Occupational Therapy News OTnews July 2019 | Page 48

FEATURE FORENSIC SERVICES
The Interesting Group
Louise Jeffries explains how she has been using and exploring the Vona du Toit
Model of Creative Ability within a medium secure integrated practice unit for men
I
48 OTnews July 2019
work as a senior occupational therapist on
Robinson Ward, a seven-bed unit for males with
complex mental health needs, within a men’s
medium secure integrated practice unit (IPU) at
St. Andrews Healthcare, Northampton.
An IPU is designed for a specific patient population
and has a dedicated multidisciplinary team to embed
value-based, outcome-focused healthcare.
The IPU is one of 15 within this registered which follow a sequential pattern, with fluidity as a
person regresses or improves during their recovery.
Creative ability consists of levels of motivation,
alongside coinciding levels of action, which are
intrinsically linked, with motivation manifesting itself
through one’s action.
Once the level of creative ability is confirmed, the
VdTMoCA identifies specific treatment priorities and
a graded occupation-based approach for facilitating
healthcare charity. Patients are restricted under
the Mental Health Act (1983) due to posing a
significant risk to themselves or others and have a
diverse range of occupational needs with additional
challenging behaviours.
I have been using the Vona du Toit Model of
Creative Ability (VdTMoCA) for 10 years. The
occupational therapy team has embedded the
VdTMoCA into practice and Robinson Ward is a
recognised Centre of Excellence for the application
of the VdTMoCA, accredited by the VdTMoCA
Foundation (UK) in 2015.
The VdTMoCA is a recovery focused,
occupational therapy practice-based model
that allows for accurate
assessment of a person’s
level of creative ability.
There are nine levels
of creative ability, growth and change.
What is concept formation?
Concept formation is an essential element of creative
ability and is our ability to form an understanding of
the things that comprise our world – that is, ourselves
(self-concept) – and the materials, objects, people,
situations and abstract concepts that we need to
relate to, connect with and interact within our daily
lives (Du Toit 2015).
Concept formation begins at the first stage of life,
called the ‘Tone’ level of creative ability, when there
is the potential to develop basic concept formation
through sensory processing, for example, an egg is
smooth and cold.
This transitions through to the ‘Self-differentiation’
level when elementary concept formation develops
by interaction with materials and objects combining
sensory and motor processes, for example, if I hit the
egg it will break.
As individuals move through to the ‘Self
presentation’ level, action becomes more explorative
to develop composite concept formation through
interaction and exploration, for example,
there are different ways you can cook
eggs.
Increased understanding
of materials and objects
results in the discovery of the
positive impact one can have
on the environment, therefore,
developing an impression of
one’s abilities, developing self-
concept as an occupational
being (De Witt 2014).
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