Posted on: 23 October 2023
CNWL’s Varsha Chauhan Gawde and Jenny Lanyero collected a Royal College of Occupational Therapists Celebration of Excellence award last week.
The pair collected the award on behalf of their colleague, Anita Atwal, from London South Bank University.
In her role as CNWL’s Occupational Therapy Research Fellow, Varsha has been working closely with Anita in Brent, looking at improving access to occupational therapy for Somali communities.
Varsha said: “I was appointed as the CNWL NHS OT Research fellow in March 2023 and I have been involved in completing a research proposal for funding from the Royal College of Occupational Therapy alongside my colleague Anita Atwal, who is the principal investigator.
“The project focuses on the cultural fit of occupational therapy within the Somali community”. We have been successful in receiving funding and Anita has also asked me to collect this award on her behalf alongside Jenny Lanyero from Brent Health Matters.
“The work has evolved in looking at how we can better serve our communities in accessing Occupational Therapy and from working as an Occupational Therapist within Brent for over five years I have always been keen to do more and make a difference.
“Being given this opportunity to work within research and focus on equality, diversity and inclusion has been invaluable and it’s great to be recognised to contribute towards how Occupational Therapists can work better to serve all cultures appropriately as they require through collaboration and co-production focused research.”
Congratulations to Varsha, Jenny and Anita on being recognised for their hard work and dedication.
