EDITORIAL
The sub-committee, which was convened to im­

prove the image and scientific standing of the Jour­
nal, has met twice and certain proposals have been 
put forward. Some of the perceived problems iden­
tified were that-
• the standard of the Journal does not reflect the 

current standard of the profession in South Af­
rica

• only a small number of physiotherapists write 
for the Journal

• the Journal lacks a scientific standard
• many of the physiotherapists and the majority 

of students do not read the Journal
• using a theme for each edition of the Journal is 

not always popular.
Some of these points contrast to the findings of 

an independent survey which suggested that on 
the whole physiotherapists were reading at least 
50% of the editorial and that they were satisfied 
with the service provided by the Journal. We invite 
comment regarding the retention of the theme con­
tent for each edition or of allowing each Journal to 
comprise of miscellany of articles.

However, the Publications Committee is aware 
that there is always room for improvement and 
will support any constructive advice from the sub­
committee and the Editorial Board. The proposal 
that a scientific editor should be appointed is wel­
comed and a job description for the editor is being 
sought. It was also suggested that help should be 
made available to potential authors and that arti­
cles would be published outlining how to write 
scientific articles and case studies. We look forward 
to both these suggestions being put into practice 
which will increase the number of articles for pub­
lication.

Although WHO states that rehabilitation is one 
of the major components of primary health care, 
these services are lacking in most areas of South 
Africa. Economically a country can not afford to 
ignore rehabilitating the disabled persons who 
could become productive members of society, 
while caregivers could be employed in more gain­

ful work. It is therefore essential to establish where 
the disabled persons are, who comprise 10% of the 
total population, what services are available and 
who is caring for these people. A few articles in this 
Journal attempt to address these problems but 
much more research is needed in these areas.

J Potterton surveyed the epidemiology of cere­
bral palsy in Giyani as well as the main concerns of 
the parents or care givers. Amosun et al went a step 
further and investigated the m ental health of 
caregivers of handicapped children. The high level 
of stress found amongst this group of caregivers 
suggests that the psychological problems of the 
caregivers should be addressed and should form 
part of the treatment of the handicapped child.

Following a request from the Manenberg com­
munity, a domiciliary programme was established 
in this area. The programme was aimed at improv­
ing the quality of life of the severely disabled per­
sons and their caregivers with emphasis being 
placed on the community development process. 
The disabled persons were encouraged to take re­
sponsibility for their own rehabilitation needs and 
to gain more control over their own lives. This 
study was written up by M Futter.

Amosun and Dantile evaluated the physio­
therapy curriculum of the University of the West­
ern Cape. In their study they found that burnout 
existed among physiotherapy students and they 
identified the need to establish the causal factors of 
burnout and ways of solving the problem. This 
should be of interest to both educators and practi­
tioners who all experience this syndrome during 
their professional lives.

The November Journal will contain articles re­
lated to exercise and management of joint prob­
lems and authors who still wish to submit manu­
scripts for review must do so before the end of 
August. Also in the November Journal will be an 
article by M van Wyk and E Smith highlighting the 
importance of efficient supervision.

■  J  C  Beenhakker

Bladsy 55 Augustus 1996 SA Tydskrif Fisioterapie, Dee152 No 3

R
ep

ro
du

ce
d 

by
 S

ab
in

et
 G

at
ew

ay
 u

nd
er

 li
ce

nc
e 

gr
an

te
d 

by
 th

e 
P

ub
lis

he
r 

(d
at

ed
 2

01
3.

)