Laetitia Cassells, lecturer, and Anneke Nel, junior research officer, both in the Publishing Studies sub-discipline in the Department of Information Science, presented at the Africa Interprofessional Education Network (AfrIPEN) virtual conference on 17 September 2021.

AfrIPEN is a consensus-based partnership between several institutions and individuals. Their aim is to establish interprofessional education and collaborative practice (IPE) as an essential part of training those in healthcare, as well as the effective functioning of systems for health in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Ms Cassells and Ms Nel presented a paper, in collaboration with staff at the Department of Occupational Therapy from the University of Pretoria on an interdisciplinary project on digital storytelling of community members that the Occupational Therapy students serve. The abstract for the conference paper titled Building connections through storytelling and bringing about change reads as follow:

In 2021, the University of Pretoria in South Africa, initiated a storytelling project, aimed at amplifying citizen’s voices and ensuring that the first-hand experiences of community members would reach those in positions of power, to influence and adjust policies so that they are truly person-centered. The UNICEF-One Health for Change project involved the disciplines of Occupational Therapy, Family Medicine (COPC Research Unit), Information Science, Interior Architecture, School of the Arts and theology (Centre for Contextual Ministry). Using the participatory action research process as a guiding framework, the students collected stories from the community members throughout their service learning. Challenges experienced included storage of data, ensuring adherence to POPIA, community education and digital literacy. The passion of all coordinators in the various programmes, the importance of the work being done, as well as the awareness of initiative requirements of all involved, enabled the co-creation of the stories. Lessons learnt include the benefits of partnerships and university-wide community engagement coordination, which can be implemented in other settings as well.

This is an ongoing initiative with students from the Publishing studies sub-discipline currently (at the time of publication) involved in the creation of the digital packaging of stories collected. Ms Cassells and Ms Nel are grateful to the Department of Occupational Therapy for this opportunity, and both are passionate about the continuous creation of accessible content for marginalised groups.