5 November 2024

Occupational Therapists from Camden Community Rehabilitation share their experiences of being an OT.

This week (4 – 10 November) is Occupational Therapy Week (OT Week), a campaign dedicated to celebrating the life-changing impact of occupational therapy. The theme for this year’s OT Week is 'The power of occupational therapy – transforming health and social care'.

It is also Community Services Month at CNWL where we are celebrating our physical health community services and all that they do to support residents. 

We take this opportunity to highlight some of the fantastic work our OTs are doing in Camden.  

Occupational therapists support people of all ages who have difficulties, due to a physical health condition, mental health illness or learning disability, overcome challenges by identifying the barriers that can make tasks difficult and find practical solutions by utilising a person's strengths. E.g. support someone to get dressed by themselves after an injury. 

Our Camden Community Rehabilitation OTs support adults who have experienced a physical health condition, return - as much as possible - to how they were functioning before. They provide rehabilitation plans to re-gain abilities and confidence to do everyday tasks, modify how people perform their usual activities and provide equipment and assistive technologies. 

Adult Social Care OTs and Community Health OTs in East Camden are working more closely within new Integrated Neighbourhood Teams to deliver a service that is holistic and strength-based, improving outcomes for Camden residents.

Five OTs have shared valuable reflections on their experiences, offering insights into the challenges, solutions, and rewarding moments in their work.

Sofia Venuti, Neighbourhood Lead in East Neighbourhood

"I love the variety with community OT work: seeing how people live, what matters to them, problem-solving and utilising a multitude of tools from my 'OT Toolbox' together with them to work on their rehab goals is really rewarding and quite captivating too. A recent move to share an office with Social Care and Primary Care colleagues has sparked our teams’ creativity and morale, and it’s been wonderful to see how bringing services physically together can make a difference for us staff members as well as Camden residents."

   

Steve Loftin, East Neighbourhood OT

"My role as an occupational therapist in the community rehab team is often challenging, but highly rewarding. I love working with patients to help them overcome their challenges – which come in many shapes and forms – and to empower and enable them to live more independent and meaningful lives. Working with patients over a number of weeks and seeing real improvement in their abilities makes the work truly worthwhile."

 

Sima Vyas East Neighbourhood OT

"I believe Occupational Therapy has the most impact when it can occur in peoples own homes. A pragmatic approach, observation, communication and analysing the impact of health on day to day function and routines is our super power. I am so lucky to work with the most amazing OT's, PT's, Rehab Assistants, Community Nurses and colleagues in Adult Social Care."

 

Valine Graizevsky, West/North Neighbourhood OT

"Being a Community Occupational Therapist is incredibly versatile as it requires having a range of clinical skills and the ability to holistically work with patients in their home environments."

"I am not solely reliant on the OT process to guide my interventions but I am also required to have a level of knowledge in nursing care, psychological strategies and social care needs. This allows me to work autonomously in the community and be able to make rapid clinical decisions in the event of an emergency. Effectively working with patients, and their families and carers over a period of time can for the most part achieve good therapeutic outcomes. The ability to build a good therapeutic rapport helps to encourage and motivate engagement outside of therapy sessions, and this ultimately empowers everyone directly involved to help increase functional performance and improve a better quality of life. I am fortunate to work closely with an array of outstanding community services that dedicate their efforts in keeping patients safe and independent at home."

 

Amanda Taylor, East Neighbourhood OT

"Providing input as an Occupational Therapist in the community setting to provide rehabilitation is a rewarding role - to see people get back their independence and engage in meaningful activities is what it is all about.  My background has involved having worked in mental health and health promotion so I find that I can incorporate all my skills to do holistic assessments and make a difference to people's lives.  Now I am working in a team and beginning to integrate with neighbouring teams. I hope that this will help to enhance the experience of the patients even more."