Disability research in African Network for Evidence-to-Action in Disability affiliated countries.

Background: The African Network for Evidence-to-Action in Disability (AfriNEAD) is a leading role player in Africa promoting evidence-informed policies and practices for disability inclusion on the continent. This article presents findings of a desktop review that explored trends of disability research in the AfriNEAD affiliated countries.

Objectives: The review explored trends of research that has been published by members of the disability research community who are contributing to AfriNEAD Conferences.

The role of indigenous healers in treating surgical conditions in the rural Eastern Cape of South Africa.

Background: Indigenous knowledge healers (IKHs) provide alternative healthcare to formal health services in rural South Africa, but there is a gap in knowledge regarding their treatment of surgical conditions. This study evaluated IKH surgical care and described their perspective of the dual health system.

Methods: A cross sectional survey of IKHs in the Madwaleni Hospital catchment of the Eastern Cape, South Africa was conducted.

The Rehabilitation Landscape in a Low-to-Middle-Income Country: Stakeholder Perspectives and Policy Implications-A Qualitative Study.

The need for rehabilitation is increasing on a global level due to a rise in non-communicable diseases, aging and medical advances, and in South Africa (SA), due to the quadruple burden of disease. More information is required regarding rehabilitation scope and practices in SA to optimize the provision of rehabilitation interventions in the context of the transforming health care sector in SA, a low-to-middle-income country (LMIC). The purpose of this study is to explore the perspectives of South African rehabilitation stakeholders on the landscape of rehabilitation in SA.

Understanding the value of rehabilitation: Perspectives from South African Stakeholders.

Background: The need for rehabilitation in South Africa has doubled between 1990 and 2017 and is expected to increase in the coming years. However, the rehabilitation needs of South Africans (and globally) remain largely unmet. Establishing a common understanding of the value of rehabilitation can inform clinical practice and policymaking to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

The black hole of dealing with a disability diagnosis: Views of South African rural parents.

Background: Lack of support systems in the management of health and rehabilitation related problems, including the stigma of giving birth to a child with disability, results in some parents ignoring the doctor's prognosis of lifelong disability.

Objectives: The study was conducted in the Eastern Cape province (ECP) of South Africa (SA) on parents' views in caring for children with disability in an area with minimal health facilities in a rural setting.

Method: Data was collected using exploratory descriptive qualitative methods.

Exploring the inclusion of teaching and learning on assistive products in undergraduate curricula of health sciences faculties at three South African Universities.

Background: Providers must be knowledgeable on policy, systems and products to provide a person centred service and prescribe the most appropriate assistive product for each user.

Aim: This study aimed to determine to what extent teaching and learning on assistive products are included in undergraduate curricula of the Health science faculties at three universities in the Western Cape Province of South Africa.

Methods: Data were gathered through a cross sectional survey.

Access to primary care for persons with spinal cord injuries in the greater Gaborone area, Botswana.

Background: People with spinal cord injury (SCI) often have great need for healthcare services, but they report access challenges. Primary care access to people with SCI has not been explored in Botswana.

Objective: This study aimed to identify barriers and facilitators that users with spinal cord injuries experience in accessing primary care services in the greater Gaborone area, Botswana.

Suitability of 'Guidelines for Screening of Prosthetic Candidates: Lower Limb' for the Eastern Cape, South Africa: A qualitative study.

Background: Major lower limb amputation has a severe impact on functional mobility. Mobility can be salvaged with a prosthesis, but this is not always the best option. It is often difficult to decide whether to refer someone for a prosthesis or not.

The perceived needs-access gap for health services among persons with disabilities in a rural area within South Africa.

Health should be a universal phenomenon. However, little is known about the relationship between disability status and health issues - particularly in rural areas. This study looks at health issues of persons with disabilities in Madwaleni, a rural impoverished area in South Africa in 2011, and compares them to persons with no disabilities.

The African Indigenous Lens of Understanding Spirituality: Reflection on Key Emerging Concepts from a Reviewed Literature.

In this paper, we will present a reflection on reviewed literature on African indigenous understanding of spirituality, highlighting the influence of this concept on notions of the self, motivation and well-being. The indigenous understanding of spirituality is central to the understanding of the self as distinct, but positioned within the relational-collective self. This African indigenous perception of the self is grounded within the autonomous experience of the tenets of spirituality, which is explored in this paper through the lens of self-determination theory.

Assistive technology policy: a position paper from the first global research, innovation, and education on assistive technology (GREAT) summit.

Increased awareness, interest and use of assistive technology (AT) presents substantial opportunities for many citizens to become, or continue being, meaningful participants in society. However, there is a significant shortfall between the need for and provision of AT, and this is patterned by a range of social, demographic and structural factors. To seize the opportunity that assistive technology offers, regional, national and sub-national assistive technology policies are urgently required.

Lessons from the pilot of a mobile application to map assistive technology suppliers in Africa.

A pilot project to develop and implement a mobile smartphone application (App) that tracks and maps assistive technology (AT) availability in southern Africa was launched in Botswana in 2016. The App was developed and tested through an iterative process. The concept of the App (AT-Info-Map) was well received by most stakeholders within the pilot country, and broader networks.

The experiences and challenges faced by rehabilitation community service therapists within the South African Primary Healthcare health system.

Background: Twenty-two years after the promulgation of a plethora of progressive health policies since 1994, the South African public health system reflects a number of stumbling blocks regarding implementation. Rehabilitation professionals are not sufficiently equipped nor allowed the opportunity to comprehensively implement Primary Healthcare (PHC) from a bottom-up approach, thus engaging communities. Training on addressing social health determinants and their impact on ill-health and health outcomes is inadequate.