Hester van der Walt

TL;DR: In this article, the authors describe task orientation in a tuberculosis control program which forms part of the public health system in Cape Town, South Africa, and explore both the explicit and more functional reasons for maintaining task orientation, as well as the implicit and mostly unconscious socially structured defences which contribute to the continuation of this form of practice.

TL;DR: Experiential, participatory in-service education can be implemented on a large scale in primary care settings, however, the process is resource intensive and the impacts of such education may be limited by barriers at other levels of the health system.

TL;DR: It is argued that Menzies Lyth's framework still serves as a useful tool for understanding the dynamics of relationships between health providers and patients, and that it is robust enough to provide useful insights in the South African public-health context.

TL;DR: It is concluded that qualitative evaluators need to carefully explore the political context of primary health care interventions in order that their research provides useful data for decision-making.

TL;DR: Assessment of learner, teacher, and health service manager perceptions of the usefulness, in the work setting, of skills taught on a health systems research education course in South Africa found inadequate support within the workplace was a significant obstacle to applying the skills learned.