Advancing Societal Impact through the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence in Human Development

One of the core research themes within the DSI-NRF Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Human Development is Life-course development, which describes the development of individuals from their conception to death. Working with research partners through a series of projects and publications, the CoE documented a surprisingly large and complex multi-risk burden in young women living in Soweto, South Africa. In women aged 18-25 years old, over 40% were neither employed nor active in education or training, 30% had cotinine-levels indicative of tobacco use, 24% were at risk from harmful alcohol use, 33% lived in food insecure households with a further 20% at risk of food insecurity, 39% were anaemic, 44% were either overweight or obese, 22% showed elevated blood pressure, 19% had probable depression, and 15% reported having anxiety symptoms. The Centre rolled out surveys across South Africa and found similarly high burdens of food insecurity, depression and anxiety among those in similar socio-economic conditions. This multi-risk burden, if left unattended, poses a significant health risk to young women as they age. Furthermore,  for those that choose to become pregnant, there is an increased risk for poorer pregnancy outcomes and an intergenerational risk for cognitive impairment and cardio-metabolic disease.

The CoE used these data to engage with multiple community feedback forums in Soweto in order to identify opportunities for solutions and community partnerships to address youth health and wellbeing. Through extensive engagement, a clear solution was presented. Addressing youth unemployment  could be the catalyst that would have cascading benefits on several health and wellbeing indicators.

In 2020, the CoE established a partnership with the Jabulani Community Forum, the Development Bank South Africa (DBSA), the Development Lab Precinct in Jabulani (infrastructural partner), and other academics to implement the innovative Wits Health HUBB programme. The overall aim of the partnership was to create economic opportunities, thus empowering youth professionally and personally to build healthier communities.

The innovative community-training-research collaboration with infrastructural and implementation partners: 

• Recruited youth from Soweto that were neither employed nor in formal education or training (NEET) and provided a 12-month learnership to train them as Health Promotion Officers. With this NQF-level 3 qualification, the youth developed their skills in the health sector by working in communities, conducting basic health screenings, referring patients to their local clinics, and providing health education.
• Activated health awareness and personal wellbeing amongst youth through health assessments and psychosocial support.
• Expanded community access to healthcare.
• Embedded research projects to generate further evidence of effect and evaluation.

The  initiative is anchored on the understanding that  effective change requires an integrated approach. The CoE’s relationship building strategy over the past four years has extended collaboration to local public healthcare facilities, community stakeholders, non-governmental organisations, as well as research partners across various academic institutions, collaborating in community activation, health awareness campaigns and research related projects.

Societal Research impact evident thus far includes:

• 100 previously NEET Sowetan youth have been offered learnerships.
• There was a 100% pass rate for the NQF-Level 3 Health Promotion Officer certification. This accomplishment underscores the impact towards fostering future healthcare professionals within the community.
• The youth are trained in Good Clinical Practice and qualitative research training to enable them to also seek employment in the academic research sector.
• With the support of the external partners, the project has successfully secured employment for 80% of the youth upon the completion of the learnership.
• The CoE has been able to incubate a local business setup by one of the youth graduates, DeeScribes. Since inception, the business, which provides qualitative transcription services, has made over R70 000 in revenue and has supported 15 local youth with work.
• There have been significant changes within the youth themselves during the 12 month learnership. For instance, functional maturity indicators (for example, getting a driver’s license, savings account, medial aid) have increased, tobacco use and harmful alcohol consumption has decreased, and exercise has increased.
• Over 90 000 individuals in the surrounding Soweto communities have had basic health assessments.
• The CoE has hosted 25 community health awareness campaigns.

In addition, We Zlto, a social innovation digital platform that uses blockchain technology to track and encourage positive social behaviours and reward youth engagement, was launched. The CoE also created content for digital-nano courses to increase understanding and provide guidance around health areas impacting young people. These courses include: depression, gender-based violence, suicide, diabetes, and hypertension. The platform is data-free, can be accessed by anyone across the country, and rewards users with Zlto points that can be exchanged for items such as airtime, data, electricity, groceries, and basic clothing. Each Nano course contains a series of modules that take the learner through several stages to understand what the signs are, what helps with prevention, and how to get help. To date, the intervention has  reached over 70 000 learners, predominantly young people (aged 18 to 24 years old) across the country in every province, and in both rural and urban areas.

The partnership has also produced scientific publications and has supported postgraduate students, highlighting how the societal impact is research-based. The aim is to roll out the partnership approach to other Safe Youth Hubs and produce evaluation data to inform community-based implementation science.