Hosted by Anita Volkert (@AnitavAHP) and Katrina Bannigan (@KatrinaBannigan) from Glasgow Caledonian University (@GcuOcc)

We are grateful to #OTalk for providing us with this opportunity to discuss a campaign that we have started called ‘Everyone needs a PAL’. PAL stands for Peer Assisted Learning, the name for the model of placement that involves having two or more students with one practice educator (Beveridge and Pentland, 2020). Our campaign is for occupational therapy, and the other allied health professions, to make it standard practice to have a minimum of two students involved in every placement. Our reasons for this are:

• New models of practice-based learning have been adopted and piloted but they have not solved the underlying capacity issue.
• The overarching challenge of scale remains because many of the new practice-based learning models operate on a one to one model, that is, one learner with one practice educator (Beveridge & Pentland, 2020). Unfortunately, this is unsustainable in the long term (Markowski et al., 2021).
• Modelling suggests that the need for placements is only going to increase over the next 10 to 30 years.
• Peer assisted learning is an approach that works (Markowski et al., 2021; Beveridge & Pentland, 2020).
• Supervising a peer assisted learning placement can actually feel like less work than supervising one student (Sevenhuysen et al., 2015).
• We need this bold move—essentially, a simple solution—so that we can divert the energy we put into finding placements into more productive activities, such as innovation and growth.

We hope that this campaign can help to bring this about. In #OTalk we are going to pose the following questions which we hope will provide a useful starting point for discussion:

• Have you had experience of peer assisted learning placements?
• Why do you think we need a campaign to move to peer assisted learning placements as standard practice?
• Do you want to play a part increasing facilitating peer assisted learning placements?
• What do you need to facilitate you to move to supervising peer assisted learning placements?
• How can we move campaign forward across the profession as whole and the wider AHP family?

References

• Beveridge J and Pentland D (2020) A mapping review of models of practice education in allied health and social care professions. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, 83(8): 488–513.
• Markowski M, Bower H, Essex R, et al. (2021). Peer learning and collaborative placement models in health care: a systematic review and qualitative synthesis of the literature. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 30(11–12): 1519–1541.
• Sevenhuysen S, Farlie MK, Keating JL, et al. (2015) Physiotherapy students and clinical educators perceive several ways in which incorporating peer-assisted learning could improve clinical placements: A qualitative study. Journal of Physiotherapy 61(2): 87–92.
• Volkert A, Bannigan K. The time is now to upscale all placements to a minimum of two students. British Journal of Occupational Therapy. 2022;85(7):475-476. doi:10.1177/03080226221097300

Blog posts

• If we keep doing what we’ve always done, we won’t increase placement numbers https://gcuocc.wordpress.com/2022/08/03/if-we-keep-doing-what-weve-always-done-we-wont-increase-placement-numbers/ 
• Researchers call on NHS to back new 2-1 student placements to end crisis Available at https://gcuocc.wordpress.com/2022/07/27/researchers-call-on-nhs-to-back-new-2-1-student-placements-to-end-crisis/

POST CHAT

Host:  Anita Volkert @AnitavAHP and Katrina Bannigan @KatrinaBannigan

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?

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 week, is hosted by Bill Wong – he asks before joining this OTalk discussion, to please watch this TEDx talk by Dr. Douglene Jackson. https://www.ted.com/talks/douglene_jackson_putting_a_death_to_imposter_syndrome_more_than_just_an_idea)

One of the jobs of being a TEDx organizer is to unearth undiscovered and underrepresented perspectives. As I was making a comeback to organize TEDx events again in 2021, I was thinking about how to promote OT with the TEDx platform without breaking its rules. Fortunately, golf is one of my favorite occupations. One of the things I learned from professional golfers is using the rules to their advantage in certain situations. When I mastered my understanding the content diversity guidelines for TEDx organizers, that was when I thought, “Sure, I can’t have an all OT lineup for the TEDx events I organize. However, what if I make an honest effort to invite someone from OT to speak at every TEDx event I organize? Yes, that will make other allied health professions mad if they ever found out that my TEDx events favor OT. I will also have to explain to people why I can’t have an all OT lineup at my events. But, I also know I can’t please everybody.”

Once I identified my strategy in promoting OT through my TEDx events, I used the same strategy as other TEDx organizers when they consider who to send out invites. I asked myself the following questions-

1. What has already been published within the last month? (This is an important question because if an idea I am considering is already published, I may either have to stop exploring the topic or be mindful of that in the process of coaching the speaker I have invited.)

2. What underrepresented perspectives or undiscovered ideas from OT that the public should be aware of?

3. Who is/are the best OT practitioner(s) to invite on the TEDx stage to share one of the underrepresented perspectives or undiscovered ideas? Are they OK with working with tight timelines (since TEDx events typically are) and limited operating windows (since that’s the nature of the TEDx event license types I go for nowadays)?

Fortunately, I generally try to update my knowledge of OT TED and TEDx talks that have existed at least a few times a year. So, as I was planning Dr. Douglene Jackson’s talk in 2021, I thought about the following things. First, up until Dr. Jackson’s talk was published, we were at least 90% confident that there was no TED or TEDx talk by a black occupational therapy practitioner or student. Second, I believe that if I produced this talk by Dr. Jackson, it will be a lasting artifact for prospective black OT students to realize that they can have successful OT careers. Third, I believe it is important to set an example to the OT profession about what proactive advocacy looks like. I felt compelled to not repeat the same mistakes as our predecessors. Finally, justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion has been a popular topic in recent years. I believe it is important to step up and show OT can be a core community pillar in this issue. 

As for the talk production, Dr. Jackson’s talk is actually one of the first talks where I took on the direct responsibility of coaching speakers. I was in imposter syndrome mode because I was trying to find my coaching style while knowing that I am not necessarily an expert in areas that my speakers will speak on. So, I fell back on what I learned during my training as an occupational therapist- being client-centered! The only times I have interjected are- a) making sure the audience can understand the material well; b) providing suggestions on how to make my speakers’ points stronger; c) when I need citations from speakers about their claims. 

Since producing this talk and having it published, I showed it to 3 groups of my students. They all told me, “We never in our wildest dreams would think of watching a TEDx talk produced by one of our instructors. Moreover, this is such an unconventional way of how we advocate for our profession. You teach us something that no other OT/OTA instructor in the world can.” I also had some academics told me, “You were the brainchild for this talk? Not only organizing TEDx events is an unchartered territory for the rest of us, how can you find time to do this when you are already so busy?” I just said, “It is our duty to protect the OT profession. We not only need to share the word about our values to friends and families, we also need to learn about avenues to share it to the public. We have the necessary tools. But, we don’t use them in that context.”

POST CHAT

Host:  Bill Wong @BillWongOT

Support on OTalk Account:  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.

We are so pleased to welcome RCOT new Chair of council Odeth Richardson as she hosts her first OTalk – She wants to hear from you this is your opportunity to engage with a person who is in a positions of influence.

Here is what Odeth has to say;

One of my election promises is to re-engage the membership as it was felt some Occupational Therapists were disconnected from the professional body. The past few years have been pretty challenging for all of us and recovery from this will take time. I know priorities have changed during the pandemic (mine certainly have) and so I wanted to reach out to the membership to try and understand what matters to them. Are we meeting your needs at the RCOT?

Two way communication is important and we would love to hear from you about the things that we are not getting right. How can these be improved? It’s equally important that we know the things that are working well. Engagement will differ for individuals and so we need a variety of ways that will be available to our members.

At our last council meeting we spent some time thinking about the following questions.

What does meaningful or good engagement from our members look like? 

If we manage engagement well, what will be different? 

How do we best measure, track and analyse meaningful engagement? 

This #OTalk session will help us to gain valuable insight from you our members and will support us in developing an Engagement strategy that will better reflect your needs.

Read more about Odeth here

POST CHAT

Host:  Odeth Richardson @OdethRichardson

Support on OTalk Account: Helen @Helen_OTUK

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 is hosted by Beverley Turtle (@bevaturtle)

This #OTalk is going to cover an important step in the research process, finding the gap. While it is hard to define what the “research gap” is (Nyanchoka 2019), it is seen as an area where there is missing or insufficient evidence to answer a research question. The gap could be in knowledge available, the sample under investigation or the type of research method used. All research projects must address a gap to ensure the generation of new knowledge and contribute to the evidence-base. Furthermore, while a gap may easily, or not so easily, be developed, the research must be worthwhile and important to relevant stakeholders.

It is also important to be mindful that the identification of a gap may not be restricted to research, with audits providing a way to identify “gaps” and avenues for quality improvement in clinical practice (Royal College of Occupational Therapists 2019).  Finding the gap may seem like an insurmountable task, however this #OTalk provides an opportunity to think about what constitutes a research gap and help break down a necessary step in research development. 

References

Nyanchoka, L., Tudur-Smith, C., Iversen, V., Tricco, A.C. and Porcher, R., 2019. A scoping review describes methods used to identify, prioritize and display gaps in health research. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, 109, pp.99-110.

Royal College of Occupational Therapists, (2019) Royal College of Occupational Therapists Research and Development Strategy 2019-2024. London: RCOT. 

POST CHAT

Host:  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?

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 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.