Article by: Dr Lebogang Maseko
Every day in South African clinics, a patient leaves with their blood pressure controlled or their wound dressed, yet still unable to bathe, return to work, or care for their children. Their condition has been treated, but their daily life has not improved. This is where occupational therapy comes in.
The World Health Organization’s International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) gives all of us a shared language for this. It reminds us that health is not only about body structures and functions but also about the activities people carry out and their participation in family, work, and community life. It also recognizes that environmental and personal factors shape how well someone can participate in life. Participation is where health becomes visible in people’s lives, and it is the heart of what occupational therapists do.
Occupational therapists ask what a person needs and wants to do and what is getting in the way. That might be a stroke survivor learning to cook one-handed, a person with HIV-related neuropathy managing the taxi route to work, a mother with depression rebuilding her routine, or a child with developmental delays preparing for school. We work on the person, the activity, and the environment together: adapting homes, training caregivers and community health workers, running groups for people with chronic conditions, and supporting return to work.
As the call for integrated rehabilitation in PHC takes shape, occupational therapy has a clear role in making PHC truly people-centred. Colleagues across the health professions can help by:
- Asking patients which daily activities they are struggling with, not only about their symptoms.
- Referring to occupational therapy early, before loss of function becomes permanent.
- Including occupational therapists in team decisions about discharge, return to work and long-term care.
This World OT Day, we invite all HPCSA practitioners to recognize occupational therapy as the profession with specialized expertise in occupation and participation and to refer early when a person’s daily life is affected. Together, we can help people get back to living.
Last Updated on 27 October 2026 by HPCSA Corporate Affairs