Being the largest town in the Western Cape’s interior region, Worcester serves as the hub of the province’s interior commercial, distribution and retail activity with a shopping mall, a well-developed central business district and infrastructure. Despite these developments the deteriorating financial health of households and individuals in the Breede Valley area under the weight of economic pressures, specifically between 2011 and 2015, has resulted in an increase in poverty levels, according to the Poverty Trends in South Africa report released by Statistics South Africa in 2017.
The report cites rising unemployment levels, low commodity prices, higher consumer prices, lower investment levels, household dependency on credit, and policy uncertainty as the key contributors to the economic decline in recent times. According to the report the categories of people vulnerable to poverty remained African females, children 17 years and younger, people from rural areas and those with no education.
In Worcester this increase in poverty levels has had a substantial effect on the social well-being of the community, giving rise to a high prevalence of substance abuse and, in addition, children born with foetal alcohol syndrome and other neonatal-related syndromes. Many children, youth and families experiencing physical, intellectual and/or mental disabilities, blindness and deafness seek specialised services and psycho-social support. Accessing specialised health and therapeutic services and/or specialised education and stimulation can be challenging in a community with limited resources and government support to provide accessible specialised services.
Through the well-established Partners for Life Parent Support Programme we at Breede Valley Association for Persons with Disabilities (APD) were able to do a needs assessment with the caregivers of children and youth with disabilities, and our suspicions were confirmed. There is an overwhelming need for accessible and specialised care services for young adults with profound intellectual disabilities. People with profound intellectual disability require 24-hour support, care and frequently also have other physical limitations. They depend on others for all aspects of their daily lives and have extremely limited communication abilities. In many cases the home-based care of people with profound intellectual disability leads to caregiver burnout and the serious neglect and abuse of these people.
Through the implementation of stricter guidelines and policies according to the Mental Health Care Act, people with profound intellectual disability of 18 years and older are no longer able to access Special Care Centres and/or Early Childhood Development (ECD)-related services subsidised by the Department of Social Development and the Department of Health, and need to be accommodated at home and/or alternative care facilities.
On 3 December 2019, known as International Day for People with Disabilities, a long-awaited dream came true for Worcester’s mamas of youth with disabilities with the opening of the Partners for Life Adult Care Centre. This was created to be a safe, stimulating environment for young adults with profound intellectual disability over the age of 18, also providing much-needed relief to their caregivers.
