Browsing by Author "Kleintjes, Sharon Rose"

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    Black clinical psychology interns at a 'white' university : their experience of colour during training
    (1991) Kleintjes, Sharon Rose; Swartz, Leslie
    This study examines whether black clinical psychology interns at a "white" university experience issues during training which they perceive to be colour-related, and suggests ways of dealing with these issues as part of training. The results are based on 22 one-hour semi-structured interviews conducted with four male and three female black ('Coloured', 'Asian' and 'Black') interns drawn from a group of 12 who had completed their first year of the Clinical Psychology Master's programme at the Child Guidance Clinic (CGC), University of Cape Town, between 1976 and 1990. At the time of interviewing four respondents were registered psychologists and three were intern psychologists. Interviews were taped and transcribed verbatim. The data was analysed qualitatively. Emergent themes are: Not feeling good enough, language and articulation, relating to classmates and trainers, working with clients, and talking about black concerns. There was substantial variation between interns within these themes in terms of the perceived impact of colour-related issues during their training. While provision should be made for the black intern who does experience significant effects from racially-related issues during training to work through these, interns (and trainers) should avoid overlabelling training difficulties as racially based. Other suggestions include the following: (a) Preselection information sent to applicants for the course could outline the CGC's informal policy on training interns from all races. (b) Reading and seminars held during orientation could include literature and discussion which would facilitate talking about black concerns. (c) Black staff could be appointed to the clinical training team. (d) Supervisors need to become more aware of the ways in which colour-related issues may affect interns' training, and of ways to facilitate interns' dealing with these issues where necessary. One possible model of the supervisor's role in the development of the intern's professional identity, including black interns, is briefly outlined.
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    A deaf child in the family : a preliminary study of the social-emotional impact of deafness on parenting and family life in Cape Town
    (2003) Kleintjes, Sharon Rose; Molteno, Chris
    This study documents hearing parents' experiences of the impact of deafness on raising their deaf children during the preschool years. It focuses on their experience of health services for their child. The study population of 20 children was drawn from parents with children under 6 years of age diagnosed with moderate to profound loss of hearing at the Developmental Ciinic, Red Cross Chiidren’s Hospital, Rondebosch; Cape Town. Data was collected from 2 sources, namely a semi-structured interview, which was analysed for themes, and a questionnaire, which measures parental stress, communication difficuities, and experience of professional support.
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    Participation of people with psychosocial disability in mental health policy development in South Africa
    (2012) Kleintjes, Sharon Rose; Flisher, Alan J; Swartz, Leslie; Lund, Crick
    This study addressed the following question: What are the barriers and strategies to support the participation of South Africans with psychosocial disability in mental health policy development in South Africa? A systematic literature review (objective 1) addressed the question: ""What supports people with psychosocial disability to participate in national mental health policy development?"" The WHO Checklist for Mental Health Legislation, the WHO Checklist for Mental Health Policy and Plan, and domain 4 of the World Health Organisation Assessment Instrument for Mental Health Systems (WHO-AIMS) were completed, and 96 semi-structured interviews with key stakeholders were conducted, to assess current stakeholder, mental health legislation and policy support for the participation of people with psychosocial disability in South Africa (Objective 2). Nvivo-7 software was used to analysis qualitative data, using a framework analysis approach to data analysis and interpretation. These interviews were also used to ascertain the views of 56 of the 96 South African stakeholders' involved in mental health services, on environmental barriers to the participation of people with psychosocial disability in mental health policy development in South Africa (objective 3). The remaining 40 interviews with people with psychosocial disability documented their lived experience of barriers to their participation in policy development, and highlighted their priorities for policy development (Objective 4). Eleven key informants involved in leadership roles in peer led organisations for people with psychosocial disability in Africa were interviewed to inform understanding of opportunities for supporting people with psychosocial disability to participate in mental health policy development (Objective 5). The findings of objectives 1-5 were triangulated to inform the development of a conceptual framework for supporting South Africans with psychosocial disability to participate in mental health policy development (objective 6). The framework proposes the need for social transformation to overcome barriers to the inclusion of people with psychosocial disability in society, including as policy participants, support for self-directed agency, and opportunity for meaningful participation in policy development.