Research Articles (Occupational Therapy)

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Browsing Research Articles (Occupational Therapy) by Author "Coetzee, Zelda"

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    Mothers' experiences of caring for a child with severe brain injury in a disadvantaged community in the Cape Flats
    (Occupational Therapy Association of South Africa, 2013-06) Du Toit, Christine; Coetzee, Zelda; Beeton, Hilary
    Health professionals have a limited understanding of the experiences of mothers caring for a child with traumatic brain injury (TBI) in a context of disadvantage. This may be due to the dearth of qualitative research on this topic in the South African context. This phenomenological study aimed to explore and describe the lived experiences of four mothers caring for their children with severe TBI in disadvantaged communities in the Cape Flats. Their lived experiences were described in terms of lived space, lived body, lived social relationships and lived time. Two in-depth interviews were done with each of the four mothers. Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed inductively. Three themes which emerged from the analysis were: “personal burden of care”, “living a different life with a different child” and “holding onto faith and hope”. The findings highlighted that caring for a child with TBI changed the mothers’ circumstances in such a way that they had no time for themselves, because caring for and worrying about their children consumed their whole day. They also experienced increased financial burden as they resigned from their employment to care for their children fulltime. They had to change their parenting style as the children had different needs than before the TBI. The mothers also identified many needs of their own, including the need for meaningful occupations and support. However, they remained optimistic and experienced a stronger faith in God. The findings stressed the need for intervention with these mothers to prevent a decline in their well-being.
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    Supported Employment for people with mental disabilities in South Africa : cost calculation of service utilisation
    (Occupational Therapy Association of South Africa, 2017) Engelbrecht, Madri; Van Niekerk, Lana; Coetzee, Zelda; Hajwani, Zerina
    Introduction: Supported Employment (SE) is a strategy that facilitates positive employment outcomes for people with mental disabilities in open labour market settings. SE’s cost-effectiveness has been established internationally, but not in South Africa. This paper reports on the cost and affordability of SE services offered to people with mental disabilities in South Africa. Method: A longitudinal descriptive study was used to determine the cost of SE service components utilised by people with mental disabilities, from two programmes in the Western Cape. The utilisation of service elements was captured in 15-minute time units. Data collection continued for 12 months, commencing when a job had been identified and preparation for placement had ensued. Time utilisation data were used to calculate cost, using a government sessional salary (R189/hour) and a medical aid reimbursement rate (R367/hour) of occupational therapists acting as job coaches. Findings: The findings show SE services to be less than 10% of the cost of a monthly disability grant, and 10% - 21% lower than the current subsidy per consumer in a protective workshop. Conclusion: Evidence from the study thus reflects the cost of SE services to people with mental disability as substantially lower than the current government investment in disability grants and protective workshops subsidies.