Awards
RCOT Research Foundation ( RCOTRF ) Grants and Awards
Our Research Foundation Grants aim to increase research capacity and capability within the profession and advance building the evidence-base for occupational therapy , through supporting the development of the next generation of occupational therapy researchers and research leaders and creating a community of occupational therapy researchers to support members to learn with and from each other .
Research Career Development Grants This year , Craig Newman received a grant for his work ‘ Exploring discharge risk management and positive risk-taking in intermediate care services in the context of COVID-19 ’.
Craig has been an occupational therapist since 2019 , having completed a BSc course at Northumbria University . Shortly after qualifying , Craig was awarded a prestigious Northumbria University Doctoral Studentship through a competitive process .
His research programme has focused on risk related decision making and positive risk-taking in occupational therapy intermediate care . In his current role as a research fellow Craig is part of a multidisciplinary nationwide team investigating hospital to care home transitions to codesign a systems-level response to safety issues ( SafeST study ).
He said : ‘ Being awarded this grant means I can continue with my PhD research . It will also help me develop my research project management skills which will be of great benefit to my career in the future .’
Dr Leisle Ezekiel also received the grant for her work , ‘ An enquiry of the usability of a fatigue ecological momentary assessment ( fatigue smart-EMA ) in supporting fatigue management , Leisle is a researcher and lecturer with the occupational therapy programmes at the University of Southampton .
She is a highly experienced occupational therapist and educator who is passionate about occupational therapy , research and enabling people to live well with long-term health conditions .
She told OTnews : ‘ I was delighted to receive this award and feel privileged to be supported by RCOT . The grant will help me to develop my research leadership skills as well as learn about managing externally funded projects , both essential to building a career in research .’
Early Researcher Prize For 2022 , two prizes have been awarded . This first goes to Terri Grant , a senior lecturer in occupational therapy and course leader for the
MSc ( Pre-registration ) Occupational Therapy Programme at the University of Worcester .
She is currently studying for her PhD in occupational therapy and is using grounded theory methodology to explore the learning that takes place during a first practice placement , with a view to developing knowledge that can be used in the development of simulated placement experiences .
She said : ‘ One of the most challenging parts of being a new researcher is wondering how your work will be received – sharing your research is really important , but it can make you feel quite vulnerable when you aren ’ t sure how others will find it , and whether you have done your participants justice in your presentation .
‘ I ’ m therefore really delighted to receive this award , which has helped to boost my confidence as a researcher and urge me on towards the finish line of my doctorate . Rather than feeling nervous about presenting my findings , I ’ m now excited to think about sharing my final results .’
Felicity Murray is an occupational therapy masters student at Oxford Brookes University . For their undergraduate degree , Felicity studied psychology at the University of Bath . Following this , they travelled and spent time working with refugees in Australia , before returning to England and working as a learning support assistant .
Together , these experiences led Felicity to discover occupational therapy and throughout their degree , they have completed placements in paediatric , role-emerging and older adult mental health settings . Felicity is looking forward to graduating and beginning their occupational therapy career .
Felicity said : I feel honoured to have been awarded this prize . I thoroughly enjoyed having the opportunity to immerse myself in researching environmentally sustainable occupational therapy , a topic that I am very passionate about , and this makes receiving the award even more meaningful .’
Craig Newman
Dr Leisle Ezekiel
Terry Grant
Felicity Murray
November 2022 OTnews 57