School of Health Care Sciences

The Public health takes a population–based approach to address the physical, mental, and environmental health concerns of communities. With such information the appropriate health promotion and disease prevention is applied to improve and enhance quality of life. This can take place at the local public health clinic, at regional or national agencies, international organizations, or in the private sector. Each presents unique challenges to understand the health issues and health hazards, to provide access to quality health care at affordable cost, and to educate and promote sound health behaviours. Some of the most notably opportunities include:

• Department of Health
• Private practice
• University lecturer

Anti-drug and alcohol abuse club conducted at Christ the King Private School annually on:

• Drug and alcohol abuse education counselling and awareness

She Conquers HIV Prevention initiative is a yearly education on:

• HIV prevention
• Life skills education
• Family Planning
• Career guidance
• Girl child education
• Teenage pregnancy prevention

Health Promoting School Initiative

• General health promotion for learners, parents and educators
• Education on the prevention of teenage pregnancies
• Nutrition programme at schools
• Environmental health

Drop-in centres around the University of Limpopo are assisted with:

• Fundraising activities
• Re-registration as NPO

Youth centre – Grace Mugodeni (Nwamitwa) community is assisted with:

• Youth at school and youth out of school needs
• Health, social and academic needs
• Young professionals providing service for youth, e.g. FP, prevention of teenage pregnancies, STIs and HIV education, etc
• Job-seeking skills

Collaborating with DIMAMO Population Health Research Centre on:

• Investigation of the burden of NCD’s and develop interventions to prevent and control NCD’s and their risk factors.
• HIV testing and determination of initiation of antiretroviral therapy for those who test positive
• COVID–19 Risk Communication and Community Engagement (RCCE) project in Limpopo Province
• The Impact of COVID-19 on Household Food Security, Nutritional Status and Socioeconomic Status in DIMAMO Population Health Research Centre, Limpopo Province
• Intervention to optimise adolescent BMI pre-conception to address the double burden of malnutrition – an RCT in rural and urban South Africa
• Strengthening response to dementia in developing countries (STRIDE).
• Re-framing and addressing non-communicable diseases through community participation

Assessing the effects of food insecurity, malnutrition and teenage pregnancy on pregnant and parenting adolescents’ mental health needs in DIMAMO Population Health Research Centre

• Non-Communicable Disease prevention and control
• Maternal Health, HIV Prevention, Family Planning and Teenage Pregnancy Prevention research
• The control and prevention of tuberculosis and other respiratory infections
• Drug and alcohol abuse education counselling and awareness
• Strengthening of occupational health safety and monitoring of exposure

Matlala, S. F. (2020). Concealed pregnancy among school-going adolescents in South Africa: A qualitative study on risks for maternal and child health. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science, 19(4), 620-624. https://doi.org/10.3329/bjms.v19i4.46616

Ndlovu N, Kekana MP, Matlala SF and Ntuli TS. (2020). Exposure to second hand smoke in health institutions and sources of knowledge: a cross-sectional study from the city of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Pan African Medical Journal, 35: 46. Available online at: https://www.panafrican-med-journal.com//content/article/35/46/full

Matlou, M.B., Matlala, S.F. and Skaal, L., 2020. Lived experiences of men and women diagnosed with tuberculosis at a rural community in South Africa. Gender & Behaviour 18(3), 16339-16346

Ndlovu N, Kekana MP, Matlala SF and Thembelihle Sam Ntuli TS. 2020. Exposure to secondhand smoke in health institutions and sources of knowledge: a cross-sectional study from the city of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe. Pan African Medical Journal. 35: 46.

P. Ndayizigamiye and S. F. Matlala. 2018. “A Design of a Mobile Health System to Address Teenage Pregnancy in South African High Schools,” 2018 IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference (GHTC), 1-6.

Matlala, S. F., & Matlala, M. N. 2018. Reflections on the Use of a Smartphone to Facilitate Qualitative Research in South Africa. The Qualitative Report 23(10), 2264-2275. 2018

Matlala SF. 2018. Facilitation of Social Support for Expectant Students in South Africa: A Concept Analysis. Global Journal of Health Science, 10(6): 173-180, 2018.

Matlala, SF. A model to facilitate collaborative social support for pregnant students in secondary schools. Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare. 10: September 2017

Moyimane, M.B., Matlala, S.F. and Kekana, M.P. Experiences of nurses on the critical shortage of medical equipment at a rural district hospital in South Africa: a qualitative study Pan African Medical Journal. 28(100): September 2017.

Matlala, S.F. Ethical issues related to research on pregnant school-going teenagers in South Africa. African Population Studies, 31(1): 2017

Makhura, R. R., S. F. Matlala, and M. P. Kekana. Medical waste disposal at a hospital in Mpumalanga Province, South Africa: Implications for training of healthcare professionals. South African Medical Journal 106(11): 2016

Maserumule OM, Skaal L, Sithole SL. Alcohol use among high school learners in rural areas of Limpopo province. S Afr J Psychiat. 2019;25(0), a1183

Mphasha MH; Skaal L. Knowledge And Practices Of The Primary Health Care Workers Related To Implementation  Of The Revised Infant And Young Child Feeding Policy 2013  In The Blouberg Municipality Of Capricorn District, Limpopo Province. South African Journal of Clinical Nutrition. 2018).. 2018; 4(1):1–6

Phetla CM., Skaal L.. Perceptions of Health Care Professionals Regarding their own bodyweight in selected public hospitals in Mpumalanga, South Africa. S Afr Med J, 2017;107(4):338-341

Mashego MH; Skaal L. Knowledge and Practices of Managers and Supervisors on Performance Management and Development System at the Primary Health Care facilities in the Greater Tzaneen Sub- district, Limpopo Province, Afr J Prm Health Care Fam Med. (2016)., 8(1),a1236

Oluwole, E., Skaal, L. Contraception And Factors Influencing Contraceptive Practices Among Women Seeking Termination Of Pregnancy In Public Hospitals in South Africa. South African Journal of Family Medicine & Primary Health, 2016. 8(1):2071-2936

Linda Skaal1, Bhekiwe Mtshali2, Anri Human2, Ntombenkosi Sobantu2. Body Mass Index And Level Of Physical Activity Among Primary School Children In Pretoria, South Africa. PULA: Botswana Journal of African Studies. (2016).  Vol. 30, No. 1, 2016

Linda Skaal, Heidi Sinclair, Dan J.  Stein, Bronwyn Myers. Problem Gambling Among Urban and Rural Gamblers in Limpopo Province, South Africa: Associations with Hazardous and Harmful Alcohol Use and Psychological Distress. Journal of Gambling  Studies. 2016.32(1):217: DOI10.1007/510899-15-9522-5.

Mphekgwana, P.M., Mabila, L.N. and Maimela, E., 2021. Indirect and direct effects of factors associated with diabetes amongst the rural black population in the Dikgale Health and Demographic Surveillance System, South Africa. African Journal of Primary Health Care & Family Medicine, 13(1).

Ntuli, S.T., Maimela, E., Skaal, L., Mogale, M. and Lekota, P., 2020. Abnormal cervical cytology amongst women infected with human immunodeficiency virus in Limpopo province, South Africa. African Journal of Primary Health Care and Family Medicine, 12(1), pp.1-4.

Mathebula, R.L., Maimela, E. and Ntuli, N.S., 2020. The prevalence of selected non-communicable disease risk factors among HIV patients on anti-retroviral therapy in Bushbuckridge sub-district, Mpumalanga province. BMC public health, 20(1), pp.1-10.

Harling G, Gómez-Olivé FX, Tlouyamma J, Mutevedzi T, Kabudula CW, Mahlako R, Singh U, Ohene-Kwofie D, Buckland R, Ndagurwa P, Gareta D, Gunda R, Mngomezulu T, Nxumalo S, Wong EB, Kahn K, Siedner MJ, Maimela E, Tollman S, Collinson M, Herbst K., 2021. Protective Behaviors and Secondary Harms Resulting From Nonpharmaceutical Interventions During the COVID-19 Epidemic in South Africa: Multisite, Prospective Longitudinal Study. JMIR public health and surveillance, 7(5), p.e26073.

Maimela, E., Alberts, M., Bastiaens, H., Fraeyman, J., Meulemans, H., Wens, J. and Van Geertruyden, J.P., 2018. Interventions for improving management of chronic non-communicable diseases in Dikgale, a rural area in Limpopo Province, South Africa. BMC health services research, 18(1), p.331.

Maimela E, Alberts M, Modjadji SE, Choma SS, Dikotope SA, Ntuli TS, Van Geertruyden JP. The Prevalence and Determinants of Chronic Non-Communicable Disease Risk Factors amongst Adults in the Dikgale Health Demographic and Surveillance System (HDSS) Site, Limpopo Province of South Africa. PloS one. 2016 Feb 16;11(2):e0147926.

K. Sznajder; D. Naughton; A. Kar; A. Nagakar;  J. Mashamba; L. Shuro; S. Leshabari and F. Diop ( .Book Chapter 3. Global Health Collaboration Challenges and Lessons. Editors: Margaret S. Winchester • Caprice A. Knapp Rhonda BeLue. 2018 Title: Fostering Dialogues in Global Health Education:  A Graduate and Undergraduate Approach Pg 21-31

Kekana MP. Occupational Hazards Of Workers at A Bricks Manufacturing Industry in the Polokwane Municipality, Limpopo Province of SouthAfrica. Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Care June 2021

Moyimane MB, Matlala SF, Kekana MP. Experiences of nurses on the critical shortage of medical equipment at a rural district hospital in South Africa: a qualitative study Pan African Medical Journal, September, 2017

Maluleke, XT, Londo, NM & Douglas, M. 2021. Knowledge of non-physical bullying among adolescent girls in the primary schools of Windhoek, Namibia. Int J Child Adolesc Health 14(3):00-00. Accepted for publication.

Motlatla, M & Maluleke, TX. 2021. Assessment of Knowledge about Healthcare Risk Waste Management at a Tertiary Hospital in the Northern Cape Province, South Africa. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, 18, 449. https://doi.org/10.3390 /ijerph18020449

Maluleke, XT, Londo, NM & Douglas, M. 2021. Knowledge of non-physical bullying among adolescent girls in the primary schools of Windhoek, Namibia. Int J Child Adolesc Health 14(3): 269-281.

Douglas, M, Maluleke, TX, Manyaapelo, T & Pinkney-Atkinson, V. 2017. Opinions and perceptions regarding traditional male circumcision with related deaths and complications. American Journal of Men’s Health, 1–10. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/1557988317736991

Manu, E & Maluleke, XT. 2017. Learners’ Substance Abuse at School in Selected High Schools in East London of South Africa. International Journal of Education Sciences, 19(1): 15-23 (2017) DOI: 10.1080/09751122.2017.1368190. Journal was removed from DoHET list in April 2017 when article was already accepted for publication.

Manu, E., Maluleke, X.T. & Douglas, M. 2016. Knowledge of High School Learners Regarding Substance Use Within High School Premises in the Buffalo Flats of East London, Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Journal of Child & Adolescent Substance Abuse, DOI: 10.1080/1067828X.2016.1175984. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1067828X.2016.1175984

Douglas, M. & Maluleke, TX. 2016. Traditional Male Circumcision: Ways to Prevent Deaths Due to Dehydration. American Journal of Men’s Health. pp 1-10. DOI: 10.1177/1557988316628545. https://jmh.sagepub.com/content/early/2016/01/29/1557988316628545.full.pdf+html