Occupational Therapy News OTnews November 2019 | Page 15

PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES RCOT updates its well-established care homes resource The difference between living and just existing is having choice and the opportunity to engage in occupation. Already a well-established resource in many care homes across the UK, the RCOT’s Living well in care homes has recently been updated with an even stronger focus on the importance of occupation for older people and its impact on their health and wellbeing. Occupation offers all the key elements that give life meaning – choice, control, routine, roles and stimulation – so it is important that older people in care homes are offered opportunities to participate in activities and interests that are meaningful to them. Aimed at care home residents and their families, care home staff and managers, the 2019 version of this popular resource offers free practical ideas, help and advice. Cues are also provided as to when specialist advice and support from an occupational therapist should be sought. An environment in which people are meaningfully occupied can also help improve staff satisfaction, increase a sense of shared responsibility, and encourage confidence in staff to contribute ideas and think creatively. The updated audit forms provide quality indicators by which care homes can ensure that they are meeting residents’ occupational needs and preferences. To access the resource visit: www.rcot.co.uk/living-well-care- homes-2019. Two £1,000 innovation awards on offer for independent practitioners The COTSS – Independent Practice is offering two Innovation Awards for £1,000 each to commence in early 2020, aimed at supporting innovative projects in the field of independent practice. That can include the investigation, exploration and discovery of activities that may positively impact on an individual practitioner or a business. Enter by 6 December by emailing: chair@rcotss-ip. org.uk. NETWORKING In light of the ongoing uncertainty around Brexit, and the Government’s call for an early election on 12 December, the Royal College of Occupational Therapists is continuing to monitor developments and consider how our members, and the services they provide, might be impacted. Whatever the implications of Brexit, in the short term we advise members to seek clarity from their employer or employing organisation about whether or not any equipment or supplies that are integral to their interventions that come from, or though, the EU. If this is the case, members should seek further clarity around how their employer expects supply to be affected, and what contingency plans are in place to help safeguard services. It will also be important to consider any repair or maintenance contracts for mechanised equipment and technology supplied via European manufacturers. Occupational therapists in independent practice will also need to consider these issues in relation to their own service delivery. We also advise any occupational therapists from the EU who are currently working in the UK to ensure they are registered with the EU Settled Status scheme (www.gov.uk/settled-status-eu-citizens- families). RCOT will provide further updates as further details of the Brexit deal emerge and in the meantime will continue to: • work closely with our European partners in the Council of Occupational Therapists for European Countries (COTEC) to raise the profile of occupational therapy, and to highlight best practice, develop and implement policy and projects across the continent; • work closely with other organisations, particularly the Health and Care Professions Council, to monitor workforce figures and the impact of Brexit on the number of occupational therapists; • monitor information regarding how UK-based occupational therapy researchers will be able to access pan-European funding; • monitor whether and when EU students might be impacted by changes to fee structures (for example, the need to pay international rather than home student fees); and • monitor the potential impact on ERASMUS and ERASMUS+ opportunities. Please check the RCOT website (www.rcot.co.uk/news/brexit- update) for further updates and follow RCOT on Twitter: @theRCOT and @PublicAffRCOT. We would be interested in hearing from anyone that has any experience of utilising patients/service user skills to help other patients, for example, mental health or learning disability clients completing gardening tasks for frail elderly physical health patients. Our service would be interested in exploring this concept further and it would be great to network with others who have experience of this. Please correspond with [email protected] at Dudley Rehab Service, The Dudley Group NHS Foundation Trust. RCOT publishes Brexit update OTnews November 2019 15