Occupational Therapy News OTnews May 2020 | Page 34

FEATURE COVID-19
Think of it as resilience
training
Occupational therapy students
Hannah-Louise Toomey and Hannah
Keating reflect on how they are using the
hiatus in their training, due to COVID-19, to
develop transferrable skills for the future
O
n 20 March 2020, our first occupational therapy
placement was due to start in less than a
fortnight. Meanwhile, the impact of COVID-19
was beginning to be felt globally: in Europe, Italy
and Spain both reported their biggest single-day death tolls,
while in the UK, the Prime Minister announced it was vital
that the government take more urgent steps to reduce the
rapid spread of the virus.
While trying to remain objective at a time of global upset,
it began to dawn on us that there would be educational
implications. The excitement and anticipation of a placement
experience was being replaced by a growing sense of
apprehension.
Our emails were on constant ‘refresh’, with the hope
for good news about our placements, but on 21 March,
an email confirmed the worst – practice placements were
unable to go ahead.
At such an uncertain time, we had a choice to either
panic – concluding ‘we are doomed and will never qualify’ –
or to see the situation as an opportunity for personal growth.
We chose the latter and decided to take COVID-19 by the
proverbial horns, determined to turn it into an opportunity
like no other.
Occupational therapists are problem solvers who thrive
on finding the best possible outcomes in tricky situations
and discovering new and innovative ways of ‘doing, being,
becoming and belonging’ (Wilcock 1998).
Our lecturers are brilliant role models for this. We watch
them problem solve and they not only teach us how to be
effective occupational therapists in practice, but also, and
34 OTnews May 2020
perhaps without even realising it, how to manage what is
completely out of our control.
On our cohort we are incredibly fortunate; we are a tight
knit crew who support each other both on the course and
in our personal lives. We are each other’s family and the
thought of self-isolation, combined with no placement or
university, was a difficult reality to swallow.
However, between us all we have managed to come
together virtually, devising new ways of keeping our
friendship, passion and drive for occupational therapy
alive.
A schedule of daily activities, devised by Hannah Keating,
was shared around our group, consisting of everyday
activities of daily living such as waking up at a sensible
time, washing and dressing, making the bed, cleaning
and cooking, revision, research, socialising (virtually),
mindfulness, physical exercise and self-care.
This schedule provided a good healthy structure and
routine, which reminded us that while we may be inside
for the majority of the day and not seeing each other, it is
important to still ‘show-up’ to life.
Over these past few weeks, millions of people around
the world have shared their own stories of isolation and the
discovery of new, meaningful and purposeful activities and
skills.
With a new appreciation of the daunting impact of
occupational deprivation so close to home for millions, are
the general population putting some of the core aspects of
occupational therapy into practice for themselves right now
without even realising it?
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