Primary care we feel we will be upskilled , and our managers have a vision of where they would like the PCN occupational therapists to be heading to generalist specialists .
We think this service is unique , and the structure of being part of the occupational therapy community in Somerset means that we are less isolated as professionals . We feel privileged to be in roles where we can be involved in pioneering anticipatory care applications , developing primary care services , and shaping the vision of occupational therapy in primary care .
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Words HATTIE STEVENS and HELEN ROSTRON , Somerset primary care network occupational therapists , Follow on Twitter @ OTHattie @ RostronHelen
Our personal reflections
Reflecting on the role and its most surprising and rewarding aspects , Helen says : ‘ For me I constantly need to be dynamic and feel all right with the unknown of changing processes and how we work as occupational therapists .
‘ It has needed a switch in my occupational therapy head space , to supporting anticipatory care needs with “ well ” people , rather than working with a “ problem ” or a set obvious “ need ”. Having an open meaningful chat about what is important to the person is a huge part of our job and I am still getting my head round this .’
She adds : ‘ I have at times thought about what value I can add and , before I know it , I have the whole care team around me , holding insightful conversations about ways they can be upskilled and improve the personalised care for their residents .
‘ I have worked within care homes before , but with single cases , and I have never been submerged in care homes . I didn ’ t realise how complex it is and I have so much to learn .
‘ We are now in the midst of interpreting the care home equipment policy and identifying moving and handling needs . We are still learning as we go about how we will fit with other services that have occupational therapy , but this is a great opportunity to develop services right at the start .’
Hattie goes on : ‘ Every day is a learning day . My background is predominantly working in acute care . The care homes we support have residents with a wide range of health complexities – living with frailty and profound physical disabilities .
‘ I am enjoying learning to complete more complex assessments and working creatively to support residents . It is a shift away from discharge planning to focus on what is meaningful to the resident ’ ( see service user example ).
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