Developing an equitable and systematic way of building skills
As a newly appointed Practice Development OT , Donna Morling-Grove set out to discover what resources and support mentors might need to succeed in their role supporting apprentices . Here she explains more about what she found , and the next steps to improving confidence and equity .
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ince the launch of the occupational therapy degree apprenticeship in 2019 , the number of universities offering this route into the profession has grown substantially , with over 20 higher education institutes ( HEIs ) now working collaboratively with employers across the UK ( RCOT 2024 ).
As the first wave of apprentices have now graduated and started their career in occupational therapy , we can be confident that the apprenticeship is offering the workforce development that employers hoped for .
A key part of the apprenticeship is the support and guidance of a workplace mentor ( IfATE 2024 ). Research has shown that despite the increase in apprenticeship provision , the role of the workplace mentor still remains misunderstood ( Devlin and Duggan 2020 ).
Sevens , Nightingale and Ali ( 2021 ) reported that mentors held concerns around the quality of workplace education aligning with taught academic content and wanted to be better informed on the role of the mentor .
Other research has shown that mentors can quickly feel overwhelmed , require training in their role , with the production of resources being key to success ( Rowe et al 2017 ).
Armed with this information , as a newly appointed Practice Development Occupational Therapist at Kent County Council , I decided to produce a handbook for mentors and apprentices .
After reviewing the literature and identifying the common problems , a survey was sent out to mentors to find out what they understood about mentoring and what support they needed .
Half the respondents felt they did not have enough information about the role of the mentor , only 17 % felt they fully understood the skills , knowledge and behaviours outlined in the apprenticeship standards , and only 20 % were using a mentoring model .
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46 OTnews January 2025