Objective: Our aim was to evaluate a health education programme (TBIoptions: Promoting Knowledge) designed to increase public awareness and understanding about traumatic brain injury (TBI) through in-person (classroom) and computer-based (electronic) learning environments. Design: We used a pre-post survey design with randomization of participants…

There is a growing body of research suggesting that schools need to respond to changing social and economic dynamics by prioritising "21st-century skills". Proponents of this view, who have been termed "the 21st century skills movement", have called for greater emphasis on cognitive and non-cognitive skills development,…

Objective: This review investigated how the three-phase model of critical pedagogy, based on the writings of Paulo Freire, can be put into practice in health education. Design: The study considers literature related to the fields of health education, health promotion and critical pedagogy. Setting: The study is a scholarly review completed as part…

It has often been stated that the Arab "world" is faced by a demographic challenge which is very different to that of many countries in the global North. As the Arab Spring has shown, youths across the region of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) are keen to make a mark, and despite the internal conflicts and contests for power and…

Over the next two decades, sub-Saharan Africa will face substantial pressure to expand its secondary education system. This is driven by the current low development of secondary education compared to other world regions, continued rapid population growth, the increase in the enrollment and completion rates at the primary education level, and the…

Early notions of life skills in Africa did not take into account the importance of a flexible and portable set of skills that would enable youth to adapt to changes in the world of work and lay the foundations for productive well-being and behaviour. Rather, life skills education in many secondary education curricula in Africa started with an…

In countries with a high concentration of youth with low literacy levels, the policy and programming task related to education and training is particularly daunting. This note briefly presents policies and practices which have been put in place to provide vulnerable youth with literacy and life skills education. It is based on a multi-country…

Background: Coronary heart disease (CHD) patients require monitoring through ECGs; the 12-lead electrocardiogram (ECG) is considered to be the non-invasive gold standard. Examples of incorrect treatment because of inaccurate or poor ECG monitoring techniques have been reported in the literature. The findings that only 50% of nurses and less than…

Objectives: To examine evidence from studies exploring the relationship between childhood obesity and educational attainment. Design: A systematic review of secondary analyses and observational studies published in English after 1997 examining attainment as measured by grade point average or other validated measure, in children aged 6 to 16 years,…

Objective: The use of pictorial warning labels on tobacco packets has gained almost universal international acceptance. In a public consultation exercise in 2006, the Department of Health in England, through a web-based answering system, asked people's preferences of 42 images, asking which images might be effective to encourage tobacco…

Objectives: To assess the effectiveness of patient education in reducing falls, promoting behavioural change and the uptake of prevention activities in older adults during and after hospitalization. Design: Systematic review and meta-analysis. Methods: A systematic search of five health science databases was performed up to November 2012. Studies…

Objective: Parents' values about sexuality and about premarital sex play unique roles in the development of adolescents' sexual attitudes and behaviours. However, research is scarce on the role of consistent versus inconsistent values transmission. The purpose of the present study was to examine the association between parental…

The South African science curriculum advocates an inquiry-based approach to practical work. Inquiry is a complex and multifaceted activity involving both cognitive and physical activity; thus, paper-and-pencil items do not provide the authentic context for this assessment. This study investigates the construct validity of inquiry-related questions…

The National Senior Certificate or "matric" examination is a key point of access to further education and the labour market in South Africa. Since 1999, matric candidates whose first language is not Afrikaans or English and are, therefore, forced to write in a second or third language have received a compensation of five per cent of…

In this case study, Mathematical Literacy teachers were interviewed and observed in the classroom in order to provide insight into the way this subject, relatively new in South African schools, is handled. The focus of this research was the instructional practice of these teachers specifically in terms of their mathematical knowledge regarding the…