Occupational Therapy News OTnews January 2019 | Page 34

FEATURE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
Supporting your team to engage
in and with research
RCOT offers some
top tips from
managers who have
done it
34 OTnews January 2019
A
s part of the ongoing review of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT)
Research and Development Strategy, which will culminate in the launch of a new
RCOT vision, strategy and action plan for research and development, insights have
emerged around the challenges that many occupational therapists encounter in terms
of engaging in or with research in their everyday practice.
Individuals working together around a clinical problem in designated research teams has been
shown to build research capacity and be successful in delivering research outcomes such as peer
reviewed publications and conference presentations.
The most successful designated research teams were those involving NHS managers (Cooke et al
2008). This article describes the approach that two managers, Patricia McIlwaine and Natalie Jones,
have taken to support and enable their teams’ involvement in and with research, and to identify and
explore examples of manageable changes that could be introduced to start a journey towards building
a culture of engagement in and with research within your own team.
Patricia McIlwaine is a clinical lead occupational therapist working in the Northern Health and Social
Care Trust in Northern Ireland, based at Whiteabbey Hospital. Patricia has managerial responsibility for
care of the elderly rehabilitation inpatient, day rehabilitation and rheumatology outpatient services.
With over 34 years experience within the NHS, Patricia is always striving to promote best practice
and introduce new and innovative approaches to patient care.