PROFESSIONAL RESOURCES
RCOT launches new and updated Parkinson’ s guidance
Written by Ana Aragon and Jill Kings, on behalf of the RCOT Specialist Section – Neurological Practice, the second edition of Occupational therapy for people with Parkinson’ s was launched on 19 October.
First published in 2010, by the College of Occupational Therapists, as Occupational therapy for people with Parkinson’ s: best practice guidelines, this new edition builds on the success of the original guidance document and includes new advice and guidance from the diagnostic phase to end-of-life care, further evidence on the importance of exercise in Parkinson’ s, and uniquely, guidance on the role of occupational therapists in the assessment and management of sexual dysfunction in people with Parkinson’ s.
Ahead of the eagerly anticipated launch, Ana told OTnews:‘ The second edition has been developed to support the updated National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline about Parkinson’ s, published in 2017, and their Parkinson’ s Quality Statement, published this year, that suggests that all people diagnosed with Parkinson’ s be referred to an occupational therapist if they have difficulties with everyday activities such as dressing, cooking and working.
‘ This marker of quality will become part of the Care Quality Commission’ s inspection criteria and the national audit cycle of Parkinson’ s services conducted by Parkinson’ s UK.’
She added:‘ Parkinson’ s is a very paradoxical condition and people do not tend to benefit for standard occupational therapy approaches. A condition-specific approach is presented in the guide to help occupational therapists provide appropriate and effective interventions for the wide array of symptoms and effects of the condition.’
As Dr Rob Skelly FRCP, Consultant Physician at Royal Derby Hospital, who has written the publication’ s foreword, concludes: The guidance here is clear and concise. It will be welcomed by occupational therapists trying to help people with Parkinson’ s achieve their goals. It will also be welcomed by geriatricians and neurologists, who understand the limitations of medication and value the pragmatic problem-solving skills of their occupational therapy colleagues.’
An additional unique resource for occupational therapists working with people with Parkinson’ s is the newly-available Learning Pathway, from the UK Parkinson’ s Excellence Network, to help therapists easily find appropriate learning to improve their Parkinson’ s-specific skills and care.
It has been developed by therapists with specialised Parkinson’ s knowledge and is informed by a survey of over 260 therapists, covering different therapy professions and practice settings.
Download the publication at: www. rcot. co. uk / practice-resources / rcot-publications / member / guidance. Access the Excellence Network Learning Pathway for Therapists at: www. parkinsons. org. uk / learning.
Occupational therapy‘ work’ related UK services mapping survey now live
The Royal College of Occupational Therapists Specialist Section – Work is collecting data from across the profession about any occupational therapists involved in work-related service provision( also independent practitioners and Health and Work Champions), in order to create a database that would be accessible to contributors and members of RCOTSS-Work.
The database will: geographically map work-related services in the UK with occupational therapy input; widen our knowledge of what work related services are available, from‘ asking the work question’ projects, to delivering vocational / occupational health assessments, treatments and rehabilitation; enable a point of contact; help networking occur across the UK; enable occupational therapists to connect with similar services and learning potential; and gather general statistics about services available across the UK.
The main occupational therapist service contact should complete the survey. For further information visit: www. rcot. co. uk / about-us / specialist-sections / work-rcot-ss. Access the survey at: https:// goo. gl / forms / ZqTC8tIxftLeuElS2.
Less than two weeks left to submit your abstracts for annual conference
The deadline for submitting your abstract for the 43rd RCOT annual conference is fast approaching. Abstracts must be submitted by 5 November 2018.
It is the abstracts that make the RCOT annual conference unique. Delegates get to hear about examples of excellence, cutting edge research and gain insights into successful practice and education innovation.
As an author of a successful abstract, you will find that your abstract goes beyond the conference; it is available to a national and international audience to cite as a reference. Abstracts are published as a special supplement in the August issue of the British Journal of Occupational Therapy.
Presenting at annual conference raises your professional profile – you never know who is hearing about your work, and it provides valuable continuing professional development evidence too.
There are so many different session formats that you can consider, it is not just about delivering presentations, there are workshops, where you can exchange views and get feedback, seminars, where you can test assumptions, and occupation stations, where you can help delegates experience for themselves the occupations you know are making a difference to service users’ lives.
For more information visit: www. rcotannualconference. org. uk.
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