By Carolyn Rangolie, Chief Occupational Therapist, Tygerberg Hospital
The Occupational Therapists of the Cape Town Metropole working within the Western Cape Government Department of Health & Wellness held their annual district forum on 2 August 2024. This year’s event was hosted at Tygerberg Hospital and was attended by a total of 74 OT staff members. This forum brings together those working across fields of physical- and mental health and representing all levels of care across the Metro district namely primary health care, community, hospital, transitional care and specialized rehabilitation centre services. It creates a valuable platform for OTs to connect with one another and strengthen working relationships while also discussing matters related to service delivery within the public sector.
The morning presentations provided an update on provincial policy developments in the areas of psychosocial rehabilitation and transitional care. Both presentations highlighted the importance of collaboration within an interconnected health ecosystem for achieving improved health outcomes for those we serve. The value of our occupational therapy perspective also came to the fore as did the relevance of what we as occupational therapists contribute to the policy landscape within the province and beyond.
The OTASA theme for OT Week 2024 is “OT for Changing Contexts – Make it matter, make it happen”. While recognising how much the work we do matters, staff have voiced experiencing increasing strain in the face of numerous contextual challenges when it comes to “making it happen”. The afternoon of the forum included an experiential group session facilitated by an external occupational therapist that tackled the not-so-simple topic of resilience in the face of a constrained health system. This acknowledged that – yes, those we serve and the service we provide matters, but we as therapists also need to also make sure our own well-being matters before being able to effectively and sustainably “make it happen”.
Compiled on behalf of the Metro Western Cape OT Forum.
Last Updated on 28 October 2024 by HPCSA Corporate Affairs