South African Health System : Grey vs colour (Burger – UWC)

Reflection :

If you look closely at this photo you will see the green leaf. In my mind I think this represent a patient in the health system of South Africa. You will also see the used wound dressing. This represents the South African health system. Everything surrounding the green leaf is grey and dull. Sooner or later this leaf will also look like the environment in which it is. I connect this to the health system in South Africa not educating the patients they come in contact with. If the patient to whom this wound dressing belonged to were educated on proper disposal, he or she would not have left it on the sidewalk. In a grey world it is much easier to become grey like everything surrounding you than to be the one to start spreading the colour. What I mean by this is that is it much easier for the patients in our health system to succumb to the flaws of everyone else that they see around them. These patients are not educated on the things that could change the South African health system therefore they also do not try to correct the flaws in the system by spreading the vibrant green colour that is more pleasant to look at and easier to notice. Patients will get tired of the rehabilitation exercises that they have to do and stop halfway through the treatment because they were not educated on all the benefits. Our South African health system has to start by looking from the inside and to change the colour from the inside to contribute to changing the grey to the green that it should be. Once the small changes have been made and we start with our interaction with patients there will be an exponential improvement of the system in general.

Literature :

The South African health system has two sectors : private and public. The majority of South Africans make use of the public sector with its own advantages and disadvantages. The advantages of this sector are that it provides the citizens of South Africa with free health care. The disadvantages are : long waiting times, poor quality of care compared to the private sector, rushed appointments, old facilities due to lack of funds for renovations, and poor disease control and prevention protocols (Young, 2016).

Maseko and Harris claims that lack of funding, resources and education are some of the main influencers in poor disease control and prevention (2018, p. 25). Lack of funding and resources lead to not enough equipment and people. Equipment that will help prevention are gloves and gowns. People can prevent and control diseases by educating the general public on community outreaches. This can only be done if there are resources. Education will spread like a wildfire. A person that learns something new today can mention what they learned to one person and that person can mention it to two other people. In this manner the general public can correct and help each other. Fewer people will be waiting in hospital waiting rooms to be seen by professionals. There will be more time for appointments. There will be more funds available to improve facilities and for the prevention and control of diseases (Young, 2016).

The claims I have mentioned above are my views of where I think we as South Africa should start to be the change we want to see in the health system of our country. These changes will make a positive contribution to the lives of all South African citizens.  

References :

Maseko, L. & Harris, B. People-centeredness in health system reform. Public perceptions of private and public hospitals in South Africa. South African Journal of Occupational Therapy, 48(1), 22-27. Retrieved April 30, 2019, from http://www.scielo.org.za/pdf/sajot/v48n1/05.pdf

Young, M. (2016). Private vs. Public Healthcare in South Africa. Retrieved April 14, 2019, from https://scholarworks.wmich.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3752&context=honors_theses