Cape Town - UCT’S Paediatric and Child Health
Society (PaedSoc) will be facilitating an
Instagram video series this week titled
A Word From Our Frontline.
Young healthcare professionals across professions were asked to share their experiences of working and navigating through the Covid-19 pandemic and how this has shifted their personal and academic lives.
“During these unprecedented times there was a need to find creative ways to reach out to the members of our society while abiding by the lockdown regulations. By hearing from health professionals in the front line, we can better understand the magnitude of the pandemic and the ripple effects it has on sectors of our healthcare system,” the society said.
“Their experiences help to inspire future health professionals who will be following in their footsteps.”
Videos from various healthcare professionals will be on the student-led platform this week, covering topics related to paediatrics. Professionals include audiologists, occupational therapists, clinical psychologists, and medical officers.
Audiologist and lecturer at UCT, Vera-Genevey Hlayisi, said as a doctoral researcher, her area of focus looked into person centred care. “With the lockdown came a directive to cease all human contact and research, and that sent all of us as post-graduate
students and healthcare researchers not just at UCT but across the country, to stop research. I had to restructure my data collection method, not changing the fundamentals but instead of doing face to face interviews, I have been able to start trickling in some participants and do online interviews instead. It’s amazing what you can do with the online space.”
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A post shared by UCT PaedSoc(@paedsoc) on Apr 28, 2020 at 10:00am PDT
She said as a member of the Western Cape Health Facility Board at Groote Schuur Hospital, lots of support work was being done related to fund-raising, decision-making regarding purchasing of masks, and daily functioning and support for hospital staff.
Another project called “Doodle for a Difference” is in the pipeline, to create a children’s colouring book with the theme “Showing gratitude to our heroes”. Participants will be asked to submit drawings of essential workers portrayed as heroes and images displaying good hygiene practices, social distancing and the lockdown.
“The aim of this project is to create awareness and to provide a fun activity for children during these difficult times,” said PaedSoc.
@TheCapeArgus