Occupational Therapy

Haley Norval
B. O.T. (UOFS)
082 454 5933

Haley graduated from the University of the Orange Free State in 1998 and worked in several physical rehabilitation units in South Africa and England before starting her own private practice in Johannesburg 6 years ago. Haley has completed both her basic and advanced training courses in the Bobath Neuro-developmental Approach. She has a passion for Adult Neurology as well as a keen interest in Spinal Rehabilitation and Hand Therapy. Thus she has developed a wealth of experience in the management of neurological conditions and upper limb rehabilitation.



Sacha Hildebrandt
BSc OT (UCT)
MSc Neurorehabilitation (Brunel University, UK)
076 857 3397

Sacha graduated from the University of Cape Town in 2000 before moving to the UK where she spent a period of 7 years working in numerous NHS hospitals in central London. During this time she specialised in the field of Neurorehabilitation, and was part of managing and leading the neuro-OT services at units including the Queen Mary’s Stroke Unit (rated top out of 250 units nationwide in 2005). She also completed a Masters degree in this area of OT, at Brunel University, London. Sacha returned to South Africa at the beginning of 2008 when she joined Haley’s OT practice. She has a particularly strong interest in spinal cord injuries and traumatic brain injuries, having completed her Masters dissertation on post-traumatic amnesia following traumatic brain injury.

Haley and Sacha are now in partnership and together, manage a larger team of 6 OT’s. They provide a high quality service to inpatients on the Neuromedical Ward at Rosebank Netcare Hospital, to outpatients at Milpark Hospital and Rehab Matters Outpatient Centre, as well as to patients in their own homes.

Occupational Therapy at RehabMatters
Occupational Therapy aims to improve a client’s functional independence in the execution of their everyday activities, which range from the basics of brushing teeth to driving a car and returning to work.

OT is a holistic profession that considers the cognitive, perceptual, physical and functional wellbeing of their clients and strives to help them regain their confidence and ability to get on with their day to day tasks and roles as independently as possible. This often requires intervention in the form of:
Functional rehabilitation of self care, leisure and work tasks

• Upper limb rehabilitation, hand therapy and splint fabrication
• Cognitive rehabilitation
• Visual perceptual rehabilitation
• Home visits
• Advice on home adaptations and provision of assistive aids
• Carer/family training

In addition, the OT team at Rehab Matters is uniquely involved in Amputee Matters and they are able to provide a specialised assessment service for those requiring driving assessments after a neurological injury