Occupational Therapy News OTnews February 2019_Joomag | Page 43

HEALTH PROMOTION FEATURE
As an approach to this new role, Jo says that she is ‘currently
exploring the occupational therapy process as applied to
interventions with communities,
health promotion models,
models of change in
health psychology,
I will explore the
and the model
of action put
success of any interventions,
forward by the
and baseline and outcome
World Health
measures will be key
Organisation
(WHO
performance indicator figures
2010), which
that are already collected by
considers the
the trust on a regular
physical and
psychosocial
basis
work environments
with the personal ‘I have used occupations that are creative, that connect us with
nature, that promote mindfulness and flow, and that help people to
connect with others therapeutically in clinical practice previously, and
would like to provide practical activities based around these in the
newsletter, and with a different theme each month.
‘I will also be offering to develop and deliver a bespoke course on
the health and wellbeing benefits of engaging in meaningful activity,
work life balance, lifestyle, self-compassion and self-care, which
will be open to both staff and service users attending the Recovery
Academy at the trust’s headquarters.
‘Publicising the resources available to staff, both existing and new,
is also a priority and I will propose presenting at induction for new
staff, and getting staff health and wellbeing on the agenda of team
meetings and in regular clinical supervision.’
With a view on networking with the wider occupational therapy
community, Jo concludes: ‘If there are any occupational therapists
that have had any input into staff health and wellbeing previously,
I would love to hear from you, and I would welcome any other
health resources of the
individual’.
She says: ‘I will explore the success
of any interventions, and baseline
and outcome measures will be key
performance indicator figures that
are already collected by the trust on
a regular basis, such as the number
of sick days taken by staff, employee
retention and staff satisfaction.
‘I am currently making links,
networking and exploring which
interventions, both practical and
educational, will make the most impact
in the shortest amount of time, as the
post is currently funded until March 2019.
‘As I have been in clinical practice for
several years within the trust, I am able to bring
insights into the barriers to prioritising our own
health and wellbeing faced by frontline clinical staff in
the NHS, such as high demands on time and acuity and
unpredictability of caseload.’
Looking back to when she began in post, Jo says: ‘My first week
involved collecting materials for a staff health and wellbeing stall at
the annual members meeting, which included a feedback board for
staff suggestions on what they felt would improve their own health
and wellbeing, samples of healthy breakfast muffins from the One
You website, together with the recipe so staff could have a go at
baking them, and information on smoking cessation, creativity for
health, the benefits of physical activity for heart health, and trust
booklets on promoting mental health and wellbeing.
‘I also worked on developing the staff intranet’s health and
wellbeing page, to make the existing resources more visible,
easier, and quicker to find information on, and a regular staff
newsletter. suggestions on areas of study, journal articles or models that you
think might be useful in this emerging role for occupational therapy
practice.’
‘‘
References
NHS England (2017) NHS staff health and wellbeing: CQUIN 2017-19.
Available online at: www.england.nhs.uk/publication/nhs-staff-health-
wellbeing-commissioning-for-quality-and-innovation-cquin-2017-19-
indicator-1-implementation-support/ [accessed 10 October 2018]
World Health Organisation (2010) Healthy workplaces; a model for action for
employers, workers, policy-makers and practitioners. Available online at:
www.who.int/occupational_health/healthy_workplace_framework.pdf
[accessed 10 October 2018]
Jo Wren, occupational therapist/staff health and wellbeing
adviser, Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust,
email: [e-mail]
OTnews February 2019 43