This #OTalk is hosted by Sam Pywell @smileyfacehalo

September is traditionally the time of year for many students to start a new academic year, either starting their course for the first time or going into a new year of study. This #OTalk wants to focus on welcoming all those starting new or continuing with their studies within Occupational Therapy and think about the occupations of being a student.

For many the time period of being a student, involves significant changes in occupational routines and habits. For some, they will have moved into new accommodation and/or have changes in their domestic routines as well as the addition of the academic challenges. Studying is traditionally associated with being a time of growth and learning, both academically and also in life skills. It is also often a period of significant challenge. As Ennals (2021) recognises – studying is a complex and multifaceted occupation and the experience of being a university or college student requires a wide occupational lens that extends well beyond a sole focus on education.

Our professional body, RCOT, offers a welcome webinar for new and returning learners, Welcome to new and returning occupational therapy learners – RCOT. The experience of feeling welcomed and belonging is a crucial element to success and sustainability as a student. To support this, and to welcome them to the twitter OT community and to share tips and strategies from those in this community, this #OTalk plans to discuss the following questions.

1. Are you a current student? If so, what are you studying and where? If not, have you been a student in the past and what did you study and where?
2. What is/was, or do you expect to be, your challenges during your time as a student?
3. What do you/ have you found to be helpful in supporting your studies?
4. From those, who have completed Occupational Therapy degrees – what is your favourite memory from your time as a student or what advice you would give to those at the start of their journey/ currently studying.
5. For current students, what topics would you be most interested to see covered in an #OTalk?

References:

Ennals, P. 2021 The dark side of studying at university. In Twinley, R. (ed) Illuminating the Dark Side of Occupation. International Perspectives from Occupational Therapy and Occupational Science. Oxon: Routledge. pp 235-246

POST CHAT

Host:  Sam Pywell @smileyfacehalo

Evidence your CPD. If you joined in this chat you can download the below transcript as evidence for your CPD, but remember the HCPC are interested in what you have learnt.  So why not complete one of our reflection logs to evidence your learning?

Reflection logs

HCPC Standards for CPD.

• Maintain a continuous, up-to-date and accurate record of their CPD activities.
• Demonstrate that their CPD activities are a mixture of learning activities relevant to current or future practice.
• Seek to ensure that their CPD has contributed to the quality of their practice and service delivery.
• Seek to ensure that their CPD benefits the service user.
• Upon request, present a written profile (which must be their own work and supported by evidence) explaining how they have met the Standards for CPD.

This #OTalk will be hosted by @smileyfacehalo and @preston_jenny 

Learning styles (Kolb et al, 1984) have traditionally been considered as a key construct particularly in the preparation of students for practice education.  Traditionally students and practice educators have completed questionnaires to help identify their preferred learning styles with the ambition of incorporating these preferences within the learning experience and in some cases even matching practice educators and students on their preferences.  This process led to an understanding that we each learn differently and therefore require different learning experiences.

Advances in theory and evidence are now challenging these perspectives to the extent that some theorists believe that learning styles are nothing more than an imaginary fallacy and do not exist (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=855Now8h5Rs).  This may feel contentious and challenge the familiar yet there is a need for us to consider alternative perspectives to ensure that we co-create the best learning opportunities for our future workforce.

During this chat we would like to explore the concept of learning preferences and what this means for students particularly in preparation for placements through the following questions:

1.    Are we still teaching students about learning styles and are we still asking students about their preferred learning styles on placement?

2.   Does this pigeon-hole students into one learning style?

3.  Do you use any other mechanisms to talk about and understand student learning preferences?

4.   What might practice educators ask students, and what information should students bring to placement about their learning preferences and needs?

5.  How do you incorporate this within the learning experience?

6.  What changes are required within the profession to enable an approach that focuses on learning needs and preferences instead of learning styles?

References

Kolb, D. A., Rubin, I. M., & McIntyre, J. M. (1984). Organizational psychology: readings on human behavior in organizations. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall

POST CHAT

Host:  @smileyfacehalo and @preston_jenny 

Support on OTalk Account: @smileyfacehalo and @preston_jenny 

Evidence your CPD. If you joined in this chat you can download the below transcript as evidence for your CPD, but remember the HCPC are interested in what you have learnt.  So why not complete one of our reflection logs to evidence your learning?

https://otalk.co.uk/reflection-logs/

HCPC Standards for CPD.

• Maintain a continuous, up-to-date and accurate record of their CPD activities.
• Demonstrate that their CPD activities are a mixture of learning activities relevant to current or future practice.
• Seek to ensure that their CPD has contributed to the quality of their practice and service delivery.
• Seek to ensure that their CPD benefits the service user.
• Upon request, present a written profile (which must be their own work and supported by evidence) explaining how they have met the Standards for CPD.

This #OTalk Research Chat will be hosted by Anya de longh @anyadei with Beverley Turtle @bevaturtle on the #OTalk account

Quality improvement (QI) and research both contribute to our knowledge and understanding and are a key aspect of occupational therapy practice. While providing different routes to healthcare improvement, I am struck by their complementary principles and the opportunities they both pose for skill development.  However there is much debate about the differences in their methodologies and approaches too.  So, I felt it would be a good topic for a #OTalk, to hear from other occupational therapists, researchers, and improvers about how they see these two approaches and use them in their practice. 

From my experience, QI often feels more accessible, and something that you can really get your teeth into. While those skills necessary for QI lend themselves well to research and can lead to the development of research questions, making that step from a QI project to a research project can feel like such a large leap! 

While we may be aware of the differences between QI and research, how confident are we in which is better suited to a particular situation? And as ever, how do we translate both into practice? 

I don’t have all the answers, but I know that the hive mind and brilliance of the occupational therapists joining #OTalk will help! But equally, if you are unfamiliar with the topic like me, come and join anyway and learn with me! 

If it helps, here are a few useful links about the differences and strengths of each approach: 

– A short (less than 5 min!) video from the Chief Quality Office at ELFT on the difference between quality improvement and research

QI vs Research

– For those of you who prefer a colourful diagram, or written prose, try Fig 1. In this BMJ paper… (Backhouse & Ogunlayi, 2020) 

https://www.bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m865

The questions we will be discussing during this #OTalk are:

1. What do you understand as the difference between QI and research? 

2. Why does this difference matter?! 

3. What areas might you find QI more helpful than research approaches in your clinical/professional practice? 

4. What areas might you find research more helpful than QI approaches in your clinical/professional practice?

5. What QI developments have you led on, or been part of, and has this led to research? 

Post Chat

Host:  Anya De Longh @anyadei

Support on OTalk Account: Beverley Turtle @bevaturtle

Evidence your CPD. If you joined in this chat you can download the below transcript as evidence for your CPD, but remember the HCPC are interested in what you have learnt.  So why not complete one of our reflection logs to evidence your learning?

https://otalk.co.uk/reflection-logs/

HCPC Standards for CPD.

• Maintain a continuous, up-to-date and accurate record of their CPD activities.
• Demonstrate that their CPD activities are a mixture of learning activities relevant to current or future practice.
• Seek to ensure that their CPD has contributed to the quality of their practice and service delivery.
• Seek to ensure that their CPD benefits the service user.
• Upon request, present a written profile (which must be their own work and supported by evidence) explaining how they have met the Standards for CPD.

This #OTalk is hosted by @LGBTQIAOTUK

As Pride month draws to a close, what better time to explore the all year round commitments we can make in support of the LGBTQIA+ community. Whilst it’s great to see the display of rainbows and progress flags increase during Pride month, they very quickly seem to disappear again once July hits. There are very simple changes that we can all make to show solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community.

Yet, as a profession, we still seem to behind the times. One of the simplest things that we can all do is to include our pronouns in our display names, email signatures etc. However, it did not go unnoticed that the inclusion of pronouns were severely lacking at RCOT annual conference this year. Although we will never recommend a blanket approach to the use of pronouns (it can be very complex and triggering for those who are questioning things in regards to their gender identity), for most people it would be a very simple, yet effective action. So, what’s stopping us?

Questions that will be discussed during the #OTalk.

1. Pride month: What is it? What does it mean to you?

2. What steps have you taken to show solidarity with the LGBTQIA+ community?

3. What, if anything, holds you back with respect to conversation and/or positive action with respect to LGBTQIA+ identities?

4. LGBTQIA+ inclusion in health and social care: What more can we be doing?

Post Chat

Host:  @LGBTQIAOTUK

Support on OTalk Account: @Ruth_Hawley 

Evidence your CPD. If you joined in this chat you can download the below transcript as evidence for your CPD, but remember the HCPC are interested in what you have learnt.  So why not complete one of our reflection logs to evidence your learning?

https://otalk.co.uk/reflection-logs/

HCPC Standards for CPD.

• Maintain a continuous, up-to-date and accurate record of their CPD activities.
• Demonstrate that their CPD activities are a mixture of learning activities relevant to current or future practice.
• Seek to ensure that their CPD has contributed to the quality of their practice and service delivery.
• Seek to ensure that their CPD benefits the service user.
• Upon request, present a written profile (which must be their own work and supported by evidence) explaining how they have met the Standards for CPD.