World Occupational Therapy Day on the 27th October 2020 focused on reimagining doing, reflects the way in which this years has unfolded, living with great uncertainty in everyday life and now this week it is OT week in the UK . The topic of this years OT week has been #chooseOT and this made us think about ourselves as occupational therapists and how give this years events how we might come to understand occupation and the use of occupation in practice.

World OT day 2020

The theme for this year’s event is “Reimagine Doing”. In this unprecedented year of uncertainty and change, we are celebrating the expertise of occupational therapy for reimagining participation in occupations that provide value and meaning to everyday life.

WFOT (2020) https://www.wfot.org/news/2020/launch-of-world-occupational-therapy-day-2020-theme-and-materials

This year it is likely that we have all experienced a disruption to our participation in occupations. For some these may become permanent changes perhaps even welcomed, for others however it may alter what they do in ways that lead to an impact on their values, identity, health and well-being. As occupational therapists we support others to negotiate these challenges of everyday life but we also learn to adapt our own ways of participating in everyday life, in and outside of our work roles.

One of the very first modules that our new students undertake is Occupational Therapist: Doing, Being, Becoming and Belonging, introducing founding concepts of Occupational Therapy and the relationship between person, occupation and environment. We do this through creating and sharing occupational learning experiences, these help us to explain the relationship between person, occupation and environment. As part of the learning tasks every one of our new students and module team created a video about their own occupational experiences. It enabled our students starting to apply core concepts of health, wellbeing and occupational identity, to help them to see the world as we do as Occupational Therapists.

This got us thinking about the influence of everyday life on our understanding of occupation as we practice.

Town mouse or Country Mouse?

By Paula Dring

Every year during the Summer holidays I take my four children on a day trip to London.  We take in some of the tourist hotspots and visit the museums but, the most valuable part of the visit for them is experiencing the sights and sounds of the ‘Big Smoke’.  I laughingly compare them to the country mouse in Aesop’s fable who is unwilling to sacrifice the simple comfort and security he has become accustomed to in the country, in order to indulge in the luxuries available in the town.  So, what are you, town mouse or country mouse and does this influence your professionalism?


(This image is taken by me, my children are re-enacting the first scene from Prince Caspian, when the children try to get back to Narnia)

Living in a rural community is to live within a certain culture.  I have come to reflect upon my own occupations and those of my urban peers and draw the conclusion that I am indeed ‘very village.’  What I mean by that, is that I view the world in which I live, through my experiences of living within this particular culture. 

Let me share by example my school run.  I make sure the kids are equipped with all that they need, put on my wellies and waterproofs and cross over the stream at the end of the road, avoiding the cars and horses (there is no footpath.) I then wave the children in at the school gate.  On my visit to London I saw young women hurrying their small children into tube trains as the doors were closing and waving them off from the platform.  I would have to travel 50 minutes by public transport to access a train of any kind!  My lived experience of the school run has not prepared me to have a full understanding of theirs. 

Higgs et al (2001) identify 3 types of knowledge that they say is employed by professionals.  Firstly, propositional knowledge or theory.  This is the knowledge that perhaps comes from our formal studies (what my Grandma would have referred to as head knowledge.)  Secondly, they refer to professional craft.  This is that ‘how-to’ knowledge, skill and process that you learn often by doing.  Finally, they refer to personal knowledge of self. 

It is this third type of knowledge that I urge you now to consider.  Personal knowledge of self is built up over time and through life experience.  It is this knowledge that allows us to use ourselves as therapeutic tools.  Through the lens of occupation, we apply this knowledge (alongside the other types) to our clients and their situations.   It is just as important to employ as the previous types but is less likely to have been exposed to public scrutiny, shared or debated because it is, by its very nature, personal.

As I reconsider my personal knowledge of the school run as an occupation in a wider context, I realise that it is entirely possible that when clients describe their occupations, roles and routines,  I may make assumptions based on my personal knowledge and experiences of rural life in an English village community. My experiences have shaped me into the Occupational Therapist that I am. I have come to realise that I need to be acutely aware of this in my practice.  Not to acknowledge the parameters of my personal knowledge in this way could negatively impact my professional judgement and ultimately my professionalism.

Conversely, to critically reflect on this personal knowledge and lived experience as recommended by The Code of Ethics and Professional Conduct could support and evidence my professional development and act as a valuable personal and professional learning opportunity to enhance my professionalism.

Questions to consider

In what ways does your personal knowledge impact your practice of Occupational Therapy?

How might reflecting on your personal knowledge provide a learning or development opportunity to enhance practice?

References

College of Occupational Therapists. (2015). Code of ethics and professional conduct (Rev. ed.). London: College of Occupational Therapists

Higgs, J., & Titchen, Angie. (2001). Practice knowledge and expertise in the health professions. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann.