Category: News

Guides for the Newly Qualified OT

Transitioning from being a student to a qualified occupational therapist is a demanding time at the start of your professional career and can sometimes be quite challenging: received knowledge crashes headlong into a barrage of real-world exceptions. The identity and lifestyle of a student ceases as the world of work replaces it.

Sound familiar to you now or perhaps it rekindles past memories?

In March 2020 The Elizabeth Casson Trust commissioned an exciting project with Dr Lynne Goodacre, an occupational therapist, researcher and personal coach and Rob Young, an artist and writer who helps NHS Leaders to communicate. The purpose of the project, called Year 1: Thriving not Surviving, was to create resources to support the wellbeing of newly qualified occupational therapists in their first year of practice.

Ten first year occupational therapists answered a call to work with Lynne and Rob. Over the course of six months they engaged with the wider occupational therapy community to co-produce a series of freely available self-coaching resources. Their commitment, energy and time has ensured that the resources are embedded in the real-life experiences of this community.

If you are in your first year of practice, download and take a look at the guides. They are not meant to be worked through in one go but are designed to help you pause, reflect and work on aspects of your life which may be challenging. Dip into whichever best meets your needs and, as the group themselves said, ‘I need to remember to OT myself’.

Wellbeing Pocket Guides for the Newly Qualified OT

 

COVID-19

COVID-19 is causing widespread disruption to daily life for people across the world. While supporting social distancing restrictions to keep our communities safe, we also need to be mindful of how these current changes can impact on other aspects of health: including our mental health, fitness and occupational health. This guide discusses aspects of daily life — things that you probably always took for granted and now are having to re-think. An occupational therapy framework is used to consider how productivity, leisure, self-care, your space, routine and roles may be impacted and to present suggestions and examples of how to adapt and manage the disruptions. This has been designed to help everyday people adapt to the changes. A poster is also available for use in clinics or other public spaces. The links and/or pdf guide and poster may be shared freely.

Guide: English or French

Poster: https://bit.ly/2xVuUEu

We also remind you to keep updated with the latest information and suggestion issued by WHO Europe – http://www.euro.who.int/en/home

Call for Abstracts: 30th Alzheimer Europe Conference in Bucharest, Romania

Alzheimer Europe and Societatea Română Alzheimer are calling for abstracts for the upcoming 30th Alzheimer Europe Conference in Bucharest, Romania.
Abstracts for oral and poster presentations in English are welcome in the following categories:
    • People
      • Carers of people with dementia
      • Minority ethnic groups
      • Dementia and sexuality
      • Involving people with dementia
    • Care approaches
      • Post-diagnostic support
      • Psychosocial interventions
      • Assistive technologies
      • Palliative care
    • Care services
      • Memory clinics and centres
      • Acute and hospital care
      • Day and respite care
      • Training of care professionals
    • Medical and public health aspects
      • Diagnosis
      • Risk factors and prevention
      • Young onset dementia
      • Genetics
    • Policy
      • Awareness campaigns
      • National dementia strategies
      • Supporting family carers
      • Legal and ethical issues
The call for abstracts will close on 15 May 2020. Click here for more information.

New Publication by OT-Europe Experts

This book focuses on evidence-based occupational therapy in the care of older adults in different clinical settings, from home to acute hospital, from intensive care unit to rehabilitation centers and nursing homes. Occupational therapy has progressively developed as a new discipline aiming to improve the daily life of individuals of different ages, from children to older adults. 

The book first reviews the interaction between occupational therapy and geriatrics and then discusses in depth how occupational therapy interventions are applied in the community, in the acute hospital and in the nursing home. It highlights the key role of occupational therapy in the management of frail patients, including critically ill older patients and persons with dementia, and describes in detail how to maintain occupational therapy interventions across different settings to avoid the fragmentation of care.

The ageing population requires new innovative approaches to improve the quality of life, and as such this book provides clinicians with handy, key information on how to implement occupational therapy in the daily clinical care of older adults based on the current scientific evidence. 

For more information: https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030357306#aboutBook

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