Occupational Therapy News OTnews November 2019 | Page 33

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT FEATURE
Suzanne Simpson reflects
on how she is helping to
change practice through
research
I
studied psychology before occupational therapy and this is where my
interest in research started. The course is heavily based around research
methodology and you carry out a variety of small experiments throughout the
course.
As I came towards the end of my degree, before I had decided I was going to
study occupational therapy, I enquired about completing an MSc in psychology,
but I was told my degree classification of a 2:2 would prevent me.
I went on to study occupational therapy and was sad to see the research
project component part of the course changed to a proposal as I joined. Again,
I considered doing an MSc at the end of my course, but with another 2:2, I
quickly disregarded this.
I believed I just wasn’t clever enough to pursue a career in research and I
waved goodbye to university in 2004.
I remember asking at my basic grade interview about the opportunities to
participate in research. The reply? Well we do a lot of audits.
During my time at the trust I developed an interest in the invisible injuries
patients experience as a result of an acquired brain injury (ABI). As a band six,
I worked with a number of inspirational colleagues who helped to develop my
knowledge and skills in cognitive assessment and intervention.
I started to see the inequality in the care available to those people with
physical impairments compared with cognitive impairments, with the latter
often missed by the multidisciplinary team, or not able to access appropriate
rehabilitation (Benedictus et al 2010; Turner-Stokes 2003; Sinclair et al 2014).
OTnews November 2019 33
But I’m not an academic…