Mid Term Demonstrations

Mid-Term Demonstrations- Time to revisit Chapter 8 

 

It is true that there is no day without it's dramas , indeed it is true. on the 09th September 2013  I had my mid term psychosocial theory and fieldwork demos  and I must say that I am so not happy with the level of performance as compared to last year the same time I felt like I have dropped to negative infinity  but thanks to a positive feedback from my supervisor now I know that I need to focus on my Smart goal /smart aim and work hard to make it as clear and to the point as possible. The only solution I have now is to revisit chapter 8.

I do not want to dwell much and give so many details about the whole demo but what I would say is that it was not one of my best performances and I was not happy about it too even though my supervisor picked up many positives from me I felt I needed to do more than what I did.

From today onwards I need to stick to my new girlfriend Chapter 8 and we need to take our relationship to the next level.

Casual Day

Casual Day

This years casual day was held on the 6th September 2013 and the theme of the day was "Go big". As the Wentworth challenge group we held a talent show and a mini sports day that I must say we a huge success. it all started with a meeting with the residence manageress, workshop manageress and the social worker  where we discussed the ideas for the day . after deliberating and engaging with the staff we then consulted with the service users and we realised that the hyper about the Casual day was starting to loom some two weeks before the event occurred and that created some pressure for us since were the new the coupe that was about to come with something new to the venue and perhaps come with fresh ideas on how the day should go about. We took names of people that were going to partake in different activities and amongst the categories of the talent we included dancing , poetry , singing ,modelling ,comedy and magic tricks. People also listed their names for the mini sports day that was to follow after the talent show.

Today I decided to blog about casual day because I was surprised with the enormous talent that was displayed by the service users on the day and the commitment that everyone put in making sure that the day became a success. it has been almost a week after the talent show but all the pictures of that day are still coming to and I still enjoy some fun moments shared with the service users.

One lesson I learnt from the day is that as people we must never reach a conclusion of saying we understand nature and what God has in each individual and no matter how educated we might be but the day proved that we will not know all. One of the client in our group who is almost the lowest functioning and the most confused person in the group surprised us by pulling out a stunning performance in the soccer game and he ended up scoring a crucial goal which made him smile for the rest of the game which is something I have never seen in him since day one of fieldwork. this for me was an eye opener and perhaps the most amazing moment I had ever experience in my life with psychologically disabled clients. The same night after casual day I consulted my notes on Creative ability to try and understand why all of a sudden a person that hardly existed during groups suddenly became the centre of attention during the casual day but I could not get the answers.

                                        Picture above: Wentworth Crew during Casual Day- Go big or Go Home.

Mid-Terms Presentation

In this blog i would like to share my unique experience and my feelings about the mid terms presentations that that took place on the 03rd September 2013.

One thing that stood out the most was the level of professionalism and organization displayed by most if not all my colleagues during the presentation of cases. The presentations started on time and everyone showed that  they were well prepared and ready for the day.

I also feel that i am improving in terms of preparing the case presentation and making sure that i practice at least two times  the night before. I also feel i have done well with the interrelatedness of problems diagram of which is something i have been struggling with all these years. My sub program was a bit off peak but i think the style of supervisors will differ when it comes to presenting such.

I liked the way both the supervisors were giving us feedback which was so intensive and on the spot. sometimes you feel like these people have been treating your clients themselves based on the way they intergate and make sense of the case.

The last I want to mention is that it  helps to give everyone feedback and you all listening because you learn more things from each other a lot and you learn the different styles of presenting at the same time gaining confidence when presenting.

Are we going to experience World War 3 in our lifetime?

One may be puzzled and confused when this question is randomly asked by a person to seek clarities and their own point of view.  Not so long ago we have experience an intense revolution in the African countries where the masses turned against their government or leaders. This has led to the overthrowing of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and the president of the CAR Mr Bozizze who was overthrown by the rebels from his long term reign as president. 

  The biggest saga of all was the brutal killing of the president of Libya Comrade Gadhafi the initiator of the concept of United States of Africa. However we should not be surprised by all these revolutionary war because it is not something that started yesterday but they were boiling up years and years ago until the people gained enough confidence to stand against their masters. 

It should be noted that wars in Africa will hardly be the initiators of world war 3, why? The Western countries sponsors of the rebels that rebel against their own government so that it is easier for them to penetrate through and the ozymendious resources that our continent was blessed with by the creator , we have witnessed NATO destroying Libya into pieces in a war that lasted over two months if my facts are spot on.  The real world war 3 will be started by the west and the Middle East and the sad part is that it is coming very soon. 

The recent  gasleakages by Syrians killing over 350 people is an absolutely clear sign that we are smelling war and this time around the world will not lose a million people instead  the world will be carried more than a billion dead bodies in its shoulders.  As I am busy writing this blog I can safely tell you that the West will react to the situation as the Syrians are not ready to destroy their nuclear weapons.  President Obama and his senators are busy preparing to wage a war that could destroy the world; the ugliest thing is that innocent lives including toddlers, women and youth will be killed in the process. 

We might not be worried now as south Africans because we might say this does no effect to us ,but  the truth of the matter is that one way other  we are affected and the world should start taking a stand to prevent this slowly crippling creature coming on its shores ….. War.

National Health Insurance -What the future holds?

Department of health defines The National Health Insurance (NHI) as a financing system that will make sure that all citizens of South Africa (and legal long-term residents) are provided with essential healthcare, regardless of their employment status and ability to make a direct monetary contribution to the NHI Fund.


Why does South Africa need national health insurance?
Healthcare is a human right – this is a widely accepted international principle. This right should not depend on how rich we are or where we happen to live. The right to obtain healthcare is written into our Constitution.
But large numbers of our people continue to die prematurely and to suffer unnecessarily from poor health. Treatable conditions are not being treated on time and preventable diseases are not being prevented.
This is in spite of the fact that government has tried its utmost since 1994 to ensure that everyone in this country has equitable access to necessary healthcare services. There are still serious challenges mainly caused by a skewed healthcare financing system. Without NHI, the burden of disease in the country will not be reduced because the majority of the population – and the section suffering the greatest ill health – will not access good quality healthcare.
What healthcare services will be funded by NHI?
The NHI will offer all South Africans and legal residents access to a defined package of comprehensive health services. The state is committed to offering as wide a range of services as possible. Although the NHI service package will not include anything and everything, it will offer care at all levels, from primary health care, to specialised secondary care, and highly specialised tertiary and quaternary levels of care.
Examples of what the NHI package will exclude are:

• Cosmetic surgery that is not necessary or medically indicated but done as a matter of choice – for instance, botox, liposuction and face-lifts.
  
• Expensive dental procedures performed for aesthetic purposes.
  
• Expensive eye-care devices like trendy spectacle frames.
  
• Medicines not included in the National Essential Drug List except in circumstances where the complementary list has been approved by the Minister of Health.
  
• Diagnostic procedures outside the approved guidelines and protocols as advised by expert groups.
  

The benefits provided will cover preventive, promotive, curative and rehabilitative health services. It is important to note that emphasis will be placed on prevention of disease and promotion of health. The present healthcare system places undue focus on curing of disease and performance of procedures when people have developed complications.

My own point of view

I think this mentality of most people in my profession (Occupational therapy) should stop or else our career path will always be unknown and we will remain underpaid just because we are passive and submissive.The national health insurance was launched a long time and other professions such as Pharmacy are busy engaging it and we are on the back sit waiting to move with the flow. recently the congress of  Pharmacy students in South which was held in the University of North West discussed the issue at length and came up with resolutions leading to the Pharmacy congress in December this year.

I feel that as Occupational therapist ,both students and professionals should understand the role that we will play towards this initiative and to perhaps maybe figure out some innovative ways that we can apply in shaping our profession to fit it.

I believe that through discussions and engagement with different stakeholders of the MDT in finding each could also play a huge role in the success of the NHI concept.

Pyschosocial block 

Week 1

Week 1 of psychosocial block was  top of the list on things to blog about in this week's column. firstly one would like to state that they are a placed at Wentworth challenge which is halfway-house basically catering for mostly high and low functioning patients to work on fixed term contracts on a weekly wages. it is comprised of 26 residential patients and commuters from the surrounding locations such as uMlazi ,Wetnworth ,Lamontville and Merebank. The venue is called a Halfway house because it is a transition between Open labour market and the sheltered workshop environment. There a two manageress on at the workshop and one in the residential facility who are responsible for the welfare of the patients and for the smooth running of the area.There are two secretaries and quite interestingly is that one of them is a resident and a patient at the facility. There is also a male a male social worker in the facility and who is very helpful i must say. He knows most of the patient a brother and sister but he has hardly spent spent two years in the facility ,showing how dedicated he is to his work.

We were allocated two patients each by our supervisor and after the orientation to the area we started straight with the assessment (This is the part I really enjoy in my fieldwork). After finishing assessment we had a chat with the supervisor as a group discussing our patients together which i think benefited all of us in terms of the experience and confidence due to exposure to different conditions.

I am so looking forward to making an impact to the facility and be a light in the people's environment as is what we stand for as Occupational therapists.

On

Review of Mock Practical

One would like to start this blog by a Rumi quote dating back to the 12th centuries which is thus stated “Don't be satisfied with stories, how things have gone with others. Unfold your own myth.” In commencing our mock practical on tuesday this quote was used by the lecturer and was further simplified for the students understanding. This indeed is one of the most powerful quotes that one can use in creating or mapping out a unique journey for an individual.

 What stood out for me from this quote is that it is essential for one to learn from stories of others but must strive to create their own stories in life by learning from previous experiences . I think the scope of our practice revolves around the concept of critical thinking which is a fundamental tool of analysis that was used by the above poet to explain his latter quote. For me the most powerful thing is to explore things that were never explored before and strive very hard to achieve your very own results in your treatment session, hence giving you the right to defend and owning those results.

I have heard experiences in Occupational therapy before which most of them almost led me to exit the degree and divert to somewhere else, but what I have learnt a lesson from my late father is that you never start something and you do not finish it, hence will never ever live the most dearest degree in my life without creating my very own story. 

 This mock practical session has prepared me to start my Fieldwork practice in high spirit and has prepared me physically ,psychological and otherwise in the same time. I have also learnt that this mock practical was a bit different from the past mock practicals in terms of it's setting and content. One can deduce that knowledge is interchangeable and you cannot always be expecting the same thing in a module year after year.