Occupational Therapy on Display

BY: .

UKZN’s Discipline of Occupational Therapy in partnership with King Edward VIII Hospital held an “occupational therapy (OT) Flash Freeze” at the Moses Mabhida Stadium  to kick start Occupational Therapy Week held from 7 to 11 October.   

OT is the use of treatments to develop, recover, or maintain the daily living and work skills of people with physical, mental or developmental conditions. OT interventions focus on adapting the environment, modifying the task, teaching the skill, and educating the client/family in order to increase participation in and performance of daily activities. 

Organiser of the hospital’s OT Department, Ms Lenise Clothier, said Flash Freeze was being used as a platform to raise awareness about the profession. 

‘We decided to take a different approach to raise awareness in a new, fun, creative and “free” way by hosting an OT Flash Freeze.’ At the event, a group of about 20 OT specialists, clad in green tops, froze at noon for three minutes in different positions, amid a huge crowd at the I Heart market. 

UKZN’s Mr December Mpanza from the Discipline of Occupational Therapy said a flash freeze was similar to a flash mob, but there is no dancing.  ‘The idea behind a flash freeze is to seem unplanned, and to suddenly gain the attention of by- passers,’ he said. 

The participants were carrying an OT banner with the slogan: Bringing Out the Ability in Disability, to give the public a general idea about what OTs do. They also gave the public OT stickers with the blog address printed on it. 

‘This way we were able to combine all the institutions, schools, centres and OT affiliates under one umbrella to promote our profession, which we so deeply love! Most importantly by the Flash Freeze, we are able to spark the interest of the general public by approaching health and wellness with a positive and energetic attitude,’ said Mpanza. 

She said they planned to continue with similar awareness campaigns in the future.

-          Nombuso Dlamini