BackgroundThe burden of cervical cancer continues to rise in developing economies. Women in the sub-Saharan African region have higher chances of developing cervical cancer due to a greater prevalence of related risk factors. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of health education intervention on cervical cancer and screening perceptions of women in the Komenda, Edina, Eguafo, and Abirem (K.E.E.A) District in the Central Region of Ghana.MethodsA non-equivalent control-group design was used to select church women; 396 in the intervention group and 386 in the control group, aged 11 to 70 years in the K.E.E.A District in the Central Region of Ghana. Data was collected via a validated structured interview schedule and analysed using the paired - and independent-samples t-tests, Kruskal-Wallis test, and Mann-Whitney U test.ResultsA comparison of the mean differences between the pre-post-test scores for the intervention and control groups showed a statistically significant difference for knowledge of cervical cancer (t = 6.22, df = 780, p = 0.001), knowledge of cervical cancer screening (t = 5.96, df = 780, p = 0.001), perceived seriousness (t = 3.36, df = 780, p = 0.001), perceived benefits (t = 9.19, df = 780, p = 0.001), and perceived barriers (t = 3.19, df = 780, p = 0.001). However, perceived susceptibility for the intervention group reduced, evidenced by a decrease in the mean (mean = − 0.12) compared to the control group (mean = 0.93) and this was statistically significant (t = 2.72, df = 780, p = 0.007).ConclusionsHealth education interventions are critical in improving knowledge and perceptions, and increasing self-efficacy of women about cervical cancer and screening.

Human milk has the best impact on childhood survival. In Ghana, it is estimated that 43% of women exclusively breastfeed for 0–5 months and only 42% of breastfeeding mothers continue through 20–23 months. Although the Ghanaian government has implemented policies to facilitate exclusive breastfeeding, substantial gaps to achieve optimal newborn health and wellbeing remain. The purpose of this study was to evaluate breastfeeding prevalence and human milk sharing practices among Ghanaian women. Qualitative responses were received from Ghanaian females (n = 1050). In our sample, 81% indicated they breastfed their children and 8% reported ever sharing breastmilk with another mother. Reasons for sharing milk included (i) insufficient breastmilk production of the recipient mother, and (ii) mother’s unavailability prompting women to offer their milk to a crying baby. About 60% of our sample reported that they were not concerned about sharing their milk. Findings present a strong indicator for milk donation towards the establishment of a human milk bank in Ghana. Health promotion efforts should aim at increasing education about the risks involved in milk sharing as well as the benefits of human milk donation through formal and safer channels such as a Human Milk Bank.

(1) Background: The last few decades have seen researchers giving considerable attention to the physical context of early childhood care and development (ECCD) centers because many of the underlying processes that link physical context are quite similar to psychosocial environmental factors regarding child development. However, research on the physical environments, and the employees’ understanding of the importance of physical environments, is often underestimated. The purpose of this study was to assess the quality of the physical environments of ECCD centers in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana, and ascertain whether being a private or public center (center auspices) would be associated with the quality of its physical environment. A further inquiry into the educators’ understanding of the importance of physical environment on children’s developmental outcomes was made. (2) Methods: Using a sequential explanatory mixed-methods research design, all 160 ECCD centers in the Cape Coast Metropolis were assessed using a modified version of the Children’s Physical Environment Rating Scale (CPERS) and a semi-structured interview guide. (3) Results: Descriptive statistics indicated that more than half of the ECCD centers, 56%, rated “fair” on the quality of their physical environment. Although the locations and sites of these centers were of good quality, other physical environmental characteristics (i.e., “Planning of the Centre”, “Building as a Whole” and “Outdoor Space”) of ECCD centers were also rated to be fair. A Chi-square test showed that center auspices (i.e., being private or public) were not significantly associated with the quality of the physical environments of the centers [χ2(2) = 2.490, p > 0.05], suggesting no significant difference between private and public ECCD centers in terms of the quality of their physical environment. A follow-up qualitative inquiry identified two themes as reasons why play yards in early years’ schools were not good: a ‘‘lack of funding” and “governmental support”. (4) Conclusions: Our findings suggest that the physical environments of ECCD centers are, to some extent, compromised. Stakeholders (e.g., Ghana Education Service, non-governmental/religious organizations, and private entrepreneurs) should help improve the quality of physical environments and also provide financial assistance for the provision of basic equipment (e.g., learning materials) for private and public ECCD centers in the Cape Coast Metropolis. Educators require in-service training to boost their in-depth understanding of the importance of physical environments on children’s developmental outcomes. Future studies could target children’s perceptions of their preschools’ physical environments as useful empirical information to help guide appropriate policy interventions.

Background/Aims Cervical cancer prevention and elimination require a multi-faceted approach. This study explored married men’s awareness of cervical cancer, their perceptions of cervical cancer screening and their willingness to support their spouses with screening. Methods This descriptive qualitative study design recruited 15 purposively selected married men aged 20 years or older living in the Cape Coast Metropolis, Ghana. In-depth interviews were conducted with a semi-structured interview guide and data were subjected to thematic analysis. Results There was high awareness of cervical cancer among the participants. The main themes were participants’ knowledge and perception of cervical cancer and screening, and supporting partners with cervical cancer screening. Each theme had two subthemes. The subthemes regarding knowledge were ‘lack of knowledge about the disease’ and ‘lack of knowledge of preventive measures’, the subthemes on perception were ‘a normal disease’ and ‘doctors are trained’, and the subthemes for support were ‘financial support’ and ‘encouragement’. Conclusions Efforts to increase uptake of cervical cancer screening should focus on educating married men about the disease, as they can support their spouses to attend cervical cancer screening services.

Objective: Early years schools by their nature present peculiar challenges for infection control and injuries. This study aimed at assessing the health and safety practices of these institutions and find explanations to challenges faced in meeting the recommended standards.Design: Sequential explanatory mixed methods design was used in the study.Methods: The quantitative data was collected using a questionnaire. The study involved all early years schools in Cape Coast Metropolis totalling 160. Follow-up interview was conducted using eight Heads and Coordinators of these schools.Results: Early years schools met majority of the health and safety practices. Chi-square analysis revealed that, school auspices was associated with keeping records of doctor’s report [χ2 (1, N = 160) = 7.27, p = .007, ɸ = .227, odds ratio = 2.79, 95% CI (1.4, 5.7)] and having immunization records up to date [χ2 (1, N = 160) = 4.35, p = .037, ɸ = .184, odds ratio = 2.88, 95% CI (1.2, 7.7)]. Private early years’ schools were almost 3 times likely to meet recommended health and safety practices. Two themes identified as explanations to why most early years schools were not requiring copies of doctor’s reports were: “We don’t bother to ask” and “Rare cases, they do bring”.Conclusion: Though early years schools were meeting the recommended standards; they were not previewed to doctor’s report of children’s previous illnesses. This implies that these institutions may not be readily prepared to assist in meeting certain health care needs of the children in their care.Keywords: health, safety, early years schools, Cape Coast Metropolis, GhanaFunding: None declared