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Telehealth Implementation within the Paediatric Speech Therapy Outpatient Service
The implementation of telehealth into the paediatric speech therapy outpatient service was initiated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the pandemic, especially during level 5 and 4 lock down, patients were not able to access outpatient services. As restrictions were eased, it was evident that attending multiple appointments further added to the financial burden being faced by families as well as increasing their risk of exposure to COVID 19. As a result of these factors the innovation within the paediatric speech outpatient service through telehealth ensured that all patients still had access and were receiving speech therapy services, in accordance with patients’ right to therapy. Patients were provided with speech, language and feeding intervention in the comfort of their homes. This ensured that all patients are receiving the intervention that they have the right to receive, which is crucial, especially with Early Childhood (ECI) Intervention, which is a priority throughout all paediatric speech services. The reason being that ECI provides the opportunities for future success if intervention strategies are implemented from a young age. Essentially, it improves their overall outcomes.
Date: 2026/01/28
Version: 0.1
Tags:
Public Health Innovations
Disability Interventions/Prevention
Telehealth
Multi-Disciplinary Package of Care for Lower Limb Replacement Arthroplasty Patients
In South Africa, there is an ongoing major challenge of extensive waiting lists of arthroplasty patients. To manage this challenge would require huge sums of money. Following the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, this challenge became worse particularly with the subsequent cancellation of elective surgeries. At Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital (CHBAH), it would take as long as two years for patients to receive an arthroplasty operations as per the waiting list registry kept at the unit, not only did this attract bad media publicity, it also inevitably became a major political concern. In response, the orthopaedic physiotherapists at CHBAH developed a solution in the form of a multi-disciplinary package of care.
Date: 2026/01/28
Version: 0.1
Tags:
Public Health Innovations
Disability Interventions/Prevention
Multidisciplinary Approach to Healthcare
Telehealth
Expansion of Clubfoot Services and Training Project
Clubfoot is a common congenital musculoskeletal disorder that causes mobility impairment. It is one of the leading causes of physical disability in children, particularly in low to middle income countries. This is true, despite the fact that it is a treatable condition. Clubfoot is a deformity in which an infant's foot is turned inward, often so severely that the bottom of the foot faces sideways or even upward. The condition most often presents at birth and is caused by a shortened Achilles tendon. Generally, there is a lack of trained mid-level personnel to provide clubfoot treatment in Africa. In addition, there is no standard training courses. In Gauteng province, Clubfoot is generally managed in Academic Hospital clinics which are run by Orthopaedic Surgery Departments. This placed a huge burden on these facilities which are few while also forcing patients and their families to travel longer distances to seek treatment elsewhere. The Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital came up with a solution to deal with this challenge.
Date: 2026/01/27
Version: 0.1
Tags:
Public Health Innovations
Disability Interventions/Prevention
Multidisciplinary Approach to Healthcare
The Early Hearing Detection and Intervention (EHDI) Programme
Congenital hearing loss occurs most frequently at birth. The World Health Organization (2010) indicated newborn hearing impairment averages around 6 per 1000 births. Children develop language, communication, and cognitive skills by hearing. The early identification of hearing loss is necessary for healthy child development. With advancements in the method of assessing hearing status of newborns objectively, the implementation of a universal newborn hearing screening (UNHS) programme is an effective system to identify hearing loss early (Das et al., 2020). While early hearing detection and intervention (EHDI) focuses on the overall journey of the child from identification, diagnosis, and management (Moodley & Storbeck, 2015). The South African government recognises the value of UNHS; however, it has not been adopted within the public health sector that services approximately 80% of the population (Kanji, 2018). Recent studies have widely indicated that the implementation of an EHDI programme will have adverse economic effects in future.
Date: 2026/01/23
Version: 0.1
Tags:
Public Health Innovations
Disability Interventions/Prevention