Editorial Comment

Abstract

Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2310-3833/2015/v45n2a1
South African Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2015;
45 (3): 2-3.
In SAJOT Vol 45 no 2 (2015), I indicated that it was the last
printed version of the journal. Well, we now enter the new area
of electronic journals, this edition being the first of these, so again
an historical edition of the South African Journal of Occupational
Therapy (SAJOT). This is indeed the end of an era and the beginning
of a new one. It is quite a change for those of us who like to
hold in our hands a hard copy of what we are reading. However,
SAJOT must move with the times and follow the world-wide trend
of electronic publishing and so you will be able to read your copy
of SAJOT on your ipad. I do hope that you will all enjoy reading
this on line version of SAJOT Vol 45 No 3.
I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that we have
now joined the ProQuest data base. ProQuest LLC is an American
information-content and technology company founded in 1938 as
University Microfilms. ProQuest provides products, mainly for
libraries, but can also be used by researchers looking for specific
subject content. We have joined ProQuest so that the content of
SAJOT can be even more widely distributed and available to occupational
therapists world-wide.
In this edition of SAJOT we are pleased to publish the 2014
Vona du Toit Memorial lecture which was given by Tshinetise Alfred
Ramakumba1 to commemorate Vona's outstanding contributions
to the development of occupational therapy in South Africa. Not
only was she, among other things, at various times, President of
the South African Association of Occupational Therapists, the first
Chairperson of the, then newly formed, Professional Board for
Occupational Therapy of the Health Professions Council of SA and
SA delegate to the World Federation of Occupational Therapists
but she also made a massive contribution to the more scientific
delivery of occupational therapy through the development of the
Vona du Toit Theory of Creative Ability. Alfred himself has quietly
and unassumingly made his own impact on the profession through
the various important positions that he has held such as President
of the Occupational Therapy Association of SA (OTASA) and
Chairperson of the Professional Board for Occupational Therapy,
Medical Orthotics, Prosthetics and Arts Therapy. His lecture bears
testimony to his passion for the alleviation of one of the scourges
in our beautiful country i.e. poverty and the role that occupational
therapists can play by prioritising economic occupation in their
treatment programmes.
The second article2 introduces an exciting and relatively new
(to SA at least) and much needed aspect to occupational therapy
services. With the large number of accidents on the South African
roads it is essential that means are developed to assess 'fitness to
drive', not only to assess people with a disability but also to evaluate
those among the general population who may require driving
rehabilitation. This paper describes the validly of the Stellenbosch
University on-road assessment. Although it is specific to a part of
the country, the information could help in setting up other valid
on-road driving assessments.
The results reported in the third article3 are of importance to
occupational therapists as they describe the prevalence of workrelated
musculo-skeletal disorders of the upper extremity found in
secretaries and among those spending much of their day at computers.
Although the study was conducted in Nigeria the results have
widespread consequences for occupational therapy practice and
the degree to which we should be applying ergonomic principles
in helping people in the work place. The results are not only applicable
to helping people at the work place, but also to each and
every one of us as we all spend hours in front of a computer or
hunched over a smart phone or ipad.
There follows three articles that focus on issues of training occupational
therapy students. The first one attempts to determine
the learning styles of students4 and gives very useful information
about the types of styles and therefore leads one in the direction
of how to approach teaching. The second5 examines the 'lived"
experience from the perspective of both the clinical educator and
the student, of issues around the supervision that students receive
while undergoing clinical training. The education of the student in
the clinical setting is an essential part of providing students with
clinical expertise. The main issue brought up in this research i.e. fact
that many clinicians are reluctant to teach students or help them to
deal with patients in the clinical setting, should be of great concern to
the profession. Hopefully these results will lead to greater emphasis
being placed on the preparation of clinicians to fulfil this important
teaching role. The third article looks at the factors6 that cause stress
in students undergoing a university course in occupational therapy
and the ways in which they cope. This article provides information
on the different stressors and therefore indicates the type of
services that can be set up to provide support to the students. The
information provided in all three articles, when looked at together
should help teachers in occupational therapy to devise systems that
will create much better learning environments for the students.
The next two articles focus on occupational therapy vocation
practice. The first7 one of these describes the detailed process of
constructing a profile tool to use in occupational therapy vocational
rehabilitation practices for the purpose of evaluating the service and
to see which areas need attention and development in practice. The
extensive stage by stage development of this tool which involved
all possible stake holders means that the tool is valid, contextually
relevant and will provide an essential tool to use in the setting up
of and delivering and monitoring a vocational rehabilitation service.
It should prove extremely helpful to all those therapists involved in
vocational rehabilitation. The second article8 on vocational rehabilitation
describes the process used to determine the information
that should form part of the syllabi for both undergraduate and post
graduate students in vocational rehabilitation. Again, if the results
of these research projects are viewed to together the information
should provide the ideal platform whereby occupational therapists
can deliver a comprehensive vocational rehabilitation service.
The last article9 looks at the number of ethical misconduct cases
brought before the Occupational Therapy Board of the Health
Professions Council of SA between 2007 and 1013. The authors
found that there were a fairly small number of penalties imposed,
but this is no cause for complacency within the profession and
therapists should take cognisance of the issues that were reported
and ensure that they do not repeat the mistakes made.
Last but not least, we are pleased to publish, in this edition,
the Occupational Therapy Association of South Africa's (OTASA)
Position Statement on Occupational Therapy in Primary Health
Care10. It makes very clear the stance of OTASA and the part that
occupational therapy plays in primary health care with community
based rehabilitation providing the framework and modus operandi
for service delivery within this sector. It is an essential document
for the Department of Health to understand and use the skills of
occupational therapists appropriately as well as giving guidance to
therapists.
REFERENCES
1. Ramakumba, TA. Economic Occupations: The hidden key to transformation:
The 23rd Vona du Toit Memorial lecture. South African
Journal of Occupational Therapy, 2015; 45(3): In this edition.
ISSN On-line 2310-3833
South African Journal of Occupational Therapy — Volume 45, Number 3, December 2015 © SA Journal of Occupational Therapy