Browsing by Author "Dlamini, Nqobile Minenhle"

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    Assessing the impact of covid-19 on monitoring and evaluation functions of the gauteng department of health
    (2023) Dlamini, Nqobile Minenhle; Pophiwa, Nedson
    The Covid-19 pandemic brought unprecedented challenges that required enforced adaptation in all aspects of human life globally. With such an outbreak the government sector was forced to develop mitigation factors and implement precautionary measures useful for curbing the pandemic. Hence, the research focuses on the Gauteng Department of Health as it is at the forefront of the healthcare sector. The main research objective is to understand ways in which the pandemic disrupts the Gauteng Department of Health’s Monitoring and Evaluation functions mechanisms adopted to ensure function continuity. Therefore, it was also important to understand the tools and mechanisms that were adopted and how the pandemic changed their implementation. A total of 10 key participants within the department were interviewed and a question guide was used as a data collection tool during the interview process. The participants interviewed were purposively sampled as a form of non-probability sampling. This study is a qualitative case study research design with an exploratory research approach. During the interview process, the majority of the participants indicated that lockdowns, restrictions on travel, isolations, quarantines, and the shutdown of non-essential activities were highly implemented. However, these restrictions impacted how raw data was collected in the field. Remote data collection had to be introduced and it became common because face-to-face data collection was limited due to contracting the virus. The findings of this study revealed that the Monitoring and Evaluation practices in the department were no longer treated as a priority due to the urgent response to the pandemic. The data that has been collected throughout the research indicates that there are ways in which Monitoring and Evaluation can be developed and innovated. The study also highlighted the best possible interventions or recommendations that can be taken into consideration should a pandemic of this nature arise in the future. This becomes a contribution to the knowledge gap concerning the disruption of an unexpected pandemic