Impact of a rural context in Kwazulu Natal on primary caregiver's management of pain innon-communicating children with severe neurological impairment
Date
2024
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
Untreated pain is known to have negative consequences on the development and wellbeing of “non-verbal” children with severe neurological impairment (SNI). Healthcare workers and caregivers must ensure that pain is managed in this population, even though pain may be difficult to assess. Occupational therapists need to understand how context affects the management of pain experienced by a child with SNI, as well as its impact on the care of the child. This study determined how a rural KwaZulu Natal context impacted how primary caregivers recognized and manage pain and the care of their child with SNI.
Methods: A multiple descriptive, embedded case study design using a demographic and pain questionnaire, with cross sectional design. There were nine respondents’ qualitative and quantitative information content analysis and descriptive statistics were used to report.
Results: Financial, environmental, emotional and physical strain factors associated with the rural context were identified may be adding to the burden of care and affecting the occupational performance of the child with SNI and their caregiver. Specific difficulties included limits in access to clean running water, the practice of bed sharing and poor infrastructure affecting access to healthcare facilities. Primary care givers also mentioned their other responsibilities in the house and the physical strain of caring for a child with SNI affected them and their child. Despite this, all primary care givers were able to recognise and act when their child was in pain and relied on crying duration and intensity as a reliable sign of pain in their child. All primary care givers were confident in their ability and method of recognising and addressing pain in their child with SNI. More experienced primary caregivers used fewer signs to recognise when their child with SNI was in pain.
Conclusions: A rural African context is associated with barriers and opportunities for the care, the recognition- and management of pain in children with SNI. More research related to supporting participation and occupational performance by addressing the effects of pain in children with SNI on the child and the primary caregiver living in rural contexts is required
Description
A research report submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Occupational Therapy to the Faculty of Health Sciences, School of Therapeutic Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2024
Keywords
Severe Neurological Impairment, Pain, Primary Caregiver, Rural, Non-verbal, UCTD
Citation
Pretorius, Jeanette. (2024). The role of design houses [Master’s dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WireDSpace.https://hdl.handle.net/10539/42840