South Africa

Approaches to Community Health in South Africa – syllabus
(IPBH3000 / 3 credits)

An interdisciplinary course conducted in English. Students gain exposure to essential social, historical, and political features of South Africa to provide a common frame of reference to engage with the program theme. Through lectures from academics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, readings, and selected site visits, students critically examine topics related to health promotion and provision, including the pharmaceutical industry, traditional healing, rural health and social justice, and the role of the media in promoting, communicating, or influencing health issues in South Africa.

Social Determinants of Health in South Africa – syllabus
(IPBH3005 / 3 credits)

Through a combination of lectures, practicum experience, appropriate readings, and site visits in urban and rural locales, students examine the practice of prevention and promotion of healthcare, come to understand healthcare delivery in rural South Africa, and examine and assess specific health issues in South Africa and how they are being targeted or addressed.

isiZulu – syllabus
(ZULU1003 / 3 credits)

The emphasis is on beginning speaking and comprehension skills through classroom and field instruction. Practice with host family members during the homestays augments formal instruction.

Research Methods and Ethics – syllabus
(ANTH3500 / 3 credits)

A course in the concepts of learning across cultures and from field experience, providing students with core tools in public health research. Introduction to the Independent Study Project. Material includes cross-cultural adaptation and skills building; project selection and refinement; appropriate methodologies; field study ethics and the World Learning/SIT Human Subjects Review Policy; developing contacts and finding resources; developing skills in observation and interviewing; gathering, organizing, and communicating data; and maintaining a field journal.

In addition to taking the above courses, students will also need to enroll in one of the following two courses:

Independent Study Project
Independent Study Project – syllabus
(ISPR3000 / 4 credits)

Conducted in Durban or in another approved location appropriate to the project. Sample topic areas: sociological consequences of HIV/AIDS; a historical review of food security and nutrition programs in a community-based NGO; public health education campaigns; African refugees’ and asylum seekers’ access to health services; analysis of the proposed National Health Insurance scheme; sustainable development and healthcare; local attitudes about access to healthcare facilities; indigenous healing practices.

Sample ISP topic areas:

• Narratives of people living with HIV/AIDS
• Health worker attitudes toward traditional healing
• Community inventory of prenatal healthcare assets
• Sociological consequences of HIV/AIDS
• The discourse of public health education campaigns
• Sustainable development and healthcare
• Local attitudes about access to healthcare facilities
• The role of indigenous healing practices in contemporary South Africa
• Music and its effects on HIV-positive South Africans
• Mental health issues and available healthcare
• Reproductive health in rural South Africa
• A historical review of food security and nutrition programs in a community-based NGO
• African refugees’ and asylum seekers’ access to health services
• Analysis of the proposed National Health Insurance scheme

OR

Internship and Seminar
Internship and Seminar – syllabus
(ITRN3000 / 4 credits)

This seminar consists of a four-week internship with a local community organization, research organization, business, or international NGO. The aim of the internship is to enable the student to gain valuable work experience and to enhance their skills in an international work environment. Students will complete an internship and submit a paper in which they process their learning experience on the job, analyze an issue important to the organization, and/or design a socially responsible solution to a problem identified by the organization. A focus will be on linking internship learning with the program’s critical global issue focus and overall program theme.

Sample internships:

• Working at a rural or urban hospital or a community health center or clinic
  The program has established relationships with a number of hospitals and clinics in and around Durban. To work at a hospital or clinic, you must be pre-med.
• Supporting children and families at Blue Roof Wellness Centre
  The Blue Roof Wellness Centre was designed and built by Keep a Child Alive’s co-founder Alicia Keys. It provides a beautiful, peaceful setting for children and families to visit and access comprehensive HIV treatment, care, testing, and counseling; psychosocial and adherence support; TB and cervical cancer screening; and hot meals.
• Providing health services and hospice care to patients with cancer and HIV/AIDS at Chatsworth Hospice
  Situated in the predominantly Indian area of Chatsworth, the Hospice Association was formally launched in 1992, where it was resolved that services would be provided free of charge to cancer patients at all stages of the disease. In 2006, the services of the Hospice were extended to HIV/AIDS patients. From 2015, in accordance with the World Health Organization’s re-definition of palliative care, these services are available to all patients at the terminal stage of their illnesses for non-dispensing palliative care treatment only. All services remain cost free to patients and their families.