STUDENT EDUCATION FEATURE
This work gave the students the opportunity to begin making the links between the available theory and application to practice , while also allowing them to develop supportive relationships with each other , their supervisors and the other members of the multidisciplinary team .
Kelly reflects : ‘ I did feel a bit out of my depth at first . What helped keep me focused was the weekly virtual multidisciplinary team meetings to discuss the patients ’ progress . I found that Ed and I both had relevant ideas to contribute and it wasn ’ t long before we started working with our own caseload .’
Ed says : ‘ There was uncertainty about a lot of aspects , which was very daunting . My initial learning needs involved gaining a strong understanding of this client group by analysing the patient journey and the context of the respiratory service and how we would complement this .’
Ten patients were identified by the team who would benefit from occupational therapy input . Following individual occupation focused interviews , problems impacting upon occupational performance and requiring occupational therapy interventions were identified and included : reduced function ; physical and cognitive fatigue ; anxiety ; poor sleep hygiene ; and low mood .
The students used a mixture of telephone and video calls and faceto-face meetings to complete therapy supported by emailed or posted resources .
Due to this new client group , students were challenged to draw on and critically analyse resources from other practice areas , adapting these whilst being able to justify their application in this setting .
Ed goes on : ‘ In my academic supervision each week , we discussed the clients within the service , their occupational issues and performance capacity . We devised possible intervention strategies and ensured they were occupational focused until that point this process hadn ’ t quite made sense to me and then it just clicked .’
© GettyImages / DragonImages
Responding to new ways of working Working virtually with community patients is something that many professionals have had to adapt to quickly during the pandemic . The students were predominantly home based , which meant embracing the introduction of video conferencing and becoming proficient in this communication method overnight .
The multidisciplinary team met virtually on a weekly basis and provided a vital opportunity to discuss the clients , their goals and their progress and for the students to develop their communication skills .
The students also managed their caseload with phone calls , video calls , emails and occasional face-to-face appointments ; a challenging prospect initially , yet on reflection a worthwhile dimension to occupational therapy interventions .
‘ One of the biggest challenges was working predominantly from home throughout the entire placement , this took a while to get used to ,’ Ed remembers . ‘ I took on a caseload of patients , working independently with them with no direct supervisor with me – which was a first for me .’
© GettyImages / blackCAT
© GettyImages / damircudic
OTnews February 2021 47