Kalam, Aziza2024-10-182024-10-182024https://hdl.handle.net/10566/16310While non-communicable diseases (NCDs) were historically regarded as diseases of the wealthy, they are now a concern amongst people living in poverty and those who are vulnerable in society. NCDs kill approximately 71% of the global population which equates to 41 million deaths each year, mostly affecting people living in poverty. Health-risk factors for NCDs include poor diet, lack of exercise, excessive use of alcohol and tobacco, and are mostly preventable. NCDs are preventable but may be inherited through health-risk behaviours and lifestyles. Women, in their roles as mothers are the ideal agents of change who could influence the behaviour and occupational choice of the next generation as they are ideally positioned within their families and communities to be empowered to take ownership of their health and well-being. The aim of this study was to develop and implement an occupation-based community development programme to address the prevention of NCDs with women in a low socio-economic community of the Western Cape. The objectives of the study were to explore and describe: 1) the women’s perceptions of NCDs; 2) how the women perceived their current health-risk behaviours and occupational choices, 3) their occupational needs for participation, 4) their enablers in relation to their occupational participation; 5) the selection and design of occupation-based strategies to address the health-risk factors for NCDs and 6) the process of implementation to empower the women to prevent health-risk factors for NCDs. The critical research paradigm was adopted, and a qualitative, participatory action research design integrated within the occupation-based community development practice framework, was utilised. A total of 27 women aged 20 to 65 years living in a low socio-economic community near Cape Town, South Africa participated in the study over a period of two and a half years.enHealth-risk factorsNCDsOccupation-based community developmentWomen’s empowermentCOPD