The patient struggle in the South African Health care system

Patients are often seen and treated by medical professionals in beds. This creates an internal power struggle between the patient and the health care professionals, because patients are almost always seen in a lying position the are literally looked down on by doctors, nurses and other professionals. Most Patients are therefore very hesitant to ask in detail questions about their conditions and diagnoses or treatment regimes, this could also be caused by conditions that are out of the control of the health care workers themselves. Many people may say that health care workers have a lack of interest in their patients, but this isn’t actually true. It may seem as though they aren’t interested but this is due the demand for health care workers being so high in the Western Cape, and across the entire Southern Africa. There are simply too many patients for a single doctor to treat, nursing staff are extremely over worked and in most places resources are scarce and very thinly spread out. As aspiring physiotherapists we need to take the initiative to educate and inform patients about all aspects of their conditions and treatments so that they are well informed about the treatment they are receiving as well as bin aware of the active role that they can play in aiding their own recovery, whether that be by complying to medications and treatment to making the correct lifestyle choices and changes that would ultimately improve their overall health statuses

According to Latoya Newman, just over 3 million people in SA are uneducated. Which means many people requiring medical assistance aren’t able to comprehend their diagnoses and fully grasp the extent of their conditions whether it be communicable conditions or diseases such as tuberculosis or HIV or non-communicable diseases like diabetes or high blood pressure. According to Jessie Gruman, many sickly patients in may not benefit from their health care unless they obtain some skills and a good amount of knowledge and motivation to take an active role in their own treatment and recovery. This is a common occurrence is south Africa at the moment, as we are seeing a constant increase in the number of people affected and infected by communicable diseases like TB and HIV because the South African population are not vey educated on the modes of transmission and ways in which they can protect themselves from these diseases, they are also unaware or oblivious to the consequences of defaulting on medication and treatment regimes that they are put on to manage and treat their conditions. Therefore all medical practitioners and professionals should all make a concerted effort to educate as many people about conditions, lifestyle choices and the dangers of defaulting medications.

References                     

Newman L, Poor literacy Levels stil a concern in SA, Daily news, 23rd April 2018 Available From: https://www.iol.co.za/dailynews/poor-literacy-levels-still-a-concern-in-sa-14601496  

Gruman J, Holmes Rovner M, French M.E., Jefferes D, Sofaer S, Shaller D, Prager D.J., From patient education to patient engagement: implications for the field of patient education. Elsevier Journal, 3rd February 2010 .