Staff and students at Stellenbosch University’s (SU) Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences (FMHS) have worked their socks off to prepare for #CrazySocks4Docs (#CS4D) day, which takes place on Friday 3 June 2022.
The #CrazySocks4Docs campaign kicked off in 2017 with Australian doctor Geoff Toogood at the helm. Toogood had one objective: break down mental illness stigma among healthcare workers by getting everyone to don “silly” or “crazy” socks. Since 2019, the FMHS has been collaborating with local non-profit entity, the Ithemba Foundation, to bring the campaign to healthcare workers-in-training at SU.
Professor Elmi Muller, Dean of the FMHS said the preparations for this year’s initiative was met with unmatched enthusiasm among staff and students alike. “We are fully cognisant of the severe mental stress that health professionals can experience while performing their duties. We support the #CrazySocks4Docs initiative because it provides an excellent platform for us to help break down the stigma surrounding mental illnesses among healthcare workers. When caring for patients, healthcare workers need to be strong and resilient. This can only happen if they look after their own physical and mental health first.”
Mr Vhudi Ravhutsi, chairperson of the Tygerberg Student Representative Council (TSRC), said the #CrazySocks4Docs campaign helps raise awareness of healthcare workers’ mental health needs but added that the campaign gave pause for further reflection: “We should think about the systems we uphold, the environments we create and the precedents we set in our hospitals, lecture theatres, bedside tutorials and offices. Perhaps we ought to strive for upholding an atmosphere that encourages healthy behaviours in these environments at the outset.”
Professor Hans Strijdom, head of the FMHS’s Division of Medical Physiology, said: “as a former medical practitioner, I can attest to the importance of looking after one’s mental health. As healthcare workers, we often neglect our own mental health status because we want to put a brave face forward and feel our patients come first. But, in fact, we are achieving the opposite. It is time for healthcare workers to put their patients first by putting their own mental health first. The two go hand-in-hand.”
Miss Tasha Ainsworth, a final-year Bachelor of Science in Physiotherapy student said #CS4D serves to bring awareness to the fact that healthcare professionals are not immune to diseases of the brain: “Let’s recognise this, and break the stigma and discrimination faced at so many levels in our discipline. A day of wearing funky socks helps but is not enough…we need to normalise these discussions as often as possible.”
This year, the FMHS will again collaborate with the Ithemba Foundation, sock manufacturer Falke and pharmaceutical group Cipla to donate high-quality colourful socks to medicine and health sciences faculties across the country in a bid to help encourage and normalise conversations about mental health, depression and anxiety among health professionals.
Professor Lizette Rabe, founder of the Ithemba Foundation said: “It’s ok for all healthcare professional not to be ok. You know better than I do that illnesses don’t go away if you ignore them. Instead, they become worse. Or even fatal. We, as the public #Care4OurCarers. Please also care for yourself.”
CS4D: GOOD TO KNOW
The Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, together with the Ithemba Foundation will host the following activities at Tygerberg Campus on Thursday 2 June 2022 and Friday 3 June 2022:
CrazySocks4Docs sock-selfie handout:
Date: Thursday 2 June 2022
Time: 13h00 to 14h00
Place: TSS (outside the gym)
Who: FMHS undergraduate students who posted a sock-selfie on social media only (first come, first served)
Date: Friday 3 June 2022
Time: 13h00 to 14h00
Place: TSS (outside the gym)
Who: FMHS undergraduate students who posted a sock-selfie on social media only (first come, first served)
CrazySocks4Docs webinar
Date: Friday, 3 June 2022
Time: 11h30 -12h30
RSVP: Please RSVP by sending an e-mail to tygerbergalumni@sun.ac.za before 5pm on Wednesday 1 June 2022 (The link will be provided per email two days prior to the event.)
The guest speaker is Ithemba Foundation board member, Dr Cobus McCallaghan, a South African psychiatrist, who will address the unique challenges healthcare workers face to getting proper mental health care. Dr McCallaghan will be joined by Professor Lizette Rabe, founder of the Ithemba Foundation. Professor Elmi Muller, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, will introduce the topic and our speakers.
Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences staff and students welcome.
Caption: Mr Njabulo Maphumulo, Tasha Ainsworth and Vhudi Ravhutsi sporting their colourful socks in support of the Crazy Socks for Docs campaign.
