- Title
- The role of social workers in the social management of epilepsy in Africa
- Creator
- Mugumbate, Jacob; Riphagenn, Harmiena; Gathara, Rosemary
- Relation
- The Handbook of Social Work and Social Development Practice in Africa p. 168-180
- Relation
- Routledge International Handbooks
- Relation
- https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781317029380
- Publisher
- Routledge
- Resource Type
- book chapter
- Date
- 2017
- Description
- Despite the stigma associated with epilepsy in most African countries, definitions of this neurological condition often overlook its social nature and focus solely on its medical presentation (Diop, 2000). Once diagnosed, it is usually treatable, though its social impact might be extremely debilitating for people living with epilepsy. Importantly, epilepsy is a social condition characterised by entrenched stigma that requires social management (Birbeck, 2000; Lu & Elliott, 2012). It is in the social management of epilepsy that social work can play an important role. This chapter examines the role of social work through the professional work of peak associations for people living with epilepsy familiar to the authors from Zimbabwe (Mugumbate, researching employment opportunities for service users of the Zimbabwe Epilepsy Support Foundation (ESF)), Namibia (Riphagen, Chairperson of Epilepsy Namibia (EN)), and Kenya (Gathara, program coordinator at the Kenya Association for the Welfare of People with Epilepsy (KAWE)), as well as from other African countries such as Zambia, Swaziland, Mauritius, and Uganda, with which these associations have direct contact.
- Subject
- soial work; epilepsy; Africa; social management; neurological conditions
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1391246
- Identifier
- uon:33188
- Identifier
- ISBN:9781472468512
- Language
- eng
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