Occupied

Today’s discussion stemmed from a number of observations of late. Seemed like too much of a coincidence that the topic came up multiple times in a very short space of time so I decided to put together my thoughts. I’m very aware that for some people this topic is quite sensitive. I do encourage you to have a listen with an open mind as I am simply trying to highlight an idea that I haven’t seen spoken about in the literature. That idea is that changing the demographics of Occupational Therapy will change the profession fundamentally. I definitely don’t have a definitive answer to any of these raised concerns but the (well rounded) discussion needs to happen. Topics: I compare some of the reported experiences from the literature to my personal experience. My belief is that the experiences are legitimate but my interpretation of the cause of these experiences seems to differ greatly from those presented in the articles that I have read. I’ve seen a lot of very heated discussion on the topic of sex disparity. My concern is that the views being taken into these discussions are not conducive to effective discussion. When the chat gets heated, this is stilting the ability for clinicians to have a well-rounded view. Another question I wanted to pose is if this is an issue from the perspective of men as my personal experience has never highlighted it as an issue but also I’ve not read any papers on the topic that have included men as authors….. so if you know of some shoot them through to me because I’d love to read. Reference to the article discussed: Beagan, B., & Fredricks, E. (2018). What about the men? Gender parity in occupational therapy. Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy, 85(2) 137-145. doi: 10.1177/0008417417728524   Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT Occupied Podcast                   

Dr. Ellen Nicholson is the Head of Department at the Aukland University of Technology’s, Department of Occupational Science and Therapy and has had a vast and profound influence on my own career being the inspiration for Operation Occupation. We talked about everything from her journey into OT, the professions move back towards Occupation, and the role of Occupational Language in that journey. I first came across Ellen’s work in ~2012 when she presented at the OT24VX on her PHD research. This really hit me at a time in my career when I was having a professional identity crisis. I was struggling to even work out if i was working as an Occupational Therapist. Ellen was super friendly and easy to connect with. She normalised a lot of the feelings and experiences that I was having at the time and acted as a super intelligent, amazing soundboard. Using her references, ideas and inspiration i not only changed my own practice but also started a couple projects that aimed to support other clinicians to do the same for themselves.   Check out her work here: Collective action and the transformation of occupational therapy practice Abstract There is evidence of a growing tension within the occupational therapy profession regarding the legitimate knowledge and practice of occupational therapists. While occupation is described by many as the legitimate knowledge base for occupational therapy practice, the history of the profession, and the practice context, often appear to endorse accepted practices that are not overtly aligned with an occupational paradigm. Oppressive, dissatisfying and disempowering social conditions, revealed in the knowledge, power, and discourse which underpin occupational therapy practice, have likely further influenced the meaning and intention of occupational therapy practice with children and families over time.This thesis describes a critical participatory action research project which sought to investigate and affect how occupational therapists working with children translated knowledge to inform and transform their practice. Embedded in shared concerns about the legitimacy of accepted practices with children and families, and using a contemporary occupational therapy theory as a framework, eight occupational therapy co-researchers engaged in two phases of critical action; deconstruction-planning and action-reconstruction. Positioned in between the phases, the resolution of a subjective quest for validation was revealed as a principal catalyst to transformative action. Practice stories and critical dialogue, gathered as project information, was reflectively analysed to progress both the dialogical inquiry and the transformative intent of the research.Implications for practice drawn from the research findings include a suite of action-oriented strategies which will enable practitioners to discover and advance practice transformation within their own practice. These strategies have been consolidated into the VENIA model, which is presented as a practical solution to changing the practice of occupational therapists, and strengthening the political agenda of the occupational therapy profession. and you can access her full thesis right here: http://aut.researchgateway.ac.nz/handle/10292/6075     Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT          

We’ve looked at values and how they may highlight a person’s occupational needs so the next logical progression is to have a look about what happens when someone changes the occupation that fills a need. That gap between occupations is a time that I feel OT’s can really have an incredible impact on peoples lives. Let’s explore the different types of transitions and how this can impact on the interventions and OT could perform.   Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

We continue our chat about Sarah’s experiences overseas, what developed country OT’s could learn from these limited resource experiences, professional understanding of culture and OT’s use of diagnosis.   Sarah Putt is pediatric OT and fellow podcaster! She currently runs her own practice but has practiced in more countries than I was able to count and has some amazing stories to go with it! As expected we discuss the amazing medium of podcasting and how OT’s can benefit and engage in it and she also introduces me to Hippotherapy and the occupation based benefits for service users of this very unique practice modality.   OT4LYFE.com You can find the OT4LYFE podcast anywhere you can find Occupied Also check out the FB page: or Insta: or contact Sarah Via Twitter: @OT4LYFE   Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

Sarah Putt is pediatric OT and fellow podcaster! She currently runs her own practice but has practiced in more countries than I was able to count and has some amazing stories to go with it! As expected we discuss the amazing medium of podcasting and how OT’s can benefit and engage in it and she also introduces me to Hippotherapy and the occupation based benefits for service users of this very unique practice modality.   OT4LYFE.com You can find the OT4LYFE podcast anywhere you can find Occupied Also check out the FB page: or Insta: or contact Sarah Via Twitter: @OT4LYFE   Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

As requested! an expansion of Episode 009 – How Do Values Fit with OT Practice by having a chat about how I’ve used these concepts in practice. Looking at a very practical way of finding a person’s occupational needs which can then be used to guide the occupation based practice direction. Super keen to start the discussion an hear if other clinicians have used any values-based perspectives in Occupational Therapy Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

The 2nd half of our roundtable discussion with Michelle Perryman and Dr Jessie Wilson about the challenges of transitioning from a clinical OT role into an academic role. Between the three of us we are from 3 different countries, pre, during & post Phd, varying clinical backgrounds, and all have recently moved into academia.   Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

A roundtable discussion with Michelle Perryman and Dr Jessie Wilson about the challenges of transitioning from a clinical OT role into an academic role. Between the three of us we are from 3 different countries, pre, during & post Phd, varying clinical backgrounds, and all have recently moved into academia. Being able to compare multiple experiences from around the world fostered some amazing conversation that I hope any people considering a move into academia will find interesting. Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

Stephanie Healey graduated from the University of the Sunshine Coast and moved into her first OT position with the Department of Education in her home state. This position turns out to be quite unique in Australia and I wanted to learn all about it. Steph explained the types of intervention she does with her students, her journey into OT and her dream roll! Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

The one and only Dr Anita Hamilton has had a MASSIVE influence on my career and volunteered me for a number of amazing opportunities I would not otherwise have had the fortitude to tackle. Anita is an expert and leader in the space of OT’s utilising online technology and has been a massive proponent of the OT4OT group who founded and help facilitate the whole range of 4OT facebook communities. Stay tuned to the end for a WORLD EXCLUSIVE ANNOUNCEMENT regarding the ongoing future of the OT24VX virtual conference!!! Also find the “first follower” video discussed in the episode:   Anita’s video highlighting the use of her model of knowledge dissemination “the IM-KT Framework”: Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

Samantha Bowen is an Occupational Therapist from Perth Australia who found her passion in the aged care sector.  Samantha started Acorn Network, an entrepreneurial venture aimed at promoting young leaders in the aged care sector by providing mentoring, support and growth services to individuals and companies. http://www.acorn-network.com.au/ Samantha has also just dropped her own podcast (The Grey Revolution)! So if you work in aged care, are interested in aged care or just breathe air then check it out! http://www.acorn-network.com.au/podcast/ Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

A rather spontaneous recording whilst getting some vitamin D, sitting outside, and relaxing. You know what they say, strike while the iron is hot, so whilst thinking about how I utilised values and values assessments within and occupation-based practice context it seemed like the perfect time to put my thoughts on record….and then send them out to the world. A bit of a reflection on how I’ve used concepts such as Occupational Need, Values, Occupational Disruption, and how these interrelate in order for us to be able to support people with more authentic interventions and recommendations. The example model discussed in this podcast is the Theory of Basic Human Values and is shown below. As is highlighted in the episode this is just one of many, many models of values and how they interact. This is a brief overview of how I think about these concepts interact together and I will be exploring them individually in more detail in future podcasts.   Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

Dr Jessie Wilson is a former colleague of mine who now works at Western University in Canada. Her paediatric and mental health clinical background led her into her Ph.D. around an occupation based therapy project for young adults with autism. We discussed everything from previous episodes of Occupied, some of the marketing issues of the profession, some of the challenges between undergrad and graduate entry OT’s as well as in depth about her experience completing her PH.D. project using the CO-OP approach. Critical Physio blog: https://criticalphysio.net/network-blog/ The CO-OP Academy: http://co-opacademy.ca/    Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT               

Goals…..we’ve all heard of them and all been advised that we should be using them both personally and clinically….but why and how are we using them? Do we have a good understanding of how they work? Hear me out and I’ll see if I can make you think

Melissa LaPointe is a friend I’ve known for a number of years and I’ve watched her entrepreneurial journey building from her original passion area, Occupational Therapy and Women’s Health. Now she is an online entrepreneur, a women’s health advocate, a coach, a leadership consultant and a community builder! We went into some detail around therapist burnout and how we both have been through it and come out the other side. I obviously explored the role of Occupational Therapy in Women’s Health and the types of things they might do in this area and how Melissa’s work in this area devolved into her current online businesses. Melissa’s passion has now evolved into supporting and coaching other therapists to follow their passion for developing healthy and sustainable private practices’. Melissa’s consultancy service can be found here: www.melissalapointe.com Melissa’s online community for therapists and entrepreneurs in pediatrics and women’s health. www.strongbeginnings.online   Melissa referred to a poem she wrote about me in the podcast….well i found it haha so enjoy her creative writing skills! Keep occupied Brock brock.cook@me.com @brockcookOT