Steps Charity NPC

To expand our support programme for children under age 5 born with lower limb deficiencies, such as clubfoot by increasing our social enterprise activities. We would open a separate linked subsidiary to commercialise the sourcing and sale of medically endorsed products in Africa. The goal is to increase mobility in children born with limb deficiencies that will benefit from medical devices. This would reduce the cycle of poverty by giving them a better chance of going to school, and becoming productive members of society. The programme would support the donation of medical devices to those patients who are unable to access them due to financial or geographical constraints. As experts in our field with an established reputation regionally, we would leverage our network to not only provide medical devices but provide educational resources for health professionals so they can provide the best care to their patients. A strong patient-centred care ethos is the main driver of our vision and strategy.

A passionate vision inspired by my son’s experience, created my purpose to revolutionise clubfoot treatment in southern Africa. I introduced a life-changing treatment ideal for low resource settings to southern Africa. My goal is that that every child born with clubfoot should have access to the method that made such an impact on my son’s life. My entrepreneurial background and strong marketing skills gave me the tools I needed to build a sustainable non-profit in the challenging sector of state healthcare. Since starting Steps, thousands of children walk on straight flexible feet. I developed an award-winning social impact model that takes a child from disability to full mobility, no matter their social situation. Patient-centred care and working in partnership with like-minded health professionals has made it a programme that can be replicated and scaled. My future vision is to build a sustainable social enterprise that will support the successful treatment of children who are living in poverty, releasing them from a potential future of shame, pain and isolation to one of full participation in society and dignity.  

Globally at least 150,000 children are born with clubfoot every year, and 80% of these are in developing countries and cannot access good treatment resulting in lifelong disability. 

The scale of the problem is 2,000 new cases annually in south Africa and another 3,000 in southern Africa. The treatment takes 4 years to complete, which means that there are at least 8,000 patients receiving treatment annually. The burden of taking care of a disabled child is on the family, community and government. There are no disability programmes for children and most of them will not attend school and are hidden at home. 

Our solution is in alignment with the UN sustainable development goals and the global #runfree2030 campaign to increase access to treatment. 

The Steps Clubfoot Care theory of change model has 4 pillars that tackle eacy challenge and provide the solutions for a child to be treated. 

Advocacy - campaigns and education to reduce stigma and increase early diagnosis and referral

Training - healthcare professionals receive specialist training to increase the number of children that can be treated

Braces - source and supply quality medical devices

Clinic support - patient-centred care for under-resourced clinics

1. Introduced a revolutionary cost-saving medical technique that is suitable for low-resource settings.

2. Created a theory of change model that adapts a treamtent developed in North America to local conditions and challenges.

3. Introduced patient-centred care for clubfoot patients with parent education materials and support focused on increasing adherence and reducing patient drop out.

4. Our clubfoot statistics capture and reporting is a national first for birth defects and has been developed through years of clinic support and partnering with local champions and Department of Health infrastructure.

5. Develop resources for clinics to streamline administration, standardise indicators and provide real-time analytics of clinic statistics. 

6. Develop a social enterprise hybrid model that provides essential medical devices to government and funds the expansion of clinic support 

Training of health workers:  We organise training sessions, provide medical training models, advice on clinic set-up and management. We arrange follow-up on-site training at centres of excellence. 

Clinic Support: To ensure patients adhere to treatment we train parent educators who inform parents about the condition and the treatment as peers who speak their language. They follow up on patients who miss appointments and solve problems that hinder adherence. We provide administrative support to ensure quality record-keeping, overcoming the shortage of admin staff. 

Advocacy: Greater societal awareness leads to improved uptake of services–Greater awareness among health workers leads to prompt referral for treatment. We organise campaigns, do regular media spots, create videos, distribute pamphlets and posters in hospitals and give talks to healthworkers.

Brace Distribution: We source high-quality, low cost clubfoot braces for clinics with inadequate supplies. Our brace supply ensures patients are able to obtain a brace of the correct size, eliminating gaps in brace wear and increasing treatment success. 

After four years of treatment, children are fully functional and can have a life without the burden of disability. Our intervention reduces the burden on family, community and state that is the result of a person living with disability.