NEWS
Sept 2011: NHI discussions
We have an opportunity to contribute, as Rural Rehabilitation professionals to the plans for the NHI. As almost half the country's population lives in a rural area, and will need rehabilitation services, it is important that we contribute to the planning process.
Be involved by reading the green paper and adding your ideas by emailing us.
Be involved by reading the green paper and adding your ideas by emailing us.
June 2011: WORK IN A RURAL HOSPITAL
Having enough staff is the beginning of a good service, and its great to work in the small multidisciplinary teams that are typical of the rural district hospitals. See the recent article on our area in the SA physiotherapy mag Hands On for more insight!
| hands_on_article_may_2011.pdf |
March 2011
Promoting Block Therapy as treatment for children with CP
My experience observing and assisting
with Paediatric Neuro Block Therapy at Zithulele Hospital
It was an awesome experience for me to be able to slot in with the Rural Rehab Team at Zithulele Hospital. It was great for me to be at a hospital where there is a multidisciplinary Rehab Team that works together – not just OT but also PT and ST.
I had heard about CP Block Therapy and was exited to see it in action. There was a definite improvement in the ability of the child that we intensively worked with over the 4 days. It was amazing to see how a child that was known to cry throughout treatment sessions, when seen at the clinic, was so much happier in block therapy. The clinics probably provide a hectic sensory overload in the long queues which is in stark contrast to the peaceful environment created in the hospital ward. It was also good to be exposed to the practical use of information from the Hambisela Program. It was good to be able to put into practice what I had been observing, when I needed to do a session with the child together with (?com serve PT) when Marli and Megs were away on a clinic.
Apart from attending block therapy it was also good to take part in some treatment sessions of in-patients – some of them also conducted by OT and PT working together. It was also good to make a box seat for a child with CP and soft butterfly (thumb extension) splint for the first time. I even got to sit in on a meeting about formalizing and registering of Traditional Healers!
Zithulele must be the most Deep Rural Hospital I have attended – the importance of Community is most evident with the Rehab Program having this as an important focus. Thank you for sharing your experiences with me – keep up the good work and hope to invite you to our first “Block Therapy”
by Elizabeth Malleson
It was an awesome experience for me to be able to slot in with the Rural Rehab Team at Zithulele Hospital. It was great for me to be at a hospital where there is a multidisciplinary Rehab Team that works together – not just OT but also PT and ST.
I had heard about CP Block Therapy and was exited to see it in action. There was a definite improvement in the ability of the child that we intensively worked with over the 4 days. It was amazing to see how a child that was known to cry throughout treatment sessions, when seen at the clinic, was so much happier in block therapy. The clinics probably provide a hectic sensory overload in the long queues which is in stark contrast to the peaceful environment created in the hospital ward. It was also good to be exposed to the practical use of information from the Hambisela Program. It was good to be able to put into practice what I had been observing, when I needed to do a session with the child together with (?com serve PT) when Marli and Megs were away on a clinic.
Apart from attending block therapy it was also good to take part in some treatment sessions of in-patients – some of them also conducted by OT and PT working together. It was also good to make a box seat for a child with CP and soft butterfly (thumb extension) splint for the first time. I even got to sit in on a meeting about formalizing and registering of Traditional Healers!
Zithulele must be the most Deep Rural Hospital I have attended – the importance of Community is most evident with the Rehab Program having this as an important focus. Thank you for sharing your experiences with me – keep up the good work and hope to invite you to our first “Block Therapy”
by Elizabeth Malleson
November 2010: A Historic
Moment for the Zithulele Hospital Rehabilitation Department
by Shannon Morgan, Chief OT
On the 25th of November 2010 Zithulele Hospital Rehabilitation Department hosted the Grand Opening of their new Rehab Hut! The Rehab Hut was built by Rumdel Construction Company the people responsible for the new tar road from the Coffee Bay road to Zithulele! They saw potential in our vision of a Rehab Hut and kindly decided to donate the materials and labour needed for the hut as their way of giving back to the community. Our dream of a Rehab hut has become a reality! Thank you RUMDEL!
So why would a Rehabilitation Department need a hut?
A hospital is a place which aims to facilitate people’s healing to a point where they can return to as much independence as is possible for them. A patient might improve in a medical sense, but in order to be able to go home and be independent, they need to be able to practice, in a controlled and supportive environment, doing the things they will be doing at home. What often happens is that the patient, having been sick, has a limited idea of what they are capable of, goes home and never reaches their full potential.
The Rehabilitation Department now have a small rondavel, built in the same shape and size as the average home here, in which patients can practice doing household activities (these might include cooking on paraffin, preparing food, gathering wood and making fire, cleaning, home maintenance jobs like smearing the floor with cow manure etc). At this hut we hope to introduce patients to new ideas about assistive devices (such as long handled equipment and adapted chopping board), energy saving options (for example solar heated water or food, insulation for maintaining hot water), and other home adaptations they can make (such as a ramp to the door and a larger toilet). Around the hut is a wheelchair mobility course consisting of different surfaces that patients may need to negotiate outside the hospital, such as gravel, grass, bumpy ground and even a step.
In addition to being a space in which patients can practise every day activities, we also envision the hut as being a venue for running educational and support groups. We are currently running various groups including; pain management groups for patients with joint pathology, collaborations with traditional healers, psychiatric groups for various conditions, groups for children with cerebral palsy and their mothers, and groups for people with intellectual impairment and their families.
Many people came to join us at the opening of the Rehab Hut and some community members shared their stories of how they have encountered the Rehabilitation Department in their own lives.
An AMAZING TEAM
If it was not for the innovative and hard working Rehabilitation team the Rehab Hut would still be a dream of drawings! I feel privileged to be working with such a great group of woman who invest so much of themselves in giving back to this community! We did it together and it was a great success, and yes there was even “inyama” for all the guests!
Watch this space for further developments and feedback on how the Rehab Hut has developed and been utilised.
by Shannon Morgan, Chief OT
On the 25th of November 2010 Zithulele Hospital Rehabilitation Department hosted the Grand Opening of their new Rehab Hut! The Rehab Hut was built by Rumdel Construction Company the people responsible for the new tar road from the Coffee Bay road to Zithulele! They saw potential in our vision of a Rehab Hut and kindly decided to donate the materials and labour needed for the hut as their way of giving back to the community. Our dream of a Rehab hut has become a reality! Thank you RUMDEL!
So why would a Rehabilitation Department need a hut?
A hospital is a place which aims to facilitate people’s healing to a point where they can return to as much independence as is possible for them. A patient might improve in a medical sense, but in order to be able to go home and be independent, they need to be able to practice, in a controlled and supportive environment, doing the things they will be doing at home. What often happens is that the patient, having been sick, has a limited idea of what they are capable of, goes home and never reaches their full potential.
The Rehabilitation Department now have a small rondavel, built in the same shape and size as the average home here, in which patients can practice doing household activities (these might include cooking on paraffin, preparing food, gathering wood and making fire, cleaning, home maintenance jobs like smearing the floor with cow manure etc). At this hut we hope to introduce patients to new ideas about assistive devices (such as long handled equipment and adapted chopping board), energy saving options (for example solar heated water or food, insulation for maintaining hot water), and other home adaptations they can make (such as a ramp to the door and a larger toilet). Around the hut is a wheelchair mobility course consisting of different surfaces that patients may need to negotiate outside the hospital, such as gravel, grass, bumpy ground and even a step.
In addition to being a space in which patients can practise every day activities, we also envision the hut as being a venue for running educational and support groups. We are currently running various groups including; pain management groups for patients with joint pathology, collaborations with traditional healers, psychiatric groups for various conditions, groups for children with cerebral palsy and their mothers, and groups for people with intellectual impairment and their families.
Many people came to join us at the opening of the Rehab Hut and some community members shared their stories of how they have encountered the Rehabilitation Department in their own lives.
An AMAZING TEAM
If it was not for the innovative and hard working Rehabilitation team the Rehab Hut would still be a dream of drawings! I feel privileged to be working with such a great group of woman who invest so much of themselves in giving back to this community! We did it together and it was a great success, and yes there was even “inyama” for all the guests!
Watch this space for further developments and feedback on how the Rehab Hut has developed and been utilised.
January 2010: The wonderful support out there!
A little girl arrived at our hospital having suffered from TB meningitis and subsequent visual and hearing impairment as well as a right sided hemiplegia. Communication being more difficult with someone with deafblindness, and having no Speech and Language therapist at our hospital I sent out a cry for help. I have been so overwhelmed by the wonderful response of help from so many people. The mailing lists have been busy with feedback, so many useful insights shared, websites revealed and offers for all sorts of help received. Thank you! This attitude of sharing and helping each other is just wonderful! I am proud to be a rural worker in this rehabilitation community in South Africa! (see the resources section for useful practical information)
February 2010: Letter to Health Care Workers about the new HIV AIDS plan
This is a REALLY exciting letter, encouraging us all to be part of the plan to tackle HIV in SA in a big way. Read it in the document below
February 2010: Letter to Health Care Workers about the new HIV AIDS plan
This is a REALLY exciting letter, encouraging us all to be part of the plan to tackle HIV in SA in a big way. Read it in the document below
| minister_of_health_letter_to_health_care_workers.pdf |
The Wild Coast NGO Forum
On the 20th March 2010 our Rehab team met up with local NGOs who are also working in our area to enhance health. It was a really productive time as we all shared a little about what we were doing how we could work together. We made some great contacts, for example with people doing Home Based Care, and others doing community assessments of orphans and vulnerable children. In one district the NGO worker had identified 1500 children not registered with the relevant governement department. Disability and poverty are well known to work hand in hand and it was really exciting to meet people who are tackling issues from other angles.
On the 20th March 2010 our Rehab team met up with local NGOs who are also working in our area to enhance health. It was a really productive time as we all shared a little about what we were doing how we could work together. We made some great contacts, for example with people doing Home Based Care, and others doing community assessments of orphans and vulnerable children. In one district the NGO worker had identified 1500 children not registered with the relevant governement department. Disability and poverty are well known to work hand in hand and it was really exciting to meet people who are tackling issues from other angles.
.
