Occupational Therapy News OTnews April 2019 | Page 6

NEWS
Help mental health service users to vape instead of smoke, advises RCOT
The Royal College is encouraging members who
work in mental health services to support service
users to switch from tobacco cigarettes to vaping or other
meaningful activities.
It follows the rise in the availability of e-cigarettes,
which many smokers have used to replace their standard
smoking habit and cut the number of dangerous
chemicals they are exposed to. The NHS estimates that
1.5 million people have cut out cigarettes completely by
vaping.
While the long-term use of e-cigarettes on health is not
yet known, Public Health England has concluded they are
95 per cent safer than cigarettes and have a role in helping
people to smoke less.
Helen Van Ristell, RCOT professional adviser, said:
‘Smoking is a meaningful occupation for lots of people,
1.5 million
people have used vaping
to stop smoking
particularly in mental health settings, but the risks of
cigarettes are all too real. While no-one who doesn’t
already smoke should be encouraged to vape, supporting
smokers to stop – as per National Institute for Health and
Care Excellence guidance – is something our members
have a clear role in, and vaping is one way to help do that.’
RCOT is gathering service examples where
occupational therapists have led initiatives to reduce
smoking, either through vaping or in helping people move
to other activities. Please send your examples to: Helen.
[e-mail].
Use your occupational therapy skills to take on management roles, advises leader
Occupational therapy training provides skills that can help to
take on leadership roles, says an NHS trust director.
Clare Boobyer-Jones trained as an occupational therapist
and went on to become the director of AHP and psychology
professions across two Somerset NHS trusts. She is featured in
new materials on clinical leadership that have been launched by
NHS Improvement.
She says: ‘Occupational therapy training is absolutely
fantastic and equips us really well to work alongside our
multidisciplinary colleagues and in operational management
structures as well.
‘For me it’s about valuing people, listening to people,
understanding what’s important, and then helping people to
achieve what they want to.
‘So I can see as a hospital how many patients we’re
struggling with who are delayed transfers of care and I know
that’s not good for the patient or the staff. So we’re finding ways
of helping to relieve the system by finding what’s important to
the system, the patient and the staff, and then working in a very
diverse way to try and rectify that.’
6 OTnews April 2019
Clare qualified in 1990 and
then stepped up through the
ranks to become the head of
therapies in an acute trust. But
she says it took a long time to
step out of her comfort zone
and see how her skills could be
applied to management, so she
is advising people to take the
opportunities when they arise.
Clare Boobyer-Jones
She says: ‘I was lucky to be
given opportunities to do the posts in an acting position, so I had
great opportunity, and I would urge anyone to do that – to take
interim or acting roles to cut your teeth in different areas.
‘My other piece of advice would be to seek out support rather
than trying to wade through it all on your own. If you have never
written a paper before, ask people who have to see if they could
help you.’
The NHS Improvement framework and case studies are
available at: www.bit.ly/2WtRFHn.