Fame at last.................

Oh dear, can it really be nearly February?!! My good intentions to keep a more regularly posted blog seems to already have gone out of the window (or perhaps been buried underneath the frantic assessments of semester one and preparations for semester 2!).

So, I hope all our readers are ready to face the challenges and delights of another year. Here in the Directorate of Occupational Therapy we are busy making plans for the year ahead with some very interesting projects and innovations on the table for further discussion - watch this space for more info as we move forward with some of these. Of course we are watching the government agenda closely both for the future of Higher Education and Health and Social Care. We are quietly pleased with ourselves that we are ahead of the game in terms of widening access to potential students and in the flexible delivery utilising principles of e-learning and of course the work that myself (Angela) and Sarah are doing in terms of using virtual environments for education in health care. We are intending to complete the report on our qualitative research very soon and are well underway in moving forward with a piece of quantitative work over the next year.

One very successful arena is the role-emerging/non traditional placements that all our full time and part time students experience in Level 6. This last placement period just before Xmas last year found us in the news - fame at last!!

Credit must go to the students involved (Jason and Lauren) and to Chris Kenney our colleague here at the university for all the hard work and creativity involved. In a nut shell Jason and Lauren were placed in the Manchester Health Academy in Wythenshawe and engaged with students to beat bullying by involvement in trust exercises, anger management and grooming etc. This enabled the Academy students to consider issues of self-esteem and communication which resulted in them reaping the benefits in terms of their occupational engagement (reported that there was improved behaviour and improved communication). Chris has been experiencing more than her 15 minutes of fame as she fields calls from a variety of media sources both local (Manchester Evening News) and national (Sunday Telegraph, Daily Star).

A mention must also go to our students Anna and Maureen who were placed in Refugee Action. It was reported by managers of this organisation that the students offered a choice and collaboration with the users that no other worker had previously addressed (they introduced a role checklist amongst other things). Managers have indicated that they see a definite role for occupational therapists within their organisation but unfortunately government cuts of up to 60% of their budget will make this difficult in reality.

Of course, I cannot mention these types of placement without acknowledging the role that many practitioners play in supervising our students whilst they are out on placement. Any one wishing to be involved should contact Chris Kenney (c.kenney@salford.ac.uk).

Create your Own Destiny

image: Newstead Abbey Rose Garden oct 08

In October 08 BJOT, Marilyn Pattison asks us to create our own destiny. She states that "we need to distance ourselves even more from the medical model" and that we have much more to offer than the "traditional view" of occupational therapy.
As an OT with 25 years experience working as a practitioner, a manager and now as an educator I have seen many developments and shifts in the profession - but what is happening now seems bigger and potentially more contentious then ever before. I agree with all that she says and welcome the shift in focus and delivery. In fact here at Salford we have been particularly pro-active in facilitating learning opportunities that enable our students to think outside the box and have a more creative approach to the role of the occupational therapist. For example, all of our final year students have a placement in a role-emerging and/or non-traditional area where they do not work alongside an OT on a day to day basis - but have to consider how occupational therapy may fit within the specific environment, for example working in a shelter for the homeless, a south asian women's project or working with charitable organisations such as Scope or Age concern. We have also posted previously on related issues of service provision and- the demise of a profession . that you may want to revisit.
The dilemma seems to me to be how do we prepare current and future occupational therapists to work in a changed world when we are contracted to provide graduates specifically for the traditional environments. By this I mean that students tuition fees are paid for by local consortia who specifically negotiate service level agreements with higher education establishments on how many student places will be provided for health care professions. Therefore, our students still require and indeed experience what could be classed as "traditional" occupational therapy in NHS and social care settings. Students often express anxieties about not knowing enough anatomy and physiology etc and practitioners often expect students to have deep knowledge of conditions specific to any placement.
In a world distanced from the medical model, these subjects and expectations may continue to be eroded (in such an obvious format) from curricula as we focus more and more on occupation, health and well being. Any suggestions as to how we can make the transition smooth both for our students and our practitioners - if indeed you agree with the need to change - would be most welcome.