Occupational Therapy News OTNews March 2020 | Page 30

FEATURE COMMUNITY SERVICES
The move into a GP practice
Last year, occupational therapists Chantelle Martin and Ros French joined
forces with occupational therapy students Becca Morris Bray and Rebecca
du Preez to highlight the vital work that occupational therapists do with
people waiting to see their GP. Here they share their experience
O
ccupational therapy is often thought to
be focused on adaption and provision of
equipment, rather than the occupational
science behind a problem. As two community
occupational therapists, we had a vision to promote
occupational therapy with members of the public within a
GP practice.
The launch of the RCOT campaign Small Change, Big
Impact during last November’s Occupational Therapy
Week, and both of us having occupational therapy
students on practice placement at the time, provided a
perfect opportunity to explore the idea further.
However, our vision proved to blossom beyond our
expectations. During supervision and discussions around
learning, our students developed the vision, linking both
occupational therapy and social prescribing theory
and evidence into practice.
Occupational therapy and social prescribing
can be often misunderstood. Social prescribing
describes a non-medical approach, taking a
holistic view of the wellbeing of individuals to
address their specific health needs.
This can be through supporting
people to build relationships,
30 OTnews March 2020
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