I recognise now more than ever before that I will never be a perfect ally and may never work somewhere that provides completely equal services for everyone , but I now have the necessary skills to ask the difficult questions and I am capable of advocating for change to make things a bit better .”
The new intern ’ s mission would be to transform student feedback into enduring educational materials to foster change from the ground up .
After much interest in the programme , the applicants were whittled down by interview and Carrie Bocchini , from Northumbria ’ s Occupational Therapist Student Programme , was eventually appointed as the new Affinity Project Intern . She started the project with a fantastic discussion with members of AbleOTUK , who opened her mind to the world of allyship and advocacy ; two values that became integral to the entire project .
After some trial and error , Carrie decided that the best way to appeal to students was to talk to them directly at Northumbria University ’ s Occupational Therapy Student ’ s Conference . In front of lecturers , students and special guests , Carrie asked for their complaints , ideas and wishes .
The student responses were incredibly insightful and many of their ideas were fed back directly to lecturers . Carrie also used some of the student feedback as the basis for the creation of brand-new teaching materials , which will be used on the programme for years to come .
For example , she crafted an informative guide to the complexities of the UK healthcare system , which was designed with international students in mind , and a lecture for use during the programme about LGBTQIA + identities and communities .
I recognise now more than ever before that I will never be a perfect ally and may never work somewhere that provides completely equal services for everyone , but I now have the necessary skills to ask the difficult questions and I am capable of advocating for change to make things a bit better .”
The project was a success this year , but it doesn ’ t stop there . The team at Northumbria University have secured funding to run the internship again next year , to build on this year ’ s success or perhaps to tackle equality and diversity issues from another angle altogether .
Watch this space for even more excellent occupational therapy news from the newest generation of occupational therapists in training .
Words CARRIE BOCCHINI , Occupational Therapy Student , Northumbria University , carrie . bocchini @ northumbria . ac . uk go further towards real change and gave me the opportunity to push myself to do this too .
Q What have you learned most from your involvement in the project and how will you take this with you over your remaining student learning journey and into your early career journey as an occupational therapist ?
A I said that I saw the project as an opportunity to go further than being an ally and educating myself , to make a change and ask those around me what could help . But the project had a much greater impact on me than I had imagined .
By talking to my fellow students , I saw gaps in my knowledge that I did not know were there , such as the importance of safe spaces and how to respect them while still learning from them .
I learnt that I will never know everything about the differences in how people perceive their surroundings and that I need to always stop , think and ask , is this okay ? Is someone being excluded ?
I think this will make me a better student and a better occupational therapist , both with my colleagues and future service users .
I recognise now more than ever before that I will never be a perfect ally and may never work somewhere that provides completely equal services for everyone , but I now have the necessary skills to ask the difficult questions and I am capable of advocating for change to make things a bit better .
September 2023 OTnews 49