Covert Observation Research Articles

Veto players and gun violence in drug markets: Analysis based on field observations of eighty drug-selling spots on the Westside of Chicago

PurposeThe study analyzed whether the number of drug-selling spots has an impact on shooting incidents in drug markets on the Westside of Chicago. MethodsA theory of gun violence in drug markets was developed by building on veto players theory, and tested using a series of two-way fixed-effects Poisson regressions. The main variable of interest—drug-selling spots—comes from an original dataset comprised of eighty drug-selling spots identified through covert field observations. Controls included: the average age and average number of drug spot workers at the drug-selling spots, concentrated disadvantage, population, police anti-drug operations, and drug demand. FindingsIn support of the theory, the main statistical models and robustness tests consistently found that the larger the number of drug-selling spots in a given drug market, the higher the number of shooting incidents over time. Only the control for population remained consistently statistically significant across model specifications. ConclusionThe study contributes to the drug market literature by offering a novel theory of drug market violence, as well as a replicable way for researchers to observe drug market activity without disturbing the natural behaviors of market participants. The operationalization of drug-selling spots as sub-factions of organized criminal groups also provides a novel approach to the study of drug market violence.

Observation of Food Handlers’ Hand Hygiene Behavior During Production at a Sandwich-making Factory

Effective hand hygiene is essential during food production to reduce the risk of microbiological contamination. Improper hand hygiene by food handlers can be a major contributing factor in the spread of foodborne illnesses. Self-reported behavior does not equate to actual behavior as it has the limitation of biases. Therefore, observational data are more effective at assessing the actual behavior of food handlers. Covert observation utilizing closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras can yield reliable data. This study utilized covert observation to assess hand hygiene compliance from CCTV footage of food handlers in a sandwich-making facility. An electronic observation checklist, based upon the company’s hand-hygiene protocol, was used to capture observed hand hygiene practices. A total of 588 occasions that required hand hygiene practices by food handlers (n = 12) were observed during the production of ready-to-eat (RTE) sandwiches over 16 h during two shifts. Food handlers did not wash their hands on 32% of occasions which required food hygiene practices. Of those occasions where there was an attempt to implement hand hygiene practices (n = 401), only 1% of behaviors were compliant with the company hand hygiene protocol. Observations indicated that 95% of attempts did not adhere to the recommended handwashing duration (≥20 s). Soap was not used in 4% of attempts, and hands were not wetted prior to applying soap in 16% of attempts. Additionally, 62% of attempts did not use hand sanitizer after handwashing and drying. Food handlers were observed attempting hand hygiene practices significantly more frequently (p < 0.001) when entering (89% of occasions) than exiting (8% of occasions) the production area. Findings indicate that appropriate interventions are needed to improve hand hygiene compliance of food handlers to ensure food is produced safely within the food manufacturing sector.

Covert Systematic Social Observations: A Method to Detect Ethnic Profiling in Police’s Selection of Citizens for Stop-and-Search

Covert Systematic Social Observations: A Method to Detect Ethnic Profiling in Police’s Selection of Citizens for Stop-and-Search

2159 Feasibility study: the use of the Edmonton frail scale in a psychiatric inpatient facility

Abstract Introduction Frailty is an important consideration in the health and wellbeing of older adults, particularly as it is associated with a risk of falls, and mental health difficulties such as depression. There has been no validation of frailty assessment tools among older adults with Psychiatric disorders. This was a feasibility study exploring the use of the Edmonton frail scale (EFS) among patients with highly complex mental health needs within a Psychiatric Inpatient Setting with a view to develop a service integration process leading to further research. Methods 45 participants were recruited from 8 older adult wards across Neuropsychiatry and Medium Secure divisions. EFS assessments were completed every six months by trained members of Multidisciplinary Teams over a 12-month period. Results: About 118 assessments were administered to approximately 45 patients, regardless of a patient’s length of stay at the hospital during the 12-month period. There was a 55% assessment completion rate. This was largely the result of difficulties in administering the cognitive domain of the EFS (Clock Drwing test) to patients with highly complex mental health needs, as the completion rate was 32%. It was also quite challenging for patients to understand and comply with the assessment instructions in the Functional Performance Domain (Timed Get Up and Go Test). As a result, many assessments in this domain were conducted through covert observation of patients’ movement during the course of the day. 29 of the 45 patients were found to have at least moderate level of frailty. Conclusion Older adults with psychiatric disorders may benefit from having an adapted assessment of the cognitive domain to promote complete administration of assessments. Prevalence of frailty is high in this setting. Continuous support towards staff engagement and education would be beneficial in promoting EFS use in determining frailty and integrating it into care planning.

Second-Hand Tobacco Smoke Exposure: Results of Particulate Matter (PM2.5) Measurements at Hospitality Venues in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

In Ethiopia, a comprehensive smoke-free law that bans smoking in all public areas has been implemented since 2019. This study aimed to evaluate compliance with these laws by measuring the air quality and conducting covert observations at 154 hospitality venues (HVs) in Addis Ababa. Indoor air quality was measured using Dylos air quality monitors during the peak hours of the venues, with concentrations of particulate matter <2.5 microns in diameter (PM2.5) used as a marker of second-hand tobacco smoke. A standardized checklist was used to assess compliance with smoke-free laws during the same peak hours. The average PM2.5 concentrations were classified as good, moderate, unhealthy for sensitive groups, unhealthy for all, or hazardous using the World Health Organization's (WHO) standard air quality index breakpoints. Only 23.6% of the venues complied with all smoke-free laws indicators. Additionally, cigarette and shisha smoking were observed at the HVs. Overall, 63.9% (95% confidence interval: 56-72%) of the HVs had PM2.5 concentrations greater than 15 µg/m3. The presence of more than one cigarette smoker in the venue, observing shisha equipment in the indoor space, and the sale of tobacco products in the indoor space were significantly associated with higher median PM2.5 concentration levels (p < 0.005). Hazardous level of PM2.5 concentrations-100 times greater than the WHO standard-were recorded at HVs where several people were smoking shisha and cigarettes. Most HVs had PM2.5 concentrations that exceeded the WHO average air quality standard. Stricter enforcement of smoke-free laws is necessary, particularly for bars and nightclubs/lounges.

Simulated patient methodology as a "gold standard" in community pharmacy practice: Response to criticism.

The simulated patient methodology (SPM) is considered the "gold standard" as covert participatory observation. SPM is attracting increasing interest for the investigation of community pharmacy practice; however, there is criticism that SPM can only show a small picture of everyday pharmacy practice and therefore has limited external validity. On the one hand, a certain design and application of the SPM goes hand in hand with an increase in external validity. Even if, on the other hand, this occurs at the expense of internal validity due to the trade-off situation, the justified criticism of the SPM for investigating community pharmacy practice can be countered.

Apprenticeship Reforms in West Africa: An Outcome-Process Evaluation of a Pilot Dual Training Model-Based Apprenticeship Reform Scheme in Ghana

Context: Faced with deep challenges with access to formal education, many West African countries are increasingly taking steps to reform their informal apprenticeship systems to make them a quality skills development alternative for their teeming youth. A review of the literature shows that although different countries in the region are deploying different reform strategies, what is emerging as a dominant reform model is the "dual training model" (DTM), a collaborative arrangement in which the task of training apprentices is shared between informal trainers (master craftspersons, under their respective trade associations) and formal vocational training institutions (FVTIs). This paper presents an outcome-process evaluation of a DTM-based apprenticeship reform programme piloted in Ghana. Methods: Designed as a case study, the paper adopts an interpretivist approach, relying on diverse sources of data, both secondary and primary. Secondary data includes journal articles, attendance registers of participants, memorandums of understanding, relevant media reports, websites, and official reports by all relevant actors. The primary data originated from in-depth interviews with fourteen (14) key informants, as well as from overt and covert observations of respondents. Results: At the outcome level, the paper shows that the programme has largely failed in transferring new skills or in changing dominant poor practices among trainees, foundational objectives of the programme. At the process level, the paper revealed deep flaws in implementation; these are discussed in detail in an attempt to clarify the programme outcomes. Conclusion: The paper concludes that although the dual training model remains a potentially viable reform model in informal apprenticeships, its success ultimately depends on the quality of implementation, which in turn depends on the strength and quality of inter-stakeholder collaboration in programme design and implementation.

Targeted hand hygiene audits and training: an effective tool for improvement in hand hygiene compliance

Background: Hand hygiene (HH) is the simplest, but most effective infection prevention and control measure. This study was aimed to determine HH compliance among health care workers (HCWs) in a cancer hospital and the impact of targeted and phased training over changes in HH compliance and determination of Hawthorne effect among HCWs. Methods: Prospective observational study conducted in two phases by HH trained auditor (Overt observer) and ICN (Covert observer) performing 30 minutes HH audit at ICU, haemato-lymphoid (HL) ward and paediatric ward to observe the pattern of HH compliance among HCW for HH moments and its impact over Hawthorne effect for HH compliance. Results: Highest compliance for HH was observed at HL ward (59.34%) in first phase and at ICU (70.08%) in second phase. Gradual and significant improvement in HH compliance was observed for ICU (52.24% to 70.08%), HL ward (59.34% to 68.48%) and paediatric ward (43.42% to 53.46%). Profession specific Hawthorne effect was observed for nurses with higher compliance in covert observation in first phase and for doctors with higher compliance in overt observation in second phase of the study. Conclusions: Regular targeted HH audit with motivational training is the better influential tool for improving HH compliance. Regular audits also improve efficiency of auditor for effective HH compliance supervision. Decentralization and availability of workstation specific HH auditor is the most of effective cost saving approach for achieving significant progressive improvement in HH adherence.

The impact of a school ability banding system on white, working-class males

As part of a wider study into the educational attitudes and experiences of white, working-class male pupils in the north of England, this paper explored the ways that male pupils in years 10 and 11 navigated and experienced the six-level (A-F) academic banding system present in their British mainstream secondary school (Ayrefield Community school – ACS). Following an initial four-week period of both covert and overt observations (including guided conversations), three distinct groups of male pupils emerged. Influenced in part by Paul Willis’ seminal study (1977) of males in a working-class school environment, these three ‘lads’ groups were representative of pupils in the top, middle, and bottom academic bands and were subsequently named Performers, Participants and Problematics respectively by the researcher. Following this initial phase of observations, a total of 74 male pupils from these top (n = 29), middle (n = 26) and lower (n = 19) academic bands were specifically selected to take part in a total of 14 group interviews with the aim being to explore the lads’ experiences of, and attitudes towards, being taught in academic bands, as well as their views on education and qualifications more generally. Passages from these group interviews are combined with guided conversation responses to make up the findings presented in this paper which are then explored and explained using some key concepts from Norbert Elias’s field of figurational sociology alongside key academic literature linked to the use of academic banding in schools. The paper suggests that despite the fact that all male pupils at ACS were exposed to very similar working-class upbringings and social pressures as part of their wider social figuartions, members of each of the three lads’ groups became part of, and were subsequently influenced by, the specific, school-based figuartions that emerged as a result of their allocation to their respective academic group. Influenced by the increasingly diverse and complex social relations within these school-based figuartions, the lads from the three different groups seemed set to achieve relative ‘success’ at school, albeit on route to different destinations, for different reasons, and towards quite starkly different end goals – all whilst still being very much aware of, and influenced by, the wider social figuration of which they were inextricably a part.

Lessons Learnt From Conducting an Instrumental Ethno-Case Study in a Mainstream Secondary School

The aim of this paper is to provide an insight into the lessons learnt as the primary researcher during an instrumental ethno-case study research project that took place in a mainstream secondary academy that set out to examine the physical education (PE) experiences of adolescent, white, pupils in a ‘typical’ working-class secondary school (Ayrefield Community School – ACS). With the term instrumental ethno-case study used to reflect the non-continuous nature of the 34 days spent in the school over a 16-month period, the structure and content of the paper aims to provide a greater theoretical and practical understanding of this relatively nuanced and contemporary approach to qualitative research in education. Determined that the study design remained based in ethnography, consideration is also given to the impact of professional and personal time constraints on an ability to engage in a truly immersive ethnographical study. In this regard, the paper also aims to provide additional guidance on the design and implementation of the study and the recording and interpretation of the data for any researcher with similar aims and/or time constraints. In addition, the paper also utilises Norbert Elias’ sociological concept of involvement and detachment as the lens through which the juxtaposition between objective researcher and experienced mainstream secondary school teacher was explored and managed throughout the duration of the study. Overall, therefore, the paper aims to provide a theoretical justification for the use of the term instrumental ethno-case study design, additional guidance and lessons learnt on the design and implementation of this approach, and further detail on the extent to which the potential conflict between objective researcher and former school teacher was acknowledged and managed. The project itself primarily set out to examine the physical education (PE) experiences of adolescent, white, pupils in a ‘typical’ mainstream working-class secondary school (Ayrefield Community School – ACS) and in doing so also sought to explore the attitudes of the pupils in relation to their views on qualifications and education generally, how they spent their leisure time, and more specifically, how their own actions and relationships with their male PE staff came to influence the content and delivery of their PE provision. Therefore, reflecting on the use of the traditional case study methodologies of covert and overt observations, informal guided conversations, and focus group interviews with male pupils and school staff, the paper highlights and examines the practicalities and considerations associated with the selection of, and access to, a ‘typical’ white, working-class school, how care was taken to encourage ‘natural’ behaviour during covert and overt observations, the specific nature of informal guided conversations with pupils and staff, and the techniques utilised in order to facilitate focus group interviews with these male adolescent pupils.

Quality Improvement Project to Improve Hand Hygiene Compliance in a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

This quality improvement project aimed to improve hand hygiene (HH) compliance in a Level III Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The project was conducted over three Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) cycles, with each cycle lasting two months. The interventions included healthcare worker (HCW) education on HH, repetition of education, and immediate feedback to HCWs. Compliance data were collected through covert observations of HCWs in the NICU. The overall compliance rate increased from 31.56% at baseline to 46.64% after the third PDSA cycle. The HH compliance was noted to be relatively low after touching patient care surroundings, at entry and exit from the NICU main unit, before wearing gloves and after removing gloves, at baseline and throughout the three PDSA cycles. HCW education alone did not result in significant improvements, highlighting the need for additional interventions. The study underscores the importance of involving NICU leadership and providing immediate feedback to promote HH compliance. Further efforts should focus on addressing the false sense of security associated with glove usage among HCWs, individual rewards and involving the healthcare staff in the shared goal of increasing HH compliance. Consideration of workload metrics and their impact on compliance could steer future interventions.

Natural sounds can encourage social interactions in urban parks

Urban parks play an essential role in hosting social activities and providing spaces for social interactions. Previous studies have examined the effects ofthe sound environment on individuals, particularly in terms of perception and behavior; however, few studies have investigated the impact of the sound environment on social interactions in urban parks. In this study, an experiment was conducted involving sound interventions and covert behavioral observations in a typical urban park activity space to determine whether different interventional sounds influence social interaction behaviors. In this experiment, four sound intervention groups and a control group were established and three variables describing the social interaction situation in the study area were defined: proportion of people engaging in social interaction, frequency of social interaction, and percentage of time spent on social interaction. These findings indicate that changes in the sound environment have a significant impact on social interactions. The natural sound intervention was found to increase the proportion of people engaged in social interactions and the frequency and time spent on social interactions. The positive effects of natural sounds primarily promoted social interactions within groups. In addition, the noise interventions in this experiment had no significant negative effects. These findings suggest that protecting and augmenting positive sounds are sometimes more important than noise control and that design strategies that focus on the sound environment could facilitate social interactions in urban park spaces and long-term social cohesion.

Snow-child interactions during the winter season in a temperate zone: Czech Republic

The presence of children in outdoor activities has been continuously declining in recent years, which negatively impacts their mental and physical health. Research has highlighted the positive effects of nature interactions on children's manual skills, socialization, and overall well-being. However, most studies have focused on regions with stable winter snow or warm regions without snow. In this study, drawing on affordance theory, both children and snow are considered as agents to examine child-snow interactions. Data were collected during the 2017/2018, 2018/2019, and 2019/2020 winter seasons, utilizing covert observation as the primary research method. The findings demonstrate that children's presence and interactions varied with the seasons, highlighting the influence of snow on public spaces and how its temporality attracts and motivates children to previously unoccupied areas.

The Culture of Digital Academic Commissions: An Exploratory Research

Academic integrity is one of the transmitted values in the education process. However, due to the impact of unstoppable growing technology, accompanied by the effect of COVID19 pandemic to education processes, digital paid academic services became popular among students. This study aimed to explore the culture of paid digital academic services using the principles of covert observation utilizing the cyberethnographic design of qualitative research. The culture of paid academic services in Facebook groups were subjected to this study by analyzing the posts in the group pages. The observations are the following: (1) Academic servants are from different spectrum of educational qualifications, (2) services offered vary, (3) requests of potential clients are (a) to prepare common school requirements, (b) proxy to quizzes or performance tasks, (c) partial or full aids to their thesis, and (d) some notable observations. It was also observed that there are scamming schemes in the group. In the digital era, it is difficult to control paid academic services. Thus, ethically acceptable paid academic services must be clearly defined. Teachers and school administrators are advised to devise a policy on their classes/ school relative to pressing concerns of paid digital academic services. Keywords: Education, Academic Services, Covert Observation, Philippines

Learning to play: how working-class ‘lads’ negotiate PE in a working-class secondary school in England

ABSTRACT This paper explores the ways in which working-class boys negotiated the content and delivery of physical education at a ‘typical’, white working-class secondary school located in the north of England. The study utilised a quasi-ethnographical case-study design conducted over a non-continuous three-month period involving covert and overt participant observation, guided conversations, and group interviews. A total of 48 key stage 4 (Year 10 and 11) male pupils were selected to take part in eight focus groups following the observation of approximately 340 key stage four (KS4) pupils in PE lessons. The data revealed that the vast majority of these male pupils arrived at the school with a narrow sporting repertoire as result of the upbringings and lifestyles made up of ‘traditional’ working-class activities such as football and fishing. Their strong predisposition for recreational involvement in these activities impacted directly on what the young males would, and could, do during PE at school and in this way were able to influence (to lesser and greater degrees) the content and delivery of their PE experiences. The findings of the study, therefore, go some way explaining how PE in many working-class secondary schools may come to influence the long standing, class-related adult participation anomalies that continue to exist in the UK.

9Mobile news SMS entrepreneurship and citizen journalism potentials in Nigeria

There is increased mobile telecommunications penetration across Nigeria. One of the realities connected to such penetration is the news-text services offered by the country’s 9Mobile mobile telecommunications company. This content analysis and covert non-participant observation research examined news entrepreneurial and citizen journalism potentials of the service. Findings show that news SMS service is encouraging, but issues such as delayed delivery and incomplete replications concurrently hamper entrepreneurial and citizen journalism benefits. The degree of diversity of 9Mobile news SMS contents is also poor. Nevertheless, there was significant use of prominent news stories – as derived from the hardcopies of the sourcing national newspapers. The research notes the need for news SMS copyright and plagiarism checks alongside other professional standards. Overall, it is pertinent to reiterate that irrespective of shortcomings, convergent news deliveries of 9Mobile SMS-MoreNews retain significant potentials for entrepreneurship and citizen journalism.

О странностях левоэсеровского мятежа в Жиздринском уезде Калужской губернии 7–14 июля 1918 г.: источниковедческий аспект

The revolt of the Left SRs (Socialist-Revolutionaries) in Moscow in July 1918 was used by the Left SR organization of the Zhizdra uezd of the Kaluga gubernia, which was supportive of the program of its Central Committee, as a pretext to remove the communists from power. The SRs counted on the fact that they held all the decision-making positions in the uezd military commissariat and were in charge of weapons. Moreover, some of the local peasants, who were the main producers of marketable bread, saw in food dictatorship and in Poor Peasants Committees a direct threat to their economic activities. They viewed the SRs as their mouthpiece and defenders of their interests and therefore supported them in their political struggle against the Bolsheviks. Having learned about the events in Moscow by early morning of July 8, 1918, the Left SRs of Zhizdra gathered several hundred peasants in the town and handed them weapons. Until July 10, the armed peasants received allowance in the uezd military commissariat. The communists of Zhizdra, having established the approximate number of armed peasants by covert observation, fled the town and left their posts. We still do not know what happened next in Zhizdra on July 8-10. On the night of July 11, an armed detachment from Kaluga arrived to help the communists of Zhizdra, but found no one, neither armed peasants, nor their leaders. This suggests that the fugitives knew the date and time of the detachment arrival in advance. Almost immediately upon his arrival, detachment commander Saltykov issued an order, announcing the establishment of martial law in the town and uezd, starting July 11. The population was ordered to hand over their weapons by 4 p.m. the following day. The uezd military commissar Trunov, who had fled, was outlawed “for counter-revolutionary actions” and was to be seized. It is worth mentioning that all this happened on the eve of the Uezd Congress of Soviets, which was to be held on July 12. The Left SRs planned to conduct and head the congress; by July 11, 25 delegates had arrived. On that day, the Zhizdra communists, no longer threatened, held a meeting and decided to thwart the congress and offered the executive committee to hold in its stead a meeting in order to inform about political events in Moscow and their local repercussions. On the same day, members of the communist faction overtook all key positions in the Uezd Executive Committee previously held by the Left SRs. As the Zikeevo volost refused to hand over weapons in peasants’ possession, Saltykov received an additional deterrent artillery gun and a group of Latvian riflemen. Having intimidated the population, the detachment entered the village of Zikeevo on July 13. There the chairman of the volost council handed over to Saltykov only 24 rifles, but promised to collect the remaining weapons and transport them to Zhizdra on the following day, July 14. Whether Saltykov received the weapons is unknown. Searches in Zhizdra on July 14 had no result. The reports of Saltykov and Evstafiev shed no light on Bolsheviks collecting weapons previously distributed by the Left SRs. Therefore, the author has good reasons to believe that not all weapons distributed to peasants by the Left SRs were collected.

A pragmatics study on verbal abuse against women and children by Bengkulu communities on social-media, at schools, and in families

This study aims to discuss verbal abuse against women and children on social media, at schools, and in families by Bengkulu communities in the coastal areas of the Bengkulu province. The verbal abuse was viewed in the use of the language based on pragmatic studies in terms of language functions, presuppositions and implicatures, language politeness, and the reaction of the community in every case of violence, especially family and society in this case family and society, in this case, social media. The design of this study was qualitative research with a phenomenology paradigm. This study involved 35 informants that spread on social media, at schools, and in families with a purposive sampling technique. The dataere gathered through documentation and covert observation. The data were analyzed in three stages: data reduction, data display, and conclusion drawing. The triangulation technique was done by involving experts in pragmatics and women activists. The results revealed that there were 35 data on verbal abuse with details of 10 data on verbal abuse on social media, 13 data on violent verbal abuse in the family environment, and 12 data on verbal violence at school that occurred in Bengkulu province in the last three years (2018-2020). The verbal abuses occurred in the form of disrespectful words, bullying, cyberbullying, words that are considered demeaning, insulting, intimidating, blasphemous, homophobic, sarcastic, yelling, cursing, ridiculing, yelling, slander, harsh words, scolding, and nagging excessively, cold, and humiliating in public.

Factors influencing health workers’ compliance with the WHO intermittent preventive treatment for malaria in pregnancy recommendations in the Northern Region, Ghana

BackgroundAlthough IPTp-SP is a lifesaving World Health Organization (WHO) recommended preventive intervention for pregnant women in malaria-endemic regions, IPTp-SP uptake in the Northern region of Ghana is much lower than the sub-optimal national coverage level. Assessing the extent of health workers’ compliance and its associated factors will generate valuable pointers to be targeted at the program level. The study examined the factors influencing health workers’ compliance with the WHO recommended guidelines for IPTp-SP in the Northern Region.MethodsA cross-sectional study among 315 health workers in the Northern region was conducted. Semi-structured questionnaires were used to collect data on health workers’ sociodemographic characteristics, facility-based factors and knowledge level. Data were collected on health workers’ compliance with the recommended practices through covert observations using a checklist. Facility observations were carried out using a checklist. Crude and adjusted logistic regression were used to determine predictors of health workers’ compliance, at a 5% significance level adjusting for clustering.ResultsOf the 315 health workers studied, the median age was 29 years (26–34 years). Females constituted (80.5%; 252) of the 313 workers. The majority (47.4%;148) of the 312 health workers were midwives. Overall, 56.2% (CI 51.0 – 62.0) were adequately complying with the recommended guidelines. Lower levels of compliance were recorded in health centres 15.6% (5.0 – 33.0) and CHPS compounds 21.2% (11.0 – 35.0). The factors associated with compliance included health workers’ knowledge (aOR = 7.64, 95% CI 4.21 – 13.87, p < 0.001), job satisfaction (aOR 10.87, 95% CI 7.04 – 16.79, p < 0.001), in-service training (aOR 10.11, 95% CI 4.53 – 22.56, p < 0.001), supervision (aOR 4.01, 95% CI 2.09 – 7.68, p < 0.001), availability of job aids (aOR 3.61, 95% CI 2.44 – 5.35, p < 0.001), health workers experience (aOR = 10.64, 95% CI 5.99 – 18.91, p < 0.001) and facility type (aOR 0.03, 95% CI 0.01–0.07, p < 0.001).ConclusionCompliance with the recommended IPTp-SP guidelines is suboptimal in the region, with lower-level health facilities recording the least compliance levels. Health centres and CHPS facilities should be prioritized in distributing limited resources to improve health worker quality of care for antenatal care clients.

‘Wash and Pray’

Abstract ‘Continue to wash your hands, continue to wear your mask, continue to sanitize, continue to maintain social distance, and lastly continue to pray’. These were the closing remarks of a pastor who was preaching online to his congregants in the context of the second and third waves of COVID-19 variants. This article focuses on the church’s utilisation (or lack) of both religion and science under the ‘wash’ and ‘pray’ theology. The article raises this fundamental question: to what extent is the church embracing scientific knowledge in its efforts to deal with COVID-19? Data was collected through an online questionnaire survey, review of available literature, listening to clerics on YouTube, follow-up WhatsApp interviews, as well as overt and covert observations. The article argues that religion and science differ on a number of issues but in the context of COVID-19 and as indicated by this study, they must learn from each other and pool resources to combat COVID-19. COVID-19 calls for undivided attention, and when religion and science unify humanity vastly benefit. The article adds to the continuous debate on the relationship between science (wash) and religion (pray), arguing for the significance of religious ideas that make science effective in addressing the pandemic and vice versa.