Newsletter ISSUE 4 | 2014

Faculty of

Growing from strength to

strength - CHS hosts 3rd

Annual Research Day

One of the greatest moments of South African, and

indeed world medical history was when Professor

Christiaan Barnard performed the first successful

heart transplant.

On 16 October we were transported back into

history as Prof Visser, Dean of the Faculty of

Economic and Management Sciences and keynote

speaker at the 3rd Annual CHS Research Day, told

us the story of the failures, triumphs and the road to

the first successful heart transplant. This story of

will and perseverance set the tone and reminded

us of what research can accomplish.

Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Prof Bharuthram who has

been an advocate for the initiative since its

inception in 2011 also made an opening address as

well as Prof Thabi Mason of the Medical Research

Council.

This year 40 platform and 15 posters were present-

ed.

IN THIS ISSUE…

► CHS Hosts 3rd Annual Research Day ►OT Celebrates 30 Years ► Third Global Symposium on

Health Systems Research

► SoN is visited by Ethiopian Academics ► Buddy Day 2014 ► Reflecting on the past year

RESEARCH DAY AWARD

RECIPIENTS PER CATERGORY:

Top Researcher Award

Dr Lucia Knight

School of Public Health

“I think it is right”:

Acceptability of an HIV Self-

Test by lay users in Kwazulu-

Natal, South Africa

Novice Researcher

Award

Ms Danelle Hess

Dept of Physiotherapy

The knowledge of and

beliefs about evidence

based practice (EBP) of final

year undergraduate physio-

therapy students at a local

university in South Africa

Teaching and Learning

Award

Dr Lucia Hess-April, Dept

of Occupational Therapy

Factors that influence the

promotion of occupational

justice by UWC OT

graduates in community

service: implications for OT

Education

Best Poster Award

Dr Tania Steyl, Dept of

Physiotherapy

Management of type 2 dia-

betes mellitus: adherence

challenges in low socio-

economic environments.

HERE ARE THE RESEARCH

DAY SPOT PRIZE WINNERS!!

Main sponsor for the day, Sanlam held a lucky draw

30years OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY CELEBRATES

In 1984 the Department of Occupational Therapy (OT)

at UWC was established as part of the Faculty of

Community and Health Sciences. This makes the

Department the youngest of the eight occupational

therapy education programmes offered at universities

in South Africa. The Department offers a four year

undergraduate B.Sc OT degree as well as a Masters’

and PhD programme. With October being International

Occupational Therapy Awareness month, staff in the

Department took the opportunity to celebrate our 30th

Anniversary. The theme of Occupational Therapy

Awareness month was “United in diversity”. This theme

is very appropriate for occupational therapy education

at UWC because over the past thirty years, the Depart-

ment has contributed substantially towards

transformation of the occupational therapy profession

in South Africa. In line with the mission of the

University and the Faculty, we employ a social

approach to health and wellbeing by addressing

occupational injustices in society. This is demonstrated

in our strong community based approach to education,

research and practice.

The Department celebrated its anniversary with two

events:

The 20 years of Democracy Seminar:

Occupational Justice and Community Develop-

ment held on 15 October

ARC Accounts (Academic, Research, Clinical)

held on 24 October.

We invited Prof Rachel Thibeault to be the guest lec-

turer at the 20 years of Democracy Seminar. Prof

Thibeault is a Full Professor in the Faculty of Health Sci-

ences at the University of Ottawa, Canada, She has a

background in occupational therapy, psychology and

community development, and specializes in community-

based rehabilitation, psychosocial care, issues of mean-

ing, resilience and social justice in health care. Her re-

search focuses mainly on community-driven models of

rehabilitation services in hard-to-access settings and

has taken her to various communities around the world

including South Africa. She works from a participative

perspective that fosters community decision-making at

all levels and promotes approaches that build on the

principles of sustainable livelihoods, service integration

and social inclusion. For expanding the boundaries of

occupational therapy, she was awarded the title of

Officer of the Order of Canada in 2013.

It was because of this approach to occupational therapy,

occupational justice and research that we felt she would

enhance the 20 years of Democracy Seminar and assist

us with celebrating our 30th anniversary.

This day was also held in conjunction with the

Occupational Therapy Association of South Africa

(OTASA). The workshop focused specifically on the

community consultation process that leads to a clear

identification of the occupational justice issues facing a

community and the strategies to develop solutions.

Discussions continued in the afternoon seminar and

focused on the key steps of community building and

specific occupational therapy skills and tools associated

with each one. Participants reflected on occupational

therapy strategies that enable the emergence of a

sustainable community of support and inquiry.

Prof Lisa Wegner, Head of Department, opened

the Seminar

Prof Rachel Thibeault from the University of

Ottawa, Canada

… Continued

Finally, issues of power differential, social justice,

equitable distribution of resources and democratic

functioning were addressed. The workshop was a great

success and was attended by approximately 35

occupational therapists and other professionals.

ARC Accounts

This year, our Occupational Therapy Department at the

University of the Western Cape is 30 years old. This is an

immense achievement given the very history of our coun-

try as well as our profession. It therefore goes without

saying that we should celebrate this immense achieve-

ment. To do so we hosted our Annual A.R.C Accounts

Symposium with a dedicated focus on the 30 years of the

UWC Occupational Therapy Department.

A.R.C Accounts is devoted to INSPIRING OCCUPA-

TION. The aim of this symposium was to bring together

people from the three worlds of occupational therapy:

Academics, Research, and Clinical Practice. We believe

passionately that bringing the three worlds of occupation-

al therapy together would be inspirational in promoting

OCCUPATION within all aspects of our profession. We

believe that we can contribute to this by providing a plat-

form in which our ideas, understandings and stories can

be shared in order to promote a community of occupa-

tional therapists who will engage with ideas and each

other. A.R.C Accounts 2014 is a platform that enables

students, staff, graduates and colleagues to share their

ideas, understandings and stories with each other and to

be exposed to the ideas, understandings and stories of

others! At A.R.C Accounts there are no keynote speak-

ers, this ensures that all speakers are equal. There are

no panel discussions, no breakout sessions, no ques-

tions and answers and no podiums or lecterns. An open

mic slot was included in the programme affording any

speaker or attendee the opportunity to share their

thoughts, feelings or ideas based on the presentations

with the audience.

The purpose of this symposium was to have the audi-

ence and speakers leave with a feeling that will stay with

them, a feeling that will move them into action, a feeling

that will INSPIRE OCCUPATION. Speakers included

staff (current and past), students and alumni. We hosted

Alumni speakers from 1984 to 2014 who presented in the

following categories: My training experience at UWC Oc-

cupational Therapy Department; My occupational therapy

life since graduating; and Messages to future occupation-

al therapists from the UWC Occupational Therapy De-

partment. The Rector, Professor Brian O’Connell and the

Dean of the Faculty of Community and Health Sciences,

Professor Jose’ Frantz were amongst the speakers that

joined in on the day and opened our event for us.

A.R.C Accounts 2014 was amazingly successful and

completely inspiring but would not have been so without

the input of all the speakers who presented - their

messages and stories moved and inspired all present.

The presence of all the Alumni who attended reminded

us that we are all connected and that UWC Department

of Occupational Therapy is "home" to past and current

students who give hope to the future of our profession

and staff of the department who are dedicated to training

future occupational therapists.

Some of the comments about the day posted on the

Department’s Facebook page read:

Staff and invited guests listen to Prof Thibeault’s talk.

His speech (Prof O’Connell) was epic! Glad to

have been present for this. Thanks #OTUWC

team!

I was truly inspired and felt proud to be part of UWCs

Occupational Therapy Dept. & To see such greatness

come from an institution that I am a part of! I think as 1st

years it was exactly the motivation we needed to start our

final exam with!

Definitely attending ARC 2015

Occupational Therapy,

University of the Western Cape

As a member of the South Africa Local Organising Con-

sortium, comprising five Cape Town based institutions,

SOPH successfully co - hosted and organized The Third

Global Symposium on Health Systems Research (30 Sep

-3 October). The event attracted over 1800 participants

from across the globe. The Symposium also coincided

with two capacity development workshops for young edu-

cators and researchers in the field, which SOPH co- host-

ed and organized with its partners.

The first workshop was part of The Emerging Leaders

program (ELP) in Health Policy and Systems Research

(HPSR), a flagship program of one of SOPH’s collabora-

tive ventures, the Consortium for Health Policy and

Systems Research in Africa (CHEPSAA). With its 26

participants, mostly educators and researchers from

South Africa, Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana and Nigeria, ELP

is a unique initiative that seeks to contribute to building a

critical mass of future leaders who are committed to

working in this field in Africa and equipped with the

necessary skills and capabilities. The programme

concluded with the group attending The Third Global

Symposium on Health Systems Research and sharing

their experience in an organized session entitled

“Assuming leadership in HPSR- Personal reflections and

lessons”.

Emerging Voices

The second workshop was a component of the Emerging

Voices for Global Health (EV4GH) 2014, a blended

training program for young researchers on health

research and scientific communication. A total of 50

“Emerging Voices” from low and middle income countries

received coaching to participate actively in international

conferences and raise their voice in the scientific debate.

The workshop ended with the ‘Emerging Voices’ actively

taking part and showcasing their research output at the

symposium.

Participants of the Emerging Voices for Global Health (EV4GH) 2014 outside the School of Public Health building at the

University of the Western Cape.

School of Public Health

co-hosts International Forum

Participants of Emerging Leaders for HPSR in Africa

ETHIOPIAN ACADEMICS VISIT

THE SCHOOL OF NURSING

_______________________________________________

The Head of the Department of Nursing, University of

Gondar (Anteneh Messele) and two lecturers (Fisseha

Zewude – Clinical Coordinator & Mengistu Melkamu –

Midwifery lecturer) visited the School of Nursing

(SON) between September 23-25, 2014. The educa-

tional visit formed part of the Nursing Education

Partnership Initiative (NEPI) project for Sub-Saharan

Africa. The purpose of the visit was to share best

practice experiences related primarily to

post-graduate and clinical nursing programmes. The

University of Gondar is in the process of expanding

their post-graduate clinical programmes in advanced

midwifery and advanced psychiatric nursing and the

respective SON post-graduate coordinators shared

their experiences of these programmes. The Head of

the Post-graduate programme, Prof O Adejumo

provided valuable input regarding post-graduate

programmes in general and doctoral programmes in

particular. The visitors also spent time in the SON

skills laboratory and the midwifery lecturer went on a

site visit. In his response to the visit the HoD of the

Department of Nursing, Gondar University states “We

will formulate your experience in the way that our

University can use”.

On 7 October a trickling of green t-shirts may have

been spotted around campus - these were the staff

and student volunteers who welcomed and hosted

provisionally accepted students to the campus and

Faculty.

This year we hosted 43 hopeful applicants, who were

taken on a tour of Kovacs and some of the buildings.

This followed with a session at the respective depart-

ment where they may be registered in 2015. The

response was largely positive and only motivated the

PR Committee to go bigger and better next year!

BUDDY DAY

2014

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

At the beginning of 2014 my

motto was “2014 is going to

be our year.” Well, I am not

sure whether 2014

conquered me or I

conquered 2014. Be that as

it may, as I reflect on the

year I want to say to the FCHS –academics,

administrators and students “together we can.”

The commitment of the FCHS as a team has been

incredible. We had leadership development, we

had professional administrators day, we had

buddy day and through it all there was always a

team to make it a success.

As dean of the FCHS I am proud to be part of a

team that is dedicated, committed, resilient,

enthusiastic and hardworking. When I presented

my vision for the FCHS in October 2013; it was

but just a vision. However, 2014 has demonstrat-

ed how a commendable team can make that

vision a reality.

Thank you to all the students, administrators and

academics for your valuable contribution to

making 2014 a success. May you all have a

blessed Christmas and a peaceful festive season.

May this period of rest revitalize you to take FCHS

another level higher in 2015.

MESSAGE FROM THE FACULTY MANAGER

2014 is fast becoming a

memory, one can’t help but

sigh with a sense of relief! It

just seems that every year,

no matter how well we plan,

it has this funny knack of

wanting to outsmart you by

presenting you with inconceivable challenges. This

year has been especially challenging for various

reasons but I think one of the triggers for series of

events started in 2013, with the loss of a very dear

colleague and friend, Charmaine Johnson.

The concept of applying multiskilling principles to

our daily work applications and constantly having

to strive to become this magical team of

professionals, might have contributed to us

remaining buoyant throughout this barrage of

Faculty Administrative challenges.

It’ s a bit like having to cook a perfect meal, there

will always one outstanding ingredient in the pot.

In Faculty's case, the outstanding ingredient

in the Faculty pot, is the quality of people at

Faculty and throughout its operational areas. Their

resilience in adapting to an ever changing situation

has become quite extraordinary, especially this

year when we had to move staff to different

operational areas as a result of losing two highly

skilled staff members to other areas of the

university.

I guess one of the greatest challenges for any

manager, is the present contradiction in which he/

she works, how do you constantly ensure that

the training and upskilling of staff does not result in

you having to loose them to your

competitors? this is one of the aspects of this job

that makes it so exiting and enjoyable, - dealing

with people and the unknown in a constant state of

flux.

Even so my belief in people, processes and

systems and the application there of, will have to

be the tools we share as we prepare for a new set

of challenges that awaits us during 2015.

NEWS IN PICTURES

The Dean with the Rector, at the 2014 SAAHE

conference

The Department of Social Work hosted students and staff from the

Protestant University of Applied Sciences, Bochem, Germany—at a

seminar to discuss Child Protection and Child and Family well-being

in South Africa and Germany.

Faculty Management attending their 2015 Strategic

Planning Session during November

Dr M Rowe, Dr F Waggie and Ms H Julie all attended the Network Conference in Brazil which took place between 19-23

November. The conference theme was “ Strengthening Health Professions Education as a Policy to Improve Health,” and

was dedicated to Nelson Mandela and Maya Angelou. Apart plenary sessions, workshops and poster sessions built around

the theme, site visits to the local community health care facilities were also included in the program.