Huvudbild för Vitalis 2026

The effectiveness of Person-Centred Care in South Africa: A Retrospective Qualitative Investigation of Speech-Language Therapists’ Perspectives [B075] Har passerat

Torsdag 7 maj 2026 09:00 - 13:30 Poster Arena

Rapportör: Juan Bornman

Spår: Poster session, Implementation & Knowledge Translation

Background:  Person-centered care (PCC) is internationally recognized as a gold-standard approach in healthcare, foregrounding the value of the patient’s voice. It promotes respect for their unique needs, values, and preferences while encouraging shared decision-making between healthcare providers and patients. In the field of speech-language therapy, PCC is essential for ethical, collaborative, and culturally responsive practice. However, the feasibility of implementing PCC in South Africa, a country characterized by linguistic diversity, systemic inequities, and limited resources, remains underexplored. Understanding how speech-language therapists conceptualize and enact PCC in this context is crucial for developing relevant care models. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the perspectives of South African SLTs regarding the barriers and enablers to implementing PCC within their clinical practice. Methods: A retrospective qualitative design was employed. Phase 1 involved thematic analysis of written field notes collected during a professional debate at a national conference on the feasibility of PCC implementation within a South African context. Phase 2 built on Phase 1 and aimed to further validate and expand these findings through semi-structured interviews with practicing SLTs from both the public and private sectors across South Africa. Purposive maximum variation sampling was used (considering age, gender, experience, setting, etc.) to explore common themes that cut across diversity. Data were analysed thematically, following Braun and Clarke’s (2006) six-phase framework. Preliminary Findings: Initial analysis indicated that while SLTs supported the principles of PCC, they encountered challenges such as high caseloads, language barriers, and rigid service models. Enablers for implementing PCC included interprofessional collaboration, cultural humility, and supportive workplace environments. Conclusion: These findings highlight both the aspirations and complexities of practicing PCC in South Africa. They underscore the need for systemic and educational strategies to enhance clinicians' capacity for ethically grounded and contextually responsive care. Keywords: person-centered care, speech-language therapy, South Africa,  professional perspective.

Språk

English

Konferens

GCPCC

GCPCC Kod

PCC275

Föreläsare

Juan Bornman Rapportör

Juan Bornman is Professor of Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) at Stellenbosch University and a speech-language therapist and audiologist.
Her research spans more than three decades and is grounded in a rights-based commitment to communication as a fundamental human need and human right. Central to her scholarship is the ethical and methodological imperative to elicit the perspectives, lived experiences, and narratives of children and adults with severe communication disabilities themselves, as a cornerstone of person-centred care. Her work advances the use of AAC to enable meaningful participation across education, health, and criminal justice contexts, particularly in the global South.
Through academic publications and applied research, she challenges exclusionary practices that silence individuals with communication disabilities and reframes inclusion as relational, contextual, and collaborative. Her scholarship consistently bridges theory, policy, and practice, foregrounding communication access as essential to dignity, agency, and social participation.