FEATURE STUDENT EDUCATION
temporal elements and how the social discourses of the here and now shape the personal narratives of individuals and communities .’
A key element of the placement was risk enablement , for Bence and Mairéad both as learners and when working with the residents .
‘ From a personal development point of view , I felt that the risk-enablement approach as well as working in collaboration with Bence has helped my skills to develop as an occupational therapist ,’ Mairéad says .
‘ The trust and guidance from Michele through long-arm supervision and support from Kirsty on site helped me feel valued and supported , as well as encouraging initiative and independent thinking .’
While Bence muses : ‘ Some of the individual or group activities would not have been possible without practising risk enablement as an inherent part of occupational therapy to support residents to achieve their potential through participation ( RCOT
2018 ). ‘ Embracing risk in the placement brought some challenges as a student , as applying formal or onthe-spot risk assessment using relevant procedures and guidance differed from being within an established health or social care setting . ‘ Our experience working with residents also exposed us to the issues of how people make decisions in their lives , challenging the basic tenets of our profession around occupational choices .’
Alongside being on placement , the students were completing the Narratives and Occupational Choices module at university . This was really helpful on the placement , as understanding and identifying individual resident narratives was important to supporting residents ’ goals and understanding their occupational choices .
‘ The module helped me to translate theory into practice which helped me understand the individual narrative of the resident , as opposed to the dominant narrative of veterans ,’ Mairéad says . ‘ Each resident is different in their needs , occupational identity , and the meaning they attach to being a veteran or their experience of being in the Armed Forces . While each resident may connect on the shared identity of being in the Armed Forces , no resident has the same narrative .’
© sangidan idan via Getty Images
‘ Understanding how individual residents told their story helped us understand what was meaningful to them in the current context of Whitefoord House ,’ Bence adds . ‘ I saw that people not only have stories , but are storytellers as well , which holds the prospect of learning something meaningful every day in our practice if we truly listen to these stories and locate them in the wider context .’
According to Mairéad and Bence , there are things that are useful to know if you are involved in long-arm supervision on placement .
They reflect that being confident of the unique perspective occupational therapy can offer and without a defined role in the setting , you have the opportunity to think about how to utilise the full skillset of the profession to address the physical and mental health needs of people you work with .
They also suggest being open-minded about what you hear and observe , but also adopting a level of critical awareness of not taking anything for granted , including challenging your own assumptions .
Finally , being bold about presenting or suggesting different ways of practice to the organisation , while building a collaborative relationship with staff , as well as service users , is also important .
Kirsty Smeaton Brown says it ’ s about ‘ being aware that the issues surrounding homeless veterans are very similar to those experienced by all homeless people , and knowing that occupational therapy support can make a real positive impact on their lives , as we saw in the first placement .’
While Joanna and Michele feel that ‘ understanding the host organisation ’ s aims and expectations of what learners can offer and add to the placement setting ’ and ‘ keeping in touch and negotiating the best way to support learners that meets their individual learning needs and using a problem solving approach to support learners ’ development on placement ’ are key .
References
Royal College of Occupational Therapists ( 2018 ) Embracing risk , enabling choice : guidance for occupational therapists . 3rd edn . London : RCOT .
Thew M , Edwards M , Baptiste S and Molineux M ( 2011 ) Role emerging occupational therapy : maximising occupation-focused practice . Wiley-Blackwell
Mairéad McClelland , Bence Fazekas , occupational therapy students , Queen Margaret University , Joanna Beveridge , professional practice tutor , Kirsty Smeaton Brown , manager of Whitefoord House , and Dr Michele Harrison , research fellow , Queen Margaret University
44 OTnews November 2021