FOCUS ON
Where to now on this amazing journey?
This month we focus on retirement with Sheila Watson, who reflects on using her core skills over a 40-year career in occupational therapy
The changes I have seen. In my current post I have been able to tell students about my first job, only to see their jaws drop at the images of working in the‘ dark ages’.
My occupational therapy core skills, as defined in Occupational therapy defined as a complex intervention( Creek 2003) – collaboration, assessment, enablement, problem solving, using activity as a therapeutic tool, group work and environmental adaptation – have been used throughout my career, but none more so than as a college lecturer.
I started my career working in a big, old psychiatric hospital, with 1,200 beds. One of the main aims at that time, before the National Health Service and Community Care Act 1990, was to enable patients to return to living in the community.
What a leap these people were having to make. Secure in their surroundings, some of them inpatients for more than 30 years, occupational therapy was key to supporting this group of individuals to hold down their own tenancy, to integrate where possible with the local community, and to cook and care for themselves.
Some of the challenges, of course, were the‘ NIMBYs’; no‘ psychiatric mad’ people coming into our community, trip wires placed along garden paths, people turning their backs on their new neighbours.
However, we saw lots of successes. Yes, some people had to return to hospital for periods of time to stabilise medication, or due to a flare up of their condition, but at least there were still the beds in the hospitals to admit, work with and support the return to their new homes.
Between my first job and my final job, I worked in a social work centre for people with physical disabilities – a resource centre ahead of its time – elderly rehabilitation and some care of the elderly.
Over the past 23 years, I have been a college lecturer teaching on the HNC Occupational Therapy Support. Working with students( collaboration) from all over the UK and further has been a privilege, though not always an easy sail.
What really set me up for this job was being able to reflect in true occupational therapy style and draw upon many of my first job experiences.
I have been able to describe the changes in care that have led us to where we are today. We were one of the very first
Eagers et al( 2018) conducted a qualitative study to explore the influence of work on the transition to retirement. Eleven retirees( aged 50 or over) living in Townsville, Australia, participated in semi-structured interviews. The interviews were analysed thematically to identify themes related to the work-to-retirement transition stages of‘ preparation’,‘ transition’ and‘ retired’, and the relationship of findings to MOHO volitional processes. The authors identify that work attributes related to personal / social factors, meaningful occupational engagement and the connection of work and retirement influenced all
EVIDENCE LINK the work-to-retirement transition stages. They suggest that MOHO volitional concepts help explain the complexity of this transition process, and that occupational therapists can assist older adults to continue working or facilitate engagement in meaningful retirement occupations.
Reference Eagers J, Franklin RC, Broome K, Yau MK( 2018) The influence of work on the transition to retirement: a qualitative study. British Journal of Occupational Therapy, Apr 10. [ Epub ahead of print ]
community mental health teams – now these are the norm; social work and health now working together with integrated teams, rehabilitation community teams – you name it, we do it.
Working as a college lecturer has simply been another occupational therapy job. Working with students, uncovering potential, enabling students to reach their potential( enablement), working out ways to support learners overcome personal issues( problem solving), encouraging peer marking and feedback( group work), moving classrooms around to meet specific learning needs( environmental adaptation), using activity as a therapeutic tool( active learning sessions), ensuring learners are meeting course requirements( assessment).
Using my occupational therapy core skills all day, every day. Anyone thinking of a career in education should go for it, it is a really amazing job.
As I retire, I will practise what I have preached for years; I will be active, I will look for life balance and I will have clear‘ me’ centred aims and objectives. So, as I hang up my ID badge, hand in my keys and close down my computer – I remember the day when a computer was placed on my desk; What am I supposed to do with that? I asked – I now say thank you occupational therapy, what a journey, and as we say in Scotland, where tae noo?
Reference
Creek J( 2003) Occupational therapy defined as a complex intervention, London: College of Occupational Therapists
Sheila Watson, RCOT retired member
50 OTnews October 2018