Faculty of Community & Health Sciences
Faculty of Community & Health Sciences
P r o f e s s o r r i n a s wa r t t o P ac h i e v e r
D r S e r e n a I S a ac S
r I S I n g S ta r
Balancing life and work during lockdown proved challenging
Developing family and community resilience in a post-pandemic world
PROFESSOR Rina Swart has worked in the area of public health hold help, I found that household chores (cleaning, cooking, launnutrition since 1986. Her background training is in dietetics, and dry and gardening) took up a disproportionate amount of time her areas of interest are the policies and programmes that ad- compared to pre-Covid. Even though I was used to being actively dress malnutrition in all its forms — be it undernutrition, obesity involved in these over weekends, there was now much more to do on a daily basis. or micronutrient malnutrition. When thinking about the effect of the pandemic on women, she “I can just imagine that for women in academia who have younger children, that it would have been even more challenging. The says: “The answer to this question lies in the nature of the balance between life and work took a bit of a knock. household and pre-Covid responsibilities and inter“If I am honest, I have to say that I did not, and ests. My understanding is that the majority of still do not manage this well at all. My chilhouseholds in South Africa are either fedren say that my work is also my hobby, male-headed or have a traditional role so I often end up working all hours. allocation. In these households, I do The only thing that changes is my think women in academia would setting — sometimes it will be in have been disproportionately afthe bedroom, sometimes in the fected by the pandemic. Where lounge. I know it is unhealthy the nature of households difand found it difficult to manfers from the majority, there age pre-lockdown. Lockmay be a different experidown made this worse.” ence — for example, in a Looking ahead, Prof Swart single parent male-headed is working hard on planning household.” for a National Dietary InHer pandemic experience take study that is supposed was as caregiver to three to go into the field in July young adult males, her 2021. The tender for this was sons, who returned home awarded during lockdown in during this time and happily 2020. Logistically, it is a chalregressed to the “traditional” lenging project. role of children in the house. “My collaborators are HODs of “It was hard work to keep them Dietetics and Nutrition from 11 uniengaged in household chores. Alversities in the country — and to date, though I am partly to blame for taking all our planning had to be done virtually. on more than what was necessary. The nature of the data requires measure“The online learning environment was new ment of people to determine nutritional status, for them and all of them worked really hard, so as well as interviews to quantify the the mother with a soft heart tended to “The balance between life and food people eat daily. This means that occasionally spoil them by washing the dishes or doing the laundry when it was work took a bit of a knock. If I am hon- data collection needs to be done facetheir turn. est, I have to say that I did not, and still to-face. The third wave of Covid and delays in vaccination are therefore a “Especially during the early lockdown do not manage this well at all.” significant challenge.” period and the absence of any house-
DOCTOR Serena Isaacs is keenly aware of the daily struggle to of) work. Not only are we taking care of the house — cooking, create balance in families and individuals. She is a supervising cleaning and doing the laundry — but we also have to fit our Research Psychologist and a Senior Lecturer who professions into our home space as well. Creating has been with the Department of Psycholthat separation of work and personal space ogy at the University of the Western Cape has been quite the challenge.” since 2011. She graduated with a PhD Over the years, she has managed to in Psychology in April 2018 and her develop a resilient system for achievpostdoctoral work has focused on ing her goals. furthering the field of family resil“My priorities are based on my ience research in South Africa. life goals – both work and Her work has never been personal. At the beginning of more important than during every new year, I identify a list the pandemic. of main goals. For example, “It is hard to pinpoint how one of my goals for 2021 women are disproportionis to ensure that the proately affected because it’s gramme I developed is imsomething we experience plemented and evaluated. every day — even before Another goal is to ensure the pandemic. that all students I supervise “I see it in academia all the have received their ethics time. When you’re in a meetclearance and have collected ing and something needs to data. My third goal is to ensure be arranged or organised, inthat I participate in meaningful evitably there will be a woman and impactful community or outbehind it. reach activities. “You carry so much responsibility by “In order to achieve these goals, I definition of being a woman, and when need to ensure that each month, I have you add the label academic to that, you accomplished something to those ends. are carrying the weight of the world. We’re So, on Monday mornings I sit and prioritise looking after the current and next generation, not tasks for the week. At the end of the week, I go back only at home but at work as well (and these days, work is home). to that list and review what I was able to do and what I wasn’t able In academia, so much of what you do affects others and can have to complete and why. a significant impact on the rest of their “There’s never been a more pressing “Not only are we taking care of the lives. It’s no exaggeration to say that need for families to build resilience. people’s futures are in our hands.” house, but we have to fit our professions That’s why my aim is to contribute to When talking about work-home balinto our home space as well. Creating and develop the area of family and ance, Dr Isaacs admits that the lines can community resilience in a post-panget totally blurred. “Our work is now at that separation of work and personal demic world, and inspire others to folhome and our home is now (our place space has been quite the challenge.” low suit.”
