‘ Find your tribe ’ to support and nurture you , then support others as your career progresses too
Currently the very highest posts for the Allied Health Professions of the four UK nations are all held by occupational therapists ; Ruth Crowder , Chief Allied Health Professions Officer ( CAHPO ) – Wales , Professor Suzanne Martin , CAHPO – Northern Ireland , Carolyn McDonald , CAHPO – Scotland , and Suzanne Rastrick , CAHPO – England .
In a plenary session on leading change and innovation , the four CAHPOs reflected on what their own experiences as occupational therapists have given them in their current leadership roles , before discussing the changing role of occupational therapy in the health and care sectors of England , Northern Ireland , Scotland and Wales .
They considered how occupational therapists are shaping their practice to make greater impact and looked at what strategies have had the greatest success for widening and deepening the boundaries of the profession .
…[ occupational therapists ] are interested in people and we are practical problem solvers ... we are the “ Swiss army knife ” of allied health .”
When asked to share the ‘ most significant transferrable occupational therapy skill ’ that has supported them in their careers , Suzanne Rastrick said ‘… we are interested in people and we are practical problem solvers ’. She added : ‘ That for me is the mark … we are the “ Swiss army knife ” of allied health .’
On the influence their occupational therapy background has on their leadership roles , Ruth said that , Ruth Crowder fundamentally , it ’ s about the ‘ values I bring and ability to understand a situation and understand the environments in which people are in , to find a solution ’.
When considering how and where the profession can make the greatest impact , Carolyn said that the profession ’ s Carolyn McDonald role in rehabilitation is ‘ really strong ’. She added : ‘[ We must ] be really clear about the offer of the profession to national care service and rehab agenda going forward . What is the exact contribution we can offer ? Nailing that is really challenging .’
While Suzanne Martin
Suzanne Martin reflected that now more than ever , there is more opportunity for us to ‘ swim upstream in the public health agenda ’ and also to ‘ swim in different ponds ’.
One of the strongest messages on leadership came from Suzanne Martin , who said : ‘ Be brave and step forward and do things out of your Suzanne Rastrick comfort zone . To do this you have to “ find your tribe ” – people who will support and nurture you . And then do this for people who need your support as your career progresses too .’
RCOT would like to thank all our Annual Conference 2022 sponsors for their support : Headline sponsor – The OT Practice ; Platinum and Virtual poster sponsor – ASI Wise Ltd ; Gold sponsors – Accora , Astor Bannerman , Closomat , Duro , Dycem , Enable Therapy Services , GripAble and Naidex ; and Job board sponsor – NHS Professionals .
If you missed anything or want to watch it again , delegates can catch up with everything until the end of December 2022 , and you can still engage on social media using # RCOT2022 . And finally , make sure that you save the date for next year : 14 and 15 June 2023 .
22 OTnews July 2022