OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY WEEK 2021
When Rachel called on staff across the whole of the NHS to ‘ think further than just their field ’, Hannah added , to panel wide agreement : ‘ Isn ’ t that occupational therapy ’ s chance to shine ? We are the uniquely bio-psycho-socially-trained profession . We bandy these words around – holistic , humanistic – they ’ re fundamental to our profession . And if we continue to see people as these sections and boxes , we are never true to our values .’
Dai stressed that wherever occupational therapists work – be it in housing , work or with children – you are already having an effect on health equity . ‘ Every occupational therapist today has done something to improve health inequality , it ’ s just they might not have realised it ,’ he said .
Karin called for researchers to work more closely with practitioners in understanding our population make up , thinking about our existing services , questioning whether people are using those services , and providing the evidence .
‘ It ’ s that combination of knowing your local population , knowing what the needs are , then proactively reaching out … so we are reaching the people with the highest needs ,’ she said .
From a student perspective , Sheherazad stressed the importance of structural questioning of how systemic factors influence those wider social determinants of health . She said that learners have lots of opportunities to talk to service users and practitioners ‘ to get that stakeholder representation , which is really important when we think about how we are going to achieve health equity ’.
She also urged all learners to understand how the evidence influences policy . ‘ As young healthcare students , we don ’ t always understand how policies and procedures influence our practice . This is something we need to learn to challenge , so that we can make our practice fairer .’
One audience member , Keir Harding , asked the panel if a different political approach to environmental adaptation is needed
for health equity to be a reality . Rachel agreed that as a profession we do need to be more politically aware and activated , but Dai responded by saying ‘ it ’ s not a left / right problem , it ’ s a societal problem ’.
‘ All the parties are concerned about this ; they ’ ve just got different methods . We just need to identify who the stakeholders are and how you can get a problem solved in relation to that stakeholder in that government … you have to have a broadminded relationship [ as ] ultimately it is the service user that gets disadvantaged . It ’ s about working the best you can in the political environment you are in .’
A final discussion point was around engaging with climate change and sustainability , and how closely this is linked to tackling health inequalities .
A ‘ hot topic ’ with Cop26 simultaneously taking place , it was an emphatic ‘ yes , yes , yes ’ from the panel .
Karin talked about RCOT ’ s sustainability action plan , as a baseline to where we are as an organisation and a profession , and the work RCOT is doing to signpost members to best practice guidance . Reiterating this is a societal problem , as occupational therapists she urged us to think about housing , equipment , and how we can better recycle equipment or encourage sustainable use of our assets .
However , Rachel , using the example of the banning of plastic straws having the unintended consequence of making it difficult for some disabled people to have a drink , reminded people to think , yes , we need to engage in this and look after the environment , we also need to remember that some people need things differently .
Linda concluded that ‘ both these things [ sustainability and health inequalities ] are such big issues that you could think that they can only be achieved at a global level … but every individual has a role to play .’
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