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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

International delegates rethink justice and righteousness at Theology conference
2015-09-07


Participants in the multidisciplinary conference hosted by the UFS Faculty of Theology, celebrated the 35th anniversary of the faculty with a festive dinner.

The Faculty of Theology at the University of the Free State (UFS) held a multidisciplinary conference from 24 to 26 August 2015, with the theme of ‘Re-thinking justice and righteousness in society’. A total of 26 papers were presented at the congress, with contributions from Theology, Economic and Management Sciences, the Humanities, and Law. Delegates from Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Zambia, and Belgium attended the conference, in addition to academics from the UFS.



Some of the keynote speakers at the international conference hosted by the UFS Faculty of Theology, ‘Re-thinking justice and righteousness in society’: Prof Fanie Snyman, Dean of the UFS Faculty of Theology, Rev Peter Awojobi, Rev Menard Musendekwa and Prof Ango Samuel.

“With this conference,” said Prof Fanie Snyman, Dean of the UFS Faculty of Theology, “we are positioning the faculty alongside other faculties whose insights and disciplines are important to Theology. A multidisciplinary forum also provides great possibilities for

cooperation across disciplines.”

The conference coincided with a visit to the UFS by students in the theological faculties at the Universities of Stellenbosch and Pretoria. These students attended some of the presentations, in addition to the other activities they were involved in.

The Faculty of Theology is celebrating its 35th anniversary this year, making it not only the youngest faculty at the UFS, but also the youngest theology faculty in South Africa. In this time, the faculty has established itself as a significant role player within the theological landscape, with important agreements having been reached with theological institutions in Europe, the USA, and Africa.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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