Now, you might have seen the title of this post and thought to yourself, “what on earth has market research got to do with occupational therapy?” I promise I haven’t lost the plot, hear me out… What happens if you have an idea for a new service or perhaps a new assistive device, or maybe you’ve seen what you think is a ‘gap in the market’. How do you find out if your idea is unique or even if it’s viable? The answer to that question, is, market research. 

Market research is used to gather data on the market. Simply put, market research gives you the information you need to make good business decisions. It is not however, a substitute for decision making but it is a way to tackle problems that you might come up against when setting up a new service or launching a new product (Hague, 2022). 

In theory, anyone can start selling or providing any product or service they want, but that doesn’t mean it will be successful. To ensure the success of the venture, they must be sure there is a want and a need for the goods or services, the way to do this, is by researching the market (Hague, 2022). If you have a new idea for a service or product, it can be easy to get swept up in the excitement and think it is the most fantastic and unique idea anyone has ever had! However, if you don’t get opinions from the people you wish to sell or offer your idea to, your view of it is potentially skewed, and you may not end up providing the service or product you hoped you would. With this is mind, whilst it may be tempting to run headfirst into offering your shiny new thing, it is important to wait, take a step back and ask yourself two questions. First, is there a viable market for this service? Second, is this service viable? (Estay, 2021). 

As occupational therapists, we already understand the importance of occupational therapy and the importance of it in all areas of life. We’re problem solvers and pride ourselves on thinking ‘outside the box’ and this is just another aspect of that. We should be able to bring our ideas of innovative products or services to the rest of the world and the best way to do that and be successful is by conducting market research to ensure the best chance of making our new ideas work. 

References

ESTAY, B., 2021. How to Evaluate Market Viability of Product Ideas (Updated for 2021) [online]. Big Commerce. [viewed 18 November 2022]. Available from: https://www.bigcommerce.co.uk/blog/evaluate-product-market-viability/#undefined 

HAGUE, P., 2022. Market Research in Practice: An Introduction to Gaining Greater Market Insight. 4th ed. London: KoganPage.

POST CHAT

Host: Sal Anderson @SalAndersonOT

Support on OTalk account: Paul Wilkinson @PaulWilkinson94

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.

The Alchemy of Good Interventions: Developing a Creative Health Quality Framework 

Occupational Therapy has a long history of using creative and cultural activities as part of diagnosis, treatment and recovery in a variety of settings. Recent years have seen interest in how cultural activities can improve health and wellbeing grow with bodies such as The World Health Organisation, Arts Council England, The Baring Foundation, Museums Association and NHS England all putting out reports and policies to support this work. 

Our unique perspective and use of creative activities makes the profession well placed to lead and deliver culture for wellbeing programmes – from hospitals to community settings. But how do we measure success and what does a “good” creative intervention look like?  

This #OTalk will be hosted by Jemma Channing (@JemChanOT), an Occupational Therapist working in a museum, in partnership with the Culture, Health and Wellbeing Alliance (CHWAlliance) and Jane Willis (@janecwillis) who are currently developing a Creative Health Quality Framework.

The Creative Health Quality Framework aims to be an overarching quality framework which both individuals and organisations can use to guide them in deciding what quality looks like to them – you can read more about the framework and its development here: https://www.culturehealthandwellbeing.org.uk/creative-health-quality-framework

1. Have you ever partnered with a gallery, museum or other culture organization as part of your OT practice?
2. The alchemy of a ‘good’ creative OT project…What does this look like to you? 
3. What might good look like to your patients and other staff, including managers?
4. How would a Creative Health Quality Framework support your practice? 
5. How might OT core values translate into a Creative Health Quality Framework?  
6. Partnership working underpins almost all good creative health programmes: what makes a meaningful partnership?

POST CHAT

Host: Jemma Channing @JemChanOT and Jane Willis @janecwillis

Support on OTalk account: Carolina Cordero @colourful_ot

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.

This week Keir Harding @Keirwales will be hosting here is what he has to say………

The Casson Memorial lecture takes place every year and it one of the calendar events in the world of occupational therapy. Elizabeth Casson was the first woman to be awarded the degree of Doctor of Medicine of the University of Bristol in 1929. Dr Casson specialised in psychiatry and introduced occupational therapy to England, setting up the first school of occupational therapy in Bristol in 1930.  To commemorate the founding of occupational therapy in the UK, each year the RCOT ask someone who has “made or is making a significant contribution to developing our profession” to deliver a lecture.   Via a selection process which has generated a result that even Baltic dictatorships find unbelievable, this year it’s being delivered by me.  

While the lecture is an opportunity to talk about whatever I want, I’m mindful that it is also there to benefit the profession in some way.  While I can be quite vocal on social media and other spheres, I’m conscious that I’m probably associated with mental health in general and a narrow area of mental health in particular.   

I’d like you to help me craft something that speaks to the whole profession.  Something that validates and challenges, something that questions and inspires, something that critiques but offers hope.  Now I have some ideas based on the topics I’m always banging on about but I’m particularly interested in your thoughts on: 

I find it difficult to describe why I’m doing this lecture but objectively its probably because I’m quite vocal about the profession, about working with people who tend to get excluded and about focusing on areas/occupations we aren’t normally associated with.  Just to get a rough idea of the kind of things I get up to before the #OTalk you might be interested in having a look at: 

Me in the BJOT

Me in the Lancet here, here and here

Me saying how ace OT is here and here

Me flouncing around on the BBC here

Hope to see you Tuesday, 

Keir

POST CHAT

Host: Keir Harding @Keirwales

Support on OTalk account: Ruth Hawley @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.

Chat will be hosted by @Lauramains0, @rebeccaharkin97 with @preston_jenny on the #OTalk account.

During many of our #OTalk Research discussions we have talked about the challenges incorporating research into practice and how this is often reserved for those within a research role.  What if we developed research placements?  What might that look like?  Would students be interested?  How will they meet their learning outcomes if they are focussing on research?

This week we will hear from two final year occupational therapy pre-registration Masters students undertaking a research placement.  The placement has been developed around evaluation of a 9 year clinical programme supporting young people living with neurological conditions as they transition from Child Health into Adult Services.  

The students are participating in a placement that enables them to develop clinical skills within this area while contributing to their understanding of the role of the occupational therapist within this programme.  They have participated within two external events that have examined the policy context of Transitions, further developing their knowledge of the wider strategic importance of this work.  Finally they are involved in coding routine clinical data within the ICF Framework (WHO) in an attempt to illustrate the breadth and depth of occupational therapy interventions.

As part of the placement they have gained experience in the design and development of the methodology; developed a data collection tool; piloted the evaluation framework; and developed a questionnaire for the young people who have accessed the service.  The aim is to write up this work for publication led by the Practice Educator and with the students cited as co-authors.  Not bad for a 10 week placement!

Laura and Rebecca will share some of their thoughts and experiences through discussion of the following questions:

1. What are your experiences of engaging in a research placement?

2. What were the key take aways from the experience?

3. What advice do you have for those thinking about this option?

4. How can we expand the capacity and capability of research placements?

5. Should we have research placements, or should this be an integral part of every practice based learning experience?

References

International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health: ICF. Geneva: World Health Organization, 2001.

POST CHAT

Host: @LauramainsO, @rebeccaharkin97

Support on OTalk account: @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.