Social Justice Activist to Lead Occupational Therapy at Wits
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Dr Fasloen Adams has been appointed Head of Department for Occupational Therapy in the School of Therapeutic Sciences at Wits’ Faculty of Health Sciences.
Dr Fasloen Adams has been appointed Head of Department for Occupational Therapy in the School of Therapeutic Sciences at Wits’ Faculty of Health Sciences from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2021.
She succeeds Professor Pat De Witt and will be responsible for maintaining the excellent standards of undergraduate teaching, increasing the postgraduate output and advancing context relevant research in the Department.
Prior to taking up this role, Dr Adams was a Lecturer with the Department of Occupational Therapy, in the School of Therapeutic Sciences from 2005. An ardent social justice orientated health professional, Dr Adams is a graduate of Stellenbosch University, with a Master’s degree from the University of Cape Town and a PhD from Wits.
Dr Adams began her career in 1995 as a Junior Occupational Therapist at Valkenberg Psychiatric Hospital in Cape Town, and later an Occupational Therapist at Groote Schuur Hospital, gaining a solid grounding in psychiatry and forensic psychiatry.
She relocated to the USA for a number of years where she focused mainly on the physical and paediatric fields of practice. As Chief Psychiatric Occupational Therapist for New Surfside, a non-profit services provider, based in New York she developed and coordinated a programme for community-based psychiatric practice.
In 2000 she returned to South Africa and joined the University of Cape Town as a service learning coordinator and supervisor of third and fourth- year students. She gained experience in guiding and supporting student assessment in collaboration with clinical staff at various psychiatric facilities, promoting the integration of theory with practice.
Moving to Johannesburg in 2005 to join Wits, she has been part of a successful team that has seen the department grown in size and stature. As course coordinator in public health and occupational therapy, public health fieldwork coordinator, lecturer in psychiatry applied to occupational therapy and occupational science as well as fieldwork supervisor she has contributed significantly to the excellence of the department and its continued reputation as a leader in OT training. In 2011 and 2012 she received the School’s award for Outstanding Mentoring in recognition for her efforts.
Her research interests are diverse and include collective occupations, occupational science applied to the African context, empowerment and disability studies. She has already produced a number of papers and 2 book chapters. A strong advocate for collaborative research, Dr Adams was a member of a national collaborative study in 2008 between the Universities of Witwatersrand, Cape Town, Free s-State, KwaZulu-Natal, Pretoria and Medunsa as well as various disability organisations, to investigate how youth with disabilities sustain their livelihood. In 2016 she was appointed as a member of the technical advisory group for a research project carried out by the Health Systems Trust, entitled: “Evaluation of the status of disability and rehabilitation services within the public sector in terms of preparedness for the implementation of the 2015 Disability and Rehabilitation Policy Framework and Strategy.”
Building on the solid foundation of her predecessor, Dr Adams intends to lead the transformation of the department from the current individual intervention model to that of a communal perspective. In this way, it will contribute to the necessary shift that occupational therapy must make as a discipline to truly serve the needs of South Africa.
To achieve this transformation Dr Adams has prioritized the strategic direction and focus of the department’s research, the expansion of community practice for students and the expansion of e-learning and online platforms to facilitate efficient supervision across the larger clinical platform.
“We are delighted to have Dr Adams take the reins of the Department and look forward to its progress in achieving the vision for community orientated occupational therapy.” says Judith Bruce: Head of School for the Therapeutic Sciences.
“It’s a great honour to lead this Department and the team. I believe that the department has the transformative perspective required to be a change agent for the Faculty, the University and for occupational therapy as a profession. Our country needs models for application in the African context. Our research can build African knowledge and our teaching can integrate and apply such perspectives.” says Dr Adams.