John M Francis

Datos Biográficos

ID108171
NOMBREJohn M Francis
NOMBRESJohn M
APELLIDOFrancis
FIRMAFRANCIS J M
AFILIACIONESUniversity of the Witwatersrand
ORCID0000-0003-1902-2683
VERIFICADOSí
TOTAL DE OBRAS57
TOTAL DE CITAS1
TOTAL COMO AUTOR26
TOTAL COMO EDITOR31
PRIMER AÑO DE PUBLICACIÓN1968
AÑO MÁS RECIENTE DE PUBLICACIÓN2026
ÍNDICE H1

  • Correlates of Alcohol Use and Hazardous Alcohol Consumption Among Adults Living with HIV in Tanzania

    Open AccessDamian J Damian, Abbas Ismail et al.ARTICLEAIDS and Behavior2026

  • Healthcare provider experiences integrating mental illness screening and management into hypertension care

    Open AccessBaneliswa S Mayise, Samantha Mhlanga et al.ARTICLEHealth Promotion International2026

    Mental illness is a frequent comorbidity in chronic diseases including hypertension, yet integration of mental health screening into hypertension care remains limited, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. This systematic review synthesizes qualitative evidence on healthcare providers’ experiences of integrating mental illness screening and management into hypertension care. Qualitative studies published between 2010 and 2025 were ide…

  • Experiences of Covid-19 survivors in Gauteng province, South Africa

    Open AccessDoudou K Nzaumvila, John M Francis et al.ARTICLEHealth Promotion International2026

    Gauteng province was at the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa. An understanding of the experiences of survivors in this setting has the potential to inform South Africa’s preparedness and response in future pandemics. We aimed to explore the experiences of survivors via a qualitative study conducted in Tshwane and Sedibeng districts, Gauteng. One-on-one interviews were conducted on 20 purposefully sampled survivors and carers. An…

  • Health Promotion International

    Open AccessSabrina Lynette Thomas, John Catford et al.ARTICLEHealth Promotion International2026

    From the first issue in May 1986, Health Promotion International (HPI) (Health Promotion until 1990) pursued an agenda of advocacy and action for healthy public policy and health equity. At the time of the journal’s launch, public health had become oriented toward medicalized and behavioural approaches, with individualized health education the dominant intervention. In HPI’s first editorial, then Director General of the World Health Organization …

  • Longitudinal assessment of changes in hair cortisol levels and associations with violence, poor mental health and harmful substance use among female sex workers in Nairobi, Kenya

    Open AccessMamtuti Panneh, Tara Beattie et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2026

    Female sex workers (FSWs) in sub-Saharan Africa commonly experience violence, mental health problems, and harmful substance use. Stressful life events can harm the functioning of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, serving as a pathway to increased poor health, including HIV susceptibility through cortisol levels. In this paper, we examine changes in hair cortisol concentration (HCC) levels and associations with experiences of violence…

  • Barriers and facilitators to pre-exposure prophylaxis uptake among high-risk women and men who have sex with men in Georgia

    Open AccessTamar Mgebrishvili, Irma Kirtadze et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2026

    While pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) research predominantly focuses on men who have sex with men (MSM), PrEP uptake among women who use drugs (WWUD), female sex workers (FSWs), and female partners of people who inject drugs (PWID) is limited. This study fills a critical gap in the literature by examining the unique barriers and facilitators to PrEP uptake among these under-researched female populations, relative to MSM. This pre-implementation s…

  • Perspectives of adolescents and young people on Digital Health Interventions and their impact on health knowledge

    Open AccessPaul Macharia, Maiya G Block Ngaybe et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2026

    Adolescents and young people (AYP) in Kenya face unique health challenges, but there is a lack of research on their health knowledge and awareness needs. Digital health interventions (DHIs) could help address these gaps. Understanding AYP’s current knowledge will inform the development of effective, adolescent-centered interventions. Grounded in the inter-agency framework from WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, and UNESCO for youth-centered DHIs, this study ass…

  • Implementation fidelity of tuberculosis screening for Diabetes mellitus patients among healthcare providers offering diabetes services in Ubungo District, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    Open AccessEdwin Christian Chavala, Felistar Mwakasungura et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2026

    Globally, the risk of acquiring Tuberculosis (TB) among Diabetes mellitus (DM) patients is three times higher than in the general population. Patients with DM not only have a high risk of getting TB disease but also have poor treatment outcomes. Despite the National TB guideline recommending TB screening among DM patients, adherence remains low. Therefore, this study aimed to assess the provider-level implementation fidelity (IF) and factors asso…

  • Alcohol Use, Risky Alcohol Use, and Associated Factors Among Adults Living with HIV in Urban Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

    Open AccessBelinda J Njiro, J A Ngowi et al.ARTICLEAIDS and Behavior2026

    Alcohol use and risky alcohol use are associated with health, social, and psychological complications and may interfere with HIV/AIDS treatment. This study assessed the prevalence and factors associated with alcohol use and risky alcohol use among adults living with HIV in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania. This cross-sectional study included data from 771 adults living with HIV on antiretroviral therapy (ART) who were enrolled in a non-inferiority cluster…

  • High burden of abnormal cervical smears in South African primary health care

    Open AccessOlufemi Babatunde Omole, John M Francis et al.ARTICLEHealth Promotion International2025

    Cervical cancer is the second most common malignancy among South African women and the load of abnormal cervical smears has clinical, programmatic and policy implications. This cross-sectional study of women who presented for cervical cancer screening aimed to determine the prevalence of abnormal cervical smears and associated factors in primary health care (PHC) facilities in Gauteng—the most densely populated province in South Africa. A questio…

  • Facility readiness for decentralized Package of Essential Noncommunicable Disease Interventions-Plus (PEN-Plus) care in nine lower-income countries

    Open AccessLaura Drown, Alma J Adler et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2025

    Severe chronic noncommunicable diseases (SC-NCDs) are important causes of avoidable disease burden in low- and lower-middle income countries (LLMICs) where care is often available only at tertiary, urban facilities. The Package of Essential Noncommunicable Disease Interventions – Plus (PEN-Plus) strategy aims to address gaps in access to care for SC-NCDs by integrating and decentralizing care. This study aims to assess baseline readiness of 16 fa…

  • Barriers to and facilitators of linkage to care following hypertension and diabetes screening among health workers in Zimbabwe

    Open AccessLeyla Sophie Larsson, Rudo MS Chingono et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2025

    The benefits of screening for any condition are only realised if individuals who screen positive link to care services. We investigated linkage to hypertension and diabetes care by healthcare workers accessing a comprehensive health check service. We also explored facilitators and barriers to linkage to care. Between July 2020 and June 2022, a health check with referral and follow-up was offered to healthcare workers (clients) in Zimbabwe. We aim…

  • Effectiveness and experiences with differentiated service delivery of HIV care in Kisumu County, Kenya

    Open AccessFrancesca Odhiambo, Raphael Onyango Mando et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2025

    The adoption of the test and treat policy by the World Health Organization (WHO) in 2015 led to an unprecedented increase in the number of people living with HIV (PLHIV) enrolling into HIV treatment, thereby increasing the burden on HIV service delivery. To compensate, WHO endorsed the Differentiated Service Delivery (DSD) approach to reduce the burden on the health care system and therefore support attainment of the UNAIDS 95-95-95 goals by 2030…

  • Developing an intervention to improve early infant HIV diagnosis service uptake among postpartum women in Malawi’s primary healthcare using a co-designing approach with stakeholders

    Open AccessLeticia Chimwemwe Suwedi-Kapesa, Augustine Choko et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2025

    Low health service use by women and infants after birth limits early infant HIV diagnosis (EID). From August 2021 to December 2022, we collaborated with 44 healthcare workers (HCW), service users, and non-governmental organisation stakeholders from seven public facilities and five non-governmental organisations in Blantyre, building on a previous study. We analysed context-specific problems in EID services and co-designed a context-appropriate en…

  • Treatment outcomes in people with diabetes and multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (MDR TB) enrolled in the STREAM clinical trial

    Open AccessMeera Gurumurthy, Narendran Gopalan et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2025

    There is limited evidence on the effect of DM co-morbidity in those undergoing treatment for MDR-TB. We report post-hoc analyses of participants from the STREAM Clinical Trial (Stage 1 and 2 combined). Participants who self-reported diabetes, had random blood glucose ≥200mg/dl at baseline, or reported taking concomitant medication for diabetes were classified as the DM group. In total, 896 (n=84 DM, n=812 non-DM) and 976 (n=87 DM, n=889 non-DM) p…

  • Understanding the mental health of adolescents and young adults in rural South Africa through participatory research

    Open AccessNondumiso Mthiyane, Mthobisi Zikhali et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2025

    Most mental health problems in adulthood begin during adolescence. Factors such as poverty, violence, and unemployment contribute to the high burden of mental health problems. In Africa, the lack of resources for diagnosis, treatment, and management exacerbates the situation. Research on adolescent mental health has mostly focused on negative psychological effects, while positive attributes like coping, resilience, and emotional growth have been …

  • Using a cash transfer plus SMS nudge package to improve the wellbeing among caregivers of adolescents living with HIV during the Covid-19 epidemic in South Africa

    Open AccessStanley Carries, Zibuyisile Mkhwanazi et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2025

    Caregivers of adolescents living with HIV encounter multiple economic and psycho-social challenges which impair their wellbeing and provision of optimal care. Cash transfers combined with short message service (SMS) nudges may address the financial and mental barriers to caregiver wellbeing in sub-Saharan Africa. We examined the preliminary effectiveness and feasibility outcomes of this multipronged approach for improving caregiver wellbeing. We …

  • Understanding how digital mental health interventions can be optimised to improve longer term sustainability

    Open AccessNadine Seward, Wen Wei Loh et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2025

    Two CONEMO trials in Lima, Peru and São Paulo, Brazil evaluated a digital mental health intervention (DMHI) based on behavioural activation (BA), that demonstrated improved symptoms of depression at three, but not six-months. To understand how we can optimize features of the DMHI to improve outcomes for longer-term effectiveness and eventually scale-up, we investigated mediators through which the intervention improved symptoms of depression, sepa…

  • Pulse oximetry screening for critical congenital heart disease in Tanzanian newborns

    Open AccessNaizihijwa Majani, Pilly Chillo et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2025

    Early detection of Critical Congenital Heart Disease (CCHD) is crucial for reducing infant mortality. Pulse oximetry (POX) is widely utilised for screening CCHD in high-resource settings; however, its diagnostic accuracy in low-resource environments, such as sub-Saharan Africa, remains under-researched. This study aimed to assess the diagnostic accuracy of POX in screening Tanzanian newborns for CCHD. This prospective cohort study was conducted i…

  • Effectiveness of barber-facilitated “Doing What Matters in Times of Stress” intervention among urban literate youths in Western Kenya

    Open AccessProtus Musotsi Yabunga, Phiona Koyiet et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2025

    Youth with mental health disorders are a growing concern in Kenya, yet services are inaccessible. “Doing What Matters in Times of Stress (DWM)” is a scalable self-help intervention that can be delivered by lay providers. However, its effectiveness in low-resource, non-humanitarian settings is unknown. We evaluated the effectiveness of barber-facilitated DWM intervention in reducing psychological distress, while improving functioning and resilienc…

  • Self-reported uptake of STI testing services among adolescents and young people aged 15–24 years

    Open AccessB Hensen, Mwelwa Phiri et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2024

    There is little evidence regarding community-based delivery of STI testing and treatment for youth aged 15–24 (AYP) in Zambia. In a cluster-randomised trial, we evaluated whether offering syndromic STI screening through community-based, peer-led sexual and reproductive health services (Yathu Yathu) with referral to a local health facility for testing, increased self-reported testing for STIs (other than HIV) among AYP. Two communities in Lusaka w…

  • ART coverage and viral suppression among female sex workers living with HIV in eThekwini, South Africa

    Open AccessCarly A Comins, Stefan D Baral et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2024

    In South Africa >60% of female sex workers (FSW) are living with HIV, the majority of whom are not virally suppressed. Identifying multi-level determinants of viral suppression is central to developing implementation strategies to promote retention in HIV care and viral suppression among FSW with unmet treatment needs. Adult cisgender FSW living with HIV for ≥6 months, conducting sex work as their primary source of income, and residing in Durban …

  • Social network enhanced behavioral interventions for diabetes and obesity

    Open AccessEric L Ding, Andrea B Feigl et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2024

    While obesity and diabetes are rising pandemics, few low-cost and effective prevention and management strategies exist, especially in the Middle East. Nearly 20% of adults in Jordan suffer from diabetes, and over 75% are overweight or obese. Social network-based programs have shown promise as a viable public health intervention strategy to address these growing crises. We evaluated the effectiveness of the Microclinic Program (MCP) via a 6-month …

  • Association between physical multimorbidity and common mental health disorders in rural and urban Malawian settings

    Open AccessOwen Nkoka, Shekinah Munthali-Mkandawire et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2024

    In low-income Africa, the epidemiology of physical multimorbidity and associated mental health conditions is not well described. We investigated the multimorbidity burden, disease combinations, and relationship between physical multimorbidity and common mental health disorders in rural and urban Malawi using early data from 9,849 adults recruited to an on-going large cross-sectional study on long-term conditions, initiated in 2021. Multimorbidity…

  • Epidemiology of alcohol use and alcohol use disorder among female sex workers in Mbeya City, Tanzania

    Open AccessAndrew Kapaya Augustine, Lucas Maganga et al.ARTICLEPLOS Global Public Health2024

    Alcohol misuse is a global concern, contributing to 5.3% of total deaths and 132.6 million disability-adjusted life years worldwide. In Sub-Saharan African countries, the prevalence of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD) has risen, especially among female sex workers, due to increased availability and advertising. However, there are limited studies on alcohol use and AUD among female sex workers in Tanzania. This study aimed to determine the prevalence, p…