People with acquired disabilities also rely on social workers

Dr Noreth Muller-Kluits is lecturer at College of Cape Town. This article is based on her recent doctorate in Social Work at Stellenbosch University

Dr Noreth Muller-Kluits is lecturer at College of Cape Town. This article is based on her recent doctorate in Social Work at Stellenbosch University

Published Feb 18, 2021

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Noreth Muller-Kluits

Many people might experience a form of impairment or disability at some point in their lives.

Different types of impairment could occur at any given moment and have a significant impact on those affected and their families.

While at least a billion people are estimated to have a disability, they’re not getting the necessary support and recognition they deserve. In many spheres of society disability still isn’t considered an important issue.

It is important that we continue to highlight the plight of people with disabilities, be it through awareness campaigns, the implementation of relevant policies, or research. This will take us closer to removing those persistent barriers that prevent them from reaching their potential.

In my doctoral study at Stellenbosch University, I tried to make a contribution by focusing on adults with an acquired disability which occurred after birth, for example through accidents, violence, diseases, and infections.

I wanted to concentrate on the experiences of adults with acquired physical disabilities with regards to social work support especially in assisting them with reintegration back into their communities after they acquired the physical disability.

One of the reasons for this is that social workers often offer many of their interventions within the communities of their clients, who also rely on these services.

When delivering services, including to persons with disabilities and their families, social workers, as part of a multi-disciplinary rehabilitation team, are guided by policies and legislation such as the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) as well as the White Paper on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (WPRPD) in South Africa. I therefore also looked at how service delivery is aligned with the UNCRPD and the WPRPD.

Since my data collection was done during the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, I had to use cellphone calls, WhatsApp or Zoom to engage with the research participants (people with acquired physical disabilities and social workers). The upside was that I had the opportunity to work with people form different parts of the country, allowing for a broader overview of the experiences of adults with an acquired physical disability on social work in South Africa.

Since the start of the nationwide lockdown in March, we have witnessed the devastating impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on many sectors, including social work service delivery, especially in terms of community-based interventions.

During my study, people with acquired physical disabilities indicated that they struggled with the lack of access to support in the service delivery they were used to receiving prior to lockdown restrictions.

On the other hand, social workers highlighted their concern for being restricted in community-based service delivery to their clients and clients’ lack of access to technology for alternative communication. A social worker said: “Clients are really missing out … you can only do so much telephonically”.

People with acquired physical disabilities also gave valuable input on recommendations for future service delivery while also acknowledging the important role the social worker played in their recovery process after they acquired a disability.

One participant had the following description for the social worker within the multi-disciplinary team: “There is no cushion that is softer … Where you can lay your head and breathe better … Then the social worker was there and when one speaks to her it is like taking a breath”.

Another remarked that “If it wasn’t for social work services I would never have come to where I am now”.

The study indicated the importance of paying attention to the biological and psychological experiences of adults with an acquired physical disability, the support services they use, their support needs, and their cultural experiences within their communities.

It also looked at how social work support services for persons with acquired physical disabilities were aligned with the relevant policies.

The roles of the social worker in delivering services to persons with disabilities and their families were identified and discussed, including that of counsellor, mediator, motivator, educator and researcher.

Some of these roles were fulfilled through service delivery such as counselling (empowerment, rehabilitation, grief), psychosocial support services, health monitoring referrals to other health professionals, application for assistive devices, life/work skill training and assistance with job opportunities.

The study provided an overview of the service user (adults with an acquired physical disability) and the service provider (social workers), and recommendations from both groups identified the importance of including people with disabilities and their families in service delivery. This was found to be happening in some communities in terms of peer support groups.

However, there are still challenges in other communities in terms of general awareness of services available to persons with disabilities and their families which raises the concern of accessible information.

There are also challenges with the implementation of policies such as the WPRPD over different sectors to assist with reintegration in communities such as employment.

Although the lockdown restrictions has since been eased to allow for more community-based support services, the experiences and recommendations shared within the study, could be utilised to plan future social work services they need, especially during crisis situations such as the Covid-19 pandemic.

It also allows for the social work profession to learn from their clients (service users). This will help to meet their needs as well as those of their families.

The importance of having a bottom-up approach from grassroots level in planning service delivery to persons with disabilities and their families was identified throughout – “Nothing for us without us”.

* Dr Noreth Muller-Kluits is a lecturer at the College of Cape Town. This article is based on her doctorate in social work at Stellenbosch University.

** The views expressed here are not necessarily those of IOL.

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