against COVID-19 and to thank its staff for their contributions. The centre opened on 1 September 2021 with the aim of providing quality vaccination services to UCT staff, students and the nearby communities, as well as to create an opportunity for medical students from the Faculty of Health Sciences to gain practical public health skills. The vaccination centre ceased operations on Friday, 29 July 2022.

With the closure of the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, if you still require access to a COVID-19 vaccination site please visit the CovidComms SA website to find an alternative.

 

“After almost a year of operation, the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, located at the Forest Hill residence complex in Mowbray, will close on Friday, 29 July 2022. I am extremely grateful and proud of all staff, students and everyone involved in this important project.”
– Vice-Chancellor Prof Mamokgethi Phakeng

With the closure of the UCT Community of Hope Vaccination Centre, if you still require access to a COVID-19 vaccination site please visit the CovidComms SA website to find an alternative.


Thank You UCT Community

Frequently asked questions

 

Global Citizen Asks: Are COVID-19 Vaccines Safe & Effective?

UCT’s Institute of Infectious Disease and Molecular Medicine (IDM) collaborated with Global Citizen, speaking to trusted experts to dispel vaccine misinformation.



If you have further questions about the COVID-19 vaccine check out the FAQ produced by the Desmond Tutu Health Foundation (DTHF). The DTHF has developed a dedicated chat function where you can ask your vaccine-related questions on the bottom right hand corner of the website.

IDM YouTube channel | IDM website
 

 

“As a contact university, we look forward to readjusting our undergraduate and postgraduate programmes in 2023 as the COVID-19 regulations have been repealed.”
– Prof Harsha Kathard, Acting Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning

We are continuing to monitor the situation and we will be updating the UCT community regularly – as and when there are further updates. If you are concerned or need more information, students can contact the Student Wellness Service on 021 650 5620 or 021 650 1271 (after hours), while staff can contact 021 650 5685.

 

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