Department of Physiotherapy

Developments and Projects

Adult Physical Rehabilitation:

• Eight staff members work in the areas of acute Spinal, Neurology, Neurosurgery, Arthritis, Cardiology, Burns, Blind, Amputations and Hands Units. As Baragwanath is an acute hospital, we offer intensive in-patient treatment, while outpatient treatment focuses on function and teaching caregivers coping mechanisms.
• The treatment rooms have undergone a pleasant change under the hands of staff that sanded, scrubbed, revamped and painted. The staff in this department have a positive attitude and try to make the working environment pleasant and patient friendly. This is because we believe a pleasant treatment environment is therapeutic.

Paedriatic Sub-section:

• This section welcomed a male therapist to the children's domain in January and they now total six. A large part of the work done here involves treatment of developmental delay due to malnutrition, birth complications, medical conditions, chronic tracheotomies and neglect in abandoned babies. Various stimulation programmes, and group sessions, are offered to help the children to catch up.
• Other conditions treated include Burns, Oncology, Neurology, Head injuries and Cerebral Palsy.

Psychiatry Sub-section:

• All patients are assisted to develop and maintain function at their own highest level. Because patients are not kept in the hospital for long periods, assessment of the patient's functional level is very important. The assessment and observation by occupational therapy are essential for the team to reach a final diagnosis.
• Treatment focuses on personal management, work or school, leisure time, social skills and socio-emotional groups. Other groups are for substance abuse, bipolar patients and their relatives and relapse groups for schizophrenic patients.
• Two of our therapists, Nombulelo Mkosi and Florence Sobukwe, were sponsored to attend the international congress of the World Federation of OT in Sweden during June 2002.

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