Occupational Therapists define 'occupation' as much more than just paid employment. Occupation refers to everything people do in the course of their everyday life. Occupational Therapists believe that by helping people to perform their chosen occupations it will have a positive influence on their health and wellbeing. Occupational Therapy is the art and science of enabling people to participate in occupations which are meaningful to them.
Occupational Therapists work in a wide variety of settings, from working with young children through the lifespan to older adults. Occupational Therapists use a systematic approach, based on evidence and professional reasoning to enable individuals, families, groups and communities to engage in occupations.
Occupational Therapist work within a multi-disciplinary teams. The student experience will prepare you for this through the strong emphasis on interprofessional learning. The state of the art facilities and excellent technology will also support your learning experience.
The philosophy and beliefs that underpin occupational therapy are that occupation, in it's widest sense, is a major factor in the health and well-being of people, and can be used therapeutically. Client-centred approaches to therapy, are strongly embedded in the pre-qualifying interprofessional undergraduate programme. The programme reflects current health and social care policy, and the standards described in a range of National Service Frameworks and best practice guides.
Undergraduate programme
As Occupational Therapy students you enabled through academic and supervised practice experience to link theory with practice. Throughout the practice elements of the programme, you work with people who have physical, social or emotional difficulties in a variety of settings such as hospitals, clinics, community centres, schools, prisons, client's homes, housing agencies, voluntary agencies and work places. With the emphasis of occupational therapy on helping people to achieve independence, or a balance of functioning in self care, education, work and leisure activities, you are supported to understand how evidence based practice is instrumental in helping the Government to meet policy objectives. These include:
-
Enabling disabled children to be integrated into mainstream schools and achieve academically;
-
Parents to constructively use play to help the early development of children;
-
Adults with learning difficulties, physical impairments or mental health problems to manage their lives and be employed;
-
Older people to remain more independently and safer at home by adapting their home or using new technologies.
Students learn to liaise and collaborate with a wide range of other professionals to best meet the needs of service users. As graduates you may work in the Health Service, (in acute and community services), and also in Social Services. As such, you are well positioned to work in new and integrated ways across services and agencies to provide a seamless service to service users.
Inter-professional learning
The undergraduate BSc Honours degree in Occupational Therapy has been delivered as part of a Shared Learning Programme, which reinforces the collaborative nature of occupational therapy interventions and modern multi-professional practice. Learning from and about other health and social care professions is seen as an add-on to student understanding of their own role and the total needs of service users. You will work together in modern purpose built environments, with excellent technology and facilities to support learning, which includes practice skills laboratories, enabling you to acquire and practice skills in a safe environment.
Other academic activities
Partnership working with local health and social care providers in London and the South East helps inform the Occupational Therapy education provision and to identify lifelong learning needs for other staff. Partnerships have been established with local trusts and further education providers to establish NVQs for support workers and help ensure a qualified and ongoing workforce who can deliver services in new ways. A Health and Social Care Foundation Degree programme is planned for 2005 and a Continuing Professional Development Forum has been established to focus on practice development and lifelong learning of occupational therapy staff, including an interprofessional focus.
Newly validated modules of relevance to occupational therapists are being brought into the Postgraduate/Masters framework to meet the needs of all levels of staff, including specialist and extended practitioners and consultant therapists.
In order to contribute to the interprofessional learning of students at undergraduate and post-graduate levels effectively and meet the demands of the profession, the staff are actively involved in maintaining clinical skills, research, consultancy, professional activities and developmental projects at local and national levels