Research Articles

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A research article reports the results of original research, assesses its contribution to the body of knowledge in a given area, and is published in a peer-reviewed scholarly journal. The faculty publications through published and on-going articles/researches are captured in this community

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Now showing 1 - 10 of 1690
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    Caregiver Acceptability Of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention In Two Districts In The Upper West Region, Ghana: A Cross-Sectional Study.
    (Springer Nature, 2025-01-14) Diarra, Y.; Bonful, H. A.; et al
    Abstract Background Acceptability of malaria chemoprevention interventions by caregivers is crucial for overall programme success. This study assessed coverage and acceptability of Seasonal Malaria Chemoprevention (SMC) in selected com munities in the Northern part of Ghana. Methods An analytical cross-sectional design was conducted from“July 23rd to August 4th, 2020—a 12-day period that covered 5 days of the frst SMC implementation cycle and 7 days post-implementation. Using a stratifed multi stage sampling technique, a total of 495 caregivers providing care for 569 eligible children aged 3–59 months from randomly selected households in the study communities were enrolled into the study. Acceptability of SMC was assessed on a set of 19 questionnaire items-8 of the items measured caregivers’ perceptions and 11 items meas ured children’s reaction to administered medicines. Univariable and stepwise multivariable logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the predictors of acceptability of SMC at a 95% confdence interval and a p-value of 0.05. Results SMC coverage was 95.1% (541/569). Caregivers had a good level of knowledge of SMC (n=475; 96.0%; 95% CI 94.2—97.7%) and a good perception of SMC (n=471; 95.2%; 95% CI 93.3–97.0). Seven out of ten caregivers (70.9%; 95% CI 66.9–74.9%) had good acceptability of SMC. For 7 out of 28 children who did not receive the SMC interven tion, their caregivers intentionally refused them the intervention. Of those that received the treatment, 17.2% (n=85; 95%CI 13.8–20.5%) of caregivers had at least one leftover amodiaquine tablet after the third day of treatment. Caregiv ers who practice Christianity or Islam had better acceptability than caregivers who practice African traditional religion (p<0.001). Conclusion Health authorities and stakeholders can work towards bridging the gap between knowledge and SMC treatment practices of caregivers through continuous education, adherence counseling, and efective monitoring of SMC practices in malaria-endemic countries. Keywords SMC, Caregivers, Malaria, Acceptability, Ghana, Upper West region, Amodiaquine–sulfadoxine– pyrimethamine
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    Help-Seeking Behavior of Female Victims of Intimate Partner Violence in Ghana: The Role of Trust and Perceived Risk of Injury
    (Journal of Family Violence, 2018) Tenkorang, E.Y.; Owusu, A.Y.; Kundhi, G.
    Although several studies have investigated the socio-cultural underpinnings of intimate partner violence (IPV) in Ghana, few explore the help-seeking behavior of the victims. This study examined the help-seeking behavior of female victims of IPV in Ghana. Specifically, it explored the role of perceived risk of injury and trust in determining whether and where victims seek help and their likelihood of seeking help in the event of future abuse. The study used nationally representative cross-sectional data (N = 1689) and logit regression techniques to address these research objectives. The majority of respondents who had suffered IPV had not sought help after experiencing violence. However, of these, a substantial proportion said they would do so in the future. Respondents with a high perceived risk of injury from physical and emotional violence were significantly more likely to seek help from both formal and informal support networks than those who saw themselves at no risk. Those with high levels of trust in formal and informal institutions were more likely to seek help from these networks. Compared to those who did not, respondents who thought IPV should be kept private were less likely to seek help, especially in future abuse. Findings suggest policymakers should educate women about IPV, especially their risk of violence.
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    Towards a Greater Understanding of the Prevalence of Immigrant Entrepreneurship in the Informal Economy of Ghana: An Institutional Theory Perspective
    (Journal of African Business, 2023) Adom, K.; Ackom, B.
    This study aims to explore the prevalence of immigrant entrepreneurship in Ghana's informal economy through institutional theory. Specifically, the study sought to understand how the elements of the institutional theory (norms, culture, and regulations, which form formal and informal institutions) support or discourage immigrant entrepreneurship in the Sub-Saharan African context, with insights from Ghana. It is qualitative research that involves an in-depth face-to-face interview with 30 respondents. Analyzing the data from the interviews, the key findings are immigrants' inability to find paid jobs, failure to gather sufficient funds to operate in the formal sector, and the willingness to use innate ability. The Ghanaian culture of hospitality and the government's inability to implement trade regulations have been an enabler to the prevalence of immigrant entrepreneurship in Ghana. The legal frameworks that prevent immigrants from participating in retailing, especially in the informal economy of Ghana are well known by immigrant entrepreneurs, albeit it has yet to adhere. Therefore, there is a call for policy measures to address the weak institutional framework, which encourages disregard for the country's laws. Immigrant entrepreneurs who wish to remain in business in Ghana must obey the rules or suffer the punishment thereof.
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    ‘This place becomes a place’: Artists and placemaking on the margins
    (Geoforum, 2024) Gough, K.V.; Bobie, A.O.; Darkwa, A.K.; Langevang, T.
    Culture and creativity are active but often overlooked processes in contemporary urbanisation. This paper contributes to scholarship on the cultural and creative industries, as well as urban placemaking on the margins, by adopting a placemaking approach in which artists are positioned at the centre of the analysis. The focus is on why artists choose to be located away from national cultural hubs, how this shapes their work, and how their work in turn shapes the city. Qualitative research was conducted in the northern Ghanaian city of Tamale with artists based in three creative and cultural industries: film, music and visual arts. The paper makes three important contributions to the literature: first, sense of place, attachment to place and feeling at home are shown to be key to artists’ decisions to be based in peripheral locations; second, the material and cultural attributes of place and associated access to resources influence the work artists produce when located far from cultural urban hubs; and third, artists are changing the perceived marginality of their home cities by shaping urban infra structure and projecting new geographical imaginaries
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    What influences cancer treatment service access in Ghana? A critical interpretive synthesis
    (BMJ Open, 2022) Tuck, C.Z.; Aryeetey, R.N.O.; Akparibo, R.; et al.
    Objectives Multiple social-cultural and contextual factors influence access to and acceptance of cancer treatment in Ghana. This research aimed to assess the existing literature on how these factors interplay and could be susceptible to local and national policy changes. Design This study uses a critical interpretive synthesis approach to review qualitative and quantitative evidence about access to adult cancer treatment services in Ghana, applying the socioecological model and candidacy framework. Results Our findings highlighted barriers to accessing cancer services within each level of the socioecological model (intrapersonal, interpersonal community, organizational and policy levels), which are dynamic and interacting, for example, community-level factors influenced individual perceptions and how they managed financial barriers. Evidence was lacking about determinants of treatment non-acceptance across all cancers and in the most vulnerable societal groups due to methodological limitations. Conclusions Future policy should prioritize multilevel approaches, for example, improving the quality and affordability of medical care while also providing collaboration with traditional and complementary care systems to refer patients. Research should seek to overcome methodological limitations to understand the determinants of accessing treatment in the most vulnerable populations.
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    Land Governance and Conflict in West Africa through Interdisciplinary Empirical Lenses
    (Merian Institute for Advanced Studies in Africa (MIASA), 2024-09) Narh, P.; Doumbia, L.; Tounkara, A.; Ablo, A.D.
    This working paper addresses the following central questions: (i) How does the commodification of land challenge distinctions between rural and urban spaces? (ii) What new forms of differentiation emerge from commodification, for example the alienation of land markets from land governance regimes? (iii) How does commodification help our understanding of the resilience of custom and egalitarianism? (iv) How useful are property rights frameworks, whether customary, statutory or new forms of tenure, for land management and sustainability? Four authors, members of the MIASA Interdisciplinary Fellow Group (IFG 6) on Land Governance, applied ethnographic and cross-sectional research methods to examine case studies in Ghana, Mali and Senegal. This research contributes to an understanding of the perceptions, discourses and practices relating to land commodification and conflicts, as well as the way in which endogenous perceptions of access to land in West Africa are expressed and adapt to changing circumstances.
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    Urban physical food environments drive dietary behaviours in Ghana and Kenya: A photovoice study
    (Health and Place, 2021) Pradeilles, R.; Laar, A.; Irache, A.; et al.
    We identified factors in the physical food environment that influence dietary behaviours among low-income dwellers in three African cities (Nairobi, Accra, Ho). We used Photovoice with 142 males/females (≥13 years). In the neighbourhood environment, poor hygiene, environmental sanitation, food contamination and adulteration were key concerns. Economic access was perceived as a major barrier to accessing nutritionally safe and healthy foods. Home gardening supplemented household nutritional needs, particularly in Nairobi. Policies to enhance food safety in neighbourhood environments are required. Home gardening, food pricing policies and social protection schemes could reduce financial barriers to safe and healthy diets.
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    Situational assessment and epidemiology of HIV, HBV and HCV among people who use and inject drugs in Ghana
    (PLOS ONE, 2024) Guure, C.; Dery, S.; da Silva, C.B.; et al.
    Introduction People who inject drugs (PWID) and people who use drugs (PWUD) are an important popu lation group that remain under-served in Ghana. Though PWID and PWUD are among the key populations most-at-risk to acquire sexually transmitted or blood-borne diseases, they are among those with the least access to human immunodeficiency (HIV), hepatitis B (HBV) and hepatitis C (HCV) viruses’ prevention, care and treatment services in Ghana due to lack of data on them. We provide a rapid assessment of the PWUD and PWID situation in Ghana. Methods This rapid cross-sectional design undertook consultative meetings between the study team and relevant stakeholders, including Civil Society Organizations (CSO) working with PWUD/PWID. The assessment considered a representative sample of PWID and PWUD. It was conducted in four (4) selected regions of Ghana (Greater Accra, Ashanti, Western, and Northern). Overall, 323 participants were interviewed using respondent-driven sampling (RDS) approach. Information obtained from participants were demographics, HIV risk behaviors, human immunodeficiency (HIV) and sexually transmitted infections (STI)-related knowledge HIV/HCV/HBV screening, attitude, and practices among others. Analyses were conducted using Stata version 17 and RDSAT version 7.1.46 software. Findings Drug use was found to be more prevalent among the youth with a median age of 37 years. Majority of the respondents were males (86%). About 28% of the female respondents identi fied themselves as sex workers, while about 74% have been involved in transactional sex. The median age at which respondents started using and injecting drugs was 20 and 22 years respectively. Majority (68%) of the respondents consume drugs through smoking, with 20% through snorting, inhaling or swallowing and 12% through injection. The drug mostly used among the respondents was heroin (52%). The most commonly injected drug was cocaine (55%). About 64.7% of respondents reported mixing two or more drugs. HIV prevalence among respondents was 2.5%, 12.3% among women and 17.7% among women engaged in sex work, highlighting the overlap vulnerability. The prevalence of hepa titis C was 6.0%, and Hepatitis B was 4.5%. Access to care is limited, with 63% of the respondents never been tested for HIV. Conclusion These rapid assessment findings reveal the challenging conditions for people who use and inject drugs coupled with a relatively high prevalence of HIV and Hepatitis C compared to the general population. However, it also reveals that Ghana has a window of opportunity to prevent an exponential spread of HIV and Hepatitis in this population. Therefore, there is the need to implement prevention and treatment programs for HIV and hepatitis among people who use and inject drugs including essential strategies for an enabling environment in Ghana.
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    Assessing Children’s Autonomic Nervous System Activity During Structured Tasks: A Feasibility and Reliability Study in Ghana
    (Developmental Psychobiology, 2024) Bentil, H.J.; Daang, E.M.; Amponsah, B.; et al.
    The significance of physiological regulation in relation to behavioral and emotional regulation is well documented, but primarily in economically advantaged contexts. Few studies have been conducted in low- and middle-income countries. We investigated the feasibility and reliability of measuring autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity and behavior during challenge tasks in 30 children aged 8–10 years in Ghana during two visits, 1 week apart. Completeness of ANS data ranged from 80% to 100% across all tasks. There was low-to-moderate test–retest reliability of video mood induction (VMI) emotion ratings and balloon analog risk task (BART) pumps (r = 0.34–0.52). VMI elicited higher targeted emotion ratings in Visit 2 than Visit 1. Respiratory sinus arrhythmia (RSA) was higher, and pre-ejection period (PEP) was longer at Visit 2 than Visit 1 for baseline and both tasks. RSA was higher at baseline than during the VMI anger scene at Visit 1, whereas PEP was shorter at baseline than during all VMI emotion scenes at Visit 2. RSA was higher at baseline than during BART at both visits. In conclusion, ANS data collection within evocative and arousing challenge tasks was feasible in Ghana, and the tasks were generally reliable and effective in eliciting target emotions and risk-taking behavior in this sample.
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    Development of Strategies and Transformation Paths for Structured and Targeted Digital Change: The Case of the Presbyterian Church of Ghana Trinity Congregation
    (Digitalization Cases, Management for Professionals, 2019) Asiedu, S.T.; Boateng, R.
    The situation faced: The Church, irrespective of its steady growth from 4 members in 1965 to 2910 members in 2015, struggles to reach out to larger (newer) communities and improve money collection. It struggles as well in reaching its local community especially its members at the right time with the right message. In brief, for the Church to engage its members and the public concerning worship service, publicizing its social activities (evangelism, donations to the needy, visits to prisons, etc.) and payment of voluntary contributions, it had to count on their physical presence in its premises. (b) Action taken: The Church developed an interactive online presence (website) with payment integration for payment of tithe, offertory, voluntary thanksgiving, etc. Social media accounts were established to help create an online community with the secondary objective of driving traffic to the website and engaging the congregation remotely outside church service hours. Mobile money and a point of sale (POS) device were used to facilitate cashless transactions. Supportive committees were set up while interconnecting existing ones. Some of the pastors upload videos to social media as a supplement to morning devotions. Events were promoted on the website and social media. (c) Results achieved: Amongst the lot, there is currently an increase in social media engagements through event posts, live streaming, images, and other post formats and also an increase in participation in church events by almost 50% on average as well as an increase in the number of website visitors from 2558 (901 unique visitors) in the first year after deployment to 11,612 visitors (5841 unique visitors) in the third year as of September 2017. Even though membership statistics surprisingly indicated a 638 decline in 2017, which is worth investigating. (d) Lessons learned: Although deploying the online system was successful, it came with its lessons drawn from challenges that cannot be ignored. These include trust in electronic payments, the need for a strategic framework in the adoption of technology, and the need to educate users. Other lessons include the need for management support and readiness of employees/volunteers and resource availability as a precursor to achieving strategic IS innovation objectives.