Part 3: “Routines are really important”   Written by Leigh-Ann Richards, Occupational Therapist Leigh-Ann Richards is a Senior Clinical Educator in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Occupational Therapy Division.  In this three-part blog series, we hear from Leigh- Ann Richards, an occupational therapist, who has been working in both a professional and personal capacity with patients and older persons. She writes about the complexities and work involved in managing medications. Her thoughts and observations are based on her experience working with patients at multiple levels in the health system, and in people’s

Part 2: “The pill box and the non-negotiable meds”   Written by Leigh-Ann Richards, Occupational Therapist Leigh-Ann Richards is a Senior Clinical Educator in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Occupational Therapy Division.  In this three-part blog series, we hear from Leigh- Ann Richards, an occupational therapist, who has been working in both a professional and personal capacity with patients and older persons. She writes about the complexities and work involved in managing medications. Her thoughts and observations are based on her experience working with patients at multiple levels in the health system,

Part 1: “The Notebook -What is my diagnosis?”   Written by Leigh-Ann Richards, Occupational Therapist Leigh-Ann Richards is a Senior Clinical Educator in the Department of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences in the Faculty of Health Sciences, Occupational Therapy Division.  In this three-part blog series, we hear from Leigh- Ann Richards, an occupational therapist, who has been working in both a professional and personal capacity with patients and older persons. She writes about the complexities and work involved in managing medications. Her thoughts and observations are based on her experience working with patients at multiple levels in the health system, and

This blog is conversational, where Prof Elena Moore, Lindeka Mrengqwa and Lulamile Mabe explore experiences of seniority, research and older persons care in a peri-urban informal settlement in South Africa. About the researchers: My name is Lindeka Mrengqwa, a 30 year old mother of one beautiful, smart young lady, born of a strong black woman who always emphasized the importance of education. I did my undergraduate and honours studies at the University of the Western Cape, where I fell in love with the world of research. I majored in social science , psychology and linguistics. My research interests focused on

My name is Janet Ananias, and I am the Country Lead of the Namibian research team for the Family Caregiving of Older Persons in Southern Africa programme. In case you don’t know, Namibia, covers 824 116 km2  and is about twice the size of Germany and about 70% of the size of South Africa. Despite the size of the country there are just over 2.5 million people in the country making it one of lowest population densities in the world. In practical terms this means you have to travel vast distances often in very warm and arid lands before you reach a

My name is Charis Sass and I am a research assistant for the Family Caregiving of Older Persons in Southern Africa programme. Conducting interviews in a space in which there is an older person who is receiving care is tricky and there are many situations in which you, as the researcher, can feel as though you need to adjust and provide care to the ‘vulnerable’ participant, the person who is in pain.  But how do I think about that? How am I understanding this need to ‘care for’ the participant?  In considering this, I have taken the time to reflect