Call for submissions: Special Issue to be published in the Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa

AOSIS invites authors to participate in the Special Issue to be published in the Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa

Title: Efficacy in health science communication in a post-pandemic age: Implications for Southern Africa

Timelines

• Submissions open on 15 January 2023
• Deadline for submissions: 31 May 2023
• Expected publication date: 30 November 2023

Introduction

Programmes to promote science communication are increasingly well embedded in the policy frameworks of developing countries. However, as Weingart, Joubert and Falade (2019, 4) argue, the efficacy of engagement remains unclear for a range of reasons. Much of the broad population and indeed more of the intelligentsia than one would imagine arguably remain to a greater or lesser degree sceptical of science. From a health sciences perspective this was seen on a grand scale during the Covid pandemic in the form of widespread suspicion of the origin of the virus seemingly fuelled by conspiracy theories, and of surprising levels of vaccine hesitancy voiced in a range of guises.

Just as the 1918 Influenza epidemic has been credited with revolutionising healthcare in the early twentieth century, it is possible that the Covid pandemic will substantially shift how public healthcare is delivered. Whether this proves to be the case remains to be seen and will almost definitely be impacted upon by the efficacy of healthcare communication across multiple platforms that are now the norm in our ever-increasingly digitally driven world. Beyond this, research has shown that training of Health professionals in communication skills may have a significant impact on their efficacy in conducting their work more efficiently (De Sousa Mata et al., 2021). This together with the ethical complexities of communication in the health care and research environment, as outlined by Nduna et al (2022), suggests the need for deep reflection on communication in health sciences.

Objective

Going forward into the 21st century, empirically based healthcare communication aimed to drive the public good will have to account in a more substantive way with pragmatic questions of how communication works in, around and for the healthcare context. This arguably means (Weingart, Joubert and Falade, 2019, 6-7) contextualising science communication within

“prior research into the needs, perceptions and expectations of different segments of the population. In this way, the interests of these groups are taken seriously, and they can be given a voice in various ways to assure that they are not being misinterpreted or otherwise distorted. This will make science communication more relevant to them, and it will prevent the communication of science from eroding into an exercise in the self-praise of science.”

The 2023 Special Issue of the Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa seeks to provide a platform for scholars to consider the influences, nature of change, consequences and implications of the healthcare communication in Southern Africa, with a particular focus on the intersections between health science policy and practice, the specific needs of the local population, formal science communication models and approaches, and the wider media and communication contexts that influence public perception.

Recommended topics

Submissions are welcomed on topics such as:

• the competing platforms vying for the public’s attention in the form of public media, social media and the echo-chambers of the internet;
• the need to address the at times opaque and exclusionary discourses of the hard sciences for those at whom therapeutic engagements are intended;
• new ways of communication continuously being offered by technology;
• the complexities of language, culture, belief and political affiliation; and
• many more cross-disciplinary concerns.

Submissions are welcomed from within and across the disciplines/fields of:

• Health sciences
• Social and political studies
• Communication and media studies
• Language and culture studies
• Informatics and digital technology studies

Manuscript information

Manuscript contributions may consist of the following:

• Manuscript submissions should be in English.
• Original Research articles must fully comply with the TD-SA guidelines for manuscripts (maximum 8000 words, 60 or fewer references with limited self-referencing; no more than 4 table/Figures).
• Interested authors must consult the journal’s guidelines for manuscript submissions at https://bit.ly/3PCT0rr

Submission Procedure

To submit your article to the Journal for Transdisciplinary Studies in Southern Africa, please visit the journal website at td-sa.net.

When you submit the article, select the ‘Efficacy in health science communication’ as the article type. The submission portal will be accessible on td-sa.net after login in with your personal user credentials. For more details on the submission procedure, please visit https://bit.ly/3YA0FuC. All submissions will undergo anonymous review to guarantee high scientific quality and relevance to the subject. The final decision regarding acceptance/revision/rejection will be based on the reviews received from the reviewers and at the sole discretion of the Editor-in-Chief.

Of course, we will be happy to provide you with any assistance during the submission and application process. Kindly enquire at special-issues@aosis.co.za

We would be honoured to receive a positive reply from you and look forward to receiving your article.

All submissions and inquiries should be directed to the attention of the guest editors:

• Prof Nic Theo
  Affiliation: Centre for Communication Studies, Cape Peninsula University of Technology
  email: theolj@cput.ac.za
• Dr Dirk Bester
  Affiliation: Health and Wellness Faculty, Cape Peninsula University of Technology
  email: besterd@cput.ac.za

References

Weingart, Peter, Marina Joubert, and Bankole Falade. (2019) Science communication in South Africa: reflections on current issues. Cape Town: African Minds

Mata, Ádala Nayana de Sousa, Kesley Pablo Morais de Azevedo, Liliane Pereira Braga, Gidyenne Christine Bandeira Silva de Medeiros, Victor Hugo de Oliveira Segundo, Isaac Newton Machado Bezerra, Isac Davidson Santiago Fernandes Pimenta, Ismael Martinez Nicolás, and Grasiela Piuvezam. (2021) “Training in communication skills for self-efficacy of health professionals: a systematic review.” Human resources for health, 19.1 (2021): 1-9.

Nduna, Mzikazi, Simangele, Mayisela, Sadna, Balton, Pumla, Gobodo-Madikizela, Jabulani, Kheswa, Ithumaleng, Khumalo, Tawanda, Makusha, Maheshvari, Naidu, Yandisa, Sikweyiya, Sello, Sithole, Cily Tabane. (2022) Research Site anonymity in context. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, Vol 17(5); 554-564.

The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa was recently included in the Scientific Electronic Library Online (SciELO) SA.