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Community engagement: building refugee parents’ capacity towards their child with a disability 

By Chantal Christopher, Occupational Therapy Lecturer, University of KwaZulu-Natal

The Discipline of Occupational Therapy at the University of KwaZulu-Natal collaborates with Refugee Social Services(RSS) within the central business district in Durban/eThekwini. This is part of the department’s work in underserved populations, allowing us to provide services in humanising ways with community partners.

RSS provides holistic services to vulnerable refugees and asylum seekers to help them integrate and build capacity; however, it does not employ occupational therapists. The occupational therapy final-year students rotate through this centre during their community-based practice placement. They have been working with groups and individuals. Refugee Social Services approached Dr Chantal Christopher about the many disabled children and families they have supported over the years. Together, we organised a capacity-building workshop for parents of children with disabilities hosted by UKZN’s 4th-year occupational therapy (OT) students and their clinical supervisor/lecturer, Dr Christopher. This well-attended event included a guest talk by occupational therapy specialist Ms Aneesa Moosa, who was able to impart her knowledge to eager parents.

These parents often find themselves in hostile circumstances as a result of the prevailing xenophobia. However, they are also navigating economic and social difficulties, including legal status and the trauma experienced as part of the human displacement. Disabled children, then, are either able/unable to access limited state services, including formal health facilities and schools. Often parents are also unable to offer the child consistent care and developmental input as they are possibly employed or have limited skills/knowledge for special care.

This capacity-building workshop aimed at building capacity in the following ways:

  • Self-awareness and reflection as a parent of a child with difficulties
  • Understanding emotions and reactions, caregiver burnout and relevant interventions
  • Exploring the child’s behaviour- self-regulation and sensory issues and strategies to implement
  • Particular focus and behavioural strategies for facilitating difficult behaviours.

Third-year occupational therapy students enjoyed the opportunity to work, play and stimulate some of the children who were brought along by their parents, in a separate care centre. This allowed the parents the freedom to attend and focus, with the knowledge that the children were safe and cared for.

This invaluable community engagement forms part of the community practice fieldwork block at UKZN, and is committed to bringing real-world experiences into the university environment with its tag line “bringing the streets to the university”. This workshop was a true reflection of that purpose, emphasising the department’s dedication to the core occupational therapy values of care, empathy, and genuine engagement in therapeutic activities. Through this event, the parents’ lived experiences of raising a child with a disability were acknowledged and supported, further reinforcing the OT discipline’s commitment to making a positive community and social impact.

Last Updated on 28 October 2024 by HPCSA Corporate Affairs