Services

gauteng@epilepsy.org.za
This service is available to members of the public and professionals, on all aspects of epilepsy. Enquiries are dealt with face-to-face, through our website, by email, letter or telephonically.

gauteng@epilepsy.org.za
Social workers are available for individual, group and family counselling on living with epilepsy. Specific concerns, such as education and employment, are also addressed.

gauteng@epilepsy.org.za
Work in underdeveloped areas offers people access to clinics; income from employment creation projects; and educational workshops and support groups. To subscribe to our monthly Support Group electronic newsletter, send an e-mail requesting to be added to the mailing list. People with epilepsy and other disabilities have been excluded from mainstream society and have been prevented from claiming their fundamental basic human, social, political and economic rights for too long. We encourage self-help programmes and provide guidance to existing and developing groups.

Self-help groups are run by people with epilepsy and their family members in close association with ourselves. Support groups create an environment conducive to supporting one another, learning more about epilepsy and sharing experiences about the condition. Regular support group meetings, facilitated by social workers and other staff members of EPILEPSY SOUTH AFRICA, meet on a regular basis at venues throughout the Province and offer information on epilepsy, mutual support, coping skills and hints and tips on the day to day management of epilepsy for individuals and their families.

workshop.gp@epilepsy.org.za
Our protective employment workshops cater for those excluded from the open labour market and our training programmes equip people with basic work skills. The Gauteng branch of EPILEPSY SOUTH AFRICA sees the employment and economic empowerment of people with epilepsy and/or other disabilities as a mean to rehabilitate, train and develop a certain percentage of the people to be placed back into the community and obtain work for them in the open labour market.

Protective employment provides an additional income for all the workers and thus alleviates poverty and prevents institutionalisation. Previously disadvantaged people from Springs, Kwa-Thema, Daveyton, Johannesburg and Soweto are productively employed in packaging, shrink-wrapping, labelling and assembly of products for private companies. Some people work on site, under supervision of EPILEPSY SOUTH AFRICA, for companies in the Springs area.

The workshops continue to manufacture, supply and install palisade fencing, refuse bin holders, security gates, rotating washing lines and to run a successful hydroponic farming project, that grows spinach.

pro.gp@epilepsy.org.za
We offer lectures, presentations and workshops, to professionals and lay groups. Contact us for a presentation that will be customized for your environment. Literature on various aspects of epilepsy is also available. Our newsletter, Epinews, contains articles and information on events and developments of interest to people with epilepsy.

“Epilepsy Week” is celebrated nationally during June every year and provides EPILEPSY SOUTH AFRICA with the unique opportunity to reach out to the public of Gauteng and to educate the community at large about epilepsy. Awareness creation and education remains an integral part of the service rendered by the organisation to improve and equalise opportunities for people with epilepsy, to reverse negative attitudes and to dispel myths about epilepsy. awareness is also raised through the use of print and electronic media. Information on epilepsy is distributed to members of the public in Gauteng on request.

gauteng@epilepsy.org.za
We protect the rights and represent the interests of people with epilepsy. When requested, we will act as an intermediary in employer/employee disputes about epilepsy.

manager.geduld@epilepsy.org.za or rebecca@epilepsy.org.za
A small number of people with epilepsy require specialized daily care. This service aims to achieve optimal seizure control while developing independence and self-sufficiency.

The Geduld and Daggafontein residential care centres render holistic services to adults with epilepsy and/or other disabilities and their families. Inter-disciplinary services are provided to residents and day-workers by means of accommodation, balanced nutrition, social work services, 24-hour nursing and frail-care services. In some instances, residents are employed in the kitchens, gardens and sickbays of both residential care centres or else work in the protective workshops.
Residents who can not cope in a protective workshop or other centre activities are offered a stimulation programme which promotes cognitive functions, skill development and improvement of group interaction which helps them to develop to their full potential. Many community organizations are actively involved in the centres and regualarly sponsor events for the residents.

gauteng@epilepsy.org.za
Clients at the residential care centres and protective workshops are regularly supplied with relevant information on the prevention of and consequences of HIV/AIDS. Counselling, medical treatment, care and support are provided to those clients already infected by the virus.