Associate Professor Soraya Maart
My masters’ research explored cultural perspectives of health and quality of life. A Key finding was that poor health was linked to socio-economic constraints and presented in various ways. It is therefore important to understand cultural values associated with health and quality of life and how physiotherapists can best contribute to this. My PhD study investigated access to services for people with disabilities in an urban and rural setting and found that the rural setting had better access to services, which is contrary to the dominant discourse. Furter to this, informal settlements were the most difficult environments to navigate with a disability and were experienced as disabling and unsafe environments. I serve on multiple bodies looking at understanding and implementing the ICF towards developing the ICF as a coding standard for South Africa. I am also a part of Western Cape on Wellness (WoW) programme, more specifically the training of champions on the programme who are concerned with improving community health. I supervise postgraduate students who investigate cultural aspects that impact disability inclusion and the impact of COVID-19 on wellness for athletes and within work settings.
Qualifications: BSc (Physiotherapy) MPH UWC PhD UCT