Occupational Therapy News OTnews February 2019_Joomag | Page 52

FEATURE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
‘‘
PSP published its ‘Top 10’ in January 2015; four
priorities and a number of questions from the long list
have resulted in research projects funded by Marie
Curie and the Motor Neurone Disease Association.
In addition to promoting them to funding bodies
such as the NIHR, it is RCOT’s intention that the
‘Top 10’ research priorities for occupational therapy
in the UK will be linked to future funding calls for the
UK Occupational Therapy Research Foundation
(UKOTRF).
Full details on the process are available at:
www.jla.nihr.ac.uk/about-the-james-lind-alliance/
downloads/JLA-PSP-process-final.pdf.
Join the steering group
The project requires a steering group of
approximately 12 to 15 people who are
happy to participate in monthly
52 OTnews February 2019
Become a partner
If your organisation or group is interested in
supporting and learning more about the project,
but does not have the time or resources to join
the steering group, then perhaps you would like to
become a PSP partner?
Project partners will be key to promoting the
project, promoting participation in the surveys and
workshops through their networks and contacts.
Input from a wide network of interested
occupational therapists, service users and carers will
be important to ensuring the outcomes truly reflect
the challenges facing occupational therapy in the UK.
This is a collaborative project and engagement
with a wide range of audiences is important to
making it a success.
What next?
If you would like to be considered for membership of
the steering group then complete the expression of
interest form at www.rcot.co.uk/otpsp and return to
Ruth Unstead-Joss ([e-mail])
by 15 March 2019.
Jenny Mac Donnell, RCOT project lead, email:
[e-mail]. For more information
please visit: www.rcot.co.uk/otpsp and follow us
on Twitter where we will be posting regular updates
using #RCOT_PSP
Additional information
PSP project: www.rcot.co.uk/otpsp
JLA: www.jla.nihr.ac.uk
JLA PSP process map: www.jla.nihr.ac.uk/
about-the-james-lind-alliance/downloads/JLA-
PSP-process-final.pdf
Reflections from Steering Group members:
www.jla.nihr.ac.uk/news/type-2-diabetes-
psp-reflections-from-steering-group-
members/7261
meetings. These will mainly be
via teleconference, with the
likelihood of up to three
being in person.
Membership of the
group will be spread
across service users,
carers and occupational
therapists working in a
variety of settings, and
represents a wonderful
opportunity to make a valuable
contribution to your profession in
addition to offering a rich continuing
professional development experience.
Reasonable expenses will be covered by the
project budget and occupational therapist members
of the steering group will have the opportunity to
engage with service users and carers in a unique
setting to find out what’s really important to them.
Steering group members from other PSPs have
reported positive experiences valuing the opportunity
to really listen and learn from the experiences of the
clinician, service user and carer.
A member of the Type 2 Diabetes Steering
Group, Dr Sarah Finer, senior lecturer and honorary
consultant, Barts and the London School of
Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of
London and Barts Health NHS Trust said: ‘Being
part of the steering group for the T2D PSP was a
fantastic experience.
‘As an academic working in T2D, I really
believe in the power that research has to improve
health, but as a clinician, I’m also very aware that
research doesn’t always reach the areas of greatest
Input from a
wide network of interested
occupational therapists,
service users and carers will
be important to ensuring
the outcomes truly reflect
the challenges facing
occupational therapy in
the UK
importance to people living with, or at risk of the
condition.
‘So this PSP was a great opportunity to try
and address this mismatch, and put focus on the
research questions that really matter.’
Find out more about the experiences of the
members of the Type 2 Diabetes Steering Group
at: www.jla.nihr.ac.uk/news/type-2-diabetes-psp-
reflections-from-steering-group-members/7261.