FEATURE DIVERSE AND EMERGING ROLES
A rollercoaster year
Hannah Mitchell , a newly-qualified occupational therapist , talks about taking up an emerging role in a young carers service
After qualifying as an occupational therapist in September 2019 , I worked at Romsey Young Carers – a Charity Incorporated Organisation ( CIO ) set up to support young carers , aged five to 21 , who live in Romsey and the Southern Test Valley area – as their first occupational therapist .
This opportunity grew from my thirdyear role emerging placement , organised by the University of Southampton and Chris Hall , Romsey Young Carers manager , with continued support from Dr Rachel Dadswell , occupational therapy programmes manager at University of Southampton , who provides monthly supervision .
It has been a year of unexpected turns ; I did not expect to work in an emerging occupational therapy role in my newly qualified year , and I definitely did not expect a pandemic in the midst of it .
The UK is one of the leading countries to recognise the needs of young carers and offer support ( Stamatopoulos 2016 ).
There is some fantastic activity-based work , including arts , crafts and activity days , and respite provision already happening in many young carer charities nationwide , and this is certainly no different at Romsey Young Carers .
Yet , there is so much scope for occupational therapists to be involved with young carers and these services are perfectly positioned for preventative work .
Since qualifying and taking up my role as an occupational therapist at Romsey Young Carers , the role has developed and changed significantly .
Initially , the role included creating policies and procedures , for example for referral and discharge . Additionally , I needed to decide which models of occupational therapy and which assessments would support my work best , in order to establish intervention plans .
I needed to find my feet in the service rather quickly , as well as establish myself as an occupational therapist .
After much discussion in supervision , it was decided that many of the young carers ’ needs were well met by the charity , but a gap in the system was addressing a vast array of parental needs , which in turn significantly affect the young carers .
Initially , I started with a small caseload of parents , providing one-to-one interventions , focusing on lifestyle changes , anxiety management , occupational participation and occupational balance .
I supported families with referrals to child and adolescent mental health services , signposting to other services and provided advocacy for families with social services . I also supported the charity ’ s schools co-ordinator to run a wellbeing group with young carers and their parents .
Additionally , I regularly attended young carer respite groups and activity days , while facilitating engagement and offering reflections on how to make activities more person centred . Occasionally I explored sensory
22 OTnews December 2021