Occupational Therapy News OTnews May 2020 | Page 42

FEATURE COVID-19
Service user and carer involvement
in occupational therapy education
Dr Gemma Bradley and Dr Helen Atkin,
from Northumbria University, explain how,
in response to the need for fast-paced
changes in delivery of occupational
therapy education during the
COVID-19 pandemic, they
have successfully maintained
service user involvement in
online learning
42 OTnews May 2020
T
he response to the COVID-19 pandemic has challenged
almost every aspect of ‘normal’ life for every individual,
organisation and sector.
Although a little removed from the frontline, universities,
and particularly those involved in health professional education, have
felt this profoundly, with challenges to many taken for granted core
aspects of education, including campus-based teaching, supporting
students on practice placement, and carrying out research.
One seemingly small, but fundamental challenge was the way in
which we involve service user/carer partners or ‘experts by experience’
in the education of occupational therapy students.
We write this reflective account with the aim of sharing our
approach, which has offered short-term solutions and may just change
the way we work towards involvement in the longer term.
Over recent decades, involvement of service users in all aspects of
healthcare design, delivery and evaluation has been emphasised. Part
of this has included increasing emphasis on service user involvement
in the education of health professionals and this involvement is an
essential part of regulation and monitoring standards for pre-registration
health professional programmes (HCPC 2017; NMC 2018).
The regulatory and policy climate, alongside the value occupational
therapy places on client centredness and working in partnership has
meant that the involvement of service users in occupational therapy
pre-registration education has been a natural evolution.
At Northumbria University, service user involvement is an integral
part of the programme, with a core group of service user colleagues
contributing on a regular basis.
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