NEWS
NEWS IN BRIEF
COMPETITION LAUNCHED TO RAISE AWARENESS OF ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY AMONGST CHILDREN
Telemonitoring and response service Carecall has launched a competition to raise awareness amongst children about the importance of assistive technology in supporting the independence and safety of older and vulnerable people . Launched in partnership with Tunstall Healthcare , the competition will see under 16s in the Stockport area submit their ideas for new technology that could help vulnerable people stay independent and at home for longer . The ideas will be judged by technology enabled care experts before the chosen entries are put to a public vote with an award ceremony being held for the winner . The winner of the competition will receive a state-of-the-art Apple iPad donated by Tunstall . To enter the competition , please visit
www . carecall24 . co . uk / FROGTECH . Closing date is midnight 26 September 2021 .
WELCOME LAUNCHES THREE NEW FUNDING STREAMS
The Wellcome Trust has launched three new discovery research funding schemes that can support mental health research projects , in line with its new strategy . The three schemes – Welcome Early Career Awards , Welcome Discovery Awards and Welcome Career Development Awards – will open for applications in late summer 2021 . The early career awards scheme provides funding for early-career researchers from any discipline who are ready to develop their research identity . The career development scheme provides funding for midcareer researchers from any discipline who have the potential to be international research leaders . And the discovery awards scheme provides funding for established researchers and teams from any discipline who want to pursue bold and creative research ideas to deliver significant shifts in understanding that could improve human life , health and wellbeing . Most of Welcome ’ s other schemes will close during 2021 . Visit :
https :// wellcome . org / grant-funding .
Occupational therapists are driving change in neonatal care
Following the recommendations from the Neonatal Critical Care Review ( NCCR ), the 10 Neonatal Operational Delivery Networks ( ODNs ) across England have been recruiting care co-ordinators into posts .
The care co-ordinator posts have predominantly been filled with neonatal staff from a nursing background ; however , the posts have also been encouraging applications from allied health professionals with neonatal backgrounds , and occupational therapists Ailie Hodgson and Sarah Edwards , who both have neonatal and paediatric occupational therapy backgrounds , started in their roles as care co-ordinators in April 2021 .
They told OTnews : ‘ The new care co-ordinator role is to enhance the experience of families through their neonatal journey . They work with the local maternity networks within their localities , to support the seamless transition from maternity to neonatal services , embedding family integrated care throughout .
‘ The focus areas for the care co-ordinators , from the review , are : ensuring a parent advisory group is set up within each ODN , to provide valuable insight into their experiences ; promoting parents as partners in their baby ’ s care ; timely repatriation between neonatal units within their network ; development of an ODN-wide parent passport to ensure parental participation in their baby ’ s care ; supporting the development of outreach services for each unit to enable timely discharge home ; promoting the neonatal AHP role and the added value they bring ; improving parental access to perinatal mental health services ; and supporting neonatal units with the Unicef Baby Friendly Initiative and Bliss accreditations , to promote family integrated care .’
They added : ‘ Occupational therapists have a unique set of skills that aligns to this new and exciting role . Occupational therapists generally have involvement with pre-term babies from the neonatal unit and beyond , throughout the trajectory of their early years .
‘ They are able to highlight emerging developmental , social and emotional issues related to prematurity , and to support parents with their parental role and the occupations this involves .
‘ Each ODN is currently in the process of recruiting occupational therapists to their AHP lead roles within their teams , and if you would like more information please get in contact .’
© FatCamera via Getty Images
8 OTnews August 2021