Recovering
Ordinary
Lives
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Introduction
• Background to Mental health strategy
• Development of strategy
• Structure and content of strategy
• What will the strategy mean for your practice?
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Drivers
• The need to raise the profile of occupational therapy
in mental health and develop professional leadership
• Promotion of occupation and its relationship to
mental health and well being
• Changes in UK policy drivers –
Increased service user and carer involvement
Emphasis on social inclusion and recovery
Health promotion and employment focus
Increasing choice and access to services
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Drivers from New Ways Of
Working
• Mental health service redesign due to staff dissatisfaction and
shortages
• Redistribution of responsibility within teams
• Traditional roles, composition and leadership of teams being
challenged
• Increasing scope for innovative practice. See
www.newwaysofworking.org.uk for more examples
• Working across boundaries whilst ensuring occupational need
are met
• Mental Health:New Ways of Working for Everyone DOH 2007
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
New Ways of Working
continued.
• Value based practice common to all team members
• The Ten Essential Shared Capabilities (2004)
• www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/Publica
tionsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_4087169
• Capabilities for Inclusive Practice (2007)
• www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/Publica
tionsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_078095
• NWW presentation on COT website at
• www.cot.co.uk/public/introduction/intro.php
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Stages of the Project
i.
Literature Review to produce statement on
occupation, draft vision and guiding principles
ii.
Consultation with practitioners, stakeholders,
service users and carers
iii. Creation of final three documents
iv. Launch
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Consultation
• Survey of members at COT conference 2005
• Questionnaire sent to stakeholders and
occupational therapists
• Three focus groups
– Highland User Group (HUG)
– Carers Group
– Black and Minority Ethnic Group
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Consultation
(cont’d)
• Telephone interviews with chairs of specialist
sections
• Web based Forum
• Received a total of 581 written responses
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Trilogy of Documents
• Literature review – looks at definitions, policy context,
evidence base, role of occupational therapy, generic
versus profession specific working, social
inclusion/recovery V crisis/compulsion
• Results from service user and carer focus groups –
positives and negatives
• A vision for the next ten years (2007-2017) - vision,
ten guiding principles, five main themes, milestones
to be measured at 2010, 2013, 2017
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
The Vision
• By 2017, mental health service provision in
the UK will be better for the active role and
inspirational leadership provided by the
cultural heritage and identity of occupational
therapy, which at its core is social in nature
and belief. It will therefore deliver the kind of
care that service users want, need and
deserve.
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Ten Guiding Principles
• Interventions move the client in the direction of fuller
participation in society through the performance of
occupations that are appropriate to her of his age,
social and cultural background, interests and
aspirations.
• People who use occupational therapy services play a
part in developing, monitoring and evaluating those
services.
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Five Themed Findings
•
Valuing Occupation
•
Added value of occupational therapy
•
Occupational Therapy Leadership
•
Education and Training
•
Workforce development
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
For each theme, key messages for
six groups
• Occupational therapy practitioners
• Occupational therapy managers
• College of Occupational therapists
• Occupational therapy educators
• Commissioners of mental health services
• Occupational therapy researchers
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Where to find on the
website?
• For members go to www.cot.co.uk
• Go to members log in (you will need your
BAOT number)
• Go to Professional Practice
• Go to Mental Health
• For non-members go to
www.cot.co.uk/public/publications/new/intro.php
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
First theme –Valuing Occupation
• “Doing things increases our sense of self worth.” (Service user)
• Occupation is pivotal to health and well being.
• A key message for practitioners:
Using occupational language, explain with confidence the
meaning of occupation and its relationship to recovery and
wellbeing to service users, carers, colleagues and service
commissioners
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Second theme – The Added Value
of Occupational therapy
• “Occupational therapists could play a big role in kick starting
your mind into recovery and occupation.” (Service user)
• Occupational therapists are experts in doing, helping people to
develop skills and overcome barriers. Timely interventions can
prevent hospital admission, facilitate early discharge, reduce
incidents on wards. We need to evidence for commissioners our
successes in recovery.
• A key message for managers
Build pathways of care that highlight what service users can
expect of their intervention.
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Third theme – Occupational
therapy Leadership
• “We need more expert occupational therapists that are active at
a political level.” (Occupational therapist)
• Services will only benefit from the vision and expertise of
occupational therapists if the profession is represented at a
strategic level.
• A key message for COT
Secure representation on government working parties,
committees and other groups that develop or influence policy in
the field of mental health.
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Fourth theme- Occupational
therapy Education and Training
• “Occupational therapists would benefit from carers and service
users employed as visiting lecturers.” (Service user)
• Pre-registration education for occupational therapists must
continue to strive to meet the needs of service users in modern
mental health services.
• A key message for occupational therapy educators
Identify the potential to expand practitioner contributions to the
curriculum so that mental health education is grounded in
current best practice
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Fifth theme – Occupational
therapy Workforce Development
•
“It was not relevant to me, baking fairy cakes and cooking English
meals.” (Service user) “Usually a young, white, middle class girl”
(Service user)
•
The workforce needs to be diverse to reflect the population we serve.
We need more men and staff from BME and culturally diverse
populations. (Taylor 2007 Casson Memorial Lecture)
•
A key message for managers
Recruit staff from black and minority ethnic groups to create a
workforce that reflects the local population.
•
A key message for commissioners
Take an overview of of the skills mix across services and consider
where occupational therapists might have the most impact in meeting
user needs.
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Expectations for Occupational
Therapy of the Future
• Increasingly accessible and diverse services that
respond to local need and involve service users and
carers
• Care pathways that promote social inclusion and
recovery and are based on skill mix reviews
• Leading to assist service users return to work (or
other meaningful activity)and health promotion
• Commissioning for occupational therapy within a
broad range of services
• Political representation backed by research evidence
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
To Make This Happen!
• We need to re-assert and believe in the right
of people to have their occupational needs
met
• We need people with the vision and
leadership skills willing to make it happen
• We need to jettison what we don’t need to do
• We need to have the clarity to determine what
we should be doing
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Implementation
The four work streams
1. Delivering the Strategy and New Ways of
Working to members
2. Strategic Alliances
3. Monitoring and measuring success of
implementation of milestones
4. Supporting information and products required,
supporting implementation for members
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Summary
• Background to strategy and its
development
• Structure around five main themes
• Implementation and expectations for the
future
• Workshops –what does this all mean for
you?
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Recovering Ordinary Lives is available for free
download on the COT website:
www.cot.org.uk
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
References
• Taylor C (2007) The Casson Memorial lecture 2007:
Diversity among occupational therapists – rhetoric or
reality? British Journal of Occupational Therapists,
70(7), 276-283
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Strategy Workshops
• Discuss what the strategy means for
you and your practice?
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Strategy workshops -How can the
following be achieved?
Using occupational language, explain with confidence the meaning
of occupation and its relationship to recovery and wellbeing to
service users, carers, colleagues and service commissioners
Build pathways of care that highlight what service users can expect
of their intervention.
Identify the potential to expand practitioner contributions to the
curriculum so that mental health education is grounded in
current best practice.
Recruit staff from black and minority ethnic groups to create a
workforce that reflects the local population.
Take an overview of of the skills mix across services and consider
where occupational therapists might have the most impact in
meeting user needs.
Seek to develop and take the lead in co-ordinated programs of
research
College of Occupational Therapists 2007
Feedback
• If you have any comments or questions
please email genevieve.smyth@cot.co.uk
or call 0207 450 5220
College of Occupational Therapists 2007