DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY FEATURE

The change came on slowly , but with the support of my long-term mentor , new knowledge of digital safety and some amazing opportunities , I now not only have a new role in an NHS Digital Change and Systems team , but I am also involved in an innovative , award-winning digital project , COG-OT . This is my experience of creating , launching and developing it .

Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 , the number of people referred to occupational therapy services who need to be able to access a range of technologies to achieve their goals has rapidly increased , impacting on the need and knowledge to ensure safe practice ( RCOT 2020 ).

The Lloyds UK Consumer Digital Index ( 2021 ) captured this nationally : ‘ In terms of digital engagement , the UK has made five years ’ worth of progress in just one year … Between 2016 and 2020 , around one-third of consumers used digital tools and websites to manage their physical and mental health ; in the last 12 months that has increased by 15 percentage points to 49 per cent , presumably as the population focuses more on their wellbeing .’

Occupational therapists have had to learn new digital skills and deliver services in new ways . A clear gap was identified in terms of support for applying technology in professional practice , in many cases it was implemented without sufficient training / support and ‘ learning as we went ’ became the norm .

In June 2020 , following a successful application for Elizabeth Casson Trust grant funding , a small but dedicated team generously gave their time and energy to support occupational therapists in their digital practice , highlighting digital risk management .

I was part of that team , led by Alicia Ridout , the lead applicant on the grant . The team also comprised occupational therapists ,

HMA ( a digital agency that specialises in health , science and technology ) and ETHOS Ltd , which provides expertise in regulatory safety of technology .

The team wanted to build an easy to access and use guide to using digital tools for occupational therapists , to support holistic assessment of digitally driven occupation .

The guide aimed to ensure occupational therapists working with individuals accessing services via online tools were aware of digital clinical safety , were appropriate , evaluated and that supported individual needs and occupational goals .

The team decided that a ‘ proof of concept ’ WebApp would work well , as this would achieve the aims and present like an app , via a mobile responsive website . It would also collect evidence demonstrating the need for such a guide .

A key limitation of a WebApp would be that access requires internet / phone signal . I learned that many WebApps are assumed to be apps as the word ‘ app ’ has become common language , but this may not be an accurate description for websites that provide a similar user experience , but not the functionality .

Building a WebApp RCOT states that occupational therapists have ‘ skills to lend themselves to new emerging roles ’ ( RCOT 2019 ), and with that in mind I became a digital content creator .

To ensure content was useful to practice , the team and I needed to better understand professional interest , explore the scale of potential use , and gather data for future funding bids , which would help us decide if we should move to an IOS and Android app version .

We used a national advisory group ( a volunteer group of occupational therapy colleagues ) to work through a light touch ‘ Delphi ’ approach to reach consensus on the topics and themes , language we used and resources embedded in COG-OT . Figure one demonstrates how the content was generated and agreed .

Discovery Stakeholder analysis

Evidence review User journey “ How to measure success ”

Big picture content Card sort Road map

OTnews October 2021 23