HSRC Integrated Annual Report 2018/2019

Research Highlights Through the Child’s Eyes Millions of children globally are currently enrolled in substandard childcare, with Early Childhood Development centres sometimes being no more than a plastic/cardboard shack with 20–30 children, sedated with antihistamines, crowded into a single roomwith one ‘carer’. Home environments are often no more stimulating, with very little light, poor air quality due to paraffin burners, and caregivers with little energy or knowledge about the advantages of reading and talking frequently with the children. HSD is currently working on a project that explores and records these child-unfriendly spaces through the use of technology in near real time, from the perspective of the child. Advancements in the fields of digital sensors, computation, storage, and communications have turned mobile phones into powerful mobile sensing devices. Among the sensors included in modern mobile phones are accelerometers, altimeters, digital cameras, microphones, GPSs, Bluetooth proximity, and oximeters, among others. Analysing the digital traces produced by these sensors could enable the assessment, detection, and monitoring of key developmental processes in an automated, expeditious, and scalable manner. Collecting and collating data from these different types of sensors gives us insight into the child’s world. Through the Child’s Eye This study is being conducted in South Africa and Nepal. The various stages of the study include: i) review of potential technologies for use in low resource environments for doing sensing research in the home; ii) the development of videos for all devices to explain the technology to individuals unfamiliar with the process; and iii) the development of anchored vignettes (an anthropological qualitative approach) to best assess the feasibility, and acceptability of the devices. In South Africa, the qualitative phase was completed and the narrative clip was identified as the optimal technology. The image is an example of a photo taken from this study where the child spent 8 hours of the day in a small dark roomwith the television on for company. Building on this work HSD is also launching a study in Nepal were this data will be used to track the success of a maternal depression intervention by passively and unobtrusively observing a mother’s daily routine, time with her child and on her own and amount of shouting and crying present in the home. Future directions include working with the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF) to create a wrist- worn word tracker that gives an indication of the number of words a child is exposed to, in a similar way to how a Fitbit™ tracks one’s steps. These devices, deployed at scale, could be used to assess language exposure and development at a national level. Amplifying Change across Eastern and Southern Africa: Supporting civil society to deliver sexual and reproductive health rights (SRHR) education and reduce school-related gender based violence (SRGBV) The HSRC’s Genders and Sexualities in Africa (GSA) working group brings together the expertise of various colleagues working on issues of sexual and gender diversity across the lifespan. The working group has completed a range of projects including: a national survey in Malawi on public attitudes towards sexual and gender minorities; an evaluation of a multi-country workshop for religious leaders around issues of sexual and gender diversity; and a critical review of health services for sexual minorities across seven countries in the region. The evidence base in eastern and southern Africa indicates that schools are sites of violence and bullying for particular school populations, including girls and HSRC INTEGRATED ANNUAL REPORT 2018/19 / 37