STUDENT EDUCATION FEATURE
‘ We organised a daily open Teams call that we could leave and re-join at any time , treating it like a virtual office . Consequently , we were able to communicate throughout the day , seeking advice from one another or planning for the following day .’
She adds : ‘ We knew the importance of collaborative working ( Miles and Trott 2011 ), because it creates a common purpose , shares power , resources a new way of working and appreciates the client ’ s perspective .
‘ Therefore , before speaking to students referred to the service , we engaged in role-play , which promotes change ( Weller et al 2014 ) and encourages client-centredness ( Sumsion and Smyth 2000 ), giving one another constructive feedback .’
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‘ Working collaboratively with isolating students , we identified internal and external barriers to meaningful occupation , and found ways to overcome them . One student , for example , had always wanted to do ballet , but never felt that she was confident enough . With our guidance she was able to overcome this barrier and started to attend online ballet classes while self-isolating . Weekly supervision sessions with Bel helped keep our practice focused on the OBCD framework .’
Collaboration through virtual working The placement took place during tier four and lockdown two , which necessitated creative ways of working between the occupational therapy students , the mental health team , the placement tutor and with the students referred to the service .
As Debbie explains : ‘ We were new to Microsoft Teams , and the prospect was daunting as to how we were going to navigate our way round it , but after a few days we had learned how to open a call , attend meetings , send invites to individuals and groups , call others into meetings , how to leave a call and post in a group or private chat .
Goal setting The three students on this placement all learned the value of setting collaborative goals . As Debbie comments : ‘ Using therapeutic use of self ( Taylor 2008 ), we worked collaboratively with our clients , sharing our screen with them when reviewing their initial assessment , goal setting and completing outcome measures .
‘ This client-centred approach empowered the Lancaster students to take ownership of their goals and encouraged a sense of purpose and achievement . One commented that just seeing his goals on the screen reduced the anxiety of feeling overwhelmed .’ Abbie explains how the goal setting process was developed during the placement . ‘ We added in a component of the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure ( COPM ) ( Law et al 1998 ) to the goal setting sheet , so we could measure the students ’ satisfaction and performance of the goals they were setting , reviewing these in each session ,’ she says .
‘ We received positive feedback about the goal setting procedure ; one student commented : “ It has helped me reach goals that I didn ’ t think would be possible to achieve before doing this ”.’
A benefit for everyone Feedback was received from 10 of the students referred to the service , enabling students to evaluate the service as the final stage of the OBCD framework .
Abbie collated the data and highlighted the progress that had been made . As she explaines : ‘ All feedback was positive and one standout comment from the feedback form was : “ I think everyone could benefit from speaking to an occupational therapist ”.
‘ This comment came from a student who was struggling with their organisation and was feeling overwhelmed with university work . By breaking their tasks into small steps
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