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An exploration of parents' and guardians' perspectives on facilitators and barriers to menstrual cup usage amongst adolescent girls in De Doorns, Cape Winelands
Adolescent girls in low-income communities in South Africa often cannot afford to buy disposable sanitary pads. Though menstrual cups are considered relatively cost-effective, uptake in South Africa remains low. This qualitative study investigated parents' and guardians' perspectives on factors that...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English English |
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Department of Public Health and Family Medicine
2025
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| _version_ | 1867613182874353664 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Ruya, Natasha |
| author2 | Githaiga, Jennifer |
| author_browse | Githaiga, Jennifer Ruya, Natasha |
| author_facet | Githaiga, Jennifer Ruya, Natasha |
| author_sort | Ruya, Natasha |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | Adolescent girls in low-income communities in South Africa often cannot afford to buy disposable sanitary pads. Though menstrual cups are considered relatively cost-effective, uptake in South Africa remains low. This qualitative study investigated parents' and guardians' perspectives on factors that enable or hinder menstrual cup use among adolescent girls. Two focus group discussions and 10 individual interviews were conducted with study participants in De Doorns, a farming community in Cape Winelands. Data were uploaded onto NVivo 14 and analysed thematically. The study findings indicate that parents and guardians viewed menstrual cups as a viable option for upholding adolescent girls' dignity and alleviating the financial burden of purchasing menstrual products. This emerged as a supportive factor for adolescent girls' adoption. Further, parents and guardians believed that adolescent girls are a diverse group with varying needs, emphasising the importance of promoting their autonomy in choosing menstrual products. However, they encountered various challenges in adapting to menstrual cups, which left them feeling ill equipped to provide support to their adolescent girls. Concerns related to menstrual cup sizing and fears about potential impacts on virginity were common issues that contributed to their hesitation in endorsing usage among adolescent girls. To facilitate adoption, manufacturers of menstrual cups and community organisations involved in supporting the use of the same should consider parents' and guardians' perspectives, bearing in mind their pivotal roles as caregivers of adolescent girls. Further, there is a need for further knowledge dissemination to increase community buy-in. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41323 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | English eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:32:05.102Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2025 |
| publishDateRange | 2025 |
| publishDateSort | 2025 |
| publisher | Department of Public Health and Family Medicine |
| publisherStr | Department of Public Health and Family Medicine |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/41323 An exploration of parents' and guardians' perspectives on facilitators and barriers to menstrual cup usage amongst adolescent girls in De Doorns, Cape Winelands Ruya, Natasha Githaiga, Jennifer Perera, Shehani medicine Adolescent girls in low-income communities in South Africa often cannot afford to buy disposable sanitary pads. Though menstrual cups are considered relatively cost-effective, uptake in South Africa remains low. This qualitative study investigated parents' and guardians' perspectives on factors that enable or hinder menstrual cup use among adolescent girls. Two focus group discussions and 10 individual interviews were conducted with study participants in De Doorns, a farming community in Cape Winelands. Data were uploaded onto NVivo 14 and analysed thematically. The study findings indicate that parents and guardians viewed menstrual cups as a viable option for upholding adolescent girls' dignity and alleviating the financial burden of purchasing menstrual products. This emerged as a supportive factor for adolescent girls' adoption. Further, parents and guardians believed that adolescent girls are a diverse group with varying needs, emphasising the importance of promoting their autonomy in choosing menstrual products. However, they encountered various challenges in adapting to menstrual cups, which left them feeling ill equipped to provide support to their adolescent girls. Concerns related to menstrual cup sizing and fears about potential impacts on virginity were common issues that contributed to their hesitation in endorsing usage among adolescent girls. To facilitate adoption, manufacturers of menstrual cups and community organisations involved in supporting the use of the same should consider parents' and guardians' perspectives, bearing in mind their pivotal roles as caregivers of adolescent girls. Further, there is a need for further knowledge dissemination to increase community buy-in. 2025-04-01T10:45:57Z 2025-04-01T10:45:57Z 2024 2025-04-01T10:41:33Z Thesis / Dissertation Masters MPH http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41323 en eng application/pdf Department of Public Health and Family Medicine Faculty of Health Sciences |
| spellingShingle | medicine Ruya, Natasha An exploration of parents' and guardians' perspectives on facilitators and barriers to menstrual cup usage amongst adolescent girls in De Doorns, Cape Winelands |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | An exploration of parents' and guardians' perspectives on facilitators and barriers to menstrual cup usage amongst adolescent girls in De Doorns, Cape Winelands |
| title_full | An exploration of parents' and guardians' perspectives on facilitators and barriers to menstrual cup usage amongst adolescent girls in De Doorns, Cape Winelands |
| title_fullStr | An exploration of parents' and guardians' perspectives on facilitators and barriers to menstrual cup usage amongst adolescent girls in De Doorns, Cape Winelands |
| title_full_unstemmed | An exploration of parents' and guardians' perspectives on facilitators and barriers to menstrual cup usage amongst adolescent girls in De Doorns, Cape Winelands |
| title_short | An exploration of parents' and guardians' perspectives on facilitators and barriers to menstrual cup usage amongst adolescent girls in De Doorns, Cape Winelands |
| title_sort | exploration of parents and guardians perspectives on facilitators and barriers to menstrual cup usage amongst adolescent girls in de doorns cape winelands |
| topic | medicine |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/41323 |
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