Above is a picture showing rays of sun shining through few branches of a tree, now you may be wondering what this means. Through the branches there’s light coming through and again there is a shadow underneath the branches, in this reflection am going to be discussing the South African health system through the eyes of a cancer patient that is in a general hospital.
The rays of sun shining through the branches symbolises hope, patients get hope when their friends and family come to visit them, it gives them motivation to get back to the community again , they become aware that they are not alone and this acts as a great facilitator in the international classification functional rehabilitation. Also patients get hope when there’s new treatment plan being implemented on them because they get to have a say and they feel less anxious and actually feel cared for. The rays also shows an advantage of implemented social group activities these are mostly conducted by physical therapists which help to improve function and can rebuild endurance for activities and also improve a patient’s quality of life and avoid any loss of body functions. These organisations also stand for interests of patients with a particular condition. The aim is to share interests, fears and experiences in aim of emotionally and morally supporting each other.
The shadows and the pointy branches represent the vulnerability in patients, it shows the darkness in their thoughts and isolation they tend to feel. Most patients have different kinds of fears it could be hypnophobia, or odontophobia but the most common fear they all have is death, this fear plays a role in many anxiety disorders , the patients worry about their loved ones, Physiotherapist are professionals that allows the patient to be sad, laugh with the patient and offers help . Another point that the shadows point out is the neglection of patients feel in South African health system, in places like a home, the most common type of neglecting is the nursing falls and bed suffocation this is probably due to lack of close attention to the environment by the staff. There are different kind of ways in which patients can be neglected it could be physically striking the patients especially during labour, intentionally withholding of necessary food, physical care and medical attention. Neglection of patients can only be avoided if the health system reports to the State department of health with concrete evidence any incidence no matter how little it is .
Dolman law group stated that negligence is found in many incidences such as the following. Failure to implement reasonable safety precautions or sanitation measure to decrease the levels of infections risk is referred to as negligence, poor communication between the health care professionals and the patients is also a form of negligence that prevents the patient from receiving the vital care service , such as being moved frequently to prevent bedsores, walking to build strength after a surgery .
Hospitals and other health care sectors must have a sufficient number of staff to provide appropriate care to patients, a sufficient number of doctors and surgeons must be available to make a diagnosis and perform medical procedures, sufficient nursing staff to meet patient’s needs, failure to provide any of these leaves a hospital liable for any financial losses a patient might encounter and it is also referred to as the form of negligence.
South Africa is slowly changing their health care system for the better, according to the National Health Act of 2003 it is said that ” in line with the vision of the national development plan of ensuring a long and healthy life for all South Africans , the department focuses on sustainably expanding HIV and aids, tuberculosis and other diseases treatment and prevention ensuring provision of specialised tertiary hospital services” although patients may experience obstacles and feel as if they are better off without hospitals but at the end they get healed emotionally and physically.
REFERENCE:
Dolman Law Group Accident injury lawyer, retrieved February 15, 2018 from http:www.dolmanlaw.com/hospital-patients-can-suffer-neglect/
South African Government According to the National Health Act of 2003, retrieved July 1, 2019 from https:www.gov.za/about-sa/health
One thought on “Reflection”
Great depiction of the importance of a patients hope, and how physicaltherapists and other health personnel can contribute and motivate the patients. I really like the contrasts you write about, when it comes to the light and dark aspects of treatment, and neglect of patients. Well done! However, I think you can explain the last paragraph, where you write about how South Africa is changing, somewhat deeper, to get a better conclusion.