Occupational Therapy News OTnews October 2019 | Page 3

I t’s not that often that this magazine works closely with service users to bring you real life examples of how occupational therapy can be transformational, but in this issue, we hear from Jerome Sewell, a service user at the Bethlem Royal Hospital, about his two-year journey through their specialist services. Over the period he has spent in hospital, Jerome has taken part in a variety of occupational therapy activities and groups, which allowed him to express himself, focus his mind, and re-involve himself in his previous occupations, before later in his rehabilitation journey suggesting his own ideas to his therapists for alternative occupational therapy activities, qualifying as a peer trainer, and developing workshops and presenting courses. Now coming to the end of his journey, and on the cusp of being discharged with ‘a bright future’, Jerome says he can see how much work went in to bringing his level of functioning back up. Writing for magazines has played a big part in his rehabilitation journey, and Jerome has been involved with the co-production of his article every step of the way; from composing the initial draft, submitting it for publication, working on the edits, right through to working with the design team on the images and layout. Turn to page 16 to read his story. Andrew Mickel looks at the Individual Placement and Support (IPS) programme, which is supporting people with severe and enduring mental health issues into employment. Studies show that IPS achieves impressive results, compared with traditional employment support, and we talk to Gary Johnston, a director of operations at Social Finance, which is running the IPS Grow service to support the expansion of IPS services. Turn to page 28 to find out more. For this month’s cover feature, Andrew reports that occupational therapists in falls ambulances are proving big money savers that help people stay at home. But how did successful services make the case to get them commissioned? On page 38, he talks to three successful services to see how they got off the ground to begin with. Another focus this month is physical activity groups. On page 42, Emma Craig explains how her passion for running has inspired the creation of an activity group for people engaging with the adult community mental health team in Lanarkshire; while on page 46, Christopher Genter and Anita Bowser explain how they are increasing patients’ participation in physical activity within a medium secure unit, using activity trackers as a motivational tool. On a completely different note, on page 54 Suzy England – drawing on expertise from the NHS Digital Clinical Safety Team – looks at the adoption of digital technologies in health and care, with a specific focus on risk management; while on page 50, Carolina Cordero reflects on her time as a student intern with the OTalk team, and how the skills she has learned will stand her well in her future career. Finally, on pages 20 to 27, we speak with the worthy winners of RCOT’s 2019 Celebration of Excellence in Occupational Therapy Awards. There are 20 award winners this year, including a record five Fellowships, the highest award bestowed by RCOT. We hope you enjoy this issue. editor’s comment Tracey Samuels, Editor If you have any feedback about this issue of OTnews, or would like to contribute a short article or feature for a future publication, please email me at: [email protected]