EDITORIAL COMMENT

Expanding the visibility and accessibility of SAJOT

I am happy to inform our readers that our applications for hosting the SAJOT on the KHULISA platform and for indexing on AJOL (African Journals Online) database have been successful. This will greatly expand our readership, exposure, and citations. My sincere gratitude to the Editorial Team for all their support in his endeavour, and to OTASA for their financial support. The full migration of back issues and user databases to the KHULISA platform is progressing well, and although the site does not yet accept new submissions, readers can access the most recent publications on the site at https://journals.assaf.org.za/index.php/sajot. Our applications to be indexed by SCOPUS and DOAJ are pending and will proceed once the KHULISA site becomes active.

This issue of SAJOT will also be the last using our existing publication model, where three issues are published three times per annum in the first weeks of April, August and December. From August onward, we will be implementing our new 'online first' model, where articles which have been accepted and copy edited will be uploaded onto the system immediately, and then combined and published as an issue every 4 months. This change will greatly reduce our turn-around time from submission to online accessibility and make available articles to readers much sooner.

Featured in this edition:

In this issue, we continue our series of Rapid Reviews commissioned by OTASA. This rapid review¹ provides evidence of emerging technologies and interventions to inform a holistic approach to address the multifaceted needs and goals of stroke survivors. Also featured in this issue is an outline of the environmental facilitators and barriers to community reintegration as experienced by stroke survivors in under-resourced urban areas². From the results obtained, the authors call on therapists in these environments to advocate for more comprehensive discharge plans to facilitate adequate and continued rehabilitation and support for successful community reintegration of stroke survivors.

Valuable insights for both clinical supervisors and educators may be gleaned from an article by De Vries et al.³ which highlights final year occupational therapy students' perceptions of ethical issues encountered by during fieldwork placements provide some valuable guidelines for dealing with these issues when they arise. Also in the educational context, an article by Hoosen et al.⁴ explores how students perceived the practice of online assessment, which all training institutions had to resort to during the COVID-19 pandemic. They put forward valuable and practical recommendations for any future situations where educators might be forced to implement these online measures.

For people with disabilities, transitioning to a new environment may be a threatening and stressful experience. In one article, the authors highlight the difficulties experienced by learners with disabilities when transitioning to the work environment⁵ from the therapists' point of view, and in another, the reintegration of rehabilitation and work within the disability claims management process is investigated from a South African Private Insurer's perspective⁶. Both articles provide valuable guidelines to how occupational therapists may play a crucial role facilitating the process in both these contexts.

In the public health sector, therapists are often restricted by governmental policies when providing individualised assistive devices based on the needs of their patients. In an article featured in this issue⁷, therapists used the Wheelchair Outcome Measure (WOM) to investigate the participants' satisfaction with the issue of standard wheelchairs whilst performing ADLs and lADLs after discharge. The authors strongly advocate for consideration to be given to the person's activity participation in- and outside their homes that will inform the authorities when prescribing and providing wheelchairs.

Standardising assessment procedures, instruments, and tests for the South African population is crucial in our profession due the diversity (both cultural and environmental) of the clients we serve. One such instrument - developed by occupational therapists from the University of the Free State - is The University of the Free State In-hand Manipulation Assessment, or UFS (HMAI). In the multi-phase process of standardising an instrument for assessment, Visser et al.⁸ report their findings on the second and third phases of standardising this instrument, namely the face- and content validity of the HMAI.

Moving to the mental health sector, a quasi-experimental, longitudinal pre-test post-test study was employed by Meyer et al.⁹ to test the effect of activity groups on the activity participation of persons with major depressive disorder. Correlations between the independent variables and improvement in APOM scores indicated stronger correlations for the number of groups attended by participants than their length of stay. Their study showed that incorporating stress management techniques, such as mindfulness, relaxation therapy, Tension Release Exercises (TRE) and sensory activities, into the therapeutic regimen can be highly beneficial in the treatment of the acute symptoms of major depressive disorder.

This issue also features two Opinion Pieces, In the first, Plastow et al.¹⁰ outline the opportunities presented by Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to occupational therapists -especially those in Africa - by culturally adapting CBT techniques when working in multi-cultural environments. School-Related Gender-based Violence (SRGBV) is a problem featuring more regularly in the media. In the second Opinion Piece, Swartz-Filies et al.¹¹ elaborate on the context within which school-based occupational therapists can reframe SRGBV as an occupational injustice and develop life skills interventions that address SRGBV.

On 4 July, at the 2024 OTASA Congress themed 'Occupational Therapy for Changing Contexts: Make it Matter, Make it Happen", our esteemed colleague Tania Rauch van der Merwe, delivered the 10th Vona du Toit Memorial Lecture. Her lecture was titled: "Harnessing Human Praxis: Turning our wisdom into practice and impact."¹². This issue of the SAJOT features this lecture in full. Van der Merwe advocates for deconstructing the constituents of human praxis to apply it as a treatment mode. She also concludes that by consciously using human praxis can contribute to the fields of education, research and leadership, which all cultivate human dignity.

Finally, we feature a Book Review by Phumla Motsa¹³. The book, titled "Written out. The silencing of Regina Gelana Twala" authored by Joel Cabrita. The book deals with a woman's resilience and determination amid adversity, and how she overcomes many obstacles to attain her goals - a reality that so many of our clients face.

Blanche Pretorius

Editor in Chief https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3543-0743

REFERENCES

1. Engelbrecht M, Van der Walt J, Van Biljon HM, Soeker SM. Occupational therapy treatment protocols for cerebrovascular accidents - a rapid review. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy, Vol. 54 No 2. August 2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/2130-3833/2024/vol54no2a10        [ Links ]

2. De Witt PA, Lindner C, Maseko L, Franzsen D. Environmental facilitators and barriers to community reintegration experienced by stroke survivors in an under-resourced metropolitan sub-district. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy Vol. 54 No. 2. August 2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/2310-3833/2024/vol54no2a5        [ Links ]

3. De Vries A, De Jongh J-C, Wegner, L South African students' reflections on ethical issues experienced during fieldwork. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy Vol. 54 No. 2. August 2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.2310-3833/2024/vol54no2a5        [ Links ]

4. Hoosen T, Salajee FZ, Naidoo MM, Ntombela NNK, Aron T, Mchunu N, Rencken G, Govender P. Online assessment and feedback experiences of occupational therapy students. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy Vol. 54 No. 2. August 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/2130-3833/2024/vol54no2a9        [ Links ]

5. Msimango H, Phalatse N, Germishuys RM, Avenant K-L, Rameetse T. Occupational therapists' perceptions of a school to work transition programme for learners at a special educational needs school. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy Vol. 54 No. 2. August 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/2310/3833/2024/vol54n02a6        [ Links ]

6. Reddy D, Govender P, Naidoo D. Rehabilitation and work reintegration within the disability claims management process: A South African Private Insurer perspective. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy. Vol. 54 No. 2. August 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/2310-3833/2024/vol54no2a7        [ Links ]

7. Lister H, Nethathe K, Naidoo D, Govender P. Appropriateness of the standard manual wheelchair for occupational performance by wheelchair users in the Thulamela Municipality of the Vhembe District, Limpopo, South Africa. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy Vol. 54 No. 2. August 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/2310-3833/2024/vol54no2a8        [ Links ]

8. Visser M, Nel M, Van Aswegen N. Basson J, MacDonald C. Face- and content validity of the University of the Free State In-Hand Manipulation Assessment Instrument (UFS-IHMAI) for children in South Africa. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy Vol. 54 No. 2. August 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/2310-3833/2024/vol54no2a2        [ Links ]

9. Meyer A.D, Casteleijn D, Silaule C The therapeutic impact of occupational therapy groups on the activity participation of persons with major depressive disorder in an acute mental health setting. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy Vol. 54 No. 2. August 2024. DOI:https://doi.org/10.17159/2130-3833/2024/vol54no2a3        [ Links ]

10. Swartz-Filies S, Plastow NA, Filies GC. School-related gender-based violence: A call for action by Occupational Therapists. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy Vol. 54 No. 2. August 2024 DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159-2310-3833/2024/vol54no2a11        [ Links ]

11. Plastow NA, Hoosain MB, Salie M. Reflections on the 10th Word Congress of Cognitive and Behavioural Therapies: Lessons for African occupational therapists. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy Vol. 54 No. 2. August 2024. DOI: https://doi.org.10.17159/2310-3833/2024/vol54no2a12        [ Links ]

12. Rauch van der Merwe, T. The 26th Vona du Toit Memorial Lecture. Harnessing Human Praxis: Turning our wisdom into practice and impact. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy Vol. 54 No. 2. August 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.177159/2310-3833/2024/vol54no2a13        [ Links ]

13. Review of the book'Written out. The silencing of Regina Twala. Reviewed by Phumla Motsa. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy. August 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.17159/2310-3833/2024/vol54no2a14        [ Links ]