Browsing by Author "Buchanan, Helen"

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    Changing demographic trends among South African occupational therapists : 2002 to 2018
    (BioMed Central, 2020-03-20) Ned, Lieketseng; Tiwari, Ritika; Buchanan, Helen; Van Niekerk, Lana; Sherry, Kate; Chikte, Usuf M. E.
    Background: South Africa’s quadruple burden of disease, coupled with health system challenges and other factors, predicts a high burden of disability within the population. Human Resources for Health policy and planning need to take account of this challenge. Occupational therapists are part of the health rehabilitation team, and their supply and status in the workforce need to be better understood. Methods: The study was a retrospective record-based review of the Health Professions Council of South Africa database from 2002 to 2018. The data obtained from the Health Professions Council of South Africa was analysed for the following variables: geographical location, population groups, age, practice type and sex. Data was entered on a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS version 22.0). Results: In 2018, there were 5180 occupational therapists registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa with a ratio of 0.9 occupational therapists per 10 000 population. There has been an average annual increase of 7.1% over the time period of 2002–2018. The majority of occupational therapists are located in the more densely populated and urbanised provinces, namely Gauteng, Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal. Most of the registered occupational therapists are under the age of 40 years (67.7%). The majority (66%) are classified as white followed by those classified as black and coloured. Females make up 95% of the registered occupational therapists. Nationally, 74.8% of occupational therapists are deployed in the private sector catering for 16% of the population while approximately 25.2% are employed in the public sector catering for 84% of the population. Conclusions: Under-resourcing and disparities in the profile and distribution of occupational therapy human resources remain an abiding concern which negatively impacts on rehabilitation service provision and equitable health and rehabilitation outcomes.
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    Cognitive interviewing during pretesting of the prefinal Afrikaans for the Western Cape disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand questionnaire following translation and cross-cultural adaptation
    (Hindawi, 2019) De Klerk, Susan; Jerosch-Herold, Christina; Buchanan, Helen; Van Niekerk, Lana
    When patient-reported measures are translated and cross-culturally adapted into any language, the process should conclude with cognitive interviewing during pretesting. This article reports on translation and cross-cultural adaptation of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire into Afrikaans (for the Western Cape). This qualitative component of a clinical measurement, longitudinal study was aimed at the pretesting and cognitive interviewing of the prefinal Afrikaans (for the Western Cape) DASH questionnaire highlighting the iterative nature thereof. Twenty-two females and eight males with upper limb conditions were recruited to participate at public health care facilities in the Western Cape of South Africa. Cognitive interviews were conducted as a reparative approach with an iterative process through retrospective verbal probing during a debriefing session with 30 participants once they answered all 30 items of the translated DASH questionnaire. The sample included Afrikaans-speaking persons from low socioeconomic backgrounds, with low levels of education and employment (24 of 30 were unemployed). Pragmatic factors and measurement issues were addressed during the interviews. This study provides confirmation that both pragmatic factors and measurement issues need consideration in an iterative process as part of a reparative methodology towards improving patient-reported measures and ensuring strong content validity.
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    Occupational therapy hand assessment practices : cause for concern?
    (Occupational Therapy Association of South Africa, 2015-08) De Klerk, Susan; Buchanan, Helen; Pretorius, Blanche
    Introduction: Assessment is critical for measuring improvement, or lack thereof, and demonstrating the outcome of intervention. In response to the lack of research in this area, this study aimed to determine the assessment practices of occupational therapists working with clients with hand conditions. Methods: A quantitative cross sectional survey design was used. A convenience sample of occupational therapists was recruited from five provinces. Respondents completed a questionnaire developed for the study that comprised demographic information, assessments used, frequency of use and factors influencing assessment choice. Data were analysed with Statistica version 11. Results: Eighty-one respondents (n=114) completed questionnaires representing a 71% response rate. Goniometry (84.0%), manual muscle testing (76.5%) and testing for flexor tendon function (76.3%) were used most frequently. The most common reasons for not using assessments were lack of availability and unfamiliarity. Conclusion: It is of concern that the assessment practices of participants in this study focussed primarily on the assessment of body function and structure with few therapists using activity and participation measures. This could seriously limit the evidence needed to verify the outcomes achieved through occupational therapy intervention in the treatment of hand conditions.
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    Shared decision making and the practice of community translation in presenting a pre-final Afrikaans for the Western Cape Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire : a proposal for improved translation and cross-cultural adaptation
    (SpringerOpen, 2019-08-14) De Klerk, Susan; Jerosch-Herold, Christina; Buchanan, Helen; Van Niekerk, Lana
    Background: Translation and cross cultural adaptation of patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) involves a step referred to as harmonisation, following forward and backward translation of the measure. This article proposes the introduction of methods not previously included in the process of harmonisation. The aim of the study was to introduce shared decision making (SDM) and the practice of community translation (CT) during the harmonisation of the Afrikaans for the Western Cape version of the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire, a PROM that measures symptoms and activity and participation in persons with upper limb conditions. Methods: A broader approach to harmonisation is proposed by incorporating CT and SDM in addition to existing methods toward harmonisation. Participants (n = 8) involved in the harmonisation meeting included the principal investigator, a linguistic expert, occupational therapists with knowledge of the target population, context and the DASH questionnaire and members of the target population with and without upper limb conditions. A partnership was formed with the participants (a principle of SDM) and the principles of non-parallel CT and the CT approach were applied during harmonisation. Employing CT principles ensures that the norm for the translation is set by the population the translation is intended for. Results: Forward and backward translation of the DASH questionnaire presented a version of the measure in the target language for consideration during harmonisation. There were however a significant number of conceptually problematic items on the version presented at the meeting. Only seven items (7 of 30) remained unchanged. Conclusion: SDM and CT was used during the harmonisation of the Afrikaans for the Western Cape DASH questionnaire. Both these practices could have relevance in the translation and cross-cultural adaptation of PROMs where the translation is intended for persons from low socio-economic backgrounds and low levels of education.
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    Strategies occupational therapists employ to facilitate work-related transitions for persons with hand injuries : a study protocol for a scoping review
    (BMJ Publishing Group, 2019) Uys, Michelle Elizabeth; Buchanan, Helen; Van Niekerk, Lana
    ABSTRACT : Introduction Hands make it possible to be employable and productive, to communicate non-verbally and to perform fine motor tasks required in day-to-day activities. Sustaining a hand injury can be detrimental to function including the ability to work. As the literature on workrelated transitions is scattered across a range of journals, it is difficult to get a sense of how much literature there is, what is known and where the gaps lie. This scoping study will provide a single source of up-to-date evidence to inform health professionals about the strategies occupational therapists employ to facilitate work-relatedtransitions for people with hand injuries. Methods and analysis: The methodological framework by Arksey and O’Malley (2005) will form the structure of the scoping review. The search strategy has been developed in collaboration with a subject librarian. The following databases will be searched: EBSCOhost including only Medline, CINAHL and Health Source: Nursing/Academic Edition; PubMed, Scopus, The Cochrane library and Web of Science. Reference lists will be examined, and grey literature sources will be searched to ensure that literature missed in the database searches is included. Covidence will be used to manage the project. Full-texts will be uploaded for literature that meets the inclusion criteria. A process of blind review will be used to ensure that consistency and rigour is upheld. Ethics and dissemination: The findings of the scoping review will be disseminated in an article, within 2019, to be published in a peer-reviewed journal. The findings will be presented at conferences to ensure the optimal dissemination of the scoping review's conclusions.