Jo Porter, September 2021

“Occupational therapy arises from an essential need: how to produce a liberating, transformative practice, oriented to the fulfilment of people and communities, in the context of common wellbeing, and in recognition of diversity, of justice, dignity and solidarity, based upon common sense, daily living, and collective citizen practices.” (Guajardo, 2016. Cited in Sakellariou and Pollard, 2017)

My identity as an occupational therapist is very important to me and anyone who knows me will appreciate my passion for this wonderful profession! It has always struck me that when someone asks me ‘what do you do?’ I always answer this with the phrase ‘I am an occupational therapist’. So it seems that my professional identity is more than the ‘doing’ and very much part of my ‘being’, ‘belonging’ and becoming’ (Hitch, 2014).
My profession gives me a real sense of belonging to a community of practice (Davis, 2006) and I have experienced this in the teams I have worked with in my career as a children’s occupational therapist, and as part of UK special interest groups and the wider profession under the banner of the Royal College of Occupational Therapists (RCOT). The highlight of my professional year is always to attend and contribute to the RCOT annual conference and experience the rush of excitement being in the same room as hundreds of fellow occupational therapists – a force to be reckoned with!
My professional journey has seen me grow, change and adapt as I progressed into new roles with new challenges and lots of opportunities. Through all of these different stages in the journey to where I am today, I have had an ever greater appreciation of the fundamentals of the profession in understanding the central importance of human occupation in experiences of health and wellbeing. More than this, it is vital that we advocate for occupational justice (Sakellariou and Pollard, 2017) and the basic human right of all humans to be able to participate in meaningful and purposeful occupations that are essential to maintaining quality of life.

I am more and more aware of the value of my profession and the need to reach into the occupational needs of individuals, groups and communities in my immediate world and beyond! I have never been more acutely aware of global need and occupational injustice (Sakellariou and Pollard, 2017) as I scroll through social media stories providing endless narratives about climate change, natural disaster, conflict, disease and poverty. But it seems so hard to know how to make a difference when the issues are so enormous, deep seated and complex. I suppose I feel called (Hirschi, 2012) to do my best and play my part – bringing whatever I have to the fight for human health and wellbeing.
One of the things that has helped me to contribute meaningfully using my professional knowledge, skills and identity is through volunteering. It is in the charity sector that I find the opportunity to hopefully make a difference. The focus of this is in working for a charity called ‘tastelifeUK’ who work with people who have eating disorders. My role in this is to act as a charity trustee, providing expertise as an occupational therapist to inform and guide the charity strategically, but most importantly, this role is about working on the frontline with families in need, to support recovery. Eating disorders are a global concern and impact diverse groups of people; men and women, all age groups and across cultures and ethnic groups. It is a growing problem in a complex and challenging world where social media drives unhelpful relationships with our bodies and the food that we eat.

Having an eating disorder in the midst of COVID-19 has presented significant challenges that are largely invisible to the outside world, and yet create real vulnerability for so many people around the world who are already struggling to cope with the demands of life. For the person with an eating disorder, life is often overwhelming, perceived as unsafe and fraught with risks. Food becomes the focus of an unhelpful coping strategy for dealing with difficult emotions. Food and emotions are inextricably linked for everyone. How many times do we all make links between what we eat and how we feel? We eat to celebrate (happy), we eat to commiserate (sad), and we eat to deal with stress (anxious). For the person with an eating disorder this relationship becomes much more complex, controlling and obsessive. An addiction emerges that impacts the ability to participate in everyday activities of daily living and slowly but surely begins to erode health and wellbeing.
Working as a volunteer for ‘tastelifeUK’ has opened doors for me to bring an occupational perspective to responding to the needs of those who suffer and those who care about them. At this time we are expanding trained teams of volunteers across the UK, Ireland, France and Dubai with a vision for reaching across the globe using our personal and professional contacts and networks to spread the word. It occurs to me that all occupational therapists are equipped to bring something unique in our occupational perspective of health and wellbeing into so many contexts and environments – what an amazing profession I belong to!


What are the possibilities and opportunities for you to use your professional identity and membership of a powerful global community of occupational therapists to make a difference?

Jo Porter
Assistant Professor in Occupational Therapy
Coventry University UK

Tastelife UK Charity – Trustee

References

Davis, J. (2006). The importance of the community of practice in identity development. The Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice. Vol 4 No. 3
Hirschi, A. (2012). Callings and Work Engagement: Moderated Mediation Model of Work Meaningfulness, Occupational Identity, and Occupational Self-Efficacy. Journal of Counselling Psychology, Vol 59. No 3
Hitch D, et al. (2014). In the Footsteps of Wilcock, Part One: The Evolution of Doing, Being, Becoming, and Belonging. Occupational Therapy in Healthcare. 28(3):231–246
Sakellariou, D. and Pollard, N. (2017). Occupational Therapy Without Borders: Integrating Justice with Practice. Elsevier.