NEWS
NEWS IN BRIEF
SCOTTISH HEALTH AWARDS
OPEN FOR NOMINATIONS,
INCLUDING AHP AWARD
The Scottish Health Awards have opened for
nominations, including a dedicated award for
allied health professionals. The awards are run
by the Daily Record in partnership with NHS
Scotland and the Scottish Government, with
organisers expecting many nominations to be
based on responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Winners will be awarded at a virtual ceremony
on 9 December. Find out more and nominate by
Wednesday 30 September at:
www.scottishhealthawards.com.
MAJOR REHABILITATION
RESEARCH PROJECT CREATES
EXERCISE VIDEO FOR OLDER
PEOPLE
A multidisciplinary rehabilitation research project
at the University of Nottingham is sharing a video
created by researchers and patients on staying
active. The 22-minute video was co-produced
by researchers and patients who took part in the
Promoting Activity, Independence and Stability in
Early Dementia (PrAISED) research programme at
the university, demonstrating gentle exercises to
stay active. It was originally created for people on
the trial with early dementia but is being shared
to support all older adults to remain active and
independent. View the video at: http://youtu.be/
BXNHm9Nj1pk.
RCOT PROMOTES PROFESSION
THROUGH UNIVERSITY CLEARING
RCOT has been encouraging potential
occupational therapists to take a look at the
profession as part of the university clearing
process, which is underway until 20 October.
Students who start in September will be able
to take advantage of new £5,000 annual grants,
with more money available depending on
circumstances. If you know someone who would
be interested in joining the profession, direct
them to: www.rcot.co.uk/news/clearing-2020-
have-you-considered-occupational-therapycareer.
Experienced researchers sought for
nomination to major research panel
RCOT is looking for occupational therapists with strong research
backgrounds to nominate to a key Research Excellence Framework
(REF) sub-panel.
The REF is the system for assessing research in higher education
institutions across the four nations of the UK. REF sub-panels are
responsible for reviewing submissions according to a set of assessment
criteria and level definitions.
Those interested in being considered as part of the second round
of nominations to REF sub-panel 3 – which covers allied health
professions, dentistry, nursing and pharmacy – should be practising
researchers who have a breadth of research experience and carry the
confidence and respect of the research and professional communities.
They will have appropriate expertise to contribute to the assessment
of submissions, and/or assessment of the outputs and impacts, across
the panel’s remit, together with an ability to understand and appreciate
a diverse range of research topics and approaches. In the second
round of nominations, very specific areas of expertise are being sought,
including cardiovascular rehabilitation and impact assessors with
experience in a range of key areas.
The occupational therapists likely to be best placed to succeed
in securing a sub-panel role include those with a sustained track
record of peer-reviewed publications and attracting and delivering
funded research, who have a strong professional profile nationally and
internationally, with a thorough understanding of the impact agenda
and experience of sitting on grant-funding or other key decision-making
bodies. They will also need to evidence the support of their employer.
More information, including the specialist expertise which the
REF organisers are is looking for, is available at: www.rcot.co.uk/
research-and-development. Submissions of expressions of interest
in being nominated will need to be made by noon on Thursday 20
August.
UK-wide AHP Public Health Hub launches
A new one-stop shop of public health resources for AHPs has launched.
The Allied Health Professions Public Health Hub is intended for staff in
all four UK nations and brings together resources including the recentlypublished
toolkit to embed public health into clinical practice; the AHP
social prescribing framework; the Everyday Interactions toolkit to better
record healthy conversations; and the All Our Health framework.
The site is also accepting examples of practice to enable more
sharing and learning of the AHP contribution to public health, and
members are encouraged to submit their own examples.
The tool is being seen as critical to develop the UK-wide AHP public
health strategic framework that launched last year (OTnews, August
2019, page 14).
It has been developed by the the Royal Society for Public Health,
Public Health England, the UK’s chief allied health professions officers,
AHP professional bodies and AHPs4PH.
Find out more and submit your own examples at: www.bit.do/AHP-
PH-hub.
12 OTnews August 2020