This week the RCOT Specialist Section for work @RCOT_Work will be hosting here is what thy had to say.

Work is one of the most significant determinants of health and life expectancy. Occupational therapists can give people the skills, belief and confidence to remain in or return to work, which benefits their longer-term health outcomes.

Workers who are injured or become ill on the job are best able to return-to-work or stay in work when stakeholders (occupational therapist, client and line manager or HR department) involved in their case collaborate and communicate.

In our experience particular communication challenges include managing how our feedback is delivered to client’s with limited insight in a way that is honest but preserves their wellbeing, as well as how to share information with the client’s workplace in a way that preserves dignity and trust whilst being robust, relevant and applicable in order for the employer to gain awareness of the client’s condition.

In this OTalk we would like to hear from other OTs working in the field of occupational health or vocational rehabilitation about their experience of managing these difficulties by asking the following questions:

1. How can we facilitate a return to work for a client with poor insight?
2. What methods have you used to give honest feedback to the employer in work meetings whilst maintaining the client’s trust?
3. How do you manage risk when things don’t go to plan?
4. How do you stay up to date with the latest evidence?
5. Final thoughts, any additional resources you would like to share.

The RCOT Specialist Section for work hope that information shared within this discussion allows participants to expand their knowledge and awareness about this growing field of practice.

POST CHAT

Host: RCOT Specialist Section for work @RCOT_Work

On OTalk account; @Colourful_OT

Online Transcript

#OTalk Transcript October 8th 2019

The Numbers

693.005K Impressions
146 Tweets
33 Participants
65 Avg Tweets/Hour
4 Avg Tweets/Participant

#OTalk Participants

This week Jane Horne will be hosting the chat from the @RCOT_NP account (RCOT Specialist Section for Neurological Practice).  Jane has been the Research and Development lead on the National Executive Committee for six years.  About to complete her term of office, the opportunity to facilitate this week’s #OTalk is timely. Shaping the growth and development of the specialist sections research and development roles, is key to ensure members have the opportunity to easily access research activities in their area of expertise. Ultimately, leading to a research active community.

The  Royal College of Occupational Therapy’s strategic, two year, research and review is drawing to a close and will culminate in the publication of a New RCOT Research and Development Strategy 2019-2024 (Autumn 2019). The strategy aims to inform, guide and direct the development of research in the occupational therapy profession in the UK.

Capturing members ideas on how we work together to achieve the overall aim of building a culture of research capacity within our profession, is essential. Using the best evidence to provide effective and efficient occupational therapy to deliver best practice, for the benefit of the people we treat, is why we do the jobs we do.

‘When clinicians and healthcare organisations engage with research there is the likelihood of improvement in their health care performance, even when that has not been the primary aim of the research.’ (1)

Occupational Therapists have a professional duty to use national guidelines to underpin daily practice and engage in research.  However, in reality, our busy clinical working lives often prevent us from doing this. It is easy to see research as a separate entity, something that academics do, and not that relevant when you are managing a busy caseload or service.

The aim of this #OTalk is to explore how specialist sections might help you navigate through this research agenda.  What can the specialist sections do for you? What do they do already that you may not be aware of?  Exploring how to better connect with our members to help them to develop their skills and knowledge in research and research activities, is important. Your thoughts and opinions would help guide our activities and help you to get the most out of your membership.

Here are some questions to consider during #OTalk chat to help facilitate discussion:

References:

1.​Boaz A, Hanney S, Jones T, Soper B. Does the engagement of clinicians and organisations in research improve healthcare performance: a three-stage review. BMJ open. 2015;5(12):e009415.

POST CHAT

Host: Jane Horne will be hosting the chat from the @RCOT_NP account (RCOT Specialist Section for Neurological Practice).

OTalk Account: @preston_jenny

On Line Transcript

#OTalk Healthcare Social Media Transcript October 1st 2019

The Numbers

1.762M Impressions
291 Tweets
37 Participants
129 Avg Tweets/Hour
8 Avg Tweets/Participant

#OTalk Participants

This week Ailie Turton and Louise Clark will be hosting the chat from the @RCOT_NP account (RCOT Specialist session for Neurologic Practice.) Here’s what they have to say,

Unilateral spatial inattention (often referred to as ‘neglect’) is a common cognitive effect of stroke. Spatial inattention will be the preferred term used in this #OTalk as ‘neglect’ is not liked by people who have personal experience of the problem.

The Sentinel Stroke National Audit Programme (SSNAP) 26% of stroke admissions screened positive for spatial inattention. It is a syndrome of impaired spatial awareness, in which patients have difficulty directing attention to one side; affecting their awareness of the body or the environment. Presence of spatial inattention in the early weeks is associated with poor long-term outcomes with decreased likelihood of living independently, increasing burden on informal carers and economic costs.

It is frequently Occupational Therapists in stroke teams who identify the presence of spatial inattention. Subsequently they may be influential in determining the therapy provision for those patients. They will also be able to put into place treatments and compensatory strategies to help some patients with poor attention.

The aim of this #OTalk is to explore how spatial inattention is identified, how it effects therapy provision, and what strategies Occupational Therapists use to help patients with spatial inattention to overcome their inattention and improve their independence in activities.

This #OTalk has been hosted by Ailie Turton and Louise Clark from the Stroke Forum of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists Specialist Section for Neurological practice, in response to member feedback for topics. We hope you enjoy it and carry on the conversations in your workplace.

Questions:

How do you explain spatial inattention to patients/family and are there any resources you use to assist this?

How do you think spatial inattention or spatial neglect affects engagement in Occupational Therapy?

How do you screen or assess patients for spatial inattention?

What strategies and interventions do you use to help people to attend to their body or space around them?
We would ask participants to look out for 3 short feedback questions posted with the transcript in the week following this #OTalk. We’d really appreciate your feedback in helping us evaluate and plan our sessions.

Ailie Turton and Louise Clark

Post Chat updates:

Online transcript click here

PDF of transcript #OTalk Healthcare Social Media Transcript September 24th 2019

The Numbers

1.022MImpressions
275Tweets
52Participants