Challenges, controversies and emerging issues within research ethics came under the spotlight during the institution’s Annual Research Ethics Day.

Lets’ talk Ethics was the main theme of this year’s event, which included a discussion session between the audience and a panel of experts consisting of Prof Penelope Engel-Hills (Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences), Dr Navindhra Naidoo (Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences), Prof Izak van Zyl (Faculty of Informatics and Design), Siyabulela Sabata (Fundani) and Prof Nic Theo (Faculty of Informatics and Design.

“Research ethics and integrity as well as responsible research conduct are critical to all research effected at CPUT. We as an Institute acknowledge our responsibility to facilitate, safeguard and promote these principles in creating an awareness that it is everyone’s responsibility at CPUT,” said Dr Hester Burger, senior researcher in the Institute for Biomedical and Microbial Biotechnology.

Researchers from across the institution were invited to the event by the Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research, Technology Innovation and Partnerships.

The event included a plenary talk titled Let stories breathe…..ethically by Dr Candice Livingston from the Faculty of Education. Livingston also chairs the Faculty’s Research Ethics Committee (FREC).

This was followed by a special breakaway session, Ethics ER (emergency room), where each CPUT FREC held information sessions to discuss specific research ethics issues within a specific field.

“The CPUT community has ample knowledgeable and experienced experts in research ethics that we as an Institute can tap into, and it was really a privilege to hear from these. The panel discussions were provocative, insightful and informative. We were also reminded about new developments in research ethics and the challenges ahead to improve our continued support and commitment to ethics at an Institutional level. More opportunities to engage on research ethics should be created where the necessary space is provided to hear the voices of all stakeholders,” said Burger.

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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A group of second-year Emergency Medical Sciences students recently provided HIV prevention and management training to members of Cape Town’s immigrant and refugee communities.

Students John Simy, Adolphe Soko and Isaac Mulumba were at the Department of Home Affairs’ Reception Centre on the Foreshore at the crack of dawn where they provided information on how to prevent infection and manage the disease.

They then moved on to the Scalabrini Centre of Cape Town where they hosted an interactive workshop.

“The project forms part of our primary health care module and we were required to initiate a service learning project. My two colleagues and I are from the Democratic Republic of the Congo and we decided to focus on the immigrant community. Many members of the immigrant community are not aware of how to protect themselves against HIV,” said Simy.

The Scalabrini Centre’s Shingi West said she had been impressed by the CPUT students.

“The workshop is of great importance because Aids is not just a South African issue. It is good that people are being educated even on things that we might think are trivial.”

The project was a joint initiative between the EMS Department, under the leadership of Dr Navindhra Naidoo and Lecturer Llizane McDonald, and the Centre for Community Engagement and Work Integrated Learning.

The students thanked the Centre’s Desmond Jackson for his support.

Written by Ilse Fredericks

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The Department of Emergency Medical Sciences is helping a group of Ocean View residents to make a difference in their community by training them as Emergency First Aid Responders (EFAR).

Two second-year BHSc: Emergency Medical Sciences students, Domenise Lamienie and Gwen Wilson, were the coordinators and recently conducted training workshops with a willing team of first and second-years for 90 Ocean View residents. They also arranged first aid kits for the participants.

“After the theoretical and practical content was covered, the participants wrote a test where their understanding of the content delivered was assessed. We are glad that all our participants met the outcomes excellently,” said Lamienie.

The project stemmed from a community-based research project titled Internationalisation for knowledge partnership and social transformation, which is funded by NRF/STINT.

The principal investigators are Prof Penelope Engel-Hills, acting Dean of the Faculty of Health and Wellness Sciences, and Prof Hilde Ibsen from the University of Karlstad in Sweden.

“The collaboration focus is broadly on the challenges in this community which includes high levels of violence and simultaneously the development of social awareness amongst our students by influencing the relevance of our curriculum,” said Engel-Hills.

She said data gathered from focus groups indicated the need for first aid training to enable community members to respond appropriately while awaiting the arrival of an ambulance.

“They expressed this need forcefully with the statement; ‘we stand and watch people die’.”

The EMS Department’s Dr Navindhra Naidoo, who is a key member of the research team, was able to initiate a Service Learning project with the second-year students.

“The students planned the training so well from the excellent delivery of the material, to care in the management of the assessment, lunch and even a playgroup to occupy children so their parents could do the course,” said Engel-Hills.

“From a researcher side I am thrilled that the research is doing what we intended – raising challenges in this community, seeking community responses to challenges, offering appropriate interventions, and at the same time providing students with opportunities to work constructively with the community and gain real understanding of life as is it lived by the residents.”

Wilson said her personal highlight was when a participant thanked her and Lamienie and said they had never received a certificate before.

“From that moment I knew we were doing more than just first aid training.”

Written by Ilse Fredericks

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A team of ten Emergency Medical Sciences students are helping to fight the scourge of human trafficking through an awareness campaign for high school learners. 

Second-year student Stacey-Lee Trilho Alcock said that for the past four years she has been involved in fighting against human trafficking.
She said that after discussions with Dr Navindhra Naidoo, acting head of the EMS Department, she and nine classmates decided to launch an outreach programme for schools to raise awareness among learners about human trafficking.

The students are working with an anti-human trafficking organisation, A21, which aims to “reach, rescue and restore victims of slavery around the world”.
The organisation aims to reach the vulnerable and disrupt the demand, to rescue victims through identification and seek justice against their captors and to restore survivors and equip them to live independently.

Nationally the Social Development Department dealt with 220 cases of human trafficking in 2016, the provincial department of Social Development said in a statement last year.
The nine students are Lidia Strydom, Susan Coetzee, Ruan Coetzee, Raihaanah Thiart, Josslynn Killow, Mlungisi Dutywa, Athenkosi Bhusa, Matthew Denton and Zayd Fredericks.
“Initially we mainly focused on schools in the Bellville area but following requests from other schools we’ve now extended this area. We did our first presentation in April and to date, we have reached about 2 000 people,” said Stacey-Lee.

She said the presentations usually start by telling learners about the work done by A21 and explaining to them that human slavery still exists today.
“We also show them video clips, including the stories of both a trafficker and a survivor. We tell them about the strategies that are used to lure people and what they can do to help the situation, even with limited resources.”

Cornel Viljoen, South Africa Prevention & Awareness Coordinator for A21, said that students bringing awareness to peers has a great impact and motivates others to help take action.
“The students at universities are the future of this nation and will be approaching the working world after university. They are a vulnerable group due to the fact that they may be searching for part-time jobs or considering other opportunities in the working field. It is important for students to be able to identify falsework, education or internship opportunities so that they won't fall prey to the schemes of traffickers.”

The National Human Trafficking Resource Line is operated by A21 South Africa in partnership with other service providers and takes calls 24/7. The number is 0800 222 777.
Click the link to read more about the line: https://0800222777.org.za/

Written by Ilse Fredericks
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