Beth Vale Email & Phone Number

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Driving bottom-up quality improvement in health services by centering the stories of those seeking and receiving care

Johannesburg Metropolitan Area

300hr vinyasa yoga teacher training from The Nest Space, South Africa

City Of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

Percept is a transdisciplinary advisory firm working towards a healthier, more equitable and more resilient world. I serve on Percept's collective governance and decision-making structure.

Johannesburg Metropolitan Area

Serving as part of a transdisciplinary team of social impact consultants, with experience leading projects in Early Childhood Development, Systems Change, Compassion-Centred Healthcare, Inequality and Youth Unemployment.

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Together with colleagues at Percept, I have produced two series of briefs: one series explored the National Health Insurance’s purchaser/provider split; while the second series explored the nature and trajectory of the non-communicable disease epidemic in South Africa. Both series combine anthropological and actuarial insights to produce policy-relevant recommendations for a public audience. We have also produced individual briefs for the Hospital Association of South Africa, exploring… Show more Together with colleagues at Percept, I have produced two series of briefs: one series explored the National Health Insurance’s purchaser/provider split; while the second series explored the nature and trajectory of the non-communicable disease epidemic in South Africa. Both series combine anthropological and actuarial insights to produce policy-relevant recommendations for a public audience. We have also produced individual briefs for the Hospital Association of South Africa, exploring telemedicine regulation, universal health coverage, and quality measures for bottom-up accountability in healthcare. My work with Percept is ongoing spanning a range of public and private healthcare projects. Show less

Berlin, Germany

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Youth Capital is a youth-led advocacy campaign invested in a future in which every young person has the skills, support and opportunity to get their first job. Each year, I combine mixed-methods academic research, policy analysis, and qualitative interviewing of Youth Capital's implementing partners, to co-produce Youth Capital's annual publication: Shift. Here, I combine Outside of the annual publication, I've also worked with Youth Capital on special policy briefs – for example, on Second… Show more Youth Capital is a youth-led advocacy campaign invested in a future in which every young person has the skills, support and opportunity to get their first job. Each year, I combine mixed-methods academic research, policy analysis, and qualitative interviewing of Youth Capital's implementing partners, to co-produce Youth Capital's annual publication: Shift. Here, I combine Outside of the annual publication, I've also worked with Youth Capital on special policy briefs – for example, on Second Chance Matriculation. Show less

Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa

Zero Dropout drives evidence-based approaches to school dropout prevention. Each year, I combine mixed-methods academic research, policy analysis, and qualitative interviewing with Zero Dropout Campaign's implementing partners, to co-produce Zero Dropout's annual publication and leverage it as a tool for advocacy. Most recently, we produced a publication on the relationships between gender and school disengagement.

My work with Ilifa has (and will) included: advising on their mass communication M&E strategy; managing production of their working paper series and Early Childhood Review; compiling case studies to inform ECD payment systems; and driving research on community health work for ECD. I have also worked to co-conceptualise an Investment Prospectus for Systems Change in Early Childhood Development.

City Of Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa

As a lecturer at Wits University, I design and teach two courses: an undergraduate course on the Anthropology of Medicine and the Body, and a Masters course in Art, Archives, Anthropology. I also convene the bi-weekly webinar series and sit on the university's Transformation Committee. Alongside my research, I pursue my own research agenda. I currently have a book manuscript under consideration. The book tells the recent social history of the Eastern Cape Karoo through ethnographic accounts of… Show more As a lecturer at Wits University, I design and teach two courses: an undergraduate course on the Anthropology of Medicine and the Body, and a Masters course in Art, Archives, Anthropology. I also convene the bi-weekly webinar series and sit on the university's Transformation Committee. Alongside my research, I pursue my own research agenda. I currently have a book manuscript under consideration. The book tells the recent social history of the Eastern Cape Karoo through ethnographic accounts of health and healing. Show less

Johannesburg Area, South Africa

For the Johannesburg Institute of Advanced Study, I convened a three-day workshop drawing academics, activists, practitioners and journalists from across the country into conversation about South Africa's most pressing health issues.

Produced a scoping review of CHW policy debates and working conditions, as well as a set of recommendations for mobilising CHWs as champions to end child stunting.

Johannesburg Area, South Africa

During my time at MISTRA, I served as research lead for Indlulamithi National Scenarios 2030: a crosssectoral collaboration aimed at facilitating strategy and long-term planning for South Africa. It drew on over 150 interviews and numerous workshops with business, labour, government, NGOs, academics and youth. I also served as primary spokesperson for the project, presenting to party political officials, the Minerals Councils, major government and civil society conferences; as well as radio and… Show more During my time at MISTRA, I served as research lead for Indlulamithi National Scenarios 2030: a crosssectoral collaboration aimed at facilitating strategy and long-term planning for South Africa. It drew on over 150 interviews and numerous workshops with business, labour, government, NGOs, academics and youth. I also served as primary spokesperson for the project, presenting to party political officials, the Minerals Councils, major government and civil society conferences; as well as radio and news broadcasters. My role at MISTRA also included co-editing and managing a volume on ‘Traditional Leadership in a Democracy’, and serving as project manager for a second book project on the ‘Arts and National Development’. I also contributed two chapters to a publication on Epidemics in Africa. Show less

Johannesburg Area, South Africa

Investigated Johannesburg nightclubs as sites of quotidian political labour, through which the youngpeople contest social space and their place in it, thereby contributing to the city’s affective and sociopolitical cartography. This work produced multiple press articles as well as a book chapter.

United Kingdom

Anthrologica is a research-based organisation in the UK that specialises in applied anthropology in global health. Interns assist the Director and other team members by reviewing literature, preparing briefings and presentations, writing proposals, and serving as research assistants. I assisted on projects concerning birth registration uptake in Angola; community responses to Ebola in Liberia and Sierra Leone; and child pneumonia in Zimbabwe.

Western And Eastern Cape, South Africa

The Teen Advisory Group (TAG) is an initiative of the adolescent health research team, Mzantsi Wakho. It is comprised of 40 AIDS-affected and HIV-positive teenagers from the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. TAG’s weekend-long programmes aim to elicit feedback on study design and methods, discover the most pertinent concerns of AIDS-affected youth, ensure that questions and research tools are relevant and accessible for young people, and learn about youth discourses and… Show more The Teen Advisory Group (TAG) is an initiative of the adolescent health research team, Mzantsi Wakho. It is comprised of 40 AIDS-affected and HIV-positive teenagers from the Western and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa. TAG’s weekend-long programmes aim to elicit feedback on study design and methods, discover the most pertinent concerns of AIDS-affected youth, ensure that questions and research tools are relevant and accessible for young people, and learn about youth discourses and terminology in the field of HIV/AIDS and sexuality. There is also a strong policy consultation component in which youth engage in advocacy about what they need from health and social services. In 2014, representatives of the Department of Health attended TAG to hear young people’s concerns, letters from the TAG team were delivered to the Deputy Director General for Health, and video footage was screened at regional meetings of UNICEF and Paediatric AIDS Treatment for Africa meetings. Show less

Oxford, England, United Kingdom

My doctoral research formed part of a larger, grant-funded collaboration on HIV-positive adolescents in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, led by Prof Lucie Cluver and Dr Rebecca Hodes. My doctoral work began in the early phases of the project and included collaborating with the quantitative team to: develop an ethics protocol, design and test research instruments, engage local partners, train fieldwork teams, report to funders, conduct concurrent analysis and validation, and facilitate… Show more My doctoral research formed part of a larger, grant-funded collaboration on HIV-positive adolescents in South Africa’s Eastern Cape, led by Prof Lucie Cluver and Dr Rebecca Hodes. My doctoral work began in the early phases of the project and included collaborating with the quantitative team to: develop an ethics protocol, design and test research instruments, engage local partners, train fieldwork teams, report to funders, conduct concurrent analysis and validation, and facilitate radically-participatory consultations with adolescents. At this stage, the qualitative research arm, which I managed, worked with 23 adolescents, as well as their families and health workers. It also included research partnerships with adolescent support groups and local youth organisations. Show less

Cape Town Area, South Africa

PATA is a non-government organisation providing support tools, networking opportunities and sharing platforms for 250 paediatric antiretroviral treatment (ART) clinics in Sub-Saharan and Eastern Africa. I have been consulting with PATA to design and launch their advocacy work, starting with extensive strategic planning to identify PATA’s advocacy agenda and primary targets. Launching PATA’s advocacy work entails building advocacy capacity and spaces for engagement at clinic and regional levels,… Show more PATA is a non-government organisation providing support tools, networking opportunities and sharing platforms for 250 paediatric antiretroviral treatment (ART) clinics in Sub-Saharan and Eastern Africa. I have been consulting with PATA to design and launch their advocacy work, starting with extensive strategic planning to identify PATA’s advocacy agenda and primary targets. Launching PATA’s advocacy work entails building advocacy capacity and spaces for engagement at clinic and regional levels, collecting data about the key advocacy issues for paediatric ART clinics, conducting policy analyses and critiques, training PATA staff on the development of policy briefs and memorandums, and encouraging community-based story-telling and mobilisation (particularly through expert patients). Show less

Cape Town Area, South Africa

Contributor to TAC’s Equal Treatment Magazine: TAC's Equal Treatment magazine is dedicated to covering health and HIV matters, with a distribution of 55000 per issue. To date, I have had seven articles published in six issues of Equal Treatment.Working on TAC’s ‘Quackdown’ Website: The Quackdown website holds a database of untested, and often implausible, medical claims. The site also tracks complaints registered against medical retailers and the relevant rulings that have been handed down… Show more Contributor to TAC’s Equal Treatment Magazine: TAC's Equal Treatment magazine is dedicated to covering health and HIV matters, with a distribution of 55000 per issue. To date, I have had seven articles published in six issues of Equal Treatment.Working on TAC’s ‘Quackdown’ Website: The Quackdown website holds a database of untested, and often implausible, medical claims. The site also tracks complaints registered against medical retailers and the relevant rulings that have been handed down by the Advertising Standards Authority. My work with Quackdown has involved researching and uploading these claims. Sometimes I am also required to hold journalists, pharmacies and online publishers to account for the claims they publish.Collecting and analysing South African antiretroviral drug price history: Recently, I have been collecting and analysing data that shows the effects of generic competition on ARV drug prices in the public and private sectors in South Africa. Surprisingly, this kind of analysis has not been undertaken before. I plan to collaborate with colleagues at the Treatment Action Campaign and Medicines Sans Frontiers to publish the analysis. Show less

Cape Town Area, South Africa

ASRU-affiliated NGO, Kheth’Impilo, has eight site-based clinics across the country, supporting the Department of Health in the rollout of quality care and treatment for HIV/AIDS and TB. A large part of their work is the training of community health workers. As an intern, I have drawn up aspects of the community health workers’ curricula so that Kheth’Impilo is able to meet the standards for accreditation. I have also assisted with lesson plans for the training manual. Aside from this, much of… Show more ASRU-affiliated NGO, Kheth’Impilo, has eight site-based clinics across the country, supporting the Department of Health in the rollout of quality care and treatment for HIV/AIDS and TB. A large part of their work is the training of community health workers. As an intern, I have drawn up aspects of the community health workers’ curricula so that Kheth’Impilo is able to meet the standards for accreditation. I have also assisted with lesson plans for the training manual. Aside from this, much of my work at Kheth’Impilo has been to capture and collate years of training data. As part of my ASRU internship, I also worked with other researchers to update sections of a soon-to-be-published book on the anthropological history of male circumcision in South Africa. This book is intended to inform future policy decisions on male circumcision as an HIV prevention strategy.Body Mapping: In collaboration with a colleague at ASRU, I have been facilitating a series of body mapping workshops with Kheth’Impilo community health workers. Body mapping encourages participants to express the challenges and rewards of their work through art making. Show less

Cape Town Area, South Africa

Reviewed policy and protocol for the management of community health workers in South Africa

Grahamstown Area, South Africa

This was a paid position in the Dean of Students office aimed at coordinating Rhodes’ institutional response to HIV/AIDS. As HIV/AIDS Advocacy Officer I was tasked with: representing the Dean of Students Office on HIV/AIDS-related task teams; reviewing and amending the HIV/AIDS Policy; liaising with the Health Care Centre, Human Resources, SHARC and the Counselling Centre to achieve an integrated, coordinated HIV/AIDS response; managing logistics for the Department of Health-sponsored testing… Show more This was a paid position in the Dean of Students office aimed at coordinating Rhodes’ institutional response to HIV/AIDS. As HIV/AIDS Advocacy Officer I was tasked with: representing the Dean of Students Office on HIV/AIDS-related task teams; reviewing and amending the HIV/AIDS Policy; liaising with the Health Care Centre, Human Resources, SHARC and the Counselling Centre to achieve an integrated, coordinated HIV/AIDS response; managing logistics for the Department of Health-sponsored testing drive; running HIV/AIDS-related campaigns on behalf of the Dean of Students Office; formulating a job description for the 2011 HIV/AIDS Advocacy Officer. Show less

Grahamstown Area, South Africa

Tutor in the Political and International Studies Department, Rhodes University (2009, 2010)Tutor in the Philosophy Department, Rhodes University (2010)

Doctor Of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Social Policy And Intervention

My doctoral research is a multi-method ethnographic study exploring the medication-taking practices of HIV-positive adolescents.

Master'S Degree, Sociology, Distinction

My Masters research explored how community health workers in two Cape Town informal settlements negotiate between policy and practice.

Bachelor'S Degree, Philosophy And Political & International Studies, Distinction

Activities and Societies: President of Student HIV/AIDS Resistance Campaign Active member of Gender Action Project; OutRhodes Founder.

Certificate, First Nations, Inuit & Métis Program – Trauma Informed Relationships