UKZN Occupational Therapy Community Engagement

UKZN Occupational Therapy Community Engagement

The Department of Occupational Therapy at UKZN is a forerunner in the fields of community outreach, seating, group work, autism and hand rehabilitation. Join us in these exciting fields of development.

The WASP was developed in collaboration with experts in the field of vocational rehabilitation and assessment and is manufactured in our lab by Mr Muller- Nedebock. It is in the process of the reporting being computerised.

Wheelchair Seating Clinic

This clinic is in the piloting stage. The clinic is a specialised service, run on an appointment basis. It is conducted in conjunction with occupational and/ or physiotherapists from the Department of Health and/ or Education (as the referring agency), the present wheelchair tender holders (as the supplier arm of the service), and the wheelchair user and a caregiver, where applicable. The service is at present offered in conjunction with the CPD activities to empower the service providers to offer the best seating service possible and takes place at the various institutions due to logistical reasons such as transport to and from campus for the people needing seating is a problem at the moment.

Later it is envisaged that the service will be extended to medical aids, as this will help to independently fund the service for those who do not have access to these kinds of services

The aim of the clinic is:

• To reduce the incidence of pressure ulcers due to poor seating, the incorrect size and type of wheelchair and/ or cushion. A pressure mapping system has already been acquired to help with this assessment.
• To optimise function and independence through correct seating and provision of the correct equipment
• To prevent, as far as possible, progressive deformities caused by incorrect seating
• To maximise the provision of the correct equipment to minimise cost to the government, and in time, to medical aids.
• To train therapists, and other relevant people in the basic principles of good seating

The process at present is:

• The person(s) must require specialised seating for a problem which cannot be addressed at local level
• The person(s) to be referred will have already been assessed by the referring therapist who has already attempted to correct the seating at the location.
• A group of people needing the seating intervention are identified and brought to the venue on the agreed date, after which the following happens:
• The person(s) are assessed, various seating options will be trialed within the environment, and, wherever possible, a person will leave with the correct mobility device, depending on availability.
• The wheelchair user and/or caregiver will be trained in the maintenance involved in caring for the equipment correctly by the referring therapist.
• Follow up will be negotiated with all concerned.
• Where it is not possible for the seating expert to physically go to the venue (eg due to time and distance restraints, and there is access to tele-medicine facilities at the hospital, the clinic is run through tele-medicine.

Discipline: Occupational Therapy

UKZN Occupational Therapists Reach out to Refugee Children http://ow.ly/YRJGt

Study Calls for Closer Look at Substance Abuse in Rural KZN Community http://ow.ly/YRPPy

Occupational Therapy Students “Dazzle for Disabilities” on Casual Day http://ow.ly/YRQS6