Occupational Therapy (OT) is a science-based, health and social care profession that’s regulated by the Health and Care Professions Council.
It plays a crucial role in social care by supporting individuals to live as independently as possible, improving their quality of life, and enabling them to engage in meaningful activities.
For Occupational Therapy Week this blog looks at the key elements of professional OT and how Research in Practice resources can support.
Each aspect of OT is linked to related resources available for OTs and any other professionals who help people with physical, mental, or cognitive impairments to carry out the everyday tasks (or occupations) that are important to them.
Promoting independence
OTs work with individuals who face challenges in daily living due to disabilities, aging, mental health issues, or long-term illnesses. They assess the individual's environment, abilities, and needs and then suggest solutions such as adaptive equipment, home modifications, or practical strategies.
A Frontline Briefing outlines the importance of using the social model of disability when assessing housing needs and providing support.
This Frontline Briefing provides an essential resource for practitioners to develop their understanding of disabled people’s relationship with housing and the importance of using the social model of disability when assessing housing needs and providing support.
Holistic care
OTs adopt a holistic approach, considering the physical, emotional, and social well-being of the person. They tailor interventions to the individual's goals and values, promoting a sense of autonomy and dignity regarding different aspects of their lives, to inform a whole picture. With this approach, OTs often work closely with social workers, caregivers, and healthcare professionals.
This resource explores opportunities for successful relationships across housing and adult social care services. It covers a range of practice areas in which these services may overlap, including support for older and/or disabled people and adults facing homelessness who may have care and support needs.
Following a successful 10 month project delivering Occupational Therapy within our local Domestic Abuse service, occupational therapists, Lucy Clarke and Kim Jones, will be sharing their knowledge, skills and learning through an online workshop.
This resource focuses on the activity of assessing adults and carers who may have care or support needs. As with all adult social care activity, this is a human rights activity and a human rights approach is essential. It provides an overview of legislation and policy backdrop and brings together evidence of different approaches to upholding human rights in assessment.
Supporting mental wellness
In social care, many individuals may experience mental health challenges. OTs can help them to develop strategies for managing stress, improving coping skills, and finding meaningful activities that improve their mental wellness.
Social care professionals will often have to discuss emotionally challenging topics with the people they support and their colleagues. This resource contains key messages from research and a range of tools to develop relational practice in this context.
Katy Shorten, Research and Development Manager at Research in Practice, talks to Lydia Guthrie, author of our Frontline Briefing. They explore the experience of writing on a topic where there are polarised views and approaches, drawing parallels with practice and discussing reflections about how to keep the person at the centre of support in this context.
This Practice Tool aims to promote reflection, learning and practice improvement within virtual conversations in adult social care. It draws on the experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which virtual conversations have increased significantly, and looks to apply this learning to future practice.
Rehabilitation and long-term care
OTs play a key role in rehabilitation after injury, surgery, or illness. In long-term care settings, such as nursing homes or assisted living, they help residents to maintain mobility, cognitive function, and engage in social activities.
The purpose of the briefing is to support occupational therapists in adult social care to underpin their practice with an understanding of current relevant evidence, theory and models. It will also be useful for other practitioners across adult social care to develop their understanding of occupational therapy.
This new film looks at working with risk. Featuring Gavin Rough, who has experience of adult social care.
Ageing population and preventative care
With a growing older population, OT is vital in helping older adults maintain independence, prevent falls, and manage conditions like arthritis or dementia.
This reduces hospital admissions and reduces the impact on social care systems by enabling people to stay in their homes for longer, rather than requiring full-time care or hospitalisation. They also support more effective transitions from hospital to home care.
Intersectional approaches can help centre the experiences of people with marginalised and stigmatised identities and offer a framework that can be used to support curiosity to build an understanding of the everyday experiences for older people with care and support needs.
These videos highlight tasks and strategies to enable practitioners to apply intersectional approaches.
This Practice Tool follows on from the Research in Practice for Adults Key Issue Enablement in dementia (Blood, 2015) to support frontline practitioners to deliver dementia services with enablement in mind.
Enablement is about promoting independence and improving wellbeing – principles which lie at the heart of the Care Act 2014.
Take action
For more resources, explore the Research in Practice website. You can also bookmark and share resources with colleagues.
Reflect on continuing your professional development (CPD) and record your CPD using the button on each resource page. If you have engaged with resources, helped someone else understand the value of occupational therapy, or used the resources in an event at your workplace, it all counts towards your CPD. Log in and review your reflections in ‘Your CPD’.
In addition, you can add to your CPD by contributing to an OT blog or getting involved with developing and shaping resources for OTs, including publications, podcasts and events.
Please contact Senior Research & Development Officer, Sherrelle Parke at Sparke@ncb.org.uk for further information about how you can get involved.
