Occupational Therapy News OTnews February 2020 | Page 28

FEATURE EATING DISORDERS
A collaborative
approach to setting
the therapeutic timetable
W
hen Emma Rudduck started a
new job on an inpatient eating
disorder ward she faced a number
of challenges, not least that there
had been a period of time on the ward without
a permanent occupational therapist. Despite the
occupational therapy assistant taking on a lot of
responsibility, as a result of this staff shortage, the
existing therapeutic timetable was minimal.
‘It took me a few months to get to
know the patient group and the ward
itself,’ she remembers, ‘having
not worked in eating disorders
before’.
As an example, she
says that one of
the first things
to consider
28 OTnews February 2020
was the length of time the groups ran for, ‘as patients
can often really struggle to either sit for long periods of
time, or to “allow” themselves to sit and participate in
a leisure activity for a period of time’.
However, as therapists, she feels it is important to
facilitate such groups for the benefit of the patients.
She adds: ‘Also, promoting a place for patients to
have time to themselves, to challenge productivity and
limit activity is important. This means rest periods or
times in the day without group activity.’
On top of this, when Emma began to look at
implementing a new useful and therapeutic timetable
she says she also had to take into account the
schedules of the staff involved in the activity programme.
‘However, within all these considerations, the
patients’ voice was not [being] heard, and this is
where a real change needed to occur,’ she says. And
so the initiative got underway.
She goes on: ‘Involving patients in their care is not
innovative in itself, as it is something all healthcare
professionals are required to do. However, [when it
comes to] choosing their own groups and shaping
their own activities, this is a different way of
thinking.’
Over a few months, patients were
given time to discuss and offer up
group suggestions and provide
feedback on the existing
timetable,’ Emma
explains.
©GettyImages/mediaphotos
Emma Rudduck explains how collaborative work wth patients on an
inpatient eating disorders ward on its therapeutic timetable is improving
engagement