Faculty of
Newsletter
ISSUE 4 | 2014
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
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 presented.
RESEARCH DAY AWARD
RECIPIENTS PER CATERGORY:
HERE ARE THE RESEARCH
DAY SPOT PRIZE WINNERS!!
Top Researcher Award
Dr Lucia Knight
School of Public Health
“I think it is right”:
Acceptability of an HIV SelfTest by lay users in KwazuluNatal, 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 physiotherapy 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 diabetes mellitus: adherence
challenges in low socioeconomic environments.
Main sponsor for the day, Sanlam held a lucky draw
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 Department
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.
30years
Prof Rachel Thibeault from the University of
Ottawa, Canada
We invited Prof Rachel Thibeault to be the guest
lecturer at the 20 years of Democracy Seminar. Prof
Thibeault is a Full Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa, Canada, She has a
background in occupational therapy, psychology and
community development, and specializes in communitybased rehabilitation, psychosocial care, issues of meaning, resilience and social justice in health care. Her research 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.
Prof Lisa Wegner, Head of Department, opened
the Seminar
The Department celebrated its anniversary with two
events:

The 20 years of Democracy Seminar:
Occupational Justice and Community Development held on 15 October

ARC Accounts (Academic, Research, Clinical)
held on 24 October.
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.
… Continued
Staff and invited guests listen to Prof Thibeault’s talk.
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
thoughts, feelings or ideas based on the presentations
with the audience.
The purpose of this symposium was to have the audience 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 Occupational Therapy Department; My occupational therapy
life since graduating; and Messages to future occupational therapists from the UWC Occupational Therapy Department. 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.
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- Some of the comments about the day posted on the
try as well as our profession. It therefore goes without Department’s Facebook page read:
saying that we should celebrate this immense achievement. To do so we hosted our Annual A.R.C Accounts
Definitely attending ARC 2015
Symposium with a dedicated focus on the 30 years of the
UWC Occupational Therapy Department.
A.R.C Accounts is devoted to INSPIRING OCCUPATION. 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 occupational 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 platform in which our ideas, understandings and stories can
be shared in order to promote a community of occupational 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 speakers, this ensures that all speakers are equal. There are
no panel discussions, no breakout sessions, no questions 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
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!
Occupational Therapy,
University of the Western Cape
School of Public Health
co-hosts International Forum
As a member of the South Africa Local Organising Consortium, 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 educators and researchers in the field, which SOPH co- hosted 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 collaborative 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”.
Participants of Emerging Leaders for HPSR in Africa
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.
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 educational 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”.
BUDDY DAY
2014
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 department 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!
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 demonstrated how a commendable team can make that
vision a reality.
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.
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.
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
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.
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.
The Dean with the Rector, at the 2014 SAAHE
conference
Faculty Management attending their 2015 Strategic
Planning Session during November