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A girl standing outside a job centre plus.
Two occupational therapists have been seconded into a Jobcentre Plus, having seen the impact of unemployment on clients with mental health problems. Photograph: Christopher Thomond
Two occupational therapists have been seconded into a Jobcentre Plus, having seen the impact of unemployment on clients with mental health problems. Photograph: Christopher Thomond

From basket weaving to job centres: the changing nature of occupational therapy

This article is more than 8 years old

As a trainee occupational therapist, I have to be open to working in newer areas of practice as traditional posts are likely to be cut

It’s a strange time to train as an occupational therapist, a profession that historically has been unrecognised, overlooked or plain misunderstood. The job’s evolving nature plays a big part in this. Whereas occupational therapy (OT) was once seen as a useful way to occupy soldiers disabled in war, or inmates of lunatic asylums with basket weaving, it is now being taken seriously for its ability to support people to achieve what they really want in life.

Even as a student new to the profession, I can see the changes as OT pushes the boundaries and moves into new areas. This shift is not just happening within OT; marks of it can be seen across healthcare, for example with prescribing physiotherapists, and speech and language therapists working on youth offender programmes. Add in the overall context of large-scale changes in the social care system and it’s scarcely possible to predict what’s in store in a couple of months, let alone in the next few years. This makes it an interesting time for trainees like me.

Perhaps then it’s unsurprising that so-called “role emerging jobs” are growing. These jobs are one step away from traditional OT, with new posts being established in organisations that haven’t previously used an occupational therapist. One intriguing example of a role emerging scheme is a pilot seconding two occupational therapists into a Jobcentre Plus. Working in mental health for the local NHS trust, the therapists recognised many clients struggled in a continual cycle of joblessness, which affected their mental health, that in turn impacted their ability to gain work. While the pilot was small, running for just a year, the results of tailored support within the job centre environment show promise.

In Wales, permanent occupational therapy posts have been created within the Supporting People housing team in Denbighshire county council. Here, the therapists work within a multidisciplinary team to support vulnerable people. They work on aspects such as improving independent living skills and community integration for clients with learning disabilities.

For students like me, the first experience of this diverse practice is often on role emerging placement. Some academics have argued that such placements are inherently risky, but that it is this very element that is essential for the profession to keep evolving. This is how I feel as I apply for my first role-emerging placement.

With no established occupational therapy practice, I will have to make more critical decisions. A senior OT at the university will be scrutinising my choices with long arm supervision, but compared to the sometimes policy driven environment of the NHS and social services, it does feel like there may be more freedom to express what I think an occupational therapist’s role should be.

Naturally, health trends change, buzzwords come and go. At the moment “prudent healthcare” as the health minister for Wales, Mark Drakeford, likes to call it, is perhaps the most influential. This means that occupational therapists must get creative about how and where we work. As health and social care spending is scrutinised, some traditional posts are likely to be cut. If I can’t express the unique contribution that I can make to both traditional and new areas of practice as an occupational therapist, then there’s a risk that fewer opportunities will be open to me.

What is seen as unusual in our role-emerging placements today, may well be the jobs that my fellow students and I take on as our career path. Even if I go onto a traditional post, I hope that the experience of such a placement will give me a stronger understanding of the profession and the kind of occupational therapist I really want to be.

More on this story

More on this story

  • Why I love being an occupational therapist

  • Talking points from the College of Occupational Therapists' conference

  • How do you solve a problem like occupational therapy recruitment?

  • Occupational therapy and mental health: ‘It’s not about basket weaving’

  • What the Care Act has in store for occupational therapists

  • Why you should consider a career in occupational therapy

  • My experiences in India will make me a better occupational therapist in the UK

  • My OT and I: how occupational therapists achieve the impossible

  • Offenders given another chance in life through occupational therapy

  • The new research climate surrounding occupational therapy

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