Inclusion : what it means and what should it look like to our profession ?
Tracey Samuels reports from the RCOT annual conference inclusion panel
The lively and engaging inclusion plenary panel held at RCOT ’ s annual conference on 30 June , was an opportunity for occupational therapists to hear the views of several people with expertise and experience discussing what inclusion means to them and what an inclusive occupational therapy profession should look like .
Each panel member had their own personal and unique perspective , but all agreed that the issue of inclusion is a real priority for both the profession and the Royal College .
Indeed , RCOT chief executive Steve Ford opened the session by saying : ‘ If we continue to recruit from a narrow base , we limit the potential of the profession ; if we continue to fail to represent the communities we serve then we are not going to be able to deliver services that are relevant and impactful .
‘ And if we are unable to change the system , then our colleagues will experience unfairness and injustice , and that ’ s clearly unacceptable .’
Jou Yin Teoh , lecturer in occupational therapy and racial and cultural equity lead at Brunel University London , and a founding member of the BAMEOTUK network , kicked off the debate by focusing straight in on the issue saying : ‘ We need to consider whose inclusion .’
She asked : ‘ Do we prioritise inclusion of the most disadvantaged people with the least systemic power , and at the highest risk of exclusion , or do we prioritise the confident inclusion of as many as possible , regardless of systemic differences ? And if that means losing a few of the most marginalised people along the way , so be it , because they can be a necessary sacrifice for the greater good ?’
Pointing out that it is ‘ very apparent that decisions which benefit only the privileged few come at a very high cost ’, she suggested that ‘ the most inclusive approach would be one that cares enough for the broad majority , with some extra deliberate attention to the most marginalised ’.
Wendy Irwin , equality lead at the Royal College of Nursing , added that she believes there are ‘ four or five things that characterise an inclusive practitioner ’.
The first , she said , was ‘ a powerful and consistent sense of reflexivity ’. She explained that this means an inclusive practitioner is ‘ focused on unlearning , learning and relearning ’, and thinking about what it is that they ‘ come into this space with ’.
She went on to say that ‘ there ’ s something really powerful ’ about an inclusive practitioner ’ s ability to ‘ lean into their discomfort and to really think through things very differently ’.
The second aspect is an ability to challenge our own biases and behaviours and admitting that we have them , she said . ‘ One of the really tough things to do is to admit that we have views that are probably transphobic in some spaces , or some areas where we have a learned or innate misogyny or racism ; facing those things with a degree of honesty is a really powerful example of an inclusive practitioner .’
She added that being able to ‘ call in ’ that behaviour and challenge it becomes really important .
Her third aspect was about being committed . ‘ I too often have seen practitioners who have got bored , got tired and left because it has become too difficult ,’ she said . ‘ Your ability to remain centred and focused in this space and committed to change is really powerful .’
She said that this ‘ isn ’ t about bravery ’ but ‘ showing up for those moments ’ and actually acknowledging pain , silence and tiny acts of exclusion .
The fourth aspect of being an inclusive practitioner is around competence , she said . ‘ That ’ s about building our
16 OTnews August 2021