Category: #BlogSquad2018
RCOT 2018 Blog 5 Sess 33.1 – Exploring the theraputic potential of the team sport of boccia occupation station
This session was led by Lyndset from Sport for Confidence @sportforconf
Session aims were to:
- Explore the use of boccia as a theraputic activity
- Discuss potential uses of boccia as an assessment tool in terms of activity analysis
- Have a go and experience the sport of boccia
It all started with being introduced to boccia, pronounced bot-cha. A game of one jack, two teams, red and blue, six balls per side and a fiercly competitive bunch of occupational therapists.
Lyndsey Barrett, an occupational therapist from Essex is the founder of Sport for Confidence, an organisation aiming to involve people with and without learning disabilities in sport. They recently worked alongside the Royal College of Occupational Therapists to produce an evidence guidelines based on using boccia as an assesment and intervention tool.
The occupation station itself was aimed at getting occupational therapists thinking about the activity of boccia and it’s relevance in assesment. What better way to do it than to give it a go?
Que the group being split into two and the first lot of attendees sat on the edge of their chairs throwing like they’ve never thrown before. The jack was launched into the middle and the first few balls added into the mix, red team had an early lead and the blue team (myself included) were struggling to catch up. Much debate and conversation went on, a few woops and cheers and the reds were united in their victory before we all had to get up and shake hands. The red team had won 3-0.
Then came the team swap, the next 8 were up. But here’s when the competition took on another level, red went first and a tactical move by blue knocked it out. The teams matched each other play by play but in the last moment the jack was moved and blue took it 2-0. Again the victors celebrated before the teams stood up and shook hands.
But, what relevance does this have to occupational therapy you say?
But, what relevance does this have to occupational therapy you say?
Core to occupational therapy is activity analysis. At some point along our educational journey we were taught about breaking activities down into the skills used to perform the activity.
Boccia provides a perfect platform to asses a person’s strength, endurance, turn taking, communication skills and many more. Within moments of watching the game it was easy to spot people repositioning themselves to throw, working out the required strength to throw the ball, considering their options and socially becoming part of a team.
The session brought with it a powerful reminder of the skill of activity analysis and unique role occupational therapy can provide in the area. The sport itself is simple, easily graded or forward and backward chained and an asset to the occupational therapy toolkit.
This blog was written by @Amie_OT Current RCOT Education Liaison Officer
RCOT 2018 Blog 4. Network Meeting: The Elizabeth Casson Trust: Professional Leadership Programme – what’s next?
This inspiring fringe event hosted by Sally Townsend and Cat Evans, Trustees at the Elizabeth Casson Trust, focused on the Trust’s commitment to support the development of leadership capacity within occupational therapy through awards available as part of its Leadership Project.
The Elizabeth Casson Trust aims to ‘advance the occupational therapy profession by supporting the development of occupational therapists’ primarily through its funding opportunities. One of the Trust’s three strategic intentions is to ‘help develop leaders in occupational therapy with the capability of taking the profession forwards within the context it needs to operate’.
The Leadership Project, launched in February 2018, enables occupational therapists to apply for up to £10,000 to develop their leadership skills. When applying for the award applicants are required to describe how they will lead and deliver on a project that addresses leadership challenges, and how they plan to develop leadership skills to achieve the required changes.
Sally talked compellingly about research undertaken by Caroline Waters (HR consultant) which informed the development of the Leadership Project. She identified that the overwhelming theme from the research was that occupational therapists lack confidence in their leadership abilities. She went on to highlight that the Trust’s Leadership Programme launched in February 2018 aims to redress skill deficits by providing opportunities to enable all occupational therapy staff, from support assistants to senior management, to develop the requisite behaviours and skills to perform as leaders.
Sally explained that the Elizabeth Casson Trust is collaborating closely with the Royal College of Occupational Therapists to develop occupational therapy leaders so that each organisation can complement the other with the support that it offers to therapists.
Karin Ormin RCOT Lead Professional Advisor attended the session. She highlighted the RCOT vision for ‘all members to recognise themselves as leaders and act as leaders, sharing a vision of occupational therapy and its value within their service’. She highlighted that traditionally occupational therapists have excelled in enabling others and consequently ‘follow behind’ the enabled person rather than perform as leaders.
She went on to urge occupational therapists to raise their heads above the parapet and be proud and vocal about their leadership attributes. Together Sally and Karin concurred that a cultural shift is gathering momentum within the profession as occupational therapists are being challenged to individually and collectively recognise themselves as leaders in order to move the profession forward.
I was motivated to attend this session as I am passionate about developing research leadership and research capacity within occupational therapy and I’m seeking out opportunities to achieve this aim. I recently completed an HEE/NIHR Internship award and am co-presenting at Belfast this year about the clinical academic pathway as an approach to increasing research leadership in occupational therapy. This slide has particular resonance to me as it reflects many of the qualities I must foster within my plans to become established as a clinical academic. If we are to succeed as leaders we must develop essential skills such as confidence, resilience and tenacity.
If you are interested in the opportunities offered by the Leadership Project and wish to apply you will need to attend the next Leadership Project Event held by the Trust on 3rdOctober 2018 in preparation for developing your proposal for submission by 2ndJanuary 2019. Feedback regarding the success of your bid is given by the end of February 2019 and you will be ready to commence your project in March 2019.
For those seeking to apply Sally stressed the importance of giving consideration to the impact of your project and to consider how your proposal aligns with and could influence your organisational strategic aims. Sally went to advocate that occupational therapists seize opportunities to network with key decision makers and be proactive in creating opportunities to promote the occupational therapy profession. For occupational therapists intent on building their skills as leaders this is an invaluable opportunity to secure funding to evolve as a leader. What’s to stop you from applying?
More information about the Leadership Project and opportunities offered by the Elizabeth Casson Trust can be found at https://elizabethcasson.org.uk/
Written by Faye Dunford @FayeDunford
RCOT 2018 Blog 3 Sess. 21: 21st Century meaningful activity – Using social media as a way to engage.
Led by members of the #OTalk team – Rachel Booth, Kirstie Hughes, Kelly Murray and Helen Rushton.
Session aims:
- To explore how to use Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram and Facebook social media platforms for professional means.
- To discuss how to use social media as a therapeutic intervention with service users
We all know that social media is huge – not just with the younger generation but with all generations. Never have we been more connected to each other all over the world or able to gain information in an instance. But do we use it in our professional lives? And if we do, are we using it properly, and in an engaging way that benefits both us for CPD activity and our service users as a therapeutic intervention?
One way in which Occupational Therapists are using social media is for CPD. At 8pm every Tuesday on Twitter #OTalk happens. There is a weekly topic and questions for people to respond and contribute towards. They are all volunteers who run the group chat and their aim is to support the profession and all OTs with their personal development in a free and informal way.
In this Occupation Station session we were given 7 minutes to move around 4 social media tables:
Table 1: Twitter:
How to use it professionally and personally – a quick guide for non-Twitter users.
For those who use Twitter they shared the hashtags they follow for work and play. It’s also the first place to see when new research, publications and initiative get released.
Table 2: Pinterest and Instagram
On this table there was a discussion of how Pinterest can be used for collating ideas for interventions and session as well as using it with service users as a therapeutic intervention. For Instagram it is a photo based social media, a great way of promoting activities in Occupational Therapy or for service users to explore their occupations through photography in a 21st century way.
Table 3: Facebook
Many of use have Facebook for personal use. The key message for this table was to utilise the 4OT Groups (e.g. OT4OT, CPD4OT, MH4OT) for networking and learning and if you wish to use Facebook for promoting professional practice then create a Page. A take home message for Facebook was to check your security settings regularly as the change.
Table 4: Blogs
Blogs are online journals and they can be found on all manner of topics. Many healthcare professionals and Occupational Therapists use them to reflect on clinical practice, discuss and share interventions and log CPD activity- like this conference! But you can also find a variety of blogs from service users, these are valuable for professionals and services users to learn from and have a greater awareness of other people’s experiences. There are a few different platforms in which to write a blog e.g. Blogger and WordPress, and it is a case of have a go and see which you like and suit your style.
As a final note it is important to check your Trusts / workplace policies on use of social media and have a look at the HCPC, RCOT guidance on social media and the dos and don’ts!
Blog written by Catherine Gray, @CupOTservice @CGray_OT
Introducing the RCOT 2018 Blog Squad
As everyone is starting to prepare for RCOT 2018 this years blog squad is gearing up to bring you insights into their conference experience. We had wonderful feedback about the blogs last year and so have decided to do it again. So that you know who we are here is a little bit about us.
Given the size of conference, and the fact that people are doing this during their own conference time, there is a limit to how much we can capture. However we’ve tried to cover all of the key events and to pick some of the sessions that have caught our individual attention.
The blogs will be posted during conference so make sure to keep an eye out for them next week and if you’re at conference and you see one of us – come and say hello.
Marie Baistow
Hello I am mum to four lively boys and a crazy dog. I hold two Occupational Therapy posts within Pennine Care NHS Trust, one within an acute Older Adults in-patient ward and the other a Care Home Liaison Service. Since graduating 18 years ago I have practised predominantly within mental health. I love learning new information. I am passionate about ‘human centered care’, social inclusion, advocacy, compassion, the value and awesomeness of Occupational Therapy and a focus on ‘seeking to understand’. I am really excited to attend the conference and soak up all the positive vibes. To stay buoyant in very challenging work environments ( ie the medical model/risk aversion) I have been blessed and I am grateful to have in my life grounding/bare foot walking, Nia Dance , Somatic Yoga, Ariel Yoga, Pilates, Meditation, Glasswalking, Firewalking and Gong Baths ( sound / vibration healing). I also love long walks with my dog and cycling. Say hi to me on twitter @Mrsbaistow
Elspeth Clark
Hello, I am an occupational therapist on a specialist NHS community team for adults with learning disabilities and complex distressed behaviour. I am passionate about learning disability occupational therapy practice and integrating research into clinical practice. In 2017 I was awarded a place on the HEE/NIHR funded MSc in Clinical Research at Plymouth University; my research focus is outcome measurement in learning disability occupational therapy. I am co-presenting a session this year and excited to be attending the conference, and part of the blog squad! Find me on Twitter at@Els_OT
Faye Dunford
I worked across a range of adult mental health services before my passion for research led me to my current role as a research practitioner within mental health research delivery. I recently completed an HEE/NIHR Internship and I plan to progress as a clinical academic. My research aims to develop the role of occupational therapists working within Crisis Resolution Teams. I am co-presenting at this year’s conference and am excited to use blogging as a way to celebrate the insights, ambitions and attainments of occupational therapists! Find me on Twitter @FayeDunford
Lynne Goodacre
I worked in the NHS and voluntary sector supporting people with rheumatic conditions and managing an Independent Living Centre before moving into academia. I have supervised postgraduate students at Masters and PhD levels and undertaken my own research. I work now in independent practice as a professional personal coach and specialise in providing 1:1 and group coaching to AHPs and early career researchers.
Catherine Gray
Hello, I’m Catherine. I have spent the majority of my professional life as an Occupational Therapist working in young people’s mental health and early intervention psychosis. I currently work as a Research Practitioner in Norfolk and Suffolk NHS Foundation Trust and I am the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Cup-O-T: Wellness and Therapy Services. Cup-O-T is a social enterprise which delivers mental wellness support to those living in rural Norfolk and Suffolk. Outside of work I enjoy foraging, anything to do with Harry Potter, origami and spending time with my Husband, Joe, and cat, Frodo. Website: www.cup-o-t.co.uk Twitter: @CupOTservices
Orla Hughes
Hello, I am a MSc occupational therapy student at Teesside University. I aspire to work as an occupational therapist in the mental health sector when I graduate in early 2019. My hobbies include playing ukulele, singing in a choir, travelling, hiking, and photography. I am presenting at conference for the first time (Session 12) and hope to share what I’ve learnt from this experience in a blog squad post. Find me on twitter and say hi: @orlatheOT
Rachel Imms
Hello, I have been an Occupational Therapist for almost twenty years. Most of my clinical practice was within the NHS in an acute medical setting, and I have also worked in private and voluntary sectors. I did my post graduate MSc at University of Central Lancashire (UCLAN) and enjoyed it so much that last year I left practice and secured a job at UCLAN. I am now part of a team who are developing a brand-new pre-registration MSc OT course which will start in September. This is my first COT conference and I am very much looking forward to it.
Catherine McNulty,
I am an Occupational Therapist, passionate about the ‘doing stuff of life’, many years working in mental health & teaching next generation of occupational therapists in my role as an Associate Lecturer with Sheffield Hallam University & loads of voluntary feral occupational therapy. Will be hosting Occupation Station Workshop : Learning in a Human Library: don’t judge a book by its cover! Wed 13 June Session number: 93.1 14.00-15:35. Come and join us!! … twitter @cathymc9781
Amie Mowlam-Tette
Hello, I am an Occupational Therapy graduate from Essex. I currently work as the RCOT Education Liaison Officer for pre-registration students travelling to universities across the UK to talk to students about RCOT membership and support them through their studies. I can now say I’ve left the South East and seen most of the UK, my geography on the other hand, hasn’t improved. Professionally, I am interested in the therapeutic use of writing and creative arts, mental health, Dementia and Autism. Outside of work I spend a lot of my time with my adorable and energetic sprollie (spaniel cross border collie), fire juggling, dabbling with archery, knitting, sewing, attempting to cross stitch, folk music and drinking way too much coffee. If you want to say hi or talk more, find me on twitter: @Amie_OT
Cathy Roberts
Hi, I am a soon-to-be qualified Occupational Therapist having just finished my BSc (Hons) Occupational Therapy at Coventry University. I have recently accepted my first rotational Band 5 role in acute mental health, starting on a dementia unit. Professional interests include: Green Care interventions for mental health recovery, mindfulness and evidence-based practice. Personal interests are: anything to do with my tortoiseshell cat (Summer), historical fiction novels and the great outdoors. This is my first time at conference (and first trip to Ireland!) 🙂
OTalk 