The 6th of November marks the beginning of Occupational Therapy week! Celebrating the work our fabulous OT’s do is important to us – we spoke with Angela, our Practice Lead for Occupational Therapy to get a glimpse into her unique journey in the field.

“This year is a special year for me as it marks 30 years since I qualified as an Occupational Therapist. I can’t believe time has rolled by that fast, and perhaps having the opportunity to work in a variety of roles and organisations has accounted for that…

I started out as a basic grade occupational therapist on a rotation programme and gained experience within Care of the Elderly, Rheumatology, and a Learning Disabilities residential unit. Those early experiences enabled me to develop and hone my knowledge and skills in communicating with people, finding out what was important to them, intervening using a range of therapeutic approaches, activity and equipment provision to support people to return home and engage in purposeful activities.”

“A couple years later, I decided to become a community occupational therapist within social care and support children, adults, and older people in being able to carry out basic day to day activities and do the things important in supporting/ maintaining their independence or managing chronic degenerative conditions.  Over the following years I honed my skills in functional assessments, the use of compensatory techniques, equipment provision, adaptations, moving and handling, specialist seating, assistive technology and rehousing assessments…

Being a resource in facilitating people to live independently, participate in their community, school, or work setting, manage long-term conditions, or plan care and support for end of life, gave me a sense of making a difference and proud to be an occupational therapist…

Since then, I have gone on to work in various clinical and management roles across both Health and Social Care. I have also worked for Health Education England (HEE) supporting Education Quality, and as Lecturer at the University of Bedfordshire (Practice Education and Enhancement, Nursing programme) and the University of Hertfordshire (MSc, Physician Associate Programme).

Through my career journey my passion for occupational therapy practice has remained.

Angela

Working for Essex

“Since 2019, I have been employed with Essex County Council as an OT Practice Lead within the Quality Assurance Team. It’s been great returning back to my occupational therapy roots and being part of a proactive organisation, which offers a wide range of diverse opportunities for occupational therapists to make a difference in the lives of people. I am passionate about:

• Promoting OT practice and its impact in enabling people to achieve the things important to them.
• Collaborative Practice and integrated working – forging relationships and networks to enable effective practice.
• Learning and development – recognising the difference it makes in the quality and effectiveness of service delivery as well as job satisfaction.
• Practice education – and how this enables us to support our  occupational profession through developing the future workforce.

This Occupational Therapy week ‘Occupation Matters’ reminds me of all the things I have been able to do in my work life, personal life and daily routines, and the importance of enabling others to have the opportunities to do the same too.”

Interested in a career in occupational therapy? Discover more about the opportunities available here.

Looking to hear more occupational therapy stories? Read Jessie and Michael’s blog.