OTnews October 2023 | Page 22

Black History Month

Feature

Profile of a primary care mental health practitioner

Kosiwa Nicholls graduated as an occupational therapist from Southampton University in 2016 . Here is her story .

K osiwa Nicholls graduated as an occupational therapist from Southampton University in 2016 , and in August that year started her first role working within acute adult mental health , both inpatient and in the community .

In 2019 , she moved to work in an integrated care team , in rehab and the community with older adults . ‘ This was a massive leap of faith , going from mental health to physical health , but it was just the right challenge I needed in my career and has supported my ongoing development as an occupational therapist ,’ she says .

Then In January 2021 , Kosiwa started as an occupational therapist with the Winchester Primary Care Network . ‘ In this role I saw patients who were struggling with their day-today functioning as a result of a mental health need ,’ she explains . ‘ However , I was also able to use my physical health skills and knowledge , as we know this often goes hand in hand .’

She adds : ‘ Our team was developed to help fill

Kosiwa Nicholls the gap in secondary services . A lot of patients are either too unwell – or not unwell enough – for services and often fall into a gap where there is a lack of support . The pressures on GPs were continuing to rise and it was identified that there was a need for patients to be seen sooner and have their needs met by the appropriate healthcare professional .’

In July this year , Kosiwa started a new role working as a mental health practitioner in the

Mentoring of an occupational therapist

Former occupational therapy student Ebenezer Baiden is multilingual , having journeyed to the UK over a 13-year period From Takoradi , Western Ghana , to Richmond Hill , Leeds , via Venice , Italy ; fluent in Twi , Italian and English .

Ebeneezer enrolled on his BSc Occupational Therapy course in September 2020 , at the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic , when students didn ’ t get to engage in a typical classroom setting .

He says of the emotional adjustment involved : ‘ Face-to-face friendships were really difficult . During the online classes , you were restricted to a computer and having to see virtual friends on a computer screen . There are paradoxes – you are in a virtual classroom with a group of colleagues and at the same time not part of authentic relationships .’

The experience reminded Ebenezer of his first time arriving at school in Italy : ‘ I was the only

Black guy in the class when I got there . Nearly everybody was looking at me suspiciously , perhaps wondering , where does this tall , bearded guy come from ? I began to wonder if there were feelings of fright , or apprehension , among my fellow students , some of whom hardly come into contact with a Black person .’

The experience was ‘ almost re traumatising ’, he says , when COVID-19 restrictions ended in the second year of the course . ‘ Here again , I was the only Black person in a classroom of nearly 30 students . I didn ’ t feel that sense of belonging and acceptance in friendship circles , or the cliques which naturally form in large groups .’

Ebenezer says he began to feel that everybody else in the classroom couldn ’ t relate to him . ‘ It was really difficult having to acclimatise or adapt to different conditions and having to study in a way I was not used to .’

22 OTnews October 2023