Posted inBusinessGeneralLifestyleMedia

Who’s afraid of Big Fake News: How the expert lost her voice

By Daniel den Hollander Information is all around us. Social media platforms keep us informed of the latest developments. You would assume that this continuous access to the latest knowledge would make us smarter and more informed. Unfortunately, it has also created an explosion of fake news, conspiracy theories, and misinformation, often based on prejudice. […]

Posted inEnvironmentHealthLifestyleMedia

Art and mind: Healing arts in public health spaces

By Dr Thirusha Naidu Creativity, like mental illness, is mysterious to most.  It is an inexplicable yet distinctly human attribute. Historically, creatives have been admired, revered, feared, ostracised and persecuted.  From the genius of Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity to JK Rowling’s Harry Potter, Michaelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, to ingenious hackers or clever moms who conjure […]

Posted inEnvironmentHealthLifestyle

Now, more than ever, we need Social and Emotional Learning skills interventions

By Dr Gloria Marsay Covid-19 has shown globally that there is a need for people to learn strategies to deal with adversity. Strategies to deal with  anger, anxiety, fear, depression, loneliness, sadness, grief and loss. Elke Van Hoof, professor of health psychology and primary care psychology at Vrije University in Brussels,  wrote an article entitled […]

Posted inEnvironmentEqualityGender violenceHealth

Intersecting gender and resiliency – especially during Covid-19

By Amori Marais The grip of calamities is tightening across the world: Covid-19 is causing a global pandemic; parts of Australia are (still) burning; and war continues its reign. Additionally, there are individuals who, on a daily basis, are confronted with famine; drought; minimal access to running water; and other natural disasters, such as floods, […]

Posted inEnvironmentHealthLifestyle

Becoming “Hope Providers” during Covid-19: We can either choose anger or courage

    By Dr Gloria Marsay There has been much debate around the concept of hope. There are opinions for and against the thought of whether hope is a strategy or not.  World leaders have expressed their opinions. Barack Obama spoke about embracing hope and change.  Rudy Giuliani disagreed with him and retorted that “change […]

Posted inEqualityHealthMedia

A new chatbot can answer your awkward questions about sex and HIV

By Mamakiri Mulaudzi, Ebenneza Kofi Okyere-D, Peace Kiguwa, Janan J. Dietrich You know how it can be super awkward to chat to someone about sex related things? Well the team at the PHRU (Perinatal HIV Research Unit) at Wits University has fixed that. Imagine that you are 22-years-old and living in Soweto. Your parents probably don’t […]

Posted inBusinessEqualityGeneralHealthLifestyle

Social and emotional skills will improve education and grow our economy

Dr Gloria Marsay People faced with adversities in developing countries struggle to bridge the gap between education and work. A key challenge for 21st century schools involves serving culturally diverse students with appropriate transferable skill domains, i.e. deep human skills and advanced technical skills essential for economic empowerment in the Fourth Industrial Revolution (#4IR), as described […]

Posted inEqualityGender violenceHealth

Working with men towards ending violence and promoting positive masculinities

By Refiloe Makama & Sipho Dlamini Violence has remained a longstanding characteristic of the country. Gender-based violence (or more accurately: violence perpetuated by men against women and children and other male persons) appears to be on the rise, xenophobic attacks spring up all around the country, and other contact crimes saw an increase in the […]

Posted inGender violenceGeneralHealthLifestyle

Modern neuroscience-based therapies can help resolve trauma faster than ever

By Terence Watts Contact crime continues to increase in SA, up by 2.6% in 2019. Debilitating post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is often the aftermath and it can be difficult to understand what’s going on, in order to help the affected person, despite this having to do with the way an ancient part of the brain […]