Among highlights of this years’ Annual conference, was Prof Sharon Brintnell (the president of WFOT) who gave a paper on the broad implications of the recently published World Report on Disability – http://www.wfot.org/office_files/World%20Report%20on%20Disability%202011.pdf

 ‘pairing a comprehensive and global picture of the disability experience and human rights as a fundamental part of everyday life for people with disabilities globally’ She stated that ‘ we need to embed human rights in the OT curricula as a basis to evaluate every aspect of practice’.

An example of just this was covered in this months’ OT news. The UK Joint committee of Human Rights, stated that the rights of disabled people to independent living is under threat with the increasing cuts to public spending such as to Disability Facilities Grants which enable the adaptation to housing.

 

 

The College of Occupational Therapy has been working closely with Dame Carol Black, National Director for Health and Work, on the Department for Work and Pensions Sickness Absence Review, which she is carrying out on behalf of the Government. She is very keen to have a submission from the COT on the evidence of the O.T contribution.

The review, which will report later this year, will:

 

■explore how the current sickness absence system could be changed to help people stay in work, reduce and share costs for the taxpayer and businesses and contribute to economic growth;

■examine whether the balance of these costs are appropriately shared between individuals, employers and the State;

 

This is a real opportunity to pitch Occupational therapists as an essential part of the workforce in occupational health and vocational rehabilitation, in this instance in the management of sickness absence, which is an area of notable government concern given the cost implications. She went on to argue that OTs were ideally placed to work more closely with GPs in this area of ‘fitness to work ‘ and in the prevention and management of long term sickness. She noted that this is in line with the current government’s emphasis on public health.

 

UK paediatric occupational therapists are frequently involved in writing part of the statement that sets out what requirements children with special needs have. The purpose of the special educational needs/additional support needs process is to enable a child to make use of and benefit from education. This is called the Special Educational Needs (SEN) or Additional Support Needs (ASN) statement/coordinated support plan. The College of Occupational Therapists has produced a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ document to assist occupational therapists who may be required to provide professional advice for this.

 

 

This was given by Prof Annie Turner, who  talked of a profession passing through late adolescence and argued for practitioners to be more confident in their identity as OTs. She challenged OTs to critical debate on the future direction of the profession.

 

Others at the conference were pressing for a narrowing of the gap between academic and routine health care practice. One suggestion made was to have OT ‘diffusion fellows’ whose role it would be to encourage research findings into practice.

In support of this, Prof Mary Law from McMaster University, referred to the flourishing research evidence base of the last two decades. She also persuasively argued that

 

Concurring with the World Disability Report, ‘She reiterated that OTs open doors to participation’, and emphasized that ‘Occupation can be the means to intervention but that participation in occupation should be the cornerstone of the outcomes. She stressed however that such outcomes need to be measurable, if they are to be of value to our clients and enable Occupational Therapy to be justifiably defined as a profession.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

COT signs pledge to deliver new mental health strategy The College of Occupational Therapists (COT) has joined forces with more than 20 organisations who have pledged to deliver the objectives laid out in the UK’s mental health strategy.  ‘No health without mental health’ is the first ‘Cross-Government mental health strategy’ which seeks to give mental health the same importance as physical health. Central to these plans is an additional investment of around £400 million to improve access to modern, evidence-based psychological therapies over the next four years. COT contributed to a series of meetings with the Department of Health, professional associations, service users and carer groups to help shape the strategy.  The Government’s priorities are summarised in six main objectives, ensuring that by 2014: more people will have good mental health; more people with mental health problems will recover; more people with mental health problems will have good physical health; more people with mental health problems will have a positive experience of care and support; fewer people will suffer avoidable harm; and fewer people will experience stigma and discrimination. “Improving mental health is a key priority for the College and we’re fully committed to putting this new strategy into practice” said Julia Scott, Chief Executive of the College of Occupational Therapists. ’No health without mental health’ places a new emphasis on early intervention and prevention which is at the heart of Occupational Therapy.  It also recognises that mental health doesn’t exist in a vacuum, that it’s influenced by a whole range of other factors from physical function to social support networks.  Occupational Therapy (OT) looks at the person as a whole and takes a personalised approach to recovery; helping patients to get back to work, maintaining social and personal identity, and increasing participation in all areas of life.   We will continue to work hard to keep OT at the forefront of delivering this new strategy for improving mental health in England.”