As you may have heard it is #OTWeek from 6th-10th November!
Every year Occupational Therapists spend a week highlighting and celebrating how Occupational Therapy puts quality into our lives, seeing beyond diagnoses and limitations, to hopes and aspirations. They look at the relationships between our occupations, and consider the challenges to this. This year's OT Week is looking at how Occupational Therapy helps us to live our best life, at home, at work – and everywhere else.
In the context of Occupational Therapy, what are occupations?
An occupation is any activity that we need, want or like to do, to live and to look after our physical and mental health, and our emotional and spiritual wellbeing. We do occupations from the moment we are born, on our own or with others. Occupation can be self-care, such as washing, eating or sleeping; productive, such as work, study, caring or domestic activities; and leisure, such as playing sports, hobbies or socialising.
Occupations are the building blocks of life, but why do they matter?
Occupations are essential to living, they give our lives meaning, purpose and structure. They help shape who we are, connect us with others and help create our identity and sense of belonging. Through our occupations we enhance our health and quality of life. Focusing on occupation leads to improvements in our ability to do the things we need and want to do, our social relationships, communication and connections, as well as our mood, rest and sleep.
We hope that #OTWeek has made you think about what your meaningful occupations are!
For more information visit rcot.co.uk/occupation.
The Enablement team’s Helen Robson-Swift qualifies as an Occupational Therapist
“My name is Helen and I have worked in the Enablement Team for over 5 years, first as a Therapy Assistant and later progressing to Senior Therapy Assistant."
"During this time, I was part of the first cohort of apprentices studying Occupational Therapy at Coventry University, starting in 2019. Working full time while studying for a degree for four years has been challenging, especially for someone out of education for some time, as well as through a pandemic. However, I have had a wealth of support from the Enablement team here at the Hospice, who without complaint have managed without a therapy assistant for 1000 hours during my placements, as well putting up with my lengthy maths revision! Successfully completing the apprenticeship means I have been able to apply to the Health and Care Professions Council for registration to practice as a qualified occupational therapist, and my long-held goal has always been to do that here.
I have always felt that working at LOROS is a privilege as much as a job, being allowed to share the time our patients spend here alongside them. Listening to the story of someone’s life, helping them retain their identity at a time when people can often feel they are losing their sense of self, is one of the most important things we do.
I have witnessed in other settings how clinical environments can leave people feeling overwhelmed by symptoms and worries, feeling that they are losing control of their own lives, and as occupational therapists at LOROS we help to stop that happening, keeping our patients’ unique identities at the heart of everything we do. We are lucky that our holistic Hospice care means we can spend time getting to know the people (and pets!), who are important to our patients, supporting their loved one in the way closest to that they would choose for themselves.
As I start the next stage of my journey as a newly qualified occupational therapist at LOROS, I am filled with gratitude for the opportunity, and for having such wonderful patients and colleagues to share it with.”
Deborah Burnett who is the Clinical Lead Occupational Therapist at LOROS, added: “I think I can speak for the Enablement team when I say how proud we are of Helen achieving her four year apprenticeship OT degree with first class honours. Helen was in the first cohort of OT apprenticeships in LLR, and to navigate an unwalked path and through covid as well! I have been Helen’s work-based mentor for the majority of her training and her dedication to her learning and the OT profession has shone through. The opportunity for Helen to secure a newly qualified OT position here at the Hospice has allowed us to keep our homegrown talent and for her to now build on her skills as a newly qualified occupational therapist.
"A huge congratulations to Helen from all the team.”
