Youth Day 2020: Young woman keeps healthcare workers in the know

Since the first case of Covid-19 in SA in early March, Pearl Spiller has been working 12-hour days, six days a week.

The 33-year-old head of design at the Knowledge Translation Unit, based at UCT's Lung Institute, is on a mission to roll out accessible Covid-19 information for healthcare workers so that all the latest research and evidence-based care can be presented in a way that is “engaging, clear and easy to digest”.

Her work covers the spectrum of communications, from leaflets and posters to online training. She says she never knows what each day is going to look like.

Spiller and her team “help health workers to manage people with Covid-19 and ensure conditions such as TB are not overlooked,” she told the Sunday Times.

She has to ensure that all the material is up to date, “which is tricky when things are changing every few days”.

“I feel very privileged to know that the work I am a part of producing is being used out in the world. Knowing that the work you do has a positive impact in the world out there is motivation enough.”