General and Specific Objectives

General Objective:

The aim of the research study is:
To conduct in a partnership framework including interdisciplinary teams from Cape Town, Freiburg and Penn State Universities an analysis of the existing information (secondary data) in Cape Town on major urban health risk factors and on the spatial distribution of morbidity and mortality particularly - but not only - related to mother-child health with a view to identifying and informing targeted intersectoral interventions to improve health and living in urban areas.
By working together, the platform of the PUNGH network will be strengthened and will enable the development of a cooperation model for a meaningful engagement with services and programs in the City of Cape Town.

Specific Objectives:

1. Assess the Cape Town mother-child relevant data that is available
2. Explore the association between health outcomes and upstream health determinants and compare these with provincial / city priority areas (gap analysis)
3. Assess data on environmental risk factors available in Cape Town and explore their relationship with population health (morbidity and mortality data) with a view to informing intervention projects using environmental heath indicators (gap analysis)
4. Describe the availability, accessibility and acceptability of mental health services and identify gaps in mental care provision needed for designing successful interventions (gap analysis)
5. Collect existing information about primary and specialist palliative care services in Cape Town and identify information gaps
6. Conduct a targeted literature review of a) community-based mother-child health interventions with a focus on diarrhea and b) mental health services and palliative care services in Cape Town