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Mulligan H.1, Mccoy L.2, Sullivan J.1, Kirk E.1, Hastings K.1, Ibrahim C.1, Hawke J.1, Wilkinson A.1, Potterton J.3
1University of Otago, School of Physiotherapy, Christchurch, New Zealand, 2Physiotherapist, Johannesburg, South Africa, 3School of Therapeutic Sciences, Division of Physiotherapy, Johannesburg, South Africa
Background: Children and youth in under resourced areas, including those with disability, can be disadvantaged in terms of education, health care and experience social hardship. Within South Africa (SA) (a developing country), personal, health and education support to individual children and their families are provided by Child and Youth Care Workers (CYCWs) working for the National Association of Child Care Workers (NACCW). This organisation also provides training and support to CYCWs as disability facilitators (DFs), to provide such services to children with disability.
Purpose: This study established the views of CYCW-DFs from three of the nine provinces in SA about their work in deep rural, rural and urban areas.
Methods: We conducted semi-structured individual interviews in English with 14 participants (aged 25-54 years) who provided written, informed consent. Interviews were transcribed and then analysed thematically.
Results: Two themes were identified - Empowerment and Responsibility. The theme of Empowerment encapsulates how participants viewed themselves as advocates for children and youth as well as community role models to address negative perceptions about disability. They worked with other professionals and community members to care for the health and well-being of children in a holistic way. They viewed disability more widely than as it relates to impairment. The theme of Responsibility suggested that although they perceived their work as motivating and worthwhile, they faced challenges within the role and recommended further training and support to reduce their burden of responsibility.
Conclusion(s): Overall, DFs in SA, through their work to change community perceptions of disability, supported the wellbeing and participation of children with disability within society. This study has demonstrated the worth of the role of the DF as a model for child and youth care work to address the challenges inherent in disabling environments.
Implications: Disability, when viewed more widely than as it relates to impairment, provides a relevant motive to provide holistic care and services for vulnerable children/youth. Such holistic healthcare provision could empower communities to build knowledge and resources, thus providing a supportive and facilitating environment for all its citizens. A service model (which includes disability facilitators) that provides care and support for vulnerable children/youth in under resourced areas in South Africa, could be usefully extended into developed countries.
Funding acknowledgements: This study was partly supported by a Research and Study Grant to the first author from the University of Otago.
Topic: Professional practice: other
Ethics approval: Ethical approval was granted from the Human Research Ethics Committee (Medical), University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg (clearance certificate number M160226).
All authors, affiliations and abstracts have been published as submitted.
