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10 October 2018 | Story UFS
UFS School of Nursing gets funding for mental health project
Ronelle Jansen received research funding to provide adolescents with improved access to mental health services and care.

Ronelle Jansen from the School of Nursing at the University of the Free State (UFS) received research funding as part of a multistakeholder capacity-building project to provide adolescents with improved access to mental health services and care in PHC (primary healthcare) settings. 

The research aims to develop and implement a mobile mental health (mHealth) application screening tool for primary healthcare workers (PHCW) to identify adolescent mental health problems and provide mental healthcare training. 

Under pressure 

Jansen (UFS team leader) says mental health screening is sometimes lacking at the clinic level, because the clinics are so busy. “PHCW are under huge pressure due to the number of people they have to see every day, and due to severe staff shortages.

“There is, amongst others, a huge amount of paperwork that needs to be completed for each patient. The nurses only get about 10 minutes to see each patient and mental health screening is seen as time consuming.”

Early identification 

Jansen says the mHealth tool will focus on adolescents and they hope that the mobile application will help nurses with early identification of mental health problems. The clinic staff will then be able to treat and refer the patient correctly. 

She says they hope an accessible and user-friendly mobile tool will also help to motivate PHCW to more regularly screen for mental health problems.

This research is a three-year project co-funded by the Erasmus + programme of the European Union. Nine universities will collaborate on the project. Other partner institutions include the Turku University of Applied Science in Finland (project coordinator); Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in Germany; Riga Technical University in Latvia; the universities of Stellenbosch; Cape Town; Pretoria; the University of Zambia and the Lusaka Apex Medical University.

Jansen says the benefit of the research may be that PHCW will be better empowered to screen for mental health problems, with the aim to improve adolescent mental healthcare and train competent PHCW.

News Archive

Rolene Strauss: a beauty with a passion
2017-12-08


 Description: Rolene Read more Tags: Rolene Strauss, Miss World, Faculty of Health Sciences, MB ChB 

Rolene Strauss and Prof Gert van Zyl, Dean of the Faculty of Health Sciences, after
receiving her MB CHB degree during the Summer Graduation on the
Bloemfontein Campus of the University of the Free State
on 7 December.
Photo: Charl Devenish

Spotlight photo: Johan Roux

It was definitely a moment to remember when former Miss World 2014, Rolene Strauss, was among the 107 students in the Faculty of Health Sciences walking across the stage in the Callie Human Center on 7 December 2017. 

Rolene, now Dr Rolene Strauss, received her MB ChB degree during the Summer Graduations at the University of the Free State (UFS). She also recited the Vow of the Graduands in Medicine during the ceremony. She resumed her studies at the UFS in 2016 after putting it on hold in 2014 when she was crowned as Miss World.  

Passion for health and education
“My love for health and medicine is what got me back to studying. There were so many opportunities to be explored after my year as Miss World, but I wouldn’t have been ‘Rolene’ if I didn’t finish my medical studies. I have absolutely no regrets,” Rolene said in a statement.
 
“I’m a test-tube baby and I believe my passion for health was born with me,” Rolene said. This is what fostered her deep set passion for health, women, and education.

Together with her sister-in-law, Dr Ledivia Strauss, she will be launching a holistic women’s health practice in Paarl next year. Rolene will not be commencing her medical internship in 2018, as she plans on doing more public speaking engagements, finishing her book, and focusing on the medical practice. 

Photo gallery:  

7 December Morning session

Video:

7 December Morning session

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