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6 August 2008

Programme director
Honourable guests
Ladies and gentlemen

On behalf of the Free State province, I welcome the esteemed members of the National Occupational Therapy Forum to our beautiful province. This year is the 15th year the national occupational therapy forum is being hosted and in 2008, we the Free State welcome you all. This forum has been the cornerstone of occupational therapy development within the public sector.

Ladies and gentlemen, the National Occupational Therapy Forum is a mechanism for negotiation and lobbying and also serves to empower the Occupational Therapy (OT) workforce, facilitate networking throughout the country and assist in the identification do key occupational therapy issues of national concern. Your role is very important to us.

I am pleased to note that over the years, occupational therapy services within the province have grown from strength to strength. In 2001, the Department of Health employed 33 occupational therapists and in 2008, there are 67 therapists and 24 occupational therapy assistants in practice in the province. This indicates a significant growth and we are looking forward to further growth. Government has committed itself to bringing health services closer to the people by adopting the Primary Healthcare (PHC) approach. Occupational therapy forms an integral part of Primary Healthcare.

I must mention the unique intervention of occupational therapy in the primary healthcare package especially the contribution to the equalisation of opportunities for persons with disabilities. This cannot be achieved without action-oriented programmes that are designed and implemented with the involvement of the beneficiaries. The active participation of an occupational therapist at community level has had great successes over the past few years. I must mention with appreciation the role you as individuals played.

Programme director, the implementation of community services health practitioners has significantly contributed to the deployment of the service to the community and currently in the Free State there are 23 occupational therapist placed. Over the past two years, 25 community therapists were permanently employed by the Free State Department of Health. We hope to increase this number. At community level, the following programmes are available; prevention, promotion and remedial programmes, Community based rehabilitation programmes aided at disabled sport and centres/ support groups and wheelchair maintenance, school health and geriatric care and early childhood development.

I am proud to say that among the successes of the Free State Occupational Therapy in the Free State province are the development and standardisation of the School Health and Early Childhood programme. This programme has revolutionised the quality and standard of care at both community and institution level. A designated OT resource file is also available to all therapists within the province and this aims at providing therapists with information and standard assessment tools for interventions and treatment. I am proud to announce that our Ha Re Bapaleng (Let’s Play) initiative, which is soon to be rolled out to the rest of the province has to date trained 360 caregivers.

The overall objective of this intensive programme is to:
* enhance the toddlers’ perceptual skills by introducing them to different perceptual themes
* improve knowledge and insight into normal development milestones and stimulation of development
* develop the toddlers’ skills of co-ordination in both visual, fine motor and gross motor skills amongst others and
* develop skills in toy making and bonding between child and caregiver.

Occupational therapy programmes have also been successfully integrated into primary healthcare such as in the management of chronic diseases, eye care, mental health and geriatrics. We specifically focus on health promotion and the prevention of chronic diseases with activity programmes such as stroke and hypertension. The establishment of support groups (hypertension, Stroke, arthritis, victim support) is also addressed.

We are however faced with challenges in the deployment of the service not unlike what is experienced in other provinces. From a Situation Analysis Study, we confirmed that occupational therapy services in Free State are largely underdeveloped and limited in the remote rural areas. Where services exist, the focus is usually institution based; however, it is worth noting that all five health districts in the Free State have since established mechanisms to extend the coverage of occupational therapy services to the majority of the population.

I am mentioning these challenges not to create the impression that all is well, but that we may benefit from your wisdom. A challenge remains with the procurement of equipment, staff retention, recruitment of personnel and career path development for the occupational therapy assistants. It therefore is imperative that occupational therapy services should be restructured and strengthened in order to improve access and make profound difference within healthcare services.

Ladies and gentlemen, during the next two days, there are matters of national concern on your agenda and I would like therefore to charge you to apply your minds in the best interest of the occupation as well as to that of the community at large. The decisions you take at this forum will have far reaching consequences for the services in general.

I thank you.

Issued by: Department of Health, Free State Provincial Government
6 August 2008