To celebrate the Elizabeth Casson Trust’s 75th anniversary, the trustees created our prestigious Elizabeth Casson Fellowship to honour our founder and pioneer of the profession in the UK. This unique opportunity asks the successful Fellow to embark on a substantial project that has the potential to further the profession in a significant and impactful way and which will develop the individual in their career.
The Fellowship was launched on 30th June 2023, our birthday, generating a lot of interest and conversations with OTs across all sectors of the profession and all stages of their career. After a competitive process of short-listing and interviews, we were thrilled to be able to announce our Fellow: Professor Lisa Taylor.
What is the project?
Lisa’s project is the development of an employability and career hub for occupational therapists: doing, being and becoming my best self.
Why did we choose this project?
The trustees believe Lisa’s project is an investment in our profession and its most valuable assets: YOU. The future of our profession depends greatly on OTs feeling valued, recognised and empowered, and we want to contribute to this.
The hub will hold relevant, meaningful and practical guidance for OTs at any career stage, from just qualifying to preparing for retirement, across all sectors and in any practice area. Offering an opportunity to pause, engage and be inspired about your future, the hub will provide resources to help you achieve your aspirations and develop agency, inviting you to become your best self.
We believe the project will help OTs step forward with focus and confidence and will provide the tools to help each of us feel professionally fulfilled.
How do I get involved?
Lisa’s project commenced in January 2024. Lisa is taking a co-production approach to her work, so watch our social media channels and website for further information on how you can be involved with the project to do, be and become your best self and support others in their journey. Co-production has already commenced. Please see:
The EACHOT is needed as the occupational therapy workforce is reported to have a poor work-life balance and lack of progression opportunities (Royal College of Occupational Therapists, 2023). Retention, mental health and wellbeing of staff must be the focus of workforce development (NHS, 2023), regardless of workplace context.
The EACHOT will contain three sections developed by Occupational Therapists for Occupational Therapists
The EACHOT will support agency, self-efficacy and confidence for Occupational Therapists to proactively develop their employability and career – spanning the breadth and depth of occupational therapy contexts – from qualification to retirement – facilitating a life-long, life-wide approach to employability. The principles of co-creation will inform the EACHOT (Chambers et al., 2022; Dibley et al., 2012; Jansen and Pieters, 2017 – represented in Fig 2) through online discussion forums and an online survey for the occupational therapy community to engage with.
The call for co-creation earlier this year led to five co-creators and fifty community participants volunteering to form the EACH_OT community. Volunteers come from a range of clinical backgrounds and live in different geographical areas. Eleven volunteers reported a disability and these spanned physical and mental health.
Over three consecutive months, the EACH_OT community hosted an online discussion forum, each focusing on a specific topic related to occupational therapy employability and career progression.
All discussion forums were well attended and used a structured and consistent format to maximise engagement. Each forum began with a reminder of the questions and the principles of engagement to facilitate respectful and meaningful discussions. Participants could post written responses to the questions, and one of the co-creators with established networks within marginalised communities liaised separately with individuals for their responses to ensure that their voices were heard.
Following the Jam Board activity, participants were divided into breakout rooms to facilitate in-depth small group discussion of the questions. The forums concluded with all participants reconvening in the main meeting room for a whole group facilitated discussion. This resulted in a series of comprehensive, thought-provoking discussions, highlighting valuable insights and information, and fostered a sense of community and shared purpose.
“I have really enjoyed meeting Occupational Therapists from across the UK, working in different settings and learning we have shared experiences” – EACHOT Co-creator
“The EACHOT project is creating a movement by Occupational Therapists for Occupational Therapists and about empowering the profession” – EACHOT Community Participant
Comprehensive information has been collected, offering valuable insights into practicing occupational therapists’ perspectives in the UK and Ireland. Thematic analysis was undertaken on this information (Naeem et al., 2023) – three reviewers independently examined the information to identify keywords and generate codes, before collaborating to discuss and agree on key themes around employability and career progression.
An anonymous EACHOT questionnaire has been developed based on the themes to determine the information and resources needed on the EACHOT. You still have the opportunity to join the EACHOT community and participate in the questionnaire, so that the information and resources on the EACHOT meets the needs of present and future generations of Occupational Therapists. Please share this information and the survey link widely: https://bit.ly/EACHOTSurvey
The questionnaire survey deadline is 5 pm Friday, 4th October 2024.
Huge thanks to those who have been part of the EACHOT community so far for your fantastic engagement, which has shaped the EACHOT project.
This update has been adapted from the OTNews article authored by Catriona Brown, Georgia Joseph, Emma Laird (EACHOT co-creators), and Professor Lisa Taylor (Elizabeth Casson Fellow – EACHOT project lead).
Reference
Naeem, M., Ozuem, W., Howell, K., & Ranfagni, S. (2023). A Step-by-Step Process of Thematic Analysis to Develop a Conceptual Model in Qualitative Research. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 22. https://doi.org/10.1177/16094069231205789
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